Ok, firstly i want to just say im not trolling or bashing the game. it was ok, but really that was it in my opinion - again as i said in the OP, my opinion. And I know there are many who love the game, i appreciate that.
But you surely can not deny the fact that this game detracted for a lot of people that played the series prior. im pretty sure im not the only person that left the game entirely and if you missed the origional fury on these very forums, well. I actually wasnt one of those, I waited a full year, saw shed loads of GAME CHANGING patches which came out after DLC, then i became a hater.
Secondly, to say that many polls on this forum say its the greatest game since <insert prefered choice here> is pretty obvious - its Civ fanatics......although a recent one currently live i noticed about if it was "better than past reiterations" has "NO" currently leading.....that says a lot on a site dedicated to the series. Anyway going slightly off topic here so....
Thirdly i have bolded the point that kind gentleman has made up top. They are giving us back religion????? It should have been in the game from the god damn start. Oh they are bringing in new nations....oh no they were all in the last version. We are being expected to pay for an expansion that brings something that was in its predessor. if you are happy to do that, fair play, good move 2K. I certainly am not. But many are, which is why games companies spew out half finished, half assed peices of rubbish, Because many fans will buy what ever comes out - hell I bought all the DLC hoping some magical patch would come out that would make me like the game. Of course it never arrived, because I dont like the way this incarnation has been produced and No patch in the world is gonna change that. But i wanted it to. And yeah I am a little buttsore!!!!
Im fine with that, just not the way I believe the game was rushed out, poorly executed and (in my opinion) aimed at a much more casual market in order to increase overall sales. And im certainly not happy with the way that games companies are supported by people for doing it time and time again. It just doesnt make any sense to me.
Anyway claps for 2K and everyone enjoy the expansion. It probably WILL be the best thing since sliced bread and i will miss out LOL - FML!
You say religion "should" have been in the game all along. Who dictates what "should" and should not be in the game? The designers decided it should not, but you seem to imply that because we, the die-hard fans of the series, demand religion, then they
should give it us.
Your whole post presumes that they are making the game for us.
They made the game to make money, and make money they did.
What I was suggesting is that while Civ V followed Shafer's "one-thing-in, one-thing-out" philosophy of game design in order to keep the game streamlined and accessible to the broadest possible audience (which is why religion was left on the cutting room floor). That strategy seems to have been successful, but in the process, irritated a lot of die hard fans. Die hard fans who, I should point out, still bought the game, play the hell out of it, and spend a ridiculous amount of their non-play time talking about the game.
You can see why our complaints might not mean much to the designers. At a certain point, they have to wave their hands in the air and say, "You can't please everyone." And trying too hard to please people who are going to buy your product no matter what (and probably complain about something no matter what) doesn't make good business sense.
Now, here's where things look up. Who is the market for expansions? Ah, much more like us. Casual gamers are less likely to be lured into expansions. They're clearly not following the one-thing-in, one-thing-out model for this expansion. There are two completely revamped game dynamics (implementations of ideas that have been in past civ games but, arguably, have never worked quite right) being added, and nothing--so far as we know--being taken out.
So yeah, a lot of us long-time civ fans were disappointed in some of the changes in Civ V. I was. I miss health. I don't like that archers can shoot over whole tiles. Global happiness is not as rich, in my opinion. I miss religion and espionage being in the game world, even if I hated Civ IV's approaches to both. But despite all that, I've logged more than a thousand hours in Civ V.
Now, after just about burning out on Civ V, I'm glad to see some new elements coming into play. It's pretty much perfect timing. I'm curious to see if espionage will be a rich vein of differentiated gameplay (and not just a nuisance like in past games). I'm just plain excited by the religion system that will let you customize your people's beliefs.
I'll buy it. If you don't, that's fine, but do you really think that your individual complaints would form a sound basis for a boycott? Come on. It's just a game. If it's not fun, there's a simple solution that doesn't require any outrage: read a book instead.