Here are a few modest proposals for DLC packs:
Queen of Cities DLC Pack: Ottomans and Byzantines, 1453 scenario
Cradle of Civilization DLC Pack: Babylon and Assyria, ancient near east scenario + Ishtar Gate and Abu Simbel wonders
Imperial Adversaries: Celts (as Gaul), Carthage (and maybe Palmyra!)
Double Leader Civ: Mali/Songhai (and a scenario where the two leaders duke it out for control of west Africa)
The New World: Maya and/or Iroquois and/or Portugal (and/or that long awaited Isabella leaderhead) with a Colonization scenario
Ottomans+Byzantines pack is IMO incredibly probable and I've been suggesting it for some time, at this point I'd be really surprised if those two
weren't released together, seeing how suspiciously long we don't see any mention of very major power of Ottomans (who were in the base release of Civ5).
Babylon+Assyria is very good pairing, maybe even better than OttoByz and the best in the game as these two civs had very close (almost romantic
) history, but it would require the return of Assyria - which is not obvious at all, seeing how it was in Civ5 and there are many other fan favorites and candidates. On the other hand, Assyria and Ashurbanipal were very popular and it seems to be much more likely to return than Sweden or Austria IMO.
Imperial Adversaries doesn't sound too probable for me, as civs in the pack would have no direct links between each other, unless the pack also contained alternate Roman leader...
Mali/Songhai were two separate civilisations and placing them as one but with two leaders would be a nonsense similar to the civilization of "Vikings", "Celts" or (oh the horror) "Native Americans". On the other hand they are similar and close enough that I think it is very improbable both of them would appear in the same game. Also, while Mali is very popular, Songhai didn't and still doesn't generate great enthusiasm
The problem with the New World pack is very simple, Portugal did not, in fact, directly encounter Maya or Iroquis (well Spain didn't encounter the latter too).
Any other pairings I could think of are Italy-Ethiopia, Hungary-its neighbor and Burma-Siam. Two latter cases seem improbable to me as too many new civs from their regions, and Italy-Ethiopia would basically require either Mussolini or reminding Italians of their embarrasing failure at Adwa, and both are very unlikely to happen instead of glorious Renaissance Italy
These next civs might not quite have the popular support of the first group, but they all deserve to come back too.
Really ought to return:
Assyria/Hittites
Mali
Morocco
These are IMO indeed very probable to return, although I think we get
- either Assyria or Hittites (one fan favorite ancient Middle Eastern civ return)
- either Mali or nothing, because Mali is VERY popular demand right now while Songhai... nope
- Morocco can be potentially reinterpreted as Moors, Berbers, however you name it, anyway I absolutely expect some Islamic Maghreb civ to come.
Maori is quite popular demand, while blob Polynesia rather not. I honestly have no idea how probable Maori are.
Iroquois
Siam
Sweden
Venice (as double-leader Italy)
Siam is IMO far less probable than entirely new civs from SEA, such as Burma/Vietnam, and it would be nice to see new faces here instead of cycling between Siam and Khmer since civ4
Ought to be considered as new civs:
Apache/Navajo
Ashanti
Cherokee/Creek
Hebrews (not remotely likely, but still)
Hungary
Kilwa/Swahili
Palmyra
Tibet (see Hebrews, same deal)
Vietnam
I agree, I would even like all those civs to appear in Civ6
with the sole exception of Palmyra as it is imho, well, too super short lived and ultimately insignificant (one time failed uprising), and on top of that Arabia has Syrian cities.
Finally, those very few civs that don't need to return (in my humble opinion).
Ought not to return:
Austria (more or less covered by the HRE-style Germany this time)
Denmark (conceptual overlap with Norway, ie. Vikings)
Huns (concept didn't work well in Civ5, unless they make them playable barbarians)
Shoshone (they were an afterthought after Pueblo-gate)
Sioux (too close to Cree, focus on different Native Americans instead)
I fully agree, I wouldn't like any of these to return. Shoshone and Sioux are far less probable than entirely new natives. Denmark, Austria and Huns were probably the least popular civs in Civ5 next to Venice
By the way, I am surprised how many people nowadays mention Huns with disdain, as undeservedly being in civ5 - I agree, back in civ5 days I just had a feeling I am among very few who dislike them.