Civilization IV is more addictive than crack cocaine

I

Inso

Warlord
Joined
Apr 25, 2009
Messages
163
Does anyone else feel that this game has a hold on them? Like when I'm playing I tell myself I need to stop to go and do something 'productive' but I just HAVE to see if I can get the Great Library built in my GP farm, then oh lets just see if we can get to that tech first, then just get oxford up and see if the BPT reaches 800 or not. And so on, things keep coming up which I simply need to see the outcome of. I will also make excuses, like 'just five minutes to check on my empire can't hurt'. Two hours later I'm well into the renaissance having capitulated half the continent and about to edge out a space victory or something. One 'hit' as such and I'm hooked for hours!

I've been obsessed with a fair few games in my time but none have captivated me like this one. I'm even finding myself thinking about strategies while not playing and sitting on a bus or something, daydreaming about how I could play a certain map differently, etc. Its just too damn fun, something about all the calculation involved is just so satisfying along with the level of variation and ridiculous depth that the strategic analysis can get to. So anyway, how many others are hopelessly addicted? Civilization rehab anyone?
 
Inso said:
Does anyone else feel that this game has a hold on them? Like when I'm playing I tell myself I need to stop to go and do something 'productive' but I just HAVE to see if I can get the Great Library built in my GP farm, then oh lets just see if we can get to that tech first, then just get oxford up and see if the BPT reaches 800 or not. And so on, things keep coming up which I simply need to see the outcome of. I will also make excuses, like 'just five minutes to check on my empire can't hurt'. Two hours later I'm well into the renaissance having capitulated half the continent and about to edge out a space victory or something. One 'hit' as such and I'm hooked for hours!

I've been obsessed with a fair few games in my time but none have captivated me like this one. I'm even finding myself thinking about strategies while not playing and sitting on a bus or something, daydreaming about how I could play a certain map differently, etc. Its just too damn fun, something about all the calculation involved is just so satisfying along with the level of variation and ridiculous depth that the strategic analysis can get to. So anyway, how many others are hopelessly addicted? Civilization rehab anyone?
Click to expand...

All Ican say is that Sid did his job well done.
 
Yup it's addictive.

Whatever you don't try Nethack too.

http://www.nethack.org/

You fall down a pit. The pit has spikes! The spikes are poisoned! You die...
 
I have horrible bags under my eyes from constantly staying up too late, staring at the screen.

I now have to buy eye cream and concealer by the 45 gallon drum.

Darn you, Sid! :lol:
 
Definitely addictive. More like meth than cocaine. Have not played this thing for almost 6 months, then I heard about CivV. damn. Last two nights sitting in front of the pc, and now cooling off with some info instead.

Sad thing is (like a regular junkie) I'm a lousy player. I don't play that well on Civ IV as I did earlier in III or even II. CivIV is just too complex, and I never get used to religion, culture and this GP-farm-thing. Espionage is slowly advancing.
 
The delicious complexity of civ IV is what I love so much about it, been playing fairly regularly for nearly a year now and still there are many aspects I don't understand how to play properly :D
 
I agree; nowadays when I watch a historical documentary or world news on any international news channel it feels just like I were playing civ4
 
Civ eats four-hour blocks of my time like peanuts. I have to swear it off cold turkey or else I get nothing done on the weekends.
Last night I said to myself "I'll just play until I snag Physics", picking up the game I left off with Sci Meth as my last upgrade. But while I am researching, W the O suddenly shows Physics in his "won't trade" list. So my plan gets revised-finish Physics, trade for Bio, tech Meds to build Sushi. Change the specialist lineup to pop a Merchant, get Physics, and none of the civs will trade Biology. So then I research it myself, research Meds, pop sushi, start to spread it, see my buddy Monty has destroyers, go RR and start Combustion to get back on par while building Drydocks in all my port cities, and then I realize I should have been in bed hours ago.
All "just to snag Physics".
 
I play Guild Wars usually. They're both rather heady games, but Civ offers things that GW doesn't (and vice versa), so they make natural complements. I play Civs 1 and 4. I've been alternating between these games for five years and they're really fun & addictive.
 
I think it would take me a while to realize I was on a desert island if it happened to have a solar powered computer running exclusively Civ 4 on it.
 
Plus, it would take you ages to build the Moai Statues there.
 
I prefer playing in small sessions, usually 20-30 minutes at a time. Rarely get carried away and play for hours on end. It's more fun for me taking it slow and playing a few turns at a time. :crazyeye:
 
Rychord said:
I think it would take me a while to realize I was on a desert island if it happened to have a solar powered computer running exclusively Civ 4 on it.
Click to expand...

Amen brutha :D

j0anne said:
I agree; nowadays when I watch a historical documentary or world news on any international news channel it feels just like I were playing civ4
Click to expand...

That's so true, if I see one of the world wonders mentioned in a documentary I tend to think of it in civ terms. Also I've become kind of interesting in history since I've been playing this game, so that's my excuse for playing it so much hehe. Its 'educational'!!!
 
Well civ IV is addictive BUT not as addictive as Evercrack used to be. I would play that for days.
 
I agree. Probably not the most addictive game I have every played (that would be World of Warcraft), but it's probably the second most addictive. The only advantage it has over wow is the games actually do end, and it gives you a break from the game for a couple days until you start a new game. Unless you start a new game right upon finishing the previous which I have been known to do.

But while I'm in the middle of a game, I get very little household chores done. It's very hard to stop a game when in the middle. Even when I stop for the night, I pick it up when I wake up (on my weekends). One reason I do that is I know if I stop for too long, I'll never finish the game. I still have that Japan 18 civ earth map game I haven't finished. I stopped for too long, and now I lost interest. So I try not to stop for too long.
 
heljik said:
Definitely addictive. More like meth than cocaine. Have not played this thing for almost 6 months, then I heard about CivV. damn. Last two nights sitting in front of the pc, and now cooling off with some info instead.

Sad thing is (like a regular junkie) I'm a lousy player. I don't play that well on Civ IV as I did earlier in III or even II. CivIV is just too complex, and I never get used to religion, culture and this GP-farm-thing. Espionage is slowly advancing.
Click to expand...

yup, I came back after checking this site a few weeks ago and learning the announcement of civ5. And of course many discussions in the civ5 forums involved civ4 concepts, which made me want to play. And now I'm back. I'll play hardcore for a few more weeks I think, but I'd like to finish up this rpg I started, and maybe get the dragon age xp. We'll see.

P.S. as for GP farming, I never learned it. I just cottage spam. GP farms seem like too much micromanagement to me.
 
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