PolyCast 2017 Christmas Special: "Girls Playing Civ Three"

[DanQ]

Three cheers for the ladies. The 2017 PolyCast Christmas Special, "Girls Playing Civ Three", is now available for netcasting. Show regular co-host Stephanie "Makahlua" leads former regulars Annalee "Cartimandua" Barney and Kelly "KMadCandy" with returning guests Ayla "kalleina" Radies and Willow Lucas-Smith. It's the third in the series of such specials: first, "Girls Playing Civ" ten years ago and most recently "Girls Playing Civ Too" in 2012. This outing carries a runtime of 63m22s.

PolyCast is a bi-weekly audio production in an ongoing effort to give the Civ community an interactive voice on game strategy; the tenth edition of Evergreen, a side series on selected moments and topics that best represent the show, is set to be released in one week's time. Fellow sibling shows also in production presently are ModCast on Civ modding and TurnCast on Civ multiplay.

 

[Janskey]

I thought they would be playing Civ III.

 

[Uberfrog]

Thanks for a great episode!

I find myself agreeing with the panel that I hope alliances (about which we stilll haven’t heard much) have a bit more to them than just modified production/research. A truly cooperative way to win would be a much better Diplomatic Victory than gaming UN votes.

 

[DanQ]

I thought they would be playing Civ III.

(If that had been the case, this would have been the wrong forum for posting about it in!)

Thanks for a great episode!

Glad you enjoyed this special.

 

[Timothy001]

As soon as I saw the episode was available, I listened while at work. I failed to read the details of the special, and at first thought I head accessed the wrong file. After I checked, and realized it was the right file, I enjoyed the different perspective of the panel.

 

[DanQ]

As soon as I saw the episode was available, I listened while at work. I failed to read the details of the special, and at first thought I head accessed the wrong file. After I checked, and realized it was the right file, I enjoyed the different perspective of the panel.

Indeed, the Christmas specials do not sound like other PolyCast productions in that they forgo most standard stock clips -- particularly at their start -- and then this special had almost completely different panelists aside added to that different feel! (Relatedly, I work to ensure that every year different Christmas music is used in the special for this season.)

Glad you enjoyed the listen.

 

[shaglio]

I forget which panelist said she liked Great Person farming in Civ 4. If's she's interested in making the jump to Civ 6, I would recommend that she play as Russia. She'll be thoroughly pleased!

 

[Disgustipated]

I thought they would be playing Civ III.

Glad I'm not the only one who thought that. Misleading title. I was hoping for some Civ3 action.

 

[SammyKhalifa]

Glad I'm not the only one who thought that. Misleading title. I was hoping for some Civ3 action.

Haha. Though looking back III might have been the worst in the series, especially coming right off of the awesomeness that was AC. Despite that I probably played more III than any of the others--having lots of time on your hands does that.

 

[DanQ]

I forget which panelist said she liked Great Person farming in Civ 4.

That was Willow.

If's she's interested in making the jump to Civ 6, I would recommend that she play as Russia. She'll be thoroughly pleased!

She may return to playing CivVI with the pending release of the Rise & Fall expansion pack, but for now the game continues to remain dormant in her Steam account.

Misleading title. I was hoping for some Civ3 action.

Respectfully, that is one interpretation and I maintain not the dominant one for two reasons: first, "Civ Three" is not a common convention for naming Civilization III. Second, the news item accompanying this special also references both previous "Girls Playing Civ" specials. If you are looking for CivIII commentary, there is one PolyCast production that focuses on it: sibling series ModCast ran a "Focus" special in 2014 on it.

Hope you enjoyed this special nonetheless.

 

[Timothy001]

Hey Dan, you do know Firaxis will release some new information on January 20, just to troll you. Also, the expansion releases on your off week.

 

[DanQ]

Hey Dan, you do know Firaxis will release some new information on January 20, just to troll you. Also, the expansion releases on your off week.

Par for the course, really.

Still, I'm okay with both of these points for the following reasons respectively: there's enough information to cover without whatever else is to be new, and this will give us panelists and other Civers some initial playtime to be able to discuss it in a (more) meaningful fashion.

 

[Timothy001]

To true. Even a little experience is better then none.
Once the expansion is released, maybe a topic you could discuss is, what features do the panelists still think are missing and needed, and what features still need to be tweaked, either thru a patch,, or second expansion.
Thx

 

[DanQ]

Once the expansion is released, maybe a topic you could discuss is, what features do the panelists still think are missing and needed, and what features still need to be tweaked, either thru a patch,, or second expansion.

Yes, that would be fitting -- we would probably time it to be about a month or so after release.

 

[megabearsfan]

With regard to the inclusion of more female leaders: it could be interesting if some civs had a pair of leaders or a group of leaders instead of a single leaderhead. This could play on the idea of influential women being "between the lines of history" by having a male leaderhead, but the woman is the one actually making all the big decisions.

This is kind of tongue-in-cheek, but I'm imagining Justinian and Theodora as co-leaders of Byzantium. Maybe you meet Byzantium, Justinian is there sitting on the throne and introduces himself as the emperor. Then you go to make an actual deal with him, and there's an animation of Theodora walking in from off-screen, and when you propose the deal, Theodora whispers in Justinian's ears, Justinian nods, and then says "Yes, Byzantium accepts your deal."


I am also very excited about the potential for more robust alliances and partnerships. I've long been advocating for victory conditions that allow civs to win cooperative victories (http://www.megabearsfan.net/post/2016/07/05/Brainstorming-victories-in-Civilization.aspx), and I'm glad to hear that I'm not the only one who is excited about that potential.