What is the first difficulty level you will play?

[Samurai 2006]

I can beat Monarch with Wang Kon on this version but only with him.
I think I'm gonna play a prince game with...Native Americans
They look cooooooool

 

[TM Moot]

I managed a few vanilla/Warlords wins on Prince (space, score, domination), but never master a Monarch victory.....

So back to Prince for me, with a rapid descent to Noble on the cards if I get my rear kicked!

 

[fed1943]

First game always with no advantages to anyone, so noble.

Best regards,

 

[eoc]

noble i think it is the best for me

 

[azzaman333]

As a player who is trying to break the Monarch barrier currently, I think I'll have a couple of games on Warlord to experience what the new AI can do then ramp it back up.

 

[Willowmound]

I'll drop aaaall the way down to Noble.

I once was playing Monarch, but then the improved AI came out, and now they're saying it's been improved further. So Noble for me.

But no way will I go any lower.

 

[Ball Lightning]

I'll be playing on emporer.

 

[B.Rob.]

I will be playing Prince, for sure. . .

 

[RedRalph]

I'll start on Warlord, but just for the first few games, then I'll be back up to Noble

 

[magicalsushi]

Wouldn't it have been more interesting to find out how many difficulty levels people are planning to drop, if any? Noble is currently leading the pack, but this could be because prince and monarch players are dropping to noble, or because noble players are sticking with it. I don't think the poll really tells us much about the impact of BtS.

 

[sneaky]

Wouldn't it have been more interesting to find out how many difficulty levels people are planning to drop, if any? Noble is currently leading the pack, but this could be because prince and monarch players are dropping to noble, or because noble players are sticking with it. I don't think the poll really tells us much about the impact of BtS.

To answer your question. These days I normally play Noble and I think I can handle it, but the last games I had bad starts or got bored and didn't play them to the end. That said, I can easily manage Warlord and therefore I think I start on that level for my first game of BTS. If that goes somewhat decent, I will certainly go back to Noble as soon as possible.

 

[BYC]

I'll drop to Noble from Prince. I usually always do this since nobody has any advantages, so it's a better way to tell if the AI is better or not. I'll play like I usually play so it's should be obvious if the AI improves or not.

 

[DarkSchneider]

That would be me. My standard procedure is to start at the bottom after an expansion, or possibly a patch , to remind myself that I'm re-learning the game.

Otherwise, more of my old habits and strategies will carry over from previous versions. I still have to force myself to build more cottages rather than roads when I need help help my cash flow.

That doesn't really make sense. If you play on the lower (pre Noble) difficulty levels, you'll pick up nothing but bad habits for future games! I have decided to stay where I usually play (Monarch) and see if the reduction in AI production bonuses cancel out the improved AI or not.

 

[yatta77]

Emperor, the level I play on warlord (I like the challenge, don't care how often I lose). The Better Ai should be balanced by different Ai bonuses, right?

 

[Pikkis]

I will play my 1st BTS game on Noble as nearly always, just to see how much harder it is to win than it was in Warlords, but I have to read the whole Civilopedia before it to see all the changes to units, buildings, wonders, traits...

 

[largedarryl]

I voted for prince, mainly because I had been consistently winning games on prince with the better ai mod, and would sometimes win on monarch.

But you never know, maybe Blake was able to make the ai really good and I'll have to go back to noble.

 

[Dutch Canuck]

Warlord. I've learned quickly at that level and still was entertained by the challenge. I am a builder and I prefer more relaxed games anyways, so I don't play above Noble. (I don't play a lot either.)

 

[ShredZ]

I usually play Monarch, and my first instints say to drop a level, but then I really wouldnt be able to tell how much the AI has been improved, so maybe Ill stick with Monarch. I dont think I need to experience ALL the new features on my first game... the longer I drag them out, the longer I get to be blown away by all the cool new features.

 

[IronCrown]

After Civ4 was released, I reached Prince level pretty quickly and then stuck with it for a long time. I think the increase in difficulty from Prince to Monarch is very high, probably because of the free worker the AIs get at Monarch.

Next move was to switch to the BetterAI mod which enabled me to stay at Prince but experience a far better and more challenging game. I've since improved my skills however and have recently beaten Monarch/BetterAI.

I think I will play my first game in BTS on Prince and see how much better the AI actually is, compared to Warlords Prince/BetterAI.

Actually I think it will not be harder to beat at all. Firaxis will have aimed to leave difficulty levels as they were. Many people will be pissed off if they suck at a level which they could master previously. Firaxis will rather reduce the bonuses so that the AI plays smarter, but is still not harder to beat. After all, you can always move up a level if you need a new challenge.

 

[Veggiehater]

I think I'm going to stick to my regular playing level (Prince.) But I'll probably help myself out a bit by using the Romans or someone else with a dominant early UU.