I wonder if we're going to get a culture system like Civ 5, and move the civics tree to a new currency like Philosophy, with a new culture victory type. Now this, I don't know what to do for, because the culture victory is already pretty well set in. Maybe use the culture system as a mechanic that augments tourism (like having a highly developed culture [maybe based upon some sort of level or tier system] could multiply your tourism bonus, and culture could be used as a local religion-like bonus [but have a lot more impact?]), and also have more tourism aimed towards cities? I hope the implementation won't just be a copy of Civ 5's culture but I think the game needs to be less linear and have more strategies than: build more city or build less city but make city really big. But then again, you can't do that, because Civ as a whole is based on cities. You control territory from cities. You harvest resources through cities. You conscript and draft your armies through cities. I'd have no idea how to change this. Decentralizing Civ from city to hex is practically changing Civ into Grand Strategy with 4X elements, or a really long time-span of EU4. I wouldn't actually mind that, because my suggestions are based on EU4 mechanics. But things like cities make for linear strategies, and the strategy is based upon the game's implementation. But having things like Culture or Military Doctrine would really allow for more strategic elements, because you'd have to adapt to other players' choices. Also, peace deals (deals in general actually) also need some reworking, I think. Maybe show the world when you are demanding cities, so that you know what you are getting? Instead of demanding cities that you see the most pop and resources in? Again, EU4 used a pop-up menu instead of a full-screen menu so you could see what you were demanding, it's resources and development, and how many problems you'd have if you demanded it all. With religion (because religion isn't something I bother in Civ with, AT ALL, but it was incredibly important in history), the amount of faith should affect your stability in cities. Do you care for your country's devout? If you don't, or even support another country of another religion, perhaps they will rebel? Are there other untolerated religions in recently conquered lands that might cause uprisings, or could you attempt to bring the marginalized into your religion? But again this might have to change the fundamentals of Civ.
That being said, the AI would also have to adapt to that.
Civ6 in particular is made much like a board game, not a simulator or grand strategy game, so I don’t know how far you can push the idea in Civ6. especially after all the effort they’ve tried to put into the current victory conditions. In my opinion, implementing the kind of system you’re asking for is something you want to be deliberate with. I don’t think empires dying in the middle of the game and another one emerging out of nowhere is something the current design of Civ6 can handle reasonably. Maybe if Rise and Fall didn’t happen or if were done differently?
At best, I think Dark Ages and Golden Ages Could probably be expanded upon to convey more of that idea if expansion and contraction. But I do think there is space to push Ages, Loyalty, and Amenities.
Rise and Fall and it's mechanics didn't really prove it's namesake. Dark ages don't tend to happen to you unless you gained too much era score in previous eras, or you have crippling loyalty and over-extention issues (also loyalty). Era score and the timeline never really shows a good timeline. Why doesn't it take score away when you lose a war (which will never happen, unless you really had loyalty problems, barbarians or a spawn of just tundra / snow and no hills for 10 tiles)? Era score is meant to show your prosperity but also happens to represent things I'd deem insignificant but apparently is enough to be stated on a timeline meant to represent your entire civilization. It should show the foundings of cities (more than just in specific areas where they were settled), when you declare friendships, when you are declared war on, and it's conclusion. Maybe there needs to be more mechanics to fill in this hole but then I would think I'm asking too much. R&F was a step in the right direction but didn't have enough to satisfy another step. Maybe, once your empire is "waning" you could reform your empire into a newer and stronger empire; like Timurids into the Mughals, or Ming - Qing (not exactly), England - Great Britain? I don't think it should be a cosmetic change or anything, just that your country reformed and consolidated, and you gain a small bonus + got rid of any negative effects that not modernizing created.
