The Great Library -- to build or not to build

[Scouse Gits]

Well said CR and Sten! Good to have you both around again.

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SG (2)

[Smash]

More aimless time killing brought me a kinda sorta "challenge".

Build only 1 wonder(The Library) as fast as you can and then set science to zero and see what happens.No government changes after Monarchy either.No city bribing.

Not real,real hard but different.

[The Mad Viking]

The GL in SP Deity, conquest, is only if you have a terrible start and get beaten to Isaac Newton. I had to resort to this once.

Otherwise, you should be in the lead in science and gold with a good science city and trade trade trade. I build the Colussus, which doesn't expire because you don't need flight.

I don't even bother with Cops Ob anymore. Those shields give me more science as trade caravans, and by the time I have artillery and cavalry, I don't need any more advances.

Multiplayer advantages as outlined by Carolus. Keep in mind also that only one player in MP can build Isaac Newton. If you don't get Ike, you should get the GL.

[Tizzy]

My only reason for building it is to stop the AI benefiting from it.
I used to rely on it to keep my up to speed with techs, but now I've developed a better strategy, I don't bother. I only build it now to piss others off, and then only if I don't have anything more pressing to build first.

[DaveV]

The only times I've seen the AI really benefit from GL is when restarting civs are enabled. If you eliminate a civ under those circumstances, they have a 50% chance of restarting with any one of your techs. This gives that tech to the GL holder, who usually rushes to share it with his AI friends. The easy way to work around that is to capture, obsolete, or destroy the GL before you kill off any civs.

[East Street Trader]

I'm another non library builder but I have used it a few times to try to recover from a bad start or early setbacks.

I seem to remember one game where I got something like 20 techs from the library in the space of five or six turns.

You have to be lucky with the timing though. If you are so far behind that it gets finished late the pace at which the other civs are researching has slowed down, on top of which several of the critical techs will have already been researched by everyone so the library will never provide those techs.

[Everyman]

I don't build the Great Library because it slows my progress through the tech tree.

The Great Library is one of several key wonders available in the early game. Other key wonders available at about the same time include Colossus, Hanging Gardens, Great Wall, Pyramids, Marco Polo. At the higher levels, it's nearly impossible to build all of them so you have to prioritize the wonders. I generally prioritize Hanging Gardens and Colossus and try to build them in the same city. I also prioritize Pyramids. Taking into account your limited resources in the early game, the act of prioritizing certain wonders in effect causes you to surrender the other wonders to the AI.

In the early game my main wonder goals are (1) all wonders associated with a Super Science City - HG, Colossus, Copernicus, Isaac Newton, (2) Michaelangelo, and (3) Leonardo's Workshop. Not having the Great Library allows me to research the associated tech goals single-mindedly without having other techs slow my progress. If I accomplish my goals of a SSC and Michaelangelo, then I find, paradoxically, that not having the Great Library has actually sped up my research.

Of course, there are certain techs that are outside my streamlined tech tree that I find desirable. For example, I find Feudalism desirable because it enables me to build Sun Tzu. To obtain these techs, I build Marco Polo and try to obtain desired techs through trade offs. I can also find out which civilizations have certain desired techs and obtain them through conquest or theft.

My final argument in favor of not having the Great Library is that is allows you to play a more active role in managing your tech path. That is, instead of passively receiving certain techs, you become more involved in choosing which techs you want and when. Since this enhances gameplay, I feel that this in itself is justification for surrendering the Great Library to the AI.