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Currently we are aware of seven of the eight civs to appear in the upcoming XP.
1. Mongols
2. Spanish
3. Carthaginians
4. Celts (Gauls?! who?)
5. Ottoman Turks
6. Vikings
7. Arabs
There are number of theories on who the last civilization is, ranging from the Canadians to the Austrailians. However, in this thread I will discuss who I personally view as the three most likely candidates to gain inclusion. So I appologize if Firaxis fools all of us and the Ethiopians end up making it in.
After evaluating all the evidence for each of these three civs I will then venture a hypothesis on who I feel is most likely to be our mysterious eighth civ.
As a general background to this discussion, I recemend those who haven't already, take a look at my "unlocking the secrets of the new civ select screen" thread ( Http://64.246.32.51/~admin1/forums/s...threadid=51217 ) to gain a bit of understanding on what I will be basing some of my evidence on. Now without further ado, let's get started.
First let's take a look at who is currently the most popular candidate to recieve the final civ slot. The Koreans.
+ The famous "hwacha" photograph. In a handful of websites the Koreans are mentioned as to having a "fire cartwheel" weapon known as the Hwacha. This simple fact has led many to presume the Koreans' inclusion to be virtually a sure thing.
+ The Koreans invented a number of things, including the first moveable-type printing press and in fact there is currently a movement to revise history books which say that Guttenberg was it's inventor.
+ Korea has a long history, and has one of the largest gaming markets in the world. Surely this can't escape Firaxis'
consideration.
+ The last civ has seven letters and "Koreans" is exactly seven letters.
-- The Hwacha unit, which many have touted as ironclad proof of Korea's inclusion, could easily be a part of the Feudal Japan themepack which is going to be included in PTW(http://www.civ3.com/pressrelease.cfm). In fact, all of the websites that mention the Hwacha describe it in a time Korea is at war with Japan. This certainly adds creedence to the "feudal themepack" hypothesis. It is also not impossible that the Hwacha was used by other civilizations such as China or Japan, or at least Firaxis will at least portray it as being used by those civilizations. Firaxis has never been 100% accurate with some of it's historic portrayals.
-- The negative reaction from certain elements of the Civ 3 regarding Firaxis' inclusion of "minor" civs such as the Iroquois or Zulus may be pushing Firaxis toward a policy of including only "powerhouse" civs and excluding civs which serve mainly to represent geographic regions. While I strongly disagree with this practice, the civ listing so far seems to confirm this as Firaxis' intentions. There is no South American civ or African civ in sight, and all the civs that have been confirmed are largely regarded as fairly large empires in their day and fairly well known amongst the mainstream (with Gauls being an arguable exception, but I still refuse to accept that as anything but a typo, "CELTS" on the other hand, would be well recognized amongst the masses. If for nothing else, but for all the "Celtic crosses" and so forth you see QVC) So the fact that Korean history is largely unknown in the western world may ultimately work against them, as some of the ignorant masses may decry them as a "minor" civ unworthy of inclusion.
-- Relating to my last point, the Koreans may be viewed too close(culturally and geographically) to Japan/China to be included amongst the mainstream gamers.
Let's turn now to the Hebrews, a civ whose inclusion has gained a lot of steam since the "Unlocking the secrets of the Civ Select screen" thread.
+ Certainly the Hebrews' most tangible proof is the infamous Civ Select screen photo which seems to reveal the letters "Heb" (which will be attached at the end of this message). After closely analyzing the civ select screen in the E3 PTW video, we managed to uncover where the name of last civ would actually be located. The only problem is that the picture is so distant, it's nearly impossible for the naked eye to make out what the last civ's name actually is. However an extreme close-up seems to reveal the striking likeness of the letters "Heb" which points very strongly to the Hebrews' inclusion.
+ In the same vein of the "Powerhouse Civ" theory discussed above which seemed to damn the Koreans, it also seems to greatly add to Hebrew's case. Certainly Israel is a civ that's on everyone's mind these days and is much more marketable to westerners than the Koreans, and the fact that the Arabs are included points strongly to the Hebrews being included as well. Some may even try to make political statements out of it if Firaxis included the Arabs and not the Hebrews. I think given Israel's well of support in the USA, Firaxis may not want to try this.
+ "Hebrews" also passes the seven letter test.
-- Aside from "Heb" there is no direct evidence of the Hebrews' inclusion. No city names seen on the PTW video or any known screen shot, no leader shots, etc.
-- If the Hebrews were included that would mean three more civs were to be added to the middle east region in the XP (two if they make Turkey Mediterranean) which isn't unthinkable and maybe Firaxis wanted to illustrate how crowded the middle-east is in real life, but from a gameplay-balance perspective it would little sense with no sign of any possible American civ.
-- Given the hectic state of Israel's existence through out history, some would say this would disqualify them from being classifed as an actual civ.
Let's turn to the last civ to be taken into consideration. The Inca.
+ While not actual evidence per se, the strongest case that can be made for the Inca is the fact that there is no known American civ included in the XP thus far. This simple fact would throw off Civ 3's cultural regions, which are already upset by an inproportionate number of European civs. While this is admittedly a minor feature in the grand scheme of things, one would think that Firaxis would try to keep this balanced.
+ Along with the Arabs, the Inca were mentioned in Civ 2 text files, which seems to show that Firaxis was looking at their inclusion in that game. This at least gives them a precedent of some sort.
-- This is no actual evidence of the Inca's inclusion in PTW of any sort.
-- The "powerhouse" civ theory which seemed to help the Hebrews and hinder the Koreans would doubly hinder the Incas. For better or worse, people complained about the Aztecs inclusion when Civ III came out. Perhaps Firaxis took this to heart and ruled out including the Incas in the XP. While I hope they would let these ignorant few affect them, the current civ listing seems to show that it is at least a possibility.
-- The Inca do not pass the "seven letter test" which the Koreans and Hebrews did.
In conclusion, based on a preponderence of the evidence, I believe that the 8th civ slot will go to....*drumroll please*
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The Hebrews!
I know this is a contraversial pick that flies in the face of many Hwacha photograph supporters. But I think based on the evidence that exists: how well known Israel is in the Western World, the fact that Firaxis is seemingly only picking "powerhouse" civs well known amongst westerners, the fact that the Arabs are also included and not including Israel may send a message that would make Firaxis unpopular amongst many American buyers, the seven letter test which Hebrews passes, and of course, the "Heb photo". I also think the Hwacha will actually turn out to be part of the feudal Japan scenario. Well, thanks for hearing me out until the end. Let's hear your thoughts on this!
1. Mongols
2. Spanish
3. Carthaginians
4. Celts (Gauls?! who?)
5. Ottoman Turks
6. Vikings
7. Arabs
There are number of theories on who the last civilization is, ranging from the Canadians to the Austrailians. However, in this thread I will discuss who I personally view as the three most likely candidates to gain inclusion. So I appologize if Firaxis fools all of us and the Ethiopians end up making it in.
After evaluating all the evidence for each of these three civs I will then venture a hypothesis on who I feel is most likely to be our mysterious eighth civ. As a general background to this discussion, I recemend those who haven't already, take a look at my "unlocking the secrets of the new civ select screen" thread ( Http://64.246.32.51/~admin1/forums/s...threadid=51217 ) to gain a bit of understanding on what I will be basing some of my evidence on. Now without further ado, let's get started.
First let's take a look at who is currently the most popular candidate to recieve the final civ slot. The Koreans.
+ The famous "hwacha" photograph. In a handful of websites the Koreans are mentioned as to having a "fire cartwheel" weapon known as the Hwacha. This simple fact has led many to presume the Koreans' inclusion to be virtually a sure thing.
+ The Koreans invented a number of things, including the first moveable-type printing press and in fact there is currently a movement to revise history books which say that Guttenberg was it's inventor.
+ Korea has a long history, and has one of the largest gaming markets in the world. Surely this can't escape Firaxis'
consideration.
+ The last civ has seven letters and "Koreans" is exactly seven letters.
-- The Hwacha unit, which many have touted as ironclad proof of Korea's inclusion, could easily be a part of the Feudal Japan themepack which is going to be included in PTW(http://www.civ3.com/pressrelease.cfm). In fact, all of the websites that mention the Hwacha describe it in a time Korea is at war with Japan. This certainly adds creedence to the "feudal themepack" hypothesis. It is also not impossible that the Hwacha was used by other civilizations such as China or Japan, or at least Firaxis will at least portray it as being used by those civilizations. Firaxis has never been 100% accurate with some of it's historic portrayals.
-- The negative reaction from certain elements of the Civ 3 regarding Firaxis' inclusion of "minor" civs such as the Iroquois or Zulus may be pushing Firaxis toward a policy of including only "powerhouse" civs and excluding civs which serve mainly to represent geographic regions. While I strongly disagree with this practice, the civ listing so far seems to confirm this as Firaxis' intentions. There is no South American civ or African civ in sight, and all the civs that have been confirmed are largely regarded as fairly large empires in their day and fairly well known amongst the mainstream (with Gauls being an arguable exception, but I still refuse to accept that as anything but a typo, "CELTS" on the other hand, would be well recognized amongst the masses. If for nothing else, but for all the "Celtic crosses" and so forth you see QVC) So the fact that Korean history is largely unknown in the western world may ultimately work against them, as some of the ignorant masses may decry them as a "minor" civ unworthy of inclusion.
-- Relating to my last point, the Koreans may be viewed too close(culturally and geographically) to Japan/China to be included amongst the mainstream gamers.
Let's turn now to the Hebrews, a civ whose inclusion has gained a lot of steam since the "Unlocking the secrets of the Civ Select screen" thread.
+ Certainly the Hebrews' most tangible proof is the infamous Civ Select screen photo which seems to reveal the letters "Heb" (which will be attached at the end of this message). After closely analyzing the civ select screen in the E3 PTW video, we managed to uncover where the name of last civ would actually be located. The only problem is that the picture is so distant, it's nearly impossible for the naked eye to make out what the last civ's name actually is. However an extreme close-up seems to reveal the striking likeness of the letters "Heb" which points very strongly to the Hebrews' inclusion.
+ In the same vein of the "Powerhouse Civ" theory discussed above which seemed to damn the Koreans, it also seems to greatly add to Hebrew's case. Certainly Israel is a civ that's on everyone's mind these days and is much more marketable to westerners than the Koreans, and the fact that the Arabs are included points strongly to the Hebrews being included as well. Some may even try to make political statements out of it if Firaxis included the Arabs and not the Hebrews. I think given Israel's well of support in the USA, Firaxis may not want to try this.
+ "Hebrews" also passes the seven letter test.
-- Aside from "Heb" there is no direct evidence of the Hebrews' inclusion. No city names seen on the PTW video or any known screen shot, no leader shots, etc.
-- If the Hebrews were included that would mean three more civs were to be added to the middle east region in the XP (two if they make Turkey Mediterranean) which isn't unthinkable and maybe Firaxis wanted to illustrate how crowded the middle-east is in real life, but from a gameplay-balance perspective it would little sense with no sign of any possible American civ.
-- Given the hectic state of Israel's existence through out history, some would say this would disqualify them from being classifed as an actual civ.
Let's turn to the last civ to be taken into consideration. The Inca.
+ While not actual evidence per se, the strongest case that can be made for the Inca is the fact that there is no known American civ included in the XP thus far. This simple fact would throw off Civ 3's cultural regions, which are already upset by an inproportionate number of European civs. While this is admittedly a minor feature in the grand scheme of things, one would think that Firaxis would try to keep this balanced.
+ Along with the Arabs, the Inca were mentioned in Civ 2 text files, which seems to show that Firaxis was looking at their inclusion in that game. This at least gives them a precedent of some sort.
-- This is no actual evidence of the Inca's inclusion in PTW of any sort.
-- The "powerhouse" civ theory which seemed to help the Hebrews and hinder the Koreans would doubly hinder the Incas. For better or worse, people complained about the Aztecs inclusion when Civ III came out. Perhaps Firaxis took this to heart and ruled out including the Incas in the XP. While I hope they would let these ignorant few affect them, the current civ listing seems to show that it is at least a possibility.
-- The Inca do not pass the "seven letter test" which the Koreans and Hebrews did.
In conclusion, based on a preponderence of the evidence, I believe that the 8th civ slot will go to....*drumroll please*
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
The Hebrews!
I know this is a contraversial pick that flies in the face of many Hwacha photograph supporters. But I think based on the evidence that exists: how well known Israel is in the Western World, the fact that Firaxis is seemingly only picking "powerhouse" civs well known amongst westerners, the fact that the Arabs are also included and not including Israel may send a message that would make Firaxis unpopular amongst many American buyers, the seven letter test which Hebrews passes, and of course, the "Heb photo". I also think the Hwacha will actually turn out to be part of the feudal Japan scenario. Well, thanks for hearing me out until the end. Let's hear your thoughts on this!
Attached Files
That would be absolutely horrid wouldn't it?
, .....
. I was hoping that they would add a South American Civ and another African civ (Mali). Looks like I am SOL.
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