Future Update - Speculation Thread

[jozef57]

This seems totally at odds with the activity that we are seeing, do you have any basis for this or is just random speculation?

i do follow this insights f the saxy gamer on his youtube channel,

 

[leandrombraz]

Why? They could release smaller content to keep revenue coming and players engaged before a large final expansion.

So they can use the new expansion mechanics on the leaders added by the DLC.

 

[LMT]

Can someone explain what a "season pass" is (civ is the only game I play.

How might it be implemented for civ 6? What do you think it might cost?

 

[leandrombraz]

Can someone explain what a "season pass" is (civ is the only game I play.

How might it be implemented for civ 6? What do you think it might cost?

It's a bundle of unreleased DLCs, basically. You buy the season pass now, then you get the DLCs "for free" once they are released. It would cost less than buying all included DLCs separately, but it's hard to estimate the price without knowing what these DLCs will be.

 

[LMT]

It's a bundle of unreleased DLCs, basically. You buy the season pass now, then you get the DLCs "for free" once they are released. It would cost less than buying all included DLCs separately, but it's hard to estimate the price without knowing what these DLCs will be.

Thanks. That's a little different than what I thought a season pass was. Based on your description, it wouldn't seem like a bad deal since I'll most likely buy all of the DLCs anyway (as long as they aren't ridiculously priced.)

 

[SammyKhalifa]

That's not bad in itself but it's edging worryingly closer to subscription service to me . . .

 

[pokiehl]

I'll throw money at any new content. I would like to see Firaxis adopt a longer term support model like Paradox.

 

[theRoyzen]

No she wouldn't fit as a leader for the Netherlands. The Austrian Netherlands she ruled over would be nowadays Belgium. And even though the term the Netherlands included nowadays Belgium for a while (and at times is jokingly by some Dutch still called the Southern Netherlands) there is not one city from Belgium on the Dutch city list. Moreover Brussels, the capital of Belgium, is still a City State in game.
And that is wise because Belgians nowadays don't consider themselves Dutch (anymore), at least not in the modern sense of the word.
Also the reason why she should not be the leader for Hungary, because she wasn't Hungarian and there are plenty of other Hungarian leaders around.
Sensitivities have to be taken into considerations, when choosing a leader for a civilization. It has to be a person that people of that civilization (if still around) have to be proud of or represent them well in game.
That is also the reason why some leaders are absolutely inappropriate for a game like this, and it is in comprehensive to me why some people keep pushing for some leaders like this. Especially if they are for someone else civilization.

I do understand that she wouldn't fit for the Netherlands, it was more a joke. And as a Hungarian history teacher living in Austria, oh belief me, she did mean a lot to Hungary and had a lot of impact there too. But the best way to represent her, would be making her really the Empress and Queen of the Dual-Kingdom, anything else would be not a fair share for her, and what she has done.

 

[Jeppetto]

Plot twist. watch all three new DLC actually be expansions that come out at the same time.

That would be plot transdimensional vortex rotation I'd say

 

[Neirai]

Plot twist. watch all three new DLC actually be expansions that come out at the same time.

oh god my bank account would not survive.

 

[RohirrimElf]

Thanks. That's a little different than what I thought a season pass was. Based on your description, it wouldn't seem like a bad deal since I'll most likely buy all of the DLCs anyway (as long as they aren't ridiculously priced.)

Did civ 6 not have a season pass at launch. It might be called differently. Perhaps it was called a deluxe edition with more content for a discount. Pay up front and recieve dlc`s with a discount later.
If i remember correctly the civilization fanbase did not think it was of good enough value at the time. Some players only cared about extra leaders and not scenario`s. Firaxis added 2 extra dlc`s to create extra value for the season pass.
Civ 6 was in a much worse state back then. So this might have increased the negativity about the value of the season pass/deluxe edition at launch. Firaxis might have learned what value to give at what price by now. To make it worth it for those who are not interested in scenario`s.

 

[Kwami]

Did civ 6 not have a season pass at launch. It might be called differently. Perhaps it was called a deluxe edition with more content for a discount. Pay up front and recieve dlc`s with a discount later.
If i remember correctly the civilization fanbase did not think it was of good enough value at the time. Some players only cared about extra leaders and not scenario`s. Firaxis added 2 extra dlc`s to create extra value for the season pass.
Civ 6 was in a much worse state back then. So this might have increased the negativity about the value of the season pass/deluxe edition at launch. Firaxis might have learned what value to give at what price by now. To make it worth it for those who are not interested in scenario`s.

Call it what you want, but that's basically a season pass. I guess the only difference is that you had to buy it as a bundle with the base game instead of separately. Anyway, the extra packs were added because currency fluctuations made the deluxe edition a bad deal in some parts of the world (e.g. Brazil), not because some people complained about Vikings.

 

[Tech Osen]

I see two main possibilities.

1: They are including a WW2 scenario.

2: They are bringing back ideologies

It might be different for non-European people but when Europeans think of WW2 the first thing that comes to mind is not a big, horrible war but the Holocaust. You can't have a WW2 scenario with A.H. and ignore that aspect of his leadership but it's also completely unethical to put in a leader with some sort of Endlösung mechanic. So this is simply not going to happen. And if they would, I would never buy it.

 

[Teutonic_Tirade]

To bring us back in order of speculation,
after some reasonable thought, I think it may be two smaller DLCs and maybe an expansion or something small, such as a map pack.

The two smaller DLCs likely contain scenarios, perhaps requiring the USK reviews. This maybe why there are only 10 new achievements listed. Typically the smaller leader/scenario packs have around 5. Firaxis likely doesn't want to give things away with a third expansion, as if they were to put in 50 or so new ones it would be a lot more noticeable. Alternatively, the third one could be a map pack or something.

They may release two small leader DLCS before the expansion to hold people over while the expansion takes longer. The 3rd Expac could also be why there was a USK review needed. We still don't know but if they are maintaining there advertising model or news model, I think Thursdays were their day for announcing things. We may hear things sooner rather than later but it's likely that news will be about more waiting.

 

[Stringer1313]

I have problems with too many expansions. They pile on new features but past a certain point it’s feature bloat. I’d rather they spend that time refining existing features (which expansions also do!) and call it a patch.

Separately- I’m sure any delay is due to corona virus making it hard to work. Or the expansion is about plagues so now is not the right time to release! (It May even be weird to announce an expansion in the middle of these covid times)

 

[Arianrhod]

How many and which ones do you think are missing, without considering new mechanics? (right now I remeber just the Mayans, Babylonians, Ethiopia and Portugal as some fairly requested but still missed)

The Civs that were in previous games but not this one are as follows:
Last seen in V: Assyria, Austria, Babylon, Byzantium, Carthage, Celts, Denmark, Ethiopia, Huns, Iroquois, Maya, Morocco, Polynesia, Portugal, Shoshone, Siam, Songhai, Venice
Last seen in IV: Holy Roman Empire, Native America, Vikings
Last seen in III: Hittites
Last seen in II: Sioux

I would hope (but I guess I can't be certain after the last few pages) it's safe to say that there aren't many people who want Native America or the Holy Roman Empire to return. Unless they do something interesting with them (which is possible but would probably require more work than they'd be willing to do), I doubt there's much interest in the Huns either. A number of these have been pretty clearly swapped out for others -- Vikings/Denmark into Norway, Carthage into Pheonicia, and Polynesia into the Maori. There's also a case to be made that Scotland replaces the Celts, and whether or not Mali replaces one or both of Morocco (function) or Songhai (geography), but in any case those three are in some flavor of jeopardy. Finally, I don't think the Shoshone were ever really all that popular as a Civ, and just about anything interesting about them (as a Civ mechanic) has already been done better by the Cree, so I wouldn't expect them either.

That leaves Assyria, Austria, Babylon, Byzantium, Ethiopia, the Hittites, the Iroquiois, the Maya, Portugal, Siam, the Sioux, and Venice.

-While I would love to see both Assyria and Babylon, I get the feeling they're probably both competing for a spot, since they'd probably rather focus on more marketable (re: medieval or later) civs. Babylon feels like the safer of the two between seniority and being infamous in V.
-I would be surprised if Austria returned unless we get more than ten civs. I really enjoyed their gimmick, even though it was more fun than useful, but Europe is pretty full to begin with (especially if they add anyone) and they're probably the easiest cut from it.
-Byzantium is awkward because it definitely has the name recognition and prominence, but I sort of feel like it would have returned by now if it was going to. I could go either way on this one if we only have eight civs left, but it should be safe if we get more. I guess it could technically sneak in as an alt leader but that'd be pretty weird.
-Ethiopia feels relatively safe, although not so much that I can't see them getting screwed for a new African civ.
-I would love to see the Hittites but they're never coming back because they don't have enough sex appeal to anyone other than me
-People generally seem to like Native American civs but I'm not sure if Firaxis does after the Cree stuff. I don't see us getting a new one unless the situation has changed in the southwest (which I find unlikely), so if we get one it'll probably be one of the older two since they're usually "safer". Iroquois is probably more likely than Sioux for a few reasons, the simplest of which being that it's appeared more frequently, but TSL might impact this I guess.
-I feel like the Maya are the single biggest lock there is among returning civs. They were fun in V and pretty much everyone likes/wants them.
-Portugal is probably second place
-I would like to see Siam return, but this series tends to (very unfortunately) largely ignore SE Asia beyond a single obligatory civ. Considering that we already have the Khmer, I don't see them returning outside of personal favoritism, because even if SE Asia gets another civ I'd expect it to be a new one (probably Vietnam, maybe Burma.)
-Venice is an oddball. In a vacuum I'd expect to be cut, but my impression is that it was surprisingly popular for an underpowered and gimmicky civ, so I wouldn't necessarily guarantee it. Probably the biggest risk factor for it is that it competes with other Italian options, like the seemingly-canned Genoa or just a blob Italy in general.

I'd pretty much bet my account on the Maya and Portugal returning, and Babylon/Ethiopia/Byzantium/Iroquois aren't too far behind, but unless we have more than eight civs to look forward to I'd be surprised to see all six of those survive and anyone outside of them is probably dead barring something unlikely.

 

[SammyKhalifa]

It might be different for non-European people but when Europeans think of WW2 the first thing that comes to mind is not a big, horrible war but the Holocaust. You can't have a WW2 scenario with A.H. and ignore that aspect of his leadership but it's also completely unethical to put in a leader with some sort of Endlösung mechanic. So this is simply not going to happen. And if they would, I would never buy it.

There could be a "campaign for North Africa" type tactical scenario. Or a sub warfare one with emphasis on naval battle and trade routes. Not my thing, but I could see it.

 

[Alexander's Hetaroi]

There could be a "campaign for North Africa" type tactical scenario. Or a sub warfare one with emphasis on naval battle and trade routes. Not my thing, but I could see it.

Not to mention there is a whole other "Pacific Theater."

This rating from Germany doesn't mean it has to be directly involved with Germany though, just meaning it probably contains new content/features that aren't present yet.

 

[Xur]

It’s probably corporations (selling tobaco)

 

[Negan]

Just curious, does anyone remember the user "AssemblingTyphoon" and his civ predictions for the third expansion pack? I recall ethiopia for sure, maybe portugal, and I believe another indigenous american civilization.