Civ 5...still a bit silly?

[Gucumatz]

A little off-topic here, but El Dorado and the Fountain of Youth were obviously just included for the New World scenario. However, that's where they should have stayed. Having two natural wonders that don't exist out of the lot is really jarring. And they're both atrocious for balance purposes. "Hey, Skill Dorado! I won on turn 3!" "Settle Notre Dame? Don't mind if I do!"

You say drinking these waters makes my units immortal? Give me whatever grail you want!

 

[jjkrause84]

You say drinking these waters makes my units immortal? Give me whatever grail you want!

He choose....poorly.

 

[Sharku]

Hey I like a game that doesn't take itself seriously.

 

[jjkrause84]

Hey I like a game that doesn't take itself seriously.

"People who like to smile the most"? Did THAT need to be the phrase they chose?

 

[Sharku]

Why not? This game has never been known for being overly serious.
I mean the entertainers were Elvis clones for years.

 

[Bakspatel]

I do not mind some silliness in a serious game, just as long it doesn't go too far (example: Red Alert 1: awesome and serious game, no silliness. Red Alert 2: Some silliness, even more awesome game. Red Alert 3: Having samurai tanks as an unit? .... didn't even bother to buy the game).
Personally, I really enjoyed reading Civilpedia's description of the GDR but rather not have it in game. Solution: ensure that the game is finished before anyone is able to produce them
The only thing that kind of disturbs me at the Polynesians is their stereotype soundtracks. There might be other civs out there that have more right to be included within the game, but I am fine with having them.

 

[bcaiko]

A little off-topic here, but El Dorado and the Fountain of Youth were obviously just included for the New World scenario. However, that's where they should have stayed. Having two natural wonders that don't exist out of the lot is really jarring. And they're both atrocious for balance purposes. "Hey, Skill Dorado! I won on turn 3!" "Settle Notre Dame? Don't mind if I do!"

This is such a rare event, though, that I feel like it's a nice conversation starter when it does appear.

 

[Peng Qi]

I don't even think it's "What if"...it's simply an overarching civ to describe a variety of different countries with similar heritage. That's why most of their city names are actually countries in and of themselves. Their UA represents the fact that the Polynesians were arguably the first seafaring people in the world, and their UU are the Maoris of New Zealand (Or is it Samoa?) and their UB are the Easter Island Statues

See also: Native American civilization.

 

[Kimuyama]

The Polynesians arent half as silly as the Native Americans were, their cultures are at least closely related.

 

[Human Crouton]

I don't mind GDRs. I thought they were stupid when I heard about them, but they are so far late in the game, that you should really never even see them played. They are mostly just there as a service to end the game. By the time you see them, it's not even Civ5 anymore. It's more like some kind of phantom game that fits in the Civ5 universe. Civ5 is The Matrix, and the late future era is The Animatrix.

 

[jjkrause84]

The Polynesians arent half as silly as the Native Americans were, their cultures are at least closely related.

I didn't like the blanket "Native Americans" in Civ 4 either, but there is long precedent of Native American tribes in Civ.

 

[SammyKhalifa]

I think you're just romanticizing the previous versions. Civ has ALWAYS been that way.

 

[Haig]

I think Civ series have a relaxed feeling in them, like the Elvis looking cultural advisor in Civ II, weird easter eggs of Civ III, silly quotes from Civ IV "I've studied on killin you!" "Care for some.. CAESAR salad?" and "Pointy sticks" from Civ V.

It's not Microsoft Excel, doesn't need to be stiff.

 

[smallfish]

One of my enduring complaints with Civ 5 is that it has felt silly (beyond flippant) in a way none of the previous games felt (to me). Giant Death Robots, El Dorado, the Polynesians (yes, Polynesians exist but....as a civ?), Carthage now crossing mountains, some pretty questionable wonders (the CN Tower?), some lame UAs ("Nobel Prize"!?), "who has the pointiest sticks", etc..

I feel like G&K is taking Civ 5 comfortably into a much better space than it was on release, but there still seems to be quite a bit of just plain silliness to the game. The tone in older civs (especially Civ 2) made me feel like I was interacting with the grand narrative of human existence. While I find Civ 5 fun (the patches have worked wonders!), I still find the tone to be wildly off. Anyone else feel the same way?

Yes, yes, because Civilization is a HIGHLY REALISTIC franchise with nutshells like its two thousand year long wars, the ability to launch space rockets without combustion, General Patton leading the Cataphract Armies of Mao Zedong's China in 2000 BC (and continuing to live until 2050 AD), Darwin's Theory of Evolution causing China to discover rocketry and computers, and all those other pillars of INCREDIBLE REALISM like nuclear fallout leading to Global Warming.

e: the game I believe you are looking for is the Victoria/Hearts of Iron/any Grand Strategy game by Paradox Interactive

 

[jjkrause84]

Yes, yes, because Civilization is a HIGHLY REALISTIC franchise with nutshells like its two thousand year long wars, the ability to launch space rockets without combustion, General Patton leading the Cataphract Armies of Mao Zedong's China in 2000 BC (and continuing to live until 2050 AD), Darwin's Theory of Evolution causing China to discover rocketry and computers, and all those other pillars of INCREDIBLE REALISM like nuclear fallout leading to Global Warming.

e: the game I believe you are looking for is the Victoria/Hearts of Iron/any Grand Strategy game by Paradox Interactive

Where did I ever say Civ was 'realistic'? Don't raise up a straw man! I just feel like the tone, which yes has always been light, has jumped the shark a bit.

(That said, I do love EU3! What a game!)

 

[smallfish]

Where did I ever say Civ was 'realistic'? Don't raise up a straw man! I just feel like the tone, which yes has always been light, has jumped the shark a bit.

(That said, I do love EU3! What a game!)

It's not as if Civ was realistic even in tone, it was always both abstract and a bit silly. It was relatively arbitrary and bought into pop-culture history in the game itself, if not in the Civilopedia.

 

[Txurce]

oh and:

'beep beep beep beep'.

I forgot that one!

 

[fenwayb]

What's wrong with that? Civ IV had Native Americans

that's my point

 

[mo123567]

As someone who longs for future eras to be added to the game, like call to power had, I welcome GDRs. I wish they had a different name though. They should have a setting that disables GDRs and the fictional natural wonders for people who don't want that kind of thing. Also an option to exclude selected civs from random selection would be nice and the ability to save your settings. Just a few simple additions to the game set-up menu could go a long way.

 

[smallfish]

As someone who longs for future eras to be added to the game, like call to power had, I welcome GDRs. I wish they had a different name though. They should have a setting that disables GDRs and the fictional natural wonders for people who don't want that kind of thing. Also an option to exclude selected civs from random selection would be nice and the ability to save your settings. Just a few simple additions to the game set-up menu could go a long way.

In that matter of aesthetics, I agree. Sid Meier games have proven themselves to be able to venture into science fiction territory with Alpha Centauri and the various mods in BtS without much trouble, so there's really no inhibition for them developers to not include something more in-depth from that genre.

Maybe its the fixation with the 2050 end date?