Do you typically play with Crises on or off?

[vorlon_mi]

I've been playing with crises on, since I want my first bunch of games to be played the way the developers/designers intended.
I have had the barb crisis a couple times, and it was not too bad. The Antiquity plague crisis feels different/less burdensome than the Exploration plague crisis.

I disliked the happiness crisis because I felt I had fewer tools to fight it. I could lose a town I just expended effort/troops/gold to conquer, which was frustrating. Rebuilding burnt-down buildings, also less fun.

TBH, I never considered the impact on the AI much. I enjoyed it when an AI city flipped to me, but it wasn't common.
I never pay much attention to whether the hostile IP attack the AI, or if they lose buildings in the plague.
The impact of the crisis on my empire consumes most of my attention, which is probably intended.

I would support a scaling with difficulty that includes a softer impact on AI at higher difficulties in single player.
The point of increasing difficulty in SP is to provide a greater challenge for the human player, on their path to victory.
Allowing a stronger AI player (see one of my recent games) to stay strong would pose more of a threat to me.

I'm not a big fan of "the bigger they are, the harder they fall" aspect to crises. If I (or an AI player) have spent effort to build a successful empire, I don't want to be penalized for playing well. Yes, I understand that's hard to balance and that snowballing is real.
It's inherent in all the Civ games I've played, so I don't see a fun/enjoyable way to eliminate it.

 

[Disgustipated]

I have now turned off everything but barb crisis. At least that's interesting and forces you to either spread your military thin or spend buying units.

I think going forward this is what I'll do. I feel like I at least have some agency with this crisis and good play can essentially negate it.

 

[Berrern]

@vorlon_mi @MutilationWave @Disgustipated Since the patch came out, I've disabled plague crisis on my games, that is until I read this brilliant post - I strongly recommend you give it a read!

Essentially there are hidden bonuses given in the next age depending on how you handle your crises.

In my current game, in Antiquity, I got the plague crisis. And thanks to that post, I ensured I had 4 altars by the time the age ended, which rewarded me with the Piety civic at the beginning of Exploration. This meant that I got to choose all religion properties before the AI, which turned out to be a considerable advantage (the +2 influence for foreign settlements following your religion is incredible!).

In another game I got the Religion crisis in Exploration, and by ensuring an AI declared war on me during the crisis (it's easy - just declare war on someone who's in an alliance!), I got 3 extra war support in the next age for all wars declared on me.

So while it doesn't make the crises themselves any more manageable or enjoyable - it does set you up very well for the next age!

 

[reddishrecue]

@vorlon_mi @MutilationWave @Disgustipated Since the patch came out, I've disabled plague crisis on my games, that is until I read this brilliant post - I strongly recommend you give it a read!

Essentially there are hidden bonuses given in the next age depending on how you handle your crises.

In my current game, in Antiquity, I got the plague crisis. And thanks to that post, I ensured I had 4 altars by the time the age ended, which rewarded me with the Piety civic at the beginning of Exploration. This meant that I got to choose all religion properties before the AI, which turned out to be a considerable advantage (the +2 influence for foreign settlements following your religion is incredible!).

In another game I got the Religion crisis in Exploration, and by ensuring an AI declared war on me during the crisis (it's easy - just declare war on someone who's in an alliance!), I got 3 extra war support in the next age for all wars declared on me.

So while it doesn't make the crises themselves any more manageable or enjoyable - it does set you up very well for the next age!

That's really interesting. I had no idea you can get earlier religion with altars. Thanks for sharing.

 

[Boris Gudenuf]

@vorlon_mi @MutilationWave @Disgustipated Since the patch came out, I've disabled plague crisis on my games, that is until I read this brilliant post - I strongly recommend you give it a read!

Essentially there are hidden bonuses given in the next age depending on how you handle your crises.

In my current game, in Antiquity, I got the plague crisis. And thanks to that post, I ensured I had 4 altars by the time the age ended, which rewarded me with the Piety civic at the beginning of Exploration. This meant that I got to choose all religion properties before the AI, which turned out to be a considerable advantage (the +2 influence for foreign settlements following your religion is incredible!).

In another game I got the Religion crisis in Exploration, and by ensuring an AI declared war on me during the crisis (it's easy - just declare war on someone who's in an alliance!), I got 3 extra war support in the next age for all wars declared on me.

So while it doesn't make the crises themselves any more manageable or enjoyable - it does set you up very well for the next age!

What I find funny is that a mechanic that is so obvious - getting early religion because you built more Altars in the previous Age - that it is a classic 'Doh!" moment, is buried behind the imprenetrable UI so that no one knows about it until someone sends an Explorer into the game and finds it

 

[reddishrecue]

What I find funny is that a mechanic that is so obvious - getting early religion because you built more Altars in the previous Age - that it is a classic 'Doh!" moment, is buried behind the imprenetrable UI so that no one knows about it until someone sends an Explorer into the game and finds it

Yeah, and then the explorer waits for hegemony to find the artifacts.