Win a copy of "Old World" - tell us about your favourite civ from "the old world" (contest is over)

[The_J]

Old World, the current game of Soren Johnson's studio Mohawk Games, has already some following here, but we got asked if we cannot increase it here in the forums.
Soren has contacted Thunderfall, and asked if we could help him, and we are happy to do so. Their publisher Hooded Horse has provided us with 5 keys for Old World (including the new addon "Heroes Of The Agean", which we are free to use for a little competition here.

Since we know you like discussing civs, we ask you:
What is your favourite civ from the old world?
Just tell us which ancient civ from the old world (Europe, Asia, Africa) do you like best.
This civilization doesn't need to be in the game already. If you like any of the ingame civs best (Rome, Greece, Egypt, Carthage, Babylon, Persia, Assyria), then tell us. If you like any other best (may it be Scythia, Sumeria, or any other), tell us. You would like to have any added? Tell us!
Among all entries, we distribute:

• 3 copies of Old World in a random draw
• 1 copy for the best entry
• 1 copy for the best joke entry (excluded from random draw)

The deadline for entries is May 10.
We will announce the winners on May 14.
Only one entry per participant will be considered.
This little competition is run in parallel in the forums and on Twitter and all entries will be pooled.
We reserve the right to disqualify any entries.

Old World is currently available on the Epic Store, but will become available on May 19 on GOG and Steam.

 

[keldath]

Awesome!

Well here goes:

I like them cause of:
Elephants
Hanibal is a mighy name .
Dido is easy to remember.
Hanibal et portas phrase .
Their flag emblem looks like a Chevron out of StarGate sg-1 series .
Since civ2 they are my only choice for 20 years of historical games.

Above all else,
I like to say, Carthage! In english!
Oh,and elephants!

Cheers!

 

[fdrpi]

I'm going to say the Indus Valley Civilization.

They're so mysterious I could probably sum up most of our knowledge about them in this post:
-Incredibly precise city-planning, including public baths and plumbing a thousand years before Rome.
-All buildings similar in size, implying ancient social equality.
-Trade network that extended at least as far as Sumer, who called them "Meluhha".
-We have theories, but ultimately no idea what happened to them or why. An earthquake, combined with a period of drought, may have diverted the Indus away from Mohenjo-Daro and Harappa. We know the Yellow and Yanghtze rivers have done that in China in the past, but it's just speculation.
-We didn't know about them until the 1940s. Not "the West", anybody. The unknownness of it all boggles my mind.
-They had written language, but it is currently untranslated. Along with Nubian and Etruscan, those are the languages I most want to decipher.

What other secrets did their society hold? What more waits for us to discover?

 

[Buktu]

For me it is definitely Rome. I live in western germany where we have lots of roman museums and some antiquary sites so I learnd alot about the ancient Rome even before we talked about it in history classes. To this day I am very impressed how the romans achieved to stay the dominant power in the mediterranean region for so long. It is also very interesting how ancient Rome is still influencing our lifes today. Modern french, italian, spanish and portuguese are for example heavily influenced by latin.
All of these make Rome one of my top choices in every history based game and definitely my favourite topic when it comes to history.

 

[Lanzelot]

My favorite would be Egypt: because of their incredibly early achievements in many different fields, from architecture to astronomy, mathematics and medicine (head surgery in 2000 BC! and unlike some of the treatments that were used in medieval times, the patients even survived...)

I like the following Arabian saying: "man fears the time -- the time fears the pyramids!"

 

[Saxo Grammaticus]

Could Old World turn out to be the right home for the Tocharians? The archaeology of the Tarim Basin and the unearthed material culture has long been fascinating and evocative. Buddhist Indo-Europeans in Oasis States surrounded by Chinese, Indian, and Iranian cultures would make for a rich syncretic civilization (along with some other obvious contenders...). Synthesizing a unique identity all while eking out an existence on the margins of the Taklamakan Desert may not present a clear-cut state or list of rulers but would nonetheless be open to cultural, religious, trade, and agricultural interpretations.

 

[Sailor Cat]

Persia. Something I learned during my research is that if you roll Persian carpets too often they get carpet tunnel syndrome.

 

[Quintillus]

There's a section of my bookshelf whose authors include Gibbon, Livy, Plutarch, Polybius, Sallust, and Seutonius. Coincidence? No. My favorite Old World civilization is Rome.

Initially, a fair amount of it was simple fascination at such a large ancient empire that lasted so long. But over time, it became more about how our current society, and especially government (living in the U.S.) is influenced by Rome, combined with the fairly high amount of contemporary sources we have about Roman society. Those reinforce each other - we have a good amount of material about Greece as well, but it's from Rome that we have most closely based our government (in some cases even using the same terminology, such as the Senate), and from which the parallels often seem strongest. Contemporary concerns about inequality, for example, echo the long-running class struggles in Rome. The overall trajectory of Rome, from kingdom to a republic ruled by a small, elite subset of society, to a somewhat more equally representative system, has parallels to the history of the Thirteen Colonies and U.S. as well. And concerns about today's democratically elected strongmen eroding the norms of civil society bring to mind Marius, Sulla, Cinna, and ultimately Caesar. Conversely, those held up as paradigms of Roman virtue for serving Rome as Dictator in times of crisis and then voluntarily abdicating their power - Cincinnatus and Fabius, for example - match the virtues that are valued in the U.S., to the degree that we even named a city after Cincinnatus.

In other words, the title of one of Barbara Tuchman's books, A Distant Mirror, could be applied to Rome as well.

 

[tantanmen]

Scythians. Everybody please vote Scythians.

p.s. Thank you for making this available on GOG. We love you Soren!

 

[Vandlys]

I've seen many beautiful opinions come by, and it's really hard to choose to be honest. I'll probably kick myself for having to name a favourite, but the old civilisation I'm always drawn to is the Inca.

On every front they are so vastly different from what I grew up in that everything about them is fascinating. Not only culturally and linguistically, but also geographically they were very different.

Their religious beliefs, economy, astrology, everything.. It's hard to pinpoint why I like them so much because there is so much.

Brilliant raffle by the way : ) Have been having my eyes on this game for a while. Good luck to everyone participating.

 

[The_J]

I like all the entries so far guys .

the old civilisation I'm always drawn to is the Inca.

While I also do have a soft spot for the Inca, they don't qualify as coming from the old world (Europe, Asia, Africa), sorry. Give it another try.

 

[lymond]

I think Phoenicia would be an interesting addition. Yes, Carthage was a Phoenician colony/state, but adding Phoenicia would present an opportunity to introduce a true maritime and trade power into the game, with a lot of new mechanics. New mechanics could include Mediterranean and Black Sea colonies as well as trade ports. Of course, I've not played the game yet so not sure how all this would fit into the game, but it sure would be fun if it could.

 

[krokobone]

It's hard to choose only one, but I would say Chartage is one of my favorites. Their epic struggle against Rome is very fascinating to me, and I'm also amazed by their engineering marvels (especially the cothon harbours, as I love maritime civilizations in general). The origin story of Carthage is also an interesting one.

 

[vincentz]

My parents! Yeah, they are quite civilized, but my god they are ancient

 

[Vandlys]

I like all the entries so far guys .

While I also do have a soft spot for the Inca, they don't qualify as coming from the old world (Europe, Asia, Africa), sorry. Give it another try.

Ooooh, like that old world. Wow, missing out on quite a few beautiful ancient civilizations then, and I completely spaced on that. Thanks for letting me know.

If I have to choose from those continents I still find it very hard. Indus has rightly already be mentioned, but I think I would still have to go for the classic among classics: Sumer.

Just the fact that it is the oldest known Mesopotamian makes it appealing. It's rife with culture that is shrouded in mystery, and has enough aspects that are now well documented to give a clear insight, yet always leave you with more questions.

 

[kaspergm]

Maybe a stupid question, but where do I put my entry? Do I write it here, or send it to you, or somewhere else ...?

 

[Reckoner]

Thanks for the opportunity, guys! much appreciated!

I have to pick Assyria, there's an assyrian fort in my home town, which I pass by several times a week. I sure don't want to upset them...

 

[leif erikson]

Please post it in this thread.

 

[Eagle Pursuit]

Early-medieval England, I suppose. It's a tough choice

 

[shmily_dana]

I was going to say Rome, Egypt or Sumeria. I like the Indus Valley civilization above. I think ultimately I'd like to play with the oldest possible civilization. It is always cool when a game has the feature so that the user can create a custom civilization.