Bye-Bye Religions?

[Sonnybonds]

Well i just had an idea: why not make religions more realstic and have the religions in there original place on the map? like christianity in europe buddism in azie etc. then u dont have the option chooce religion like u do have now. Just an idea. there could be some problems with non earth maps.

 

[_hero_]

Well i just had an idea: why not make religions more realstic and have the religions in there original place on the map? like christianity in europe buddism in azie etc. then u dont have the option chooce religion like u do have now. Just an idea. there could be some problems with non earth maps.

I'd actually like the option to have unique religions instead of always having the major historical ones, or at least having a much bigger pool of religions, but only some surviving the test of time in civilization. For instance, maybe Greek, Norse and Egyptian mythology become the major religions in one game, but in another they die off after a few centuries in favor of Christianity and Islam.

Also, though it would be controversial, if each religion gave some specific benefit the same way civics do it would add depth to the game. To fight the controversy it could be a random effect each game in the same way random events work. If not, minor boosts to science, culture, happiness, and production seem reasonable for various religions.

 

[Ahriman]

I like religion. Its one of the biggest drivers of human history; wars, alliances, civil conflict.

Christianity vs Islam. Islam vs Hinduism. Protestant vs Catholic. Shiite vs Sunni.

The one thing I don't like are the incentives that drive you to have as many religions as possible, so you can build all their stuff.

I'd like to see larger penalties for mixed faith religions. Throughout history, multiple religions in an area has usually led to conflict.

 

[awesome]

i thought they did a great job implementing religions in civ iv. of course, there's room for improvement, like what the two posts before mine said, though even those suggestions have their own issues.

 

[thungrim]

I'd be sad to hear they axed religion because diplomacy "factors for it". To me, the improvement on diplomacy will only happen with greater complexity, and what adds complexity more than external factors affecting diplomacy? (ie. Religion).

 

[blade117]

Look, i voted no, and here's why: Religion has always played a big part [...] Arab terrorism, that sort of thing.

I realize this post was three or so pages ago, but I seriously hope you are being sarcastic.

 

[T. Claudius]

An idea for religions...

-Upon the research of Mysticism a civilization would gain a 'National Pantheon' (i.e, 'Egyptian Pantheon', 'Greek Pantheon', or 'Chinese Pantheon.')
-A National Pantheon would provide culture while present in cities, but less culture than one of the (7)major religions (Founded by first to Polytheism, Theology, e.t.c as per civ4)
-National Pantheons would automatically spreads to any new settlements as long as there is no major religion present in any of your cities. (Major Religions trump National Pantheons in spreading.)
-If one of the seven major religions remained as your state religion for a long enough time it would replace your National Pantheon
-National Pantheons would not(or not heavily) affect diplomacy, while major religions would.
-Researching techs such as Polytheism/Monotheism/Theology would refine and give your National Pantheon increased culture benefit.

My reasons? I personally find civs running around in theocracy with techs such as monotheism a bit silly if they don't have any religion, the same with Christians running around while not even knowing mysticism. It's also a lot more realistic, imo.

 

[toft]

You are basing this on the fact that Firaxis isnt specifically mentioning religion? Then there wont be any settlers, tanks, knights, ships or airplanes either? Interesting...

 

[Willowmound]

No, it's based on info given in an article.

 

[toft]

No, it's based on info given in an article.

Yea and if its the same article I saw, then its based on the same information we are getting right off civilization5.com - a bit thin.

 

[Willowmound]

What, you don't trust the info on the game's official website?

Not that I remember seeing any mention of religions there. The info in the Swedish article came from an interview with one of the developers, I believe.

 

[Arakhor]

Apparently, the German magazine has confirmed the lack of multiple religions in the game.

 

[Aussie_Lurker]

Except that the interview was done in a completely different language, then translated, via 1 language, into English-that doesn't make it too reliable in my books. I'm not passing judgment on the religion issue until I here it confirmed by the developers-in English-that they've been *removed*, rather than reduced in importance!

Aussie.

 

[Willowmound]

I think most English-speaking Germans know what "no religions" would be in both languages. I think even I know it!

 

[Arakhor]

Something like keine religion?

 

[Willowmound]

That would be my guess.

 

[Schalke 04]

OK, I see this is a highly emotional issue, as religion always is.

It was me who posted the info about Civ V so I think it's me who will be held responsible for an any unclear interpretation/translation

Here is the passage which deals with religion. I try to translate it as good as possible. Go and interpret it at your gusto:

No Religion

Religion and its extreme impact on diplomacy is no longer part of the game. In previous CIV-Games one could make enemies to friends, if chosen your religion wisely. Moreover the spreading of a religion with missionary priests belongs to the past.This indeed has a big influence on city planning and the game-progress itself. Because all buildings one could build fitting to a religion - temples or monastery for example - approximately won't be there anymore.
At first glance this is surprising, as it was religion which promoted civilizations in real history for the last millennia. However, regarding to Lead Designer John Shafer, in past Civ-games the element religion mainly had an influence on diplomatic activities, because it split nations into several "blocks". Obviously this effect didn't fit into the new emphasis, the forming of alliances.

It seems that it is really NO religion at all. However, I should mention that the publishing company of this magazine is known for a bad style of reporting and phrasing. Axel Springer is somethig like a small version of Rupert Murdoch in german print media. His "BILD"-newspaper is more or less the only yellow press newspaper. And "Computer BILD Spiele" is a one of the products of this publishing company. I don't know how serious "Computer BILs Spiele" is compared to other magazines, but Springer is well connected to a lot of important persons, so I have no doubt that this magazine really was in contact with John Shafer.

My interpretation is, that religion is out of the game. Almost certainly it won't play a major role in Civ V if any.

 

[Willowmound]

That was all rather confusing, actually.

 

[LegionSteve]

I'm still not convinced. Take this bit for example:

Religion and its extreme impact on diplomacy is no longer part of the game.

If, for example, what Jon Shafer actually meant was:

Religion's extreme impact on diplomacy is no longer part of the game.

Then the whole meaning changes, from "we are going to completely remove religions" to "we are going to remove the big diplo bonuses and penalties from religions."

Schalke, this is not a criticism of your post or your translation - it could have been a misunderstanding or translation problem by the original interviewer.

 

[Schalke 04]

This is why I posted something about "BILD" respectively the publishing house "Springer". Its not just a translation problem by the interviewer. In Addition to that you can count a very lousy phrasing.

The title of the clause says "no religion". Pretty self-explenatory. The information in the clause itself however can be interpreted that religion is just less important.

This is why I wanted to translate the whole clause plus the extra information regarding Springer. Now you can start guessing for yourselves what that could mean.