[GS] Canada Discussion Thread

[darkace77450]

Having been in a previous title isn't exactly a plus, especially if it's civ 5. I think there's a reasonable expectation from players for them to do something different if possible.

It's not as cut-and-dry as this. Yes, Egypt was in Civ5. But Civ6 is a very different game with very different mechanics. With new Civics trees and the unpacking of cities, wonders being built on the map, builders having charges, a new Religious Victory, etc it's going to feel different playing Egypt in this iteration even if you played them extensively in the last.

They also try for themes and civs that can interact differently with the new mechanics. This expansion, it's a new Diplo victory, world Congress, and natural disasters...

I don't see anything with the Mayans or Babylon that would immediately make that shortlist. Except maybe 2012 .

You don't see how the Maya could play off of natural disasters?

 

[clapyourhands]

OK, the Canadian theme gives them a +1 in my book. I'm especially partial to the first two versions, but the Industrial 'O, Canada' following the lead-in was pretty epic.

 

[shaglio]

That one's still under copyright. TSN has exclusive commercial usage rights, currently.

That's the reason I haven't been suggesting songs like YYZ, Where's My Thing?, Hope, or Malignant Narcissism.

Canadians don't party if their team isn't playing?

You should see what they do when they lose (see: Vancouver 2011)!

I mean, the Bears haven't been to a Super Bowl in years and haven't won one since I was a kid, but I still have a good time rooting for whoever the Patriots are playing against.

Hey, watch it, mister! We suffered enough through the late 80's/early 90's

 

[pgm123]

I'm totally fine with Canada being on the weak side. Some civs have to be bottom tier, that doesn't fuss me at all. Food and production from tile sized hockey rinks, though, is a different story.

Maybe it doubles for ice fishing. Though, given that it doesn't get food until Professional sports, it's probably the concession stands.

Not everything has to make sense thematically. Why does a Ziggurat give science? Why does a Nubian pyramid provide food if adjacent to the city center? Why does the Mekewap provide production and gold? Why is the Sphinx so useless? Wait. Strike the last one. The point is that sometimes bonuses are added to make the improvement better.

Maybe America should get a Basketball Court or a Baseball Field as a unique improvement?

Football field would make more sense. But America has a movie studio and that's not really that common.

 

[darkace77450]

Maybe America should get a Basketball Court or a Baseball Field as a unique improvement?

I would have been happy with a Baseball Field as a replacement for the Stadium. Baseball is as American as, well, baseball and apple pie. Stadiums are late-game buildings and America is designed to be a late game cultural Civ, so the building is a natural fit for what America is designed to be. The Film Studio fills the same role just as well, but a Baseball Field would have been perfectly acceptable, in my humble opinion.

So why is this different than Canada receiving a Hockey Rink? For one, we now have two postcolonial Civs, both former British colonies who actually border one another, who both fill the late-game Cultural Civ niche. Two, baseball is played by far more people than ice hockey and is more widespread than ice hockey is. Three, America's military history offers plenty of inspiration for unique units. If Canada's best candidate for a UU is a Monty (I don't believe it is, but that's what they went with) then pairing that with a Hockey Rink UU just smacks of stereotyping.

 

[UWHabs]

Yeah, as a Lions fan I also still enjoy the Super Bowl, but it's not like I'm making drunk celebratory babies like I might if we won.

It's not just about the NHL, though. To me, the most iconic chart about hockey is this:

 

[DWilson]

It's not just about the NHL, though. To me, the most iconic chart about hockey is this:
*Snip*

Sure, but we were talking about 9 months post Stanley Cup.

 

[Navelgazer]

I just realized that a special "Great Comedian" slot would have been perfect for Canada.

 

[Eagle Pursuit]

I just realized that a special "Great Comedian" slot would have been perfect for Canada.

Pretty sure that would violate some kind of copyright law.

 

[TahamiTsunami]

And here I thought the food represented small boosts to the birthrate 9 months after the Stanley Cup.

I was going to say it was from all the expensive they like to sell there but that works too!

t's not as cut-and-dry as this. Yes, Egypt was in Civ5. But Civ6 is a very different game with very different mechanics. With new Civics trees and the unpacking of cities, wonders being built on the map, builders having charges, a new Religious Victory, etc it's going to feel different playing Egypt in this iteration even if you played them extensively in the last.

This is exactly why, with some exceptions like blob civs and the Huns, I'd rather not see a lot of cuts from one civ game to the next.

You don't see how the Maya could play off of natural disasters?

Yeah, until the leaks started gaining more traction, I strongly believed that the Maya were a strong fit for this expansion. It's a shame they're not in yet.

I would have been happy with a Baseball Field as a replacement for the Stadium. Baseball is as American as, well, baseball and apple pie. Stadiums are late-game buildings and America is designed to be a late game cultural Civ, so the building is a natural fit for what America is designed to be. The Film Studio fills the same role just as well, but a Baseball Field would have been perfectly acceptable, in my humble opinion.

Those would be acceptable too but, and maybe this is just my inner film junkie talking, I think that the film studio is the perfect match for America since no one can deny its cultural influence! I would've been in favor of getting the Hollywood Sign as a wonder too but then I realized just how wonder heavy western America already is!

 

[Steamboat Willem]

I would have been happy with a Baseball Field as a replacement for the Stadium. Baseball is as American as, well, baseball and apple pie. Stadiums are late-game buildings and America is designed to be a late game cultural Civ, so the building is a natural fit for what America is designed to be. The Film Studio fills the same role just as well, but a Baseball Field would have been perfectly acceptable, in my humble opinion.

So why is this different than Canada receiving a Hockey Rink? For one, we now have two postcolonial Civs, both former British colonies who actually border one another, who both fill the late-game Cultural Civ niche. Two, baseball is played by far more people than ice hockey and is more widespread than ice hockey is. Three, America's military history offers plenty of inspiration for unique units. If Canada's best candidate for a UU is a Monty (I don't believe it is, but that's what they went with) then pairing that with a Hockey Rink UU just smacks of stereotyping.

Maybe America has been reworked (again), and they now get a bonus related to the new railroads feature instead of the National Parks/Film Studio combo. I first thought that Canada would be a good match for that, but apparently most Canadian railroads went bankrupt at one time or another. Reworking America would probably also good for sales in the world's largest market.

 

[BrotherInJah]

Skip the fact that this is canada and theme for UU and UI. Game mechanics-wise this design is simply crazy: food on tundra, huge culture yields just to compensate settling in harsh terrain. W/o tundra there's only generic civ left and some diplo bonus.

I guess you run far north.. make huge ice wall and call yourself wildling.

Anyway, this expansion should be called "why not" and all rejected ideas end up here. Ocean start? I'll take it! Make greenland green again? Sure!

Following the trend Inca really will be able to settle in mountains.. only.. and they won't be allowed to step down on flat land..

Loco

 

[Navelgazer]

Man, Baseball Diamonds would really make the American Civ look better and more iconic. I would like a mod now please.

 

[Civlearner]

I don’t quite get why Canada is a peaceful civ the been involved in quite a few wars I think Sweden might more fitting as a peaceful civ not being involved in a war for 200 years afaik and Ghandi. The leader backround looks like somewhere in Sweden, did they decide not to do Sweden and rushed Canada, doesn’t Canada have a Highlander regiment? I think would be better than Mounties.

 

[UWHabs]

Skip the fact that this is canada and theme for UU and UI. Game mechanics-wise this design is simply crazy: food on tundra, huge culture yields just to compensate settling in harsh terrain. W/o tundra there's only generic civ left and some diplo bonus.

I guess you run far north.. make huge ice wall and call yourself wildling.

Anyway, this expansion should be called "why not" and all rejected ideas end up here. Ocean start? I'll take it! Make greenland green again? Sure!

Following the trend Inca really will be able to settle in mountains.. only.. and they won't be allowed to step down on flat land..

Loco

It wouldn't actually shock me if the Inca have an ability that settlers can move onto mountains and settle on them. It would actually be really neat, and a suitable trait for them.

 

[Builderphile]

I am Canadian and I like what they did with this civ.

I take it that the biggest complaint is that the unique traits of the civ are "stereotypical" and not "historical" enough (specifically the hockey rink, mountie and tundra abilities).

I think the people who have a problem with these are experiencing the opposite of "recency bias", in that they seem to think that there is an older, richer Canadian history that should have been portrayed. I happen to think that is wrong, and would make the civ unrecognizable to both Canadians and non-Canadians.

Canada is about hockey rinks, mounties, and tundra. Obviously tundra isn't everywhere (I live in Victoria where it doesn't even snow in the winter most years), but clearly our country, when compared to most, has a huge amount of snow and tundra, and has a population that is inclined to not only deal with it, but make use of it.

In regards to the hockey rink, I am convinced that 200 years from now, hockey will still be seen by international historians and laymen as one of the most unique things about the county. It isn't just that we are obsessed with hockey (and we are), but the hockey rink is the centre, culturally and physically, of many of our communities, especially rural communities. I think Ron MacLean was correct when he said "if you want to show someone what Canada is, you take him to the television on Saturday night for Hockey Night in Canada, and it becomes crystal clear".

And obviously, the Mountie is a famous Canadian "unit". There could be no other choice in my opinion. Obviously the mountie isn't a military unit and has nothing to do with national parks in real life - but this is a game people - there needs to be some suspension of disbelief in order to best represent the civ in a way that is fun to play.

I should also note that, while I like the civ design, I agree that Canada should not have been a civ before other, more worthy, civs such as Portugal, Ottomans, Mayans, Byzantines, etc.

 

[Disgustipated]

I don’t quite get why Canada is a peaceful civ the been involved in quite a few wars

I'm not familiar all they've been in. WW1 and WW2 of course. But nearly everyone was in those, can you really fault them. Afghanistan, that was more of a NATO commitment. Any others I'm missing? Gulf war maybe? I'm assuming they had a small contingent in the gulf war, and peacekeeping operations in Bosnia and Kosovo maybe? Oh I forgot about Korea, that was a U.N. operation, so I'm assuming Canada was there as well.

 

[Civlearner]

I'm not familiar all they've been in. WW1 and WW2 of course. But nearly everyone was in those, can you really fault them. Afghanistan, that was more of a NATO commitment. Any others I'm missing? Gulf war maybe? I'm assuming they had a small contingent in the gulf war, and peacekeeping operations in Bosnia and Kosovo maybe? Oh I forgot about Korea, that was a U.N. operation, so I'm assuming Canada was there as well.

I can’t really fault them there were a lot of VC winners. Just think Sweden might be a more peaceful civ but then again I think practically every nation has been involved in a war.

 

[Navelgazer]

I can’t really fault them there were a lot of VC winners. Just think Sweden might be a more peaceful civ but then again I think practically every nation has been involved in a war.

Reminds me of a bit in a Sarah Vowell book where her nephew asks her if any state in the U.S. was free of battle-sites, and she realizes that, nope, all of them at least had sites of battles with Native Americans.

 

[Disgustipated]

Reminds me of a bit in a Sarah Vowell book where her nephew asks her if any state in the U.S. was free of battle-sites, and she realizes that, nope, all of them at least had sites of battles with Native Americans.

well... my state hasn't had any large scale battles that I know of. There was certainly conflict, especially with wagon trains crossing the California trail.