Tweet
Frankly I think that most of the people who have played the Civ series and post here on the culture subject have missed the point.
Culture, essentially, was present in Civ2. Here is one definition of culture by Webster :
the act of developing the intellectual and moral faculties especially by education
Temples and cathedrals, libraries and universities. In Civ2 these yielded greater research rates and happier people. It was an excellent abstract modeling of the cultural aspect of civilization. It allowed civilizations to flourish and mature without force of arms.
The Civ3 rendition of culture is asinine. It seeks to link borders to culture, which is ridiculous. Historically the borders of nations or civilizations were based on natural geography, force of arms, religion, race, politics and the unpredictable effect of unusual leadership. Some of those are elements of culture of course, but some are clearly not.
In Civ3 culture is represented as being the central source of power, other than military, that shaped world history. Culture is represented as being more powerful than religion; religion is relegated to a role as only a part of culture. In truth, religion has had more effect on the course of human events than culture by a factor of 10. Throughout human history when cultures clashed with religions it was always culture that changed to accommodate religion, on those occasions that borders moved it was a result of elitist exploitation of the religious views of the common man, not a revolt of the common man to obtain access to the culture of his neighbor.
Culture has been in fashion lately, it is a politically correct concept, but as an empire building force, it is and always has been a limp wristed farce. Religion has been the catislyst; this was true for all of the 6000 years of human history but the last 150 and even then it has and does today play a prominent role in the affairs of men and nations. To the extent that religious influence has waned culture has been magnified not as an entity but as a mere part of the new paradigm, which is humanism.
Firaxis could be well excused for this folly if their implementation of the concept of culture enhanced the gameplay and enjoyment of the Civ3 experience. And some would argue that it does. But there is no consensus in favor of it. It is clearly a design failure unless one sets the bar so low as to be meaningless.
Another definition of culture by Webster:
enlightenment and excellence of taste acquired by intellectual and aesthetic training b : acquaintance with and taste in fine arts, humanities, and broad aspects of science as distinguished from vocational and technical skills
And still another:
the integrated pattern of human knowledge, belief, and behavior that depends upon man's capacity for learning and transmitting knowledge to succeeding generations b : the customary beliefs, social forms, and material traits of a racial, religious, or social group c : the set of shared attitudes, values, goals, and practices that characterizes a company or corporation
Clearly, if you think about it, Firaxis did a pretty darn good job of introducing culture in their masterpiece game, Alpha Centauri. Here, through use of social engineering and original faction attributes, clearly distinct groups evolve, distinct and unique to themselves. And they play that way!
In Civ3 culture is reduced to bricks of manure that, if piled high enough, push their very borders of your civilization outward from the stench. The Civilizations, all for their accumulated culture or lack thereof, are all the same.
It just doesn't make sense.
Culture, essentially, was present in Civ2. Here is one definition of culture by Webster :
the act of developing the intellectual and moral faculties especially by education
Temples and cathedrals, libraries and universities. In Civ2 these yielded greater research rates and happier people. It was an excellent abstract modeling of the cultural aspect of civilization. It allowed civilizations to flourish and mature without force of arms.
The Civ3 rendition of culture is asinine. It seeks to link borders to culture, which is ridiculous. Historically the borders of nations or civilizations were based on natural geography, force of arms, religion, race, politics and the unpredictable effect of unusual leadership. Some of those are elements of culture of course, but some are clearly not.
In Civ3 culture is represented as being the central source of power, other than military, that shaped world history. Culture is represented as being more powerful than religion; religion is relegated to a role as only a part of culture. In truth, religion has had more effect on the course of human events than culture by a factor of 10. Throughout human history when cultures clashed with religions it was always culture that changed to accommodate religion, on those occasions that borders moved it was a result of elitist exploitation of the religious views of the common man, not a revolt of the common man to obtain access to the culture of his neighbor.
Culture has been in fashion lately, it is a politically correct concept, but as an empire building force, it is and always has been a limp wristed farce. Religion has been the catislyst; this was true for all of the 6000 years of human history but the last 150 and even then it has and does today play a prominent role in the affairs of men and nations. To the extent that religious influence has waned culture has been magnified not as an entity but as a mere part of the new paradigm, which is humanism.
Firaxis could be well excused for this folly if their implementation of the concept of culture enhanced the gameplay and enjoyment of the Civ3 experience. And some would argue that it does. But there is no consensus in favor of it. It is clearly a design failure unless one sets the bar so low as to be meaningless.
Another definition of culture by Webster:
enlightenment and excellence of taste acquired by intellectual and aesthetic training b : acquaintance with and taste in fine arts, humanities, and broad aspects of science as distinguished from vocational and technical skills
And still another:
the integrated pattern of human knowledge, belief, and behavior that depends upon man's capacity for learning and transmitting knowledge to succeeding generations b : the customary beliefs, social forms, and material traits of a racial, religious, or social group c : the set of shared attitudes, values, goals, and practices that characterizes a company or corporation
Clearly, if you think about it, Firaxis did a pretty darn good job of introducing culture in their masterpiece game, Alpha Centauri. Here, through use of social engineering and original faction attributes, clearly distinct groups evolve, distinct and unique to themselves. And they play that way!
In Civ3 culture is reduced to bricks of manure that, if piled high enough, push their very borders of your civilization outward from the stench. The Civilizations, all for their accumulated culture or lack thereof, are all the same.
It just doesn't make sense.
Comment