Thought I would weigh in, if only for the sake of flapping my mouth.
Financial is off course a no brainer. However I would actually prefer Mansa, as I love the ability to switch between civics tailored to whipping infrastructure, pushing GPs or whipping/drafting promoted units.
I feel so terribly constrained when I have to eat a turn of anarchy or only switch during golden ages. I'm always going from civic to civic, like a crackwhore in an all-you-can-eat crackstore.
Industrial can be a double edged sword I feel. Half-priced wonders can be a seducing path to take, and before you know it, you catch yourself thinking: "Chichen Itza, why not, it's only 8 turns?". Better to concentrate on the wonder of Workers and Settlers, as a wise man once said
[SIZE="1"]
Disclaimer: I'm certain team RB would know which wonders to chase and which to laugh at with scorn. Just saying I feel there's better traits out there. If you really want a wonder, the victor is not decided by a innate doubler but on the ability to get to the required tech the fastest as you just line up a fuckton of chops to get it instantly. So in my mind, financial will actually work as sneaky half-industrious trait of sorts.[/SIZE]
However there´s no doubt that Pacal is an awesome pick. And I guess being financial and cottaging it up makes you somewhat less dependent on frequent civic changes compared to a specialist economy. If when end up with this little guy, I won't complain.
