Religions?

[dathon]

I would guess that it's probably an illusion of perception; later religions probably appear to spread faster because there are more established trade routes in place when they come on the scene. Of course, I have no more evidence to back that up then the other way, except to note that the rate is set the same for each

dathon

[Dantski]

Also the later religions obviously come with a free missionary, and having the religion in 2 cities rather than one will spread 'the word' faster.

[T-hawk]

Also the later religions obviously come with a free missionary, and having the religion in 2 cities rather than one will spread 'the word' faster.

I don't think that's true, according to Iustus' analysis. Religion only spreads from the holy city, not from any other city with the religion. So having a second city with a religion doesn't help, if I read that right.

[Raven_Lore]

I don't think that's true, Buddhism often spreads without a shrine.....If AI's waited for a shrine, then they would probably wait for a long time.

[Dantski]

I don't think that's true, according to Iustus' analysis. Religion only spreads from the holy city, not from any other city with the religion. So having a second city with a religion doesn't help, if I read that right.

Maybe that is the case then.

Its just that I recall a few occasions when I've sent a missionary to a far away city and then had the religion spread automatically to nearby cities soon after. Of course I couldn't see if they did use missionaries or not, but I've found the AI to not be enthusiastic about spreading the players religion.

[darrelljs]

The strangest game I ever played from a theological perspective (not counting games altered by Sirian) was a Fractal/Normal map where I was on the larger continent with four oppoents, and a second continent had Isabella and I think Hatty. I founded the first and only religion on my continent: Islam. I spread it aggressively and at game's end about 75% of the world was Islamic. I can't recall another game where Islam was double digits, much less the dominant force in the world. I've often thought Divine Right should give a Great Prophet rather than just a Missionary. It is the only Great Person you can't get from a tech, but it is late enough in the game not to be unbalanced.

Darrell

[Atlas]

I founded the first and only religion on my continent: Islam. I spread it aggressively and at game's end about 75% of the world was Islamic. I can't recall another game where Islam was double digits, much less the dominant force in the world. I've often thought Divine Right should give a Great Prophet rather than just a Missionary. It is the only Great Person you can't get from a tech, but it is late enough in the game not to be unbalanced.

I have often wondered why no Great Priest can be grabbed somewhere on the tech tree. I like this idea, it makes Islam a bit more viable for whoever gets it, plus it provides some incentive for researching Divine Right, if you lack a prophet for a Holy City you already have. Right now I only research Divine Right if I have a spare Artist and no spot to culture bomb, thus I only research half of it, the artist the other half. There just isn't much there, it is expensive and a real chore to make Islam profitable. However when an Artist burns half of it it is pretty good trade bait.

[Sullla]

A Great Prophet at Divine Right? You must be kidding, right? There's a reason why there aren't any Prophets on the tech tree: no freebie shrines. Founding a new religion AND getting an instant shrine for it (or another self-founded religion of your choice) would be ridiculously powerful.

Besides, there's already two wonders at Divine Right: Spiral Minaret and Versailles. Two wonders and a religion aren't enough to make this an attractive tech? Can't say I agree with that logic...

[sooooo]

Founding a new religion AND getting an instant shrine for it (or another self-founded religion of your choice) would be ridiculously powerful.

Well I don't like criticising the game makers, because they did a fantastic job, but I don't think it would be that powerful at all. A late shrine gets you 1GPT, plus 1 GPT per 40 hammers (normal speed) you spend on a missionary. OK it gets better with Wall Steet, but that's not ridiculous, even if you assume every missionary succeeds. Surely at that time of the game you have better things to spend your hammers on? I think I only go for divine right if I'm (a) going for a culture win or (b) have 2 artists, 1 from music, and have to burn the 1st one on DR to use the second one for nationalism for cavalry or a musket-draft strategy.

[uberfish]

Versailles, ugh. Unless you happen to have an engineer sitting around or are already running away with the game, it's too difficult to build it in newly acquired cities before the computer builds it in some AI core city. The only time I've ever had good use out of this is when someone I'm about to conquer builds it.

Spiral minaret has a niche, but I wouldn't rate it as stronger than Angkor Wat or Sistine Chapel.

Philosophy and theology not only can be lightbulbed with 1 GP, but also enable useful civics which divine right doesn't.

I think the return on investment on divine right is poor compared to other late-medieval techs, but with so many techs there are always going to be a few imbalances on the tech tree (hi bronzeworking.) However, it's already a tech that rewards the first discoverer far more than anyone else because all it enables is one-time-only bonuses, and giving out a free prophet in addition just makes that worse. To balance Divine Right, the correct thing to do would be to give it a regular civic/unit/building so that it did not immediately become useless when the religion and 2 wonders are taken.