I don't think you can really understand what makes Civ so great by watching someone else play - you have to do it yourself. That said, quill18 has produced some excellent gameplay videos with insightful commentary:

http://www.youtube.com/user/quill18/videos?view=1

I've seen some of his other videos before. I've watched his Master of Orion videos, and watching them made me decide I had absolutely no interest in playing those games either. Just watched 18 minutes of one of his Caveman Cosmos videos, and I just can't get into it at all. I find the gameplay to be unbelievably boring, so I guess these games just aren't for me.. But thanks for the link anyway.

Yeah, maybe you just don't enjoy turn-based strategy in general. I think everybody has at least one genre that they don't like.

Bought

Sid Meiers Civilization IV: The Complete Edition ( steam version )

Should have bought Max :>

Good choice. Just be careful of "Just one more turn..." leading you to be up until 3 am on a work night.

But have you actually played the games? Maybe you could try the "Total War" series of games instead. The Civ-like aspect of the game is a bit more streamlined and combat focused while the real time battles are amazing.

I just bought both Medieval 2 Total War and Rome Total War (both complete games with all expansion packs). Unbelievably fun -- love the mix of Civ-like gameplay and kick ass battles :)

Rome total War is great. I highly recommend you play it with the Rome Total Realism mod http://www.rometotalrealism.org/ it adds so much to the standard game and just feels a lot better. Despite the name, it doesn't have ridiculous amount of realism forced upon it.

Edit: more direct link http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showthread.php?t=479145

Turn based strategy games are not meant to be enjoyed through videos. You'll only see windows and choices being made while a little unit moves from point A to point B and a short animation decides who wins.

The strategic decision making that provides the challenge is completely overlooked on videos.

Thanks for the tip, will check it out when I get back into Rome (bought Spellforce yesterday and am currently obsessed with that :)

BTW, I loved it so much, I'm giving away a free copy of Rome Total War on my website (it's the original game plus all expansion packs).

All you have to do is leave a comment. Drawing for one free Rome Total War Complete is tomorrow:

http://bloodygoodgames.com/win-a-free-copy-of-rome-total-war-complete-in-our-bi-weekly-gamersgate-competition/

I'm not even sure Civ 4 and Master of Orion are meant to be enjoyed through actually playing them either
*rimshot*.
But really I've watched other videos of TBS games, and they've made me think the game is worth checking out. I don't have anything against turn based strategy, I have dozens of games that can be considered turn based strategy
I don't say Civ 4 looks boring just because it's turn based strategy. That's not enough to turn me off from the game. Just everything else about the presentation/ atmosphere/ setting /whatever of the game is so meh and bland to me. I know gameplay is all that is supposed to matter, but I think there are other TBS games that also have deep gameplay, while still having an atmosphere that appeals to me. ( even something small like the OST can make a pretty big difference in helping me getting into the game) . I also know I said in an earlier post "I find the gameplay to be unbelievably boring" but really I just meant the game overall in the video I had just watched, I didn't mean to single out just the gameplay mechanics .
Also to PMIK, yeah I have Civ 4. I agree with your Total war picks

o/` Baba yetu, yetu uliye Mbinguni yetu, yetu, amina! o/`
Baba yetu, yetu, uliye Jina lako litukuzwe. o/`

I love that song. I do get your point, though. I stopped playing Civ 4 mostly because it's pretty much scenario based and it takes too long to finish one game. I intend to reinstall sometime in the future though.

Damn you! Now I've got that song stuck in my head!

If you want more variation, better AI, and basically just more of everything, try the Rise of Mankind: A new Dawn mod. I think I sunk >100h into one game and had a blast. I could certainly have ended the game a lot faster, but I wanted to see everything, and it did pay off. I'm not sure if bombing an opponent with those plaguebringer bio-nukes should have been so much fun...

But there are a lot of other awesome mods, like the fantasy-style Fall from Heaven 2 (and the modmods Rise from Erebus and Master of Mana).