Input Requested for PolyCast Christmas Special 2016

[DanQ]

Headed by regular co-hosts Daniel "DanQ" Quick, "Makahlua", Philip "TheMeInTeam" Bellew and "MadDjinn", PolyCast is approaching the conclusion to its landmark tenth season. On December 10th, 2016, the show's annual Christmas Special is to be recorded live as have been episode recordings this calendar year. The regular co-hosts are need of questions to answer, comments to reflect on and topics to investigate to drive this celebratory stream's content: Civ in nature, strategy/computer gaming in general or even PolyCast specific inquiries are all welcome... you are not limited to just one!

To submit your questions, comments or topics for this purpose in advance, do one of the following:

a) respond accordingly to this thread;
b) send an email to thepolycast@gmail.com;
c) leave a voicemail for free by using Skype to call the show; or
d) leave a voicemail by using your telephone to call the show: (301) 637-7659 or +44 121 288 7659.

In addition, the PolyCast team will also take them live during the recording of the 2016 Christmas Special in the chat room powered by YouTube. Help the show's regular co-hosts prepare for this event by submitting your inquiries in advance. PolyCast is a bi-weekly audio production in an ongoing effort to give the Civ community an interactive voice on game strategy.

 

[AlphaShard]

What do you guys think will be in the first expansion? Will Gold ever be luxury resource again in the game?

 

[Chapel]

What do each of you most want to see for DLC? Not necessarily expect but actually want.

 

[joncnunn]

Some possible topics, related to Civ VI:
Speculation about the timing and content of the first four DLC (the ones included in Deluxe)
Discussion on optimum use of districts (which ones to build first; which to wait) ; perhaps including speculation on how soon Firaxis will close the loophole of put one turn production into a district and switch to something else to freeze it's price
Discussion on how close should cities be settled in Civ VI in light of regional effect buildings
Discussion on if it's ever worth the 3X warmongling penalty (post ancient era) to raze a captured city in order to refound the city nearby in the tile it should have been founded in to begin with.
Discussion on how when going for a religion on high difficulty levels, even with the latest patch, to successfully build Inquisitors prior to it being squashed by AI religions.

 

[footslogger]

Have the devs forgotten that a competent AI is at the heart of a strategy game? Discuss.

 

[WillowBrook]

Some possible topics, related to Civ VI:
Speculation about the timing and content of the first four DLC (the ones included in Deluxe)
Discussion on optimum use of districts (which ones to build first; which to wait) ; perhaps including speculation on how soon Firaxis will close the loophole of put one turn production into a district and switch to something else to freeze it's price
Discussion on how close should cities be settled in Civ VI in light of regional effect buildings
Discussion on if it's ever worth the 3X warmongling penalty (post ancient era) to raze a captured city in order to refound the city nearby in the tile it should have been founded in to begin with.
Discussion on how when going for a religion on high difficulty levels, even with the latest patch, to successfully build Inquisitors prior to it being squashed by AI religions.

This is a great list. I love DLC speculation, and have been thinking a lot (In circles, mainly) about district timing and build order and how close to put cities.

 

[Whiterussian]

How about you all sing us a nice Christmass song?
(Sorry Macky..)

 

[Timothy001]

Maybe a duet with MadDjinn?

 

[Victoria]

How about a secret santa?

Or would giving all CS ancient walls at the beginning help the game.

 

[Morningcalm]

How likely is it that you can have an alliance/friendship that lasts for an entire Civ game with an AI leader?

Do you think it is a problem that the AI all end up hating each other?

What is your favorite music track in Civ VI (including civ and age, i.e. "Atomic Era Japan")?

 

[TheMeInTeam]

Maybe a duet with MadDjinn?

Everyday....is so wonderful...

but suddenly...

 

[kingchris20]

What new mechanic would you all like to see added to the game? How would it benefit the game?

Obviously an improved AI is at the top of everyone's list, but aside from that, what are the top 3 fixes that need to be taken care of ASAP?

Based on your last podcast, many of you are not fans of settlers remaining settlers when captured, besides a builder, what would you rather see them turn in to when captured? Builder is an easy answer, let's get creative (could be a spy if captured in the renaissance [era-specific captures], could be a pop added to nearest city, could be something we don't even have in the game yet....thoughts?)

Single answer question (for fun): To each of the panel members, what is your top pick for a new civ....which civilization would you like to see represented?

 

[CoolLizy]

Civilization VI has some glaring flaws. But looking past those, what new mechanics, improvements, and changes in the game have you been most pleasantly surprised by?

Also, it's easy to look at the big picture when it comes to a major update like Civilization VI, but each new game also has tons of little things here and there that are easy to overlook. What are your favorite minor little touches in this new game that everyone else seems not to notice, and what are your biggest gripes when it comes to tiny annoyances that other people tend to overlook.

And finally, and most importantly, if the North Pole were a city-state, what kind of city state would it be, and what would its unique suzerain bonus be?

 

[TheMeInTeam]

Based on your last podcast, many of you are not fans of settlers remaining settlers when captured, besides a builder

I won't answer the rest of this ahead of the show, but I would like to point out that a solid enough reasoning against captured settlers remaining settlers to meet a threshold demonstrating a need for change was never presented in the previous episode .

The main design consideration in this scenario is the utility of the steal and the incentives created by that for both sides. However, there are also the defender's re-capture ability and similar small considerations.

In order to make a case that the current state isn't balanced, the other panelists would have had to show that it is consistently attainable to snipe settlers in competitive play, or that building up to attempt it then failing to steal the settler does not set the attacker back significantly. In failing to do so, they also failed to meet the standard of demonstrating why the current functionality needs to be changed, as opposed to simply pointing out that it's different/they don't like it. The reality is that in order to settler snipe another human being, you need to:

1) have sufficient forward scouting units to see the settler in transit
2) position enough of your total force investment to the same location as the opponent trying to settle
3) build enough units that you can spare putting enough to kill a settler escort in one spot, while still successfully escorting your own settler (if you cut the settler from your build order or lose yours, then fail to steal the opponent's, you are tangibly and significantly behind) and avoiding getting pillaged by barbs
4) have your opponent not place forward scouting units where he intends to settle, otherwise he'll notice you have enough to kill the escort and...just not move to you.
5) invest in the aforementioned units fast enough that they can physically move into position to snipe a settler rather than a city (note: if the implication is that players build these units so fast anyway, it would be disingenuous to assume your opponent did not also do it)

In practice, if we're not talking about dumpstering the trash can AI, the concept of what "should" happen is debatable. Is the advantage conferred by settler capture *really* too strong? On what basis is such a claim being made?

If we are talking about single player, this whole discussion is a farce because you can just take all the cities w/o losing units on deity, the utility/tradeoffs become comical.

It would be similar to me making a case that siege units like catapults should be captured and not destroyed, because that's how it was in civ 3 or because "I said so". You can say something like that, but it's not very convincing just saying it.

 

[DanQ]

Thanks to all who have provided input to date.

 

[kingchris20]

I won't answer the rest of this ahead of the show, but I would like to point out that a solid enough reasoning against captured settlers remaining settlers to meet a threshold demonstrating a need for change was never presented in the previous episode .

The main design consideration in this scenario is the utility of the steal and the incentives created by that for both sides. However, there are also the defender's re-capture ability and similar small considerations.

In order to make a case that the current state isn't balanced, the other panelists would have had to show that it is consistently attainable to snipe settlers in competitive play, or that building up to attempt it then failing to steal the settler does not set the attacker back significantly. In failing to do so, they also failed to meet the standard of demonstrating why the current functionality needs to be changed, as opposed to simply pointing out that it's different/they don't like it. The reality is that in order to settler snipe another human being, you need to:

1) have sufficient forward scouting units to see the settler in transit
2) position enough of your total force investment to the same location as the opponent trying to settle
3) build enough units that you can spare putting enough to kill a settler escort in one spot, while still successfully escorting your own settler (if you cut the settler from your build order or lose yours, then fail to steal the opponent's, you are tangibly and significantly behind) and avoiding getting pillaged by barbs
4) have your opponent not place forward scouting units where he intends to settle, otherwise he'll notice you have enough to kill the escort and...just not move to you.
5) invest in the aforementioned units fast enough that they can physically move into position to snipe a settler rather than a city (note: if the implication is that players build these units so fast anyway, it would be disingenuous to assume your opponent did not also do it)

In practice, if we're not talking about dumpstering the trash can AI, the concept of what "should" happen is debatable. Is the advantage conferred by settler capture *really* too strong? On what basis is such a claim being made?

If we are talking about single player, this whole discussion is a farce because you can just take all the cities w/o losing units on deity, the utility/tradeoffs become comical.

It would be similar to me making a case that siege units like catapults should be captured and not destroyed, because that's how it was in civ 3 or because "I said so". You can say something like that, but it's not very convincing just saying it.

This is all very true indeed, and something I heard somewhat being discussed at length in the podcast....It was a very interesting conversation and Mad seems to really not like the fact that settlers remain settlers. But I'm with you on this, there was not a solid enough reasoning to warrant a change.

Your points here are very interesting and I actually like the idea of settlers remaining settlers.......but I thought if there was resistance to this then it would be interesting to hear some unique changes rather than just making them builders...like maybe a slight chance it turns into a GP, or a spy, or some support unit, or whatever...maybe it turns into a rebel barb...who knows

 

[Horizons]

How rushed was Civ6?

a) Super-rushed
b) Mega-rushed
c) Uber-rushed

lol

 

[DanQ]

Last call for input here -- recording is in less than twelve hours as of his posting.

 

[MadDjinn]

Why does Vancouver not have a plow at their airport?

Where is my plane?

Can I haz cookie?

Can Dan edit-fu me into the episode?


I need that cookie though... flight delayed 4 hrs

 

[Timothy001]

How about a discussion on possible alternate leaders for existing civ's, and what there potential bonus might be, and how they contrast to the existing leader(s).