@BornInCantaloup
You are right. After your post, I also went back and re-read this entire thread. I personally have never been shy about reloading and trying again for different results. I suppose for the purpose of BOTM it may not be suitable, but Civ 4 has always been a learning experience for me. It would be awesome to have the input of all those past participating players once again after all these years though.
I almost never worker steal. It isn't due to any personal beliefs that such method may be considered cheesy. I just never liked doing it, to be honest. And I would be really ticked off if an AI did the same thing to me.. that would be truly unfair anyway.
Early DoW, in any situation, is definitely not a desired situation. I guess some people weren't okay with the fact that such undesired event could be due to pure luck and randomness. But then, the beauty of these Civ games is that even with the same map and start, everyone's results may play out differently. I felt bad for GKey, like you said, that he literally had to apologize for not being DoWed. Same thing happened when Lain attempted my Prepare to Die "doctored" map. Some comments on YouTube made it seem as though he was simply lucky for not being DoWed by Shaka. Just as Dirk went out of his way to ensure an early DoW, I also admit that I pretty much did the same thing. Luck or not though, Lain's play was masterful.
As for the 3 important questions: I would love to be someone that would only think the Question #2. At that point, it isn't about just winning any more. Winning sorta becomes a form of art at that point. Unfortunately, I am still nowhere near that.
@soundjata
That "economy exercise"... even I forgot about it until you mentioned it just now. The idea behind it was interesting, but I ponder if there have been more improved equivalent version of maps done by other players over the years. I would love to attempt those if they exist.
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I've been playing this one particular map the past few days, and I will share. Not anywhere near approaching the concept of "Prepare to DIE" though. ^_^