What is wrong?

[Scarwood]

While i was playing i checked my ranks it was good 1-2 except population it was rank 4

BUT my approval rank was 13! and then i thought i must be doing something wrong. there are even players who lost their capital whit better rank (9 capitals left).

So any ideas what i should do to get better approval?

 

[Trickster7135]

Approve means how much excess happiness you have... unless you're going for a cultural victory, you want to hover your approval rating around 0 to maximize population growth and happiness resources and buildings. So you're actually doing good, although I would invest in more happiness so your population climbs higher, and maybe a few maritime city-states or farms.

 

[Nunya]

Approval is 60% + (happiness * 3%).

 

[loveandpolitics]

If you play on a high difficulty level the penalties you get versus the bonuses the AI gets makes a big impact on approval rating. Nothing to worry about though, as long as your unhappiness is not too high.