Maybe my biggest gripe about the game is...

[Taefin]

… so you haven’t met the huns then?

Or have you..?

I think it’s to be expected that some folks will prefer playing one culture an entire game and others will prefer the switching.

I personally prefer the culture swap of HK. But even when I play Civ my immersion is largely connected to the UU and civ bonus mechanics, and I don’t bring a lot of my own immersion to the table with RP etc. So it is not jarring to switch cultures. I get excited to switch to a new mechanic, which activates immediately and substantively. When I’m Khmer it feels like we’ve always been Khmer and when we switch to the Spanish, like that is now part of our history. But again, my immersion is closely connected to this visible EU, EQ, legacy traits.

I do find I never take the repeat culture option. +10% fame just feels like it pales in comparison to a new EQ and trait (presumably I don’t need an EU if I am considering this). The fame bonus has diminishing returns later in the game, and I’m pretty sure the new culture bonuses boost my era star potential by at least 10%. I’d like to see the addition of a +50% power up to the culture’s trait.

An option to call players by their avatar rather than culture sounds like it would be a welcome addition, but I’ll keep it displaying current cultures.

 

[Siptah]

I do find I never take the repeat culture option. +10% fame just feels like it pales in comparison to a new EQ and trait (presumably I don’t need an EU if I am considering this). The fame bonus has diminishing returns later in the game, and I’m pretty sure the new culture bonuses boost my era star potential by at least 10%. I’d like to see the addition of a +50% power up to the culture’s trait.

The highest fame I ever got was in a game in which I never switched cultures. So the +10% fam per era make quite a difference. That said, it's not as interesting without second, third etc. power peaks.

 

[PSG]

… so you haven’t met the huns then?

Oh I have, but that early game chariot takes out my third territory and it's either limp along until the Huns come finish me off or restart.....The aggressive neutral is all random. After I restarted a game where I lost my second outpost and all 8 of my troops to 2 chariots I got a ton of barbarians, but they were all peace loving. The chariots wouldn't be such a huge deal if copper was a little more common so I can build my own chariots.

 

[Victoria]

Or have you..?

Oh I have, but

I meant on higher level have the huns attacked you? I have been seriously mauled by them twice. They make chariots seem like pushchairs

 

[PSG]

I meant on higher level have the huns attacked you? I have been seriously mauled by them twice. They make chariots seem like pushchairs

I have had them squash me a couple times. I bet they are more effective in the hands of the Ai than they would be in a player's.

 

[Victoria]

I bet they are more effective in the hands of the Ai than they would be in a player's.

they get extra strength and speed with the AI, just gain a lobotomy at the same time.

 

[chazzycat]

this is exactly why I haven't bought the game yet. I love civ for historical roleplay and the idea of my entire identity changing every era just...ruins that. Completely.

 

[Aristos]

this is exactly why I haven't bought the game yet. I love civ for historical roleplay and the idea of my entire identity changing every era just...ruins that. Completely.

Your identity does not change. You just change cultures IF you want to. Staying the same culture the entire game is an option, and it is powerful enough to keep you on the race for Fame.

Sorry, but civ has abandoned "historical roleplay" some time ago. Thus, the dilemma you present is a false one.

 

[glider1]

You don't have to change your culture if you don't want to. The game does not force it. Matter of fact it would be a challenge to keep your same culture through the whole game and still be competitive.

 

[gunnergoz]

I'll take out the old soapbox to stand on and just say this: cultures come and go, clans, tribes, nations, come and go, but the land remains eternal. We may alter the face of it, build on it, trash it, pave it, ruin it, even, but the land is always there and our attachment to it runs as deep as blood relations do for most of us. The more I play this game, the more I sense that the connection we make with our game land(s) and cities is essential to keeping us invested, involved and interested in doing "one more turn" of Humankind. I've never been that invested personally in any real estate, despite home ownership and all that. But, oddly enough, the game is teaching me a valuable lesson about the role of land possession in human affairs, and how much that the struggle for possession has fueled both progress and destruction, war and peace. That for me is an "aha moment" worth the price of this game all by itself.

 

[Victoria]

aha moment

The lives lost over a handful of dirt is huge, it’s a good point you raise, territories may be clunky in same ways but they do teach the value of the stuff, although it is also often used as an excuse. Which we can do politically in this game.

 

[fortydayweekend]

I'll take out the old soapbox to stand on and just say this: cultures come and go, clans, tribes, nations, come and go, but the land remains eternal. We may alter the face of it, build on it, trash it, pave it, ruin it, even, but the land is always there and our attachment to it runs as deep as blood relations do for most of us. The more I play this game, the more I sense that the connection we make with our game land(s) and cities is essential to keeping us invested, involved and interested in doing "one more turn" of Humankind. I've never been that invested personally in any real estate, despite home ownership and all that. But, oddly enough, the game is teaching me a valuable lesson about the role of land possession in human affairs, and how much that the struggle for possession has fueled both progress and destruction, war and peace. That for me is an "aha moment" worth the price of this game all by itself.

The variety of the terrain and the subtlety of the buildings and yields definitely helps make this happen. Here's the pass my Immortals held against the Huns, now a busy trading route. There's the desert I raided from the Celts and now being paved with Research Quarters.

That's also why the change of cultures doesn't break any immersion for me, cities are still in the same places with the same districts etc, culture is just a new building, new unit, and maybe a switch in focus. I've started updating the names to include some newer culture flavour while keeping the history by mashing names together (Haosepolis, Bactra Wat etc).

 

[snakeboy]

this is exactly why I haven't bought the game yet. I love civ for historical roleplay and the idea of my entire identity changing every era just...ruins that. Completely.

But like many said, you can perfectly play one culture all era's. Granted, there is less choice but the classical age can easily be included. You can go from Phoenicians to Carthaginians - that is even historically correct. Or Myceneans > Greeks. Olmecs > Mayans.

And doesn't it make more sense to be able to change the Romans to Italians in late game?

Or, a bit more loose, how about Celts > English > British? Zhou > Ming > Chinese?

Yes, it's a bit jarring to go from Teutons to Mughals like I did yesterday. I also like my cultures to have a bit of continuous flow, and similar architecture. But roleplaying wise HK offers enough possibilities, which will only get more and more fluid with more cultures to come.

 

[MrRadar]

And doesn't it make more sense to be able to change the Romans to Italians in late game?

Or, a bit more loose, how about Celts > English > British? Zhou > Ming > Chinese?

In my current game I’m doing an Elephant line. Autoexplore feature in Neolithic allowed me to get Harappans on Civilization, and after that I was picking cultures with ranged Elephant units: Mauryans->Khmer->Mughals->Siamese. Very natural transition. And cannons on elephants are a blast It will be interesting to replace them with Siamese machine guns.
The last transition will be a bit of a problem though, no more elephants. Probably Soviets will fit best here thematically, with their tank unit. Kinda elephant of steel.

As for the identity of my opponents, yes, I was very much lost and disoriented to the point of not caring anymore who they were, when I started playing in Victor opendev. Then in Closed Beta I made myself to identify other players with their empire emblem and colour, as avatars were just nobodies, stirring no feelings in me. Also, getting some known streamer personas helped a lot. And now, when you yourself can pick empire emblems and colours for your opponents, it became even better. What I want most now is more mods with a wide selection of all sorts of emblems.

 

[Siptah]

Also, getting some known streamer personas helped a lot.

I mostly like that they come with individual voice acting. I just wish Spiff would finally choose some traits...

 

[Victoria]

not caring anymore

Well I do, I am not going to trade with a warring neighbour if their affinity is low.

 

[reddishrecue]

But like many said, you can perfectly play one culture all era's. Granted, there is less choice but the classical age can easily be included. You can go from Phoenicians to Carthaginians - that is even historically correct. Or Myceneans > Greeks. Olmecs > Mayans.

I'm kind of heading that route. There's so many civ choices in different eras that I didn't know what to do. I even had a Olmec head built which did give good culture and food but not enough for early CV. I'm waiting to see what happens afterwards.

 

[Setis]

The Huns honestly suck all the fun out of this game.

 

[Siptah]

The Huns honestly suck all the fun out of this game.

They take some getting used to, and I dislike that the AI always chooses them. They are not unbeatable though (except when they get this +7 CS for 10 turns). Although the challenge they pose can be disproportionate compared to other challenges.

Try to fight them on open terrain, have more troops, and use either a culture with an emblematic spearman (Greeks, Persians) or Carthage. I’ve also heard that Horsemen are a really good counter (in case you get to that tech fast, you could even save some scouts and upgrade them). The good news is that once you‘ve killed the first 8 or so, the AI usually doesn‘t create new ones that fast.

 

[Taefin]

except when they get this +7 CS for 10 turns)

I think ferocious sucks the fun out of the game when it shows up. Can’t lose with it, can’t win against it. So much larger than any bonus at any time in the game. Not sure if it’s only given to the current losers, but playing HK that is always me when it shows up.

Is AI multi move still broken? When I saw it on Huns/Mongols at beta it more than double the length of AI turns because they kept moving the same units over and over.