All Quiet on the Civ Front

[The Kingmaker]

I disagree. Firaxis released a civ video per week, complete with trivia teases and livestreams to demonstrate them. It flowed very nicely and the community was very engaged.

Steady content keeps people engaged.

Blizzard fans keep playing Heroes of the Storm (even though the gameplay is pretty one-dimensional) because new heroes and content are released every two months.

I’m not advocating that exact model for Civ, but it helps to remind people that the game exists by piquing their interest with new content. It worked for the Civ6 DLC season after release. I’m somewhat surprised they haven’t tried that again, given how engaged the community was.

 

[Zaarin]

Ruler of Egypt who didn't lose the realm to foreign power, French leader for France, New Dynasty for China*, Non-Achaemenid leader for Persia, ruler that wasn't a figurehead for England, or just a new leader for Rome... So many choices, as long as it's not another Greek leader

*Yongle of Ming still prefered by me

The game isn't complete until it includes Periander of Corinth, Epaminondas of Seven-Gated Thebes, Phoroneus of Argos, and Seleucus of Seleucia.

 

[Kimiimaro]

The game isn't complete until it includes Periander of Corinth, Epaminondas of Seven-Gated Thebes, Phoroneus of Argos, and Seleucus of Seleucia.

"...and because we know that some fans might disagree with the number of Greek leaders being too small and Balkans being too unrepresented, we present you the Byzantines!"

 

[acluewithout]

"You've enjoyed two leaders for Greece in Pericles and Gorgo; You've enjoyed the Greeko leader of Egypt, Cleopatra; You've enjoyed the 'Alternative Greece' of Macedon with it's leader, Alexander. Now comes the new DLC alternative leader pack; the Greek-Cypriot-Syian Theodora as an alternative leader for Rome and the Greek Prince Philip as an alternative leader for England or Scotland!"

England gets a free melee unit whenever it builds a theatre square or improves some olives.

 

[Alexander's Hetaroi]

The game isn't complete until it includes Periander of Corinth, Epaminondas of Seven-Gated Thebes, Phoroneus of Argos, and Seleucus of Seleucia.

Thebes is already taken by the Egyptians, though it's close enough.

 

[Gorbles]

The game isn't complete until it includes Periander of Corinth, Epaminondas of Seven-Gated Thebes, Phoroneus of Argos, and Seleucus of Seleucia.

The Seleucid Empire was Hard Mode in Rome: Total War, which is a shame because I absolutely loved that side of the map. I fully support this unironic set of suggestions!

 

[Guandao]

I used to be on the testing team for Civ, so I’ve had a fair bit of contact with the Firaxis devs in the past.

IMHO, the real issue is the insane amount of analysis done behind the scenes by 2K, who are the ones who tell Firaxis what they can do.

On the one hand, having a supportive publisher is good. However, publishers can sometimes have a different vision for a game than a developer has, which can cause... issues.

I'm betting 2K pushed for Cleopatra being the leader of Egypt instead of Hatshepsut.

Ruler of Egypt who didn't lose the realm to foreign power, French leader for France, New Dynasty for China*, Non-Achaemenid leader for Persia, ruler that wasn't a figurehead for England, or just a new leader for Rome... So many choices, as long as it's not another Greek leader

*Yongle of Ming still prefered by me

You really love Yongle Emperor, do you? I'm sorry a naval Chinese Civ doesn't make sense.

 

[Zaarin]

"...and because we know that some fans might disagree with the number of Greek leaders being too small and Balkans being too unrepresented, we present you the Byzantines!"

I still want the Byzantines.

Thebes is already taken by the Egyptians, though it's close enough.

Wrong Thebes: that's Thebes of the Hundred Gates; that's why I specified Thebes of the Seven Gates.

 

[Leathaface]

That's consistent with the trend, I think. Firaxis/2k appear to be trying out / refining a communications policy where they're shortening up the period from announcement to release, and where they're giving no advance indication when something new is coming.

That communications policy sucks.

 

[Alexander's Hetaroi]

Wrong Thebes: that's Thebes of the Hundred Gates; that's why I specified Thebes of the Seven Gates.

I know they are different, just pointing out that Firaxis doesn't make the distinctions. They could have at least named it Waset, which is what Ancient Egyptians called it, and given Thebes to actual Greece.

 

[Zaarin]

I know they are different, just pointing out that Firaxis doesn't make the distinctions. They could have at least named it Waset, which is what Ancient Egyptians called it, and given Thebes to actual Greece.

Egypt, Nubia, and Scythia are neck-and-neck for worst city list in the game. My last game as Nubia I renamed all my cities after Phoenician city-states.

 

[Trav'ling Canuck]

The game isn't complete until it includes Periander of Corinth, Epaminondas of Seven-Gated Thebes, Phoroneus of Argos, and Seleucus of Seleucia.

I have a metal hand painted Seleucid army gathering dust in my game cabinet from back when I used to play De Bellis Antiquitas and its bigger scale De Bellis Multitudinus. Pikes, Heavy Cavalry, and a small unit of Elephants, plus mixed Slingers/Bowmen for skirmisher support.

I have no intention of buying Schrodinger's Expansion unless it addresses my personal concerns about the game, but I'll make an exception and advance buy it if Seleucus is included.

 

[Zaarin]

I have no intention of buying Schrodinger's Expansion unless it addresses my personal concerns about the game, but I'll make an exception and advance buy it if Seleucus is included.

Well, I think we're pretty well-stocked on Greeks except for Byzantium and would rather have a Sassanian for more Persia, but I can appreciate having a pet civ unlikely to appear. Mine is the Duchy of Brittany. (Also those miniatures sound pretty cool.)

 

[The Kingmaker]

Zenobia of Palmyra FTW!

 

[Zaarin]

Zenobia of Palmyra FTW!

She's another, but I figure she has a better chance of appearing than the Duchy of Brittany, awesome female powerhouse Joanna of Flanders notwithstanding.

 

[The Kingmaker]

We should be so lucky.

 

[jddods]

Zenobia of Palmyra FTW!

Get's my vote too.
BTW back when I played tabletop Ancients in the days before published Army lists, my mate played Seleucids, which translated as field anything I like.

 

[WillowBrook]

Ltest branch updated again today, that's four business days in a row. (No we don't know what this is; it's almost certainly not the expansion.)

 

[Eagle Pursuit]

Ltest branch updated again today, that's four business days in a row. (No we don't know what this is; it's almost certainly not the expansion.)

It will be interesting to see what happens when they get done with it. They haven't been doing many 2kqa build updates since LTest began. I'm going to be paying attention to whether the qa build updates continue at a slow rate or if they increase in frequency.

 

[The Kingmaker]

Ltest branch updated again today, that's four business days in a row. (No we don't know what this is; it's almost certainly not the expansion.)

We’re relatively certain that an XP2 is in the works, given that every Civ game since Civ2 has had two expansions.

That being said, I would be very pleased if this was something other than the expansion as you suggest. DLCs are always welcome, particularly if they contain new civs!