Maybe this is just how my game in the Lucy opendev is going, but the Babylon ability is the strongest techbased ability in the game? Its better than the next two eras at least as it seems to continually stack forever. I was able to pull ahead to an insurmountable lead in tech (and therefore fame) very early and kept them around until I finally switched to Umayyads, their bonus still not being worth it I think, as I wanted to mix it up. I could be in part the way the map is laid out, or me not knowing optimal city to territory ratio that made my game like this.

Has anyone else had this happen to them? 

Abilities don't go away when you change civs! You stack abilities.

I cant believe i didn't realize that lol.

Raises the question of why youd transcend then if all you get is a minor fame buff?

Babylons ability still seems hilariously OP for tech 

A. Currently, in Opendev there has never been more players than civs... but what if there could be?

B. CHALLENGE RUNS!!!!

C. Maybe you figure you can generally compete and you need that fame boost to catch up to the game leader?

Have you tried the ZOU. Those are impressive as well.