8 Civs. Is that enough? More to come?

[Lucius_]

How many civs start on a standard sized map? does anyone know?

Also the purity victory condition says receive 20 colonists from earth and settle them, so im assuming there will need to be a considerable amount of bare land even in the end game?

Yes you need some land for the Purity victory, but not a massive amount. The colonists will stack in a single colony up to 6, so you need space to add 4 cities essentially.

 

[KrikkitTwo]

Yes, but each faction leader had his/her own set of preferred goals and means to achieve them - and these could be, and were, modded.

So do the civs in BE.
Some of that was revealed earlier and people thought they were bonuses:
Daoming favors science and energy over 'religion' (removed now) and culture.

The AIs will definitely have flavors.... although they probably won't have an Affinity flavor. If it is anything like CivV they will have flavors for Orbital units, wonders, health, expansion, growth, trade with stations, war peace, backstabbing, exploration, alien killing, etc.

Some AIs will be more likely to go for Contact, others for Conquest, and others for the Affinity Victor of whatever Affinity they happen to choose.

 

[gunnergoz]

I agree that the three Affinities are an advancement, my point is merely that I'd be happy to see more added over time.

 

[awesome]

i'd be surprised if we got more than 2 dlcs

 

[gunnergoz]

I expect a couple DLC's (Sponsors, biomes, seed variables) and maybe one expansion. Much depends upon how far along they are on what will become Civ 6, which I'm going to assume will be 64-bit.

 

[KrikkitTwo]

They said the DLC model didn't work quite like they wanted to for CivV.. so hopefully expansions instead (say 2 expansions with 3-4 factions each)

 

[AriochIV]

I would be surprised if there was a full expansion (since Beyond Earth itself is essentially an expansion), but I can see a few DLC's with more faction options and/or new aliens and world options.

Even that would be groundbreaking, since I don't think any Firaxis expansion or spinoff (like Civ 4 Colonization) has ever had its own DLC.

 

[awesome]

i'm expecting a 2016 civ6 release for the 25th anniversary of the first game, so my expectations aren't too high for this game's longevity, but i would love to be pleasantly surprised.

 

[Thormodr]

i'm expecting a 2016 civ6 release for the 25th anniversary of the first game, so my expectations aren't too high for this game's longevity, but i would love to be pleasantly surprised.

I think that they have left some features out so that they can sell some DLC. I expect at least one expansion and quite a number of DLC.

Not a big fan of the DLC system but if it keeps the company afloat until Civ VI comes out (hopefully in 2016 as you said) then that's fine.

 

[DarkestOnion]

I am always leery of the pessimistic argument that Publishers and Developers intentionally withhold content in order to maximize DLC and Expansion profits. My problem with that theory is that in essence what you have is an extraordinary claim based most often on no more than the fear that it might be true. How close might I be to the mark of your true concern in the few sentences below?

You are concerned about the increasing prevalence of DLC and Expansions today. You are afraid that Civ:BE will withhold content from you in order to maximize DLC and Expansion profits. You believe that everyone needs to wake up and realize that they are being taken advantage of based upon your concerns. However, you are willing to accept DLC and Expansions as something that you have no power to stop so you minimize the level of voicing your discontent.

 

[Thormodr]

I am always leery of the pessimistic argument that Publishers and Developers intentionally withhold content in order to maximize DLC and Expansion profits. My problem with that theory is that in essence what you have is an extraordinary claim based most often on no more than the fear that it might be true. How close might I be to the mark of your true concern in the few sentences below?

You are concerned about the increasing prevalence of DLC and Expansions today. You are afraid that Civ:BE will withhold content from you in order to maximize DLC and Expansion profits. You believe that everyone needs to wake up and realize that they are being taken advantage of based upon your concerns. However, you are willing to accept DLC and Expansions as something that you have no power to stop so you minimize the level of voicing your discontent.

I have voiced my opinion that I am not in favour of the DLC system. In the end, while optional, it inflates the price of games. At least for me, as I am a completist so I tend to buy everything.

Many companies are doing it nowadays. Paradox Interactive and Stardock, for example. It seems to be the wave of the future, like it or not.

They'll keep doing it until people stop buying it, I suppose.

 

[gunnergoz]

I for one like the DLC system since it allows for content that the original funding for the project might not have permitted. It has been abused by some companies, no question of that, but I don't identify Firaxis/2K as one of the culprits.

 

[proftc]

I for one like the DLC system since it allows for content that the original funding for the project might not have permitted. It has been abused by some companies, no question of that, but I don't identify Firaxis/2K as one of the culprits.

I believe, at least for Civ, the expansions were things that they didn't have time to get right before the main release. People like religion, but if they had tried to put it in Vanilla unfinished, there'd be forums full of people complaining. Heck, people are still complaining that it's not polished enough.

 

[AriochIV]

It has been abused by some companies, no question of that, but I don't identify Firaxis/2K as one of the culprits.

I do. Charging $5 for each single additional civilization is ludicrous. At that rate, the 18 civilizations in the vanilla game should have cost $90 by themselves, and that's to say nothing of the entire rest of the game.

I have no problem paying for additional content, but I do no appreciate being gouged.

 

[gunnergoz]

I believe, at least for Civ, the expansions were things that they didn't have time to get right before the main release. People like religion, but if they had tried to put it in Vanilla unfinished, there'd be forums full of people complaining. Heck, people are still complaining that it's not polished enough.

In business, Time=Money. Not enough Time to get right=Not enough Money to get right. Like I said, they didn't have the funds to add the DLC material in a finished form.

Unfinished products are not always a symptom of lack of time or lack of talent, rather they represent a corporate decision to not fund further development, perhaps diverting available funds to other projects or priorities (like profits, salaries and bonuses.)

 

[gunnergoz]

I do. Charging $5 for each single additional civilization is ludicrous. At that rate, the 18 civilizations in the vanilla game should have cost $90 by themselves, and that's to say nothing of the entire rest of the game.

I have no problem paying for additional content, but I do no appreciate being gouged.

$5 For another civ may seem ludicrous to you, but not necessarily to others, myself included. I always have the choice not to buy. I usually do where Civ games are concerned. In a time when a cup of coffee at the airport costs $5, why should I quail at the same fee for a game addition?

 

[Eisenhart]

$5 For another civ may seem ludicrous to you, but not necessarily to others, myself included. I always have the choice not to buy. I usually do where Civ games are concerned. In a time when a cup of coffee at the airport costs $5, why should I quail at the same fee for a game addition?

I agree with this. People seem to complain a lot when they have to pay a bit more for games, but seemingly do not notice that they spend more for entertainment/goods they consume quicker and appreciate less (e.g., a few beers).

As long as the core game is present as is and does NOT lack in core features because of DLCs to be released in short order, it is fine.

 

[AriochIV]

$5 For another civ may seem ludicrous to you, but not necessarily to others, myself included. I always have the choice not to buy. I usually do where Civ games are concerned. In a time when a cup of coffee at the airport costs $5, why should I quail at the same fee for a game addition?

I don't appreciate being gouged at the airport, either. Sure, it's only $5... but there were six DLC civilizations, so now you're looking at $30, which is half the price of the game itself.

The problem here is that if people balk at paying more than $60 for a game, but eagerly slap down half again as much more money for tiny incremental DLC additions, then you're giving the developer a perverse incentive to put as little content as possible in the $60 box, and release as much content as they can as DLC, for which they can earn something like 20 times the profit. If you don't see this as a recipe for disaster, you're not thinking hard enough (or you haven't played enough EA games).

I think Firaxis learned their lesson with the early Civ V DLC's, and I think that's why they released G&K and BNW as more conventional expansions. As I said before, I have no problem paying for downloadable content, as long as it represents a reasonable value for the price.

 

[cooldude1128]

I don't appreciate being gouged at the airport, either. Sure, it's only $5... but there were six DLC civilizations, so now you're looking at $30, which is half the price of the game itself.

The problem here is that if people balk at paying more than $60 for a game, but eagerly slap down half again as much more money for tiny incremental DLC additions, then you're giving the developer a perverse incentive to put as little content as possible in the $60 box, and release as much content as they can as DLC, for which they can earn something like 20 times the profit. If you don't see this as a recipe for disaster, you're not thinking hard enough (or you haven't played enough EA games).

I think Firaxis learned their lesson with the early Civ V DLC's, and I think that's why they released G&K and BTS as more conventional expansions.

BTS was a Civilization 4 expansion. You mean BNW, right?

 

[AriochIV]

BTS was a Civilization 4 expansion. You mean BNW, right?

Yep, I did.