Civilization 5 Rants Thread

[Thormodr]

Expansion time for Civilization 5, apparently.

They are reworking the combat system, apparently, as well as the AI. They are also bringing back religion and espionage. Hopefully they'll bring the game more in line with cIV. The sub par global happiness system seems to be intact however.

Looks like a mixed bag so far. Still, to be fair, I'll wait and see.

[Sarda]

I'm sure as hell not preordering this one like 5, not making that mistake twice. I'll still get the xpac after it releases, if Sulla gives it a amazing review.

[gaiko]

There is no way they could alter the global happiness system without also changing the military unit mechanics (lift the 1UPT limit). Happiness acts to limit pop growth, which limits production potential, which limits units. Otherwise carpet of doom.

The two are wedded at the hip like Siamese twins. This design (flaw) is just too basic to the game.

Originally Posted by Thormodr

Expansion time for Civilization 5, apparently.

They are reworking the combat system, apparently, as well as the AI. They are also bringing back religion and espionage. Hopefully they'll bring the game more in line with cIV. The sub par global happiness system seems to be intact however.

Looks like a mixed bag so far. Still, to be fair, I'll wait and see.

[Thormodr]

Originally Posted by gaiko

There is no way they could alter the global happiness system without also changing the military unit mechanics (lift the 1UPT limit). Happiness acts to limit pop growth, which limits production potential, which limits units. Otherwise carpet of doom.

The two are wedded at the hip like Siamese twins. This design (flaw) is just too basic to the game.

You are probably right. The expansion will likely just add onto an already flawed foundation.

Perhaps the source DLL will save the day...

[jamaicagator]

I haven't read the whole thread. I assume the main problems (read: AI) have been covered. The fundamental changes (e.g., no stacking, no religion, no health, etc.) are obviously debatable, but I don't blame them for trying new things.

One thing I suspect has been brought up but annoys me enough that I'd like to bring it up again just in case is the inability to zoom all the way out on the map and see the entire map (or at least an entire hemisphere).

[Bad Brett]

The cornerstone of religion is a new currency called faith. Faith is used to purchase beliefs, which are small benefits that shape your nation's religion.

Another SP tree? Sounds exciting!

[headcase]

There are only 1, 2, and later 5 slots for Beliefs, so I doubt there are any trees. Faith also pops special buildings.

[Thormodr]

Supposing that this expansion costs $40, what will the total damage for Civilization 5 be exactly? I imagine it will be around $150+ *Ouch*

[Camikaze]

The expansion has been announced to cost $30, not $40. And I believe your pricing theory has been addressed by others in the past.

[Sonereal]

Originally Posted by Thormodr

Expansion time for Civilization 5, apparently.

They are reworking the combat system, apparently, as well as the AI. They are also bringing back religion and espionage. Hopefully they'll bring the game more in line with cIV. The sub par global happiness system seems to be intact however.

Looks like a mixed bag so far. Still, to be fair, I'll wait and see.

Yay. I'm so glad to hear that they're adding more mechanics for the AI, which has been proven to not be able to handle current mechanics.

[headcase]

Originally Posted by Thormodr

What will the total damage for Civilization 5 be exactly? I imagine it will be around $150+ *Ouch*

Depends on how much each individual is willing to pay. The game with all DLC sold for around $20 or $30 last Christmas. Personally I bought the game for $40 and none of the DLC yet.

[Glassmage]

I will buy this expansion full price because I'm a sheep.

[SpyGuy77]

I wish there was a wb (i know im cheap but still!) because i sometimes dont like waiting for resoures and sometimes the AI declares war for no reason with a really bad miliatary and i conquer them easily. Bah stupid AI

[Thormodr]

Originally Posted by Camikaze

The expansion has been announced to cost $30, not $40. And I believe your pricing theory has been addressed by others in the past.

I'll give credit to them for pricing it at $30. That's more in line with BTS. Perhaps they've seen the light to some extent.

They seem to be adding some interesting things but if the core game is still flawed, it'll be like putting whipped cream on a pile of sawdust.

Definitely will be the first Civ product that I wait and observe for a long, long time before even considering buying it though.

If the source code is finally released so that modders can do their thing and this expansion is on sale, I'll consider picking it up.

[logintime]

Well, I'll give them credit for working on what looks like an actual expansion, complete with new gameplay mechanics, rather than simply putting together a bunch of cheap DLCs and labeling it an expansion.

On the other hand, many of these features should by all rights have been in the game at release. It's great to see religion and espionage coming back, but it emphasizes how wrong Shafer's vision of what the game ought to be truly was.

I'll be honest though, Civ5 has put such a bad taste in my mouth that I'm not liable to pick this up even if it does end up being decently received. The base mechanics of the game are still terribly flawed (research being tied to pop, global happiness, 1upt, etc.) and while there seems to be some lip-service to improved diplomacy, it looks like their emphasis is still on diplomacy with city states instead of with other Civs.

We'll see, ultimately. It's too early to tell and I'll be very judicious about approaching this xpac. It looks like a step in the right direction... but a step this game really shouldn't have had to take to begin with.

[Aristos]

Originally Posted by logintime

it emphasizes how wrong Shafer's vision of what the game ought to be truly was.

E-X-A-C-T-L-Y.

Now more than ever, I am sure that he was fired last year, and rightly so. Even the company is showing how wrong the initial vision was (and parts of it still are), and who else to point to than little Joni? Even then, some insist on defending him... anyways, time is the most relentless judge of them all.

[JesusOnEez]

I have to say, although I think CiV ruined the empire building part of the game for <insert Sullla's rant> reasons, some masochistic side of me still wants this game to succeed and be good, and I'm hoping this expansion will be the antidote to the boredom CiV provides me with currently. I'll probably buy it, love it for ten minutes, then decide it still sucks and go back to CIV again having wasted more money.

I'm a sucker like that.

[LegionSteve]

Originally Posted by Sarda

I'm sure as hell not preordering this one like 5, not making that mistake twice. I'll still get the xpac after it releases, if Sulla gives it a amazing review.

Same here. I knew there would be bugs in Civ 5 that would require patches, that's normal, and I decided to pre-order anyway. Well... I was expecting bugs, not a badly designed game that was barely half-finished.

This time I will do what I should have done before, wait for a few patches to fix the worst of the bugs and then look for it in a steam sale.

[Brichals]

Originally Posted by LegionSteve

Same here. I knew there would be bugs in Civ 5 that would require patches, that's normal, and I decided to pre-order anyway. Well... I was expecting bugs, not a badly designed game that was barely half-finished.

This time I will do what I should have done before, wait for a few patches to fix the worst of the bugs and then look for it in a steam sale.

That's always a good idea nowadays, but I think to be fair they patched Civ5 into a half decent state relatively fast and they are showing good support now. So the game might be lacking but Civ3 and Civ4 vanilla were nothing like the expanded versions also.

[RD-BH]

Originally Posted by logintime

... but it emphasizes how wrong Shafer's vision of what the game ought to be truly was.
...

I'm not convinced of this point.
I think someone just needed to temper his vision with FUN 8)