Civ 3 has eaten my Life

[mulletman]

I got Civilization 3 last weekend thiking it would be a good game, because i had some friends talkign about it. Ever since I got it I can't stop playing it. It's affecting my in ever way. When i get home from school I want to play it right away but i been able to force myself to do my homework first. Now i can't force myself, I wond up copying somebodys elses in school or rushing to get it done 5 minutes before class. This game is freaking addicting.

[zeh]

I had the same problem.
One tip: play it as much as you can, so faster you'll become normal again.
Until it happens, the solution is count with your friends to do your work, and pay back them latter.

[Der PH]

I got the game as soon as it was available in Germany (about 10 months ago) and had the same problem as you.
After a few weeks it went better and I was able to do something else than Civ when I got home in the evening.
I even had a few pauses of several weeks since, but every time I start a new game, I get addicted again.
With the ability to modify the game (for me that means mainly reworking the tech tree and inserting new units) Civ does not really become boring.
It's terrible!

Welcome to the world of undone housework, mulletman!

[mulletman]

I hope so, I was up untill 12:30 last night playing it. It's ridiculous that Sid Meir made such a freaking addicting game. Oh, and my friends are annoyed that i have to borrow there homework everyday. I hope this ends soon.

[Alex]

Hehe, I remember my old civ2 days... Ah, those were the days...

[Apolex]

Yeah me too. One way I have found to deal with it is to set a timer. I take my alarm clock and set it for 45 minutes ahead. I play for 45 minutes (which seems like 10 minutes!) and when it goes off, I set it for another 45. I have to do SOMETHING constructive for those 45 minutes to 'pay' for my next 45 mins of Civ. I've acually found that Civ is helping me to actually be MORE productive like this. I spend 45 minutes doing dishes, homework, cleaning out the cat-box, etc. until the alarm goes off, then I get to play Civ again! It's hard to do, but it's the only way I can play it now. Otherwise I'll get sucked into some sort of time-warp black hole and all of the sudden 12 hours are gone.

[miccofl]

Originally posted by: mulletman
Oh, and my friends are annoyed that i have to borrow there homework everyday.

Have you considered paying them for their services? You will find that a healthy bribe will change their attitude, just like the AI civs in the game.

[Theseus]

Until he starts getting A's, in which case the price will go up dramatically!!

[Traelin]

Thankfully I'm not in school anymore, cuz I woulda been screwed if Civ3 came out then. It's bad enough that all I've done since 1.29 came out is go to the gym and play Civ3!

[Jaybe]

Old civ2 days, my word! My civ3 days are much better (not that I didn't spend plenty of long nights/weekends on civ2).

While I have not gone to mulletman's depths of, ah, irresponsibility, I have spent a few too many early mornings playing civ3 when I should have been sleeping. Most of my weekends involve 20+ hours, and now that work has been slow, I have another game wrapping up there.

It has been a good year (reality aside), and Civ3 has been GREAT and quite fulfilling this whole time. Too bad it isn't "productive" or that it cannot be transformed into a money-maker (I am not good enough to be wagered on). I also appreciate how Firaxis has given us a new game every so often in the form of patches, which refreshes the game without my going into the editor.

[Inverse Icarus]

it's even worse when you'd rather draw maps and battle plans during class than copy homework.

come back when THAT happens

[Tiberius]

The good old civ2 days, ahhh, I mean, days and nights

Thank God I was a student, and not in the final year, when I got civ2! After playing all night long I usually decided not to go to school the next day. Now try this at work!

[Tiberius]

sorry, double post

[Tiberius]

I remember there was an old, funny civ2 thread called "You know that you've been playing civ2 for too long when ... ".
If there was an identical civ3 thread, you could add now your own line:
"...when your friends are upset on you because you have to borrow their homework ...."

[ChrisiusMaximus]

You Knowyouve been playing Civ3 too long when you look at the clock and it says its 6:30am and the prospect of getting up to go to work at 7:00am dawns on you.Dawns on you eh.

[Unspeakable Horror]

Hehe, I remember my old civ2 days... Ah, those were the days...

Yes... I remember too... days... nigths... *sigh*

Originally posted by Apolex
Yeah me too. One way I have found to deal with it is to set a timer. I take my alarm clock and set it for 45 minutes ahead. I play for 45 minutes (which seems like 10 minutes!) and when it goes off, I set it for another 45. I have to do SOMETHING constructive for those 45 minutes to 'pay' for my next 45 mins of Civ. I've acually found that Civ is helping me to actually be MORE productive like this. I spend 45 minutes doing dishes, homework, cleaning out the cat-box, etc. until the alarm goes off, then I get to play Civ again! It's hard to do, but it's the only way I can play it now. Otherwise I'll get sucked into some sort of time-warp black hole and all of the sudden 12 hours are gone.

[HazieDaVampire]

YAY, I CAN POST AGAIN!
Oh, you'll soon find out that you spend more time on poly than actualy playing the game!

[Explorer579]

Guys, this is a serious issue that needs to be addressed. Civ3 has eaten your life? Well, it has eaten my wife too!

Civ3 is like a drug:
1) it is addictive.
2) it distorts your perception of time (8 hours look like 1).
3) it occupies your thinking when you are not playing it.
4) it can badly affect your life.

However, when well controlled, civ3 can relax you by taking your mind off work/school/etc., and help you enjoy creating your own world and reality (just like the autistic savant Rainman, "we live in our own world")!

You need to create the conditions to be able to benefit from the positives of civ3 and not its negatives. Here are my tricks (they are not easy though):
1) reward yourself by playing civ3 (that is play after homework as a reward for doing it --or after an achievement at work for those above 25 like me);

2) time yourself (play for 2 or 3 hours and then go to sleep and think about it; i can sometimes play 2 hours and think for 3 hours but at least my body would be resting and my wife would be thinking I am with her

3) play small worlds, faster production, fewer civilizations, and try to end the game in 5 hours;

4) agree on ending the game on a specific date (e.g. 200 AD; i now never play modern ages because there are so many freaking things to move --besides i am a romantic historian, just like General Paton!

5) go read about a concept in the game: greeks, arabs, democracy, manhattan project, etc. Can you relate reality to your own civ world?

Whatever you do, know that this is a serious problem for your social life, your career, your health (vision).

Firaxis should produce a timer where you pre-determine how long you are going to play and make so you can't change this timer after you are involved in the game!

Any new ideas for controlling this civ addiction is appreciated! Let's keep this game legal before it is forbidden like canabis....

[Theseus]

I am SO over the top... my partner brought up the idea of taking over a well-known modeling agency: I initially thought of the changes we would make in terms of gpt, happiness, and culture.

[Inverse Icarus]

when civ3 first came out i was quoted saying "turns" in place of "hours" or "days" several times by my friends.

[miccofl]

Originally posted by: Explorer579
Well, it has eaten my wife too!

How do you turn that option on?

[itsagreenday]

Civ 3 is really bad in graduate school, when you're not supposed to have time to do anything. My thesis may get pushed back if I buy PTW.

[mulletman]

Ya, I spent the last class of the ay yesterday figuring out a stragety for the game i'm still playing. Doesn't anybody have old Alpha centauri days. remember when you nerve stapled your colonists just because you could do it. I miss those days, (sniffle).

[Alex]

Oh, my old SMAC days and nights...

I remember clearly when I dropped my first planet buster on Yang... What a glorious moment! I lost a girlfriend then, because she called me right after I planet bustered Yang and I could only say "the crater, oh my god the crater"...

[V.O.C.'02]

its true that a couple hours of civ only looks a short while real time.

I never keep my promisses when i have been playing. When my girl calls me to ask me at what time i'm planning to drop in, I always say something like : do not woory baby, it's only half past ten..........that's when the screaming begins and when i am being told that its about 2 oçlock.

I am a man in a difficult position, I must say

[vondrack]

I know what everybody is talking about... fortunately, there is a light at the end of this tunnel, mulletman! If you play Civ3 long enough, you will recover your balance. Play day and night, sleep only a little, eat only a little... and after some (not necessarily a short...) time, especially if winning easily, you will eventually feel like doing something different.

I used to spend so much time with Civ3 that I was angry with myself! Civ should be played just for fun, not as a full-time job... I was once playing too much, almost neglecting the real world... but it did improve. And it will improve for you, too. The more grand victories you achieve, the less tempted to start a new game you will be, since you will know another victory as great as "that one before" will be very difficult...

Well, at least, that's what happened to me. I currently have a very good game under way, but I succeed to play just a couple of hours per week, which no longer ruins my real world life.

Wish you good luck!

[ChrisiusMaximus]

My wife she says Chrisius why the hell do you sit up all night playing those ridiculous games,but darling my people need me I tell her.
After all whats an emporer to do.

[HazieDaVampire]

Theseus, are you serius? I know people joke alot, but you said it like it was true! Your just a good writter!

[Theseus]

Semi-serious. When I think about a company, I now sort of have a Civ3-like slider system in my head... how do you balance income, happiness, growth, research, etc. The trick (really) is getting as many luxuries (i.e., positive outside modifiers) as you can!!!

[HazieDaVampire]

lol, well at least that tells me your far enough from the stupid/mad line to date my sister!
But this is the internet, so i wouldn't no matter what!