Can't decide between these Religion Civics...

[stormwriter]

I'm usually a peaceful, religious builder that focuses on Wonders and tech, trying to nab the majority of the religions before the other civs.

I'm stuck deciding whether to stick to Organized Religion for the constructing buildings 25% faster, cause ALL my cities share the state religion.

OR, switching to Free Religion when i get it, for the +10% research bonus, and the +1 happy per religion in each city (which i have MANY, cause i've gotten so many early game...)

Crud, then you throw in the Pacifism civic, and it's even more confusing, cause i could use the +100% Great Person rate. Plus, i never have huge armies, so i wouldn't pay a high upkeep on military units with this civic.

So, if you were me, what would you stick with?
Or just switch to the newest one once i get it?
Is the +10% research in all cities that big of a deal?

[padillah]

I would go with Pacifism. The +100% GP is more of a boost than it looks because GPs can be used for so many differnt things. (Building wonders, researching techs, adding culture, etc...)

Tom P.

[vmxa1]

Faster building seems better for wonder players. You do not need the boost to GP. You should be doing quite well with them anyway.

[AtmaVegeta]

Also if your playing Chinese (Mao Zedong), maybe a few others (I play chinese), you get 100% GP from the leader, so you wouldn't need Pacifism.

Personally, I've switced to Free Religion once I learn it, I feel that 10% Science Bonus (if you have a lot of cities or well developed producing cities) is a very big bonus. (I normally use Organized Religion though, until I learn Free Religion).

[stormwriter]

See?

Three people, three different responses.

Man, this game is confusing. haha.

[Arrian]

I've been using Pacifism a lot so far. It seems the best fit for you, too.

I intend to go warmonger in my next game, at least for a while, to break this habit.

-Arrian

[chriseay]

That's what makes this game great, there are so many choices! I, for one, am having trouble figuring out the best strategy a lot of times, but I like the choices, and knowing if I play it right, most any strategy can probably work.

On the breaking the builder habit, it's hard to do! I've been trying, played a whole game warmongering, and didn't really get much out of it but beaten. I'm not good enough at warring so I didn't take enough out of the other civs, and then two that I had been at peace with (but who didn't like me for religious and "You attacked our friend" reasons) attacked me out of the blue. I was able to stave off the attack, and even take a city or two, but the war allowed the last remaining peaceful AI to take an insurmountable points lead (their were only 40 or so turns left when the war ended).

I guess I'll just have to keep trying to win that way, because I actually find it fun now, and I'm looking for more of a challenge, than when I was playing other iterations of civ.

[Common Sensei]

I tend to stay with Organized Religion if I am playing as a leader that is Industrious. With cheap Forges, that's a total 50% production bonus for cities.

With Beauracracy, Organized Religion, and a Forge the capital gets a total bonus of 150% in regards to wonders in the capital city, and 200% if you have the proper resource for a particular wonder. Even without Beauracracy, that's 100% and 150% respectively. I usually only use this combination mid-game, but potentially you could add a Factory with a power supply if you use the combo in the late game (maybe long enough to get the The Three Gorges Dam if the capital has a river?).

[Arrian]

I've been successful at late-game warfare (once I have Cavalry/Rifles or better).

I've only fought one early war - and the AI attacked me. They put a hurtin' on me, too, until I finally turned the tide. They managed to really mess up my peaceful building, though

This time I want to be the aggressor and see how it goes. Not necessarily to be a warmonger the whole game, but rather to take a bite or two early, and then develop more (fighting to build, as opposed to building to fight, as I've been doing )

-Arrian

[Mayfield]

You also have to look into how many units you are supporting, how large your empire is, etc. My answer is : each fits its own situation.

[Common Sensei]

Another thing to consider is that if you're an island, isolated nation and you've discovered a religion that has become your state religion, there's a chance that everyone will have their own entrenched religions, and you'll be the "heathen" everyone dislikes. Free Religion removes this diplomatic penalty (and bonus if anyone does share your religion) completely in addition to its other benefits.

[binTravkin]

Also if your playing Chinese (Mao Zedong), maybe a few others (I play chinese), you get 100% GP from the leader, so you wouldn't need Pacifism.

There's an old truth that emphasising on your strenghts yields much bettter results than trying to cover your weaknesses.
So if you play with Mao, go for it, boost your GP rate to full steam 300% and even more!
I think you'll understand the difference afterwards..

[dconner]

My current inclination is to go with Organized Religion for the building bonuses until somewhere around the time I get factories, when I'll switch to Free Religion.

Free Religion definitely tends to have a nice diplomatic bonus to it, since you're not ticking anybody off by being a heretic.

(I actually think it'd probably make sense for Theocracies and maybe Organized Religions to hate you anyway....)

[Arrian]

It depends. In my current game, I have several big diplo bonuses BECAUSE of my state religion (hinduism). It spread like wildfire early in the game, some due to my concious effort and some due to coastal trade networks. My closest friend is giving me something like a +6 diplo bonus b/c I sent missionaries to all his cities as soon as I met him (he was isolated and founded no religions - I found him with caravels).

It's a double-edged sword. Many things are in CivIV.

-Arrian

[Philotas]

Originally posted by stormwriter
See?

Three people, three different responses.

Man, this game is confusing. haha.

rock....paper....scissors.....