Alien factions

Do you like alien factions?

  • Yes. I like being able to play aliens.

    Votes: 9 13.8%
  • No. I prefer just playing as humans and having all other factions human also.

    Votes: 47 72.3%
  • It depends/ I do not care(Please elaborate in comments.)

    Votes: 9 13.8%

  • Total voters
    65

Chapel

Chieftain
Joined
Jul 16, 2013
Messages
25
Location
Wisconsin
Am I the only one who prefers not having alien factions? I like a little more mystery with my sentient aliens than just well you are playing them now and look they get a bonus pretty much the same as every other sponsor. It seems like pretty much everyone else wants them though so I figured I would ask the forums because I am curious if anyone agrees with me.
 
I love playing as aliens. Buuuut, one of the victory conditions is making contact with intelligent alien life. So, if an alien civ lands on turn 10, the game would have to end. The devs have made it clear this game is about humanity's future only.
 
definitely agree on no alien factions, aliens should stay as the "Win Condition"

I would not mind an expansion that had 'stone age natives' as something like city states (ie you could assimilate them into your culture, enslave them, annihilate them or just trade with them.)

But definitely Not alien factions.
 
I think the inclusion of an Alien Faction really depends on how exactly it is implemented. Here is a Good idea/Bad Idea from my perspective as an example.

Bad Idea: Aliens start at the same technology level at Game Start as other Factions and are more or less purely cosmetic 'Humans in Alien Suits.'

Good Idea: You discover an Underground/Undersea Alien Civilization (or even better a creepy Alien AI) as the game progresses and they suddenlly erupt from below to get everyone OFF THEIR LAWN!
 
I think the inclusion of an Alien Faction really depends on how exactly it is implemented. Here is a Good idea/Bad Idea from my perspective as an example.

Bad Idea: Aliens start at the same technology level at Game Start as other Factions and are more or less purely cosmetic 'Humans in Alien Suits.'

Good Idea: You discover an Underground/Undersea Alien Civilization (or even better a creepy Alien AI) as the game progresses and they suddenlly erupt from below to get everyone OFF THEIR LAWN!

I agree with this. It would be really interesting to have a random chance to 'discover' an alien faction as the game progresses, in a similar manner. It could vary from game to game whether they chose to coexist with you or are openly hostile.
 
I wouldn't want a playable 'alien faction' because it doesn't really fit thematically with the game. However, it might be cool if you could control the aliens in multiplayer as a sort of spectator mode where you go around harassing other players.
 
It would be ridiculous if alien has same techs and virtues with humans, but resources for making up all new mechanics for aliens would be better spent with other things IMO. So no.
 
How would it fit with the affinities?
 
This seems like a very inappropriate time to have this discussion.

For one, you can't get Firaxis to change anything before release. They were too far committed to the game's design even before they even announced it existed. The best you can hope for is alien factions in an expansion pack.

Secondly, the devs have alluded to a sort of open-form story told through quests. We don't really have a grasp on what that story is. Some reviewers have mentioned that it has to do with the Great Mistake. Others, that it is about the progenitor aliens. It's quite possible that the story would only make sense for Earth-origin factions.

Thirdly, The Contact Victory wouldn't make a bit of sense if you are already a sapient alien culture or if there are sapient aliens competing with you, because the point of it is to contact sapient aliens.

To want alien factions is to want a different game than Beyond Earth, because Beyond Earth is a game that is intrinsically about the human experience as an interstellar species. There is no counterpoint as it stands, and they can't put one into the game and still ship it on Oct. 24th. The alien point of view could very well serve as the foundation for an expansion pack, but you aren't going to get it now.
 
I would like to play Alien Factions... but in a precisely dedicated expansion which people can decide to buy or not.

To have alien factions from the let go as part of the base game wouldn't be a good idea in my opinion.
 
This would make a good discussion for a future expansion, as they can alter win conditions and other things to make it fit.

Or how about alien factions from other planets making landfall as the humans did?

Similar to alien crossfire.
 
They should just recreate the old 'Phantom' custom games from starcraft and make it an online game mode.

Take the whole Alien Colonization plot from the x-files and apply it to the first player who follows and completes a specific set of quests.

Example - 1 player makes contact with aliens in private at the start of the game, Aliens 'encourage' you to assist them by doing quests to prepare the planet for colonization, such as capturing some locations and following a new research line, causing problems for other civilizations and generally being nasty.

In exchange the player wil be granted with additional resources.

It's the goal of the other players to figure out which player is helping the aliens, and destroy him before it's too late. Without getting paranoid and killing each other, making and breaking alliances etc :lol:
 
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