[GS] Future Update?

[Duuk]

Honestly, I think Civ6 is done. I believe the survey was geared toward what model Civ7 should be based around.

 

[Alexander's Hetaroi]

Hoped to see 20 fresh new tabs. Which would mean an expansion. Better luck tomorrow or thursday.

Thursday isn't going to happen probably because of Thanksgiving in the U.S.
If there is no announcement tomorrow, it would have to come sometime next week.

Edit: Someone beat me to it.

 

[WillowBrook]

In Steamdb, on the main Civ VI screen it says that there was a Last Record Update 13 hours ago, but there aren't any changes in the Depots themselves that I can find. Does anyone know what that means?

Edit: spelling correction

When there's only a change number listed, there's no change to the depots. Sometimes those changes appear to be steam related (they sometimes relate to many steam apps), but often we have no idea.

 

[Naktis]

Well 3 options:

a. Next week...
b. Next year or even later, depends when the devs plan to end with civ 6. So far we were getting yearly expanssion, maybe for last one release time gap will be bigger.
c. They're done with this game and working on smth else. The best we can hope is DLC civ.

 

[acluewithout]

So, no news. That’s really disappointing.

I doubt we’ll get an update / heads up today based on past practice. Immediately after Thanksgiving is then the focus. If that’s also a negative, then it’s either going to be a long wait for another expansion, or we’re not getting one and instead it’ll be dlc leader packs and things like that.

I still really hope we get a third expansion. Yes, the game’s in great shape, but here is definitely still room to fill some things out more.

 

[Eagle Pursuit]

I think if they were done with Civ VI, they would have released the obligatory Complete Edition, which they usually do after the 2nd expansion. This time they had the Platinum Edition. Plus we know there's still a patch in the works. You don't typically keep pumping money for patches in a game with no future prospects of income.

At this point it's either a teaser tomorrow and announcement next week or the whole shebang next week or it's delayed until next year or it's DLC next year and it doesn't need so much lead time for an announcement.

 

[acluewithout]

I think if they were done with Civ VI, they would have released the obligatory Complete Edition, which they usually do after the 2nd expansion. This time they had the Platinum Edition. Plus we know there's still a patch in the works. You don't typically keep pumping money for patches in a game with no future prospects of income.

At this point it's either a teaser tomorrow and announcement next week or the whole shebang next week or it's delayed until next year or it's DLC next year and it doesn't need so much lead time for an announcement.

Agreed.

My concern is that it’ll be DLC going forward, not a Third Expansion, which perhaps means no or only limited development of the mechanics, just mainly flavour stuff.

 

[Deliverator]

My concern is that it’ll be DLC going forward, not a Third Expansion, which perhaps means no or only limited development of the mechanics, just mainly flavour stuff.

DLC defined the Civ way can't really be released after a first Expansion as it would have to be compatible with all Expansions or none and therefore not use any Expansion mechanics. For this reason we are talking about a third Expansion or nothing in my view. DLC packs that are just new Civilizations or Leaders are quite unlikely I think. The only precedent for post Expansion DLC with Civ V was Map Packs which would be possible for Civ VI, but not very exciting.

Also they are heavily discounting the Platinum Pack on Steam (by 71%) until next Tuesday 3rd Dec which could just be a Black Friday sale or could indicate that an announcement is coming. They had similar heavy discounting this time last year and it would make sense to get people onto the game to bolster XP3 sales.

 

[acluewithout]

DLC defined the Civ way can't really be released after a first Expansion as it would have to be compatible with all Expansions or none and therefore not use any Expansion mechanics. For this reason we are talking about a third Expansion or nothing in my view. DLC packs that are just new Civilizations or Leaders are quite unlikely I think. The only precedent for post Expansion DLC with Civ V was Map Packs which would be possible for Civ VI, but not very exciting.

I don’t really disagree, although I think dlc post gathering storm could be made to work. It won’t be maps though - they’ve already given those away for free.

I’m not enjoying the waiting to find out about a 3XP.

My gripe is that, while the game is in good shape, it’s still missing significant content to make the game really great.

Specifically: some key Civs are still missing; some key wonders (eg Zeus) and units (trebuchet, more future units, more naval units) are missing; arguably, there are still a few buildings the game could add (court house, hospital); and some key mechanics are missing (something like Civ V’s tourism based ideological pressure, which the game feels like it was designed to have given existing tourism, loyalty and happiness mechanics; better ways to “level up” your society, maybe like Civ’s Social Policies; and slightly more empire management at least in the end game). More generally, I still feel like the end game is not great and needs a bit more work. There’s also little stuff that I think just needs to be expanded a little - specifically, governors, late game and or intercontinental trade, and Ideolgies generally.

To me, there’s no question that there’s enough room for a Third Expansion. My concern though is that FXS or 2K don’t think a 3XP makes financial sense, given that while GS has sold very well many people are complaining about the total cost of the complete game.

My worry then is that FXS move to a staggered dlcs approach, and stretch out content that would have been in a 3XP across 12 or more months. And, honestly, that might not even be such a bad outcome if it means stuff ends up more polished. But my worry is that overall it may result in less meaningful content, and waiting a year for some key mechanics etc. would be very tedious.

Anyway. At this point, it’ll be what it will be.

Guess I’ll check in tomorrow and again after Thanksgiving. If the FXS Groundhog sees its shadow, then I’ll have to accept a few more gloomy months of winter.

Also they are heavily discounting the Platinum Pack on Steam (by 71%) until next Tuesday 3rd Dec which could just be a Black Friday sale or could indicate that an announcement is coming. They had similar heavy discounting this time last year and it would make sense to get people onto the game to bolster XP3 sales.

3 December! Oh for Pete’s sake!

 

[Eagle Pursuit]

If you want an even more depressing date, they're having a giveaway promotion (an Intel PC and Civ VI Platinum Pack) when ends December 17th. That's a Tuesday. An announcement could come as early as the following Thursday the 19th.

 

[LMT]

To me, there’s no question that there’s enough room for a Third Expansion. My concern though is that FXS or 2K don’t think a 3XP makes financial sense, given that while GS has sold very well many people are complaining about the total cost of the complete game.

I'm always surprised when people complain about the cost of Civ or its expansions. They essentially cost the same (or less) as a single night out to dinner or a move with a companion. And instead of getting a few hours of enjoyment, you're getting hundreds (or thousands!) of hours.

Designing these games takes a lot of work with what I assume are fairly large staffs. Do people expect Firaxis to give the game/expansions away for free???

 

[Vandlys]

Honestly, I think Civ6 is done. I believe the survey was geared toward what model Civ7 should be based around.

During the last video they had about the world builder and such, they said they weren't done yet. That would be a bit of a strange thing to say if you are talking about VII, when you doing a video on the VI. Makes no sense to me.

 

[_ViKinG_]

I'm always surprised when people complain about the cost of Civ or its expansions. They essentially cost the same (or less) as a single night out to dinner or a move with a companion. And instead of getting a few hours of enjoyment, you're getting hundreds (or thousands!) of hours.

Designing these games takes a lot of work with what I assume are fairly large staffs. Do people expect Firaxis to give the game/expansions away for free???

Yea, it's not expensive for the game. With all the hours you can play. And with expansions over the years you only have to pay for that once a year or something.

 

[blackcatatonic]

With the hours I've sunk into VI (and V before that), Civ is easily the best value for money gaming experience I've had in the past few years.

 

[snk_private]

With the hours I've sunk into VI (and V before that), Civ is easily the best value for money gaming experience I've had in the past few years.

I absolutely agree, and compared to what Paradox is pulling off w/ HOI4 EU4 etc. the pricing of the DLCs/expansions is in my humble opinion absolutely okay

 

[SammyKhalifa]

I totally agree with the pricing. I'm still salty over the price of games staying the same after they all went totally digital though. Overhead for the companies was much higher when they had to actually manufacture, print, store, and ship things.

 

[blackcatatonic]

So because I'm bored at work, I just hunted down this thread which was discussing the teaser for the R&F announcement. It was posted on Twitter at 5PM UK time (which is in about 3 hours' time), on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving.

Not that necessarily any XP3 announcement/teaser for an announcement will follow the same pattern, but it could. If there's a big Steam sale of the Platinum Collection finishing on the 3rd, which just so happens to be next Tuesday... well...

 

[Tomice]

I also believe there will be a third expansion.
This is an opinion not based on hints or database activity, but based on changing development habits seen with various studious.
We are past the point where we would have massive graphical advancements every 3-4 years, civ6 doesn't look more realistic than civ5 did. It's intended to look timeless, and the "readability" of the map is more important than good looks.
They have no reason to start all over again when they can earn half the money of a full-fledged game with a quarter of the effort.
Other Studios also keep supporting older games because they still look good enough to be playable and have an established fanbase (Paradox, Total War, World of Warcraft,...)


Also, the team is probably a bit exhausted from the console release, they might have delayed the announcement a bit to catch some breath.

 

[ehecatzin]

Yeah I think the expansion is coming as well, let's not forget that the console release of the Xpacks probably threw a wrench into the forum's very carefuly laid prediction. And if anything, I think the console release and support makes sense before a third xpack. "so you just bought the xpack bundle on console? well, do we have a surprise for you"

 

[Eagle Pursuit]

I also believe there will be a third expansion.
This is an opinion not based on hints or database activity, but based on changing development habits seen with various studious.
We are past the point where we would have massive graphical advancements every 3-4 years, civ6 doesn't look more realistic than civ5 did. It's intended to look timeless, and the "readability" of the map is more important than good looks.
They have no reason to start all over again when they can earn half the money of a full-fledged game with a quarter of the effort.
Other Studios also keep supporting older games because they still look good enough to be playable and have an established fanbase (Paradox, Total War, World of Warcraft,...)


Also, the team is probably a bit exhausted from the console release, they might have delayed the announcement a bit to catch some breath.

Indeed. And the summer survey supports the idea that they are transitioning to a GaaS (game as a service) model, where they sell periodic improvements to an existing game rather than remaking it over and over. Civ VI could be the last Civ until there's a paradigm shift in how players play game (eg VR becomes dominant).