I've never considered this an exploit, but someone said it was....

[wvfoos]

Using the settler to make new cities right on the edge of enemy territory, using workers to make railroads, and thereby getting deeper into enemy territory without expending movement points.

I didn't think this was an "exploit." Any more than capturing a huge enemy city chock full of resistors, sending one of my home-grown settlers to the city, THEN disbanding the city, and then refounding one on the rubble with my settler all in the same turn.

 

[sabo]

If you ask me, you could basically say sitting down at the computer to play CIV against the AI is an exploit.
The AI does not reason things out. I remember zouave once said that playing against this AI is like playing against your retarted, evil, brother. All the AI knows is brute force, there is no imagination when playing against the AI.

So I would have to say no it's not an exploit. A real exploit is a cheat, worker build RR's all the time, I have built roads to an AI just to trade with them. Also the AI will plop a city down if there is only one space left on the map to do it, so I don't think it's an exploit if the human player does too.

 

[dgfred]

Using the settler to make new cities right on the edge of enemy territory, using workers to make railroads, and thereby getting deeper into enemy territory without expending movement points.

I didn't think this was an "exploit." Any more than capturing a huge enemy city chock full of resistors, sending one of my home-grown settlers to the city, THEN disbanding the city, and then refounding one on the rubble with my settler all in the same turn.

This is not an exploit. It will anger the nearby AI though, which is a good
thing and probably cause war one way or another .

 

[Arathorn]

One city on the edge? I wouldn't call that an exploit.

A city on the edge, rail in, send in a settler, abandon the first city, settle now deeper into AI territory, rail further, send in another settler, abandaon, resettle to reach essentially any square in the AI's territory with no MPs. That I call an exploit.

Of course, I would also call your second situation -- capturing long enough to bring in your own settler and then abandoning -- an exploit. One man's exploit is another's strategy, though, so play by what you feel makes the game fun/interesting/challenging/right for you. (e.g. This isn't meant to be preachy, just a data point on what somebody else considers an exploit.)

Arathorn

 

[microbe]

It's called combat settlers. I personally don't feel it's that much an exploit.

 

[Chieftess]

There's strategy articles on that in the Strategy Articles subforum of Strategies & Tips.

 

[Neomega]

There's strategy articles on that in the Strategy Articles subforum of Strategies & Tips.

And a pretty heated debate too about it's use.

SIngle player I don't care, but in multiplayer, I would consider it an exploit.