And I've learned over time not to stress too much about online "rep". It's good, but at the end, it's only a number in a database.

Indeed; it just seems that GOG itself is generating the buzz about rep here by giving out stars and hinting at a "mystery prize" for anyone who manages to get to five stars.
But now, I *think* we should stop derailing this thread ;-).

GONG.... "We're under attack!!"

I won my first game! Thanks to the guy who told me to invest heavily in settlements, I was able to hold off any major agression from the prehistoric up through the renaissance, and then I started POUNDING the computer with a NASTY base rush with a priest in tow converting their unit-producers..I REALLY slowed them down.
I got into WW1 first, but when they got there, it became pandemonium. I had started a second "area" on the coast, and with all the commotion I forgot about it! Unfortunately, my third Wonder was there, and it got destroyed, along wqith my seaport there.
So, I built a LOT of AA guns around my wonders, start churning out marines (WW2 by now) and finished the game just around the time when I could have advanced to the next epoch.
SUCH an epic game. Campaign time I think!

Lol, no truth by definition is objective. My point about SF was that they didn't pay several of their developers, and as such, are profitting *every* time a GOG/Steam/ETC user buys a game, which encourages that type of immoral behavior.
In a capitalist society, you have three weapons: Your dollars, your mouth, and your fists. Use each wisely.

Excuse me? The truth is never controversial, so again, I fail to see how reporting it looks bad on *me*.
Oh, also, is there a way to set a victory condition that DOESN'T revolve around the wonders? I would think it would lead to a longer game. I was *right* on the cusp of the post-WW2 epoch, and I won via wonder victory.

And then, due to mech abilities and airplanes, it makes skirmishes even longer and epic ;-).
Isn't there an option to turn wonder victory off in the game creation screen?

Hmm, is there? What then, just military victory?

I've just checked, when setting up a skirmish, you can select how many wonders are needed for victory, and you can choose "off". Yes, in that case, it is military victory.

Eeps, fight to the death!

I decided to order the strategy guide from Amazon...got it for like $4. Good bathroom reading if nothing else.

Lofl, so I ordered the guide as well as "Clash of Civilizations" in hardcover (A book I have wanted for quite some time) from a used merchant on Amazon. I get what is obviously a paperback book, digest-sized at that! So, of course I write up a polite but firm email to the seller that I would not be opening what was "obviously" the wrong version of Clash of Civ's, and that I wanted a refund or exchange.
They get back to me and state that they only have a partial refund policy for mistakes, that they have no return policy. So, I figured I had nothing to lose in opening it now...5 days later. And of course, it's the EE guide! I was expecting one of those magazine-sized guides like I normally see...it's actually refreshing how conveniently sized this is!
So I got two peices of good news today:
1) The guide is here
2) Likely, the Clash of Civ's will be hardcover like I ordered!