Why are Sages fair? Opinions wanted!

[Boron]

Panther is right imo .
I can't think of a situation in which i don't build 1-2 sages a turn if i can no matter which nation i play .

Research is just so important and the sage and the loremaster are the two best researchers .

In my last machaka game with vh research i found 1 loremaster and 2 Sage sites and recruited 2 sages + 1 loremaster each turn and then had researched all important stuff for me on about turn 60 with VH research .
If i would have wanted i could have even researched everything on turn 60 in that game but i had other priorities , especially forging with forge up occasionally in this game .

Sages are a no-brainer atm

But in Dominions 3 with the new feature age sages are probably already 80+ years old and die after around 30 turns so they are not anymore a nobrainer there i guess