Always playing the same way

You may also try something new, like go for science victory and build only porcelain tower and see how it goes. Or just taste dominacion victory.
Generally this 30 wonders things sounds mad, since most of the time you dont need that much. Only CV calls for some big number of wonders.

From the other side, Tradicion rules it all. The amount of hapiness, gold outshinnes other branches. And free hammers are also very convinient. (better get monument + aqueduct early than this 5% over game) And of top that, free GP is not even free.

But probably the right is one who says that if old settings are boring switch to different difficulty, map type, civ, victory type. Or just decide that no tradicion/rationalism.

Dromons are Byzantine, however other than Dromons Byzantine is not really suited for Archipelago. Probably Indonesian would be most specific to Archipelago. However England, Polynesia, Ottomans, could be also interesting in various ways.

PostConsumerWat said:

I seem to always fall into the Freedom ideology... looking forward to a rebalance

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Same for me. Specialists consume half the food and half the unhappiness just so hard to pass those two up when science is such a premium for every victory condition.

eewallace said:

I was thinking of mixing it up by playing a naval-type civ on a archipelago or island map. I've never had an early-game naval war. Maybe as Elizabeth? Kamenaha? Or whoever has Dromons---is that Carthage?

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Byzantium is what you are looking for.

Peter Sagan said:

Thanks guys! I'm now going to start with Genghis on Emperor, higher difficulty and a civilization that normally won't suit me. So my focus will lay on military techs and on wiping other civs, totally out of my comfort zone

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GL->NC->HG is very nice strat for Mongolia Build tall civ and then spawn keshiks and fight.

Story of my life in civ. It's so hard for me. I've watched some pro plays on youtube, read a lot about some strategies and, in the end, I'm this min-max that thinks even military units are a "waste" of time.

What's wrong with me? lol

Diplomatic win every time. Game is boring. Haven't touched in since I got it. *yawn* Civ 5 has re-collapsed on itself. They fixed it with Gods and Kings... and then this... *sigh* This expansion came.

Gamgee said:

Diplomatic win every time. Game is boring. Haven't touched in since I got it. *yawn* Civ 5 has re-collapsed on itself. They fixed it with Gods and Kings... and then this... *sigh* This expansion came.

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Turn off DV, problem solved

I don't see this suggestion yet - try playing with different map types, too. If you've been playing pangaea/continents, try shuffle or fractal. Guaranteed will turn your play style upside down!

eewallace said:

I'm having a similar issue playing on king--I have some pretty predictable go-to strategies that work in the early game, and sometimes I don't even finish a game if I'm so far ahead by renaissance that it won't be a challenge.

I was thinking of mixing it up by playing a naval-type civ on a archipelago or island map. I've never had an early-game naval war. Maybe as Elizabeth? Kamenaha? Or whoever has Dromons---is that Carthage?

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The AI's "tactics" when it comes to naval warfare are pretty poor. Every game where I try to focus a bit on my navy, eventually I get to the point where my submarines destroy all of their ships before they even see me and my fleet of ships has nothing to stop them from taking every city that I want.

I got the min max plague too, if I'd listen to it I would only do Babylonian t260 SV on abundant Pangaea.

The trick is to play with random civ random map at a level if difficulty you are not yet comfortable. You can still min max but it's more interesting because you really have to take into account who you play, the map, the neighbors, everything. Oh and keep playing even if start Is subpar, I have won (and lost) against incommensurable odds, tons of fun.

As soon as I complete one game, I switch civs, huge, marathon. Some I don't play at all. England with its naval and spy advantages I just find too boring to bother. I change maps periodically. I find that Pangea renders the naval game pointless, I prefer Continents Plus, sometimes World, sometimes Terra.

It's the "money thing" with me and probably the ultimate source of my complaint with the slow start. I read time and again, Tradition, Tradition, Tradition as the best opening policy. I tried to switch, but I came back, to Liberty. It seems to me Honor has been nerfed in BNW and quickly becomes irrelevant. My second policy tree now is usually Aesthetics, or sometimes if I am sufficiently advanced at the time Commerce. I want that free settler that Liberty gives me, to build my third city. My first worker is the free worker I get from Liberty. And I use the free Great Person to build an Engineer, which I have been using lately to build the Parthenon. (I don't know why, I am not even fully sold on the Culture game and really can't be bothered pondering that chart to figure out how to get theming bonuses).

So trade routes are great but they take long enough to develop that by the time they get going you can be in serious trouble for gold and don't even think about trying to build much of an army. My early to middle game armies have been reduced to a wan, two Composite Bowman and two Warriors upgraded (boring).

Even at that, the requirement that I build maintenance demanding buildings can put me in the red fast.

Psychologically, I am looking to build security and that's one of the game play factors I see as damaged in the slow start. Examining my own motivations, I want to build up enough defensive strength, that I don't have to roll over for foreign missionaries invading my cities and foreign cities plunked border to border with my cities and breaking my trade routes. Without the wherewithal to deal forcefully with these intrusions, I simply feel vulnerable, impeded and then bored.

Invariably my games follow the course, Pottery, Writing, (Build Great Library); obtain Iron Working as free tech, (build Colossus); Masonry (build Pyramids if I can get them, for two more free workers); Archery, Calendar, the Wheel, Mathematics or Construction (depending on happiness versus gp), Currency, (build markets as quickly as possible); Guilds, (build Machu Pichu) and start building trading posts. I keep my cities so tightly focused on production that I discover sometimes that I'm impeding my own progress.

I seldom deviate far from this game plan. I don't like being "fixed" in my approach but unless the GP problems are set aside very early, the game can disintegrate into a really boring series of mouse clicks, and to waiting in hope that things will get better.

Peter Sagan said:

Maybe I should give Emperor a try and play with a random civ to get me out of my comfort zone. Also I should stop chasing all my favorite wonders.. In my last game with Poland I built like 30 wonders, not difficult when you have a full era science lead.

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The best approach with civ is really to push urself everytime you find yourself getting bored you're probably on too low difficulty, you will naturally find that your tactics and build orders won't get you anywhere on higher difficulties and you will have to start playing reactively to other civs and to the tiles you get . At that point you will have much more fun with the game.