Which Difficulty Level will you try first? (Poll)

[Viatrix]

Settler.

Simply because I don't want to play a settler game when I'm good just to get that settler steam achievement (don't blame me!). Might as well do it right away when winning a settler game might offer an actual challenge.

 

[Cristoval]

Noble, no bonuses for anyone. I can't stand handicaps to create challenge in strategy games.

 

[thungrim]

I get most of my challenge and competitive fulfillment through my profession and from working out. I'm not ashamed to admit I like my gaming time a little on the lighter side. I'll probably go with whatever the 2nd or 3rd levels of difficulty are.

 

[JollyRoger]

Settler and keep moving up a level with each win. Move down a level with a loss.

 

[pawelo]

I'll go for prince. Hesitated with Noble choice, still I think you learn better on higher levels - when someone is smashing your head on.

 

[Earthling]

I'm going to start out at easier/even difficulty (Prince is what I voted) but do anticipate moving up quite quickly.

Since Civ5 difficulties are less about AI bonuses and more about smarter civs, it should feel more fair than higher level Civ4.

There is little evidence of this, though to be fair this specific claim interpreted one way could be true - the AI could be more fair and easier overall. There is no evidence and much to counteract the AI the AI will be more fair and equally challenging though.

 

[RD-BH]

Deity.

 

[sohvan]

I want a challenge for the first game, so I'll dive straight into emperor.

I'm hoping the Civ V AI won't cheat at higher levels, but will get bonuses that the human player does not. Alternatively the higher difficulty levels could handicap the human player instead of giving the AI a bonus. I would be surprised if they've managed to make an AI that could fight on equal ground against a good human opponent with no advantages.

I divide "cheating" and bonuses something like this:
AI cheating is stuff that the human player can't do, such as seeing through fog of war, instant wonders, influencing combat odds, knowing what the human is researching and producing etc.
Bonuses mean stuff like 20% extra research, extra production, less unhappiness, starting with extra units etc.

I'm ok with the 2nd kind of way of helping the AI out, but I hope they've managed to make something that will be challenging without the first. I would be very wary if they think they've created something that can go against a human opponent with no bonuses though. Napoleon's way of leading the french in battle at the Immortal level in the livestream certainly didn't seem good enough to beat a good human player in tactical combat let alone anything else. The AIs of today aren't anywhere near the level of matching a human in a game as complex as Civilization.

 

[HamTard]

You should've looked at the Steam achievements before making this poll. The new difficulty list appears to be:

Settler
Chieftan
Warlord
Prince
King
Emperor
Immortal
Diety

So basically Monarch was replaced with King (odd, since Monarch is sex neutral but King is male, but maybe it was done because King is the obvious next step above Prince) and Noble was taken out.

 

[Sparthage]

I voted warlord. I try not to play new games on the easiest level because sometimes they are given certain bonuses that I do not want to have. aka: Civ III.

 

[Me,myself,and,I]

I'm gonna start on settler or chieftain to learn all the new mechanics.

 

[Disgustipated]

Warlord, I believe for Civ4 I chose chieftan and it was far too easy. I may choose Noble, but not likely- I don't like to lose.

 

[Venereus]

Warlord, I believe for Civ4 I chose chieftan and it was far too easy. I may choose Noble, but not likely- I don't like to lose.

Same here. Warlord, one below my normal difficulty to get a hang of things and avoid ragequitting, and then back to Noble for the rest.

 

[Kordanor]

Noble.
Don't like a cheating opponent, especially not if I play against other players and AI at the same time.
If the AI does not cheat and only plays better, I will increase it though.

 

[Dark_Jedi06]

I play Civ IV between Noble and Prince, so I think I'll start out on Noble.

 

[fdgsgds]

I always play games I've never played before at the most moderate difficulty. Also, I play on noble / prince

 

[bernlin2000]

Starting off easy with Chieftain (I prefer world domination over a challenge), but maybe I'll pull a 2k Greg and go with immortal and see if I can use choke points to keep my enemies at bay. It'll be awesome, either way

 

[jaldaen]

I answered noble... but I am tempted to play the first game on settler and than move up one level each game until I hit a wall of AI resistance... then stick there until I'm good at that level and then move up. It could be fun to play on a lower level just to have a (hopefully) glorious victory

 

[QuothTheRaven]

In many achievement implementations, if you have two achievements that are exactly the same in the task but vary on the difficulty settings, then beating the task on the higher difficulty grants the lower difficulty achievement at the same time as the higher difficulty achievement. Blizzard, for example, does this for SC2 and WoW. We'll see which route Firaxis goes with.

Anyways, I'll probably be playing on Prince. I'd rather struggle a little my first game. On Noble I'd probably struggle some in the early game but then dominate by the mid-game, and then it's less interesting.

 

[iggymnrr]

Monarch. But in all likelihood something no level-ish in order to be really anal and pore over the civ-pedia, tech tree etc.