[GS] Future Update?

[Vandlys]

They can just cut your salary like that? Wow, I‘m glad I live somewhere else. Nevertheless, that‘s a good reason to actually pull the release forward since you want it to be available as long as people still have money. There will be economic safety packages anyways, let‘s just hope that they will cover the simple worker as well.

Not salary, wages. People who get paid per hour of work. If they can't do the work because their place of employment has been forcibly closed, they don't get paid.

I don't think you should make this assumption for all the countries in the world that quickly. Salary, for you can mean something other than wages, but wages are often used to denote per hour, day, week, or even month, and then it becomes synonymous with salary.

The company I work for pays me a salary, yet is in a country where I think people believe would not expect these cuts to happen. Yeah, they can do that. Yeah, the government supports in a way, yet that still means you get only about 60% of the money you'd normally earn.

There's two arguments which can be considered against that, though this is off the top of my head and I don't know how reasonable they are:

1. With the disruption of the stock market, I'm not sure to what extent it would be wise from a business perspective to withhold the release of new content, especially since we don't know how long this will last;

2. Due to the mandatory quarantine, a lot of people are currently working from home, and for those who are currently not working, it seems many governments are considering providing them with a basic income. This means that many people will find themselves with disposable income which would be spent elsewhere under normal circumstances: gas, night outs, bars, restaurants, cinema, tourism, etc, is all out the window for the time being. So this might turn out to be good business for Netflix and other digital services.

Netflix Seeing Usage Spikes in Coronavirus Hotspots
Video Game Stocks Seen Benefiting From 'Social Distancing' Trend

Yeah, sure, for some people indeed, maybe even a majority. But then others can't because they simply cannot survive otherwise.

That said, I would very much welcome an Xpac. But we shouldn't forget that Firaxis is probably also dealing with Corona and Covid-19 which results in slower development, and maybe even budget cuts.

Seems kind of rude, don't you think?

Lol. But it's culture! So don't push this imperialist British wording on it and say it's rude : P Futhark goes F, and then goes U, especially to British people I guess.... #lindisfarne #793 #holdmyplow

Moderator Action: Please can we refrain from pushing the forum rules on language like this. Let's keep things civil. leif

 

[SammyKhalifa]

Money's going to be hard for people for sure; however, on the other hand, for others there are a lot fewer things to spend it on at the moment. So I don't know.

 

[UncivilizedGuy]

It will be interesting to see how the next few weeks and months play out. One by one my customers are closing their doors and/or not allowing vendors in their buildings. This is beginning to look more and more like the 2008 meltdown .

 

[Eagle Pursuit]

Nailed it!

Looks like the ltest branch has become smokec.

Edit: Not sure if this has been noted, but Runner is labeled as Windows OS, while Plaid has no OS designation.

Lol fixed

 

[WillowBrook]

Lol fixed

Ooh, both Windows! I was afraid Plaid would turn out to be for another platform and we'd be back to one upcoming DLC.

 

[acluewithout]

Sadly, I don’t see any scenario where the current health crisis has a net positive effect for FXS or results in any expansion etc getting brought forward. The current shutdown of major economies and related lay-offs is triggering a global recession. That will be severe even if the shutdown is just for a short period. It will be much worse if the shutdown is longer. US estimates are upwards of 20% unemployment, which is getting close to depression era unemployment and is much more than in the 2008 Great Recession.

It’s possible that, once we have more evidence, policy makers may determine the virus is less dangerous than currently thought, but absent that I can’t see these shutdowns getting rolled back any time soon given any effective treatment and or vaccination could be more than 12 months away, although equally it’s hard to see how such severe restrictions on public life can be maintained for long. Leaving the actual health crisis aside, that is bad news for economies and people’s jobs and security.

Anyway. A recession of this magnitude is not going to go well for anyone, including video game companies. Many people who have lost jobs aren’t going to spend money on games. Others who haven’t lost jobs will still be wary of spending on games, because they’ll be concerned about losing their jobs in the future. etc etc

FXS aren’t going to bring forward any release to benefit from people being stuck at home. They are more likely to delay release so they’re marketing and releasing in a more positive environment or at least one with less uncertainty. Best case scenario is they just stick to their existing release schedule or only delay it a few weeks.

— Snip—

Sorry if I was heavy handed or took you or anyone else out of context. And I very much hope you and your family are okay.

Yes, it would be great to have some positive news about something Civ related, particularly at the moment. And I don’t think there’s anything wrong with saying that at all.

I would also very much like to have some new Civ content as a distraction. I was fairly tired of the delay before all this rubbish blew up, and certainly was keen on some idle video game news instead of the relentlessly bad news we’d already been getting. Now with the media being saturated with Covid-19 and global recession and everything else going on, yeah, some Civ news would be good.

I thought 2008 and all that was a rollercoaster. Jesus, the past 3-4 years has just been something else. I honestly don’t know what to expect next.

Ooh, both Windows! I was afraid Plaid would turn out to be for another platform and we'd be back to one upcoming DLC.

I’m still hoping for an Expansion and DLC. Hopefully the long wait (including pre-virus) is an indication of more content rather than less. I think I’d be quite disappointed by just DLC at this point.

In other news, another filler post on Twitter about Cat Scouts. Sigh.

 

[iammaxhailme]

This is probably a vain hope, but I hope there is some kind of buy 1-get-2 or discount if I want to get it on PC and Switch.

 

[pokiehl]

This is probably a vain hope, but I hope there is some kind of buy 1-get-2 or discount if I want to get it on PC and Switch.

That'd be great for multiplat owners but I don't see it happening unfortunately. Figure it would have already been done.

 

[Loderingo]

The makers of Football manager 20 are offering it free for a week. Smart move. Get some good PR and maybe get some more purchases at the end.

I still think Firaxis can do well out of this crisis if a new DLC is pitched at around 10 USD. Yes, people will be worried about their jobs but they will also be bored if quarantined and 10 USD won’t break the bank for most people

 

[Loderingo]

Also just to add that I monitor the Steam win stats and in the last year, China has moved up sharply while a lot of the original civs are flat. Could be Chinese players getting the game when quarantined and playing China first.

 

[Victoria]

When I see the unemployed with good phones, cigarettes and big TV’s I know they have enough for a civ game if they really wanted it. But it is a question of choose your vice.
The thing with civ is it eats up time, lots of time. The environment is right, just the cash is an issue but I am unconvinced about lack of ability to purchase.

 

[Siptah]

I‘m actually surprised that the quarantine seems to lead to more time to waste on games for so many people on here. A significant part of my work is not happening as it is not allowed around here in the coming months, and yet, with everybody being in the apartment all day, I don’t find time to play games after work. And I actually prefer playing with the people in the apartment to playing singleplayer games on a computer. Might be different in 2 months ;-).

As to hurrying up releases: there is no need to. Discipline might suffer, but the situation won‘t change quickly. A June or July release might happen under similar circumstances as an April release - except for the circumstances in people‘s wallet probably.

Rant:

Spoiler :

But even for people that are home alone and cannot work: isn‘t there a huge load of things that might be useful to do in such a situation? Like starting a distance degree of some sort to find a job after the crisis? Self-training new skills? Doing all these projects that were postponed because they were to large to tackle? Reflecting on your life and your life choices? Games are fun and provide a balance for work, but if you don‘t work... Just my opinion.

 

[AntSou]

Reflecting on your life and your life choices?

Yeah, I'm gonna reflect alright, right after I play some Civ: "I should not have taken that extra turn. That was two hours ago. What's wrong with me?"

 

[Nikolai II]

Not salary, wages. People who get paid per hour of work. If they can't do the work because their place of employment has been forcibly closed, they don't get paid.

At least in Norway during this crisis, the government covers 100% of the wages when (temporary or permanent) laid off for the first 20 days, then you get 2 years of 60% of your income until you get a job.

 

[Pistol90]

I dont know does it make me bad person, but right now I would really want disease and viruses mechanich in Civ 6. I am aware of everything going around, but for me its like if I would like to watch some movie about virus pandemic. Real world events replicated into a game, I honestly want to real world be better place for everybody and this all to stop, but also honestly want to have some pleague wipe entire civilization of my worst enemy when playing civ (mostly Kongo)

 

[Disgustipated]

And I actually prefer playing with the people in the apartment

I live alone. well except for my dog who doesn't play computer games. I suppose multiplayer would be an option if I knew someone who shared my taste in games (I don't).

I am out of work now. Who knows how long. Normally I would say I have plenty of money for civ games (and I did in an earlier post in this thread). But the future is a huge unknown. Our economy is like a house of cards, this may be enough to topple it when you are talking severe supply chain shortages. Though I suspect that the politicians won't let that happen (I hope). My city is especially vulnerable because we rely on tourism. I think it may take over a decade to recover from this. We are talking Great Depression level hardship here. I can't guarantee I'll have a job in a couple of months. Even worse, I stupidly invested a majority of my money in the stock market last week (after pulling it out last year after people said a recession was coming) only to see the stock market drop a few thousand more points (and more today it looks like). I really can't pull that money out after it's lost so much money, I have to wait and hope it gets back (I think I put it in around 23,000). I should have waited longer to put it in. I goofed big time on that. So now I'm reliant on the money I have in my savings account which I regret not leaving more in. I also have a CD in my bank too I could use in emergency.

Long story short, if the expansion were to come out tomorrow, I might not buy it immediately until I know for sure I have a job in the future.

 

[Janskey]

I‘m actually surprised that the quarantine seems to lead to more time to waste on games for so many people on here. A significant part of my work is not happening as it is not allowed around here in the coming months, and yet, with everybody being in the apartment all day, I don’t find time to play games after work. And I actually prefer playing with the people in the apartment to playing singleplayer games on a computer. Might be different in 2 months ;-).

As to hurrying up releases: there is no need to. Discipline might suffer, but the situation won‘t change quickly. A June or July release might happen under similar circumstances as an April release - except for the circumstances in people‘s wallet probably.

Rant:

Spoiler :

But even for people that are home alone and cannot work: isn‘t there a huge load of things that might be useful to do in such a situation? Like starting a distance degree of some sort to find a job after the crisis? Self-training new skills? Doing all these projects that were postponed because they were to large to tackle? Reflecting on your life and your life choices? Games are fun and provide a balance for work, but if you don‘t work... Just my opinion.

I work in neuroscience research and even if I spent all of my time reading, I could never catch up - there's over 400000 published articles in the field so far + you need to understand something about statistics, physics, chemistry and physiology. I do spend a lot of time reading, but even playing isn't a complete waste of time, as people often think, e.g. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2896818/. It can even improve your visual acuity, despite some elderly folks claiming "Johnny, that will ruin your eyes": https://www.researchgate.net/figure...ience-A-Action-video-game-Color_fig2_51632618
Of course, these effects are not something that only playing can produce, it's more related to our passive lifestyle (in comparison to what evolution has prepared us to do). And there's a difference between, say, Cookie clicker and Civ.

In a situation like this, I'd say it's important to find something positive to think about - if gaming makes you feel better, go for it.

Back to the topic, I'll probably buy any new content instantly. Despite all its flaws, Civ has one of the best €/hour of entertainment ratio of any games that I play (though I'm not saying that games like What Remains of Edith Finch are a poor investment). Tales of Maj'Eyal is a strong contender, since the basic version is free.

 

[Eagle Pursuit]

2kqa_d and Smoke B have both updated this morning. I'm surprised the Smoke cycle went back to B instead of Smoke (original). I will keep an eye on it and see if this pattern continues. It could be that Smoke and Smoke A are finished.

 

[Eagle Pursuit]

Smoke classic has now updated.

 

[Jeppetto]

Smoke updated

EDIT: looks like eagles carry messages faster than old toymakers