I wish the names automatically given to cities were chosen randomly from the list

I wish the names automatically given to cities were chosen randomly from the civ's list. So your second city as France might be Montpelier instead of Orleans yet again.

Yesterday, I posted this on Reddit's Civilization subreddit. Here is what I said:

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"Oh look, it's France, and here's Paris, Orleans, Lyons, and Rheims, again". Kind of boring.

Now before you tell me, I'm aware that there is a mod for that. But I also like to get achievements, and as far as I can tell, any mod disables achievements. I'm also aware I could rename my cities, but I don't want it to function this way, and the A.I. doesn't do it.

It always sort of irked me that I could tell, just from the names, the order in which my opponents built their cities. I also find that, for immersion, it becomes sort of bland after a while to always see the same 4-7 city names per civilization. There is a huge list of names I basically never see, or might see only if I play on a huge map.

It may seem like a small detail, but eh, immersion is a big part of game fun for me, and this small detail sort of slightly stifles emergent stories or makes them more repetitive, just slightly.

It could be an option, in case people love the fact that it's always in the same order.

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I got more people agreeing with me than anticipated honestly. 83% of people who voted agreed, almost 200 upvotes.

Which makes me think; please Firaxis consider making this an official option or something like that. I mean you can already randomize personalities and such things, as a user pointed out.

You're in love with Hawaii so you play as Polynesia on deity. Oh look! You see abundant of resources. Who cares, right? It'll only take 4 turns, crossing rivers and hills. Yes! Time to settle my lovely Honolulu.
*settles city, city name is Fiji, you rage quit

I completely agree, for the exact same reasons.

I'd like the game to acknowledge that when you founded your fourth "Kyoto" and immediately changed the name, you did not found the city of "Kyoto."

First world problems.

I mean, seriously.

In civ 3 you could rename the cities - I used to name them "capital", "1", "2" etc to make it easier when I was scrolling through them.

Chum said:

First world problems.

I mean, seriously.

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I did explain it could seem like a minor detail. I also explained why it would be a good minor detail to work on for many players who like emerging stories in their games, like to roleplay it a bit, like variety, or like immersion. If you still feel the need to be condescending after that, well, I'm sorry for you.

Bulldog Bats said:

In civ 3 you could rename the cities - I used to name them "capital", "1", "2" etc to make it easier when I was scrolling through them.

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You can rename cities in Civ 5, as I said in my original post.

I do like the idea of random names. It would add an element of some small joy.

I used to rename all my cities like IRON CITY and HORSETOWN and GEMVILLE.

I haven't seen that - where is it, and can you do it when you conquer another city?

Bulldog Bats said:

I haven't seen that - where is it, and can you do it when you conquer another city?

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Yeah. It's in the city-screen. Click on the city like you're going to manage the citizens and specialists... At the top of the screen you will see the city's name. There should be a "edit" or "edit name" close to the name.

Thanks - learn something new every day.

Zaimejs said:

I do like the idea of random names. It would add an element of some small joy.

I used to rename all my cities like IRON CITY and HORSETOWN and GEMVILLE.

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Judging from your profile pic you've probably named more than a few cities, "Nuketown."

There is also a mod called "randomize city names", if you are using mods...

Hakan-i Cihan said:

There is also a mod called "randomize city names", if you are using mods...

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I don't mean to be rude, but I don't think you read my post.

Rub'Rum said:

I don't mean to be rude, but I don't think you read my post.

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Or you didn't get the hint, it is the choice you make, achievements or mods
Do you think that Fireaxis will change this, if people are already thinking the game will get no further expansion, dlc and maybe even (n)one patch(es)?

I think the ideal solution would be randomized, but in tiers. That way the second city you found as Washington wouldn't be Albuquerque. The first three cities could only be eastern cities from the original colony..

We'll see how immersive it feels when Alexander settles Apolyton right out the gates, or when Washington settles the esteemed metropolis of Hunt Valley

Hakan-i Cihan said:

Or you didn't get the hint, it is the choice you make, achievements or mods
Do you think that Fireaxis will change this, if people are already thinking the game will get no further expansion, dlc and maybe even (n)one patch(es)?

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Oh well I'll be darn! How did I not already think of all of this! (I can put four of those!) I literally mention the mod you talk about, even saying "now before you tell me, I'm aware it exists" then you tell me that that mod exists. Really now, pardon me for thinking you may not have read the original post.

Sid Simelia said:

I think the ideal solution would be randomized, but in tiers. That way the second city you found as Washington wouldn't be Albuquerque. The first three cities could only be eastern cities from the original colony..

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For me immersion isn't really about reproducing reality or history, it's about getting into the emergent story of each game. The problem being that the same names show up all the time. So it really doesn't matter which names are chosen, as long as they are a different mix than the same old string.

Hakan-i Cihan, as Rub'Rum notes, he included a link to the Randomize City Names mod in his original post.

Moderator Action: Let's all get back to the topic.

i just rename my empire cities to the witcher world province