Republic Vs. Democracy

Ninot · April 7, 2002, 11:57

Alright, here is the scenario I just went threw...

Im in a Republic. My three oldest cities all have a wonder each in them (Pyramids in one, Sistine Chapel in another, Shakespeares Theatre in the last)... and two out of the three are building new wonders.. Magellan's voyage (i kind of want the added movement, just me..) and Wall Street ( i know, small wonder, but still a wonder).

Anyways, im in a sticky position. i HAVE the tech for Democracy, but ive been putting off using it. This is because 1: My workers dont need the boost of efficiency, they've done everything already, and 2: All the very important production (aside from a FP on the other side of the world) is in my three core cities, so they dont need the better coruption levels.

So switching to Democracy, i lose 6 turns of production to anarachy. I do it anyways, i have the dillusion that no one could possibly beat me to building Magellan's first... im the only one with the tech, and im half-way done, with 10 turns left till its completed.

I come out of Anarchy, corruption isn't changed very drastically other than the rim cities of the continent... and, as the old saying goes. if something can go wrong, it will. My neighbors to the south, the Americans, complete Magellan's 2 turns before I could. All because i spent 6 turns in anarchy for nothing.

So, i ask you people, are the bonus'es of Democracy THAT great the Republic should be abandoned?

Personally... i dont think so anymore.

Odin · April 7, 2002, 15:05

Republics are for small nations with that is mostly large cities (todays small Democracies: Japan, Italy. Democracies are for nations with many cities: (US, Mexico, Canada, Russia.)

SpencerH · April 7, 2002, 16:15

Stay republic. There's no point in switching to democracy.

Cyclotron · April 7, 2002, 17:33

Only go for demo if your civ is religious. Otherwise, the war weariness and anarchy make the switch unreasonable.

nbarclay · April 7, 2002, 21:33

(1) In my experience, war weariness in a democracy isn't generally much of a problem if you're strong enough you can can keep your wars short and successful. So a lot depends on your relative strength and your playing style. (If I'm strong enough to stand on my own, I almost always avoid mutual protection pacts precisely because they risk dragging me into wars that won't be short and successful.)

(2) I like having as many of my cities as possible as productive as possible. I think it pays dividends in the long term, even if only to give me a little bit of extra income, science, and culture.

(3) Even if you don't need the faster worker speed now, you'll be glad to have it when railroads come along (assuming they haven't yet).

On the other hand, switching governments in the middle of a wonder race is definitely a risky move. It's important to look at the relative production capacity of your city and rival cities, and also at what wonders the AIs are working on that they might switch away from to a wonder you're working on. I'm not sure I've ever played a game where I didn't switch to democracy, but I've definitely had games where I delayed the switch until a lull in the wonder races.

Nathan