I'm clicking the "retire" button on Civ VII

[aieeegrunt]

Even with a classic mode I don't eras are going anywhere. To some extent they have always been in the game, just not as mechanically important. It looks like Firaxis are going to continue to downplay them and make them less and less important. But unless a major expansion really focusses them down they are here to stay, and I suspect a classic mode would just remove much of their distinctions, and almost totally smooth out transitions. At some point they get downgraded enough that they are functionally irrelevant.

For Civ switching, mods like enduring empires have shown that we can do something about it even with the current modding tools. A system whereby you can choose to keep playing your civ, but get access to some mechanically appropriate civics/traditiions is I suspect a no-brainer. Firaxis' seal of approval on a solution would go a long way here as there'a a lot of ways you could do it. Playing Civs in previous eras feels tougher...

I don't think the crisis mode is going to last. It already being optional at launch suggests Firaxis did not have much confidence in the feature. With a large chunk of the audience not using it, and it being tied to a system that is disliked, I think that's got to be a low priority to fix too...

And given that leaders and civs no longer have a 1-1 correspondence, plus the costs for making new models, I suspect leader/civ mixing and matching is here to stay.

So a classical mode for me would be a set of options to reduce the impact of ages to a very low level, crises turned off, and the ability to continue to play a civ out of era with some benefits to compensate. I doubt it would satisfy everyone, but I'd take that and run with it. I even hope all the options are toggleable as I'd personally continue to play with full-fat eras.

Like I said, this wouldn’t be that difficult to implement

The alternative is to accept the current sales and player counts

 

[MrRadar]

Moving all techs to antiquity doesn‘t really solve anything. Eras are a core concept that is very difficult to take out. If we just take the tech tree as in your example, what happens with all the bonuses from tech masteries that go obsolete at era change? When do buildings and units go obsolete - do you make up a new system for building and units replacing each other? How and when do resources change? Many of the things changing with eras (e.g., connection distances) need to be tied to a tech, mastery, or similar. The tech tree alone comes with quite a long list of things that need to be adapted, and that's not even touching the more difficult related overbuilding mechanic.

Civ III probably has most of the answers to these. Its tech tree is organised into separate tabs according to the ages/eras. When you get through the required techs of the current age, the next tab is unlocked and there's a transition screen heralding a new age. When you get back to the map, the look of your cities is updated. All this could be almost copy-pasted into Civ VII.

 

[Leucarum]

Like I said, this wouldn’t be that difficult to implement

The alternative is to accept the current sales and player counts

I don't think what I suggested is too difficult. Balancing the civs to be played in future eras is likely the biggest workload. But... Would players accept that as being close enough to a classic mode?