Which of these titles would you choose for a new Polynesian Civ?
Keep the title "Polynesians", it covers all of them.
Maori (They fought well against Europeans)
Hawaiians (They invented the surf board)
Rapa Nui (They built the Moai Statues)
Samoans
Tahitians
Tongans
I'm not sure what to choose?
I don't care to add a Polynesian Civ.
Polynesian Civ Title Poll:
Which of these titles would you choose for a new Polynesian Civ?
Rapa Nui? How many cities there are in Easter Island? 1 how could they possibly make new city?
Polynesian.
UU could be a Maori Warrior and Outrigger
True, some peoples of Polynesia live on very small islands, and have very small populations, yet the Rapa Nui did manage to build the Moai Statues. With building new cities, it generally involved colonising new islands when it came to the Polynesians.Originally Posted by DamnedDamnedDamned
I'm not sure the Rapa Nui would be a good choice, I've heard the reason Easter Island become so depopulated was because they (well the natives, who I asume would be the Rapa Nui anyway), basically deforested the entire thing buildign their statues and fighting amongst themselves, destroy its environment and leaving them nothing but vast, unfarmable dry plains.
edit: ok just looked it up quick and it seems their clan wars and deforestation weren't the only factors in what happened, so not entirely their fault.
My vote was for the Maori, I don't know if you could get enough cities out of that though. A generic polynesian civ would be welcome if that was the case, perhaps with a Maori UU.
I would love the Maori to be included, but Polynesians as a whole seems ok for now. They should mention accomplishments from various Polynesians, and the civ should get a sailing bonus of some kind (maybe involving ships healing in foreign territory) to give a sense of their long voyages.
Hmm that actually gives me some ideas. Mind you just ideas, i'm not caring wether or not these would be balanced at the moment.
1: Polynesian civ starts with the ability to embark units
2: Polynesian units can enter ocean without navagation (I think that's the tech) or if this went along with 1, once compass (or whatever the tech that normally gives embark is) is researched they can enter ocean.
3: Units do not use all movement points to enter/exit embarkment
4: Triremes can enter Ocean. Maybe a UU that replaces Triremes too. (though that be a very specific purpose UU I think, which could easily have no effect on your game)
Personally, I'd go with just Polynesian. Anything else is too specific... As a group, they were very numerous, but taken individually, they tended to settle small islands.
I could see the Maori or Hawaiians as a civ, but really, Polynesian fits better.
The interesting thing about the Rapa Nui in their particular situation, being about the most isolated people on the planet, was that they believed that they were the only people, and that their land was the only land, everything else was just ocean. So this meant that their forest, in their eyes, was the very last forest on the planet, yet they still cut down every single tree...makes you wonder if we will be able to stop when we get to the last few rainforest/jungle trees. And of course this led to starvation, violence, cannibalism, and a possible genocide (there was once two ethnic groups on that island, the "Long ears" who probably came from South America, and the "Short ears", who were Polynesians. It was the Long ears that governed the Short ears, and they got them to build the Moai Statues in the first place), so an interesting history to the island. Still, what this small population of people managed was huge, the Moai Statues are gigantic, and according to Civilization 4, a minor wonder.
Glad to find someone who thinks like me!I have to say if they did add Polynesia as a civ, and gave them this ability, they'd probably become my favourite civ to play as!
As for unique units, Supr49er suggested Maori warrior and Outrigger. Outrigger would make a great choice for a boat unit for them (although it should probably be given a Polynesian name), and my idea for a unit unit is a "Musket Warrior", which is a Maori warrior with a musket. The Europeans quickly traded to the Maori lots of muskets, and soon after the Maori fought amongst themselves, iwi against iwi, and in a very short time they knew how to fight with muskets and defend against muskets well, and then they turned on the Europeans, putting up quite a fight! (Type in "Musket Wars" in Wikipedia for more info)
Well at least it seems more people would like to see/play a Polynesian civ than not. I really do hope they are considered.
I can't believe people actually would want to name the civ "Polynesians" that's as bad as the "Native American Empire" that was in Civ IV (which people complained about). A lot of the various Polynesian peoples are really culturally distinct from each other and should not just be lumped together.
Last edited by istry555; 12-10-2010 at 05:12 PM.
Personally I'd have to agree. Having "Native American" as the title closed the door on adding new northern Native American civs. From the leader they appeared to be Sioux/Lakota so that left out the Iroquois, Tsalagi (Cherokee), Choctaw, Apache, Tlingit, Inuit, and the list goes on. Still, the likelihood of Firaxis adding more than one Polynesian team is slim, and many Polynesian peoples have small populations, and live of tiny islands, so I can understand why people would prefer "Polynesian" to be the title. However my vote goes to the Maori.
problem is, their various empires were even smaller than Native Americans in most cases, which would make it hard to come up with the proper amount of city names. Maybe they could use known clan names as city names, I don't know?
As for a UU, as good as a Musket warrior would be (and apparently make sense actually), I think a Sharktooth axe or Jade Club would be mroe distinctive of their culture. Well the Maori at least, I won't lie I know far less about the others, and I don't even know that much about the Maori
Well, okay, if we want to go by general historical significance for the choosing of a Polynesian civ, then Maoris or Hawaiians would probably win. Thats because Aotearoa (New Zealand) and the islands of Hawai'i were constantly sought after by Europeans for land. BUT, if we want to go by significance among the Polynesia itself, you would have to go with Tonga or Samoa (the two are basically the same). Historically, Tongan/Samoan influence stretched across the entirety of the South Pacific, even to Hawai'i and New Zealand, for hundreds of years before the arrival of Europeans. They are, in fact, the very cradle of all Polynesian nations, and therefore should be considered.
One word: Bushmen.
I want a Bushman Civ. Yeah, I know they're in Africa. But imagine...
For now, lumping them together is fine by me. It means all of them inform the CiV Polynesian identity. Not enough room to add them all (and some of them I'd advise not adding as separate civs at all).
Firstly, this is a poll discussing Polynesia, so your comment is off topic (Please visit "Why no Spain, Inca, Zulu, Tannu Tuva, Bhutan, etc" to discuss other civs, and "50+ Civilization Civ5" to talk about their leaders/abilities/unique units and buildings). Secondly, the Bushmen are a simple nomadic people, and in comparison to the Ethiopians, Malinese, Zulu, and many other African nations, they did't have near as much influence of history, or power in military, so it is highly unlikely that they will be added, let along considered. (No offence to the Bushmen, they are survivors, and they have put up with a lot of prejudice, so they are cool in my books)
??????????
I propose Polynesia's UU be a warrior (maybe the Maori warrior with gunpowder) that receives no penalty for attacking across rivers and receives no combat disadvantage at all from being on open ground. Their Great General should have different art (as should all native/indigenous civs--I believe the Iroquois Great General still looks like the default Euro one for example). Also, the UB should be a Marae, replacing the Granary (taking off from suggestions for the Polynesian civ in other polls), which makes food resources give +2 happiness (sorta like mini-luxuries) and which adds culture.
Their UA should be a massive LOS bonus, strength bonus, and construction bonus for Triremes and Caravels, and the ability to garrison units in them (only 1-3 units per ship, and all die if the ship sinks). Not quite sure what you'd call it--but it'd represent the Polynesians voyaging across the Pacific to Samoa, New Zealand, etc etc.
Thank you Mythdracon, very good suggestions. I particularly like the idea that their UU (Musket Warrior) has no penalty when attacking across rivers!
For their UA though, I prefer Shadow717's suggestion, where their units can embark into both coastal and ocean waters, as can their ships, without the need to research optics, navigation, or any other technology. The Polynesians had an almost uncanny ability to navigate their way around the ocean, and there would've been no way that they could've reached most of those islands that they inhabit if they could not sail across the ocean, so this ability suits them perfectly.
To make it clear, just as so it isn't too powerful (that might be over powered already haha) I think they should be able to embark into coast from the start but require optics, the tech for other nations to sail coast, for ocean. That way its like they are one step ahead instead of two. I'm Really starting to wish there was a polynesian civ and i don't even know that much about them lol. Mayabe the UA name could be "favorable winds" or "sailer's/exploror's spirit"
That's sounds pretty fair to me. I have to say, I've been wanting a Polynesian civ for a while now, and it's good to see that I'm not alone in this!
Maybe their UA could be called "Polynesian Dream"?
What would be a good leader for them? At the moment I'm thinking either Tāwhiao (a Maori), or Kamehameha the Great (a Hawaiian), but I'm keep to hear other suggestions.
This is not the reason about how these people decrements its number. The last ideas about it was that an European (could be english) ship appeared and took some Rapa Nui people as slaves. They used fire guns that Rapa Nui people hadn't any idea about it, so this was a huge impact on their lives and wanted to fight against themselves because they discovered they weren't safe in their island. So internal fights began to depopulate the island.
"Native Americans" never stuck. If they're to include an indigenous polynesian peoples, they'll be called by name. As I always say, it feels the most likely will be the Majapahit, if any are included at all... I'm hopeful.
Any of these would be HUGE in a game...the ability to know where everyone is right off the bat? HUGE and overpowered. (I just read where you don't care if they are balanced or not right now, my bad)
Yeah, the only way I could think of balancing it is giving them the chance to sink at sea like Civ3 had. But then what good reason is there that only they can take a risk of sinking themselves? If you were to impliment it like that, there is no logical reason why they are the only civilizations that could take that risk. Personally I don't miss the "risky trireme" anyway though
I don't really know if some form of limited early embarkation would be OP as some people seem to think. Portugal having a significantly earlier caravel that could carry settlers and military units didn't break Civ IV, and I doubt a similar ability for the Polynesians would break V.
For those who think this ability would be over powered, how would you tweak it to make it fair, or what other ability would you have instead?
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