The state of Gold in the game

[tedhebert]

Trade routes(and other gold accumulators) may yield a lot in numbers, but divide them by 4 you will have a better idea of how they really value.

yeah we've had that discussion before... that argument is mathematically valid, but... how can we measure opportunity ? The capacity to buy whatever you need instantly at the exact moment you need it is a value that is almost impossible to quantify

 

[_hero_]

yeah we've had that discussion before... that argument is mathematically valid, but... how can we measure opportunity ? The capacity to buy whatever you need instantly at the exact moment you need it is a value that is almost impossible to quantify

I would say the argument is only mathematically valid in the most simple of senses. In reality, if for instance you buy a workshop that would have taken 10 turns to build rather than hard building it, you also gain +30 hammers over the next 10 turns, which converted back using the 4 gold=1 hammer math effectively reduces the cost of the workshop by 120 gold. But it gets even more amplified because then you must consider that you are also getting each subsequent build in that city 30 hammers sooner. Maybe you get a university 5 turns sooner down the road. That extra science might get you a tech 1-2 turns sooner. That tech might get you a key unit 1-2 turns sooner that can lead to a decisive victory in a war rather than a hard-fought struggle. Indeed it is impossible to quantify, but much like Lily's arguments for the value of chopping, gold's true value is that everything after it snowballs if it is used efficiently.