is it too late

[Provost Harrison]

Yeah, I think what I have found it that people like to speculate on what is going on within the game from the scant evidence we have so far. We are veritable budding Sherlock Holmes's here

Sometimes it is interesting to speculate on 'what could have been' which may even be sometimes 'what may be'. We don't know, we are just trying to get an understanding of the game. And if people are thinking about the potential of civ4, then so be it...

[SerapisIV]

Originally posted by tniem
Game won't be released until next year, but it is still too late to to change the game.

That about sums up my opinion as well, probably why I don't find most of the Civ3 topics interesting anymore, it just feels too late to influence any of the game dynamics. Firaxis is probably already at feature-lock, working on debugging, and adding polish. I'm kinda put off by a lot of game concept discussions because I don't want to get my hopes up on great ideas and gameplay issues that won't be in the final release.

[Mahdimael]

Originally posted by rah
I used to be real interested in most of these threads, but as the time flies by, I have come to accept the futility of it all. (that and the fact that about 80% of the ideas come from other games, so much for originality)

RAH

Rah, just because something is not original doesn't mean it can't be fun. Similarly, just because something is original does not automatically make it fun. This kind of ties in with the whole thing about sequels and features (on a thread a while back). Incorporating fun elements from other games can be a good idea.

[rah]

I agree. But a lot of people have lauded the "all the original ideas" here and in other threads. I just wanted to point out that the amount of original thought is a tiny % of what has appeared here.

I too have posted things from other games that might help CIV III, but I have never claimed an idea original if it wasn't.

The release has dragged and dragged, which has drained a lot of my enthusiasm. Most of the regergitated threads here are just a reminder.

RAH

[Mahdimael]

I can understand that. I visited the Team Fortress II website a few months ago...talk about regurgitated topics! I just let it alone for a while.

But it's like anything- too much of something is as bad as not enough. I only know one person who still uses "Whazzuuuup" anymore. That assaulted us for a long long time.

I would think that once we near the release, more info will be forthcoming

[Dauphin]

80% of the ideas come from other games, so much for originality

The phrase "There is nothing new under the sun" springs to mind.

Almost every idea is just a new incarnation of an old idea.

[Urban Ranger]

There are hardly any original ideas these days. There are so many people and they come up with all sorts of ideas. Also, you have ideas from the generations before. There's rarely anything that haven't been analysed.

Then there are many levels of "ideas." For example, Unit Workshop is one level. Unit Workshop with a particular mechanism is another level. Unit Workshop with a particular mechanism in Civ is yet another level. So while the first idea isn't original, the last one probably is

As to why we continue to make new suggestions here, maybe some of us like to have some of these ideas adopted by a game, be it Civ 3 or something else.