Rank the Traits: Seafaring

[Cerbykins]

3.
Alleged to have it's uses, but I've yet to explore them. Guess the random civ picker didn't feel like it
Will hold up for th eduration of the game, and scale up to higher difficulties. But I think the city gold, or something like it, may be in commercial already.
The rating indicates my recognition of this trait's potential power, but as yet it is a power virtually completely unknown. Perhaps due to the 'clumsiness' described by eris, but back in civ 1 I had a taste for exploration so 'hydrophobia' is not always an issue

[Arnelos]

4.
1/2 price harbors, +1 ship movement (VERY VERY USEFUL FOR SUICIDE CURRAGHS AND GALLEYS!!!), reduced chance of suicide vessels sinking (again... very useful), early exploration advantage, +1 commerce in coastal cities.

Seriously, what's not to like?

Personally, Carthage is one of my favoriate MP civs in C3C. You start on the coast with the ability to build a scouting curragh with +1 movement right from the start while you have a great dual-use UU that can work on both offense and defense even without access to iron or horses. Basically, Carthage is a civ uniquely qualified to make you largely immune to bad luck with resource placement since scouting curraghs/galleys and an early Numidian Merc and catapult army is tough to beat compared to being in the same position without those advantages.

The Byzantines are of course an excellent civ on archiapelago maps, but personally I think the best is England. That corruption reduction is great on the often spread out empires of archiapelago maps, as well as the CUMMULATIVE trade bonuses from the seafaring and commercial traits (+2 trade in the city tile at size 7 plus reduced corruption rates... yeah, you're rolling in money).

Then you have the Dutch... the Vikings... even the admitedly mediocre Portugeuse and Spanish. This is one very good trait.

[joncnunn]

This would be a three plus rating.

Only reason it's not a four is that I've moded Curraghs to be impassable in Ocean and require 2 MP in sea and Galley to require 2 MP in ocean.

Nice exploration for getting contacts of those civs you'd otherwise have to march thru an intermedary civ's territory.