Civ Switching - Will it prevent you from buying Civ 7?

[ColtSeavers]

I think the Title is self explanatory. Civ Switching Mechanism is obviously the most discussed feature since they released the opening trailer. Although I acctually do like some of the ideas of Civ 7 (especially the less micro management part), this mechanism is a deal breaker for me. I also have little hope, that Firaxis can or even want to fix this. The presented mechanics (collect 3 horses to be eligible to turn Rome into Mongolia etc.) sound like being directly adopted from a generic board game, and do not represent the simulation aspect of the Civ series at all, in my opinion. I wonder how you guys see that, are you still planning on buying this game?

 

[Eagle Pursuit]

I'm not crazy about it, but it's not a deal-breaker for me. I'm relying on Firaxis to produce a better version of the mechanic than we've seen from other games.

 

[Alexander's Hetaroi]

Yes, it's the main dealbreaker for me, not to mention having immortal leaders not directly tied to every civ. But if others enjoy it, that's fine. I still have Civ 6.

 

[Gorbles]

I like it, but it's not the main reason I'm buying the game. Poll could do with at least one more "positive" choice imo.

 

[Professor Phobo]

"I'm willing to give it a chance" option seems missing, TBH. Like if they nail the gameplay element, it'll more than compensate for the weirdness of your culture suddenly buying a whole lot of Mongolian blue jeans after the Sea People are done screwing up your supply chain.

But if they don't nail the gameplay factor - solving late game doldrums for example - then any amount of argument over whether it's realistic or immersive is irrelevant, because it'll feel bad to play.

 

[Olleus]

It's a great idea. One of the fun things in Civ (since Civ3) is working out how to use your uniques as well as possible. It adds strategic depth and a ton of replayability. Civ switching is essentially a way of having far more uniques, always having some that are applicable, and not having to decide before the game starts what they all are. It's a delayed pick-and-mix of uniques, what's not to like? Are people upset because some flavour text and artwork will change mid game?

Definitely missing a "I like it, but its not the main reason I'll buy it" option.

 

[Professor Phobo]

It's a great idea. One of the fun things in Civ (since Civ3) is working out how to use your uniques as well as possible. It adds strategic depth and a ton of replayability. Civ switching is essentially a way of having far more uniques, always having some that are applicable, and not having to decide before the game starts what they all are. It's a delayed pick-and-mix of uniques, what's not to like? Are people upset because some flavour text and artwork will change mid game?

Definitely missing a "I like it, but its not the main reason I'll buy it" option.

To an extent I think the backlash is mainly about the vibe of "losing" your Civ mid-game. It doesn't bother me but I can see how it might someone else.

 

[Olleus]

To an extent I think the backlash is mainly about the vibe of "losing" your Civ mid-game. It doesn't bother me but I can see how it might someone else.

Ah, right, I get that. Is it a question of mindset then: you're losing your Civ rather than evolving it?

There used to be very long arguments on this forum about whether the Roman Empire, Byzantine Empire, and HRE were the same civilization or different ones. This mechanic makes the question obsolete: you start as the Classical Romans, and then you choose to become either the HRE Romans or the Byzantine Romans. Granted this wont work for every era change and every civilization (not all have a clear antecedent or successor), but there does seem to be real effort to provide a "historical continuity" option at every step.

 

[reddishrecue]

They should put the option, 'I don't think the mechanism can or will be fixed, but I will still purchase the game' because that's how I feel. Now, I can't really imagine how much better it would be if there would be another option to this. What happened in humankind is similar to what's going to happen here it seems with a few fixes of course and improvements.

 

[Professor Phobo]

Yeah, though the "Evolve" issue runs into the limited pool of Civilizations and the strangeness of ahistorical continuities.

I like regarding the Civilizations as more "inspired by" the real world counterparts rather than direct analogs, and the game is taking place on an alternate Earth and the civ names, wonders, etc, are analogies for the real historical ones, so it doesn't bother me for Egypt to turn into Mongolia. What'll matter to me is if the crisis and rebirth elements are fun and actually solve the "game is effectively over turn 100 now put 400 more in just to add a spaceship cutscene" problem.

 

[Countmonte8242]

Its not a dealbreaker, also seems like it'd be easy for them to make an option to not allow civ switching in eras. More interested to see how the commander feature is. 1UPT is my dealbreaker, and this is a compromise that seems to help with seem of the 1 UPT problems. But will it help enough is the question...

 

[ehecatzin]

I like the switching, and will be buying. To me it actually feels like building a civilization instead of stretching 1 slice of a kingdom/country for way too long.

 

[Kev1916]

Tried humankind - hated it , Millinnia was ok thou 10 times better than Humankind .

Hard capped ages , switching Civ's, no builders , soft capped cities , and a hideous UI.

Final straw was the news that mods will be severely restricted to cash grab more coin with cram like skins for scouts , palace , new hats and WTF selling alternative textures for fog of war .

Will stick with old world and Civ 6 pass on humankind 2 and wait on hoping the real Civ 8 will be out in 4-5 years

 

[bitula]

I don't think this mechanism can or will be fixed, so I won't preorder it now, but sometime in the future I will buy the game even if I won't play it. Plus I'm sure this mechanism can be removed by a mod or a mode.

 

[Zaarin]

I don't love the civ switching, but I do like some of the mechanics related to it, including ages and the opportunity for some more niche civs. TBH the closest thing to a dealbreaker for me right now is the quality of the leader models and the diplo screen, but I know I'll eventually get past those and preorder--even if the leader model quality has severely dampened my enthusiasm.

 

[CanuckSoldier]

Being an MP player and owner of CPL, I really think the Ages system is a solution to a problem that can instead be fixed with smarter balanced AI.

Herson, one of our top streamers has a good explanation here

And @bholed makes a good point about the other game with Ages.....Humankind....which is absolutely dead. https://steamdb.info/app/1124300/charts/#max

2K seems intent on hoping that small casual games and console gaming will save Civ7... but unless they give us more options and outstanding mod tools... RIP PC gaming, particularly PC MP gaming

 

[KayAU]

It's too early to say. I have not decided whether I will buy Civ 7 yet, and there may be other reasons why I might skip it. But the civ switching I am undecided about. I think it could potentially be good. I actually somewhat enjoyed it in Humankind, although it had some major problems. One was that it felt quite schizophrenic and jarring when players civilizations suddenly "became" someone else. I think this may work better with Civ 7 though, for two reasons:
* You only switch civs twice in the game, at clearly defined era changes
* There is a greater focus on the leaders, which have a clear and distinct identity

 

[TheGrayFox]

This would've been a day one purchase if not for the humankind gimmick, detaching leaders from civs, and dramatic shifts in games foundations. I might still buy down the line if they can fix the problem and its new mechanics are implemented well enough but from that showcase I sincerly doubt that will be the case in 6 months

 

[Lord Lakely]

The answer is no. I don't like it, but it is not a dealbreaker. The PRICE is what will prevent me to buy it immediately, not the mechanics.

Well, that and Civ 5/6 not being good upon release.

 

[Gorbles]

Final straw was the news that mods will be severely restricted

Sorry for the tangent, but what news was this?