Give me 5 reasons you are playing Civ5 and not Civ4.

[miaasma]

civ IV is an overrated next turn button spam party best enjoyed if you enjoy playing with your brain turned off

in all seriousness, i had fun playing civ IV years back, but upon revisiting it a lot of its mechanics (especially with regards to diplomacy, my god) are best left in the past

i'm also glad civ V finally did away with the "two units/groups of units fight until one of them dies" mechanic because it resulted in some seriously awful combat scenarios and thankfully you're no longer screwed over by some crazy dice roll that caused your infantry unit to die to a bow and arrow

definitely not disparaging people who prefer unit stacks to 1upt, since the AI is demonstrably better at the former than the latter, but personally, i find 1upt works much better for the kind of game civ is and do not miss stacks at all

cities being able to defend themselves was also a much needed change. i honestly forget how city razing in IV worked, but in III if a city was undefended some ancient era horseman could run in out of nowhere and raze it in one turn, which, while something that should not happen to a competent player, was nonetheless pretty absurd

in retrospect, civ IV is more fast paced and immediately gratifying than any other civ game, which i think is why people like it so much, but i think it's hugely overrated

 

[Finvola]

I was still playing IV up until a few months ago. I stopped when I got V. At the time V came out, my crappy low budget PC couldn't run the base game. Then I had it upgraded but the specs were too low for the DLC so I didn't bother. I got a new PC about 2.5 years ago but friends who played V weren't really happy with it so I ended up playing other games for a while. I had a lot of games to catch up on being that I could barely play anything on the one I had before, lol. Then I guess, some time in November, I had it in my head I had to get V. Well, I want to play VI but I didn't want to skip over V completely so I went ahead and got it. I had revisited IV in the months leading up to when I got V. Still enjoying V so far. Took a few games to figure things out but I have been ramping up the difficulty every few games. I'd like to try each civ out and see which one I like best. I've gotten through several but I don't think I will end up playing them all. I have a feeling I'll get burnt out in the not too distant future. Probably when the DLC is released for VI.

 

[Ravellion]

Yes it does. The more cities you build the more expensive your infrastructure and districts become and since workers have been replaced with builders, settling more and more cities ties up your production queue with more of them and less important stuff which can make you fall behind rather quickly - Also, fresh water.

As for 3... penalty? Corruption was a death sentence...

The point where Civ 6 settlers become too expensive is where you start going wide through military means. The game will not slow you down at all and in fact will give you a positive feedback loop: the more you conquer, the more money and science, the more certain you can be of a win. Civ 4 did this best, with military conquests often leading to economic problems. Civ 5 was more blunt in its solution.

 

[JMN4444]

1.) Strategy: While Civ V gave you a more strategic option when it comes to unit placement, Civ IV had the infamous "Stack of Doom". This usually became an issue when this "Stack of Doom" is done in huge numbers and can result in the game taking even longer from all the fighting. At the same time, Civ V gave us a more interesting map layout using hexes rather than tiles.

2.) Ideologies: This is a really awesome feature introduced in the expansion pack "Brave New World". It basically defines your faction in how it is ruled through the endgame, be it a fascist regime (Autocracy), a democratic nation (Freedom) or a communist union (Order), if it can stand the test of time, you can basically be any of these three. Each of these three ideologies has their own strengths depending on what victory type you are to go for. For example, Autocratic Civs are most fitted for Domination and Diplomatic victories while Order is more suited for Domination and Space. The ideology that you choose in the Industrial-Modern era will define your true allies, enemies and your future. Not only that, but the popularity of your ideology will depend on the influence level of your civilization with the other civs ranging from unknown to dominant. The level of influence depends on the tourism output accumulated towards the other civs. If a civ with a different ideology is more influential than you, you get "dissidents" which reduces your overall happiness. This gets even worse as they become more influential than you. One good way to avoid this is to make great works of art generated by GWAMs. That way, you can actually counterattack their tourism output with yours and eventually, you'll be able to influence others to the cause of your ideology. Civ IV just had..... Civics.

3.) Animated Leader Screens: Whereas Civ IV gave us only their faces, Civ V actually gave us the full dynamic leader scenes whenever you meet them. It's very interesting to see the burning background of Askia, or hear the Aztecs in the background whenever you are talking to Monty. And not only that, but they are also voiced as well! Civ Rev also has done this, but to hear Abe Lincoln or Lizzy speaking gibberish just ends up killing immersion. Seeing these very leaders talking to you in Civ V just gives you the vibe that you are really negotiating with them rather than just trying to speak using sign languages. Oh, and if you defeat these leaders, you are treated to a scene in which they react to your victory. Some of these scenes can make you feel like a monster if you know what they are actually saying.

4.) Customizable Religion: While Civ IV did have religion, it was merely just something that increased your happiness and defined your relations with other civs. In Civ V, Religion can truly define your success in the game and could mean the difference between victory and defeat. Whatever victory condition you would wish to achieve, religion plays a very great boon to your thriving civilization. If you wish to crush all opposition and infidels, you have the Holy Warriors belief to assist you in that as well as the Just War belief. Feeling threatened? Defender of the faith will give you defensive bonuses. Need gold badly? Tithes or Church Property will ensure that you get that extra cash you need to fuel your civilization. The possibilities of religion customizing are indeed endless. You can also feel like removing religions that you don't like to have using inquisitors.

5.) Music: I really enjoy hearing the war theme of Arabia when I'm shooting away with my Camel Archers. When the good part begins, my Camels begin firing away at helpless cities while retreating to safety. The music really makes the battles intense and awesome, as each Civ has their very own war theme. Civ IV just had.... Drums..... Drums........ and more Drums.....

 

[cain3456]

Civ V is much less unit intensive. In Civ IV we thought nothing of sending a 50-unit doomstack. You'll be lucky to build 50 military units all game in Civ V.
Customizable religions instead of each being essentially the same.
Tourism.
I do miss corporations from Civ IV, tho.

 

[Playsoneasy]

1) Since getting my new PC I've been reinstalling my games piecemeal, and Civ 5 is the latest one I've got back into.

2) Graphics. Civ 5 is a very well presented game, and the graphics really do jump out with everything turned up to max

3) Easy to access. I've got back into Civ 5 very easily, and even on Prince difficulty the game feels very accessible.

4) Social policies and ideologies. I always enjoy deciding which new social policy to adopt next. This is even more true of ideologies, which can really shape the future course of your empire.

5) Culture and tourism are great fun, as is the archeological dig/find mechanic that comes in later. it's pretty neat how a long-forgotten battle fought by your armies hundreds or thousands of years ago can yield an artifact in the later eras and add to your culture.