Crossroads of the World Collection - Part 1 - Details announced

[LunarRepublic]

They should've swapped Battersea for Big Ben. It would've made the naval bonuses a little more sensible, since Big Ben was a symbol of Britain as a whole (including the Victorian Era, when the U.K still had its colonial empire.)

 

[Siptah]

They should've swapped Battersea for Big Ben. It would've made the naval bonuses a little more sensible, since Big Ben was a symbol of Britain as a whole (including the Victorian Era, when the U.K still had its colonial empire.)

I think Battersea as a symbol for Britain is fine. It's for me the most famous building in Britain from the past 100 years, and it was also built and in use during the times when the UK still had its colonial empire. I don't think Big Ben with a bonus towards building ships has more sense to it, to be honest. I would have wished that Battersea gives a production bonus to specialists or a production bonus towards wonders & projects, given that it is a very late game wonder. I mean, what's the use of its current ability? You might get 3-4 free ships for the price of a wonder. That doesn't seem that useful.

 

[Kev1916]

Britain as a modern age Civ , when they flog the real “modern”age in a future DLC hopefully they morph will be into England or Scotland

 

[Tanel]

Carthage is extremely interesting to play for a challenge but yea seems a bit weak considering all the downsides.

 

[Mr Jon of Cheam]

I have to say I find the design of Battersea Power Station really disappointing. I'm excited to have Venetian Arsenal 2.0 in the game, but it's just a thematically really poor combination with BPS. GB overall seems poorly designed with a lack of clear focus, just a mishmash of ideas slapped together. It's just really, really disappointing, especially after Ed hyped it up by talking about how they've gotten better at designing civs as the game got closer to launch.

I'm kind of with you on this. England in Civ VI was a mess, and I thought they had an opportunity to do a better job of it when focusing on just the modern Age, but it appears to be a similar mess in VII. It's all a bit incoherent, as if Ed and co just have too many ideas for what Britain should be and are therefore incapable of focusing their design.

 

[Vincent_lacruz]

So, I feel that Ada will be increasingly less usefull as you go down the eras:

• Antiquity: powerfull, since you need science masteries for the codex, and civic masteries for unlocking the wonders. So she will be rather impactfull.
• Exploration: for tech you want to beeline shipbuilding (to start your treasure fleets), and fo civics, well, there are no real target pas piety, so why not... But you sure won't want to take time searching for tech masteries before a third or more of the age is up... Since civics that increase the settlement limit tends to be masteries, Ada will still be somewhat usefull...
• Modern: what masteries??? Let's be frank: science legacy want to beeline the relevant techs, economic want their factory ASAP, military want their unit upgrade and plane now, etc... So you may not be doing more than a handfull of science masteries at best... As for civics, the ideologies are not masteries, and you want to hit Egemony fast to snatch the last relics you need. So, again, no masteries... So Ada will be rather useless...

As for civs, except for the obvious Mayan powerhouse (that already get science when completing a civic, and vice-versa), there does not see to be a particular fit beyond the obvious "take a science/culture civ"... However, some things are to be noted:

• Civs that have a lot of materies in their unique civics will be "more usefull".
• Civ that are particulary proficient in culture/science will be able to use that to compensate for the other production, which is still nice.

I won't say she is a bad leader, but it is sad to have her worth disminishing as the ages go on...

 

[Siptah]

So, I feel that Ada will be increasingly less usefull as you go down the eras:

• Antiquity: powerfull, since you need science masteries for the codex, and civic masteries for unlocking the wonders. So she will be rather impactfull.
• Exploration: for tech you want to beeline shipbuilding (to start your treasure fleets), and fo civics, well, there are no real target pas piety, so why not... But you sure won't want to take time searching for tech masteries before a third or more of the age is up... Since civics that increase the settlement limit tends to be masteries, Ada will still be somewhat usefull...
• Modern: what masteries??? Let's be frank: science legacy want to beeline the relevant techs, economic want their factory ASAP, military want their unit upgrade and plane now, etc... So you may not be doing more than a handfull of science masteries at best... As for civics, the ideologies are not masteries, and you want to hit Egemony fast to snatch the last relics you need. So, again, no masteries... So Ada will be rather useless...

As for civs, except for the obvious Mayan powerhouse (that already get science when completing a civic, and vice-versa), there does not see to be a particular fit beyond the obvious "take a science/culture civ"... However, some things are to be noted:

• Civs that have a lot of materies in their unique civics will be "more usefull".
• Civ that are particulary proficient in culture/science will be able to use that to compensate for the other production, which is still nice.

I won't say she is a bad leader, but it is sad to have her worth disminishing as the ages go on...

I share the general feeling, but we need to see the exact numbers to be sure. At least the science from civic masteries increases per age, but apparently not the culture from tech masteries. Depending on these numbers, it might be a viable strategy to go for "cheap" masteries every now and then in the later eras instead to go for more expensive techs/civics, as the boost compensates. Also: the masteries in exploration are quite good by themselves, because they contain useful bonuses and policies. Yet, I would always beeline shipbuilding first, even with Ada. But maybe getting 2-3 civic masteries on the way would considerably speed up this beelining...

 

[Leucarum]

In modern for Ada my first thought was to go for civs with civic masteries on their trees, but this isn't helped either by how variable the number of masteries are on a lot of the civ-specific civic trees in Modern. Going through the civ7 site...

Meiji, Mughals, Qing: 0
Britain, Mexico: 1
Prussia: 2
America, Buganda, France, Russia, Siam: 3

 

[thecrazyscot]

Ada will synergize really well with a City-State game. Grab a science CS for the free tech ability, then suzerain as many as you can. Often the free techs you get are Masteries, so if her ability triggers off free techs, it should slingshot her pretty nicely through the Civics tree too.

 

[Vincent_lacruz]

Ada will synergize really well with a City-State game. Grab a science CS for the free tech ability, then suzerain as many as you can. Often the free techs you get are Masteries, so if her ability triggers off free techs, it should slingshot her pretty nicely through the Civics tree too.

But if you do that, it means you are most likely low on science production (not already unlocked the modern era science buildings), so you will get a low amount of culture throught Ada's power...

To be really efficient you would need to go the other way around, get free civics (no CS in modern with that bonus...) to ramp up the tech yields, and then research the science masteries. That works well with antiquity, bur far less for modern...

 

[trev1972]

I think Battersea as a symbol for Britain is fine. It's for me the most famous building in Britain from the past 100 years, and it was also built and in use during the times when the UK still had its colonial empire. I don't think Big Ben with a bonus towards building ships has more sense to it, to be honest. I would have wished that Battersea gives a production bonus to specialists or a production bonus towards wonders & projects, given that it is a very late game wonder. I mean, what's the use of its current ability? You might get 3-4 free ships for the price of a wonder. That doesn't seem that useful.

This is an interesting take to hear, as a Brit myself i dont consider it an iconic building at all.
If the wonder bonus was to be extra ships, i would have preferred something naval based, such as 'Royal Naval College' for example.

Really dont understand the choice of 'revenge' for the ship either.

I know it is the effects that matter, not the names of the wonders, but the name choices (including 'financial centre') make me feel they were picked by someone who didnt look at our history very closely.

I can at least understand the choice of splendid isolation a bit better to be fair.

 

[thecrazyscot]

But if you do that, it means you are most likely low on science production (not already unlocked the modern era science buildings), so you will get a low amount of culture throught Ada's power...

To be really efficient you would need to go the other way around, get free civics (no CS in modern with that bonus...) to ramp up the tech yields, and then research the science masteries. That works well with antiquity, bur far less for modern...

Why? Influence is a separate yield, grabbing city-states doesn't preclude focusing on science.

 

[queenpea]

This is an interesting take to hear, as a Brit myself i dont consider it an iconic building at all.
If the wonder bonus was to be extra ships, i would have preferred something naval based, such as 'Royal Naval College' for example.

Really dont understand the choice of 'revenge' for the ship either.

I know it is the effects that matter, not the names of the wonders, but the name choices (including 'financial centre') make me feel they were picked by someone who didnt look at our history very closely.

I can at least understand the choice of splendid isolation a bit better to be fair.

The effects matter, but the game has always been about learning a little about history, so for me, the thematics matter as well. It feels like they missed the mark a bit here.

I don’t Iove the power station as a national symbol either. Even less considering its naval bonus effect. Once electricity is added into the game, I expect its effect will change to something like: provides electricity to all settlements.

Structurally, it’s an imposing building, but it’s hard to suggest it’s beautiful. And today, it’s a mix of a mall and residential units?

 

[thecrazyscot]

Also, since Ada has both the Cultural and Scientific attributes, she gets access to both the Cultural Exchange and Research Collaboration endeavors in addition to Cultural and Scientific narrative events. I believe Catherine is the only other leader with those same attributes.

 

[Mr Jon of Cheam]

This is an interesting take to hear, as a Brit myself i dont consider it an iconic building at all.
If the wonder bonus was to be extra ships, i would have preferred something naval based, such as 'Royal Naval College' for example.

Really dont understand the choice of 'revenge' for the ship either.

I know it is the effects that matter, not the names of the wonders, but the name choices (including 'financial centre') make me feel they were picked by someone who didnt look at our history very closely.

I can at least understand the choice of splendid isolation a bit better to be fair.

You don't consider Battersea iconic? It's maybe not the obvious choice but it's a pretty splendid and famous building, I'd definitely call it iconic.

The problem with Britain for me is more the jumble of things. If they wanted to use Battersea as a symbol of British industrialisation I'm cool with that, but then the rest of the civ design should be more focused around this industrial theme. Instead they're trying to represent industrialisation, commerce, naval warfare, and the British Museum all in one fell swoop and it doesn't quite gel, imo. I think it's mostly the Antiquarian and the ability of Battersea that aren't quite working for me.

 

[Siptah]

And today, it’s a mix of a mall and residential units?

Well, if that’s a criteria, Big Ben really isn‘t a better choice. While the tower itself was freshly renovated (at least on the outside) some years ago, Westminster Palace is a wreck with some parts closed down due to risk of collapse, and no ideas and plans how the get it back in shape.

 

[Leucarum]

You don't consider Battersea iconic? It's maybe not the obvious choice but it's a pretty splendid and famous building, I'd definitely call it iconic.

The problem with Britain for me is more the jumble of things. If they wanted to use Battersea as a symbol of British industrialisation I'm cool with that, but then the rest of the civ design should be more focused around this industrial theme. Instead they're trying to represent industrialisation, commerce, naval warfare, and the British Museum all in one fell swoop and it doesn't quite gel, imo. I think it's mostly the Antiquarian and the ability of Battersea that aren't quite working for me.

I do struggle to see Battersea Power Station as a wonder compared to the other edifices they could have picked...

Its ability also feels like maybe they changed a mechanic it was using late in development and they scrabbled to fit something british-ish into it. It's less egregious when Britain builds it, because it fits the kit, but anyone can build it...

 

[Mr Jon of Cheam]

I do struggle to see Battersea Power Station as a wonder compared to the other edifices they could have picked...

I don't argue it was the best choice, but I don't hate it, I think it works fine.

 

[queenpea]

Well, if that’s a criteria, Big Ben really isn‘t a better choice. While the tower itself was freshly renovated (at least on the outside) some years ago, Westminster Palace is a wreck with some parts closed down due to risk of collapse, and no ideas and plans how the get it back in shape.

Don't bully me for my love of that big clock!

Jokes aside, Big Ben is at least something that tourists are eager to take pictures of, along with the Tower Bridge. On the map, it's hard to argue that it wouldn't be more *wonderful* than the Battersea Power Station, which is simply upsized infrastructure.

 

[queenpea]

I don't argue it was the best choice, but I don't hate it, I think it works fine.

I have a sneaking suspicion that Ed Beach visited Battersea recently and became enamored of it. Kind of like his story about his trip to El Escorial.