Those are interesting thoughts, PCiv. Ironically, I think it's pretty clear that with CivBE (at least through their continuing interviews) creating different playstyles and gameplay mechanics are certainly in the forefront of the development team. But I agree that as players we're always looking for more interesting and creative gameplay choices.
I do think, though, that the Ideological Tenets have introduced some interesting mechanics already, even if as you point out they are perhaps somewhat underdeveloped. The biggest being that on harder difficulty levels, it's the one area of the game where the AI can force you to change your game play. If you can't manage your culture and happiness, you have to switch Ideologies and take the Revolution hit. That's kind of a big deal in BNW.
I never choose Autocracy, but recently got forced into a change on an Immortal game with the Celts and found it kind of interesting to suddenly have the option to churn out Autocracy Bombers. I was annoyed that I had to give up my Freedom bonuses (particularly specialist food), but I fully embraced the Autocracy bonus to pump out 60XP Bombers and obliterate those that forced me into the change in the first place.
I think it's a bit harsh on BNW to call it a facade of depth, as there are some interesting choices. But I do hope that whatever iterations in Civ come next, that we won't have another CiV Vanilla where we go backwards in complexity for many years before finally taking steps forward. I'm not sure how realistic that is, but I certainly hope that the gulf between CiV and BNW will always be remembered by the Firaxis team.
I do think, though, that the Ideological Tenets have introduced some interesting mechanics already, even if as you point out they are perhaps somewhat underdeveloped. The biggest being that on harder difficulty levels, it's the one area of the game where the AI can force you to change your game play. If you can't manage your culture and happiness, you have to switch Ideologies and take the Revolution hit. That's kind of a big deal in BNW.
I never choose Autocracy, but recently got forced into a change on an Immortal game with the Celts and found it kind of interesting to suddenly have the option to churn out Autocracy Bombers. I was annoyed that I had to give up my Freedom bonuses (particularly specialist food), but I fully embraced the Autocracy bonus to pump out 60XP Bombers and obliterate those that forced me into the change in the first place.
I think it's a bit harsh on BNW to call it a facade of depth, as there are some interesting choices. But I do hope that whatever iterations in Civ come next, that we won't have another CiV Vanilla where we go backwards in complexity for many years before finally taking steps forward. I'm not sure how realistic that is, but I certainly hope that the gulf between CiV and BNW will always be remembered by the Firaxis team.
