How far would you go for marble?

[eris]

Not very far. I place my cities according to distance from capitol and access to happy/health resources much more than I do either Stone or Marble. And I am a Wonder addict. It's nice stuff to have but not nice enough to alter city placement.

Ooops. This is a serious answer to the Original Poster. I apologize to the rest of the thread content.

Trying again.....

Most people I know prefer getting Stoned rather than getting Marbled, but then again, I am not sure they have tried getting Marbled. I say, "Don't knock it 'til you've tried it."

Mama always warned me about getting Marbled, but I never listened. In retrospect, I think she was right, but it's too late now. It lead me to playing Civ, then posting about Civ, and there's no turning back from there.

[Supr49er]

Originally posted by Theben
I would not feel so all alone
Everybody must get Stone!

Somehow I could see Dylan playing BTS.

[couerdelion]

Originally posted by inca911
Stone >>> Marble

Seems like a pretty final statement but I don’t know if I entirely agree with it. I think I would expect to find that the warmonger types might prefer stone while the builder types like the marble. Myself, I probably have a slight preference for stone but there are also times when I might wish that I had marble instead.

So why would one be more valuable than others

1) The tile resource itself

Probably the least important although the developed marble tile gives +2c at the expense of +1h – to me this means that the improved marble tile is slightly better. For the financial civ this comparison favours marble even more.

Also there are a few differences in the location of the resource

Marble (found on plains, tundra and ice)
Stone (found on plains, desert)

Here perhaps the stone is in the slightly friendlier terrain. Generally desert areas seem to be smaller than some tundra and ice-bound regions so you’ll probably find other useful tiles in the region.

Either way, the comparison is irrelevant because the main value of marble and stone is in

2) Production bonus

Marble helps with some wonders while Stone helps with others. Stone also reduces the build time for a couple of fairly worthless builds (unless you’re Spanish or Celtic)

So the bulk of the preference has to lay with a significant preference for Stone related wonders.

And looking at it this way, I think I probably lean much more favourably to the marble which contributes to some pretty good early wonders in Oracle, Great Library, Temple of Artemis.

For stone, the only really good early wonder that I can think of is the Pyramids. Some nice wonders come later but, by then, I should have been able to acquire the resources through my own powers of persuasion.

[LordShiva]

Originally posted by Sir Ralph
This thread is marbelous!

Are you stoned?

[Supr49er]

Originally posted by LordShiva


Are you stoned?

Why? Do you think he's from Estonia?

[Virulent]

I consider myself lucky if I start near Marble or Stone but I don't go out of the way to get them.

Wonders aren't all that special in Civ IV anyways.

[ben_vii]

Maybe marble is more important than I thought? I stoned corrected.

[joncnunn]

If you think you may be fighting a defensive war, Stone >>> Marble.
Otherwise it's a matter of which wonders would you rather build at double speed. It may well come down to which resource your state religion catherdials get double speed.

[couerdelion]

Originally posted by joncnunn
If you think you may be fighting a defensive war, Stone >>> Marble.
Otherwise it's a matter of which wonders would you rather build at double speed. It may well come down to which resource your state religion catherdials get double speed.

My thoughts on cathedrals is that this is only likely to be relevant for a cultural victory and, here, you are likely to want both in the long run.

By the time you are building the 3-5 cathedrals, my guess is that you will want stone, marble and copper to there is less likelihood of having a clear preference. By contrast, one of the key wonders for a cultural victory is the sistine chapel (which needs marble)

[Arrian]

Marble > Stone, IMO.

Marble: Oracle (only if you have marble really close to your start, though), Great Library, Parthenon, Temple of Artemis, Sistine... Taj?

Stone: Stonehenge, Great Wall, Pyramids, Chitzen Itza, Ankor Wat, Notre Dame... and more.

They're both good, but I'd rather have marble.

-Arrian

p.s. I have to say, the one time I built my capital on a marble plains hill... that was cool. 3 hammers/turn right off the bat. It turned out there was copper in the city radius, and IIRC cows too. MONSTER production city, really early.

[Unimatrix11]

Yeah from your list, i´d say the marble wonders are all pretty desirable under many circumstances, while the stone ones are not. I dont care about stonehenge when i am creative, or the great wall, if i make early contact. Pyramids are nice. But the rest i forfeit almost by default.

[wodan11]

Why wouldn't you care about the Great Wall if you make early contact?

Wodan

[Arrian]

I don't think the GW is all that. It's ok, I guess, but I'm not a big fan.

The first stone-based wonder I think I really care about is the Hanging Gardens, and I almost never get that one anyway. I left it off the list, in fact, because I forgot about it. The AI likes that one now, or seems to now.

Then Notre Dame. I don't even like the Pyramids all that much. If I have stone, IF I am industrious, fine. If not... meh. I don't run specialist economies (if I did, the 'mids would be numero uno, bar none).

I'm guessing "early contact" means that there will be less fog, and thus fewer barbs. Alone on a large continet = lotsa barbs.

I left a big one off the list: Mausolos (that's horrific spelling, I'm sure of it). Does that get boosted by a resource, and if so, which one?

-Arrian

[Unimatrix11]

Yes, Arrian thats how i meant "early contact".