I'm playing on huge maps with less of a per-city penalty, and I did the math (can't find it right now though) that Representation only barely gets ahead of itself and in the very end-game. Remember 80% of costs doesn't mean 120% or 125% as many policies, because each marginal policy is about 10% more expensive than the last. On a huge map it's more like 90% of costs, and then the marginal cost is another 10%, and then there's no gain.
I'm open to thoughts of skipping Collective Rule, but Representation isn't it. But you gotta tell me where I'll gain back 10 turns of city development without it. Collective Rule speeds up the last settler by about 10 turns, and remember that saving turns is my whole ultimate goal. Rep doesn't come near that. Jesuit Education might have a chance, but I can already get both that and Collective Rule (at the cost of doing little else with policies besides Poland.)
Kremlin/SOL is no constraint, I've learned to pick a city whose build queue won't be needed for anything else. It doesn't have to complete until right at the end because the policy goes towards Space Procurements or Spaceflight Pioneers.
Peace deal to get lump-sum gold? I never thought about that one, may work.
Although of course there's the one other way to get a second city super fast: play Huns, get a ruins upgrade to a battering ram, and one-shot a neighboring capital.
I'm open to thoughts of skipping Collective Rule, but Representation isn't it. But you gotta tell me where I'll gain back 10 turns of city development without it. Collective Rule speeds up the last settler by about 10 turns, and remember that saving turns is my whole ultimate goal. Rep doesn't come near that. Jesuit Education might have a chance, but I can already get both that and Collective Rule (at the cost of doing little else with policies besides Poland.)
Kremlin/SOL is no constraint, I've learned to pick a city whose build queue won't be needed for anything else. It doesn't have to complete until right at the end because the policy goes towards Space Procurements or Spaceflight Pioneers.
Peace deal to get lump-sum gold? I never thought about that one, may work.
Although of course there's the one other way to get a second city super fast: play Huns, get a ruins upgrade to a battering ram, and one-shot a neighboring capital.