Why have high prestige?

[unmerged(94581)]

I know that it's counted to determine your rating along with military and industrial scores, and that having it under 0 makes you isolated diplomatically. Probably, 100 is also good for the extra 0.5 diplomats. But other than that, it seems to me that the lower your prestige the better.

Since higher prestige countries - and their pops - get first dibs on world market goods, it seems to me that you'd want to be last, so that your capitalists invest their money instead of spending it.

 

[unmerged(93281)]

Ah, but there's little point to factories built by capitalists if your prestige isn't high enough to buy goods to supply them on the WM.

 

[unmerged(94581)]

Good point. Early on, though, when you're swimming in your own resources, it probably doesn't make sense to have high prestige.

Case to point: Russia. You have tons of domestic resources, not industrialized, and you can pull a "Czar of all Slavs" early on, which pushes your prestige insanely high.

The Wiki FAQ actually suggests you get the "Czar" event, but if you do, you are seriously shooting your capitalists in the foot.

 

[RELee]

One look at this gentleman of the era should be enough to convince you of the importance of prestige during the game period, but just in case this fails to impress, you can read the attendant article below...

Macdonald ally tagged as a pretender
An amateur historian says he has uncovered the lower-class beginnings of a man who came to Canada in the mid-19th century and rose to positions of authority with claims to being a wealthy British aristocrat. Regina writer C.J. Cooney has published work suggesting that Edgar Dewdney, a cabinet minister under Sir John A. Macdonald and the only person ever to serve as lieutenant-governor in two Canadian jurisdictions, used false claims about his background to achieve success in early Canada, the Canwest News Service reports. Cooney's article is published in the journal British Columbia History.

 

[unmerged(94581)]

Hmm, I don't know. He looks like one of those darned aristocrats I can't seem to get rid of. No place for him in my (wannabe) industrial machine.

Of course, I can't say that, can I? Those darned conservative soldiers, peasants, and officers will shout "Revolution" if I do.

 

[Redhead]

25 prestige -> +0.25 diplo-points/year
100 prestige -> +0.50 diplo-points/year
500 prestige -> +0.75 diplo-points/year
2500 prestige -> +1 diplo-point/year.
Non-cumulative and before modifiers, plain Ricky.

High prestige is also useful during colonial race. You can colonize provinces within the state partially colonized by other nation if you have higher prestige. Might be nice to block the competition from certain places and/or refuse them their prestige increase.

Finally, as you mentioned, it is a part of your score. Might be easier to get this first place with high prestige, especially that both UK and Germany usually have it sky-high.