Firaxis Historian Job Posting

I'm in the same boat as you are as far as being a history undergrad who has done nothing with it but its weird that they're asking for someone with professional experience as a creative writer and narrative designed AND with a academic backround in history.
 
I'm in the same boat as you are as far as being a history undergrad who has done nothing with it but its weird that they're asking for someone with professional experience as a creative writer and narrative designed AND with a academic backround in history.

I'm getting from the posting that their ideal candidate is someone who has published narrative history book(s) for the general public. Non-fiction or well-researched historical fiction would likely both fit the bill. A big interest in board or computer games is a plus.

If it is your dream position, just apply. Worst thing they can say is no.

Worst thing they can say is yes and then I spent the next year+ working 80 hour weeks trying to play catch up before writing anything :)
 
They've made "the same" game 7 times - history does not change. Why do they even need a historian? Civ7 is even a downgrade, so I'm a bit confused.
 
They've made "the same" game 7 times - history does not change. Why do they even need a historian? Civ7 is even a downgrade, so I'm a bit confused.

History does change. The past does not, of course, but every single historian is broadly involved in 'historical revisionism'. Finding new things and reinterpreting the narratives of history to incorporate this new information and these new ideas.

That bogeyman of MSM and lay 'intellectuals' is in fact what historians do.
 
They've made "the same" game 7 times - history does not change. Why do they even need a historian? Civ7 is even a downgrade, so I'm a bit confused.

Do you have a point with this beyond inserting negativity into the conversation?
 
History does change. The past does not, of course, but every single historian is broadly involved in 'historical revisionism'. Finding new things and reinterpreting the narratives of history to incorporate this new information and these new ideas.

That bogeyman of MSM and lay 'intellectuals' is in fact what historians do.
And how does that manifest in civ7 to justify a full time historian? Civ is a history adjacent sandbox game - not historical and never was.
 
I gather that they’re looking for historians (meaning a background of original historical research that has been published in some form and likely an advanced degree), rather than history enthusiasts (those who have undergrad degrees in history and enjoy reading books and discussing history).

Or to put it differently, they’re probably looking for someone with a similar background as Andrew.

Good luck to all who apply.
 
They've made "the same" game 7 times - history does not change. Why do they even need a historian? Civ7 is even a downgrade, so I'm a bit confused.
They have made 7 different games based on similar themes and content.
And how does that manifest in civ7 to justify a full time historian? Civ is a history adjacent sandbox game - not historical and never was.
Companies hire for all kinds of roles that support their goals and purposes. When designing a history based sandbox game, it makes perfect sense to have an actual historian around. In fact to not have one makes much less sense. One would certainly hope that having a historian around would improve the "sandbox".
 
I gather that they’re looking for historians (meaning a background of original historical research that has been published in some form and likely an advanced degree), rather than history enthusiasts (those who have undergrad degrees in history and enjoy reading books and discussing history).

Or to put it differently, they’re probably looking for someone with a similar background as Andrew.

Good luck to all who apply.
I dunno I’ve listened to a lot of podcasts and can copy over Wikipedia articles with the best of them!
 
And how does that manifest in civ7 to justify a full time historian? Civ is a history adjacent sandbox game - not historical and never was.

Let's see.

-Background articles in the Civilopedia.
-Narrative events rooted in things that happened historically.
-Naming of unique units, buildings, civics, and so on.
-Historical accuracy of art assets, be it civ-specific or generalized, plus loading screens, victory screens, et cetera.
-Thorough overview of the original invention and spread of technologies (the first potential reference to gunpowder dates to the second century AD, but does that mean that's where the technology should be placed on the tech tree?).
-Thorough understanding of the historical context when it comes to deciding which civilizations or leaders to include, which elements of these societies and people to focus on, et cetera. Taking a biblical example because it's very well-known, the tidbit that the Roman soldiers put a sign reading 'king of the Jews' above Jesus when he was crucified takes on a rather different meaning when you know just how reviled kings were in Roman society.

Is that enough or do I need to brainstorm reasons for another ten minutes?
 
And how does that manifest in civ7 to justify a full time historian? Civ is a history adjacent sandbox game - not historical and never was.
GAMA - the Game Manufacturer's Association, the 'trade organization' for all things gaming - disagrees with your views completely.

For over 10 years, at their convention ORIGINS, they ran a 'War College' of lectures and events all concerning the 'real' history behind games: lectures by university professors adn published experts in various fields, mostly military history because games are, at their base, all about conflict of some kind.

I was one of those lecturers, presenting 4 or more 1 hour lectures and occasionally participating in discussion sessions on various military history topics. The entire College usually produced 24 - 30 lectures or events, and attendance at each varied from 25 to 60 or more. Given the relatively small lecture rooms we got (the big ones all went to participation games and tournaments, of course) Standing Room Only was not unusual. As a percentage, they estimated that attendance at the War College involved up to 10% of the total convention, which given that ORIGINS was a major chance to try out new card, role playing, board, miniatures, or computer games which are, I should think, the primary interest of Gamers, that's not too bad.

And as to 'history not changing', that is specifically true only of historical events - they don't change, because they already happened. But our knowledge of what happened, why, when, and with what consequences, changes constantly. And therefore what kind of game we can/should make out of historical events can/should also change.

As a recent example, the domestication of the Horse has just been pushed forward about 2000 years and the 'history' of all early wheeled vehicles changed dramatically because for almost 2000 years after the first solid wheels those vehicles were pulled by oxen, donkeys, or equid hybrids, not horses. This is largely archeological rather than historical, but in game terms, it means that the consequences of The Wheel as a technology are utterly different from what the games have all modeled so far, and Horse Domestication does not mean Horseback Riding, it means Chariots.
The 'history' or event may not have changed, but the consequences of our knowledge change is very real if we plan to make a non-Fantasy game out of it.
 
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You are arguing theoreticals and gaming in general. There is zero historical accuracy in any of the civ games. Any layman with surface level knowledge of history could have done the same for civ7.

I think there is a place for historians in some game genres, but not civ. It’s too basic and abstract.

In the end it doesn’t really matter. I just thought it was a weird allocation of ressouces. Agree to disagree I guess.
 
There is zero historical accuracy in any of the civ games.

Sounds like a very good reason to hire a historian to me. Get some of that historical accuracy in there!
 
Moderator Action: This all could be done more politely though.


Hopefully that's a supplementary position and @Andrew Johnson [FXS] isn't departing.

Sadly, I think my "has an undergrad degree in history but never did anything with it" quite makes the cut, but there's quite a few knowledgeable folks on this board that could fit the bill...

I mean... in regards to civ games... you got 12 years on a civ fanboard with numerous posts, that actually might help the case ;).
 
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