Alright. Here’s the plan

[Auncien]

Over the past several days I have questioned several of the design decisions made in the creation of Civilization V, not as a matter of blind loyalty to earlier versions or as an attempt to undermine excitement for the game, but rather as an expression of my desire to preserve that (sacred?) feeling of immersion that one got while playing alternate histories in the Civs that came before.

I have also asserted that I would wait and play the demo, which launches on the 21st of September, the same day of the game launch in North America, before purchasing. After thinking about the situation for about a week now I have actually reconsidered that stance.

For every disturbing supposed shift toward simplification there seems (and I emphasize the uncertainty in that phrasing) to be another new and interesting system that may behave in ways that someone who has not played the game at length can neither predict nor completely grasp beforehand. To be honest there’s a lot of stuff in this game that I’m just curious about from a game design / mechanics perspective and as a game player I need to experience it, even if I don’t care for the overall experience (heaven forbid). If nothing else, this game deserves an honest look and I’m going to give it that because you can tell that people have poured themselves into its creation and tried to breath new life into a very old franchise.

So here’s the plan. Since I have sort of unwittingly established myself as a skeptic of certain mechanics, systems and the game’s connection with realism, I am going to show a little “faith,” (as some in another thread suggested) and I’m just going to preorder and buy CiV. I’m going to buy it no matter what I hear between now and the 21st and play it for several hours on day one. After doing so for several hours I will come here and I will write a skeptic’s in-depth review of the game. While there will be no shortage of such write-ups from the press and from other fans, mine will give you the authenticity of someone who had a lot of concerns but who took the plunge and tried the game anyway.

So if you’re interested but wary or if you just live in a region of the planet that isn’t lucky enough to play the game on the 21st, look for my review several hours after launch.

Rawr.

 

[matt112986]

In depth review from a few hours? Perhaps you should consider it a first impression or something similar.

 

[Mercade]

Go for it, Auncien. I'll be looking forward to your review and the serious reviews of people who take an in-depth look at the game and its mechanics. For me, while some concepts have been removed for one reason or another, there are also new concepts (City States, anyone, Policies, ...) that change the way Civ5 works in comparison with Civ4. But yeah, as Matt observed. For an in-depth you might take a little longer than a few hours.

For me, the only reason to get the demo before possibly pre-ordering is that I want to see how it works on my 3-4 year old PC and I might just have to swap out the graphics card before running the game itself.

 

[Ogrelord]

here's my plan. buy Civ Rev for 30$.
wait at least 6 months before considering buying ciV.
follow ciV forums. Read people impressions and reviews.

 

[Auncien]

By 'a few hours' I was thinking like 12-24 at the least. I won't write anything that I'm not absolutely sure of. No bombastic generalizations etc.

 

[Herrhals]

If you're able to write a good, detailed, accurate review about a game after only playing it a few hours, then it must be a boring, dumbed down, unworthy title that doesn't even deserve a critical review.

Like a book you can't write a critical analytic review of it unless you read it all the way though. You can read 30 pages, give up, write your review. The only thing you can legitimately argue is how poorly it's written or how boring it is, nothing more. Same with a game

Honestly, neither you, nor anybody else, will be able to write a critical, analytic review of the game until you have really played a game through. All the new features will take quite a while to figure out, with all the permutations of gameplay. I have played several games that have quite a learning curve (EU3, Settlers II, etc). At first they suck, but once one figures it out, one spends a mini-eternity playing them through and through and through.

If you're so serious about the game, about its' predecessors, its' programmers, then give it a few days to simmer, then write. Then your report will have legitimacy. 3 hours is hardly a "skeptics in-depth review"

I have a feeling your initial reaction will be positive, and either head in a positive direction when you start playing, or a negative way. I will look forward to what you have to write, if you have legitimate ideas and not rash, cro magnon like blunt misunderstanding of the game.
-Herrhals

 

[Ogrelord]

are you going to play a game in a general way.
Or are you going to try different possible exploit/strategy. For example, mass Trading Post spam. Destroy/Annex all C-S, etc...

 

[ZimbuTheMonkey]

Why don't you just save your money and try the demo first?

The full game will still be available to purchase then.

 

[Auncien]

are you going to play a game in a general way.
Or are you going to try different possible exploit/strategy. For example, mass Trading Post spam. Destroy/Annex all C-S, etc...

a marathon (little m) play session that includes multiple games, multiple speeds, multiple strategies, multiple playstyles with me 'working' the game as much as I can.

No, I don't sleep much. You'd be surprised by what you can accomplish in 24 hours if you just don't sleep.

 

[Auncien]

Why don't you just save your money and try the demo first?

The full game will still be available to purchase then.

Because the point of the exercise is to be the space monkey for those who want to do what you suggest, but who might want a little more that they can't get from demo play.

 

[Aussie_Lurker]

I shall await your review with the greatest of interest !

Aussie.

 

[ZimbuTheMonkey]

My point is that if YOU don't like the demo, you can save yourself 50 dollars.

So on launch, you play the demo. If you like it somewhat and are intrigued, you can pay for the full game. If you are absolutely sure you won't like the game, then you don't buy it and you come to tell us why.

I guess I just don't see the importance of warning the community (assuming the worst) when there will be a huge amount of information from other sources.

 

[Semmel]

Wow, didnt expect to read these words from you, Auncien.. I am impressed. I am not a fanboy but I also find it very silly to discuss strategics (several threads already..) or to criticise game mechanics that cant be understood on its full impact at the moment. So I was always kind of a critics-critic. Not because I think civ5 does it right the way they do, but because I think that an open mind is important. And btw.. Now its too late to change anything at the game. So we could be as well just relax and enjoy the show ;-)

 

[Thyrwyn]

I, too, will be looking forward to your review - especially since I plan to be playing almost as much as you. I am even going to play my first game at normal speed. I think. I am especially interested in your impression, because I am more firmly on the "anticipatory" side of the divide. Maybe I will try to post a review as well - just to see how different our impressions are.

That is not to say that I do not have my reservations (diplomacy), but I am looking forward to playing around with some of the new mechanics - especially the Social Policies.

 

[Auncien]

Maybe I will try to post a review as well - just to see how different our impressions are.

That is an excellent idea. The more raw, experience-based information that people have and the more impressions they get the better. I look forward to reading yours.

 

[ShaqFu]

That is an excellent idea. The more raw, experience-based information that people have and the more impressions they get the better. I look forward to reading yours.

We should start an early review thread on the 21st for people to discuss their first impressions of the game.

 

[remconius]

Curious to hear what will be your view...

 

[parabellum9x19]

For every disturbing supposed shift toward simplification there seems (and I emphasize the uncertainty in that phrasing) to be another new and interesting system that may behave in ways that someone who has not played the game at length can neither predict nor completely grasp beforehand. To be honest there’s a lot of stuff in this game that I’m just curious about from a game design / mechanics perspective and as a game player I need to experience it, even if I don’t care for the overall experience (heaven forbid). If nothing else, this game deserves an honest look and I’m going to give it that because you can tell that people have poured themselves into its creation and tried to breath new life into a very old franchise.

So here’s the plan. Since I have sort of unwittingly established myself as a skeptic of certain mechanics, systems and the game’s connection with realism, I am going to show a little “faith,” (as some in another thread suggested) and I’m just going to preorder and buy CiV. I’m going to buy it no matter what I hear between now and the 21st and play it for several hours on day one. After doing so for several hours I will come here and I will write a skeptic’s in-depth review of the game. While there will be no shortage of such write-ups from the press and from other fans, mine will give you the authenticity of someone who had a lot of concerns but who took the plunge and tried the game anyway.

I know there will be a lot of such reviews, but I'm interested to hear your opinion. I look forward to your insights.

Its probably quite apparent that I'm totally sold on Civ V. Shockingly though, I haven't pre-ordered yet. Since I missed out on the D2D SchoolSucks promo code, I'll prolly just pre-order the digital deluxe edition the day before release.

Chances are I won't have the time to write a review (one moar turn) but I should be able to squeeze in enough time to read a couple

 

[Purpureus]

@Auncien

That is very generous of you.
Thanks and best of luck!

 

[Schuesseled]

here's my plan. buy Civ Rev for 30$.
wait at least 6 months before considering buying ciV.
follow ciV forums. Read people impressions and reviews.

That is a terrbile plan.