acluewithout
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We need Brave New World for Civ 6.
BNW in Civ 5 was critical to making that game a success. It added late game mechanics like Ideology and World Congress, that moved the early game from being about squabbling city states, to a late game about Global Hegemons, International Conflicts and Word Wars.
Civ 6 needs the same thing. The late game is dull and lacks conflict, there are key mechanics from Civ 5 that the game is still missing, and there are existing mechanics from RnF and GS that still need more work.
Brave New World for Civ 6 could be a Third Expansion, or could maybe just be covered by one or two smaller DLCs. I don't mind either way. But Civ 6 really needs the equivilent of Brave New World for the game to feel complete, and go from "excellent" to "best Civ / 4X ever".
Here's what I think the game needs specifically.
I don’t know what FXS are going to do with Civ 6, and I guess we’re going to find out at some point. But the more I think about it, the more I think the game is still missing “something”, and I think that something is basically what Civ 5’s Brave New World introduced into that game and that game’s overall focus on improving diplomacy, conflict and the late game.
Guess we’ll see what happens.
[edit. Clarity and a few additional ideas.]
BNW in Civ 5 was critical to making that game a success. It added late game mechanics like Ideology and World Congress, that moved the early game from being about squabbling city states, to a late game about Global Hegemons, International Conflicts and Word Wars.
Civ 6 needs the same thing. The late game is dull and lacks conflict, there are key mechanics from Civ 5 that the game is still missing, and there are existing mechanics from RnF and GS that still need more work.
Brave New World for Civ 6 could be a Third Expansion, or could maybe just be covered by one or two smaller DLCs. I don't mind either way. But Civ 6 really needs the equivilent of Brave New World for the game to feel complete, and go from "excellent" to "best Civ / 4X ever".
Here's what I think the game needs specifically.
- Make Tier 3 and Tier 4 Governments more game changing. Tier 3 and Tier 4 Governments should be game changing, rather than just being incremental expansions on T1 and 2 Governments, so that getting to these modern “ideological” governments is a real turning point in the game. T3 and T4 Governments already have unique policy cards that can only be used with certain governments exclusive. That could be expanded, so that each T3 and 4 Government also gives you access (ie lets you build) unique military and civilian units, unique buildings and unique wonders. Additionally, I’d like see T3 and T4 Governments made more important via ideological pressure and unlocking mid and late game governors (see below).
- Ideological Pressure. BNW introduced Ideological Pressure, which used Tourism to cause happiness / amenities in neighourboring Civs to be reduced if you had differing ideologies. Civ 6 needs an equilevelent to Idelogical Pressure, which ties together Tourism, Amenities and Loyalty, which in turn creates more tension around what Tier 3 and 4 Goverments you pick and generates more global conflicts. You could have Tier 4 Governments exert additional Ideological Pressure, which would help buff those Governments, and also maybe introduce some negatives to switching Government types so that forcing someone to switch from say Democracy to Communism because of Ideological Pressure becomes a tough choice.You could also obviously have World Congress Resolutions which focus Ideologies and buffs to Alliances for shared Ideologies. As part of introducing Idelogical Pressure, I think FXS also need to tweak Amenities and Maintenance Costs generally, to create a bit more empire management challenges in the late game, and then add some Ideology related Wonders like the Pentagon, Prora etc. [Ideological Pressure is still no where to be seen post NFP, but April 2021 update has linked Tourism and Loyalty. Not quite the same thing, but at least it’s something ?]
- Late Game Governors. Governors are essentially the Civ 6 version of Civ 5's Social Policies (e.g. Victor=Honour, Magnus=Liberty, Liang=Tradition, Moshka=Piety, Reyna=Commerce, Amani=Patronage, and Pingala=Rationalism). That's cool, but what's missing is mid to late game Governors that sort of mirror Civ 5's Ideologies. It would be pretty easy to implement too - just have certain Governors unlock with the Tier 3 and 4 Government Civics. You could have new Governors unlock that focus on Colonial Cities (i.e. a Colonial Governor) and more "Idelogical" Governors that focus on Ideological Pressure, the World Congress, Spies and or that can be placed in other Civs (a bit like Ibrahim). One advantage to this is that it'd make Governors more dynamic, because they wouldn't all be available at the start, and not everyone would unlock the same Governors. It would also allow Governors to overlap a bit more, so instead of having e.g. just one "Science" Governor (Pingala) or one "Ambassador" Governer (Amani), you could get a second Govenor that overlaps a little with those, so you could potentially have more that one "Science City" or more than one Governor in various City States.
Expanded Gov Plaza, Gov Buildings and National Wonders.National Wonders that can only be built next to your Gov Plaza or Capital. Add the ability to building Town Halls and Courts in other Cities to improve loyalty and or resist ideological pressure and or reduce maintenance costs.[Looks like the Diplomatic Quarter sort of covers this one, which is great news. I really hope we get a rebalance of World Congress Resolutions and Spies (see below) and I hope we get another Purple District in due course.]
- Vassals and Colonies. Option to hold Cities as Vassal Cities or as Colonies, rather than just holding them outright. You have less control over the City (eg, can’t building anything in the production queue) and they are more vulnerable to Spies, but you get other benefits like increased Diplo Favour, yields etc. based on how loyal the Vassal or Colony is. You can also place late game Governors in these Cities with various effects and there are specific policies for these types of Cities.
- More Economy and Trade Nodes. Overhaul of maintenance and global happiness, so that managing late game empires is harder. Perhaps also have a slider, a bit like adjusting disaster intensity, so people can increase or decrease how hard maintenance is. Also, rework Banks and Stock Markets to make them more interesting than just more flat gold.
- Future Tech. Future Tech feels very underwhelming - there's only one Future Tech unit which is the GDR; and the Future Techs themselves are underwhelming because they largely only boost the GDR (except for that one tech which "boosts" normal units by removing their CO2 cost). Future Tech needs to have more impact, by introducing more future units (and future buildings) and having Future Techs boost other units, buildings etc. FXS should also bring across the orbital layer from Beyond Earth.
Overhaul Religion. The current Religion system is pretty cool and works very well. But it could use another pass post the base game. Specifically, I think the beliefs need a balance pass like we had with Pantheons, Apostle Promotions need expansion, Religious Buildings need a significant buff, and Religious Beliefs should unlock more unique units (not just Monks). I think there’s also a good case for letting people continue to recruit Great Prophets, with GPs acting more like Great Generals for Religious Units and being the mechanism for Evangelising Religion and Starting Inquisitions rather than using Apostles.[June 2020 made some good changes to Religion, but I still think there’s a lot more that could be done to make Religion more interesting. In particular, more unique Religious Units unlocked through Beliefs (like the Monk), more Beliefs that impact Loyalty, and maybe the return of Reformation Beliefs from Civ V.]
- Overhaul World Congress. I know Civ 6's World Congress has copped some flack, but I do think it works really well. But I also think it still needs another pass to really get it right. First, the existing resolutions need another balance pass - a particular issue is that some resolutions just have too many options for the B vote, and some just don't feel like they have much impact at all. Second, the World Congress needs more WC related Wonders, like the Apostolic Palace and the UN Building. These Wonders shouldn't just give you bonuses, but should instead unlock new available resolutions and or emergencies from the World Congress.
- Ambassadors. Bring back being able to send Spies out as Ambassadors. That would then give Spies three options or "roles", ie Spy, Counter-Spy and Ambassador, and also give everyone a bit more to do with Spies. Ambassadors could have their own missions, focused on diplomatic visibility, buffing spies, enhancing alliances and improving trade routes. And speaking of Spies...
- Overhaul Spies. Spies are another great mechanic that just need another balance pass. Specifically, I think the number of Spy Missions needs to be reduced (get rid of Recruit Partisans - it's just another reason not to build Neighourhoods - and combine Listening Post and Gain Sources), and some of the Promotions should be consolidated (e.g. combine Siphon Funds and Steal Great Works Promotion, and combine Disrupt Rocketry, Breach Dam and Pilage Industrial Zone Promotions).
There should also be one or two Great People or Wonders that increase Spy Capacity, just so there's a bit more variation in how many Spies each Civ can have.[Secret Societies DLC seems to cover this somewhat, given you can get more spies through one of the societies and the societies themselves sort of add a degree of intrigue. Good stuff.] [UPDATE: really, Spies are now worse that ever given we can no longer place Spies in Ally Cities. Really stupid change. I really hope FXS revisit Spies and this change in particular. Spying on Allies is completely historical, as is taking covert actions against Allies, and in terms of gameplay there needs to be a way for “Allies” to keep messing with each other even if War has been taken off the table.]
- Industrial Zone and other Buildings. Give the IZ additional T1 Building Options (eg Stone Masons, Forge), buff Workshop (eg +1 Housing) and add a non- power related T3 Building (eg a Tech Hub that buffs production and science). Add in some missing buildings, like Courts and Townhalls (see above), Hospitals, Public Schools.
Barbarians and City States.Give City States Unique Units, that you could use if you levy the City State, and create additional Diplo Options for City States beyond just Declare War and Levy. Give Barbarians more unique units. Also create Barb Cities that work a bit like City States (now called Free Cities). Free Cities replace Military City States and are what other Cities turn into when they loyalty flip. Envoys provide additional production for military units, and Suzerain provides additional great people. If you Loyalty flip the city, you gain back half of the envoys you put into the City.[Can’t believe FXS basically did this. Barb Mode is really just brilliant. I still think Barbs could use a few more unique units, eg Axe Men, but honestly Barbs are just 1000% better now. Awesome.]
- Units and Wonders. Add Composite Bowmen,
Trebuchet, Medieval Melee (please not “Longswordsmen”, instead maybe “Man at Arms” or “Halberdman”),more Future Units (and make Future Tech more useful generally). Make Aircraft Carriers work like the GDR, ie can’t form Amardas etc or earn XP / promotions, but gain bonuses / upgrades via tech tree.Generally rebalance units (particularly anti-cav and Tanks v Mech Infantry).Add Statue of Zesus and Ideological Wonders like Prora and Pentagon. Also add Apolostolic Palace and UN Building that give you additional Diplo Favour for World Congress and unlock new resolutions and emergencies / scored competitions. [Im happy with the unit changes and new units. Very happy we got Men-at-Arms not Longswordsmen. Tanks v Mech Infantry still seems a bit messed up though.]
I don’t know what FXS are going to do with Civ 6, and I guess we’re going to find out at some point. But the more I think about it, the more I think the game is still missing “something”, and I think that something is basically what Civ 5’s Brave New World introduced into that game and that game’s overall focus on improving diplomacy, conflict and the late game.
Guess we’ll see what happens.
[edit. Clarity and a few additional ideas.]
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