An Idea For A Possible Fifth Team

[Methos]

This is more of a discussion about a possible team, then the actual creation of it. I’m curious as to if there is any interest at the moment.

The government would be whatever the government is for our civilization. Therefore at the start of the game we would be a dictatorship. I realize that this removes the team aspect, so I was thinking of making the team the “voice” of the nations citizens. I would suggest possibly having a certain percentage equaling the effects of a coup, in that they could force the ruler to do something. For instance, the coup amount is 60% and a poll is created and at least 60% of the citizens want to do something that the dictator doesn’t. Because they achieved the minimum of 60%, then the dictator is forced to do as his citizens want.

This of course causes the ruler to pay attention to the voice of his/her people if he/she doesn’t want to be overthrown. It also allows for power struggles, cloak-and-dagger deals, and other more shadowy aspects of the game. For instance, if Organized Religion is selected then a political group within the government would be created and now they either have to work with the ruler, or maneuver to force/persuade the ruler to do their bidding.

The concept sounds very intriguing to me, though I’m not sure how well it would work for a MTDG.

What are your thoughts?

[Methos]

I thought I'd give an example of what I'm talking about...

Say that we're still a dictatorship and our current ruler, Thunderfall, is doing everything in his power to keep us as a dictatorship. Desiring a way out of Thunderfall's dictatorship, I notice that we are short the tech that gets us Organized Religion and that one of the other teams has the tech needed. I secretly contact this team and begin discussions in getting the tech from them while at the same time I'm secretly contacting other players to build up my church. Let's say myself and this other team come to an agreement on a deal, which includes us getting the tech and their team gaining certain agreements from our civ. Now that I have that, I need to persuade my fellow citizens to agree to the "tech trade". Looking at my fellow citizens I realize the two strongest players are Ainwood and Padma, so I go to them knowing that if I can persuade them, then I'll get the votes I need. I have to make a few secret deals with them, but in the end they agree. I then post my poll thread regarding the tech deal and if I manage to get the desired percentage of votes then Thunderfall is automatically removed from power, the nation switches to OR, and I become the new religious dictator.

Another example would be bribery. For instance if one player is gaining enough strength to successfully take over the ruler could offer him a position of power to protect his office. Or the dangerous player could confront the ruler and simply state, give me a specific position and certain rights or I will have you removed from power and take it by force.

This sort of team would have both pros and cons. The pros being that players would typically be more active on the team and things within the team dynamic would be constantly changing and stay interesting. The cons are for players who don't wish to be very active. Another possible con is it may weaken the team compared to the others, since the team would also be vying for power within the team. Granted, it may not end up as a con at all, I'm not sure.

[Lord Parkin]

I think it sounds intriguing, although it's not the kind of team I'd play in myself. By all means though, if other people are interested in your idea, I wouldn't be against another team popping up. If this was the case I'd want to look at a 6th team too though, just to keep the team numbers even for balance purposes.

[azzaman333]

Not sure this would work too well in a multiplayer environment.

[Tinkerbell]

Good idear. I think it's more for a role playing game and a multi player. Makes things more real.

In a normal Civ game, the science keeps moving forward. That doesn't match history.

Maybe set some roles before the game start, like a president, a king, a bishop. These people have all different views on how to rule a Civ.

[donsig]

I wonder if Provo's team would be interested in this concept. What would be the difference between despotism and hereditary rule? What about between representation and universal suffrage?

[Provolution]

Methos, if you joined my team, we could always tweak the team into this direction, I am game.

[Methos]

I did look at your team, Provo, but noticed you hadn't been around in a while, so wasn't sure if you had dropped out. I'm still not sure what I'll do, but I was curious how many were interested. So far it appears no one is, so this will not be made into a team, at least from me.

[damnrunner]

Originally Posted by donsig

I wonder if Provo's team would be interested in this concept. What would be the difference between despotism and hereditary rule? What about between representation and universal suffrage?

No girls allowed until universal suffrage?

[Masagin]

I find the idea of persuading influential players in private to ensure desired poll outcomes quite appealing. I also like the idea of competing forms of government within the team, although binding them to in-game traits is so-so.