Beyond Earth Factions

[Liex]

hopefully Slavic Federation don't included Russia or else it would sound very underwhelming to me.

It does seem to include. Kozlov is a Russian surname (according to Wikipedia, which lists several Russians and a few Ukrainian with that name), and General Kozlov is said to speak Russian (albeit broken and with heavy accent, if I got that article right).

 

[Mustakrakish]

Why should it not include Russia?

 

[Algeroth]

Polyatria!

 

[Civ'ed]

so...
Operation Flaming Dingo is in? Or well, at least a faux-OFD?
*cheers*

 

[Guandao]

It does seem to include. Kozlov is a Russian surname (according to Wikipedia, which lists several Russians and a few Ukrainian with that name), and General Kozlov is said to speak Russian (albeit broken and with heavy accent, if I got that article right).

Broken Russian? So this Kozlov is not really an ethnic Russian but something else? Like Stalin (an ethnic Georgian)? Or maybe he's speaking future Russian?

 

[Pyramid Head]

Broken Russian? So this Kozlov is not really an ethnic Russian but something else? Like Stalin (an ethnic Georgian)? Or maybe he's speaking future Russian?

No, because devs admitted to the journalists they don't have a single dev team member who speaks russian. Thus, they, most probably by accident, made a phrase sound "wrong".
In a way of "poland cannot into space" or "how much clock"

 

[Lord Shadow]

They'll likely hire a proper Russian-speaking voice actor for the release version.

 

[Mustakrakish]

They'll likely hire a proper Russian-speaking voice actor for the release version.

I hope so, because according to that "hands on" preview, accent is ridiculous he says "Slavic Federation congratulates you!" upon meeting.

 

[benjamin28]

They'll likely hire a proper Russian-speaking voice actor for the release version.

REALLY hope so.
Personally, I would prefer to have English voices with subtle foreign accents. Remember the authentic voices of Corazón Santiago or Sheng-ji Yang, for example? Even if English is not my first language, I've read many times through these forums that users tend to feel more empathy with the Civ V leaders whose speeches are understandable by them.

Anyway, is it me or these names seems to be made up, or lack any hook? American Reclamation Corporation or Samatar Jama Barre have internal rhymes.
Also, naming a leader "Bolivar" sounds like a clear example of this trope.

 

[Civ'ed]

Apparently Samatar has a genuine Somali name.
Of course, this means Somalia has *some* role in the future...

 

[Lord Shadow]

REALLY hope so.
Personally, I would prefer to have English voices with subtle foreign accents. Remember the authentic voices of Corazón Santiago or Sheng-ji Yang, for example? Even if English is not my first language, I've read many times through these forums that users tend to feel more empathy with the Civ V leaders whose speeches are understandable by them.

Anyway, is it me or these names seems to be made up, or lack any hook? American Reclamation Corporation or Samatar Jama Barre sound like internal rhymes.
Also, naming a leader "Bolivar" sounds like a clear example of this trope.

I've read that the recent preview build even had placeholder text in some areas, so it's fair to assume many of the voices are temporary mock-ups quality-wise at this stage.

We still don't know much about the ARC's background. Or any faction's for that matter.

Samatar Jama Barre seems to have Somali connections on all three elements. The problem is... they're all last names. Except perhaps Jama.

And about Bolivar... yeah. When naming Latin American characters, American media almost as a rule picks from quite a small set of stereotypical names of Spaniard origin. I suppose they tried to be a bit more unique this time around, but indeed fell into that trope. I hope Firaxis didn't assume Brazil speaks Spanish, because they did give Brazilian soldiers Spanish-rooted names in XCOM Enemy Unknown, which is frankly embarrassing.

 

[Civ'ed]

Bolivar is a decent-ish option because the name's associated with South American nationalism.
O'Higgins is hardly going to cut it, as are Louverture (how south american is debatable), de San Martin and Dom Pedro.

 

[Lord Shadow]

Bolivar is a decent-ish option because the name's associated with South American nationalism.

It does, but the page Benjamin linked to sums up the situation pretty well...

A Famous Named Foreigner is a character hailing from some foreign nation who, due to the authors not knowing anything about local naming conventions and/or thinking it would make their nationality more recognizable and/or just being lazy, is named after some very famous person from the respective nation's history or culture. Which most of the time sounds pretty ridiculous to the local ear, due to those names often being quite rare and primarily associated with those same famous persons.

Traditional Civ leader aside, it'd be like naming Suzanne from the ARC Washington, Jefferson or Lincoln instead of Fielding.

O'Higgins is hardly going to cut it, as are Louverture (how south american is debatable), de San Martin and Dom Pedro.

That stems from the fact most Americans seem to believe their country's the only one in the continent (or even world) which has received significant immigration waves. The only major cultural melting pot.

For several Latin American countries, using a non-standard name not of Spaniard origin would actually be more representative. But most of the American audience, which is the game's primary target, would yell, "Hey, that's not South American!" because it's not instantly recognizable nor does it conform to the stereotypes their media has imposed on them for so long.

 

[Veras]

They'll likely hire a proper Russian-speaking voice actor for the release version.

Considering that every leader will have its own version of the tech phrases, they all will probably be speaking English with a funny accent. Sounds more commercial, and I kinda like it better than hearing incomprehensible languages every time I research something.

 

[Liex]

Bolivar is a decent-ish option because the name's associated with South American nationalism.

It does, but the page Benjamin linked to sums up the situation pretty well...

Traditional Civ leader aside, it'd be like naming Suzanne from the ARC Washington, Jefferson or Lincoln instead of Fielding.

Or even worse, it’d be like naming a Canadian leader Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln etc., just because they’re famous names of important Anglo-American people. It’s just confusing. If they wanted an easily recognizable Brazilian leader, they could go with Silva or Santos, so is there a reason for Bolívar? If they just wanted a faction led by a Libertador type of leader, I don’t see why they’d pick Brazil instead of one (or a group of) its neighbors. Does it have anything to do with the Bolivarian Revolution? Do they know that most Brazilians probably don’t have a clue on who Bolívar was?

 

[Lord Shadow]

Or even worse, it’d be like naming a Canadian leader Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln etc., just because they’re famous names of important Anglo-American people. It’s just confusing. If they wanted an easily recognizable Brazilian leader, they could go with Silva or Santos, so is there a reason for Bolívar? If they just wanted a faction led by a Libertador type of leader, I don’t see why they’d pick Brazil instead of one (or a group of) its neighbors. Does it have anything to do with the Bolivarian Revolution? Do they know that most Brazilians probably don’t have a clue on who Bolívar was?

Well, yeah. I want to believe the presence of a leader named Bolivar is a hint at Brazilia having expanded beyond modern Brazilian borders to include other Latin American nations. But given the aforementioned Brazilian soldiers blunder in XCOM:EU, regrettably I can't rule out the possibility of massive ignorance rearing its ugly head again and making the same appalling assumption that Brazil's predominant roots are Spanish and not Portuguese. Firaxis got Brazil right in Civ5's latest expansion, so hopefully there's reason behind this move.

 

[Civ'ed]

Maybe Brasilia is just the name they decided upon and/or a reference to Brazil the movie?

 

[Ronnoc82]

Anyone else hoping for more than just these factions? I mean look at all the possible cultural and political turmoil that could occur in the future, especially with things like the great mistake happening. For example, I honestly would detest the idea of the whole of North America being one homogeneous state. Why not say a division from East and West, following the mountains. You have the ARC, a megacorporation, that basically controls a massive tract of land from the Gulf of Mexico to the arctic islands of what was Canada. They utilize their wealth to buy the governments' agendas and use propaganda to attempt to gain support from their citizens. Most people live in fear of being deemed terrorists if they do not conform. Say 98% of the population is in poverty and the other 2% live so luxuriously it's ridiculous. Basically I see it being very much like Elysium. With the ARC's control of a private military that revivals the government's, the ARC's leaders are eager to either go to war to expand into Central America or take a now ice-free Greenland; if it's not their's already. These are sparking tensions with neighboring super-powers. With this tension, the corporate elite believe that it's wise to fund missions to other planets in order to settle and create a better future without the threats of the old world. This is probably what we'll see ingame, but what if there was another faction. What if what I described happens twenty or even thirty years before the events of the game. As I said before why not not have multiple factions in North America. I for one do not think that everyone in this future would enjoy it, especially those without a solid gold toilet. Why not have a separatist faction, hell bent on restoring the freedom and welfare of the people. That's where I see this faction that I have created and if there is nothing like it in the game, then I'll mod one in. This factions will be called The Free States of the North American Frontier or simply they will be called the Frontiersmen. They consist of people opposed to the oppressive regime encompassing North America. Some are military, scientist, engineers, or artists; but most are simply workers from the lowest classes working the fields, factories, and mines in the north. They were given a chance at succession, when an underground organization eventually took over the western parts of the continent. Using the mountains and the ocean as defensive structures, they've dug in. The Council governs the country and is made up of multiple people from different backgrounds. They are currently attempting to fund a mission to a new planet where they may start anew in a brand new frontier and create a society with all the opportunity of the old west.

As you can see they will be the perfect purity civ. Defense and the retaining of the freedom to prosper as a community will be high priorities(culture/happy). Now although I don't know if UU's will be ingame, I have the perfect one for these guys. So how bout a unique worker or whatever will replace the worker. Basically what I envision is a combat unit that will have very low attacking capabilities, but high defensive bonuses and on top of that will be able to make every improvement. So basically a worker that can easily defend itself like a standard unit, but would not be able to attack.

Anyways give me your opinion!!

 

[Lord Shadow]

Maybe Brasilia is just the name they decided upon and/or a reference to Brazil the movie?

The 1985 movie has little to do with Brazil and South America.

 

[Civ'ed]

who's saying the ARC is dystopian, or if there even are such concepts as the US, Mexico and Canada anymore.
For all we know what we know as Mexico is the site of millions of proxy conflicts between ARC and Mexico.