Best Wonder?

[Ghengis Brom]

I voted for Leo's Workshop. I know a lot of folks have bashed the Workshop because it was nerfed in Civ III. I can say from experience though that on a large map it really kicks butt. I had the Japanese breathing down my neck after they had caught up and surpassed me on tech. They had iron then discovered Gunpowder and got 2 sources of Saltpeter. I was building the Workshop, traded India gold for Gunpowder but the Saltpeter appeared in a French city within my borders which I was waiting to flip to my side. When the Japanese got Gunpowder I said the hell with it and took the French city. Mind you several turns had passed at this point and I knew the Japanese would start streaming across my borders with Musketmen, not to mention the French were now really pissed. Then I got the pop-up telling me I've completed Leo's Workshop, Pikeman to Musketman for 20 gold Woohooo! The Japanese never came across the border, I ended up taking half their cities. The French ended up being destroyed, the Saltpeter I took from them was their only source.

While the Workshop may not be as strong as it was in Civ II, it's still one of my "must haves".

[Spatzimaus]

I voted for the Sistine. Look at some criterias for a "good" Wonder.

> Lifespan. Sistine never becomes obsolete, and is one of the first Wonders of the Middle Ages (and I'd rather not spend time in the Ancient Era making Wonders, that's when I'm churning out Settlers); the Hoover Dam, for example, comes at a point where I've usually already won the game (or am clearly ahead, same thing).
> Big effect. Actually, J.S. Bach's is probably better overall; 2 happies instead of 3, but you don't need to wait until Cathedrals, which makes a huge difference when you're invading someone.
> Non-reproducible effect. Not in the sense that only it provides happiness, I mean that you can't make the same effect through non-Wonder means; take Sun Tzu's for example. Nice wonder, but it only saves some time and money; a militaristic civ will already have Barracks in all the major cities anyway. Hoover Dam, on the other hand, gives Hydro Plants to cities without water.
> Not on a dead-end tech. If the AI beats you to Bach's Cathedral you just wasted a few turns researching a dead-end useless tech. Corollary: it must be on a tech required for era advancement, because I want to get to Steam Power ASAP and don't want to waste time on side techs (I'll get them later).
> Not limited to one continent; on island maps they'd be useless.

You don't need ALL of these, but you get the point.

[Ethelred]

Originally posted by Carver


I don't think Universal Sufferage does a darn thang.

It seems to have the same effect as a Police Station. Around a ten or twenty percent improvement in War Weariness. Which doesn't help a heck of a lot. I don't think its enough to completely mitigate even the first stage of war weariness.

[TinCow]

I voted for the Hoover Dam. For me, the best wonder changes based on the game, but Hoover is the most consistently important for me. Sometimes I just get really far behind in tech in the beginning due to bad luck/strategy on my part. In those games the Great Library is king. However, if I'm playing like I normally do the Great Library will only end up giving me 2-3 techs that I would be able to buy for an affordable price anyway (I'm a big-economy Civ3 player).

I almost never play on small maps, and I usually stop my expansion once I have conquered my continent (and any nearby islands)... thus Hoover Dam kicks ass. Instant pollution-free power to all my cities. All you have to do is build a coal plant in the Hoover Dam city, build the GW, then sell the coal plant. Ta-Da!

Sistine Chapel is also nice, but I make so much money that I can pump up my luxury rate and still be ok. My other favorites are:
Universal Suffrage (can't be dropping out of my capitalist democracy during war... I would stop making money!)
Sun Tzus (saves me some cash... especially when upgrading to knights (80 gold per horseman otherwise!) and musketeers (especially for any old spearmen).
Adam Smith's (yet more cash)

All 3 science wonders (in the same city... I love the science city... very tough to do this I find though)