This is a real challenge, and I need all the help and tips you must have.:king:
My own - Try to convince the one who you will fool that playing civilization 4 IS work. This can be achieved by making the person believe that you just have been employed at a computer magazin like IGN. Furthermore can you use your, now greatly expanded with Civilopedia:p , vocabulary and make the person believe you are devolping you mind.
But this isn't good if the person out-smart you (that's offcourse only you mother who can do that..:crazyeye: ) so what are your tricks?

Mum: What are you doing, you should be doing homework!

Me: I'm learning about history.

Mum: Whats happening then?

Me: My Malinese tanks are crushing the Americans in New York, but the Romans sneak attacked me with Nukes!

Mum: Okay... (backs off slowly)

:crazyeye: That plan may not work...

mom- must explore map of the world completely to copy it down for geo homework(little does she know that its not real)
boss- solving company deficit using civ4 commerce system.
wife/gf- learning about relationships using diplomacy (when we argue give me 1200 bucks to stop the fight)
:lol:

My mom think its historical, so she doesn't care. (Im 14 by the way)
Boss-Id use alt-tab combo but what do I know, I have no job.
Girlfriend-"Hmmm?uuuhhh?" "Howd u like to play a Hotseat game with me?"

I'll say to my boss, Gobi (not his real name), look what I just installed on my computer. Wanna try for a few? You know you do.

I;m not even going to try.

luckily civ4 comes out here in oz just as i finish my final school exams, so i have 3 months free to play civ :D

But then as i am going to do computer science next year, modding civ will be improving my skills :goodjob:

I think one of the best way are: I'll say to my boss, Gobi (not his real name), look what I just installed on my computer. Wanna try for a few? You know you do. but I just feel like a dealer when doing that.. and I don't want to be a dealer.. to my mom for exsample.. or if there's only ONE computer then you don't want to share it.. soo.. the "It's just history, mom!" is still a really good back up.. I'm 17 by the way..

I'll say to my boss, Gobi (not his real name), look what I just installed on my computer. Wanna try for a few? You know you do.

I don't think you will have any trouble convincing him to try for a few, getting your computer back could be a problem, I hear he has a "one more turn" problem occasionally.

My other half is on a business trip to the US for the next few weeks, before going he made sure the laptop he took should be able to play Civ4, checked Google maps for the nearest mall to the hotel he is at this week and intends to be there Wednesday to buy it. While I have to wait till probably 3 Nov for my preordered copy to arrive here. We need two copies as he always takes a copy of Civ with him when he travels and I can't be without my copy for that long.

Oh and since my boss is the same as Warpstorms I don't have a problem there either ;)

I am afraid that I won't be able to offer any useful advise. It has gotten to the point that even when I am diligently working, my wife thinks I am sneaking in a Civ session.

I am afraid that I won't be able to offer any useful advise. It has gotten to the point that even when I am diligently working, my wife thinks I am sneaking in a Civ session.

Same with my mom. That's the problem now, can't even work without suspicion. :sad:

Boss - inform him that he's the one with the problem and he can pretend that I am working.

Significant Other - dating someone who can't wait to play Civ4, I lucked out

"What? Can't you see I'm working hard? Computer games? Look at the screen! There's only a large block of boring text there! What are you talking about? Are you hallucinating or something?"

Boss: There was a burglary downtown, why weren't you there?

Me (with a laptop): Burglary...yeah I know, but I was facing a full scale rebellion and the Russians were invading...I couldn´t leave all that for a mere burglary :crazyeye:

Oh yeah, for my wife I'll just tell her it's research for work and the disk will be tax deductable as a business expense.

Just tell everyone CivIV is some kind of a bussines simulation that was invented at Harvard MBA for CEO wannabe's.

lol - these are good. i satisfy my addiction by coming on here at work - I really dont know how im going to handle my girlfreind tho...

luckily civ4 comes out here in oz just as i finish my final school exams, so i have 3 months free to play civ :D

But then as i am going to do computer science next year, modding civ will be improving my skills :goodjob:

A) You lucky, lucky git!
B) Yeah i did planning and urban design so i used to pretend to myself SimCity and similar were really studying... strange how i nearly failed then :rolleyes:

as a Field Artillery Tactical Data Systems Specialist in the SD National Guard, it is my job to plot battle simulations.....

I dont bother. If you egnore them and continue to stare at the screen. they tend to go away

Program your comp to automatically switch to what you're suppose to be working on (office work, homework, looking up things etc) at the slightest sign of your boss/mum/wife appearing in the room. :)

When anybody comes near me I just act like I'm thinking real hard. If they ask me something like,"Shouldn't you be do your homework or something?" I just say,"AND LET THE RUSSIANS TAKE NEW YORK??!!NOT TO MENTION THE NUKE-HORDING ROMANS!"They usally just look at me for awhile, shake their head, and walk away:goodjob: .Now when it comes to my G.F....not so easy, she's smarter than even I. But I get her to play Civ with me and explain stuff to her. So insted of letting her pull me away from my PC, I just pull hear to ME and we BOTH play Civ.Best of both worlds.:lol: :mischief: :goodjob:
PS (she's blonde;) :mischief: )

My challenge is keeping my install disc away from my wife. She's as big a Civ fan as I am, but needs to finish a project before she can jump in. >.<

Boss - I'm the boss. Not a problem.
Wife - There's broken glass from the lamp I kicked all over the floor (while trying to get my $%#@ video card to work), don't come in here. (Works with kids as well... should have thought of it years ago actually.)

Well I would try asking my boss if he wanted to play a multiplayer game with me, if that fails and since i dont have a boss, I would have multiple programmes open on computer usch as microsoft word and type some stuff(quite possible on how my game is going fo ra start on my Civ4 story) when she comes switch to typing;)

Well, My work is away from my computer, so that's not a problem, but I'll likely be thinking about Civ IV while I'm working...

Haven't tried installing games at work yet. Checking out sites like this at work gives me enough of a fix until I can play at home.

Now my wife, and even harder to push away, my infant daughter... I just don't sleep. I wait until they're all asleep, usually around 10PM, and play until 2 or 3AM. Maybe crash for 3 or 4 hours, then off to work at 6AM...

Mountian Dew is good to me.......

Boss - I'm the boss. Not a problem.
Wife - There's broken glass from the lamp I kicked all over the floor (while trying to get my $%#@ video card to work), don't come in here. (Works with kids as well... should have thought of it years ago actually.)

That's hilarious. My kids won't even come on my side of the house when I've got a computer case open. I may try that.

I always keep my left hand ready over ALT & Tab while at work, failing that I turn the laptop away from the door. My predecessor went one further and moved into the corner of the office and had three desks surrounding him. I'm not that paranoid... yet.

I've already had to explain to the wife why I'm taking the 4th November off as holiday and not doing any housework etc etc.

Oh, the sneaky little lives we lead to play Civ!:)

Jon

I've got a great solution- I just annoy my wife (just enough) until she demands "Don't you have something else to do?!" and then she's actually relieved when I vej out on the computer.;)

Well, My work is away from my computer, so that's not a problem, but I'll likely be thinking about Civ IV while I'm working...

Same here. Plus reading too much on civfanatics.com...

I play Civ on my laptop while I do work on my desktop. That way I can always look like I am working.

You guys need to get better at this; not many suggestions here sound very convincing.

Here's my approach.

Stage 1: Build the Story. I invent a "high pressure" deadline that I'm supposedly up against, and tell everyone that I have only a week to do X amount of work. To make this more convincing, I take a real-life deadline that is coming up, exaggerate the amount of work I need to do, and exaggerate how much time it is going to take me take to do it all.

Everyone I talk to, I tell them that I'm working my tail off, and that I am worried I'm not going to get done in time. I go on about the incredibly long hours that I have to work if I'm going to even have a chance at making my deadline. I get everyone terrorized into thinking that they are going to ruin my career if they don't leave me alone and let me work, and gather a lot of sympathy for how hard-working and dedicated I am.

Stage 2: Work Your Tail Off. Get started on the project. If you have used a real deadline as cover for your game-playing, this will be simple: just start working on the real thing. If you have completely made up something, then find an old project and start "working" on it. It is important to have large file on your computer screen, a multitude of books around your workspace, and generally look frantic, overworked, and absent-minded.

Keep your door open, but complain about every interruption, including the noise of your home/workplace. Talk about how little headway you are making and that at this pace, it doesn't look like you are going to finish in time. Lament about how it takes you 15 minutes to get back on track every time there is an interruption. Talk about how frustrating it is that you don't seem to be getting any support when something this important is on your plate. Wonder out loud whether you might need to change your work environment so that you can stay focused. Talk about how you get so much more done when you work at night, when nobody else is around to bother you.

Note that all of this can be done with semi-honesty if you just convince yourself that Civ is work and winning the game is the real deadline. You really do work better in isolation. Interruptions really do break your concentration. You really are worried that you aren't going to get it all done in the small amount of time available. And you really do need everyone's cooperation if you are going to accomplish this great task of world conquest. Just leave out the details that would upset them.

Stage 3: Isolation. Convinced that I am up against a horrendous deadline, and that even the slightest disturbance sets me back 15 to 30 minutes, coworkers, family, and friends are very willing to leave me alone. I close my door and lock it "so I won't be disturbed," and keep talking about how close the deadline is, and how little I've accomplished so far on the project.

Now it is safe to play. But don't overdo it. "Accidently" leave the door open for short periods of time, and stay completely focused on your "work" while the door is open. Then at the first interruption, complain again about how your concentration is broken. Lament about how you have to work with your door closed. Talk about how much you like working with it open, but unfortunately that just isn't possible under the circumstances.

Every time you go out of your room for a potty break, to get a snack, or to run to the copier, leave your door open and your "work" visible on your computer screen.

Stage 4: Report on Progress. Every time you have a chance, talk about how much you are getting accomplished--now that you have more privacy. Talk about how much you are getting done.

I find it helpful to base these comments on my real progress in the game. If it is an early stage in the game, I talk about how much I'm learning, how the exploratory stages of a project are always so exciting, and how I can't wait to start putting to work all of the preliminary tasks that I have to accomplish while I'm gathering info for my work project. I also talk about how much research I'm doing (think about the techs you have researched), how much ground I've covered (think about expanding borders) and how it feels so great to enter a new stage in the project (think about changing eras, etc.).

Talk up the progress, but also keep emphasizing the damage that all the interruptions do to your productivity. When someone knocks on your door, use ALT-TAB to switch projects and say something about what you were in the middle of (again, if you can relate the game to work lingo, all the better). You might mention that yesterday you lost about 1.5 hours of productivity due to interruptions, but also say how happy you are to get a break from work because focusing one just one thing for hours and hours can be mind-numbing (there is surely some truth in that). I find it very helpful to talk about how I only got five hours worth of work done at the end of a day, and how meetings and such have cut up my day. I illustrate how much more I can get done when I have large unbroken time blocks to work in, and then go about restructuring my schedule to make more time for Civ.

Stage 5: The Final Push and Climax. As you get close to the deadline (real or imaginary), make your work hours longer, your watercooler demeanor more frantic and harried, and your physical appearance more disarrayed. Stop shaving. Worry out loud that you are going to have to leave out some things that really needed to be done, but you just don't have time for everything (there is probably some truth in this, as you neglect some aspects of life to devote all your energy to Civ). Thank everyone for all their support, and keep talking about how you have only x days or x hours left.

Increase your isolation. Ask people if they can please get lunch for you. Offer to pay them extra, because you really can't spare the time to buy food, but you don't want to loose your health over this. Gush with gratitude--tell them you couldn't do it all without them, and that you are so thankful for their help and support.

Cancel meetings, skip your workout, skip meals--do all the things that overworked people do when they are hitting a deadline. Make every hour count; you will probably be able to get the maximum amount of playtime out of these last few days. Become irritable, but apologize for being so short with people, and lament about how you're just not yourself, and you hate what stress like this does to you. Promise to make it up to them when all this craziness of the looming deadline has passed.

Stage 6: Denouement (http://dictionary.reference.com/search?r=2&q=denouement) and Recovery. Once the big deadline has passed, show everyone how relieved you are. You might talk about what you wished you could have accomplished if you had had more time, but don't linger too much on this theme--it will erode goodwill. This is the time to make your supporters glad that they did so much to help you. Thank them for giving you so much space, for bringing you meals, for excusing you from meetings. Tell them how glad you are that you have such great people to work with. Talk about how amazing it was that you could get so much done, and how grateful you are that it is all done. All this will repair some of the damage done by your isolation and deadline-crunching.

Think about the process as withdrawing from a bank account. If you keep taking out, and don't deposit more cash, you are going to find yourself overdrawn. If you want to continue playing Civ at work (or home, if you work at home like I do), you'll need to rebuild your base of support.

Take a vacation from Civ for a few days. Spend time outside with the kids. Laugh, relax. Write some thankyou cards (or do whatever is appropriate for your supporters). Take your wife/gf/partner out to dinner, and tell her how much she means to you.

Every once in awhile, mention that there is another project coming up, and you are not looking forward to it. But also say that you're learning that you work better with privacy, and that you think that if you get started earlier this time, it won't be so hectic this time around.

Happy Civing.

All that work when you could be playing . . .

You guys need to get better at this; not many suggestions here sound very convincing.
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Wow! This is simply EVIL. AWSOME WORK!:goodjob:

I've got a great solution- I just annoy my wife (just enough) until she demands "Don't you have something else to do?!" and then she's actually relieved when I vej out on the computer.;)

Dude, that's evil and dangerous. It's much more simple. My wife is a CivFanatic as much as myself (with a little help from me of course) :)

If you have kids though you shold be carefull or it might end up in something scary like this :) (http://uploads.ungrounded.net/content.php?id=256494&name=256494_littlegirlFINAL2.swf&title=The%20Little%20Girl&date=1130821200&quality=b&uj=0&w=550&h=500)