All Quiet on the Civ Front

[Guandao]

Maybe we can riot now...

Not so fast, my friend! We'll have to wait until after November 16....then we can riot if there's no announcement.

 

[Rup]

Introducing fan favourite fan made scenario Rhyse and Fall for Rise and Fall.
Me low-key wanted that :/

 

[Kimiimaro]

Not so fast, my friend! We'll have to wait until after November 16....then we can riot if there's no announcement.

Ah, forgot about that Switch thingy

Allright, since it's less than a month, I guess it's sustainable.

 

[Leathaface]

We could still get a patch this week. But the lack of activity on the steamdb this week doesn't make me super optimistic.

A small DLC in honor of the second anniversary would have been nice, but

If it weren't for X-Com 2 getting that tactical pack recently after the 6 year anniversary of the modern X-Com, I wouldn't have expected anything for the 2 year anniversary of Civ VI.

 

[torfish]

I'm going to be very general. My opinion of what a Civ VI next expansion must include:

• New Civs
• Late game additions (I love the early and mid-game. Late game is too boring and predictable)
• AI improvements

Want I would like to see:

• New emergency events or a revamp. I love the concept! Just needs more fleshed out.
• More units variety

What I don't need:

More scenarios (I never play them)

 

[Sherlock]

There also the potential hype for the mysterious "third expansion".

Before CiVII there will be the 'related spin-off' product. Something like 'Colonization' or 'CIVBERT'. I have my fingers crossed for the Bronze Age 'Ancient Civilizations' game.

 

[RagnorIronpants]

I doubt three expansions but I think 2.5 is a possibility (depending on sales), plus smaller DLC, and also patches that introduce minor mechanics. I'm basing this hunch on the example of X-com 2's DLCs and some of the previous Civ 6 patches (like the big religion one).

Also: I will be very surprised & disappointed if a colonisation mechanic, designed to improve the late game and make use of the new continents feature, is not a core feature of the next expansion.

 

[Myomoto]

That is true, but expansions also take a lot less effort than a new version. They can churn out an expansion pack in about a year, with a team that's a heckova lot smaller than what they would use for a new version. If we did get XP2 next year, even if they moved right away to working on VII, it's not getting released until 2021 or 2022.

That may be the case, but if the projected return on investment is just barely enough to break even for a third expansion, I don't see why not just start developing the new game - and then spend 1 year to churn out its first expansion that will have the highest projected ROI for an expansion.

We could still get a patch this week. But the lack of activity on the steamdb this week doesn't make me super optimistic.

A small DLC in honor of the second anniversary would have been nice, but

Wouldn't the updates stopping indicate that the content in finished and they're ready to record the youtube trailer?

 

[Duuk]

And if you add 8 more civs in the second expansion, and 8 more in a hypothetical third, then you get the delightfully round number 50 civs.

If there are only two 8 civ expansions, then the total number of civs would only be 42. Civ V had a final total of 43, so it would be the first time in the series that the number of civs regressed.

You're over thinking it.

If there were 10 Civs in XP2 it would still put the Civ count at 44, which would make it +1.

10 Civs in a final xpac would not be out of the realm of the possible.

Dooooooooooom.

 

[Deliverator]

10 Civs in a final xpac would not be out of the realm of the possible.

True but I think them following the pattern set by the first expansion of 8 new civs plus one alternate leader is more likely. With Civ V, Brave New World had 10 new Civs the same as Gods and Kings.

 

[Duuk]

I'm betting on 10 Civs rather than a 3rd expansion. I'm highly doubtful of a 3rd expansion.

 

[Eagle Pursuit]

True but I think them following the pattern set by the first expansion of 8 new civs plus one alternate leader is more likely. With Civ V, Brave New World had 10 new Civs the same as Gods and Kings.

They both had 9, not 10.

 

[Reckoner]

We could still get a patch this week. But the lack of activity on the steamdb this week doesn't make me super optimistic.

A small DLC in honor of the second anniversary would have been nice, but

Lack of activity might also indicate that final testing was successful and the project is ready to launch.
Do they usually proceed with testing after the initial announcement is made?

 

[RohirrimElf]

Lack of activity might also indicate that final testing was successful and the project is ready to launch.
Do they usually proceed with testing after the initial announcement is made?

Dont get to exited. It could take till spring 2019 till we see an expansion announcement.

 

[Kimiimaro]

Dooooooooooom.

Truly a doomsayer.

 

[Archon_Wing]

If they try to reinvent the wheel again instead of learning from the mistakes of previous versions I won't be hyped much at all.

Yea, that is a problem that does not inspire confidence.

In Civ 4, the last expansion had some good features but were not refined and they kinda just left it broken. I really can't speak for Civ 5, but it seemed like the changes for its 1st expansion was more radical and had a new developer compared to Civ 6's relatively more modest changes.

Honestly, while I think they did a good job with Civ 6, I couldn't forsee them doing it in 3-4 changes.

I dunno, it just seems like they always seem to abandon it just before it becomes perfect.

 

[WillowBrook]

Lack of activity might also indicate that final testing was successful and the project is ready to launch.
Do they usually proceed with testing after the initial announcement is made?

If they were going to announce something new for the second anniversary (small DLC or second expansion), I would have expected it to happen this morning, if not yesterday.

If a small DLC, I would expect it to be available immediately, so no testing yesterday would have been consistent with announcement and release today.

If the second expansion, there will be weeks of first looks and such before release, so testing would continue until release.

I expect some sort of new content to be announced before Christmas, probably after the Switch release in November. I'm not certain it will be the second expansion, although that is more likely than a small DLC, IMO. If it is the expansion, it won't be released until sometime in 2019.

 

[bbbt]

We could still get a patch this week. But the lack of activity on the steamdb this week doesn't make me super optimistic.

A small DLC in honor of the second anniversary would have been nice, but

Yeah, I'm surprised there's not a 2nd anniversary patch, and perhaps some minor bonus. I remember back at R&F launch there was talk of adding in a Poundmaker Cree scenario as a 'peace offering' around that controversy, for example.

I wouldn't expect a second expansion announcement until after the switch release (assuming an announcement is even coming this year), but I wouldn't think a patch announcement would be included in those marketing calculations.

 

[Guandao]

Dont get to exited. It could take till spring 2019 till we see an expansion announcement.

But it can be a good thing. More time for Firaxis to polish up this 2nd expansion. I think R&F was pretty rushed.
I remember the expansions for Civ5 being released during the summer.

 

[CPWimmer]

I'm a bit curious about current content availability across platforms:

1. On Mac - did they finally catch up and are they at the same patch level as PC?
2. Does the iPad version have any DLC or R&F available on it?
3. What about patches, do they have all of the current patched content as of the final 2018 patch on iPad?

The reason I am asking, is mostly to see what content we expect on the Switch. If it is only Vanilla (which I expect), it seems unlikely that even a Patch for PC would come out around that time. They might even hold back on a content update of any kind for the older (PC) Platform more than we think, just so as to not overshadow the Switch Release.

"New on Switch, this game from 2016 - but if you have it on the PC you get this patch update right now - which fixes all these things that are wrong with the product we are trying to sell you!", isn't really the best marketing to sell those Switch copies of the game. Clearly that's their target revenue for the 2018 holiday season.

On the other hand, if the iPad version got released with the very latest patch, or got a patch soon after launch that puts it at the same patch level as the PC, only then would I expect a PC/Mac patch for November.

Now that the 2nd anniversary milestone is in the rear-view mirror, It makes me think an announcement of Schrodinger's 2019 Expansion is likely to come in late November at the earliest with no actual Patch or small DLC on the horizon for 2018 at all.