Casual but expert players - Do they exist?

[Basilisk1]

"I think the only fans that can truly hate the red sox are the yankees fans, but they don't hate the red sox, they just sort of look down upon them and mock them."

Yankees fans can hate them all they want from, like, 10 games behind in the league.

 

[sylvanllewelyn]

I have not the slightest interest in baseball. Let's move on.

I consider myself a casual but expert player. "Casual" simply means "no time to play seriously". I play multiplayer, but I haven't had the heart to play very seriously once I beat Huge map deity without Romans or Incans, as I already feel I "beat" the game. As for losing patience to micromanagement, it's about good civ playing practice.

- divide your time into 24 hour segments
- you may only play 10 turns per 24 hour segment
- if you miss your 24 hour segment, you may NOT play 20 turns in the next 24 hour segment. You've missed your playtime for the day.
- play huge map, for maintenance issues.
- take a lot of notes. Mark down short and long term goals of each city, plan what each tile will do and when, and eventually what production, commerce, food and improvements the city will have. Draw up a plan for each era.
- whenever you finish your 10 turns, write down overall plans for your next 10 turns
- Do not play any other side games, until this one's over. Don't quit until it really is over.

You'd be surprised how good you really are.

 

[Brave Jay]

I have not the slightest interest in baseball. Let's move on.

I consider myself a casual but expert player. "Casual" simply means "no time to play seriously". I play multiplayer, but I haven't had the heart to play very seriously once I beat Huge map deity without Romans or Incans, as I already feel I "beat" the game. As for losing patience to micromanagement, it's about good civ playing practice.

- divide your time into 24 hour segments
- you may only play 10 turns per 24 hour segment
- if you miss your 24 hour segment, you may NOT play 20 turns in the next 24 hour segment. You've missed your playtime for the day.
- play huge map, for maintenance issues.
- take a lot of notes. Mark down short and long term goals of each city, plan what each tile will do and when, and eventually what production, commerce, food and improvements the city will have. Draw up a plan for each era.
- whenever you finish your 10 turns, write down overall plans for your next 10 turns
- Do not play any other side games, until this one's over. Don't quit until it really is over.

You'd be surprised how good you really are.

10 turns per day? You MIGHT get one game in by the time civ 5 rolls out. Pray that you win.

 

[CivCorpse]

Hate the Patriots? I guess I can see the Red Sox since the media overdid it in 2004. And you don't mention New York? Or the Lakers?
I can't think of much against the patriots, other than they won a lot. They don't have a history of outspending other teams, they aren't controversial personalities...
I think the only fans that can truly hate the red sox are the yankees fans, but they don't hate the red sox, they just sort of look down upon them and mock them.

I am a Colts fan...they made me cry a lot , LOL. And I have met Bellichump several times...he has no class.

 

[Melchizedek]

I usually play in basically the way you describe at Monarch and have been relatively successful (several spaceship victories, usually competitive even if I don't win). I micromanage wars to maximize unit promotions and the chance of winning battles, and I understand the synergy of certain building/wonder combinations (eg HE and Ironworks, NE and Great Library), but otherwise usually let my cities grow naturally.

Like you, I find this is the most enjoyable way to play civ and really enjoy the flow of simulated history, but doubt that it would work on Immortal or Deity.

 

[Thomas G.]

Jorunkun, very insightful. Hat's off to you.

Spockfederation, you missed one: (And this is, I think, the single most important way to a successful mid-late game) - Take a break from your current game. Come back a while later (minutes, hours, mabye a day), correct all the flaws you find, optimize your game, and play on.

I would think many people have 3 difficulty levels they relate to-
The level at which they must "go all the way" to win;
The level at which they can play "confortably" and win; and
The level at which they can play sloppishly/thematically and still win (or accomplish what the thematically set out to do, as in certain succession games).

For me the levels are Immortal, Emperor and Monarch, assuming I play a normal game (as in not "rigged" to give me unfair advantage, like playing inca on a duel map...)

Immortal level I very much like to see a "good" starting position because otherwise I know I'm gonna get it. I hope to find the military resource I'm gunning for. And I hope to have nice neighbours, including a pacifist non-protective guy. And so forth. My chance of winning a given game is proportional to the time spent on the game. Every battle is at first an uphill struggle, and engagements will be won only by hard work and tactical planning on my side, and a helpful (or at least non-hostile) goddess of chance. These games are challenging for me, can be brutal if I start lagging.

Emperor level would be my default, I usually feel confident that I can win a game when I fire one up but will accept that a lot of bad luck can cost me my empire, throne and self-esteem. I play very much like OP Polypheus describes, no micromanaging but of course I still employ my understanding of game mechanics at all the decisions I care about (tech path/trades, city builds and above all, warfare).

Monarch games I would use to try out new ideas, try to play a themed game or try out new settings (raging barbs on a huge marathon world, like) or scenarios. I could win or lose, but have as much joy/learning from doing either.

So when I start up a game, the questions I ask myself is "how masochistic do I feel" and "how much time do I have to play before the missus wakes up and demands her breakfast in bed". If I have a lot of time and feel like receiving some ass-kicking, I go Immortal. But if I sorely need some ass-kissing I might play the Monarch and let the world cower before me.

Depends, I guess.

 

[sylvanllewelyn]

10 turns a day means 55 days per huge map game at most (and I don't like Marathon either, too much distortion. I play Epic, makes it 44 days). Besides, once you get to modern age, 10 turns of modern-warfare is easily 2 hours, if you a micromanaging the composition of every stack across the whole continent. Don't forget about writing notes about which cities produce what, where are they, how many hammers they produce, how many turns does a tank from that city take to reach the front...

I often open up a spreadsheet to play. 10 turns is seriously a lot of work, trust me. 5 is more like what a casual player can handle.

 

[TriviAl]

I CBA with highly detailed MM throughout the game... It doesn't entertain me beyond a certain point.

However, happy to give it some serious thought in the early stages - Tech path, chopping and whipping more wisely have pushed my comfort zone from Monarch to Emperor... Mostly stuff I've read on these forums.

After the first few cities, things get a bit looser - still goes well, but not quite as effectively. A strong start will normally tide me over though...

Like the idea of the 10 turns a day game. Will give that a stab.

Helps with the other problem: Once I feel a win is likely or inevitable, I start over again - a bad habit as I don't see the latter stages of the game.

 

[Nkot]

I would consider myself a casual player, and I play on Immortal. I'm not a pefectionist (however I don't win 100% of the time either), but I have a good understanding of the game concepts which is the main cause for my wins.

 

[HamTard]

I'm a somewhat casual player. I play Prince on Normal speed (Epic/Marathon are way too long, I don't have that much time and if I spread a game over too many days I'll lose focus, plus Normal makes war more difficult so I can improve my war strategy better). I can win probably half the time, more if I play carefully or have a good starting spot, less if I'm lazy and automating workers too early.

I just won 2 Prince-Normal-Standard games in a row, the first a Space Race on Fractal, the second a Diplomatic on Continents. I was so close to Domination on the Fractal game but I was 3% short on land and the nearest enemy was past my vassal, and quite a long walk away and I was half done my spaceship anyways.

 

[HamTard]

I CBA with highly detailed MM throughout the game... It doesn't entertain me beyond a certain point.

However, happy to give it some serious thought in the early stages - Tech path, chopping and whipping more wisely have pushed my comfort zone from Monarch to Emperor... Mostly stuff I've read on these forums.

After the first few cities, things get a bit looser - still goes well, but not quite as effectively. A strong start will normally tide me over though...

Like the idea of the 10 turns a day game. Will give that a stab.

Helps with the other problem: Once I feel a win is likely or inevitable, I start over again - a bad habit as I don't see the latter stages of the game.

If I'm hopelessly lost I'll start a new game because just finishing a losing game can take hours.

 

[Dan Quale]

I just kind of go with the flow of things, I mean I do micro like crazy, but on average I have no idea what my civ is doing/what its goals are, I play immortal/empororer, usually When another leader makes me angry I raze their entire civilization, then its gone. Someone else may rebuild it or I might, You dont need to think too deeply into things. More better troops, properly positioned win. Specialists are good and cottages are good, no fancy economy crap in that, as opposed to lightbulbing I prefer to settle gp with representation/beuracracy in my capital, easier to do and more beakers in the long run(potential trades factored in).
If everyone else is dead I win, pretty casual and pretty effective. Been playing since civ 1 so maybe that helps, But on occasion I can beat diety with standard settings huge/marathon, random leaders, without planning till my ears bleed.
Mostly I play to have fun, watching a horde demolish my empire, after I nuke every other nation simultaneously, can be more satisfying than seeing a message that I have built a spaceship, so that It can blow up bigger than challenger right before it lands, but no one knows that and I still win, (well not anymore). Just like with anything in life going with your gut is often better than making a long drawn out intricate plan which inevitably dooms you to failure. You will not regret the things you have done but the things you have'nt done.