Very, very, very nice, Kingreno !
Superb explanation, this is the first time I read such a post in a PBEM spoiler. Maybe I had read such stuff back in my heavy SP games in 2003, but that was long ago. Quite a refreshment, to the least.
I enjoy the way you described the general harmony that must come up with your settling order (capital, then worker/settler factory, then cities on luxes, then beating the AIs to ivory, then filling back the core). Quickly going to ivory and then filling back the core is a must in the majority of games. The trick is to find the right moment to get there, because sending a settler to ivory immediately (like city #2 or #3) is counter-productive : you need some solid basement in your core first.
Funnily I often go first on high-food spots, before considering luxes.
I always do it simple : grab the food bonuses first, unless they're quite far away (corruption), then grab bonus grasslands and rivers... then grab the luxes on poor spots. Maybe I need more harmony, but maybe each city can be more productive too.
Keep up the good work !
