RevCast Episode 02: "Attack of the Civs"

[DanQ]

Nerds are people too. Regular co-hosts Annalee "Cartimandua" Barney, Joe "joebreeves" Reeves and Alexander "Alexander I" Strub are joined by first-time guest co-host John "bt_oz" Archer on the second episode of RevCast (RC), the newest Civilization podcast on the PolyCast (PC) network from Apolyton Civilization Site (ACS), focusing on Civilization: Revolution on its various platforms. "Attack of the Civs" is now netcasting with a runtime of 14m59s.

RevCast is the second spin-off of the Civ strategy-centric PolyCast on which Barney serves as a regular co-host as well; the modding-centric ModCast was the first such spin-off. Unlike either of its older siblings, RC has no defined segment categories and will now transition into its monthly production and publication schedule. To date, ACS is the only known community on the Web to produce its own Civ podcasts.

[DanQ]

Summary of Topics

- 01m38s | Topic #1
Is there a best civilization in Civilization: Revolution? There appears to be a co-host consensus. Then, considering the following civs specifically: the Chinese, Americans, Russians, and Egyptians.
- 08m12s | Topic #2
What civilizations should be added into the CivRev universe then leads into calls for additional leaders and why what leaders already in-game were likely chosen.

- Intro/Outro | Miscellaneous
Who's such a nerd and why, the presence of a clearly offensive player, male fantasies and unfortunate hand placements, and a standing invitation to another podcast.

[MMC]

RE: Adding Babylon

Isn't CivRev the first civ game to not have the Tower of Babel on the cover?

I don't remember what the box art for Civ 1 (and variants) was, but Civ 2, 3 and 4 all had some version of the Tower on the cover (at least for the Vanilla releases). Thus Babylon is a must for those games

[joebreeves]

I think Civ I had the modern city skyline and a pharoah beneath said skyline.

[MMC]

EDIT: Pic went Bye-Bye

You're right...

[clever id]

I just found the RevCast the other day when it was mentioned on PolyCast and I'm glad this is around. I've been playing Civ for what seems like forever, but now with two kids and a demanding job I find myself unable to sit down for the epic civ sessions I use to play and have turned to Civ:Rev for most of my civ fix. I just wanted to express how nice it is to have podcasts like this to tune in to while I work through a long day at the office.

I look forward to the next episode!

[joebreeves]

Thanks, clever. I am having a lot of fun with it, and I think the team is too. Are you a console or DS handheld CivRev player?

[clever id]

I'm a xbox player, but I actually have considered buying a DS to play CIV when traveling. Right now I lug a old laptop with civ2 & free civ around on the ocassions that I do travel

[MMC]

Why not lug around an Xbox Laptop?

http://benheck.com/Games/Xbox360/x360_page_1.htm

[clever id]

The weight would be about the same. But, I may be lacking just a little of the technical skills required for that project... Then again, that usually doesn't stop me, just ask my wife.

[Grayson]

first off, thank you for doing a cast for this game. That's awesome that you guys are doing so and keep u the good work....

after listening to episode 2 I was a little dissapointed that you guys were discussing the best civs with people that admit themselves that they don't know/use much strategy. My main point of contention is that you guys were discussing the Russians as one of the top civs. Go on any board, particularly the largest, 2Kforums, and you will see that most people rate the Russians as one of the worst civs, and it is probably one of the least popular online.

The discussion on the other civs was meager, and I actually posted on one of the threads you guys discussed on the chinese. But generally Zulu, China, Americans, Aztecs are the civs u will see the most. With most of us in the top ranks using Zulu, China and Americans to get there.

Every civ has their own perks, and I have grown to dislike the reappearing thread titled "Rate the Civs" or "which is the best civ?". The don't garner much useful conversation. But, the seems to be general agreement on some of the power civs, like the three I mentioned above, then there's a muddled middle of decent civs that can be used powerfully, and then there are civs like the Russians, French, and Mongols, who most people accept are the worst civs....

But other than that, great job, and I hope you continue doing the RevCasts.
thanks

grayson

[Cartimandua]

Hi Grayson! First off, welcome to Apolyton!

after listening to episode 2 I was a little dissapointed that you guys were discussing the best civs with people that admit themselves that they don't know/use much strategy.

I'm sure this is throwback from a comment I made. I don't know if you listen to PolyCast, but this is a kind of a joke. I play with strategy. How can you love any Civ game and not use strategy? However, I sometimes feel like a newbie with the other guys on the podcast, thus I downplay my own experiences.

My main point of contention is that you guys were discussing the Russians as one of the top civs. Go on any board, particularly the largest, 2Kforums, and you will see that most people rate the Russians as one of the worst civs, and it is probably one of the least popular online.

Interestingly, every person has a different playing style. This means that what works for you, might not work for me. It's not bad to have a different opinion than everyone else online. If we were discussing exactly the same stuff everyone else does, no one would bother listening to us.

The discussion on the other civs was meager, and I actually posted on one of the threads you guys discussed on the chinese. But generally Zulu, China, Americans, Aztecs are the civs u will see the most. With most of us in the top ranks using Zulu, China and Americans to get there.

Every civ has their own perks, and I have grown to dislike the reappearing thread titled "Rate the Civs" or "which is the best civ?". The don't garner much useful conversation. But, the seems to be general agreement on some of the power civs, like the three I mentioned above, then there's a muddled middle of decent civs that can be used powerfully, and then there are civs like the Russians, French, and Mongols, who most people accept are the worst civs....

I agree that those threads don't mean much. They are incredibly subjective. However, as I stated earlier, the opinions of co-hosts don't have to be identical to the opinions of others in the gaming community. Personally, I have won and enjoyed my games more with the Russians and the Mongols than with the Zulus or the Americans. The cool thing about these threads and discussions is that you can learn more about people and playing styles and hopefully broaden your horizons a little bit.

But other than that, great job, and I hope you continue doing the RevCasts.
thanks

Thank you so much for your feedback. We really appreciate hearing what people think and how they perceive what we are portraying. We hope you will keep listening and that you enjoy our next episodes more.

[Grayson]

wow... thanks for the fast response....

I hope I wasn't coming off too critical, because I'm grateful for any additional content/press/info on this game. I guess my main issue was that the espisode really seemed a little out of the norm as far as opinion on gameplay and strategy. I probably spend too much of my day on CivRev forums (u guys might be familiar with this type of feeling since most likely you all have been enjoying the Civ series on the PC for many years).

I guess I should've kept in mind as well that you guys are maybe focusing just as much on the single player aspect of the game as you are multiplayer, which seem to spawn almost contrasting strategies. I do appriciate other people giving the less popular civs some love, and I have written several strategies for the less popular civs, such as the Indians or Russians (on 2kforums or civfanatics). This far from the release and communication with players on both systems, and on the various civ forums, there really does seem to be more or less a consensus on which civs are powerful, which are have great qualities, and which ones are harder to win with. But every now and then players thinking will be flipped with the release of a new strategy, or more players gaining skill at a variety of civs, and not just the popular and easier to play with civs like the Chinese and Zulu..

Anyway, I hope you guys might touch on more aspects about the online experience, how it differs from the single player modes, and maybe if you even wanna go there, address the common freezing/bug problems that seem to be universal on the PS3 system and somewhat less prevalent on the 360.

keep up the good work, can't wait for espisode 4!