clapyourhands
Prince
- Joined
- Jul 16, 2017
- Messages
- 412
I thought it would be interesting to rate each of the series' civs in the frequency and timespan of their returns and create a descending list of sorts to see if there would be any predictive value in it. The two points of interest were 1) if the civ returned at all in a subsequent game and 2) whether the return was in vanilla, pre-expansion DLC, the first expansion, or the second expansion.
To calculate the values, I assigned each civ's appearance per game a point value. Being in the vanilla version of a main series Civ title was 3 points; being introduced in pre-expansion DLC was 2.5 points; first DLC was 2 points; second DLC was 1 point. As edge cases, pre-order bonuses (Civ V Babylon and Civ VI Aztecs) received 2.75 for their respective titles since they were "released" the same time as the rest of the base games, but still were "left out" for many players one way or another. Finally, Austria got 0.75 points for Civ III for a similar reason, being technically part of the second expansion but being cut as a "secret" civ over the civs that did make it to official release. Each successive title is weighted 0.2 more than the previous one, as in my opinion it is more telling for future games if a Civ is included in vanilla, for example, from III - VI than if it is for I-III but not later ones.
1 - 12. (America, Aztec, China, Egypt, England, France, Germany, Greece, Japan, India, Rome, Russia):
Civ staples. Have been vanilla* in every main title without fail.
*The Aztecs were close enough...
13-16. (Persia, Spain, Nordic, Arabia):
Either vanilla or pre-expansion DLC. A vanilla release would most likely include the 12 from the previous group, 2 from this group, 1 or 2 from any of the lower groups, and around 3 new civilizations.
17-18. (Babylon and Mongols):
Pre-expansion DLC or first expansion.
19-33:
First expansion-tier civs, with a few coming earlier as pre-expansion DLC.
34-52:
Second expansion-tier civs, OR new civs that haven't appeared in enough sequels to warrant generalization as a series mainstay. Two or three civs from here usually make it into vanilla and/or the first expansion as surprise early returns.
53 (Hittites):
Alas, poor Hittites. Not a blob civ like the Native Americans, nor one subsumed into another like the HRE, they're the only other civ to not return for multiple installments in a row.
Obviously, the biggest flaw with this analysis is that Civ VI simply isn't done, and when you get to the lower parts of the chart (ie: 6 and below), you really start to notice oddities like Civ VI newcomers being higher than returnees (ie: Scythia over Portugal). This should remedy itself over time, as the Civ VI civs currently released essentially have an entire game over those that have not yet been released but will be. To counteract this, here's a bonus chart from pre-Civ VI release (Japan should be at 19.5 on this one, and Zulus at 15.2 and lower than Spain); this would have been the scores of each civ post-BNW but before any Civ VI civs were revealed:
It does seem to line up relatively well with general consensus, with some aberrations (ie: Portugal and Austria). Anything else stand out to you guys? Will the Hittites finally be dredged up from the bottom of the list in the coming expansions?
To calculate the values, I assigned each civ's appearance per game a point value. Being in the vanilla version of a main series Civ title was 3 points; being introduced in pre-expansion DLC was 2.5 points; first DLC was 2 points; second DLC was 1 point. As edge cases, pre-order bonuses (Civ V Babylon and Civ VI Aztecs) received 2.75 for their respective titles since they were "released" the same time as the rest of the base games, but still were "left out" for many players one way or another. Finally, Austria got 0.75 points for Civ III for a similar reason, being technically part of the second expansion but being cut as a "secret" civ over the civs that did make it to official release. Each successive title is weighted 0.2 more than the previous one, as in my opinion it is more telling for future games if a Civ is included in vanilla, for example, from III - VI than if it is for I-III but not later ones.
Spoiler Rankings :
1 - 12. (America, Aztec, China, Egypt, England, France, Germany, Greece, Japan, India, Rome, Russia):
Civ staples. Have been vanilla* in every main title without fail.
*The Aztecs were close enough...
13-16. (Persia, Spain, Nordic, Arabia):
Either vanilla or pre-expansion DLC. A vanilla release would most likely include the 12 from the previous group, 2 from this group, 1 or 2 from any of the lower groups, and around 3 new civilizations.
17-18. (Babylon and Mongols):
Pre-expansion DLC or first expansion.
19-33:
First expansion-tier civs, with a few coming earlier as pre-expansion DLC.
34-52:
Second expansion-tier civs, OR new civs that haven't appeared in enough sequels to warrant generalization as a series mainstay. Two or three civs from here usually make it into vanilla and/or the first expansion as surprise early returns.
53 (Hittites):
Alas, poor Hittites. Not a blob civ like the Native Americans, nor one subsumed into another like the HRE, they're the only other civ to not return for multiple installments in a row.
Obviously, the biggest flaw with this analysis is that Civ VI simply isn't done, and when you get to the lower parts of the chart (ie: 6 and below), you really start to notice oddities like Civ VI newcomers being higher than returnees (ie: Scythia over Portugal). This should remedy itself over time, as the Civ VI civs currently released essentially have an entire game over those that have not yet been released but will be. To counteract this, here's a bonus chart from pre-Civ VI release (Japan should be at 19.5 on this one, and Zulus at 15.2 and lower than Spain); this would have been the scores of each civ post-BNW but before any Civ VI civs were revealed:
Spoiler :
It does seem to line up relatively well with general consensus, with some aberrations (ie: Portugal and Austria). Anything else stand out to you guys? Will the Hittites finally be dredged up from the bottom of the list in the coming expansions?
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