Do you like to play aggressively and spend the whole game at war, or do you like to slowly expand peacefully, only fighting when you have too? Do you engage in a lot of diplomacy and trade or do you play as an isolationist?

I like to open a Ultra large map, then take my time to develop.......also I usually avoid putting aggressive nation/race in the map........

I almost always try to play peacefully;)

I suck at those game's beacuse of that.

In my underpants whilst working on a caffiene overdose


Okay okay, I build up an economic base so I can get better stuff to start with, assuming you get the time. Doesn't always work, a few missions into X2, I started my business empire in Presidents End RIGHT before the mission where the Khaak invade.

I reclaimed the sector in the end, stationed a pair of warships there and surrounded the jumpgates with a cone of laser turrets, it was still quite a fight when they tried to push through in force but I never lost the system again

Always try to be peaceful and build up a productive economy. Just in case if someone thinks that a war is necessary.

Usually I also go for superior research.

I want, love and try to expand slowly and peacefully with diplomacy, but that rarely works in that kind of games most unfortunately.

Thought for the day: Thought begets Heresy; Heresy begets Retribution.

4x games often reward the player if s/he expands early. The trick is, you get production, research,etc. points for every area you conquer (be it a planet or a region, depends on the game I think) and for conquering you need a strong army. Therefore I usually go for a military production gig and focus all the research into weapons, doing economy upgrades when needed (usually this happens when my conquering spree ends).

My favorite strategy: first build a strong economy, then create an army, then total war.

Diplomacy and trade only until the final war declaration.

The problem: it's quite boring to always play like this.

Build strong economy, diplomatic ties, trade relations etc. Make everyone trust me completely, then stab them in the back.

I'm usually not the one who initiates war, instead I usually sit back, build up a strong economy and focus on research, often out-teching my opponents by a large margin. I'm usually nice to those around me, trying to have good relations with them and avoiding war.
But attacking me is a bit like attacking the incredible hulk. I usually have such a strong economy and such good technology that I can quickly switch over my production and mass produce military units, thus going "hulk smash" all over my opponents, and whoever happens to be near my army, once my opponent is down.

Usually I try to build a strong economy, gain a tech lead, but don't attack. Then, when someone attacks me, I weigh the options, and usually retaliate.

However, I vary my strategy each time. I therefore particularly like games like Civ4, which offer lots of very different viable strategies. This contributes greatly to replayability. I've played this game as a pacifist, warmonger, tech leader, barbarian horde, trader, culture center, honest diplomat, sneaky spymonger, religious evangelist, ruthless capitalist, and probably more, and I'm pretty sure that I still haven't explored every approach.