You know, the odd thing is that I've played CivII, CivIII, Call to power I and II, and I can't honestly say that I actually enjoyed any of them, despite wasting hours and hours with them and liking the general idea of guiding a civ from stone age to modern day. Alpha Centauri I did enjoy, and that game has a setting I don't care for and so much brown it goes right out the other side of brownness. Something wrong there.

AC had so many more options, and I suppose that is what decided it for me. That and the diplomacy - it actually worked and with some depth too. The factions were customised, but unlike the attempt at the same in CivIII this never felt wrong and artificial.

Civ ... hmm, I'll echo others and say some ages finished too quickly and were little mroe than speedbumps on the path of advancement. Those ages were those I am most interested in. We shall speak not of pikes and tanks, or even stone age clubmen and tanks. It still makes me scowl.

I do have to say that I'm warily eyeing this thread, praying that the game is actually rubbish. I simply don't have time for another game, and if this one is good I know I'll be buying. And cursing as large chunks of my life turn into "Just one more turn ..." I already have enough of that with BI, thank you!