When a Civ's ability actively hurts them...

[Stilgar08]

It doesn't "hurt" them - It just doesn't help alot often. But who cares? This minor thing is more a question of flavour, isn't it?
And if you want to make the best out of it - Go for writing asap (presumably faster then your opponents) and get up those Campuses...

 

[Zaarin]

I don't know if you got the chance to read the article I posted saying it isn't writing.

I did not, but pending better evidence I'm definitely in the "skeptic" camp, just as I am with regarding quipu and Vinca markings as proto-writing.

 

[Onii-chan]

It's just there for fun really, I wouldn't look any deeper into it. In any case this "malus" is an insanely specific scenario that would only happen extremely rarely (I.E: meeting a city state with that exact quest before finding any other civ is highly unlikely), and even if it did... who cares really, it's just *one* envoy. Surely you can't say that's significant enough to make or break your game

Of course if they've changed the Writing boost then all this speculation is irrelevant anyway

 

[Stilgar08]

It's just there for fun really, I wouldn't look any deeper into it. In any case this "malus" is an insanely specific scenario that would only happen extremely rarely (I.E: meeting a city state with that exact quest before finding any other civ is highly unlikely)

aren't the quests given in the moment you meet the CS anyways - I mean if you already have the Writing Eureka you just get another quest?

 

[Josephias]

Pretty threadbare topic..

Indeed, there isn't much to sustain it…

And its veering off-topic a bit but as Zaarin & pgm123's discussion is probably the most interesting part of the thread, I'm tempted to recommend this series

Can't grant it is fully accurate, and for sure is not as exhaustive as the discussion above, but it is a cute introduction to the theme discussed (and to who should get writting eurekas)