Flexibility vs Planning

[Sid the Lucid]

Flexibility. It is better to have a sound opening plan and then adapt to the ever-changing situation as it unfolds. The game is fluid, and there is no single best strategy - it is all about spotting opportunities as they arise and being flexible enough to adjust to whatever happens. It is generally pointless to do things the same way every time.

Planning. It is better to have a detailed plan and execute it flawlessly. While the game might be fluid in some ways, there are enough constants that a sound plan will succeed with only minor adjustments along the way. It is all about refining your strategy until you perfect it. It is generally best to do things the same way every time.

Which better describes your approach and why?

 

[DaviddesJ]

I like to be flexible. Mostly just because it's more fun to adapt to everything along the way, then it is to try to figure out in advance what's going to happen to prepare for it. I see people playing several "test games" just so they can figure out how best to play the "real game". For me, why play multiple "test games" when I can use the same time to play "real games"?

 

[Murky]

I'd say you need a plan but you have also have to be flexible enough to change your plans if you need to. There are too many variables to predict exactly how the game will progress so being flexible is necessary.

 

[drkodos]

I am dogmatically rigid about my ability to always be flexible.

 

[Gnarfflinger]

All the fancy strategies that you hear about here are simply means to an end, not ends themselves. If you only want to do an axe rush, then why play once Axes no longer rule the roost? Axe Rush and CS Slingshot are merely tools you use to beat the opponents into submission...

 

[DaveMcW]

Planning. Until the AI is good enough to force me to be flexible (it's not there yet!)

 

[yavoon]

planning is superior. most people dont have the capacity to be optimal enough under a "flexibility" regime and will just do haphazard things. whereas w/ planning u can greatly increase the efficiency of ur strat.

 

[binhthuy71]

I usually have an overarching plan but the details of implementation are driven by conditions.

To quote Field Marshal von Moltke (1800-1891):

No plan of operations can therefore with any reasonable degree of certainty, extend beyond the first encounter with the main body of the enemy. Only the layman believes he knows that the course of a campaign is the consistent implementation of an original concept conceived in advance, considered in every detail and adhered to until the very end.

 

[BCLG100]

Planning. Until the AI is good enough to force me to be flexible (it's not there yet!)

other games force you to be flexible though........


generally flexible because its more fun and its harder i find if i go for every victory rather than just one which means a challenge.

 

[eric_]

I put almost too much of a premium on flexibility, to the point that I used to only win time victories on noble. I'm finally learning the value of setting a long-term goal, but being flexible enough to scrap it or acheive it in ways that I could not have anticipated. So basically, planning is important, but flexibility is invaluable.

 

[Stolen Rutters]

It is difficult to reach any goal without elements of both, but I tend to emphasize flexibility once my core plans are in place, exactly as was described in the initial post. I almost always deviate from my original strategy once I have explored the area and can see which way to proceed. Without preparation (where real plans are made), it's actually harder to take advantage of opportunities presented to you that help you reach your goals so it's not truly an either/or situation.

A real plan doesn't necessarily involve executing a detailed strategy flawlessly, but includes provisions for things that can go wrong, and ways to respond when things do go wrong. A good plan will change to account for actual events and situations, i.e. the Flexibility choice.

 

[Gnarfflinger]

You need some idea what looks good, but be able to pick something better/plan b on the fly or else you're going to get hammered.

 

[malekithe]

It's not flexibility when your actions are dictated by the game. Rushing an archer because your sole warrior lost to a barbarian is not "flexibility". Flexibility is the ability to see and take an opportunity. Flexibility outside the scope of an over-arching plan is wasted activity. Without a good plan you can't be flexible because you don't know which opportunities will ultimately benefit you.

 

[DaviddesJ]

Rushing an archer because your sole warrior lost to a barbarian is not "flexibility".

What about prebuilding a partial archer so that you can rush it if your warrior loses to a barbarian? That sounds like "flexibility" to me.

 

[malekithe]

What about prebuilding a partial archer so that you can rush it if your warrior loses to a barbarian? That sounds like "flexibility" to me.

Or is it a plan...?

 

[Stolen Rutters]

I love these kind of polls because the answer completely depends on how you view the goal within the context of the question.

1. I plan to be flexible because I want a domination victory.

That means I have to have the tech tree focus on two things, military advantage and city support. Culture has secondary value because religions will spread no matter what and I only need to cover half the world in my color. Since my goal dictates my plan for me, I get to focus on the flexibility I need to get there.

2. I have to execute this plan right because I want to pull off a CS slingshot.

There are a few ways this can work, but you need to excecute the plan without very much deviation or the AI will take your Oracle from you, ending the hope of a slingshot.