What I have loved about civilization is that each game is another story. Each new story teaches me new lessons to apply to the next story. I suppose I could apply somebody else's strategy and go for the fastest victory but I would miss out on what I enjoy most...
I couldn't agree more! Each game is quite different largely because of the different conditions
I choose at the start. Difficulty settings, map size, number of opponents and which civ I choose to play allow for a near inexhaustible variety of games to be enjoyed. I tend to create my own goals for each game rather than be bound to the official Victory Conditions.
I like a
Pyramid style of play, where I start three or four "tall" cities, then expand a bit and allow the fringe cities to be helped along by the wealth of core cities. Then a bit more expansion on the same model. Of course, events and circumstances can influence much of this basic design in each game.
Speaking only for myself, part of the immersion into the game is not planning too far ahead. I try to put myself in the role of the leader at that specific moment and make choices based only on what is in front of me. I don't plan where to settle based on 'potential' resources that the people might not yet know about. When I am in the Ancient Era, I am not planning my districts based on the optimal future location of the IZ or Aerodrome. I don't build units based on what I can upgrade them to later.
Also, and I know I am well into the minority here, I much enjoy the late game after all the other goodies have been achieved or acquired. That is the point where all the civs are well established and building up for the
big one. I like to keep each city ecstatic, which sometimes means trading for luxuries I just don't have in my own empire. Sometimes, this requires cold hard cash. At the same time, one must maintain a military that serves as a deterrent to those bordering civs that also would like certain resources not found in their own borders. Often, I choose not to ignore the religious pressure from other civs, which means I must remain prepared to send forth my own apostles and missionaries if only to hold off the others.
It can get to the point where there is no place left for a new settlement and the pressure on the borders begins to build and build. Will someone resort to the nuclear option? Will there be a cleansing as one conqueror chooses to raze old cities and build new?
There are as many endings as there are beginnings and I enjoy exploring all of them.