Hi everyone,
The first time I came across Civ series was with Civ 3. I remember there was a big hoopla when it came out, but I was still into real time strategy at the time. I did try out the demo, but it felt slow to me and I didn't know what I was doing.
The first turn-based strategy I played was Rome Total War. Thinking back, I didn't think it would be a good game, but I had a gift certificate from a relative for my birthday and there weren't really any good games out that I wanted. I bought it on a whim. It was a great game, but the AI players were pretty bad. I saw numerous discussions about how much better Civ 4 AI was compared to Rome AI.
I was finally ready to play a true turn-based game. Civ 4 impressed me for the amount of depth in the game. Most strategy games I played I finished within the first month or two. I had a great time playing them, but they didn't last all that long. Civ 4 was different. The more I played, the more I learned. I also read lengthy discussions by fans on the best "moves" to make. Even a couple years after playing the game, I still felt like there was stuff to learn.
And now Civ 5 came out. With Civ 4 anytime I did a Google search, someone else had asked that question and a knowledge person answered it. Civ 5 is still new whenever I was searching for an answer, not much was coming up. I decided I should register, so I could get help from other players. Maybe I will be able to help others as well.