idjit
Chieftain
I've enjoyed these forums for years. I have learned things from amazing players that I would never have figured out on my own...which is why I am sad that my first post here will be neither encouraging nor particularly constructive. Maybe the devs already know all this stuff. Maybe they don't. At any rate, here's my feedback for what it's worth and what little I've played.
Money actually changed hands here, folks. It doesn't matter if it's a game for entertainment or life-saving medical software - the point is, money exchanged hands for a product. The who, what, why and where are immaterial. If you paid money for a car, you should get a car. If you paid money for pr0n, you should get your pr0n. If you paid money for a meal, you should get something you can eat and if you paid money for a game, you should get a game that you can play.
This is not a playable game. Not in the least. Or at least, I should say, it is not a playable CIV game and certainly not a playable AAA title. This feels like I'm clicking around an amateur college project that had great graphical talent and one UI/UX self-proclaimed "expert" who is 19 and Knows All The Things Because UR OLD AN DUM. Yeah, it's great that the leaders are in perfectly authentic, period gorgeous garb. If I were negotiating with Giant Foppish Beard Man's beard, I would lose. But I am negotiating with Giant Foppish Beard Man himself - and he will never win.
I *could* go play something else if I'm not having fun, but that's not what I paid for. I paid to play THIS game. I did not pay these guys just to play someone else's game.
I also feel the need to say that people really need to stop comparing this release with Civ 5's release, because it is non-sequitur. "Civ 5's release was worse" is not an argument because these games were not developed in vacuums - Civ 5 had all the feedback and experiences from prior iterations, and this iteration in turn, had all the feedback and experiences from its prior iterations as well. Some of these problems were identified and addressed in Civ 5 so the fact that this iteration is released with the same problems that were solved in prior iterations is mind boggling.
it's like, I'm gonna design a car that has a flaw where the break pads fall off if you go 37mph. I'm gonna fix that flaw. Then, 5 years later, I'm gonna design a new car. Except this one, the break pads fall of when you go 37mph and then point my finger at time constraints, poor management, lack of resources, etc, etc for the oversight.
Please deliver a playable version of the game I paid you money for. And NOT in a DLC that I have to pay for. I am NOT paying for patches disguised as "content." Hey, I have a novel idea! Why not release a game with fewer features that actually work instead of a game with lots of features that clearly don't? Crazy talk, I know...
In closing, I always thought it was kinda profound that Civ sorta taught us about history's mistakes, our own mistakes and how better to correct them for next time. Ironic, then, that this company cannot seem to learn from its own. Why? It is a mystery.
- I have no idea how amenities work. Well, sort of. Maybe? What happens if I settle a trash outpost in the middle of snow and tundra just to claim a strategic resource that I have no intention of growing? I don't care if they're happy - they're working my gulags. I want the amenities to go towards my core cities.
- I started a game and scouted my borders with my starting warrior and found a barb camp. I cleared it right away with him but when he did, the camp had been on a coastal hill revealing a barb qadrireme in the water behind it. A. Barbarian. Quadrireme. Needless to say, my valiant first warrior became pink paste in the snow. This was around turn 12-15ish. This game feels like the barbs are the AIs (a real threat, organized with clear agendas) and the AIs are the barbs (irritating and pointless obstacles).
- Every game I start now feels exactly the same. My neighbors are always Attila and Genghis. I no longer pay attention to who my starting neighbors are because they are Attila and Genghis with different skins. Every game plays out exactly the same - they will forward settle me, complain about my troops, double DOW me and commence to erase city states from the map. Surprise wars aren't surprising when you know they will happen.
- Giant Foppish Beard Man DOWd me because reasons. Every visible tile had a war cart on it. I thought I was toast. I repelled carpet after carpet with 4 archers to the point where they all got their "logistics" promotion, or expert marksman, or whatever it was. They rarely attacked, and never pillaged. I countered an attack that by all rights should have wiped me from the map. With 4 archers.
- Giant Foppish Beard Man decided that city states shouldn't exist. I liberated 4 city states from the tangles of his mighty beard. Everyone hated me for it. Forever. I was genuinely surprised the city states I liberated didn't declare on me for liberating them.
- When Giant Foppish Beard man declared on me I was horrified - tried to sue for peace, gifts, bribes anything. There was no "Make Peace" option in the diplomacy screen. I was frantic. It would've been nice to have had a grayed out "Make Peace" button that when hovered over, says why you can't sue for peace. I guess you can't sue for a few turns or something.
- Brazil and I exchanged Open Borders because diplomacy. He was clear across the entire continent, but decided that all of my tiles were where he should park his army. Going into the diplomacy screen to see if there was anything I could do about it, I noticed a little red -3 in our relations. I look to see where that -3 was coming from and it was because my "troops" (I had 1 scout in his territory) were near his borders. Um...K. Open Borders are for wut.
- Every build decision I make is exactly the same. "Sure, I'll build that...I guess?"
- Wonders are dull and uninteresting. I'm not wasting 30 turns to build something that consumes valuable real estate for what amounts to being a glorified shrine.
- *squint* Is that stone or sheep? Fish or whales? It is a mystery.
- *squint* What is the name of Scythia's capitol? I have no idea. It is a mystery.
- Japan declared an "un-surprise" war on me and I repelled his "forces" and went on the counter offensive. When I got to his capitol all he had was a catapult and a few settlers that shuffled between his cities. When you feel a war is a bit one-sided with nothing but a few archers and 1 warrior, something is terribly wrong. I had to check my difficulty settings to make sure I wasn't on Chieftain or something. Nope. Still Emperor.
- My housing and amenities seemed to fluctuate without any obvious indication as to why. My housing was 6/6 last turn why is it 5/7 now? Why did my amenities go from 0 to 2? It is a mystery.
- When are my deals expiring? It is a mystery.
- What exactly did I do to make that city state happy? It is a mystery.
- What triggered that Eureka? It is a mystery.
- Where was that goodie hut again? It is a mystery.
- Where did this great musician come from? I'm not generating any GPP. It is a mystery.
- What was this trader's last trade route? It is a mystery.
- Is that explored desert or unexplored parchment? It is a mystery.
- Where is the barb that pillaged my trade route? It is a mystery.
- I fired the warrior that was garrisoned in my capitol for not telling me a barbarian raid was pillaging my tiles.
- *squint* OOOHHH, internal trade routes are now apparently reversed. No longer is it SRC->TARGET they are now TARGET->SRC. Clearly obvious.
- Japan forward settled on me and complained about my troop placement. Whatever. Several turns later, the game told me I broke a promise with Japan. So I went to click on Japan's portrait to see what was up and noticed the two little crossed swords. That's the only war that actually kinda surprised me. Apparently, auto-war is now a thing. I guess?
- After a while, my cities start looking all the same. Even wonders just sorta blend into the wash of colors into a "meh...what city was that again?" This is not good. I want my cities to feel unique an powerful. i.e; THIS is my Brandenburg Gate city that can pump out modern armor in 2 turns and THAT over THERE, is my science/40pop city.
- I hate wasting all of my hammers to make empty districts that are effectively useless just so you can sink MORE hammers into putting stuff into them.
- Giant Foppish Beard Man complained that my science is in the tank. Literally the next turn he commends me on my scientific prowess!
- Hey, that viking guy likes my navy! How nice of him! Wait, what's a navy? I don't have any harbors or boats.
- That Spain guy just complimented me on how happy my citizens are! What a nice man! Let's be frie--oh, wait, no, he doesn't like me. Reasons, of course.
- Ah, my first apostle! Wait, he has two action thingies, I wonder what they do? *checks civilopedia*: "The apostle is a unit. It does things." *search for evangelize belief* Bupkiss. *search for that other thing the apostle does* Bupkiss. How do I hurt other missionaries and apostles with my religious units? It is a mystery - until you right click the enemy religious unit with your religious unit selected. Obvious!
- When founding my pantheon, the pantheon screen obscures my map so I cannot see my local resources for selecting a good pantheon. I have to keep opening it and closing it. Civ 5 fixed this by putting the list off to the side so you could examine your terrain while scrolling through the pantheons. Good thing they did away with that because that was clearly outdated, terrible and unintuitive design.
- When founding my religion, half of my screen was eaten up by my religious symbol. This is good, because I need more practice scrolling and squinting through, you know, information. But, hey, my symbol man, boy does it look hawt.
- What is in my city? It is a mystery. Oh wait, those glyphs up in the upper left of my city screen aren't just decorations - they are actual active tabs? Oh. Good to know. USARS R DUM
- I don't micro my citizens anymore. For one, the city overlay UI obscures the tiles my cities can work and where my citizens can be placed so I have to zoom out and drag the overlay window around the map. For two, it just doesn't feel like it matters. My cities won't grow unless I have All The Things anyway and my production will always suck. Unlike Civ 5, which won't starve your cities regardless of your citizen focus, Civ 6 will gladly let your cities starve if you click the production focus radio button.
- I have to keep mashing the citizen focus buttons over and over because now there's an "avoid this focus" feature for, you know, all those times when you need to avoid production.
- I do not want my trade routes making roads to civilizations that will invariably DOW me. Yay, I get 3gpt from one of your useless satellites but YOU get a nice path right up to my capitol. What a deal!
- You don't want to trade Open Borders for Open Borders? Ok, well, what DO you want, then? You want Open Borders for Open Borders instead? I dunno man, that's pretty steep. *sigh*
- Please stop telling me that an unmet player built the Oracle. Especially when the UI won't let me dismiss the notification.
- Speaking of notifications, where are they? It is a mystery. You don't need information - just click that shiny thing there...no, not THAT one, that one over there...yeah, that one...THERE YOU GO, GOOD BOY *pat* *pat* *pat*
- WHERE THE HELL IS MY MILITARY OVERVIEW...oh...there it is..well, sorta? I guess? What intuitive, enlightened and cutting edge UI/UX design! This old fart's getting the hang of this Mystery Meat Navigation, by golly!
- Upper right screen click? Lower left screen click? Upper left screen click? WHERE SHOULD I EXPECT TO CLICK FOR WHAT CONTEXTS? It is a mystery.
Money actually changed hands here, folks. It doesn't matter if it's a game for entertainment or life-saving medical software - the point is, money exchanged hands for a product. The who, what, why and where are immaterial. If you paid money for a car, you should get a car. If you paid money for pr0n, you should get your pr0n. If you paid money for a meal, you should get something you can eat and if you paid money for a game, you should get a game that you can play.
This is not a playable game. Not in the least. Or at least, I should say, it is not a playable CIV game and certainly not a playable AAA title. This feels like I'm clicking around an amateur college project that had great graphical talent and one UI/UX self-proclaimed "expert" who is 19 and Knows All The Things Because UR OLD AN DUM. Yeah, it's great that the leaders are in perfectly authentic, period gorgeous garb. If I were negotiating with Giant Foppish Beard Man's beard, I would lose. But I am negotiating with Giant Foppish Beard Man himself - and he will never win.
I *could* go play something else if I'm not having fun, but that's not what I paid for. I paid to play THIS game. I did not pay these guys just to play someone else's game.
I also feel the need to say that people really need to stop comparing this release with Civ 5's release, because it is non-sequitur. "Civ 5's release was worse" is not an argument because these games were not developed in vacuums - Civ 5 had all the feedback and experiences from prior iterations, and this iteration in turn, had all the feedback and experiences from its prior iterations as well. Some of these problems were identified and addressed in Civ 5 so the fact that this iteration is released with the same problems that were solved in prior iterations is mind boggling.
it's like, I'm gonna design a car that has a flaw where the break pads fall off if you go 37mph. I'm gonna fix that flaw. Then, 5 years later, I'm gonna design a new car. Except this one, the break pads fall of when you go 37mph and then point my finger at time constraints, poor management, lack of resources, etc, etc for the oversight.
Please deliver a playable version of the game I paid you money for. And NOT in a DLC that I have to pay for. I am NOT paying for patches disguised as "content." Hey, I have a novel idea! Why not release a game with fewer features that actually work instead of a game with lots of features that clearly don't? Crazy talk, I know...
In closing, I always thought it was kinda profound that Civ sorta taught us about history's mistakes, our own mistakes and how better to correct them for next time. Ironic, then, that this company cannot seem to learn from its own. Why? It is a mystery.
