My Idea for religions (not what you think of!)

[GiantRaven]

Sports would be a great idea within the game but alongside religion rather than a progression or religion

 

[Raisin Bran]

Sports would be a great idea within the game but alongside religion rather than a progression or religion

The way I see it .... you are right

BUT

The national sport replacing the religion in the late game is my way of changing something in the game that dosent seem accurate (I know for a fact that civ4 is not always accurate) The way this could be done is by making it a tech to study .... if you want to keep the religion instead of sports you just have not to research the tech.

If sports becomes complementary to religion its another way to complicate the game furthermore while replacing is easier cuz you only need to switch things from religion to sports.

 

[GiantRaven]

I get what you mean, it just seems odd to have sports following on from religion because their are many countries that have both major sports and religions

 

[Danghis Khan]

* How about pay inflation? Those ath-uh-leets don't work for chicken feed, y'know. And the price of meat in uniform keeps rising exponentially.

Yes Meffy, some teams have resorted to drastic measures to keep meat in uniform.

http://za.today.reuters.com/news/ne..._0_OZASP-SOCCER-ROMANIA-TRANSFER-20060227.XML

Sports would be a cool modifier, but would have to work backwards to religion, with negative relations for countries that played the same sport (inevitable rivalries) and neutral relations for different sports (nothing to compete over).

 

[Brighteye]

But it's a friendly rivalry. There's always a little bit of light-hearted joking, and a few thugs who aren't so light-hearted, but sports really do bring nations together. we play rugby and cricket with places on the other side of the world, and know far more about those countries than their neighbours.

My cousin served in Kabul, and saw the Americans get very confused when the Afghans started playing cricket in the streets. The Brits might join in and understand the game, so what the Americans saw as a nasty crowd gathering and tried to disperse they actually encouraged.
The sport brought the Afghan boys and British patrols together in a way that having a Muslim member of your patrol probably wouldn't have done. It's just a question of how ingrained in the culture the sport and religion are.

 

[Dueck]

You have discovered Hot Dogs!

 

[Meffy]

Danghis: Wow! Now that's sports news I can relate to. Thanks for the link.

 

[Raisin Bran]

I get what you mean, it just seems odd to have sports following on from religion because their are many countries that have both major sports and religions

I know what you mean and I tought about all that.

Go take a look in the creation and customisation forum.
there are lots of threads where simple ideas get over-done by adding lots and lots of specs to creating easy things. (no offence to creators you guys do a great job) But I feel a simple effective switch from religion to sports would greatly benefit the game.

There is always room to let the player decide what could be the persentage of influence religion and/or sports would have.

A player who dosent want sports just dosent research the tech ... and a player that decides to research could have a slider to let him decide the % of influence ....ex.: 70% sports influence and 30% religion influence
If you guys think like me the slider would always be at 100% sports and 0% religion as soon that the industrial era hits !!!

rivalries ------ I like the idea Danghis Khan

 

[Perfect_Blue]

This actually is the opposite of reality for most American universities. Yes, a lot of money is pumped into scholarships for big sports (basketball, football primarily), and there is a lot of staff employed for the running and marketing of those sports, and the facilities dont come cheap.....but in the long haul, college sports are a revenue stream for major universities, not a cash drain.

I'm not an athlete, just a programmer/economist, so dont think to discount this message that way. I hate how some athletes at some universities (read: in my class and at my university) recieve special treatment from professors to keep them academically elligeable to play, but the reason that is done is business. Butts in seats and media deals for major sports goes a long way to financing many universities. They are a positive cash flow. They help support the rest of us who come to the university for the real intended purpose of higher education. They work for us, in other words.

I see it a bit differently (this coming from a university student of some years).

I would agree that sports programs do bring a lot of money into the university. But where in the university? Back to the sports program! Academics get shafted all the way, especially at bigger universities where sports are all anyone cares about.

So, we students pay our fees, which the sports program eats up. We go to broken-down buildings and over-crowded classrooms, with some moron teacher because there's not enough money to pay for good profs. Meanwhile, the football team gets a new coach with a multi-million dollar salary and untold benefits. Oh, and hey (an example straight from my own university), the school and sports program are in the crapper, soooooo; Let's build another arena! Oh, and who's money again? Mine, and my parents (through state taxes). Universities screw their students in favor of sports. And in far more ways than one.

 

[Palantir30]

I would agree that sports programs do bring a lot of money into the university. But where in the university? Back to the sports program! Academics get shafted all the way, especially at bigger universities where sports are all anyone cares about.

Is this just your feeling of what's going on, or have you read the financial statements that your university is required by law to publish every year (since you said it recieves tax funds)?

 

[Perfect_Blue]

It's what I see with my own eyes. I see the crappy, beaten down buildings getting worse. Classes are getting larger with no new space. Several teachers have been fired, departments downsized (my own included; philosophy and political science), and on. But there's another new arena, there's more new coaches, and fat paychecks attached to all of it. And yes, looking at the records that the university is required to publish will show the terrible mis-allocation of funds.

There are positions in the university that have six figure salaries, but I know for a fact (not with all, but I have checked some) that the people getting my money don't even go to work. They might show up on campus once or twice in a year!

We're getting pummeled into the ground with all the bills. Tuition has gone up exhorbitantly, and the only thing to show for it is new uniforms, new sports equipment. Academics are on the back burner.

 

[Palantir30]

We're getting pummeled into the ground with all the bills. Academics are on the back burner.

That is extremely unfortunate. It sounds like your BoD has some serious chicken-and-egg issues with regards to where money comes from and where it goes. You have my sympathy for what sounds like a truely apalling situation.

Is a transfer out of there not something you can do? It's not that way at either of the two state schools I went to as an undergrad, nor the two that I've gone to as a graduate. Since I'm a geek, I read those financial statements before I accepted enrollment or signed any checks to the university. At the very least, this is a life lesson to others.

Athletics does generate a whole bunch of money in hard to see ways. Besides ticket sales, successful athletic programs typically entice large alumni donations, local business endowments and such. MOST schools that I've looked at use some of this money to subsidize the non-big selling sports, and substantial overflow goes to academia at large.

If your university is neglecting it's academics to chase this kind of soft dollar, they're playing the game upside down. Again, best wishes to finding greener pastures.

 

[Codeman]

well said.

 

[GiantRaven]

A player who dosent want sports just dosent research the tech ... and a player that decides to research could have a slider to let him decide the % of influence ....ex.: 70% sports influence and 30% religion influence
If you guys think like me the slider would always be at 100% sports and 0% religion as soon that the industrial era hits !!!

That sounds cool

 

[Perfect_Blue]

If your university is neglecting it's academics to chase this kind of soft dollar, they're playing the game upside down. Again, best wishes to finding greener pastures.

If only....The thing that really amazes me is why the money keeps going to sports. The teams here are really terrible.

 

[Raisin Bran]

Addition to the idea:

When a civ is the first to discover the sports tech its can build "the Olympics"

Once every 5 turns there would be a pop-up screen (like the UN) and you get to choose where its going to be (5 best cities in the game).Te city with the most votes wins and gets a cultural bonus, but it costs the hosting's city civ a X amount of money. the winning city would be excluded for the next 20 olympics selection.

look at this!!!!

 

[Codeman]

Addition to the idea:

When a civ is the first to discover the sports tech its can build "the Olympics"

Once every 5 turns there would be a pop-up screen (like the UN) and you get to choose where its going to be (5 best cities in the game).Te city with the most votes wins and gets a cultural bonus, but it costs the hosting's city civ a X amount of money. the winning city would be excluded for the next 20 olympics selection.

look at this!!!!

now that would add an iteresting twist.. it could also generate some revenue in order to simulate the tourist influx!

 

[El Koeno]

It would be cool to let sports work exactly the same way as religions. If you have many sports in a city you can build a lot of stadiums to keep your people happy/healthy (although it would need some (read: extensive) balancing).

Maybe it is possible to create two sets of religions, i.e. one for real religions and one for different sports? I have never even looked at an .xml file (let alone INSIDE one), so I wouldn't really know what's possible and what not.

 

[caitlinm]

Why do people think that religions should have less influence? The Bush administration alone shows how religion divides people. And then you could look at the current Israel-Palestein conflict. And the examples could go on and on. Religion still matters -- however, it's also the given culture that goes with that religion too. It's a packaged thing, but religion is still doing a great job of f**king up the planet.

Anyway, I think your Olympics idea is cool.

 

[Mewtarthio]

Maybe it is possible to create two sets of religions, i.e. one for real religions and one for different sports? I have never even looked at an .xml file (let alone INSIDE one), so I wouldn't really know what's possible and what not.

The XML files only contain numbers and such (ie "Warrior has 2 Strength, Spy is Invisible). Python has most of the scripting work, but you'd probably need the SDK for two sets of religions.