The Weekly Standard Does CIV

[Sirotnikov]

shtup it!

shtup making references to shtupid words in a dying language.

most people have shtupped using it years ago.

people who use it are dying day by day... shtep by shtep....

[Jon Shafer]

Originally posted by AAHZ
hence, backing up previous arguments of mine that he is trying to maintain a clean image...

Sid makes games about things he's interested in. I think the article portrays that fairly well. The reason he's never work on a Doom-type game is simply because that's not the kind of thing he enjoys. As has been mentioned earlier in this thread, there's plenty of mean, nasty things you can do in Civ.

[Berzerker]

the two boys who saved the President when Mars Attacks practiced on a FPS, not civ

[Straybow]

Originally posted by Imran Siddiqui
What a muddled article. Good that Civ gets a mention (though not CFC over Poly ). But the constant asides to Sid being a man of faith, while the other big designers aren't (somehow making him 'better'?). Will Wright doesn't have blood and gore in his games either, so I'm not sure where faith has anything to do with it.

Just kind of jumped around too much.

WHAAAAT? A conservative mag mentions... religion? No! It even focuses on religion for two whole paragraphs? OUTRAGEOUUUUSS!


This is a mag that covers politics and media, an environment where conservatives in general and Christians specifically are roundly lumped with warmongers and fascists on a regular basis. Do you think they are going to pass over the contrast between the family-guy Lutheran and the foul-mouthed, violence-loving (or just socially awkward) atheists?

This is a "personal interest" story. It's about the people who founded and developed a gaming genre, and the one person in particular who was there and is still a dominant force. What do you expect the article to concentrate on: game mechanics and play tips? Corporate financial statements? Object oriented programming?

The author is looking for what motivates the man, and for Sid it was the combination of game, competition, and victory with building as a theme (along with war) rather than a sole theme of mindless and endless violence or a building theme without competition and victory.

And, somewhere in there, some real, live religion.

[Addled Platypus]

hey, still talking about:

Back at Firaxis, Meier and his team are hard at work on their next project, knowing their fans are eagerly waiting. Unfortunately, we can only speculate since, he explains, "we're not at the point where we're ready to talk too much about it." One possibility is a game about creating dinosaurs,

[Cort Haus]

Originally posted by Straybow
the ... violence-loving atheists

Yeah, atheists love violence. It goes with the territory.

[Arrian]

Of course. We have no moral compass, you see.

Stray is right: it's the Weekly Standard. The article makes perfect sense when you consider their readership. I picked up on that, and so did Imran. I'm not outraged by it... more like vaguely amused.

-Arrian

[lord of the mark]

Originally posted by Sirotnikov
shtup it!

shtup making references to shtupid words in a dying language.

most people have shtupped using it years ago.

people who use it are dying day by day... shtep by shtep....

In Williamburg, Brooklyn, the number of speakers seems to be increasing. Its as if time shtupped there.

[lord of the mark]

Originally posted by Arrian
Of course. We have no moral compass, you see.

well ya gotta admit, Romero and Carmack ARE weird. Wright is weird in a more conventionally nerdy way. Then Wright doesnt do FPS either.

[Imran Siddiqui]

[q=Straybow]Do you think they are going to pass over the contrast between the family-guy Lutheran and the foul-mouthed, violence-loving (or just socially awkward) atheists?[/q]

Wow, I wasn't aware that Will Wright was foul-mouthed and violence-loving. I may have to pick up the new Sims if that was the change made .

Really, its a false comparison. I mean you can refer to Sid's faith without trying to slam atheists in the next breath, especially when, in the article, you mention the atheist Will Wright who is probably as soft spoken as and has less violence in his games than Sid Meier.

[Lorizael]

Originally posted by Imran Siddiqui
Will Wright who is probably as soft spoken as and has less violence in his games than Sid Meier.

No, he stares at you and you can barely speak!

[lord of the mark]

Originally posted by Imran Siddiqui
[q=Straybow]Do you think they are going to pass over the contrast between the family-guy Lutheran and the foul-mouthed, violence-loving (or just socially awkward) atheists?[/q]

Wow, I wasn't aware that Will Wright was foul-mouthed and violence-loving. I may have to pick up the new Sims if that was the change made .

Really, its a false comparison. I mean you can refer to Sid's faith without trying to slam atheists in the next breath, especially when, in the article, you mention the atheist Will Wright who is probably as soft spoken as and has less violence in his games than Sid Meier.

the article wasnt about Wright OR Carmack and Romero. It was about Meier. Meier has certain values about the games he makes. Which contrasts with say, Carmack and Romero (mebbe). He also makes games, while Wright makes software toys. Meier also happens to be religious, unlike most developers including Carmack and Romero AND Wright. And yes, there is a connection betweens SID"s religion, and SID's values. Thats all i read the article as saying. It no more connected Carmacks atheism to FPS violence than it did Wrights atheism to Simcitys lack of clearly defined goals. I think both you and Arrian are reading more into the article than is there.

[Imran Siddiqui]

And as Arrian said, knowing the readership, I think that implication was meant to be in there. And plenty of the subscriber base will read the same thing into it.

[lord of the mark]

Originally posted by Imran Siddiqui
And as Arrian said, knowing the readership,

You keep writing as if WS were National Review, or First Things. AFAICT most readers of WS arent all that religious, though they beleive religion is a positive social force, or at least one thats a worthy ally. Certainly the flaming fundies dont like Kristol much, for his steady support for McCain and dislike of Rummy, as well as for his tendency to let slip his purely instrumental view of fundamentalism.

I suspect more of WS's readers (at least those who have already heard of Sid) will be as disappointed as I was that Sid is Lutheran, for the same reason.

Kristol, BTW, though a member of a Conservative Jewish Synagogue, is the son of ex-Trotskyites, so its not like he thinks all atheists are firebreathing monsters.

[DinoDoc]

I suspect more of WS's readers (at least those who have already heard of Sid) will be as disappointed as I was that Sid is Lutheran, for the same reason.

Why? I didn't get that from the post you made expressing the disappointment.