Questions

[RD-BH]

Questions:

1) How do I choose the best game to join?
2) What are some mistakes for new players to avoid?
3) Assuming a 4 citizen start, what is an effective first build?
4) Can you explain how the tech tree branches?
5) Do you have suggestions for cooperative play?
6) In warfare, is defense better than offense?
7) How do I get to 200% before the barbarians stop me?
8) How do I stay awake long enough to finish the culture mini-game?
9) Do you have tips on the merchant mini-game?
A) When should I invest in the trade goods?
B) Is it better to convert resources or to collect resources?
C) How do I make good use of Great People?
D) What effect do roads have on resource gathering?
E) Is the zebra rug really worth that many gems?
F) Is it okay to just "buy" my victory?

 

[ShuShu62]

1) How do I choose the best game to join?

Degustibus...

However, 50 civbucks a day game can become unfun quickly, If someone is spending that much. Yellow, green, blue really change the game. I prefer the slower trickle/harvest games, but I am in the minority.


2) What are some mistakes for new players to avoid?

Don't build wonders unless they are event wonders or era winning wonders.... i.e. don't build stonehenge, take it.


3) Assuming a 4 citizen start, what is an effective first build?

Nothing... until; you have 24 harvests, then a lumbermill


4) Can you explain how the tech tree branches?

When you research a tech, other techs can then be researched... .
Guilds race to masonry to close borders.
Offensive civs race to monarchy to get Men At Arms
Mona Lisa folks race to Mass Media for Hollywood

5) Do you have suggestions for cooperative play?

Yes, cooperate.
Use and read chat. Visit players cities when they are online. Let a person know if you notice them doing something. Do not go on global chat and say 'Hi, I need a friend'


6) In warfare, is defense better than offense?

It depends, Is Call-to-arms available? Defensive techs are cheaper than offensive ones, but attackers get to schedule the battles.


7) How do I get to 200% before the barbarians stop me?

When you get there, you tell me....
Keep losing until you get a map with all but 2 or 3 hexes of the castle are blocked by a river.


8) How do I stay awake long enough to finish the culture mini-game?

do 6-swap doubles. If you are on a 25 person civ the is 700 culture for each double swap. every 5 double swaps is the equivalent of a great person. If 3 of you are doing 6 swap doubles, you will be popping great people all day.


9) Do you have tips on the merchant mini-game?

read the 2k forum for tips.

A) When should I invest in the trade goods?

When the time is right.
the trading range expands during the game from 70-150 at start to 300-1000 at the end. Buy low, sell high.



B) Is it better to convert resources or to collect resources?

Collecting resources is highly overrated. Harvest hammers to sell/war until it is time to harvest beakers for maze moves once mazes pay off and war becomes passe.


C) How do I make good use of Great People?

Don't build Stonehenge.
Use great people to make more great people.
Use great people to win wars
use great people to win cultural eras
Use great people to get yourself promoted
Use great people to marry everybody

D) What effect do roads have on resource gathering?

Connect every resource you are working to you palace with a road for the production bonus.

E) Is the zebra rug really worth that many gems?

Depends on whether you prefer white with black stripes or black with white stripes

F) Is it okay to just "buy" my victory?

Absolutely. Especially if you are buying it for me.

 

[Llamadance]

ShuShu, what do you mean by

Use great people to marry everybody

?

 

[Tatran]

Great people affects the house output too, the more GPs (wonders count too) you have the higher the harvest number will be.
And that number decides how big the dowry for both players will be. This only counts for single houses.

 

[RD-BH]

LOL, love some of those answers 8)

 

[Llamadance]

ah, use great people so everyone will marry you? That makes sense. I thought you had found a way to increase dowry frequency.

 

[ShuShu62]

ah, use great people so everyone will marry you? That makes sense. I thought you had found a way to increase dowry frequency.

Great Builder cologne... coming to a store near you.


Anybody who has played the game for a while could have probably provided the answers I gave. Now...if you really want to focus on the finer points of play, lets drill into that whole marriage thing...

Dowries are 50 times the house production in the same civ and only 20 times the house production outside of the civ. So if you want to employ this strategy, you want to join the largest civ with the most non-idle players. Because of this, the wonders do not impact who gets married until late in the game when one civ has all the wonders and enough great people that 20x is greater than anyone elses 50x. Of course, at that point the game is over already so those dowries are of dubious value.

Early on folks obsess over food... although that is a mistake as Fertility rites and barbarians are much cheaper... so the best way to your spouse's heart is through their stomach. (i.e. Great Prophet Cologne).

The game transitions to hammers after the first couple days calling for an increased demand for Great Builder cologne.

Throughout the game there is a persistent subculture drawn to the aroma of Great Geek cologne.

There are folks out there who specialize in hoarding great people of one type. I play alone so , I specialize in selling them their great people at inflated prices and buying the cheap ones for when they cease to be the cheap ones.

A side benefit of the marriage strategy is that you will also win 2-5 civ bucks via the 'Most Productive xxx' competitions.

PS. I have never seen a player relying on marriage dowries win a game. If they are getting marriage dowries because they are relying on civbucks, that is a different story... The reason is one dimensional approaches will always lose when playing someone who can compete along all paths to victory.

 

[ShuShu62]

Okay... curse me and my hyperbole....

The marriage strategy will not win you games because it is one dimensional.

However, if you are on a multi-dimensional team, it is very effective to have one player specializing in tech and one in hammers. So guilds leverage this strategy a lot.

My 'Kicking the Bees Nest' story on the 2K forums is an example of where a tech specialist, and hamemer specialist and I teamed up to beat a civbuck player. Netither the tech specialist nor the hammer specialist would have won had we not teamed up.

 

[markste]

This time i can give you just no. 7 answer. that would be same like ShuShu62.