Solver:	Going back to Civ, how would you, in a few sentences, best describe Civ to a person who has never played the games? Hopefully making your description the first step to addiction!
Sirian:	Oh, gosh. I don't know. Someone who hasn't played Civ? Must not be a big gamer, there! Who hasn't tried Civ? Well, OK. Let's try this: "Civilization is an empire-building game. You start from a humble beginning at the start of the stone age. Over time, you found cities, construct city improvements, train military units, and try to expand. Your civilization is in a race against all the others on your planet to obtain a decisive advantage in technology, territory, and power. The games can be an exploration or a series of bloody wars, and the choice is not always within your control, because your adversaries get a say in what happens. Every turn, there are decisions to be made, options from which to choose. Playing the game has a soothing rhythm to it, although it can be quite exciting during a hard fought war. In the end, your civilization will rise or fall, depending on your moves. What could be more fun?”
Solver:	Many people, especially adults, tend to frown at computer gaming. However, Civvers typically consider Civ games serious games that should not be subjected to the criticism that is only applied to computer games, like them being brainless. Are Civ games really more serious in your opinion, and perhaps more suitable for adults?
Sirian:	Steel City LAN, August 1999, Pittsburgh. I'm on the left with the raggedy jeans. That L[ocal] A[rea] N[network (LAN)] party was held at Solo's house, in his garage. You've got to love the small LANs, they are truly the best! Civ games are non-violent in the usual sense of that word. There is no gratuitous violence, although they are (clean) depictions of unit-to-unit combat. Civ does not handle war in a way that should upset most parents. The game is rated E-10 and that's a fair guideline. Children ten and up should be able to make sense of it and understand that it is just a game. (It's no more violent than chess!) CivIV is game aimed at a wide audience. There are some positive things you can learn while playing it, as you might expect from any game simulating a part of history (or all of history, in this case). Beyond that, I don't have much to say on the topic. I feel no need to be a defender of gaming in general, any more than I feel a need to be a defender of sci-fi television, or sandwiches on rye bread, or which political party I chose to join. Anything can be taken to extremes. I urge parents to set appropriate boundaries for their children, but those are choices each parent has to make for themselves and their situation. Adults can make up their own minds.
Solver:	In conclusion of the interview, I'd like you to tell us something about the CivIV devlopment team at Firaxis.
Sirian:	Working with this team on this project has been a real treat. Descentfest, Halloween weekend, 1997, New York City. I'm in a white shirt in the middle of the crowd. At that point, I had joined the Invitational Descent Ladder staff as the rules and policy advisor. Not many of the top players knew me before I arrived at that L[ocal] A[rea] N[etwork], but my performances through the weekend exceeded their expectations. A month later, I won the ladder championship for the first time. Soren has a great affinity for the fans and understands gaming from the fan's perspective. He knows what makes a great game, but he is always eager for more feedback. We have built up a solid relationship. I know I can tell him anything, good or bad, no punches pulled, and he will take it in stride, in the spirit it was intended. That is exactly what he wanted from me, too. From everybody, really. This was his first opportunity to lead, and he surrounded himself with people who would not hesitate to criticize his work. That is not easy to do. When you pour your heart and soul in to a creative project, you have to behave as a true professional if you want to be able to take advantage of your team's strengths. Jesse Smith, our producer, spared no effort to gather the elements we needed to succeed. Early on, I worked with him extensively. He acted on a number of my requests for improving the work environment and procedures. I couldn't ask for m[ore], we got everything we needed. The two of them, Soren and Jesse, made this a great experience for me. I really came to understand their passion for the project. They had a vision for how to carry Soren's design to the next level by putting it through the gauntlet. Everybody I worked with, I came to respect for their abilities and commitment. There is love in every line of code, every setting, every game element, every graphic. Dan McGarry, the multiplayer programmer, was hands-on all the way through. I feel he did a spectacular job. [In m]y last multiplayer test game, there were seven [of] us playing a six hour game all the way through, and there were zero problems. No instability, no distractions. Paul Murphy, who wrote the manual, was willing to take feedback too. The CivIV game manual was significantly expanded after I suggested some additional areas where I thought more coverage would be beneficial. Friedrich Psitalon and I teamed on a lot of gameplay matters. Where the two of us agreed on a point and Soren wasn't seeing it our way, we worked together to turn up the evidence to support our claims. A lot of significant changes came about because we were able to make the case, together, than neither of us could make separately. The play session members were as willing to disagree with me and state their case as I was to Soren. We tried to encourage a safe environment, an open environment, where every view would be heard, every assumption challenged. There are too many people to thank! I could spend hours recounting things that went right because somebody had a unique bit of expertise or insight. I'm glad I could be part of this effort. I don't know what the future holds, but Firaxis and CivIV have been very kind to me. Now all we can do is wait and see what the fans think of our work.
Solver:	Thanks from me and all of Apolyton for this conversation!
Sirian:	You're welcome. Thanks for hearing me out!

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