Future Civ Changing Mechanic Suggestion

[desk]

I'm slowly warming up to the civ-changing mechanic but it still feels weird to me. That I can just change between civs because I unlocked some resources doesn't make sense.

I do like the idea that a nation evolves over time. But I think the civ-changing mechanic can be redesigned into something more convincing.


My suggestion: allow civs to change/evolve only if:

1) you conquered a certain civ (or x number of its cities) and wish to absorb its culture in the next age;​

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2) you have shared a border with another civ for at least one age and now wish to fuse cultures in the next age;​

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3) you interacted with another civ (not necessarily bordering) and completed x number of trade/research/cultural exchange treaties etc.​

Notes:

* When absorbing/fusing, let the default name be 'New + 'your country''. E.g., New England. But let the player have the freedom to rename one's new civ however one wishes that fits the context. Like I could conquer multiple civs with England as my starting civ and rename it as the English Empire, the English Confederate, etc. Or just keep it simply unchanged as England if I wish.​

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* Each civ can have its own unique cultural trait that gets upgraded per age. In the early age, these traits would be less varied among civs, but they would become more varied and thus meaningful to absorb in the mid and later ages. These traits can be absorbed by other civs when one of the above conditions are met.​

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* This mechanic assumes that we return to the previous system which allowed you to pick whatever civ from the start. It might mean fewer individual civs than what the Civ 7 dev team is currently planning, but it allows unique combination possibilities that may in the end be more than what previous iterations have offered.​

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* This approach combines the civ-changing mechanic and the civ-retaining mechanic of the previous iterations. I think this can please both groups of fans.​

Edited for typo.