Religion in Civ 5

[Kageyoshi]

I have heard rumors that there won`t be any religion in civ 5. But if these rumors were false, some changes I would have made to religion is:

One: A religion should be founded at a specific year. and in a random civilization. Chances could go up if you had the Spiritual trait or had priests or great prophets in your cities.

Second: there should be ways to get religion out of a city like crucifixion or exiling people of that religion. Then if you do this too much a neighboring citys or civilizations religious fanatics can attack you.

Third: If you have many religions in a city then riots may occur, because of religious confrontation.

What do you think? Sry for my grammar.

[Morten87]

I totaly agreed with that the religion should be founded in a random city. but i also think that as a leader you should be able to choose what the governen religion is suppost to be.

[Tongan]

I like the inclusion of religion. I would hope that the next one is random, and not founded based on techs.

[Rakeesh14]

Religion became one of the best additions in Civ 4. And though I was hesitant at first, I've really grown to love it and would seriously miss it if it were ever removed.

I think they need to expand on it even more. Such as:

-As default, let you chose what religion to found
-1 civ cannot found multiple religions, allowing for a greater distribution of religions over different civs around the globe.
-More religion specific units
-Religious wonders requiring a specific religion
-Religious wonders WITH VIDEO (Seriously, why did the civ 4 religious wonders just have a boring ol' picture? :C )

[Tongan]

Religion became one of the best additions in Civ 4. And though I was hesitant at first, I've really grown to love it and would seriously miss it if it were ever removed.

I think they need to expand on it even more. Such as:

-As default, let you chose what religion to found
-1 civ cannot found multiple religions, allowing for a greater distribution of religions over different civs around the globe.
-More religion specific units
-Religious wonders requiring a specific religion
-Religious wonders WITH VIDEO (Seriously, why did the civ 4 religious wonders just have a boring ol' picture? :C )

I like this. In Civ4 BTS I sometimes had to avoid certain techs so i could maintain unity. Choosing what religion I wanted to found would help.

[GenericUserX]

Religion was great in Civ4, I hope it's in Civ5.

[President Kyle]

Second: there should be ways to get religion out of a city like crucifixion or exiling people of that religion. Then if you do this too much a neighboring citys or civilizations religious fanatics can attack you.
What do you think? Sry for my grammar.

That committing genocide thats a reason Some Leaders are not in the game

[mcl.denis]

I like the fact that religions occur at the same time as technological developments. It would make no sense for someone to found Judaism, Islam, or Christianity before monotheism is discovered.

That being said, I would like diversification of the tech tree -- there should be a specific branch for philosophy on the one hand (researching civics etc) and one for theology on the other (Ceremonial Burial, Polytheism, Monotheism, etc).

But, I think that on the tech tree for theology there should be specific religious sects that one can research, or specific religions cannot come into gameplay until the research has been done (ie Monotheism is discovered, several turns later -- if ever -- Christianity etc is "founded").

[henrick]

Second: there should be ways to get religion out of a city like crucifixion or exiling people of that religion. Then if you do this too much a neighboring citys or civilizations religious fanatics can attack you.

Why would you? FWIW religions in Civ4 and Civ4 Warlords played by the concept of the more the merrier. The only problem with getting an additional religion in one of your cities was that the founding civilization would gain even more than you did from it. You OTOH would always get added Culture, and potentially added Research if you built every Monastery you could, plus that you would get extra Happiness points under Free Religion. This made me wonder why AI civilizations didn't build more Missionaries and spread every religion they could, even if they weren't the founder.

IMHO the feature is great as it is in Civ4, but the problem is that the AI players don't seem to understand how to use it strategically, but rely solely on the founding civilization to spread it.

[Justin The Great]

i think u should be able to research religions but u could research actual religions (Hindu instead of polythism or Judaism instead of monothism). u could also have religion requirements like u have to research monothism in order to research islam,christianity judaism.

[Audevourahn]

religion has been a major contributor to wars throughout history. i think more religious wars should show up in the game. crusades, jihads and so on! make religion a more serious part of the game. make it so every country has a religion, even if they are separated off, and don't develop the techs needed. make a religion develop there, or in the area where such a grouping of countries is located.

[mcniece_racing]

If you include more religious tension during diplomacy that would make for more realistic game play. Also could the programmers add in branches of religioins eg (Christianity: Protistant, Baptist)

[Jowpers]

I've always wished that you could found your own religion and name it (e.g. "Jowperism"). I want the world to worship me...and if they choose not to, my armies will crush them! Muhaha!

[kenjara]

As much as an atheist I am, religion was a great addition to civ 4. After all its an important part of history, and was a good addition to civs gameplay.

[menzonac]

Religion became one of the best additions in Civ 4. And though I was hesitant at first, I've really grown to love it and would seriously miss it if it were ever removed.

I think they need to expand on it even more. Such as:

-As default, let you chose what religion to found
-1 civ cannot found multiple religions, allowing for a greater distribution of religions over different civs around the globe.
-More religion specific units
-Religious wonders requiring a specific religion
-Religious wonders WITH VIDEO (Seriously, why did the civ 4 religious wonders just have a boring ol' picture? :C )

well first of all you can choose what religion to found at Civ IV, its a custom game option but seeing AI Isabella as a Buddhist doesnt make sense at all ...

Also I think 1 civ can found multiple religions because if you look at history, you'll see that Hinduism and Buddhism found in India, and Judaism and Christianity found in Jerusalem, maybe best option is religions based on religious traditions like, there will be polytheist civs, monotheist civs, or naturalist civs etc. that give special bonus based on selected tradition.

[Baldoman]

I believe religions should be included with everything civ 4 have and more it just makes the game more realistic and i like realistic. Seriously you have to admit religion left a huge mark of human history.

[EnigmaCode]

I believe religions should be included with everything civ 4 have and more it just makes the game more realistic and i like realistic. Seriously you have to admit religion left a huge mark of human history.

That seems like a really bad bump. No one has commented in over five months!

[Baldoman]

If you include more religious tension during diplomacy that would make for more realistic game play. Also could the programmers add in branches of religioins eg (Christianity: Protistant, Baptist)

Yes that would be a great idea and they should also add more religions overall like Kemetism, Zorastrianism, and Naghualism, like the ones from the Civ 4 Mod Rise of Mankind.

[randomperson]

What if they made up religions that didnt exist so there wouldn't be any controversy? That'd sound weird but it'd be interesting to make up your own religion and choose its benefits yourself... then you could name it whatever you wanted, you could type in a real religion or use a random word that just came into your head maybe...

[Fantasy Gamer]

I like the idea of Religion in Civ4. I hope it will be adopted in Civ5 and be implemented with more depth.

[Black Gate of Mordor]

People!

Religion is not in Civ5. I know I read it somewhere on the official site, Kotaku or IGN, but religion is not in Civ5.

[Jacsó Benjámin]

Haha, who the hell dug up this thread anyways?

[Soviet_Storm]

I like the idea of Religion in Civ4. I hope it will be adopted in Civ5 and be implemented with more depth.

I have not complained about anything in Civ 5 to date, but i believe that the decision to not include religion in a major way was a massive error by Sid

[Oerdin]

I like the way religion was handled in Civ4 and would like to see it implemented in much the same way. The one exception is I'd like to see the spread of religion more dependent up on how you have your government set up. Either way I'm sure religion will be in the first expansion pack; you just know the only reason they held it back was to make sure they had an important addition to sell you with the expansion pack.

[tfordp]

People!

Religion is not in Civ5. I know I read it somewhere on the official site, Kotaku or IGN, but religion is not in Civ5.

Oh dear, I wonder what the creationists will have to say about that.

[saksingj]

I, and most mp players i have talked about, dont like relgions as it is in civ 4. It just doesnt fit into a balanced war game.

[Artur980]

As far as I remember, there was a mode (civ4) called "Gods of the old" in which you could pick some random pagan religion. There were 4 kind of gods you could choose t worship, with different bonus for each one o f them. After conquering enemy city you could erase their religion and replace it with your own, by using a special inquisitor unit. Although it was just a mode, they should think to use it with real existing religions, and add an "inquisitor" unit to the old "missionary". Using of inquisitor should cause some civil unrest and would eventually lead to a rebellion - they should add "zealot" unit (similar as "fanatic" in old civ2) It would appear in the city you failed to convert. I also agree that religious aspect should have stronger effect on the whole game.

[WildmouseX]

I, and most mp players i have talked about, dont like relgions as it is in civ 4. It just doesnt fit into a balanced war game.

Civ is about civilizations as a whole, not just war. that's why it's called Civilization and not Generic War Sim #28494873.

Human beings, as a species, are independent thinking units that all want different things. in order for a civilization to even exist, it must convince them to give up certin controls over their lives to a governing body. it's much easier to convince them to give up that control because god requires them to, vs. "hey lets all get along and work together to help each other survive." Henceforth religion is a corner stone of every Civilization that is, was, or ever shall be in existence.

and it has a very strong presence in war - usually it's the cause of them, but it also serves as a moral booster to the armies. an army marching with belief that their cause is a righteous one, has often times carries a string of victories through the momentum of their beliefs.

in the game mechanics it has alot of uses during MP games. spread your religion to cities of your enemy to cause increased war weariness, also to siphon funds from his empire to fund the war against them.

[dawgs4ever]

I didn't like religion at all in Civ and would be happy to see it go by the wayside.

[ShadowBadass]

i like having religion in civ but how it was done in 4 was too powerful. i would just head start my self and pick a tech and found a religion. if you were stuck without, it sucked, and that was my way around it.

[Black Gate of Mordor]

and it has a very strong presence in war - usually it's the cause of them, but it also serves as a moral booster to the armies. an army marching with belief that their cause is a righteous one, has often times carries a string of victories through the momentum of their beliefs.

I must disagree. The only war I can think of that was caused by religion is the Crusades. Most wars are because empires and kingdoms like land (ahem... British...).
The Romans - Land
Napoleonic France - Land
WWII - Land, Control and the Germans needed a morale boost
WWI - An Austria prince was killed by a rouge Serbian
Sino-Japanese War (just before WWII) - The Japs had long been attacked by both Korea and China. It was their way of revenge (and they wanted land)

As you can see, the reasoning for most wars is human greed. Humans like controlling others, and being rich.

[EnigmaCode]

I must disagree. The only war I can think of that was caused by religion is the Crusades. Most wars are because empires and kingdoms like land (ahem... British...).
The Romans - Land
Napoleonic France - Land
WWII - Land, Control and the Germans needed a morale boost
WWI - An Austria prince was killed by a rouge Serbian
Sino-Japanese War (just before WWII) - The Japs had long been attacked by both Korea and China. It was their way of revenge (and they wanted land)

As you can see, the reasoning for most wars is human greed. Humans like controlling others, and being rich.

As you point out, the reason for most war is human greed. However, religion is sometimes used as an excuse for war/motivating factor to go to war. Here's a list of wars caused by religion/began because of religion:

Muslim Jihads in North Africa
Inquisition (not really a war)
The Crusades (1095-1291)
Thirty Years War (1618-1648)
Spanish conquest of the Inca was somewhat religiously motivated
Arab-Israeli conflicts
Hamas vs. Israel
Al Quaedi vs. the West
Religious Strife between Kurds and Shiites

So some wars began because of religion/were shaped by religion; however, at the end of the day, all war is caused by human greed/intolerence and not religion. Religion may contribute to starting a war, but there's always another reason why war starts (Crusades began to recapture Jerusalem for example).

[Akar]

Inquisition (not really a war)

No one expects the spanish inquisition!!!

[SlickSlicer]

Wars have been fought every year of known human history, and very probably every month, week and day. There is always war brewing in at least some part of the world.

There seems to be some kind of underlying reason why humans war incessantly, but I don't think it is easy to pinpoint. Certainly there are a few different legitimate causes for wars: disputes over religion, disputes over policy, disputes over succession, desire to become strong, desire to stop potential adversaries from becoming strong, unity after a prolonged civil war phase, nationalism, border disputes, etc.

The number of conflicts actually at least in some way related to religion are staggering. France, Germany, England and Spain certainly had conflicts largely tied to religion. The Islamic and Christian worlds as a whole often clashed over different theological viewpoints. Some of these conflicts were directly referred to as wars and some were violent struggles on a slightly lesser scale. Still, such conflicts are a testament to the role of ideology in inciting warfare. To be frank, I actually cannot think of too many pre-modern civilizations that did not have at least one war tied in some way to religion. I could post a plethora of examples (which I will do if pressed) demonstrating this, but I think it would be more interesting to pick out pre-modern civilizations that were never at one point or another motivated by religion to engage in battle.

Take religion out of the picture, though, and war is still as prominent as ever. It is the most consistent trend in human history.

[EnigmaCode]

Wars have been fought every year of known human history, and very probably every month, week and day. There is always war brewing in at least some part of the world.

Actually, I believe I once read an article saying that throughout the entirety of human history, there have been 150 years of complete peace. I can't remember where that article was from (probably National Geographic though). However, I know you're mistaken when you say that humanity has had a war in every day it has ever existed.

[GreyPaladin]

Actually, I believe I once read an article saying that throughout the entirety of human history, there have been 150 years of complete peace. I can't remember where that article was from (probably National Geographic though). However, I know you're mistaken when you say that humanity has had a war in every day it has ever existed.

150 Years in over 4000 Years of History 3,75% of all time there was peace or 96,25% of all History there was a War.. so that pretty much sounds like "every day"

[EnigmaCode]

150 Years in over 4000 Years of History 3,75% of all time there was peace or 96,25% of all History there was a War.. so that pretty much sounds like "every day"

Well, that was 150 years of peace in 10,000 years of human history.

But I was trying to say that there wasn't a war every day of civilization. But I agree with you - it sounds like "every day" to me too.

[Artur980]

But I was trying to say that there wasn't a war every day of civilization. But I agree with you - it sounds like "every day" to me too.

War is a typical human invention (the opening scene from '2001: Space Odyssey' - awesome ), but religious wars are most disgusting abuse of idea in whole mankind history. By the way, I read some book about wars in history (can't remember who wrote it)and author mentioned about how it evolves - from man-to-man fight by single warriors (stone age cultures), fighting for land (ancient Greece), building an empire (Rome, Persia), to our times (battle for resources and for ideology). Religion, from the down of mankind, was used as the mayor excuse in some case where warlike leaders lack a proper 'casus belli'. You cried 'infidels!' and everything was clear

[WildmouseX]

I must disagree. The only war I can think of that was caused by religion is the Crusades. Most wars are because empires and kingdoms like land (ahem... British...).
The Romans - Land
Napoleonic France - Land
WWII - Land, Control and the Germans needed a morale boost
WWI - An Austria prince was killed by a rouge Serbian
Sino-Japanese War (just before WWII) - The Japs had long been attacked by both Korea and China. It was their way of revenge (and they wanted land)

As you can see, the reasoning for most wars is human greed. Humans like controlling others, and being rich.

for every crusade, there is a corresponding Jihad. the spanish inquisition, technically not a war but close enough. the jews conquest of isreal after they left egypt was justified by god wanting them to have the land. most egyption wars for that matter, while on the surface were land grabs, in moral terms were led by leaders that were followed as gods.

it's a close call, but it's still a significant factor to the history of our species.

[WildmouseX]

Take religion out of the picture, though, and war is still as prominent as ever. It is the most consistent trend in human history.

cept for maybe prostitution.