by Adam78
ptyx wrote:
You can connect the elements to the theme if you like, you just need more imagination ;)
The promise: A worker is sent out to do a job - the longer he is left to do the job, the better the resulting yield. (This works very well on the Palenque wheel, where a worker gathers more resources the longer he is in the forests.)
The reality: I decide I want to build a building, so I place a worker on the Tikal wheel to do that. First turn, he starts building. It's going well. Second turn, he's produced a building, so I leave him there to work towards a second one (after all, space four of Tikal yields me 2 buildings in one turn). Third turn, I am struggling. I need to recall my builder to send him somewhere else. He comes home. Ah well, thematically speaking, at least I have one building even if I didn't manage the second. Or so you would think. But in this game, he doesn't amass resources over time, as promised. He receives a completely unrelated reward - some technology. This completely negates the history we've established for that worker, and makes the exercise into something quite abstract. Even worse at Uxmal, I send my worker out to market - he's going to buy me a building with some corn. He comes home without a building, but he's had a son. In the game Village, for example, if I send one of my sons into the Church, and he stays there for a few years, he better come out as a bishop - I'll be pissed if he comes home as a carpenter...
For Tikal, for example:
The worker was there for three days, but when he wanted to build something, which he could have done a day before without any problem, he's facing an extraordinarily bad weather with heavy rains that don't allow him to construct the building you wanted. But he did spend these three days preparing to build it, so at least he has learned something from the experience and you can use his knowledge now to advance on tech tracks. Or you can force to try to complete the construction anyway, which - given the conditions - will be a very heavy effort on his side, so you have to feed him better (1 extra corn).
For Uxmal:
It is a city of commerce. The worker gets there on Saturday (spot 0 on the wheel) when all shops are closed. On Sunday he may visit one of the three temples (these are the only places open on Sunday - and Sunday is the only day when they are open) to give some corn to the priests and obtain the benefits from this act (advance on temple track).
On Monday there is a big market when he can exchange corns and resources. All the people in the town are engaged in the commerce that day, so nothing else is open in the city. But he can bribe the priests with an extra corn so that they would open the temple for him and he could give his tribute to the gods.
Tuesday is the party day. All the citizens are drinking corn vodka (or whatever), dancing etc. so your worker can join for free and finish in a bed of an unknown girl, resulting in... you know. But he can refrain and pay an extra corn to a local merchant so that he would allow him to exchange the goods. Bribing the priests costs two corn now, they are especially fond of parties and drinking and it takes more to convince them to take the time to let you in the temple.
And so on and so forth...
The promise: If you please one of three gods, they will reward you. (My limited knowledge of theology would suggest that I should expect plentiful harvests, free-flowing resources, mighty armies, depending on the personality of the individual deity).
The reality: If I please a god, by placing a Crystal Skull in Chichen Itza, I receive victory points, and become more popular with one god. If I receive enough popularity with that god, he might reward me with some more victory points, or possibly a single piece of stone or wood. There is no distinction between the personalities of the gods, or their areas of interest, no reason to pick one over the other, except to receive meagre resources, and points.
Except that... there are no gods, you know. You can convince yourself into believing that they exist and are powerful, especially when you receive their "favors" eventually, but in the end it results that there are just the priests that provide with some resources and stuff in return of your many donations, so no surprise there is nothing mystical or transcendent about it.
I could go on with your other points, but I guess you can see my point now ;)
Adam78 wrote:
The promise: A worker is sent out to do a job - the longer he is left to do the job, the better the resulting yield. (This works very well on the Palenque wheel, where a worker gathers more resources the longer he is in the forests.)
The reality: I decide I want to build a building, so I place a worker on the Tikal wheel to do that. First turn, he starts building. It's going well. Second turn, he's produced a building, so I leave him there to work towards a second one (after all, space four of Tikal yields me 2 buildings in one turn). Third turn, I am struggling. I need to recall my builder to send him somewhere else. He comes home. Ah well, thematically speaking, at least I have one building even if I didn't manage the second. Or so you would think. But in this game, he doesn't amass resources over time, as promised. He receives a completely unrelated reward - some technology. This completely negates the history we've established for that worker, and makes the exercise into something quite abstract. Even worse at Uxmal, I send my worker out to market - he's going to buy me a building with some corn. He comes home without a building, but he's had a son. In the game Village, for example, if I send one of my sons into the Church, and he stays there for a few years, he better come out as a bishop - I'll be pissed if he comes home as a carpenter...
For Tikal, for example:
The worker was there for three days, but when he wanted to build something, which he could have done a day before without any problem, he's facing an extraordinarily bad weather with heavy rains that don't allow him to construct the building you wanted. But he did spend these three days preparing to build it, so at least he has learned something from the experience and you can use his knowledge now to advance on tech tracks. Or you can force to try to complete the construction anyway, which - given the conditions - will be a very heavy effort on his side, so you have to feed him better (1 extra corn).
For Uxmal:
It is a city of commerce. The worker gets there on Saturday (spot 0 on the wheel) when all shops are closed. On Sunday he may visit one of the three temples (these are the only places open on Sunday - and Sunday is the only day when they are open) to give some corn to the priests and obtain the benefits from this act (advance on temple track).
On Monday there is a big market when he can exchange corns and resources. All the people in the town are engaged in the commerce that day, so nothing else is open in the city. But he can bribe the priests with an extra corn so that they would open the temple for him and he could give his tribute to the gods.
Tuesday is the party day. All the citizens are drinking corn vodka (or whatever), dancing etc. so your worker can join for free and finish in a bed of an unknown girl, resulting in... you know. But he can refrain and pay an extra corn to a local merchant so that he would allow him to exchange the goods. Bribing the priests costs two corn now, they are especially fond of parties and drinking and it takes more to convince them to take the time to let you in the temple.
And so on and so forth...
Adam78 wrote:
The promise: If you please one of three gods, they will reward you. (My limited knowledge of theology would suggest that I should expect plentiful harvests, free-flowing resources, mighty armies, depending on the personality of the individual deity).
The reality: If I please a god, by placing a Crystal Skull in Chichen Itza, I receive victory points, and become more popular with one god. If I receive enough popularity with that god, he might reward me with some more victory points, or possibly a single piece of stone or wood. There is no distinction between the personalities of the gods, or their areas of interest, no reason to pick one over the other, except to receive meagre resources, and points.
Except that... there are no gods, you know. You can convince yourself into believing that they exist and are powerful, especially when you receive their "favors" eventually, but in the end it results that there are just the priests that provide with some resources and stuff in return of your many donations, so no surprise there is nothing mystical or transcendent about it.
I could go on with your other points, but I guess you can see my point now ;)
I like the idea that the gods aren't benign; they're imaginary. A game about ancient theology, produced by atheists for atheists. It could only be better if the crystal skulls were placed on the temple tile, and had no effect whatsoever. No victory-points; nothing. That's a theme I could get into.