Posted November 05, 2018
For those who know it, Sid Meier's Civilization does not need presentation. For those who do not, it is a successful game from the 90's that spawned a series and some clones. Arguably the most interesting one to date might be Civilzation IV, present in GOG.
The player managed a human civilization starting in the Neolithic. It is fun for many and the gameplay revealed dynamics that did happen in history. Some history teachers actually recommended it to their students (as Time magazine mentioned). Science, art and different sorts of achievements of mankind were present in the game. Building unique wonders was fun. It intended to be a simulation, if a very addictive one (ever heard of the "one more turn" factor? it came to existence because of Civ).
Within the scope of improving the simulation, global warming has been present in the Civilizaton series since Civilization II. A t the time the mechanics at the time was relatively simple (maybe the algorithms were not so simple in the back end): industry generated pollution over time. Excess pollution would trigger global warming. That started a climate change for the worse. You really did not want that to happen.
However, in Civilization VI, all global warming or climate change reference has been eliminated. That mechanics simply does not exist, from what reviews mention.
Their explanation is that they want to avoid "controversial" issues.
What do you think? Maybe in Civ 7 they would avoid making an explicit reference to the shape of the Earth? Or evolution?
_______
Edit:The sixth
post in this thread contained the link to the source quoting Sid Meier himself in the context of the introductory gala for Civ6. As some some posters in this thread seemed to have trouble finding the sixth post, the link was repeated and expanded with two more in the thirty-seventh post. Since still seem to find trouble finding the two posts (yet apparently not other posts in the thread), I am copying the links onto the original post for their utmost convenience.
Please remember that the goal of this thread was asking for reflections on the fact that the makers of a well-respected game series have, in their own words, removed a game concept and its associated game mechanics and role in the balance of industrial development and energy infrastructure options.
Possibly this issue might be considered within the largers scope of self-censorship in games. However, while censorship is not straneous to PC gaming, the case here examined showed peculiar characteristics such as:
1. Removing a feature after more than 20 years in the series.
2. Said feature is based on hard science, with the research way more solid in the present day than in the nineties.
3. Respect for research and scientific-technical has always been at the core of the game series, as it is the key to not lagging behind other civilizations. Focusing on the short term while neglecting the long term altogether brings certain doom for your civ if the player does so for too long.
However, the fact that this game concept is related to well established research has not meant any difference since it has been treated by lobbyists and their political patrons as just another debatable social issue, instead of well-founded knowledge, and in the past decade a considerable portion of Western societies have adopted that view as well, without any trepidation. The same might seem to have happened within the community of PC gaming, if the actions of Firaxis and this very thread mean anything.
Apparently, as knowledge becomes more solid, and calls to action have led to increased cooperation (since the 1992 Rio conference) climate change has become more of an issue that it used to be, instead of less.
Let us remember the original aim of the the thread. This question was posed: Should they remove more "controversial" issues from Civ7? Put in clearer words, the aim was both examining depictions of climate change in PC games as well as inquiring about the causes, limits and possible reactions to (self)censorship in games by focusing on the example at hand, where any references to climate change were suddenly frown upon by the makers (after more than twenty years) and comparing it to other examples in case the participants could provide any.
Copied from the 37th post:
>> This article on the launch party for Civilization VI quotes Sid Meier literally.
More on "global warming" (as the phenomenom and event was named in the Civilization series) and its absence in Civilization 6: RPS.
And this for the super lazy: just google it.
Yours truly found about it just by chance, searching recently for reviews on Civ6.>>
_______
In order to provide a comparison between large-budgeted projects and independent endeavours, a later post provides an example of a developer in the indie scene reacting and bending to pressure to some extent. The reflection is that probably even PC gaming projects with smaller budgets are not inmune nowadays and therefore do not enjoy a complete freedom of speech. With two examples, the treatment of the issue is not exhaustive by any means. Additional examples, counterexamples, commentary and criticism are welcome.
_______
There has been discussion of how the Civilization series (including Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri) portrays the effects of climate change, in comparison to the expected ones in the real world. Also some posters have expressed curiosity about the latter. For both reasons, a later post includes links to the last special report of the international panel on climate change of the UNO, from october 2018.
Note (added on the 14th/nov/2018): Bear in mind that the IPCC assesses the already existing research and only adopts in its reports results that already have reached a very high degree of consensus in the scientific community. Consequently, there is a delay until some of the new developments reach that level. Both traits have led a part of the scientifc community to label the IPCC as very conservative.
_______
14th/november/2018
Added related mechanics in the Master of Orion series (MOO2 and MOO 2016).
_______
30 november 2018
Update: Firaxis released a new DLC that includes Global Warming (a.k.a. Climate Change since the 2000's), among other features."We just like to have our gameplay reflect current science."
Comment on the DLC and how it works together with the former DLC, Rise and Fall, in order to improve the series in a new ways: fallibility; contingency; new hopes vs utter oblivion; the limits of growth.
The player managed a human civilization starting in the Neolithic. It is fun for many and the gameplay revealed dynamics that did happen in history. Some history teachers actually recommended it to their students (as Time magazine mentioned). Science, art and different sorts of achievements of mankind were present in the game. Building unique wonders was fun. It intended to be a simulation, if a very addictive one (ever heard of the "one more turn" factor? it came to existence because of Civ).
Within the scope of improving the simulation, global warming has been present in the Civilizaton series since Civilization II. A t the time the mechanics at the time was relatively simple (maybe the algorithms were not so simple in the back end): industry generated pollution over time. Excess pollution would trigger global warming. That started a climate change for the worse. You really did not want that to happen.
However, in Civilization VI, all global warming or climate change reference has been eliminated. That mechanics simply does not exist, from what reviews mention.
Their explanation is that they want to avoid "controversial" issues.
What do you think? Maybe in Civ 7 they would avoid making an explicit reference to the shape of the Earth? Or evolution?
_______
Edit:The sixth
post in this thread contained the link to the source quoting Sid Meier himself in the context of the introductory gala for Civ6. As some some posters in this thread seemed to have trouble finding the sixth post, the link was repeated and expanded with two more in the thirty-seventh post. Since still seem to find trouble finding the two posts (yet apparently not other posts in the thread), I am copying the links onto the original post for their utmost convenience.
Please remember that the goal of this thread was asking for reflections on the fact that the makers of a well-respected game series have, in their own words, removed a game concept and its associated game mechanics and role in the balance of industrial development and energy infrastructure options.
Possibly this issue might be considered within the largers scope of self-censorship in games. However, while censorship is not straneous to PC gaming, the case here examined showed peculiar characteristics such as:
1. Removing a feature after more than 20 years in the series.
2. Said feature is based on hard science, with the research way more solid in the present day than in the nineties.
3. Respect for research and scientific-technical has always been at the core of the game series, as it is the key to not lagging behind other civilizations. Focusing on the short term while neglecting the long term altogether brings certain doom for your civ if the player does so for too long.
However, the fact that this game concept is related to well established research has not meant any difference since it has been treated by lobbyists and their political patrons as just another debatable social issue, instead of well-founded knowledge, and in the past decade a considerable portion of Western societies have adopted that view as well, without any trepidation. The same might seem to have happened within the community of PC gaming, if the actions of Firaxis and this very thread mean anything.
Apparently, as knowledge becomes more solid, and calls to action have led to increased cooperation (since the 1992 Rio conference) climate change has become more of an issue that it used to be, instead of less.
Let us remember the original aim of the the thread. This question was posed: Should they remove more "controversial" issues from Civ7? Put in clearer words, the aim was both examining depictions of climate change in PC games as well as inquiring about the causes, limits and possible reactions to (self)censorship in games by focusing on the example at hand, where any references to climate change were suddenly frown upon by the makers (after more than twenty years) and comparing it to other examples in case the participants could provide any.
Copied from the 37th post:
>> This article on the launch party for Civilization VI quotes Sid Meier literally.
More on "global warming" (as the phenomenom and event was named in the Civilization series) and its absence in Civilization 6: RPS.
And this for the super lazy: just google it.
Yours truly found about it just by chance, searching recently for reviews on Civ6.>>
_______
In order to provide a comparison between large-budgeted projects and independent endeavours, a later post provides an example of a developer in the indie scene reacting and bending to pressure to some extent. The reflection is that probably even PC gaming projects with smaller budgets are not inmune nowadays and therefore do not enjoy a complete freedom of speech. With two examples, the treatment of the issue is not exhaustive by any means. Additional examples, counterexamples, commentary and criticism are welcome.
_______
There has been discussion of how the Civilization series (including Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri) portrays the effects of climate change, in comparison to the expected ones in the real world. Also some posters have expressed curiosity about the latter. For both reasons, a later post includes links to the last special report of the international panel on climate change of the UNO, from october 2018.
Note (added on the 14th/nov/2018): Bear in mind that the IPCC assesses the already existing research and only adopts in its reports results that already have reached a very high degree of consensus in the scientific community. Consequently, there is a delay until some of the new developments reach that level. Both traits have led a part of the scientifc community to label the IPCC as very conservative.
_______
14th/november/2018
Added related mechanics in the Master of Orion series (MOO2 and MOO 2016).
_______
30 november 2018
Update: Firaxis released a new DLC that includes Global Warming (a.k.a. Climate Change since the 2000's), among other features."We just like to have our gameplay reflect current science."
Comment on the DLC and how it works together with the former DLC, Rise and Fall, in order to improve the series in a new ways: fallibility; contingency; new hopes vs utter oblivion; the limits of growth.
Post edited November 30, 2018 by Carradice
