Bye-Bye Religions?

[cybrxkhan]

Well, so it seems that religions really could (or will?) get the boot and get kicked out of CivV. Thoughts on this? Personally I think it's a terrible thing, and although of course it won't ruin CivV, I feel like the designers could have had at least tried to improve on the game aspects in CivIV. I hope religions will be reintroduced in an expansion pack, since they do make the game a bit more interesting, really.

 

[SS-18 ICBM]

Say it ain't so. I love the diplomatic impact of religion. If anything, it should be expanded.

 

[Lord Tirian]

Where's the special snowflake option! I voted for expansion pack... but I'll just repost what I posted on WePlayCiv:

I think the reason is more like that:

Religion in Civ4 is essentially a tool to create power blocs - relationships between civs with a shared religion are better and vice versa. This is further enforced by the fact that there are "only" six religions, but you usually have more Civs, making it almost certain that some Civs ally.

The happiness and extra gold aspect are relatively minor mechanical ramifications - that could be a generic wonder/building/whatever (sure, flavour-wise, it's *not* the same, but just going by flavour... is the way to bloat).

So, if they indeed amped up diplomacy to ensure a natural development of power blocs, the niche religion was filling would vanish. So, I assume they did the bright thing and resisted to put in religion just for its own sake.

It's more likely that it will receive more attention later (much like espionage in BtS) to become a full-fledged subsystem, once the core game works fine. And while I already miss religions from a flavour point-of-view and the distinctiveness it brought, I prefer them to keep the core gameplay tight and good before tackling new subsystems (which is traditionally something for the expansions).

So: I would like to keep religion, but... if it has no place in the game mechanically, don't put it in.

Cheers, LT.

 

[Sian]

the reason it appears to be done is because the way they're shifting Diplomacy, religion aren't a contributor for anything ... or something ... short of long ... its due to improved diplomacy that Religion as a game mechanic is killed for the time being

LT:

As far as i understand from the article the powerblocs would be created around those wanting to shallow the autonomus citystates (think AI playing OOC/Minor Nations), and those wanting them to stay citystates (and being friendly with them which is going to give (as of yet unspecified) bonuses)

 

[Seventh Child]

I voted no, but it's not that clear cut.
If Religion isn't serving a purpose, I can live without it. We lived without it in 1, 2 and 3. I imagine the complete remaking of the game has not really taken religion into account and it would be an idea in search of a mechanic (Which can lead to bad design).

But I'd really like to see it in. It can't just be shoved in for diplomatic reasons, because there would be little other reason to adopt one without some other incentive (like happiness/various civics in IV) aside from flavour.

It would really be a shame to see it not make it in though.

 

[_random_]

Someone else suggested that religions could act as mini-civilizations in their own right, suggesting wars and demanding more religious buildings. I could live with that if it's true that religion doesn't have a place in the new diplomatic system.

 

[Woodreaux]

Religion was one of the best implemented new features of Civ IV. It's elegant and its affect on the game isn't to strong nor too weak. It would be a shame to leave it behind.

 

[robward5]

I love religion in Civ 4, but can totally see why it could be left out in the new game. I'm fairly sure that corporations and espionage may well have been considered for a vanilla release in Civ, but simply made more sense as something for a future expansion. I'd rather see different concepts done well and introduced gradually, than have everything included, but not balanced at the start.

 

[Shiggs713]

I voted no, but mainly for game mechanics reasons. The way they were in civ4 I did not enjoy so much, I'd like to see them in, but only if they did it right. Less impact on economics more impact on flavor, society, and culture. Perhaps more religions driven wars, which all of those could affect economics, just no direct impact please. Civ4 religion was not exciting really at all to me.

 

[squadbroken]

I have to go with "I don't care". While the implementation of religion in Civ 4 was clean and simple, it was also minor enough that I wouldn't be upset if it was missing in Civ 5.

 

[Silv Something]

Where did everyone here it will/might be cut?

Anyway, it was nice feature, but if there's no point, there's no point in putting it in the game. Perhaps it would always be choose religions, but no shrines to stop unfair advantages from luck?

 

[DMOC]

I wouldn't like it to disappear. I think that the game will have religion play a more minor role (such as part of an expanded random event).

 

[Drago Askani]

religion was okay, corporations were just pain in the ass religions. so I assume with religion out the door corps will be too.

 

[say1988]

While Corps operated similarly to religion, they played an entirely different role, lacking the entire diplomatic aspect, purely about money and other benefits. They could be improved, but I would like them to stay.

I would love to see individualised religions with more affects, but know that will never happen, so I don't mind religion disappearing, since they play a relatively small role in the game (especially without diplomacy). I would rather they implement a good espionage system and corporations from the start rather than in the second x-pack.

Though properly implemented they would deserve a place in a future x-pack.

 

[Camikaze]

If they aren't in the vanilla version, I can't see them going into an expansion, tbh. What's holding it back is apparently the new diplomacy system, so if it was to be implemented in an expansion, it would still need to be completely separated from diplomacy. It would still have the exact same limitations to entry into the game as there are apparently with the vanilla version.

 

[_random_]

If they aren't in the vanilla version, I can't see them going into an expansion, tbh. What's holding it back is apparently the new diplomacy system, so if it was to be implemented in an expansion, it would still need to be completely separated from diplomacy. It would still have the exact same limitations to entry into the game as there are apparently with the vanilla version.

True. The only way I can see it in an expansion is if its implementation in the game is radically different from .

 

[darkedone02]

religion been a major thing through history and if they remove that, civilization will not be like it was. Without religion, a key element of some mods such as Fall from Heaven and Warhammer Fantasy will not be there. Also religion help start wars and bring peace. I say keep the religion factor, it's an important factor when playing civilization.

 

[Dark_Jedi06]

Religion has had some of the most profound effects on human history and should definitely be included in something as epic as Civilization. There's so much they could improve upon the religion system as it was in Civ IV (the Apostolic Palace being a good start). A real shame they're deciding to remove it...I've always wanted actual bloody and violent holy wars.

 

[classical_hero]

Well the shuld make some religions to have a more of an effect as some religions can coexist with each other and some are contrary to each other, so we should make it more realistic that way.

 

[jb2386]

Removing religions is a big mistake. They were an awesome addition to Civ 4! They had such a massive impact on most civilizations throughout history. If anything it should have been expanded, other religions (egyptian or roman gods for instance) or even continually changing/evolving religions. Though, I would be just as happy with the current civ 4 implementation. It add an extra factor to diplomacy and war.

Corporations I would be happy to see go. They weren't right for a "civilization" games. Countries/Governments don't control corporations, and the ones that do (i.e. socialist/communist) in Civ 4 couldn't let you build corporations!