Almost every culture in the game has been well chosen, thinking about diversity and how each one fits with an affinity. But I believe that some are more suited to certain affinities than others, and that there is no balanced representation of cultures around the world in some eras. With that in mind I decided to share my opinions about some affinities and cultures in the game and I'm curious to know yours as well.

In the contemporary era there is a lack of militaristic cultures. There are expansionist cultures, but the representation of Americans in the game is not expansionist at all. They are launching a rocket, making us believe that they are just space expansionists and much more closer to a representation of scientific culture, but in reality American expansionist policies are more present on Earth itself. I find it cynical the way the Soviets are portrayed as the militarized and the Americans as the dreamers who conquer space, given that the United States has long been the most militarized country in the world, and that it could very well be a militaristic culture in the game. The United States is already portrayed as militaristic in other games like COD, so why not address this lack of a militaristic culture in the contemporary era? But if you don't change the affinity of cultures, at least change the representation of Americans, portray them as militaristic expansionists like the Soviets, instead of a rocket it could be a nuclear missile, for example, or jets flying. I commented more about this on this post in this forum:https://www.games2gether.com/amplitude-studios/humankind/forums/168-general/threads/41145-suggestions-for-realistic-representations-of-the-us-and-brazil?page=1#post-321151.

I don't get why they used Egypt twice in the game. South Africa would have been an easy substitute.

Honestly being able to choose our affinities, regardless of what culture we are be a nice option. Even if it comes in a later update or even DLC. As most cultures could be aruged as fitting in with most affinities.

For instance while Britian might not be well known for it, 76.X% of Britain is agricultural. This is reflected in the English choice in the earlier era but it be nice if it remained a choice for later eras.

Even some of the cultures whom had more limited focuses in reality could easily fit in other categories, or instance the Zulu kingdom started a single tribal group and used a combination of militarism and Expansionism to get to the size they got to when they where dueling on equal terms despite only using spears and shields (even the British fighting them admitted this and were impressed by it)

Japan while well known for science in modern day, is said to have the greatest soft powers (basically influence not from might) outside of America

So if not having a choice of all affinities, maybe having each culture have a collection of affinities they can choose from to further variety and runs, so you could play the same map and pick the same cultures and still end up with a wildly different experience.

For example you went for, Nubian (builders, over merchant), Roman (Aesthetic, over Expansionist), Aztec (No change), Venetians (Builders, over Merchant), Zulu (Expansionist, over Militarist), Japanese (Influence, over Science) instead of their normal affinities. Obviously the normal affinities are the optimal route for culture chosen, but it allow for more build creativity and more interesting stories; even if only players (not AI) end up making these choices.

Binho9145game wrote:

Almost every culture in the game has been well chosen, thinking about diversity and how each one fits with an affinity. But I believe that some are more suited to certain affinities than others, and that there is no balanced representation of cultures around the world in some eras. With that in mind I decided to share my opinions about some affinities and cultures in the game and I'm curious to know yours as well.

Americans: Expansionist -> Militarist

un 22, 2021, 6:41:38 PM

In the contemporary era there is a lack of militaristic cultures. There are expansionist cultures, but the representation of Americans in the game is not expansionist at all. They are launching a rocket, making us believe that they are just space expansionists and much more closer to a representation of scientific culture, but in reality American expansionist policies are more present on Earth itself. I find it cynical the way the Soviets are portrayed as the militarized and the Americans as the dreamers who conquer space, given that the United States has long been the most militarized country in the world, and that it could very well be a militaristic culture in the game. The United States is already portrayed as militaristic in other games like COD, so why not address this lack of a militaristic culture in the contemporary era? But if you don't change the affinity of cultures, at least change the representation of Americans, portray them as militaristic expansionists like the Soviets, instead of a rocket it could be a nuclear missile, for example, or jets flying. I commented more about this on this post in this forum:https://www.games2gether.com/amplitude-studios/humankind/forums/168-general/threads/41145-suggestions-for-realistic-representations-of-the-us-and-brazil?page=1#post-321151.

Brazilians: Agrarians -> Aesthete

In this link above I also talk about Brazil being misrepresented, as the food production in the game is entirely aimed at the population of the country itself, but this does not occur in Brazil, as most of what is produced is exported. This means that there is often a shortage of food in Brazil and food prices increase for Brazilians, and many do not eat well because the food is being exported to other continents. So food production is more related to the economy than feeding its own population. There could be some mechanics in the game that would convert food production into money, or that it would be possible to sell food to other countries, but it is still possible to change Brazil's affinity for aesthetics, as Brazil attracts many tourists and is very influential geopolitically, a representation of a carnival parade in an aesthetic culture would be more appropriate than the current agrarian one, representing a landowner, as it is these landowners who cause hunger in Brazil when they decide to export rather than feed their own population.

Egyptians or South Africans: Aesthete -> Merchant

The GDP's of Egypt and South Africa are some of the highest on the African continent, and this would break with that idea that Africa lags behind the world. And maybe South Africa is a more attractive idea for the game because Egypt is already represented in the ancient era, but preferably it should put the two cultures in the game so that it has more representation.

What you say is correct but unfortunately representing modern cultures with a single trait (aesthetes, merchants, military, etc.) is simplifying and very complicated.

Think about the fact that modern Turks are inserted, it is correct that they are agrarians, but the only neighborhood is the public school? In a country that today is practically a dictatorship.

Same thing for China where at least they are defined as merchants.

But modern Egypt? We are talking about a country where military dictatorship and corruption are rife, where opponents disappear into the desert. Egypt is inserted as Aesthetes in the game ... is this a joke? At this point we also insert Dubai with the unique human trafficking district.

Unfortunately, the more one reaches the contemporary age, the more difficult it is to be able to choose a papable culture that is not promiscuous

Sorry for my cynicism