"You discover a crudely drawn map that outlines the area."

[Theruss]

*Map reveals only coast and ocean tiles... yay!

 

[ixias]

At least you know where not to go. Maps really aren't that bad. It lets you see your surroundings earlier, allowing you to better plan early city placement or, at the very least, saves some turns on scouting. I'd much rather get a map than say, find out that there's a barbarian encampment 50 tiles away.

 

[AW Arcaeca]

Eh, sometimes they're useful, sometimes its a waste of time because the only area they illuminate are the areas I already know.

 

[Theruss]

Yeah maps aren't bad. But finding an ancient ruins near a coast, and getting a map almost assuredly reveals all water, which is lackluster. It happens a lot, I find.

 

[pozz]

Maps are indeed better than barbarians, but still rather 'meh'

 

[Socratatus]

The maps always disappoint me It barely reveals anything I haven`t already seen.

 

[Biologist]

I like when the maps found in ancient ruins reveal the presence of current empires. How did the ancients know that Paris would be founded there?

 

[civ54lyfe]

yeah for realism, i like to imagine that a warrior or scout has "runners" or some kind of axillary recon personnel with them because how else do they give your civ the money or technology they might find either.

 

[Arachnofiend]

At least you know where not to go. Maps really aren't that bad. It lets you see your surroundings earlier, allowing you to better plan early city placement or, at the very least, saves some turns on scouting. I'd much rather get a map than say, find out that there's a barbarian encampment 50 tiles away.

The best ruin by far is the barbarian encampment ruin... when there aren't any barbarian encampments on the map.

Yes, I've had this happen to me. Twice. No I don't play with barbs off.

 

[Louis XXIV]

Eh, I remember the old days with barbarians spawning. I'll be content with a crappy map instead.

 

[phos_hilaron]

Do you think they would be better if they revealed larger areas and areas that you hadn't already discovered yourself? Seems like a pretty easy way to buff one of the "lesser" ancient ruins. Just an idea.

 

[Walter R]

It's nearly always the booby prize; but sometimes shows the location of more ruins...which then give a map of the area!

How about this one then, the unit upgrade:

Great stuff early on if a scout turns into an archer - not quite so good if he does it when you are in Industrial era and he's at the other side of the map (and he now needs promoting three times to a Gatlin). And for some reason, I'm not overly concerned if a scout at this stage gets killed, but when he's an archer trying to make his way home and it happens I get all Sopranos about it!

On reflection, the worst time to get the map 'reward' would be when your edge of the world scout on Auto-explore finds ruins hidden in the ice one turn before you complete satellites...

 

[Callonia]

Eh, i've had maps reveal natural wonders in areas i didn't plan to explore.

Then I've had maps that revealed 3-4 other ancient ruins and I nabbed them all very fast where normally i would've found only 1-2.

Then there's stinkers like revealing what you already know but I don't care because in old days, you could wander into a goody hut and your scout commits a faux pas which pisses off the people in area into attempting to kill you aka the barbarian spawning and because of faux pas thingie I used to explore with a warrior instead of scout cuz a warrior could kill all barbarians that spawned if i'm lucky while a scout can't. XP

Remember it could be worse, exploring an ancient ruin revealed several barbarians in hiding ready to ambush and kill your scout!

 

[Catan_Settler]

Ya getting a bunch of empty ocean revealed is a drag, although I've found its not that common that happens. More common, is getting to see where the next goody hut or two is so, I'd say over all it ain't so bad. It is probably the worst hut pop you can get mind you, but eh... are we really complaining about free stuff in a video game again?

 

[Arachnofiend]

Ya getting a bunch of empty ocean revealed is a drag, although I've found its not that common that happens. More common, is getting to see where the next goody hut or two is so, I'd say over all it ain't so bad. It is probably the worst hut pop you can get mind you, but eh... are we really complaining about free stuff in a video game again?

When the alternatives are getting your first social policy as early as turn 5, getting an archer that ignores terrain costs, or getting a pantheon for free, yes we are.

 

[Biologist]

When the alternatives are getting your first social policy as early as turn 5, getting an archer that ignores terrain costs, or getting a pantheon for free, yes we are.

Play as Shoshone every game. Problem solved!

Nah, that would get boring after a while. I have to admit though, it's hard to realize how spoiled the Shoshone are in the early game until you play as somebody else afterwards.

 

[DudewiththeFood]

There are worse ruin bonuses you can get than an almost useless map that only reveals 7 tiles you were going to explore anyway... evidence of barbarian camps in the area when you have already found them all.

 

[TwentySlashDash]

I try to measure ruin 'success' by the amount of turns it potentially saved me.

i.e. marathon prince.. I think the first social policy rolls around at 75 culture. It grants you 60. thats huge.

The same goes for religion. if you get it fast enough, it can found your pantheon.

 

[George Abitbol]

I like when the maps found in ancient ruins reveal the presence of current empires. How did the ancients know that Paris would be founded there?

Actually, you see the borders, but you're unable to check the nationality. Same thing with CS, you see the city, but if you mouse over, nothing happens.

 

[Strategist83]

I like when the maps found in ancient ruins reveal the presence of current empires. How did the ancients know that Paris would be founded there?

Better yet: How do you even find the ruins of 'ancient civilizations' during ancient times? Ancient ruins never made sense in the first place! The tribal huts in IV made much better sense - plus, they had awesome music!