The Desire to Build

I was reading Gamespot's newest interview about Civilization IV. Some great stuff in there.

"GS: We've heard that roads no longer grant commerce. What's the reasoning for that? We assume this will cut down on the habit of planting roads and rails in every square inch of your empire. This created such an unseemly sight, as roads and rails littered every square."

Roads grant commerce?

Shit. I never really knew that. All those years, all those Civ games, and I missed that.

I feel kind of stupid for not knowing that there was an actual advantage.

The thing is, I'm still going to build roads and rails over every square inch of my empire. I did it before because I like having them all over the place, it feels like you're really developing an area. "Here, peasants! Delight in your transportation options!"

Maybe the developers aren't thinking so much of players' possible aesthetic choices, but really focusing on the game.

Which sounds like a good thing, for us gamers.