Asset file hinting at future and/or cut content

[TheGrayFox]

leif erikson or thorfinn karlsefni (obviously with all the works to avoid the pop culture perception) would also be really cool

If they put in thorfinn, he better say “I have no enemies” everytime I click the diplomacy button

 

[Siptah]

People in this thread have suggested the Fort de Rocher, although from what I can tell the fort was demolished by the Spanish a few decades before the pirates took control of Nassau (and it's in Tortuga!). I do wonder if it's actually a reference to the somewhat longer-lived Republic of Salé, also famous for Berber piracy. It would make the pack represent three pirate polities actually - Salé as a civ, Blackbeard for the Caribbean, and Sayyida in Tétouan at the other end of Morocco.

If it would indeed be Salé, the Kasbah des Oudaïas would make a nice wonder. Although it is not within the Salé city walls, but a few hundred meters away across the river in Rabat (which would also have the Hassan Tower/the never finished mosque as a wonder).

I would have preferred Barbarossa over Sayyida al Hurra or Teach, but I can see how the selected duo is a better package. Still...

Corsairs are already in the game as CS suzerain ability in the exploration era, so I'm curious what's in stock for the pirates.

 

[TheGrayFox]

i fail to see the issue, especially considering you’ve called her “politically motivated” (??) in this thread. she’s one of the most influential maori people ever, especially in more recent times (where they’ve been relatively more united, and hold a lot of political sway in New Zealand/Aotearoa).

I do understand the recency bias, but you mentioned WWII, which is probably too far away atp. that was the bar in civ 5 (2010–so 55 years), and they still had Haile Selassie (who died in 1975, 35 years), and civ 6 (2016–so 61 years), which still had Wilhelmina (died 1964, 52 years).

World War II ended 80 years ago this year, and history didn’t stop after the end of WWII.

But the game literally ends right after the end of WWII

 

[Alexander's Hetaroi]

Tonga and the Maori are bromide; inoffensive in themselves, but a bit redundant, either with one another or Hawaii.
Some are speculating that the Maori will complete a Pacific stack, and Buganda's inclusion in the Modern Age evidences the possibility, but I'm still skeptical of the inclusion of tribal peoples as Modern civs.
Spears and stones against tanks and planes was one of the discordant aspects of Civilization that the Ages system was intended to address.

Antiquity Tonga and Modern Māori would make a complete Polynesian line. That's the point of why people want their inclusion

Sayyida and Whina? Who? And more importantly: why?

Sayyida would be a cool Babary Corsair pirate queen. I'm less thrilled about Whina Cooper only because she'd be really recent, but she's one of the most famous Māori activists of the 20th century.

 

[Siptah]

But the game literally ends right after the end of WWII

1961 seems to be the last thing (science victory project).

It's strange to have a leader who was active outside the game's time window.

 

[TheSpaceCowboy]

At least from a TSL perspective… If they did the actual republic of pirates, you would have (European) pirates starting in the new world before the colonial powers ever even made it there. Which would be a bit of a meme.

That’d also be the case if Firaxis eventually adds colonial America , but despite the ahistorical anachronism, it’s still sorely needed in order to more fully flesh out America. Compared to China and India, America feels like only a third of a full civ

 

[DogeEnricoDandolo]

i fail to see the issue, especially considering you’ve called her “politically motivated” (??) in this thread. she’s one of the most influential maori people ever, especially in more recent times (where they’ve been relatively more united, and hold a lot of political sway in New Zealand/Aotearoa).

I do understand the recency bias, but you mentioned WWII, which is probably too far away atp. that was the bar in civ 5 (2010–so 55 years), and they still had Haile Selassie (who died in 1975, 35 years), and civ 6 (2016–so 61 years), which still had Wilhelmina (died 1964, 52 years).

World War II ended 80 years ago this year, and history didn’t stop after the end of WWII. What of the cold war, the rise of decolonial africa and asia, information age risers like Taiwan and Singapore, etc. Do these deserve less representation because they happened after an arbitrary point nearly a century ago?

Whina Cooper may have died only 30 years ago, but the bulk of her accomplishments happened far earlier in the 20th century (particularly in the 1970s, which civ 5 made clear was up for fair game). Considering her importance to Maori rights (the Land Marches were key to the basis of Maori rights today), she’s a no brainer, and she’s fairly uncontroversial, which makes her recency less of an issue.

After doing my research on her, I really look forward to her inclusion, she seems awesome. At first I did have my doubts since her passing was in the 90s, a bit too recent, but after a while, it will be a non-issue.
Blackbeard and Sayyida are different though. Both of them are cool on their own, but 2 pirates? do we really need both?

 

[Xefjord]

That’d also be the case if Firaxis eventually adds colonial America , but despite the ahistorical anachronism, it’s still sorely needed in order to more fully flesh out America. Compared to China and India, America feels like only a third of a full civ

Modern age America already represents colonial America.

 

[DogeEnricoDandolo]

Compared to China and India, America feels like only a third of a full civ

Maybe because China and India have been around for millennia, and America has been around for less than a tenth of that?

 

[Thenewwwguy]

Maybe because China and India have been around for millennia, and America has been around for less than a tenth of that?

the chola alone lasted at-least 1400 years—nearly 6 times longer

 

[untitledjuan]

That’d also be the case if Firaxis eventually adds colonial America , but despite the ahistorical anachronism, it’s still sorely needed in order to more fully flesh out America. Compared to China and India, America feels like only a third of a full civ

China and India have more than 35 centuries of history, America only has 2.5 centuries. American history in the Exploration and Ancient Era is covered by civilizations such as the Normans (and a future England), Spain, Shawnee, Mississippi, Hawaii, Rome and Greece.

 

[queenpea]

I reckon we need more 'Merica, and may I suggest Alexis de Tocqueville to round out the current leader roster?

 

[SammyKhalifa]

I reckon we need more 'Merica, and may I suggest Alexis de Tocqueville to round out the current leader roster?

An Andrew Carnegie villain character.

 

[wilcoxchar]

People are acting like there can only be one civ ever with a piracy or privateering focus, or that if it's a civ then an age of piracy can't be a crisis. Firaxis could certainly make multiple civs and a crisis with that focus just like they make multiple religious focused civs and a wars of religion exploration age crisis. The Pirate Republic, a Barbary civ like Morocco, and the Netherlands can all be civ and a piracy crisis can be included in exploration (and antiquity too) just fine.

Overall this sounds like a good range for a seafaring DLC. Tonga and Maori are a good rounding out of a Pacific path, and going with a more modern 20th century Maori like it seems they're doing with the Whina Cooper leader choice is a refreshing choice for that part of the world. I also really don't get the hate for Iceland. Iceland very much fits with the full coverage of the historical period of exploration and is a great inclusion. The exploration age is already meant to cover the entire global age of exploration, from the Vikings and Norman voyages to the spread of Islam into the Sahel to Indian Ocean trade empires to Zheng He to Polynesian expansion. So Iceland and Sayyida al Hura fit very well with that coverage.

The only weird one is the Ottomans, which while fitting for the DLC feel like they were taken out of the base game for the inclusion of Prussia or Russia. The Ottomans would have kept the geographic balance of 1 Middle Eastern civ and only 2 European civs per age, but I guess they took them out for the inclusion of a 3rd modern European civ for some strange reason. I just hope they keep up the geographic balance going instead of overloading the game with Europeans like in past civ games.

 

[Giskler]

There's another file that name drops Zenobia.

 

[Alexander's Hetaroi]

The only weird one is the Ottomans, which while fitting for the DLC feel like they were taken out of the base game for the inclusion of Prussia or Russia. The Ottomans would have kept the geographic balance of 1 Middle Eastern civ and only 2 European civs per age, but I guess they took them out for the inclusion of a 3rd modern European civ for some strange reason. I just hope they keep up the geographic balance going instead of overloading the game with Europeans like in past civ games.

The Ottomans are closely associated with Barbary Corsairs, so in that way they could fit with the naval/piracy theme as well.

They probably wanted to include both Prussia (Germany) and Russia because 1) they've always been in the base game of every game and 2) because they brought back ideologies, and if America is supposed to be representative Democracy option, they had to bring the other ones most closely associated with Communism and Fascism.

 

[Revanchist]

I was kind of surprised they went with Bulgaria instead of Eastern Rome. I’m excited to see Carthage, but I’ll have to wait and see.

I was hoping there would be some kind of Dacian culture for the antiquity as a stand in for later southeastern european cultures they could add later, but I don’t think that’s too likely.

 

[HelloIAmW]

I won't lie to you guys, if the Pirate Republic had a different name (even historically speaking), it'd probably be a better fit. As-is, it will stick out like a sore thumb

I think 'New Providence' would be a much more fitting name, at least in terms of game-feel. Pirate Republic shares the same issue as French Empire for me, I don't want my civ to imply my government, especially when the game lets me choose one.

 

[Black Gate]

The Ottomans are closely associated with Barbary Corsairs, so in that way they could fit with the naval/piracy theme as well.

Not to mention they were involved (and lost...) one of the largest naval battles in history in the Battle of Lepanto. With all the focus on Janissaries sometimes people forget that the empire was held together with a massive navy too.

 

[queenpea]

I think 'New Providence' would be a much more fitting name, at least in terms of game-feel. Pirate Republic shares the same issue as French Empire for me, I don't want my civ to imply my government, especially when the game lets me choose one.

When they introduced “the Normans,” I thought this was a weird way to refer to a civ.

However, they could do the same and just call them “Pirates” or “Caribbean Pirates.” Though, no matter what you call them, I think it might be too fanciful of an idea for a Civ for my taste.