Heh, heh, heh!
Norwegian girls are indeed easy on the eyes! Lovely language too...
A friend of mine visited Utrecht, Holland, when his girlfriend studied there for a couple of months. He told me the girls there were very beatuiful and elegant. Luckily for me I have another friend who is going to spend two years in Utrecht, so I may get an opportunity to find out for myself!
As for scouting, it is the absence of scouting that is a luxury and a very dangerous one too. Huts only have one truly bad outcome IMHO, techs distorting the tech path to monarchy/republic. I think the trick is to adapt to the tech you get. I don't like pre-monarchy warrior code either (in fact I hate it), but on the other hand it's one tech less to STWA. Surely, even beavers waging wars forever must appreciate that?!
Barbs from huts are no problem initially, but once they come in numbers I am more careful when popping huts. Those far away from the empire are popped immediately, those near undefended cities (most likely advanced tribes) are put on hold. If I'm lucky the barbarian hordes will bother the other guy after finishing my horse.
The most important reason for exploring IMHO is however not the huts. It's finding the opponent or having units out there intercepting his exploring units. Having lots of black territory around is not healthy.
In a current game I only explored in one direction (don't ask me why) and suddenly an enemy horse bumped into my capitol. It was sufficiently defended for that encounter, but now my opponent knows where my heart is. I don't expect incoming caravans...
Carolus
