Playdate: Sid Meier's Civilization VI - Rise & Fall

after reading the comments, no thanks, i'm good *walks away*

As a person who wanted the straight up - Let's Play Civ-style video with these two, I'm gonna skip this one (I'm at the taping up phase) but I'm always up for the gang experimenting with stuff. I already have TOO MUCH good stuff to watch so one stream missing the mark a bit ain't no thing. I'm always up for them trying new stuff. Part of the reason they've made it so long!

Is this part 100 of 'I'm Dan and I'm an idiot and don't understand things series'?

I thought Alex did a great job selling it at the beginning. Get this man an Emmy.

Free Alex Navarro? I'll take two!!!

Ahahaha I'm dying

does this stream signify our entrance to giant bomb east's experimental period?

@pkmnfrk: I'm sure it pitched fine, and as evidenced by the real polarizing nature of the thing, a lot of people were really into it. It just happens to hit on some stuff that could rub certain people really the wrong way. Humor is subjective like that, and sometimes things people do to get a laugh make people uncomfortable. I doubt they meant to upset or traumatize people, nor do I think they would do this without Alex being fully behind the idea though. Which is why I'll draw the line at 'this isn't for me, and I get how others might take it the wrong way' but not "How dare they' territory.

That said, it does feel like I missed something. Like, Alex trying to legit teach Dan Civ would be fun! You could tell from the openning minutes they were not going to take this seriously (even though of course by the time I watched that I knew the gimmick since I tuned in live mid-way through went WTF, i'll watch the replay I guess), which is a shame.

Likewise, I think I'd rather have them spent the civ6 part of this video just playing more the Quiet man if that was the actual intention. Like, if they are gonna start going into the deep-end of seeing what 'the answer' is, I'd rather see there full take on it.

That too is gonna be polarizing. Like, they mashed together two things people wanted, and didn't really deliver fully on either. I mean, I feel for the poor civ fans who actually wanted serious content from a game-series they love from the GB staff. Alas, long gone are the days of Austin who might be able to provide that kind of coverage. Heck, long gone are the days of Drew who could give us some interesting simulation content or Patrick who had some interesting unique takes/tastes in games.

But, eh, all those people (and content like they make) exist elsewhere. This was just a swing and a miss for me on a lot of levels, the one you mention top among them.

I wonder why I stopped watching East streams and videos. Thanks for reminding me.

Gosh. All the people who hate fun.

This was fantastic!

Play by play action!

- Oh wow, Dan is going to learn to play Civ with Alex. This should be great!

- Oh my god Dan is going to be a shithead this entire stream

- Hah! He is tying Alex up and Alex is making silly noises, while Dan fumbles his way though. That's pretty funny

- Oh my god there is way too much video left for this bit to carry on

- Vinny with the big game switcharoo!

- Alex doesn't seem pleased

- Was Alex in on this? Oh man he's free! And he's gone.

- I'm not going to watch the Quiet Man again, let's skip forward

- Alex is back with a pool cue! I'm definitely not watching the Quiet Man while Alex menaces to the side, let's skip forward.

- The smashing payoff. Either Alex was in on it, and this was a bad way bait and switch to see the Quiet Man again... or he wasn't and I just feel bad for Alex. Either way, meh.

People need to lighten up sheesh

@mrbubbles:Yeah. I really wanted a Civ 6 stream with Alex. I really wanted a Quiet Man: The Answer stream with the Beast crew. This was like 10 minutes of Civ 6, 20 minutes of Dan struggling with tape, a half hour of a "Dan pretends to be dumb while Alex pretends to be angry" bit that was only funny for about 5, then a half hour of The Quiet Man wherein most of that time was spent on nothing new since they didn't give themselves enough time to play it properly with no Alex reactions because he had to keep up the unfunny "grr, I'm so angry!" bit for the whole duration.

Left the stream feeling like I had just completely wasted an hour and a half of my time and two streams I really wanted and was looking forward to were just thrown away for the sake of an unfunny joke. They took two things I really wanted to see and presented them in a way where neither was satisfying or fun to watch. A full stream of Alex teaching Dan to play Civ could have been great. A full stream of them playing Quiet Man Answered could have been great. 10 minutes of Civ, 20 minutes of The Quiet Man with only half the crew, and a full hour of the aforementioned "I'm dumb! I'm angry!" bit? Not great.

Some people seemed to have liked this. Good for them I guess. I don't come to GiantBomb for "bits," I come for personalities I like playing games together in earnest. There was nothing earnest about this, and having it all come at the expense of two streams I really wanted to see just feels kind of insulting and a case of them "not respecting my time."

@sevith: looooool

Two bad things in one night...this bit and fallout 76

I mean, I can't say I'm interested in more bits like this, but at least get the actual improv comedian involved next time.

That was painfully unfunny, guys.

Love what you do but I was kind of embarrassed for you on this one, and nobody looked comfortable even doing the bit, especially Vinny.

Considering this was a premium stream, there's a non zero chance people actually paid money to see Civ being played seriously, maybe by Dan because he said on the Beastcast that he never understood Civ but wanted to because so many of his respected colleagues enjoy the series.

Instead it's a Quiet Man stream, which I would have watched if you just said that's what y'all were doing.

edit: Also, considering the new website, should you really be fake tagging videos like this? This video is tagged for Civ 6 or whatever and not The Quiet Man. Why even have a sorting option if it's going to be filled with fake entries?

Dan struggling with the tape, lol.

Over time this made me really uncomfortable

Wasn't this titled completely differently when it was in the "coming up" section? Beastern Civilization?

Now that I think about it, this seems really similar to an old Game Informer video? There's a video where Dan plays League of Legends as if it's Command & Conquer to annoy a guy who knows more about League, and this video is pretty much "Dan plays Civilization as if it's Command & Conquer to annoy a guy who knows more about Civilization."

The faux grainy, low-framerate Alex video feed at the bottom of the stream is a nice touch, though.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S7Res03ho8E

Also yeah, this entire stream just reminded me of that guy at the recent PAX who said the reason why GB was his favorite website was because it helped quell his anxiety and the videos aren't intense or mean spirited like everything else on the internet. But now I'm seeing GB fans getting legit upset at watching someone they like be gagged and bound and held against their will, even if it's for "a bit", or as Alex weirdly put it on Twitter, to "fuck with the audience". It *felt* mean spirited.

Basically, it's just a bad comedy bit? Like you do the gag and then once the moment is passed, it's passed. GB usually has a better sense comedic timing than this.

Love this. Keep it up. Eff the haters.

uh oh the fun police are here

Aww man I haven't watched this but I was incredibly psyched when I saw this in the upcoming videos list because I had it in my head that, after the conversation on the Beastcast, it would be something like Alex guiding Dan through Civilization (which is an AMAZING concept for a series btw) and this isn't that? I guess that's my fault for assuming, but man.

This is excruciating. Had to give up.

Yeah, I was legit excited for Alex to teach Dan about civ and then it turned into something else that I didn't want.

The bit here wasn't as much a miss for me as some people apparently, but please no more Quiet Man content.

Sometimes people are going to have features they don't enjoy. I don't watch literally every video on the site because i'm not interested in a lot of it, and that's fine because there's just so much of it. I didn't pay my premium membership for this stream. I paid my premium membership for Giant Bomb. They regularly do stupid shit and that's basically their entire brand. Dan cowering underneath a Dragon Ball Z towel while saying "we're all adults!" is the most Giant Bomb visual that has ever existed.

I wanted Dan playing Civ, I wanted GBEast vs The Quiet Man audio version. I didn't think I would get either, because the former is such a huge time investment and the latter game has already been covered extensively by this site, more than it arguably deserves for how terrible it is. Getting this, and seeing it transformed into something absurdly Giant Bomb, was what I come to this site for.

If they regularly did bait and switches like this and it became most of their content I likely wouldn't stick around because it would get old, but I know this site well enough that obviously this is going to be a one-off. Dan was roleplaying peak Dan, Alex was 150% Alex, and Vinny was Vinny because Vinny is Vinny. They got to do a dumb fun idea and I watched it while eating lunch then went on with the rest of my day.

This stream does raise the question: If Dan actually played a Civilization game, would he choose to play as America every single time? I posit: yes, yes he would.

Haven't watched this yet but I'm looking forward to learning more about Civ, a game series I've always wanted to get into.

I think the bit grew old after a bit, but yeesh, you'd act like this is the BEGINNING OF THE END for GBE judging by the comments. As if they don't hit on 99% of their content.

@bladededge: To be clear, I'm not saying they shouldn't have done it, what they do to themselves is entirely up to them. Doesn't mean anyone has to enjoy it (nor should they be judged if they do) :)

I do agree that it feels like we missed a joke

Ehhhh... I'd like the last hour and a half of my life back. I applaud them for trying something new, but this fell super flat and was just lame/awkward/mean spirited.

I don’t want Giantbomb to be wrestling.

I'm re-watching and just laughing. For those of you thinking it's a shoot - re-watch the first twenty minutes. Oh man.

Good bit! I was looking forward to some serious GB Civ stuff. ah well.

@wizzywinkles: then you've picked the wrong website, friend. It's always been wrestling.

@bladededge said:

Probably the best way to put it. I think a legit "Alex trying to teach Dan Civ" stream would've been fun, and I found the comedy a bit of a misfire. I'm loving Die Another Friday, though!

I don't like being lied to :(

Huh

Ok, as a (not) professional comedian who knows how the (completely subjective) art of comedy works I just want (but have no right) to say I loved the gag but not the delivery.

This is the type of classic gag that should be delivered in a super cut form. Jump and fade cuts between Alex's passionate frenzy and Dan's increasing frustration. A fade to black with the text ''Many minutes later...'' then fade back to them continuing on, followed soon after with a jump cut to Alex completely tied up with Dan talking himself through the game, then eventually another jump cut to both Dan and Alex tied up with Vinny now in the host chair. Showing the tying up of the guys kills momentum of the gag.

Just so you know, I really hate when people turn comedy into a formula...

Picked up some great Civ tips, thanks Dan

This video was actually kind of perfect in an amazing way.

Ive been itching to get into civilization, so hearing alex explain some of the basics was great

and i wanted to see them do the other thing.

I think I would have preferred Alex just playing Civ 6 while everyone hangs out over... whatever this was.

I can't get enough Quiet Man on GB!

Every time Dan does something interesting you get people stroking out. You'd think they'd figure it out by now.

Between this and the Extra Life stream Alex deserves a fucking raise

Having a multi-episode marathon game of Civilization (max map size, max turn count, etc) involving all the staff from both studios seems like it could be pretty amazing, and far easier logistically than pubg or the Destiny 2 raid was. With all the downtime you get in that large of a game, you could probably even blend the bombcast and beastcast's news, mail, and call-ins while the game is being played.