some questions about basic stuff

Hello,
I bought CV when it was released, but had unexplained crashes and never really got into it, so I gave up shortly after.
A few years later, I now took advantage of the steam sales and bought the gold edition and the BNW.

I did a lot of reading and searching on the forum and here are some questions I can't seem to find the answers to.

I know some of the acronyms, like UU and CS, but is there a list of all the once that are regularly used on this forum?

the AI has no honor at all, they seem to be all back stabbers. Is that true, or do I have to meet the right true friend yet?

I must have done something wrong or it is extremely stupid. I pledged to protect a CS. A backstabber AI declared war on that CS and told me that he is sorry. I declared war on the AI to help the CS. After moving my units into the CS territory to fend off the attacker, the stupid CS got angry for me having my units in its territory. So, what is the point on protecting them if you can't go there to help them?

I'd like to watch some youtube videos of good players, playing to win a science/culture victory, but there are so many and I don't know where to start. Any ideas?

I try to stay with 3-4 cities, but when a war brakes out, what should I do? If I make piece, just before taking the city, it's just a matter of time until the sucker builds another army and attacks again. In the mean time the wars keep on costing time and resources, that some other AI runs off with a science victory. If I take the city and raze it, another AI moves in and plants a city right there. If I annex the city, my happiness drops for very long and I can't even build anything that gives me extra happiness. If I puppet the city, again, happiness drops (not so much), but I can't control what to build.
What is the best of these options? what should you do?
Right now, I'm fighting a war on three fronts, I will win (unless a forth AI joins against me). What am I going to do with something like ten more cities?

That's it for now.
Thanks for any help.

1. Accronyms
Here's a list of accronymns:
http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=442106

Some new ones are:
MoV (Merchant of Venice)
GWAM (Great Writer, Artist, or Merchant)

I can't think of many more...

2. AI predictability
The AI will not act "human", if that's what you're wondering, but they are far from perfect. They will get themselves into wars they can't win, and not pursue victory as much as they can. However, you can keep them from targeting you by getting declarations of friendship, open borders, giving them help when they ask and if they don't ask, gift them some gpt or a luxury. When the time comes to chose an ideology, pick one that they picked or one that they would seem likely to pick.

3. Defending
When defending, remember that ranged units are very useful for defending your lands. Make sure to build your cities on hills if you can, and build or buy walls if you think you're being attacked. Make sure to get the technologies required to build ranged units of each era if you sense tension.

4. City-States
You have to be at least friends with a City-State to go through their lands without angering them - I agree it's frustrating when you're just trying to defend them from an outside force, but that's how it is.

5. Attacking and defending
If you feel like you are in a good position and don't need to take any more cities (which is rare but I understand why that would be) there is always the option of razing the city - although it will add more to your empire it is only temporary and it will still keep the AI's progress down. However, most of the time it is better to take cities, as they may have luxury resources you don't have or wonders that would be useful to you. The AI will probably dislike you anyway for going to war against them, so as long as you don't take their capital there is little change, except a small modifier with other AI's.

6. Puppeting vs Razing vs Annexing
You should almost always puppet enemy cities if they have luxuries and good tiles to work - even if you will drop into you can always trade with the AI for more or get buildings/wonders to help. Make sure to research policies that give you happiness benefits.

OmniPotent42 said:

1. Accronyms
Here's a list of accronymns:
http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=442106


5. Attacking and defending
If you feel like you are in a good position and don't need to take any more cities (which is rare but I understand why that would be) there is always the option of razing the city - although it will add more to your empire it is only temporary and it will still keep the AI's progress down. However, most of the time it is better to take cities, as they may have luxury resources you don't have or wonders that would be useful to you. The AI will probably dislike you anyway for going to war against them, so as long as you don't take their capital there is little change, except a small modifier with other AI's.

6. Puppeting vs Razing vs Annexing
You should almost always puppet enemy cities if they have luxuries and good tiles to work - even if you will drop into you can always trade with the AI for more or get buildings/wonders to help. Make sure to research policies that give you happiness benefits.

Click to expand...

You can also raze and settle the spot yourself as sometimes the AI will pick a less efficient spot than it could have.

thanks for the good help.
So, I guess it's totally useless to pledge to protect a CS, unless you're already friends.
Even if you're friends with a CS, what would be the benefit to save them before they are taken by another Civ, compared to wait until they're conquered and then liberate them?
Also, if I had pledged to protect them and didn't help them, is that a negative thing? and if I didn't pledge to protect them, but then DOW on the conqueror to liberate them, does this make me a war monger?
I'm asking all these questions, because I try to understand how to deal with CS in various situations.

Data Android said:

thanks for the good help.
So, I guess it's totally useless to pledge to protect a CS, unless you're already friends.
Even if you're friends with a CS, what would be the benefit to save them before they are taken by another Civ, compared to wait until they're conquered and then liberate them?
Also, if I had pledged to protect them and didn't help them, is that a negative thing? and if I didn't pledge to protect them, but then DOW on the conqueror to liberate them, does this make me a war monger?
I'm asking all these questions, because I try to understand how to deal with CS in various situations.

Click to expand...

If a CS is asking for help in a war (usually by asking for units), and you manage to kill enough enemy units, you gain a HUGE influence boost, something like 120-200 points, pegging you as their ally instantly, which is essentially the same as liberating them. I'd say the benefits of saving them is that you don't have to go through the motions of capturing a city.

If you pledge to protect them, it means you have to take a diplomatic hit when an AI demands tribute from them (otherwise, you can choose not to take the diplo hit, but lose a lot of influence with the CS). If you aren't their ally already, it doesn't make much sense to Pledge to Protect. If you are their ally and have a strong enough military, pledging to protect does make it much less likely for other AIs to demand tribute.

The warmonger penalty for declaring war is much, much lower than it is for capturing cities, but if you liberate cities, you don't get a penalty, and one DoW is not enough to make the AI hate you. If you liberate capitals of other civs, you even get the power of all their World Wolders (!!), and they will always vote for you when world leader comes up.

OmniPotent42 said:

GWAM (Great Writer, Artist, or Merchant)

Click to expand...

Heh, it's "Musician".

There's also WC for world congress.