![]() "It's very easy to criticize politicians and leaders or your boss or whoever, somebody who's in a leadership position, but I think playing Civ makes you appreciate it's not as easy as it looks," he continued. ![]() We have to be kind of sensitive to that, so we've gone to more ancient leaders in China to avoid some of those issues." A leader who's in favor one year might be out of favor five years later. "China is an interesting example because there's a lot of political sensitivities. But there was one prominent counterexample: Take me to your leaderChoosing the animated, larger-than-life figures that will serve as the leader of an in-game civilization isn't usually a controversial decision within or without Firaxis, Meier said. There often are no easy answers, and feeling sorry almost for a lot of people in those positions." Rather than having a direct effect on his own policy positions, though, Meier said Civilization has "given me a greater appreciation for how hard those jobs are. In the midst of a heated political season, I wondered if Meier's decades-long work on a simulation that focuses on international relations had affected his personal politics at all. It's not a lot of saying no, it's more saying 'this would fit' or 'here's an idea of how to fit that in.' At the end of the day, you don't know until you try it whether something's gonna work or not." The politics of Civilization They're not going to try to make a first-person shooter out of it. ![]() Soren, Brian, they understand the core of Civilization. "I find it best to turn people loose and let them try new ideas. It's a role Meier seems to enjoy quite a bit.Īside from "therapy" sessions, though, Meier says he doesn't have to worry about micromanaging things to keep the series pure and connected to its roots. That support role is so ingrained into Firaxis culture that a large, green corduroy recliner in Meier's office has come to be known as the "therapy chair," where employees can come and sit and gain the benefit of his knowledge from decades in the industry. that idea didn't work, try something else." Designers have huge egos and they're easily bruised. "I'm there to kind of represent the history of the game," he said. As the founder of Firaxis games, Meier describes his role these days as more of an institutional memory repository. While Meier has continued to serve as director on subsequent Civilization games, a long line of protégés have come in to serve as the designers for each new sequel. That's not really what I want to be doing." you can subconsciously copy other games or whatever. "People say, 'Have you played XYZ' and I say 'No I haven't had a chance.' To some extent that can color. More than that, Meier says playing too many other games can have a negative effect on a designer's own direction and inspiration. Past that, he says, "it's really very hard to keep up with what's going on." What are you playing?Meier mentioned World of Tanks, Starcraft 2, XCom 2, and Minecraft as recent games that he has managed to put some enjoyable time into. The other Civ games were me playing here and there and then doing other things." That initial release still holds a special place in Meier's heart, he says, because "I lived with that for probably a year and a half, and basically just Bruce and I for a lot of that time working together. Things have changed a lot for Meier and the franchise since the first Civilization launched 25 years ago. "I think other players, if you want to be really good, they go, 'Oh, I realize the chariots here are overpowered, so I'm going to build a ton of chariots,'" he continued. 'What would I do if I was the king of this civilization?' That's the fun for me." I'm trying to play the way you're supposed to play and get into the role. "To be good you have to try to find or exploit the weaknesses in the game," Meier said. It's a shortcoming that Meier, in a set of recent interviews with Ars Technica, chalked up to a fundamental difference in playstyles. Further Reading Civilization VI impressions: More than 500 turns can tellThe creator and namesake of the long-running Sid Meier's Civilization series-which just saw the launch of its sixth numbered release last week-freely admits that he's only "OK" at his own creation.
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