choosing great people to sacrifice for GA

[acheron]

Trying to get a Golden Age going. I have three great people sitting around in my empire: an Artist, Engineer, and Merchant. I'm trying to sacrifice the Artist and Merchant to create a golden age, but no matter what I do, it always chooses the Engineer! No, I'm saving the engineer!

If I pick the Merchant and click "start golden age", it takes the Merchant and Engineer. (They're not on the same space, I moved the Engineer away.. he's not even in a city). If I click on "start golden age" from the Artist, it takes the Artist and Engineer. If I select both the Artist and Merchant, grouping them, and THEN click "start golden age"... it STILL takes the Merchant and Engineer.

This is the first gameplay thing that's really frustrated me. Anyone know a solution? Am I being completely obtuse in missing it?

[amicus curiae]

I had the same problem. I posted in the easy patch fixes thread. But I doubt anyone will care. I doesn't come up too often. I ended up just delaying the GA untill I could use the great leader that I wanted to use.

[Kinjiru]

I think it takes them in order of creation. So if your Engineer was the first one created, it will be used. I have not found anyway to prevent this so far.

[Datajack Franit]

wasting a Great Person for a Golden Age

[alva]

AFAIK it chooses the GL(s) nearest to the active one, something like that anyway.

[Kriegsspieler]

I'm not sure that Golden Ages are worth the sacrifice of two GP's. The eras don't last long enough nor are the effects large enough to really make a difference in my civ. IMHO the entire concept seems not to have been play-balanced very well.

[Fosse]

I often start golden ages in the late game, when I don't need another shrine, have the whole continent for myself, have academies in all my cities, research everything in three turns, and don't think 1500 gold is such a big deal anymore.

Golden Ages become more powerful as the game goes on, and GP become less powerful in many situations as joining them to cities loses potency. In a competitive space race a GA can make all the difference.

Shaving two turns off of a four turn research project isn't nearly as cool as shaving two turns off of three or four techs, and boosting hammers to boot.

[Kriegsspieler]

Well, that makes sense. I had only tried to run GA's much earlier in the game, when their effect appeared to be quite ho-hum.

[Stuie]

If I want a Golden Age I build the Taj Mahal.