Just wondering what you all think is a better way of getting better: more, easy chieftain games, or warlord games (replace difficulty if you want >_>)

Play on harder levels, it doesn't help you if you play on chieftain.

IMO you're better playing at the level where you struggle to win, rather than where you win comfortably.

The problem with the 'comfort' level is that you can make mistakes but they don't really matter; you're going to win anyway. So you tend to learn bad habits, and not correct your mistakes.

If you play at a more challenging level you really can't afford the same mistakes. So you, to take an example, might have to pay more attention to population happiness. That in turn forces you to have a better understanding of how to manage the happiness issue.

In the extreme case, someone always playing chieftain could never get a grasp of the treasury - since there's no penalty for negative balance at that level. They'd only be forced to master that part of the game at a higher level.

Personally, my 'comfort' level was about Regent, I think. But the GOTM has set difficulties, so I've ended up playing Monarch, Emperor and Deity games :eek:. And while I have lost some of them, I now find on returning to regent, or even Monarch, that it seems much easier than before. Because i was forced to learn how to do things - like highly manipulative trading, a must at Deity - that I never bothered with before.

It's similar logic to weight training. Lifting 10lbs a 1000 times isn't going to do squat for your strength. Nor is lifting 1000lbs (so don't jump straight for Deity). But lifting a weight you can really only handled 10,20 or so times does work. The key is to push yourself enough that you get better, but not so much you get disillusioned and give up.

Part of it too is what you want to learn and how much you are enjoying the game. If you play over your head, you may keep dying before reaching the latter stages of the game (so you learn nothing of them) - but thrive on the early stages (where you are forced to learn). All in all though, you may get frustrated if you keep playing over your head, so you may choose to play an easier level from time to time to 'put it all together' and enjoy a full lengthed game.

Personally, I set difficulty according to my intentions when making the game:

Easy to try new tactics
Easy to play a 'diplomatic' game
Hard to play a 'militaristic' game
Hard to test my limits once in a while

For a long time, I was not improving at all because I played on Chieftan only. Then, I started reading stuff here, improved enough to move up to Warlord, and have been steadily improving ever since. Once I moved up to Warlord, I begin to get challenged, but after a couple games, it became just as easy as Cheiftan. So I played a half dozen games on Regent and now have moved up to Monarch. Basically, I find that you improve fastest by playing about five games on each level until it becomes to easy.

Ive always been darn good, so i wouldn't know ;)

slaps bo, but its true tho prolly :p

anywez, ive played only 1 warlord game :X

I played on Chieftain for a long time, and I regret it now that I'm trying to improve. Go for harder levels, ones where you are hanging on the edge, ones where you are struggling to survive, ONES WHERE YOUR VERY LIFE IS DEPENDENT ON ANTARCTIC NATIONALIST PENGUINS!!!:eek:

Well...maybe not that far.

My problem with improving is that I jumped up a couple of ranks based on my ancient/medieval prowess. I'd sometimes play out the industrial/modern eras as a fiat accompli, but often simply start over counting the game as practically won. (I don't have a lot of patience for the late game when the numbers of cities and units get rather out of hand.)

This, of course, led me to higher difficulty levels where I'm entering the industrial and modern ages without a decisive advantage. I discovered that I really don't have much understanding of how to best play the game in the late stages. It took getting my butt whooped a couple of times before I really figured out the various things that I was doing wrong.

So, in conclusion, you might be in a bit of trouble if you don't improve all areas of your game before jumping up a level or two.

I started with 2 games on warlord, 2 games on chieftain, and now I'm at the point where I can win comfortably on Regent. Once I get comfortable with a few more things I'm going to move up to monarch.

but its true tho prolly

No need for the prolly :)

You're best playing for a good long while on the easier difficulties, because it allows you to get to grips with the mechanics of playing, and you can play around in these 'safe' situations as much as you like before moving up.

ahhh, bottom line is: if you are winning every game on your current level, time to move up to the next.

Just set a system, if you win 3 in a row, it's time for something harder...

Doesn't really matter, here's the underlying fact:

Whatever makes you love the game


And that includes me threatening to force this giant sledgehammer to your head.

The only way to learn is on Deity. :cool:

If things are too easy, try the same level with a few changes the next time you play.

eg. Instead of playing your favorite civ, try one you would not normally pick (like England) and see how your playing style changes. This prevents you from using the same tactics every game.

Try changing land formations. It may not seem like a large difference at first, but a Monarch Archapeligo plays much different than a Monarch Pangea.

If all else fails, try going for a particular victory condition right from the start (like the tournament). This is what helped me make the jump from Warlord to Monarch (with a stop at Regent in between).

Finally, step up the level of difficulty.

I'd recommend skipping chieftain and warlord and starting on regent...if you want to learn the game, it is best to learn it properly, and neither chieftain nor warlord will help much there. It will probably take a while for you to get the hang of the game, but it will be worth it. I started at regent in Civ 3 (never played Civ before) and it took me about 10 tries to finally win on regent, but that is what will give you the best grounding in the game. Take the losses on the chin and never give up!!

The one & only thing that mde me bettah, is this forum!

There are a few factors that help you play better and the most obvious one is going up a difficulty level or 2.
There are other ones as well such as playing as a different civ to what you normally would, trying different map types and going for different victories, but I reckon what Stapel said hits the nail on the head. This forum makes you a better player if your willing to learn.