Ask Dennis Shirk about Civ V: Gods & Kings (submissions closed!)

[Heinage]

to put a positive spin on it...

...any chance they asked us to pose 10 questions so they would know what the fans were most interested in? That way, when leaking new info, discussing the game during interviews at conventions, setting interviews with gaming journalists, the people in marketing would know what points to talk to?
Perhaps all our questions from here at CFC have all been answered indirectly through the above mentioned means...
...I don't know, I didn't actually partake in the asking of questions (here in this thread). I'm just playing the devil's advocate here

 

[MadDjinn]

to put a positive spin on it...

...any chance they asked us to pose 10 questions so they would know what the fans were most interested in? That way, when leaking new info, discussing the game during interviews at conventions, setting interviews with gaming journalists, the people in marketing would know what points to talk to?
Perhaps all our questions from here at CFC have all been answered indirectly through the above mentioned means...
...I don't know, I didn't actually partake in the asking of questions (here in this thread). I'm just playing the devil's advocate here

possibly, but then, why state that they'd answer the questions when they obviously had no intention on doing it? It'd be simpler to just post a thread asking what people wanted to know about - without suggesting that they'd answer them directly.

This (and the PAX East podcast stuff) has been a good showing by 2K PR/Marketing on what NOT to do. 2+ month delay on something simple, which they offered, just seems to show how incompetent they really are.

Granted, the 2K Euro group seems to be on the ball, given that the Qs added by civforums.de got answered very very quickly (as compared to not answered in this case).

 

[bcaiko]

Okay. I've been optimistic up until this point, mostly because I appreciate 2K/Firaxis reaching out to the community and letting us ask questions, I'd like those questions answered, and I'd like to see this kind of outreach rewarded by the gaming community.

But this is a debacle. 2K has spoiled a great amount of good will by keeping completely silent on all of these questions. Even if 2K had answered a couple of the questions and then said "We'll have to get back to you later..." on the other ones, that would have generated some excitement and appreciation in the community. Instead, nothing. I don't even think we have an estimated date when the questions are expected to be answered, and by now I'm betting a few of them are completely out of date.

This was a fantastic idea. But what disappointing, horrible execution.

 

[Buccaneer]

I wouldn't blame Firaxis, they're too busy testing and finishing the game. 2K, on the other hand, seems to be up to their usual hot-air PR schtick - all air, no substance. We didn't believe in a lot of what they said prior to Civ5 release, why should we start now? In the meantime, they give out builds to anyone claiming to be a reviewer, some of which should not have.

 

[Bechhold]

So are there translations of the German Q&A?

I wouldn't blame Firaxis, they're too busy testing and finishing the game. 2K, on the other hand, seems to be up to their usual hot-air PR schtick - all air, no substance. We didn't believe in a lot of what they said prior to Civ5 release, why should we start now? In the meantime, they give out builds to anyone claiming to be a reviewer, some of which should not have.

Pardon me I have the sour taste of the current game that was Civ V at launch.

 

[The_J]

So are there translations of the German Q&A?

It's linked in the respective thread .

 

[Putmalk]

I doubted these answers would come about two months ago; still not here :/

Can we at least get a list of what questions were selected?

 

[chrissifniotis]

Can we at least get a list of what questions were selected?

At this point it's all we can ask for now, the game will be out in less than three weeks.

 

[Camikaze]

Can we at least get a list of what questions were selected?

May as well. I wonder what answers we can come up with for some of them.

Would people like them all at once, or one at a time?

Here's one of them, anyway, which seems quite relevant giving the big news from today:

Can you tell us anything more about the release of the DLL, and will there be major changes to the way the game handles mods? More specifically, how it loads art assets such as building graphics, landmark graphics, terrain graphics, etc.? Right now, modders are severely limited in modifying these assets due to bugs with ModBuddy and the game's functionality - bugs that must be corrected if the mod community is going to expand past what it currently is.

 

[Nefliqus]

May as well. I wonder what answers we can come up with for some of them.

Would people like them all at once, or one at a time?

Here's one of them, anyway, which seems quite relevant giving the big news from today:

all at once pls

 

[Pouakai]

Take what you get, we're giving you all the questions anyway, maybe a bit of patience?

 

[BobDole]

Take what you get, we're giving you all the questions anyway, maybe a bit of patience?

I'd say everyone's been pretty patient. After all, they've been waiting for what...3 months?

 

[Pouakai]

EDIT: Whoops, just reread what Cami posted, my mistake. Sorry guys!

 

[Monthar]

I'd prefer all at once.

 

[apocalypse105]

proparbly all at once but the obious ones who we allready have a answer for like wich are the new civs? Proparly not..

 

[Camikaze]

Another one of the questions was:

Will the new content and scenarios work with multiplayer?

 

[anandus]

Maybe it's an idea to put the released questions in the start post, so we can easily find them?

 

[Camikaze]

Okay, I added them to the OP.

These are them:

1. What are your main criteria for picking new civilisations for Gods & Kings (and DLC)? While the announced civs seem to be bringing back old favourites and fan requests, civs like Polynesia hint you are aiming at a more eclectic and global selection.
2. We know there will be many new units, including the Machine Gun and melee ships, so how have upgrade paths for units been modified in the expansion?
3. Currently the optimal way of completing a science or diplomatic victory involves signing as many research agreements as possible and stockpiling a bunch of great scientists to complete the end of the tech tree. Are research agreements and great scientists being adjusted to reduce the strength of this tactic, and if so, how?
4. Can you go into more detail about the individual religions and founding them?
5. In the espionage system, what allows you to conduct operations? Is it based on Espionage Points (a la Beyond the Sword), or is it based on Gold spent (a la previous civs), or is it a new system entirely?
6. Will there be any overhaul in how the AI conducts diplomacy, especially about its hastiness to go to war? Currently, the AI will DoW you if their oatmeal was burnt in the morning. There is little to no way you can prevent this from happening; it is generally a question of when a war comes, not if. In what ways will this be improved?
7. There have been quite a few popular mods, such as InfoAddict, for vanilla Civ5. What was the influence of the modding community on the design of the new expansion?
8. Can you tell us anything more about the release of the DLL, and will there be major changes to the way the game handles mods? More specifically, how it loads art assets such as building graphics, landmark graphics, terrain graphics, etc.? Right now, modders are severely limited in modifying these assets due to bugs with ModBuddy and the game's functionality - bugs that must be corrected if the mod community is going to expand past what it currently is.
9. Will the new content and scenarios work with multiplayer?
10. To what extent are improvements from the expansion being included in the vanilla release? Presumably things like improved AI algorithms will make it to vanilla while religion will not, but other things like the new units aren't obvious. Could you briefly describe categories of things that are getting patched into vanilla?

Hope you like the selection. Quite a few of them should actually have quite interesting answers. A lot of the previews have been focused on religion and espionage (making those questions rather redundant), but the other topics have yet to get the same sort of attention.

 

[TheMarshmallowBear]

I think Number 4, and Number 5 are already answered.
You just plop down the Spy in enemy city and it will do the rest. I'm assuming the same will happen with City States (they're automatically start rigging the election)

 

[Liex]

That was a nice selection. I still hope they answer them, particularly the 1st one. Most of the other unanswered questions are going to be clear soon or later, but the 1st we can only hear from them. Actually, Greg stated this very question was already in his list, so I'm in the waiting.