Is Culture Flipping unbalancing?

[Barinthus]

Thought California was its own soveregin nation for a while? Something like 20 days IIRC but still.

Hawai'i , what about them?

As for Texas...

Advisor: People of Texas has rose up against their oppressors and overthrew them. They would like to join your great nation, President!

President: Turn away those evil rebels! We do not want their lot in our empire.

20 turns later, a war broke out between Americans and Aztecs and since Texas was right there in between and there are some potential in those river tiles and one or two cattle so Americans seized using some riflemen and cavalry along with cannons.

Something like that. Texans did want to join US but were turned away. I believe the reason had to do something with maintaining the balance between pro and anti slavery states.

California was in similar situation - non-Mexicans wanted to see the land join the Union but for some reason they declared themselves an independent nation then few days later some American admiral marched troops to Sonoma and claimed the land.

[Dinner]

I like the way culture flipping works.

[Barinthus]

Also it's a toggable feature so if you don't like it, you can turn it off unless I'm wrong?

[Shogun Gunner]

You are right.

[ChrisB]

If Texas voluntarily joined the US after being a sovereign State, that seems like culture flipping to me. As long ago as the mid-1800s the US had a significant culture and prestige.

By the way, wasn't Vermont a soverign state for a short while? (I could be wrong on this)

[Vince278]

All of the original 13 states technically were before the Constitution.

[vmxa1]

That is a tough call to me, since before the revolution they were a colony. I am not sure of the exact legal definition. I would say not because they were not recoqnized as such.

[Barinthus]

They were colonies of UK's Old Imperial era then I believe during the Revolutionary War they were more of independent entities joined under a weak confederationary government until Constitution came into being and was accepted as the Law of the Land in 1791

[gunkulator]

Each state was granted its own sovereignty. From the Treaty of Paris:

His Brittanic Majesty acknowledges the said United States, viz., New Hampshire, Massachusetts Bay, Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia, to be free sovereign and independent states, that he treats with them as such, and for himself, his heirs, and successors, relinquishes all claims to the government, propriety, and territorial rights of the same and every part thereof."

[Vince278]

Thanks Gunk on finding that quote.

[Rommel2D]

Originally posted by Barinthus
Also it's a toggable feature so if you don't like it, you can turn it off unless I'm wrong?

Yes, but unfortuantely that does not address the issue of game balance. Culture should have more of an impact than simply expanding borders.

My stance is that Coracle's inflamatory criticism of the flip system perhaps rushed Firaxis's decision to make this an on/off feature, when more constructive discussion might have led to a somewhat elegant implementation of cultural assimilation.

I can dream, can't I?

[Rommel2D]

Originally posted by ChrisB
If Texas voluntarily joined the US after being a sovereign State, that seems like culture flipping to me. As long ago as the mid-1800s the US had a significant culture and prestige.

Unless you're refering to the pursuit of capitalist profit as 'culture', I'm not sure what you mean.

It looks to me like all the examples listed have been primarily about economic benefits or military threats. Greed and fear seem to be great motivation for large sedentary populations to change political alliegences as a whole. Envy of cultural achievements does not.

Perhaps it would be enough to have high levels of culture speed up the process of assimilation already present in the game, thereby reducing war weariness...

[Barinthus]

A very broad definition of culture is pretty much everything that you use in your daily lives. #2 pencil is culture. Polo shirt is culture. Kleenex is culture. McDonalds is culture.

So, yes, pursuit of capitalist profit is acceptable as part of culture.

Re: borders, that's right - I didn't think of that. I have yet to play the game with culture thing turned off so I was wondering how borders would work without culture. Perhaps I will fire up a quickie game and see how it goes.

[Jaybe]

It is only Culture FLIPPING that you can turn off, Bar.

[pvzh]

Toggle does not eliminate culture. The culture still works the same in regard to resistors, assimilation, and border expansion. The only difference cities do not flip.