Tweet
(subtitled: don't you just hate it when your PC crashes and you lose your 800 word post...)
What Shall We Research? Poll I
The time has come for the first time in our history to suggest that our "wise men" could better spend their time actually thinking wisely about something, rather than sitting in a circle, idly hitting rocks against bigger rocks.
The Great Apolymura has blessed our wise men with four ideas which we can develop. No doubt in time we will persue all four lines of research, but the question I put to you today is this: Which one of these four ideas shall we persue first?
The choices are:
Writing
History: For long ages, our people have passed on stories, songs and histories by word of mouth. Generation after generation, we have remembered all the tales of worth, and let's be honest, its getting difficult. The wise men suggest a way of storing the stories in a physical form, so that even if our great civilisation perishes, our culture will live on.
Gameplay:
Advantages: Writing is the cheapest advance available to us at the moment. It is also the only one on the route to monarchy, which is a far superior governement to our tyranny. It is the only advance available to us at present that gives us follow-on advances. Namely Jurispudence (courthouse/chichen itza) and Drama (theatre).
Disadvantages: Writing does not afford any direct gain. i.e. no new units, buildings, wonders, tile improvements, or governments.
Bronze Working
History: As we fight to protect our own, our stone, flint and bone weapons have lasted well, and provided us valuable defense. Our wise men suggest however, that using the shiny metals of the earth, we may be able to make stronger, more durable weapons, and "armour" to protect us. These new weapons will be much more effective at repelling the barbarian hoards.
Gameplay:
Advantages: Hoplites of course! Bronze Working is the second cheapest advance to research, taking roughly 133% the time Writing would to research. Hoplites would enable us to protect our cities from barbarians, and any enemy troops that come our way.
Disadvantages: The map is fairly large, do we really need to protect our cities so early on? Chances are we won't meet with any other civs for a while. Do we really want to spend this time researching bronze working when we don't have a pressing need for defense? No immediate follow-on advance.
Ballistics
History: We have long since known about the powers of sling-shots and javelins in hunting wild beasts, but in battle, these weapons are too small, and not powerful enough to bring down a man. Our wise men have come up with a potential new weapon that can be used from afar, so our warriors are more protected from the enemy troops. The Bow.
Gameplay:
Advantages: With ballistics, we will be able to build archers that will provide valuable ranged attack against opponents. With some ranged-support, we may even be able to take cities early on. Also, ballista towers may help if we need an urgent need to defend our cities.
Disadvantages: Ballistics is fairly expensive for an early-game advance, and will take more time in the long-run if we researched it now, than if we left it until we had more cities. Will we really need archers yet? Will we be conquering yet? Also, no immediate follow-on advance.
Slave Labour
History: Too long have our people laboure din the fields and in the hunt. Why must we toil all day? Just as we employ beasts of burden to do hard tasks, why should we not employ the ignorant, uncivilised peoples of the world to do our work for us? They can work in the fields, and in the mines, leaving us more time to do some knitting, or flower-arranging.
Gameplay:
Advantages: Slavers will be excellent means of providing early-game population boosts. Using other cities as population collectors, we can spend PW on our new mines (production is always a premium), and not bother with as many farms. Also, taking out our neighbours settlers will give us more room to expand.
Disadvantages: Very expensive: slave labour will take almost twice as long as writing to research. Such a delay in the early-game could be a time wasted in other areas of development. Also, will we have enough money this early in the game to properly use our slavers? Dead end advance.
Those are the four choices. Please consider them carefully, and cast your vote.
The poll will remain open the statutory 5 days, and will close at about 19:00 GMT on Wednesday the 8th of January. This should allow the weekend and weekday posters to get a chance to vote.
Thankyou
The Immortal Wombat
Minister of Trade, Science and Diplomacy
CtP2 DG Term 1
What Shall We Research? Poll I
The time has come for the first time in our history to suggest that our "wise men" could better spend their time actually thinking wisely about something, rather than sitting in a circle, idly hitting rocks against bigger rocks.
The Great Apolymura has blessed our wise men with four ideas which we can develop. No doubt in time we will persue all four lines of research, but the question I put to you today is this: Which one of these four ideas shall we persue first?
The choices are:
Writing
History: For long ages, our people have passed on stories, songs and histories by word of mouth. Generation after generation, we have remembered all the tales of worth, and let's be honest, its getting difficult. The wise men suggest a way of storing the stories in a physical form, so that even if our great civilisation perishes, our culture will live on.
Gameplay:
Advantages: Writing is the cheapest advance available to us at the moment. It is also the only one on the route to monarchy, which is a far superior governement to our tyranny. It is the only advance available to us at present that gives us follow-on advances. Namely Jurispudence (courthouse/chichen itza) and Drama (theatre).
Disadvantages: Writing does not afford any direct gain. i.e. no new units, buildings, wonders, tile improvements, or governments.
Bronze Working
History: As we fight to protect our own, our stone, flint and bone weapons have lasted well, and provided us valuable defense. Our wise men suggest however, that using the shiny metals of the earth, we may be able to make stronger, more durable weapons, and "armour" to protect us. These new weapons will be much more effective at repelling the barbarian hoards.
Gameplay:
Advantages: Hoplites of course! Bronze Working is the second cheapest advance to research, taking roughly 133% the time Writing would to research. Hoplites would enable us to protect our cities from barbarians, and any enemy troops that come our way.
Disadvantages: The map is fairly large, do we really need to protect our cities so early on? Chances are we won't meet with any other civs for a while. Do we really want to spend this time researching bronze working when we don't have a pressing need for defense? No immediate follow-on advance.
Ballistics
History: We have long since known about the powers of sling-shots and javelins in hunting wild beasts, but in battle, these weapons are too small, and not powerful enough to bring down a man. Our wise men have come up with a potential new weapon that can be used from afar, so our warriors are more protected from the enemy troops. The Bow.
Gameplay:
Advantages: With ballistics, we will be able to build archers that will provide valuable ranged attack against opponents. With some ranged-support, we may even be able to take cities early on. Also, ballista towers may help if we need an urgent need to defend our cities.
Disadvantages: Ballistics is fairly expensive for an early-game advance, and will take more time in the long-run if we researched it now, than if we left it until we had more cities. Will we really need archers yet? Will we be conquering yet? Also, no immediate follow-on advance.
Slave Labour
History: Too long have our people laboure din the fields and in the hunt. Why must we toil all day? Just as we employ beasts of burden to do hard tasks, why should we not employ the ignorant, uncivilised peoples of the world to do our work for us? They can work in the fields, and in the mines, leaving us more time to do some knitting, or flower-arranging.
Gameplay:
Advantages: Slavers will be excellent means of providing early-game population boosts. Using other cities as population collectors, we can spend PW on our new mines (production is always a premium), and not bother with as many farms. Also, taking out our neighbours settlers will give us more room to expand.
Disadvantages: Very expensive: slave labour will take almost twice as long as writing to research. Such a delay in the early-game could be a time wasted in other areas of development. Also, will we have enough money this early in the game to properly use our slavers? Dead end advance.
Those are the four choices. Please consider them carefully, and cast your vote.
The poll will remain open the statutory 5 days, and will close at about 19:00 GMT on Wednesday the 8th of January. This should allow the weekend and weekday posters to get a chance to vote.
Thankyou
The Immortal Wombat
Minister of Trade, Science and Diplomacy
CtP2 DG Term 1
Comment