How much do you have to play to get good?

[ecuizbest]

I was just wondering how much (especially those who regularly win at Monarch and above) everyone plays per night, or per week, or per month, and do some of you take "vacations" from playing.

I play competitively at the Noble level, normally. However I haven't been playing for a while and now that I'm back I am having difficulty at Warlord. I am just out of practice I guess, I'm going back to cheiftain just to get my feel for the game back. I normally play on average about 12 hrs a week for several months at a time then I'm away for 3 or 4 months. I have been playing civ since Civ 1 and I was wondering if my time away is the reason I haven't broken through to some of the higher levels.

 

[CCRunner]

I play prince and can compete on monarch.

I would say I play an average of four days a week about three hours a day. Often times I'll take a vacation and not play for a month and then suddenly play 24/7.

 

[Jimmyballz]

Good question, ecuizbest. I've been playing a lot these last couple months (got BTS in Feb or Mar) and now for me to win on Prince, there is a tremendous amount of micromgmt, almost to a point where the calculator is nearby. I couldn't imagine winning at Immortal even if I play everyday until the end of this year.

 

[Magnum27rpa]

I don't play that much at all, but I read forums while at work all the time. The more I focus on the strategy part of the game the better I am.

I think of it like this, you can be a very good poker player if you study all of the books, have a deep understanding of the game, and constantly challenge yourself to be better everytime you play. In this scenario you could be a much better player then someone who plays a lot with friends, but has never really studies the mechanics of the game, and likes to play for "fun".

I usually only play about 1 weekday a week for an hour or 2 and get about 4-6 hours in on the weekend. I started at monarchy, and have worked my way up to immortal (although that level still beats me about 75% of the time) where as I win on Emporer over 75% of the time.

To me it's not the quantity of time that you play but the quality of time you play, and how much time you spend into learning the mechanics of the game.

 

[Aristos]

17 years.

I play Civ since Civ1, in 1991, and now I'm gooood...

just kiddin.

The more you play on higher levesl, a.k.a. the more you loose, the better you get, IF you pay attention to your initial mistakes.

Do not start on easy levels. That is THE biggest mistake of them all.

Enjoy!

 

[Genv [FP]]

The question is not how much you play, but how many screw ups you can notice and fix each time you restart.

For example, before I would never build workshops, so When I hit the industrial age my economy would go down the toilet.

 

[AfterShafter]

I finally hit Immortal after playing since some time in the mid 90's

 

[EweezE]

I've been playing Civ since Civ 1 on SNES (I had no PC for a long long time!) I had Civ 2 on PS and then on a hand me down PC that took forever in between turns. It would progressively get longer and longer each turn on that PC...as the AI and I expanded and produced units, it got unbearable and I would usually just restart the game or go play on PS.

In Civ 4, I play 4 out of the 7 days in a week most weeks and can win on Prince. I Haven't tried anything above that yet. I still prefer Noble though, cause I don't like all the AI bonuses. Plus Noble is good fun, especially when I team up with my newby neighbor. I usually have to carry the team, which makes it more challenging. At least until he dedicates some time to the game to get better . That's the great thing about Civ though, you can play it for years and you'll still learn something every now and then. Strategies constantly evolve.

For example, before I would never build workshops, so When I hit the industrial age my economy would go down the toilet.

How does a workshop help your economy in the industrial era? I don't build them until I'm teching chemistry usually, as I'm not big on the caste civic. I'll put up a few around cities with lots of food and few hills to mine.

 

[onomastikon]

I think I built a workshop once, and built over it later. I almost never have a workshop, prefering to increase food for specialists or a town if I can afford it. Why a workshop?

 

[jackdog]

Its not a 'fanatics site for nothing' and thats why people get so good. I agree its not so much the time but the attention you pay to what and why, micromanagement is the name of the higher level game for most. I have to admit I play most nights for 2-3 hours and can compete on Monarch most of the time now.

Workshops get more and more productive with advancing tech and at the end game period, especially if you are ina space race, they are invaluable. I often build over farms with them when they get really productive, rememebr by that time you may have factory, iron works and power, and military acadamy and heroic epic and railroads all multiplying that initial 4 hammers, when you have 6 workshops around a city that raelly adds up. Often in a space race I will lose a few points of population from various cities but who cares if the parts and units are being pumnped out like nobodies..

 

[Minor Annoyance]

I moved up in difficulty levels fast so I was never really bad a civ4 but I'm not sure how good I am. Things I've read like you shouldn't bother founding a religion and instead capture a holy city because researching the technology first would somehow be crippling to your developing empire. If going two technologies out of my way is going to ruin me then I don't really want to be that good at the game.

 

[karadoc]

I've been playing in bursts since Civ2. By that I mean I'll play for like 7 hours a day every day for a week or two, and then not play again for a few months. I do it like this because I find I have trouble remember what the hell I was trying to do in long games if I don't stick to it.

I've found that ever since my second game of Civ4 I've been able to win easily on Prince, but I struggle on Monarch. On Monarch I get about 1:2 ratio for wins:loses, but I sometimes allow myself to load autosaves if I make a big blunder... I kind of regard that as cheating, but I do it out of frustration.

 

[Red Dwarf Devil]

I play most week nights 9Pm to around 1030 as a way to un-wind from the days problems, weekends a little bit longer but mainly in the daytime.

Also I play Monarch which for me is a good challenge I win 50% of the time but only play for fun, I do not MM all the time but about every 8-10 turns or when necessary (money or science problems)

As already mentioned it's not about time spent to determine if you are good or getting better but how you can learn from mistakes (both big and small),

One thing I now do at the end of each game is watch the replay by manually advancing the turns, from there I noticed I tended to delay a little to long on attacking or stop a little early.

The replay also pointed me to discover I normally eneded up trying to please everyone with the net result of p*&^%$G Off most people.

Both cases are now a thing of the past.

 

[Iranon]

I don't think the amount of practice matters too much; the quality does. For example, once familiar with the basics I wouldn't play below Noble in order to get better; the game is too forgiving then and there's no pressure to refine one's playstyle. Having said that, I think you learn most if you vary your level of play. For me this would be...


On Monarch, I always win but it still teaches me many things because I have the breathing room to try out new overarching strategies (e.g.: If I want to avoid all cottages, how do I beeline Biology most effectively? ).

Emperor and Immortal teach me to focus and to play tight. I usually can't claim vast expanses of land, collect all wonders and cripple several opponents at the same time; I need to formulate short-term goals in addition to an overarching strategy. Getting ahead of the AIs by 'legitimate' means is very possible but for me requires attention and a fair bit of micromanagement.

On Deity, I expect to lose. No amount of micromanagement will get me ahead of the AIs on my own merits, so I actually pay less attention to many things than I do at Immortal. I can forget a consistent strategy or winning prizes as well, I'm too busy struggling for survival or finding something to exploit (usually AI stupidity). Learning how to play in Panic Mode is useful in low-level games as well; I'm less tempted to reload after an 'oops!'.

 

[Red Dwarf Devil]

Ironon, must borrow that Phrase PANIC MODE it nails the point right on the head for my current game, unless things improve I will be going to severe pnic mode

 

[GyroLeader]

I been playing Civ series for years now and i still suck playing Civilization.

 

[r_rolo1]

IMHO it is not a matter of how much you play, it is more a question of how much errors you avoid ( lesson to all the strat games ( Civ IV included ): the first to makes a big mistake normally loses )

Higher levels are far less forgiving to mistakes or less optimized moves... so if you want to play higher levels do not stay in lower levels for long: lower levels are far more forgiving to blunders and it will only make you to learn bad habits that will be hard to take away ( like founding religions or building wonders without a particular reason... those two are very hard to unlearn )

And there is deity, where you learn to get used to AI having 5 times your power

 

[Genv [FP]]

I



How does a workshop help your economy in the industrial era? I don't build them until I'm teching chemistry usually, as I'm not big on the caste civic. I'll put up a few around cities with lots of food and few hills to mine.

Because a workshop is better than a mine, And depending on your tech path, you'll most likely have chemistry before hitting the Industrial era.

 

[DMOC]

I was just wondering how much (especially those who regularly win at Monarch and above) everyone plays per night, or per week, or per month, and do some of you take "vacations" from playing.

I play competitively at the Noble level, normally. However I haven't been playing for a while and now that I'm back I am having difficulty at Warlord. I am just out of practice I guess, I'm going back to cheiftain just to get my feel for the game back. I normally play on average about 12 hrs a week for several months at a time then I'm away for 3 or 4 months. I have been playing civ since Civ 1 and I was wondering if my time away is the reason I haven't broken through to some of the higher levels.

I play on immortal as of the moment now. I usually get about 3-4 hours a week (only on weekends) since I never played on weekdays. The summer might change that, though.

 

[VLGoldenJew]

It really depends on not just how much you play, but how you play. Ricardojahns made an excellent point that playing on easy difficulties is a mistake-- you just won't get better.

The other thing to consider is WHY you play. Do you play to comp stomp and have fun, or do you like challenge?

If you want to play on harder difficulties, things get a bit more formulaic, which is why civfanatics and apolyton are such good resources. You have to be very methodical in certain things (city placement, design, early war, capturing wonders/holy cities instead of getting them yourself, etc) which can be un-fun for many people.

One of my frustrations is that on higher difficulties you have to largely "take" instead of build for yourself, due to the nature of how the AI gets bonuses. The converse is if I play on easier difficulties, the game is a cakewalk, due to the fact the AI can't compete without insane bonuses.

So, in summary: if you want to play on the harder difficulties, play often, but also make sure to read the forums/site for strategies to augment your growth.