07-12-2000 20:01									#32
	Avatar Enlargement: We've got the solution

The only point I can see in this discussion is if countries retain some semblance of national identity after they are captured by more advanced players. This would be a considerable shift away from current Civ play where a city falls, riots, spawns a guerilla unit or two, then settles down and becomes a productive assimilated part of the new owning nation.

If cultural identity was more acurately modelled then it would indeed be possible for "1st world" nations to colonise parts of the world, strip them of resources for a while (or develop their economy to be able to provide resources), then return them to their previous national control when the cost of ownership became too high to make continued occupation worthwhile.

Without rules to support this, the difference between a 1st and 3rd world nation can easily be determined by the computer by looking at its victory chart and is no more meaningful. The weaker nations are simply losers whose cities are awaiting absorbtion and have no means of influencing their larger neighbours into keeping the peace.