[NFP] Ethiopia Update Discussion Thread

[Datgingah]

How will the unique buildings of the secret societies interact with civs unique buildings. Will Arabia’s university be overwritten? If so that’s potentially a malus for some.

 

[Thenewwwguy]

How will the unique buildings of the secret societies interact with civs unique buildings. Will Arabia’s university be overwritten? If so that’s potentially a malus for some.

i’m guessing it’s optional but the hermetic society one looks better, plus you don’t have to pick hermetic society if you’d int want to as arabia

 

[sonicmyst]

I super like the art of that green monument.

 

[SupremacyKing2]

I love the new Teddy and new Catherine. I love the new diplomatic quarter. I am a bit meh on the secret societies. Mechanically, they are interesting but they are too fantasy for a game that should be more historical IMO. Vampire units, really?! Luckily, we can turn off Secret Societies when starting a new game.

And maybe I am being too nitpicky but does it seem like there is almost an overload of stuff in the game that basically just give you more of the same yields like more gold, more science or more faith?

 

[Starwars]

So far, some of the modes kinda miss the mark for me tonally in certain parts of it. In Apocalypse mode, I liked the idea of turning the game disaster crazy sometimes but I don't like the whole Soothsayer thing at all. Secret Societies seems fun in regards to the governor stuff, but the Vampire unit is completely unexciting and off-putting for me.

Rest of the update looks interesting, fun to get a new district even though it's only a "one per civilication" type.

 

[Jewelrunna]

Some quick thoughts on the trailer:

So Ethiopia focuses on trade and faith, as expected. Quick note that their capital is Addis Ababa, which means that the leader will probably be Menelik II or Haile Selassie. The small tool-tip looks like Menelik, but it's hard to see. I wish we had an older Ethiopian representative, but I get that Firaxis probably want to have at least one modern African leader.

Pretty disappointed by the Catherine persona, the ability seems really underpowered unless that Court Festival projects is insane. And for Teddy... wait, are they splitting up his abilities? If the +5 combat strength thing only applies to Rough Rider Teddy, that's a huge nerf to the base Teddy ability. Losing the Rough Rider is whatever, but that +5 CS is huge.

Also pretty underwhelmed by the Diplomatic Quarter. It seems like Civ VI is continuing the trend of rather than working within the systems that already exist, the devs are choosing to tack on flavor systems to the side of the preexisting ones. Tying envoy bonuses to those buildings also seems to just make the City State game just more obtuse. I don't like this addition much at all.

Secret Societies seem kind of fun, at least in comparison to Apocalypse Mode which really doesn't appeal to me. That said, Hermetic Society seems like the clearly OP society in the bunch and you should go for it every game. I'll probably play a few games with this mode on, and then just go back to normal Civ. At least more than Apocalypse Mode, which I played one game with and then left off for future ones.

All in all, pretty underwhelmed, much like with the last pack. It appears we now have the precedent set for the NFP, so I'll keep my expectations low in the future.

 

[Thenewwwguy]

I love the new Teddy and new Catherine. I love the new diplomatic quarter. I am a bit meh on the secret societies. Mechanically, they are interesting but they are too fantasy for a game that should be more historical IMO. Vampire units, really?! Luckily, we can turn off Secret Societies when starting a new game.

And maybe I am being too nitpicky but does it seem like there is almost an overload of stuff in the game that basically just give you more of the same yields like more gold, more science or more faith?

they said thjs game mode would be fantasy . It’s also an optional game mode, you don’t have to play it....

 

[pjotroos]

Secret Societies look far more substantial than the Apocalypse mode, which is nice. There's at least four extra games in it, if you only wanted to try each of them once, and they all look like a fun fantasy spin on the gameplay.

The diplomatic district, at the first glance, looks like a no brainer - you'll definitely want to build it quick, and there's no choices within it. Would love to know how it affects the envoy bonuses; is it going to be a nerf, effectively?

Hard to judge Ethiopia just yet. They've shown more than it appears at first (you can see the improvement at 1:40 and the leader is spelled out at 2:32) but will need the full first look to see how it ties together.

Catherine and Roosevelt personas are a bit confusing; are they going to change the base version of latter for everyone? Or just the people that install the pack?

 

[Jkchart]

They left in the leader name if you look closely: It's Menelik II!

There's also an "Old God Obelisk" building where the monument should be.

EDIT: Ah I see the Old God Obelisk is from one of the secret societies

 

[Eagle Pursuit]

I love the new Teddy and new Catherine. I love the new diplomatic quarter. I am a bit meh on the secret societies. Mechanically, they are interesting but they are too fantasy for a game that should be more historical IMO. Vampire units, really?! Luckily, we can turn off Secret Societies when starting a new game.

And maybe I am being too nitpicky but does it seem like there is almost an overload of stuff in the game that basically just give you more of the same yields like more gold, more science or more faith?

Maybe they aren't historical because they've been secretly erased from the history books!

 

[pokiehl]

I'm hyped! The Secret Societies look really fun. I'm glad they're leaning into their creativity with these! Vampires and Voidsingers look awesome

Also excited for the new district. It seems like it will hopefully tone down City State envoy bonus yields?

 

[Gbest]

So how will the CS bonuses change?

 

[AntSou]

MUAHAHAHAH WE GOT CTHLULHLUHLU AND I LOVE IT!

Honestly this pack sounds better than any expectation I had.

UNIQUE GOVERNORS! Brilliant take and it will further enhance replayability.

ENVOYS TIED TO A DIPLO QUARTER! Awesome change! Plus all the other gameplay changes it implies. Did anyone guess A Diplo Quarter? Love it.

What's that unit in the bottom image?

I don't recognise the natural wonder but that happens to me a lot.

Only thing I'm not a fan of is the Vampire unit which just crosses that line whereas the Voidsingers are sitting right on the line. But I don't care, everything else sounds fantastic and I suspect I'll be playing with Secret Societies all the time.

 

[Xandinho]

Rock-hewn Churches.

 

[TeddyMain]

WHY IS NO ONE TALKING ABOUT THE MUSIC!?!?!? Pretty sure the Ethiopian Atomic theme is playing in the background, and good God does it sound incredible!

Also, considering the update drops June 23rd, I think the First Look will drop later this week (Thursday or Friday) and we'll get a livestream early next week (Tuesday, maybe Wednesday)

 

[Eagle Pursuit]

Can anyone write out the Secret Societies stuff please?

 

[pokiehl]

The natural wonder is Yosemite and the unit in the bottom image is Ethiopia's unique.

 

[Thenewwwguy]

retty disappointed by the Catherine persona, the ability seems really underpowered unless that Court Festival projects is insane. And for Teddy... wait, are they splitting up his abilities? If the +5 combat strength thing only applies to Rough Rider Teddy, that's a huge nerf to the base Teddy ability. Losing the Rough Rider is whatever, but that +5 CS is huge.

Also pretty underwhelmed by the Diplomatic Quarter. It seems like Civ VI is continuing the trend of rather than working within the systems that already exist, the devs are choosing to tack on flavor systems to the side of the preexisting ones. Tying envoy bonuses to those buildings also seems to just make the City State game just more obtuse. I don't like this addition much at all.

With Teddy, it seems like both versions are getting remade, so don’t go talking about how both will be weak because they implied pretty heavily that regular teddy is also getting new abilities.

In terms of game systems and the Diplo Quarter, i’m glad they aren’t complicating the game with more mechanics. The game is already very loaded with mechanics and adding new mechanics instead of adding aspects to existing mechanics would be bad game design.

Ethiopia also appears to have a culture focus, perhaps through relics, just based off a passing comment they made, so we’ll see

The natural wonder is Yosemite and the unit in the bottom image is Ethiopia's unique.

does anyone have a screenshot of this unit?

 

[Alexander's Hetaroi]

i presume it could be a different ethiopian UU. The Civ 6 tradition is to add leader specific, leader relevant units as LUUs, and the Mehal Sefari are Menelik’s royal guard

Maybe. Alternately could they could make the Shotelai a medieval melee replacement at Military Tactics that we just haven't seen.

Edit: Actually it looks like they might have some sort of cavalry unit? Never mind it's a Great General.

That being said I'm kind of surprised how much I like Secret Societies and will play it more than Apocalypse mode. I wasn't expecting Vampires but I wouldn't have minded a "vampire" like leader in Vlad Tepes, and I knew he wasn't coming, so it's a pleasant surprise.

 

[Datgingah]

i’m guessing it’s optional but the hermetic society one looks better, plus you don’t have to pick hermetic society if you’d int want to as arabia

it might be better sure, but it’s a problem that will indirectly nerf some civs as their UB is now less useful. Same for the bank for the ottomans.