"Artists"

[Strategist83]

A nitpick and no dealbreaker, but also something that would be very easy to change.

I'm talking about the seeding option, of course. Because: Who would send 'artists' as possibly humanity's last chance for survival to colonize a world in a foreign solar system, crawling with ferocious wildlife?

I'd much rather have 'intellectuals'. Even that is far fetched, but definitely better.

Maybe you have a better suggestion? Or, do you agree with Firaxis and suggest we send Michelangelo's grand-grand-grand-grandson to be the first man on Mars?

 

[UberCivver]

Hipsters?

 

[Jimbo30]

I'd happily send most of today's pop icons to a new alien-infested world.

 

[TLHeart]

need to keep the the people happy, and bring along some form of entertainment, all work and no play makes for a dead colony.

 

[Kouvb593kdnuewnd]

I don't think they actually are what we could call artist, but more like doctors, some buildings that give artists don't have exactly the names of art buildings.

 

[Strategist83]

I'd happily send most of today's pop icons to a new alien-infested world.

/Bieber music starts playing

Great for Earth, maybe, but less so the colony's survival chances, eh?

On a more serious note, though, I do mean this seriously. Firaxis has apparently gone to some length to research feasible names for technologies and such. No need to blatantly shoot down the 'realism' before you're even in the game yet.

 

[forty2j]

You want your colony to live in a Fallout-style world where nobody's written a new song for 200 years? 'Cuz I don't think they want that.

 

[Sprenk]

Who would send 'artists' as possibly humanity's last chance for survival to colonize a world in a foreign solar system, crawling with ferocious wildlife?

Oh, you'll need some science and engineering specialists, of course, but "artists" (which surely include writers, musicians, artisans, academics, etc, etc.) are excellent communicators and flexible thinkers. They will also be good at knitting together the social fabric of their growing new society.

If nothing else, we can line them up and get them to move the border marker out faster than those scientists and engineers, who keep stopping to ask questions about why we are doing this.

Also, just think about it. Who exactly was it back on Earth whose leadership led to "The Great Mistake"? It's not the artists, I assure you!

 

[bhavv]

Justin Bieber should be a Great Artist in Civ BE.

 

[Lord Shadow]

Firstly, I very much doubt your selected colonist type represents the absolute whole of the 10,000/20,000 people you're taking along. Just the focus, and I see nothing wrong with putting an emphasis on people who would be the caretakers of human culture produced over thousands of years.

Artists is fine, I believe, since terms like Scholars or Intellectuals have a research connotation which could be contradictory with the colonist type's actual effect.

 

[gunnergoz]

Who would leave behind the likes of Leonardo da Vinci? Shakespeare? Pavarotti? Are not the creation and appreciation of art part of the definition of what it is to be human?

 

[m15a]

I think that, in any case, some amount of diversity would be desirable if not necessary. So, I'm assuming that the seeding option is a focus on a particular group rather than exclusively that group. Also, I'm assuming there is either some additional testing process, so you could have "the right set of artists" just like you could have "the right set of engineers". Lastly, I'm taking artists to mean any type of artist (novelist, composer, etc.).

Also, full disclosure, I'm an artist and I'd probably classify myself as that before any other colonist categories right now.

Considering that, I think artists isn't a bad group to choose. Artists often focus on speculation on what society could be and also experiment with new applications of new technology (or old technology). Artists often work collaboratively (not always, but I'm choosing the "right" ones). Also, people known as artists often have other relevant skills. Consider Isaac Asimov, who is probably best known as a creative writer. He spent a lot of time writing (and thus thinking) about possible routes that society could take. He speculated on potential future technologies beyond the immediate ability to implement. I think he was known to be a strong part of the sci-fi community. And he happened to have PhD biochemistry. (I'm not an expert in his life. Just a reader of his books, so sorry if any of that info is wrong.)

EDIT: And let's not forget Sid, plus all the other Civ game designers. If nothing else, they know the world "mechanics" pretty well.

 

[Elz Majesto]

Hipsters?

They already turned Brooklyn into a chic family friendly environment full or organic soy latte shops...an alien planet with Raptor Bugs and Siege Worms and Krakens would be their wet dream! Just think of all the Xenomass Lattes in stylish Chitin mugs. muh Harmony!

 

[DutchJob]

Let's see how Miley Cyrus can handle a Siege Worm!

 

[bhavv]

Let's see how Miley Cyrus can handle a Siege Worm!

With the power of twerk?

Nooo, she'll come at it like a wrecking ball!

 

[WiseGreen]

From the viewpoint of the Earth people, the expedition is not only an expedition, but also a sort of ark, trying to save the best of humanity from a planet that might become lifeless in some generations. So sending out artists makes sense to me.

 

[GeoModder]

I'm talking about the seeding option, of course. Because: Who would send 'artists' as possibly humanity's last chance for survival to colonize a world in a foreign solar system, crawling with ferocious wildlife?

Remember King Billy's mob when he resettled on the planet Hyperion? It's all there to read about in Dan Simmons scifi-novel Hyperion. It's a recommended read.

 

[Ryoga]

Agreed the program is called "seeding" it is meant to spread "humanity" in the stars and culture is an important part of our existence as humans.

Moreover because of the inflection point, they can't send the technicians first and the artists later, they must send all the element of an ideal society from the beginning.

 

[bad_nickname]

I agree with the OP. Not because artists are not important, but because of what "culture" means in Civ BE.

I'm not entirely sure how playing violin helps guide your civilization towards might, prosperity, knowledge or industry.

I've always felt Civ got a weird, reductive vision of culture, in the sense of what *a* culture is.

 

[bhavv]

Justin Bieber and Miley Cyrus are a thousand times more talented than Mozart was.