Religion in BE

[Sal]

I have been watching the forums For some indicati on of How religion Will work in BE, but have found nothing so far. I noticed that one of the colonist types mentioned was pilgrims, but that now seems to have been replaced in the sticky with intellectuals. However some civs have religion listed as a strength or weakness.

I hope they don't leave religion out, and I hope they have not decided to pull it and save it for expansions later.

Does anyone know anything about this, or know an article they can point me to?

 

[vahouth]

You havent' noticed anything on religion because it has been dropped out completely.
The Pilgrims you mentioned are now called survivors or refugees...

 

[Sal]

Do you know why it has been dropped? Is there an article or has it been done quietly?

 

[SupremacyKing]

Do you know why it has been dropped? Is there an article or has it been done quietly?

In an interview, the devs said that they considered several versions of religion bit could not find a model that they were happy with so they dropped it rather than implement something half-baked. It kind of makes sense too. Since CivBE is centered around post human affinities, how do human religions fit into that?

 

[Sal]

It kind of makes sense, but I can imagine all kinds of strange cults cropping up, maybe only partially in the players control, that could either strengthen or weaken sympathy for particular affinities. Ah well, disappointed but still looking forward to it.

 

[SupremacyKing]

It kind of makes sense, but I can imagine all kinds of strange cults cropping up, maybe only partially in the players control, that could either strengthen or weaken sympathy for particular affinities. Ah well, disappointed but still looking forward to it.

If civ5 is any indication, we could maybe see religion added in an expansion if the devs figure out a way to implement it in a way that really fits with the rest of the game.

 

[Sal]

I suppose with civ5 we have policies (and ideologies) and then religion as ways of personalising development and in BE we will have affinities and virtues so there should be the same level of complexity.

I really liked the idea of sci fi pilgrims though. Refugees seems a poor substitute as presumably they are all refugees fleeing a dying Earth.

Does anyone have a link to that interview?

 

[Civ24]

Until I need religion in the real world, which is high chance according to my intellectual development, good thing it's out.

To those who don't understand this statement with this game, well I think think games play a role in the education of the mass and the kids and this should be realistic somehow at some reasonable point; Like it is right now for example.

 

[Epic Eric]

Until I need religion in the real world, which is high chance according to my intellectual development, good thing it's out.

To those who don't understand this statement with this game, well I think think games play a role in the education of the mass and the kids and this should be realistic somehow at some reasonable point; Like it is right now for example.

They did not remove it from the game for any reasons other than they could not find a way to make it fit in as a fun mechanic; it was pretty clear they had intended on keeping religion in BE from the beginning, but they just couldn't come up with an interesting concept for it on time.

 

[s0nny80y]

A religion mechanic is a good way to explain away how settlers carry the level of optimism needed to procreate and sustain an increasingly specializing system of citizens.

 

[Osmotic]

In Civ, a central role for religion made sense given the importance of religion in world history. I am less sure for BE. I still think that there is room for a religion themed faction, but not for religion to be a central game mechanic. Perhaps a societal bonus of some sort like AC offers.

 

[Deggial]

There are threads about the transition from Civ5 to BE which ask for more continuity.

Well, with regard to religion, BE is the continuation of Civ5, because religion decreased in it's importance (increasing costs!) during the game progression.

Hence, 250 years into the future, there is no point in "supernatural" fanatism. Fanatism in more earthbound (oh well - "exoplanetbound", if you like ) ideologies (= affinities) is more than enough explosive issue to deal with.

 

[Louis XXIV]

A religion mechanic is a good way to explain away how settlers carry the level of optimism needed to procreate and sustain an increasingly specializing system of citizens.

Affinities could do that too. Or really any kind of ideological system. Communism, Manifest Destiny, Liberté, égalité, fraternité, etc. all had similar motivating force as religion.

 

[s0nny80y]

Religion might regulate cannibalism & inbreeding too.

...building a warp gate as fast as possible over and over again is a religion of it's own, sorta.

 

[Ivan Hunger]

The affinities are very religionesque already.

Harmonists are basically xeno-pagans.

Supremacists engage in pop-culture-style machine worship.

And Purists' combination of figurative geocentrism and literal humanism is very similar to the "Chosen People" aspect of may religions.

 

[GenyaArikado]

In Civ, a central role for religion made sense given the importance of religion in world history. I am less sure for BE. I still think that there is room for a religion themed faction, but not for religion to be a central game mechanic. Perhaps a societal bonus of some sort like AC offers.

Ermmm the Khavithan Protectorate?

 

[Epic Eric]

Ermmm the Khavithan Protectorate?

Yeah, they tried to do that at first (I believe specifically because of that faction), but just couldn't fit the mechanic in. They might still create a bonus for the KP like "less penalties from negative Health" or something that 'simulates' their extreme excitement for space travel, just not directly religion-based.

 

[Ivan Hunger]

If I had to guess, I would say the KP has a bonus that encourages the player to go all-in on a particular affinity.

Something like, "Gain culture per turn equal to the level of your dominant affinity."

Such an ability would show how the teachings of the Prophet have a huge impact on every aspect of their society.

 

[Dargoth]

There are one and I suspect two "religious" factions in BE

The obvious one Kavithan Protectorate

and I suspect Franco Iberia will have religious elements as well as western culture was based on Christanity.

It would be interesting if you could go into the city of a faction with an oppossing affinity and "Preach" to the Populous" about ur affinity and depending on how it went down you could cause unhappiness in the city or even cause it to flip to your side.

We also have missions in BE which could be used to flesh out Religion and psuedo religions. It would also be cool if you could affect another factions cities with your strengths and weaknesses. So a faction that was strong in say Industry could goto a faction that had industry as weakness and say look at what we can do weve noticed that your leaders arent very good at this why dont you think about joining us? With the following potential outcomes.

1) Failure: You take a diplomatic penalty with the faction whose city you tried to Coherse

2) Partial sucess: The tagret city looses some of its population who eiether form a colony pod that appears in your nearest city or it works like how the Americans worked in Rhyes and Fall mod where you could steal population from other factions and it would raise your own cities population directly

3) The city Flips and joins your faction possibly taking a hit to ur relations with the other other faction.

 

[Martinus]

and I suspect Franco Iberia will have religious elements as well as western culture was based on Christanity.

Uhm have you been to France or Spain lately? These are very secular societies (with Spain being late to the party but the influence of the Catholic Church decreasing much more rapidly as a result).

Sure, if the argument is that "in 250 years anything can change", Franco-Iberia could be religious, but it is less likely to become so than virtually every other faction except for perhaps the Panasian Cooperative and Polystralia. All the other factions or their origin countries/cultures today - be it the USA, Brazil, Africa or Eastern Europe - are much more religious than Western Europe. And Elodie gives off a definite secularist/humanist vibe.

In fact, I wouldn't be at all surprised if the Slavic Federation was the "Christian faction" - there is a huge religious revival going on in Eastern Europe right now and with the growing secularism of the West, it is not inconceivable that the Papacy would move East and reconcile with the Orthodox Patriarchates (at least the ones within the SF), leading to the capital of the Slavic Federation becoming the "Fourth Rome".