How excited are you currently about Civ7? [vol 3 - January/February 25]

[MistroPain]

I'm in a weird spot. I've put it down for a 4 but I still want it.

My reasoning? This feels like the most forced civ to date, especially the Exploration era. Every civ has optimal strategies but no Civ forces you to pursue a particular strategy, this one looks like it forces 4... three times... so 12 (actually 8 since in the last age it would be more reasonable to not pursue one of the legacy paths as you won't have to deal with a Dark Age). Potentially. If you don't get the first milestone in each of the 4 areas (Culture, Science, Economy and Military), you go into a dark age. In some cases the mechanic it asks you to play with is a core part of the game, in other cases it feels like it should be an optional part of the game. Exploration Age looks to be the most egregious among these as it forces you to pursue Treasure Fleets (and therefore exploring and settling the distant lands or warring someone else who has done so and stealing their Treasure Fleets; get fukt if you end up on a bad chunk of coast although it looks like Map Gen has done well in all previews to prevent this (not so much for some of the AI)). It forces you to settle or conquer distant lands via Non Sufficit Orbis. It forces you to play with the horrendous Relgion Mechanics (if you are forcing us to use it, at least put some effort into the mechanic, I never saw a preview were someone tried to buy a Relic so maybe that will be an alternative option). The Science Milestone (Englightenment) isn't terrible as it feels like pursuing high yields is a part of the core gameplay, even then I would argue this should not be forced on me.

Maybe I'm totally off with this, after all, you can also pursue a Dark Age (as I understand it these offer both a positive and negative effect and maybe a certain playthrough will point to a particular Dark Age as the optimal decision), potentially making it so that these Legacy Paths act as widening your pool of decisions to make.

Also not a fan of how hard things are to tell apart and not a fan of Civs getting boosts to certain Wonders or how meh Wonders appear to feel in this Civ. Civ 6 did the unpacking of cities in a way that I wasn't a fan (mini-gamification), but it was VERY readable. This does not look very readable.

Fingers crossed I am wrong and the game is fantastic.

 

[TheGhostEnthusiast]

it forces you to pursue Treasure Fleets (and therefore exploring and settling the distant lands or warring someone else who has done so and stealing their Treasure Fleets; get fukt if you end up on a bad chunk of coast although it looks like Map Gen has done well in all previews to prevent this (not so much for some of the AI)). It forces you to settle or conquer distant lands via Non Sufficit Orbis. It forces you to play with the horrendous Relgion Mechanics (if you are forcing us to use it, at least put some effort into the mechanic, I never saw a preview were someone tried to buy a Relic so maybe that will be an alternative option). The Science Milestone (Englightenment) isn't terrible as it feels like pursuing high yields is a part of the core gameplay, even then I would argue this should not be forced on me.

I don't mean to be rude, but if you don't want to conquer new cities or settle new cities or collect new resources or develop your cities, what would you like to do?

 

[Evolena]

If you don't get the first milestone in each of the 4 areas (Culture, Science, Economy and Military), you go into a dark age. In some cases the mechanic it asks you to play with is a core part of the game, in other cases it feels like it should be an optional part of the game.

It doesn't force you into a Dark Age, it only give you the option to choose a Dark Age Leagcy for the next age.

 

[MistroPain]

I don't mean to be rude, but if you don't want to conquer new cities or settle new cities or collect new resources or develop your cities, what would you like to do?

Settle cities in my own continent, collect resources in my own continent and trade for resources I don't have, wage war and conquer those on my own continent... etc. etc. I've played plenty of games where I went isolationist.

It doesn't force you into a Dark Age, it only give you the option to choose a Dark Age Leagcy for the next age.

That is good to know, I didn't know this.

 

[Zaarin]

Settle cities in my own continent, collect resources in my own continent and trade for resources I don't have, wage war and conquer those on my own continent... etc. etc. I've played plenty of games where I went isolationist.

You might consider playing Mongolia or Songhay, which have rules for earning VP on their own continent. Hopefully more civs with unique victory paths will follow.

 

[Seek]

Welcome to the club then I'm cautious for different reasons though:
* Looks too easy (aka bad AI and lackluster balance)
* The whole distant lands mechanics making distant land civs second class citizen
* Not enough "good terrain" emphasis. Resources look like a bonus that you can live without. You seem to be incentivized to take as much land as possible by your limit rather than specific good land. The base yields all look very similar with techs and buildings boosting it.

Good terrain is going to be somewhat civ dependent, many civs interact with specific terrain. Resources seem very powerful to me - granted, more in their effects than the tile yield though.

With city development being so different, base yield has a different meaning now - it's more about terrain and getting adjacency bonuses for buildings (and some improvements). As a builder, I like this, as it rewards thoughtful development.

Definitely don't disagree with your first two points though!

Settle cities in my own continent, collect resources in my own continent and trade for resources I don't have, wage war and conquer those on my own continent... etc. etc. I've played plenty of games where I went isolationist.

You can do this and ignore all Legacy paths and still win the game just fine - except for in Modern age, there you need to follow one legacy path for your victory. But for the first two ages, following the paths is incentivized but not forced (though you will certainly end up with some legacy points just through normal gameplay). And as you mentioned above, you could take a Dark Age card to make the final victory path easier for you.

 

[Sonora27]

It’s wholly unhelpful to refer to everyone who might not share your enthusiasm about a game mechanic an “outcast.”

If you pay closer attention to the discussions on this forum, you will see that there is a great diversity of opinion on most everything Civ-related.

Most of the people both in civfanatics (including nearly all of the veterans here) and reddit are leaned on favor the new mechanic of the game. Even if there any of them who don't like it, they still being outnumbered in both of the sites. It is still a diversity, but they are the minor voices here.

 

[Roald Amundsen]

After seing how broken this game seems my excitement has drastically fallen.

 

[Sekou]

Ridiculously excited. Founders Edition purchased. Vacation set. Just going to pump the game into my veins over a looonnnngggg weekend

 

[Oberst Kraft]

Most of the people both in civfanatics (including nearly all of the veterans here) and reddit are leaned on favor the new mechanic of the game. Even if there any of them who don't like it, they still being outnumbered in both of the sites. It is still a diversity, but they are the minor voices here.

Regarding veterans (myself included), I doubt you're right. You know, they (we) are quite stubborn.
As history shows us, sometimes the minority is right while the majority is wrong.
We'll see what the sentiment will be like after after 3-4 months of playing.
Personally, I hope that Civ 7 will defend itself against a significant drop in the number of players, but let's remember that Civ 6 caught up with Civ 5 in the number of regular players only in the third year after its launch.
So let's be patient and keep our fingers crossed for Civ 7 to have long legs.

 

[StargazingDog]

Ridiculously excited. Founders Edition purchased. Vacation set. Just going to pump the game into my veins over a looonnnngggg weekend

I was all set with standard edition. Then I realized that I will be only working until Wednesday next week, so I am not so sure. I also realized that I haven't played a Civ game day one since Civ 3. I wish there was a physical founder's edition!

 

[RedCourtJester]

About a 6. Hopeful. I want a few more keystone civs that aren't in the first two DLC sets, maybe see more evidence of how the southern hemisphere is going to be built out.

But it's been promising since the DLC reveal. Many great new additions, solid new leader reveals. Wayyyyyy better than the base game's obsession with France and some mediocre alt persona picks.

 

[P_S_]

Way too hyped. As in, I know I shouldn't be this excited. But it can't be helped.

Maybe I played too many boardgames recently, but the board-gamification doesn't bother me at this point anymore and I'm looking forward a lot to the new gameplay ideas. I sure hope they land with me, but I'm optimistic. Hope the AI is more competent and that the age transitions don't interrupt the game too much. If these two things are ok, I shall be happy.
Maybe it helps that I've had my fair share of gripes with Civ VI.

So yeah, a 9 at the moment, when I take a few steps back to reflect.

 

[C0rsair]

To me, Civ 7 seems like the most interesting game in the series. Also I see huge potential for the future of the game. I got into Civ with Civ 4 and actually liked each new entry a bit more than the previous one. I'm very hopeful for Civ 7.

 

[Anno]

Very excited. Before this was revealed I was hoping they'd end the Civ 5/6 branch of the series and make sweeping changes like they did after 4, but this is a decent midway step, I think. Plus I think the game just generally looks very pretty (this is one of the only games where I really care about that), sounds nice etc. It launches the day before my birthday and I already have the rest of the week off. Can't wait!

 

[lo24681]

after all the reviews and stuff, I am down to a low 8, still super excited for the game, and it looks REALLY fun to play, but the big issue for me is all the QOL UI misses. I shouldn't be anticipating Sukritacts UI mods more than any of the upcoming dlc, yet here I am. Like I said still a 8, so am still very excited to play.

 

[Chiyo]

I voted not excited but wanted to wait for Let's plays. I am currently watching a Twitch session of the game. The player is at war with Greece which he does not seems to be realizing as he is speaking about the Spanish all the time because the leader is Isabella. It does not help that she is literally speaking Spanish despite leading Greece. He is also facing Rome with Charlemagne where it does not happen. I assume it is because you do not attach him to a major civilization but "only" to the Franks which is different to today's France.

My first impression now is that it is like playing a Football Manager without a proper license. The immersion gets broken if the Champions League Final has a different name and is played between Sporting Milan and Liverpool Athletics. It is a pity but I do not get drawn into the game so the new features are not touching me at all. I will definitely not buy the game for the time being and give it a little break. Maybe my view will be different in some months.

 

[rocksinmypath]

8. I went down to 6 (I think?) in the previous vote because the Exploration Age demo disappointed me. I still have some reservations about things like religion that was showcased during that demo, but the Let's Plays have sold it for me. I preordered today. Regardless of whether I regret my decision, kudos to the marketing team.