Addiction/Depression (or: The Chinese are Awesome)

So I have a dilemma. (maybe?) I recently tried playing as the Chinese, maybe last week. I've become addicted.

The +1 population is one of the best bonuses ever. You start off with a tile of science and by the time everyone else is getting their first science tile, you've already completed a tech. Plus the writing that the Chinese start with, you're now in the tech lead. And I can't live without it.

I've tried to play as other civs but...I can't. I get too frustrated. I feel like I can't play anyone BUT Mao. Anyone else have something similar to this? Am I weirdo?

Yes you are a weirdo

Seriosly though. The + 1 pop is strong bonus. But many other civs have bonuses that are very strong to. Different but still strong.

Also when playing Chinese you always should take advantage of getting writing for free and b-lining to CODL. You will get to medival area very fast with the chinese and then you also get the + 1 sciense in every city( Literacy for free). Your cities will now start with a pop of 4 (medival) and you can build new settlers for only 1 pop cost for being in republic. Weeeeeee!!!

yes you are addicted, and if you wanna become better at this game, u should force yourself to not play with them for a period of time...

I played with the chinese a whole lot, and won with a lot of bad strategies, mainly because I knew I could out expand and out tech everyone. they really don't have any obvious weaknesses... but you will not learn much new if u keep playing with them.

after playing so much with them, i found myself in the same boat and couldn't find good strategies for starting with 2 pop in a city, and having to tech a little slower. it was brutal. I liken the Chinese to the Zulu now. They're easy to use, but really make u a worse player because you're relying on those huge bonuses.

I created a new account and started playing random more, and realize there was so much to the game that I reallly wasn't taking advantage of with the chinese,,, Now I'm just as strong with the Spanish, Arabs and Greeks. with pretty much any civ I can hang with a Chinese player that thinks there good because they tech faster than most of the ppl they meet online and they just think they'll coast to victory everytime.

most chinese players aren't agrressive after the horserush until they get knights or tanks, but when u see 5 legion or catapult armies knocking on your cities doors, you may realize your screwed. Or when u finally get to navigation, and you realize the spanish have already settled all the good islands, you'll staginate.

pay attention to those games where u lose with the chinese and take account of their weaknesses, and admit they have some, they don't have that many, but there's probably some holes in your game that they are just covering up for u, which is really evidenced by your not being able to play with other civs effectively...

u may be asking, if they're really strong, why should I use anyone else?? Well, how do u feel about the Zulu-only players? I don't think I've ever lost with the Zulus, but I don't enjoy playing with them either. I've maybe lost 5 games in total on MP with the Chinese, but it gets old, and they aren't always the best choice.

play with someone else, you'll learn so much more, and then apply what you've learned to the chinese, then you'll be really unstoppable.

Anarak said:

play with someone else, you'll learn so much more, and then apply what you've learned to the chinese, then you'll be really unstoppable.

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Good stuff, yo. I've been planning to get myself unhooked cause I knew it'd eventually be bad for me. But yeah, man, good advice.

hoopeskt2 said:

So I have a dilemma. (maybe?) I recently tried playing as the Chinese, maybe last week. I've become addicted.

The +1 population is one of the best bonuses ever. You start off with a tile of science and by the time everyone else is getting their first science tile, you've already completed a tech. Plus the writing that the Chinese start with, you're now in the tech lead. And I can't live without it.

I've tried to play as other civs but...I can't. I get too frustrated. I feel like I can't play anyone BUT Mao. Anyone else have something similar to this? Am I weirdo?

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I totally know how that goes. ironically for me it wasn't one of the most obvious civs to be addicted with, cuz for me it was France. Beeline to irrigation, build up Paris, and with a few spies and my cathedral i take huge swaths of land under my control. With all other civs I feel like i am going to lose as soon as the ai gets temples in their cities cuz they'll culture flip (except for brits). What can I say, Can't play as the French, and can't play without the French. What am I to do?

I have the same problem, but with the Japanese. It's to the point that playing anyone else is a huge drag on my economy--because I count on that extra food from each sea square--and I refuse to find a better mega city material than dye.. I love dye. So Japan I stay until I get bored of winning all the time.

You guys should play each other in a multiplayer and see whose "super-civ" really works best... just saying.

haven't played multiplayer yet, still kicking around on the single player games. I switch civs every game but to me if you keep winning you aren't playing on a high enough level!

CivMonger said:

haven't played multiplayer yet, still kicking around on the single player games. I switch civs every game but to me if you keep winning you aren't playing on a high enough level!

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They should have made Deity tougher, like it was in Civ IV. I think it's too easy in Civ Rev, so the single player isn't all that fun for me. Multiplayer is much more fun and more challenging.

I agree with above, but it would be too hard to make the AI harder with the coding in place for Civ Rev. The AI aren't complex enough, so the only things they could've added was a production and science bonus for he AI.

Kadazzle said:

I agree with above, but it would be too hard to make the AI harder with the coding in place for Civ Rev. The AI aren't complex enough, so the only things they could've added was a production and science bonus for he AI.

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Which have already done. I think it would have been more of a challenge though if they had chosen to have 50-60% handicap instead of 40% as it is today. However, I agree to the above that it is not good to give handicaps, it would have been better if they had a smarter AI, but this topic we have handled in another thread for a long time earlier.

The first game I won I was playing as the Chinese. They've been my favorites ever since

I have the reverse... I SUCK and need to know which civs are better for beginners! I can't even handle king difficulty yet, which i think is sad

CivMonger said:

haven't played multiplayer yet, still kicking around on the single player games. I switch civs every game but to me if you keep winning you aren't playing on a high enough level!

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Well now i feel weak cause i,ve been playing on warlord forever. (with winning)

What I did to wean myself of warlord (and the amazing rushes you can do with the insta-veterans and double veterans...) was to play the Beta Centurai sceario. Any civ is fine for it, its real easy. try it first on warlord, then move it up to king. Use your higfh tech toys to build up super economies. Once you see how super economies work, it gives you a general goal of how to build one up from scratch. Also, remember to put all trade on gold production (picking a civ with +50% gold or 2% gold reserves would be smart) and research future techs only by great scientists, unless of cours you secure your position and want to see how crazy future tech can get...