"Sometimes game rulebooks are meant to be used as a guide - not chiseled into stone tablets as scripture. If using a specific rule makes a game more fun for you, then it is not only your right - but it is your duty to change it." --Rob Bell
“My opinion is that a game has its own life when published, and is really alive when players want to add their own house rules!” --Bruno Cathala
I spent all this geekgold and now I can't think of what to write.
The fact that "America" is a nation you can follow from the Stone Age on has always bugged me about the Civ games. That sort of permanence isn't realistic with any of the empires of course, but America? Ugh.
Anyway, I haven't looked a great deal into either this game or its predecessor, but from what I do know the first one interested me a little more.
Technically there were people living on the American continents during the Stone Age.
Sure, they didn't have the name America or United States until much later, but you could say the same about European countries in the Stone Age too, eh?
That is nonsensical. The Americans are there since the first Civilization videogames, and well I don't think you can leave them out of the boardgame, even because - all other things apart - both Sid Meyer AND Fantasy Flight Games are U.S.A. So come on, a bit of patriotism is never out of place! And for what concerns the stone age continents... er... can we talk about a, let's see... Homo neandertalensis nation? Oh, come on!
Back on the main topic, I hope the game will be at least as good as Civ II!
Twilight Imperium ground forces are attacking Abe from the north!
I'm pretty sure Kevin posted in the forums that these were just the pieces they had handy for the demo. He promised we will get different plastic in the actual game.
Technically there were people living on the American continents during the Stone Age.
Sure, they didn't have the name America or United States until much later, but you could say the same about European countries in the Stone Age too, eh?
It makes just as much sense as the French in the Stone Age, or for that matter the Germans or the Japanese, or the Persians or Ottomans in the modern age. There were no nations back then, and since the game (the video game to begin with) encompasses all eras of history to date, it's gotta pick somebody.
It's nice to be reminded once in a while that it isn't only people where I live that have a cartoon world-view.
On-topic - Don't worry about historical things too much here. It is a board game based on a PC game, and the PC game is about as realistic as your average unicorn with hot-rod wheels (fun though!) It looks like you will need them to manage all the information floating around here in non-pc land.
"Despotism has no effect" right next to the picture of Lincoln is rather ironic, considering he'd be at or near the top of the list if you polled Americans on who the most despotic Americans were.
On-topic - Don't worry about historical things too much here. It is a board game based on a PC game, and the PC game is about as realistic as your average unicorn with hot-rod wheels (fun though!) It looks like you will need them to manage all the information floating around here in non-pc land.
Civilization is positioned as a historical game. In fact, this is a fantasy game, and it leaves nothing but a total chaos in the head.
