Why is Civillization 3 so addicative?

[silver 2039]

I have an English project on what makes Civillization III so addicative. I need a 3,000 word essay and a 15 miute oral presentation.

So I need to know what makes Civillization III so addicative.

I would appreicate if the mods could sticky this and as many peple could respond as possible.

 

[Souron]

One More Turn Sindrome.

When ever a player reaches the end of his aloted playing time, he is always tempted to play one aditional turn. After that turn is played, the player always wishes to play one more.


There is also the fact that it is a good game.

 

[Chieftess]

That pretty much sums it up. "Just one more turn". You're also recreating history (although limited by the RNG (Random Number Generator)).

 

[user37852]

silver 2039: I've read numerous articles on the game's addictiveness. Look around, research it a little and write it from your perspective, not others.

 

[The Last Conformist]

There are subliminal messages in the gfx that tells you to play on and on and on and ...

 

[silver 2039]

silver 2039: I've read numerous articles on the game's addictiveness. Look around, research it a little and write it from your perspective, not others.

I know but I'm trying to get other peoples opnions first.

To whoever said it's a great game what makes it such a great game?

 

[Pounder]

Replayability. It is never the same game twice.

 

[DragonRunner]

I agree with Pounder. THere are so many permutations and maps that you can play the game an infinite number of times and never play the same game twice.

 

[fastrook]

I've just started playing civ3 but have played civ2 for many years. Here is a thought:

It's very chess-like. I once read that more books had been written about chess than all other sports and games combined. Why? The absolute complexity of the game; it is a challenge to the human intellect, and as it is competitive, a challenge to the human ego.

As an aside it would be interesting if someone could design civi AI that was as good at the game as chess programs now are; that gain advantage not by cheating, but simply by depth and accuracy of analysis.

Games which are less addictive are in my opinion either too simple, or have parameters of play which make it too difficult to plan and predict with any accuracy; table-top wargames suffer from this last defect - too much luck is involved. Civi, like chess can be mastered, and that's what attracts us.

 

[Quilty]

For me it's the ability to play the vengeful god -- nurture your chosen people, beat the heck out of everyone else.

 

[Strato]

The fact the game is relatively simple to pick up on, but takes ages to master. The learning curve is gradual, and the player can progress as fast or as slow as they like. Being turn based means less of a requirement on 'quick thinking' and more ability to think about the consequences of what might happen. And lastly, as already stated, the "one more turn" syndrome. Often times I'll keep playing just one more turn to see what happens. Often times, this can mean losing a bit more sleep than I should....

 

[thescaryworker]

No matter what you do, there will probably be over (27x7 nonillion x 10 to the hunderedth power) number of different tile sets to play for a tiny map. ALSO, when you're in the earlier ages, you want to improve your civ as fast as possible to be able to destroy other civs & win the game. It can be difficult almost no matter what your level.

 

[The Omega]

I wouldn't know, since the "one-more-turn" syndrom doesn't seem to affect me as much as other people, but it's basically since there's always something that happens that requires you're immedaite attention, then something else like it will happen, etc.

 

[Choffy]

It takes 20 hours to play a single game...
And you want to play a lot.
Reading CivFanatic forum posts contribute to addiction. New stuff to play / test.

 

[Kayak]

For me it's the fact that I don't want to miss anything that could be important. I have to follow the AI moves closely. Then, because I have to react to the new situation and I don't want to forget my plans, I have to play the next moves immediatly. Then because I,ve forgotten what time it is, I hit the space bar. Then I have to follow the AI moves closely. Then it's 2AM and I've got to work the next day.
Basically I agree with The Omega on this one. SOmething always seems to require your immediate attention.

 

[Alone]

There are subliminal messages in the gfx that tells you to play on and on and on and ...

hmmm..this is probably closest to the truth.

 

[techbota]

Well I always want to make sure before I shut down Im in a postion when I reload the next day I know exactly what I was thinking the night before. So I play until I get to that point then ill save and always hit space again to find someone took one of my cities and now I must exact revenge and get to another point where I can save.

Also as you move up and get techs you always want all your cities to have certain improvements before you quit. Never stops till future techs.

A ruler must rule ....I call my civ....(all my's people's) LOL Or my Kindom...lol Always wanting the little buggers to be there best....God I need a shrink!

Stimulates the mind!

For some reason I find myself all the next day thinking of where to place my troops and what do do next. So when I get home I have too many plans to impliment.

During these plans things never work out as expected so you have to fix these setbacks along the way. making your plan take 3 times the norm to implement.

I think as well that you end up playing for so long in a night, you loose all sense of time and space around you cause your kinda in a trance from sleep deprevation.

 

[wilbill]

I enjoy the fact that there is no one, single way of playing the game that's always best. I can play Always War, One City Challenge, go for various victory types that dictate different styles of play.
Within the game, I'm constantly forced to make choices to which there's no obvious "right" answer. Choice of government, for example. If I choose a government type that allows me to make war easily, with little or no War Weariness and lots of unit support, I'm giving up something else - income, rapid scientific research, etc.

 

[braclayrab]

Someone mentioned on another post the other day that the beginning of the game is more fun. I agree with this. It's a lot of fun when you're not sure how the world looks, you're not sure if you'll be on top at the end of expansion... What happens is that you always want to start a new game. That coupled with a little 'one more turn' syndrome and you can't stop playing. It also helps, as someone mentioned, that the game in never the same twice.

Perhaps also the feeling of power is somewhat addictive. It does feel pretty god-like to lead a civilization through 5000 years of development.

 

[LAW_FREAK]

Maybe .pcx graphics are drugged and they payed Dell, Gateway, etc to put specal hardware in there coputers. Or the sound as some special frequwncy the gets us all adicted to the game. Or were are all complete geeks/nerds and our suspenders get caught in our computer chair