[LP] Leader Pass Pack 2: Great Commanders Sneak Peak (Confirmed; Release Dec. 15)

[AntSou]

I think I figured out what was bugging me about the tokugawa model (mainly).

Both the skin and armor look like ceramic, rather than the more plastic/fleshy texture leaders usually have for skin, and the metallic texture for armor.

Edit: secondly, one object in each hand? How is he supposed to gesticulate? Will he be waving both? Is there any other leader witth no free hands? So much of the expression from other leaders comes from their hands.

Looks like a design meant for a still shot, rather than to be animated.

Edit 2: The sword is probably tied, though it's difficult to tell. So his left hand should be free during animations.
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@Laurana Kanan is there any more info regarding where the images come from? Where were these shared originally? Discord? Found in the game files but no one else has found them yet?

These models look like very high quality modded leaders. Like, really good, but also, something's off.

I guess it could just be down to the artist? If these are the real models I wouldn't be surprised if the ceramic look is altered prior to release.

 

[Laurana Kanan]

@Laurana Kanan is there any more info regarding where the images come from? Where were these shared originally? Discord? Found in the game files but no one else has found them yet?

AFAIK, the only place these were shared was on that Reddit thread linked in the OP. I haven't read all the comments so maybe there's more information there. However, I've heard two theories on social media (Reddit, FB, Discord) concerning their source: 1. The images were found in the game files, and 2. The images were discovered on 2K's site.

Either theory, or neither theory, could be correct. The images may turn out to not even be genuine, but it is interesting to speculate and theorize about the next pack. We'll know soon enough whether the leak pans out.

 

[Eagle Pursuit]

AFAIK, the only place these were shared was on that Reddit thread linked in the OP. I haven't read all the comments so maybe there's more information there. However, I've heard two theories on social media (Reddit, FB, Discord) concerning their source: 1. The images were found in the game files, and 2. The images were discovered on 2K's site.

Either theory, or neither theory, could be correct. The images may turn out to not even be genuine, but it is interesting to speculate and theorize about the next pack. We'll know soon enough whether the leak pans out.

I'm afraid to say it, but they could be a leak, not from datamining or from a miscalculation on the website. But rather a person trusted by Firaxis letting the information out. These feel like WIP models and abilities. That would explain why the models' textures are a little off and why Suleiman isn't even there.

 

[Laurana Kanan]

But rather a person trusted by Firaxis letting the information out.

I hadn't read that anywhere, but that could certainly be another possibility.

 

[robal1991]

I've spent some time to find the upcoming leaders and I could not find anything. I'm almost sure that it was not leaked on Steam on Windows. I've search carefully on my SDD and the steamdb (checking all Civ6 depots, and latest manifests changes). I doubt that there were screenshots like this in the game files. More probably the upcoming DLC was also downloading for some users (maybe on Epic?). And after some code changes the leaders could be played with.

There is also this topic:

https://www.reddit.com/r/civ/comments/z2idkj

where presumably there is a game as Nader Shah going and we can see his combat bonus in action, but image like this can be easily faked.

 

[Linklite]

I'm afraid to say it, but they could be a leak, not from datamining or from a miscalculation on the website. But rather a person trusted by Firaxis letting the information out. These feel like WIP models and abilities. That would explain why the models' textures are a little off and why Suleiman isn't even there.

Firaxis is like a sieve, everything gets leaked. I can't remember if they've even released anything in Civ VI that didn't leak first since I've been playing. Either they're incompetent, have hired someone (someones?) that needs to be fired due to a complete lack of trustworthiness, or it's an advertisement strategy.

 

[Duke William of Normandy]

it's an advertisement strategy.

It has to be this one. After everything, I refuse to believe that not even some of these leaks were intentional. I just won't.

 

[pokiehl]

Firaxis is like a sieve, everything gets leaked. I can't remember if they've even released anything in Civ VI that didn't leak first since I've been playing. Either they're incompetent, have hired someone (someones?) that needs to be fired due to a complete lack of trustworthiness, or it's an advertisement strategy.

Only one leak ostensibly came from inside Firaxis itself—the Gathering Storm stuff, which I’m sure the team did not want whatsoever. I feel really bad for them about that one since Gathering Storm was such a monumental step forward in the game and I’m sure they were excited to organically reveal it. I’m not counting the accidental civilopedia reveal pre-release in 2016 as a leak.

Practically every other leak has come from 2K China. It’s not Firaxis’s fault.

 

[Linklite]

Only one leak ostensibly came from inside Firaxis itself—the Gathering Storm stuff, which I’m sure the team did not want whatsoever. I feel really bad for them about that one since Gathering Storm was such a monumental step forward in the game and I’m sure they were excited to organically reveal it. I’m not counting the accidental civilopedia reveal pre-release in 2016 as a leak.

Practically every other leak has come from 2K China. It’s not Firaxis’s fault.

Fair enough, it may not be Firaxis itself...but the points remain. Everything is leaking, and it seems too consistent to be unintentional.

 

[pokiehl]

Fair enough, it may not be Firaxis itself...but the points remain. Everything is leaking, and it seems too consistent to be unintentional.

Really doubt that. First of all, I distinctly remember Firaxis staff tweeting about the fallout from the Gathering Storm leak. I think Sarah had tweeted something “When you walk into unexpected chaos at work” the day after it got big. It was clearly a really big deal to them.

Furthermore, what is more likely to you: some opaque advertising strategy centered around deceiving people with fake leaks (so opaque that we’re debating its very existence), or simply that an unscrupulous low-level employee of a different company literally across the world doesn’t take NDAs seriously?

Remember, the only reason we even knew about the Leader Pass leak is because someone here frequents the Chinese forums.

TL;DR: Occam’s razor

 

[Linklite]

When it's basically every time... it's no longer an accident. If it were once or twice, I'd agree with you it's just a weak link. It's been going on for years and fairly consistently. If you're late once, that's life. If you're late every day, you need to get up earlier.

Occam's Razor means that the explanation with least moving parts is most likely to be true.

What's got fewer dependencies? That there are a whole bunch of people that those working on the game happen to be much weaker than their counterparts in other companies that there is just one or two guys that keep leaking and everyone turns a blind eye? Or that there is someone who's decided that the buzz a leak gives is good (and free) publicity and so instructs for it to happen?

 

[pokiehl]

When it's basically every time... it's no longer an accident. If it were once or twice, I'd agree with you it's just a weak link. It's been going on for years and fairly consistently. If you're late once, that's life. If you're late every day, you need to get up earlier.

Occam's Razor means that the explanation with least moving parts is most likely to be true.

What's got fewer dependencies? That there are a whole bunch of people that those working on the game happen to be much weaker than their counterparts in other companies that there is just one or two guys that keep leaking and everyone turns a blind eye? Or that there is someone who's decided that the buzz a leak gives is good (and free) publicity and so instructs for it to happen?

Don’t think we’re going to convince one another, but I do appreciate your viewpoint.

 

[Kupe Navigator]

Remember guys how Fraxis leaked nearly every civ in NFP?

 

[AntSou]

Firaxis is like a sieve, everything gets leaked. I can't remember if they've even released anything in Civ VI that didn't leak first since I've been playing. Either they're incompetent, have hired someone (someones?) that needs to be fired due to a complete lack of trustworthiness, or it's an advertisement strategy.

Maybe they realised the GS leak actually had beneficial consequences in terms of building up hype so they went along with it in the post-GS DLC?

Furthermore, what is more likely to you: some opaque advertising strategy centered around deceiving people with fake leaks (so opaque that we’re debating its very existence), or simply that an unscrupulous low-level employee of a different company literally across the world doesn’t take NDAs seriously?

Like the poster above mentioned, nearly every thing that came out in NFP we learned about in advance because it was included in the patches with each new DLC release. That wasn't 2K China.

 

[pokiehl]

Maybe they realised the GS leak actually had beneficial consequences in terms of building up hype so they went along with it in the post-GS DLC?


Like the poster above mentioned, nearly every thing that came out in NFP we learned about in advance because it was included in the patches with each new DLC release. That wasn't 2K China.

NFP and this dlc are noticeably less polished in every aspect than the rest of the content. Unless you think the botched rollout of Great Negotiators was crypto-advertising too, I’m again inclined to believe the simplest solution: a less experienced team making unfortunate mistakes.

This whole theory sounds like a conspiracy and there’s no measurable benefit anyone can cite in support of it and no actual proof except overanalysis of what’s in front of us.

 

[UWHabs]

Maybe they realised the GS leak actually had beneficial consequences in terms of building up hype so they went along with it in the post-GS DLC?


Like the poster above mentioned, nearly every thing that came out in NFP we learned about in advance because it was included in the patches with each new DLC release. That wasn't 2K China.

There's always levels of a leak that vary. Like, I bet if a file snuck into the current version that was like "civ_7_release_schedule", they would go crazy around that. But even some leaked models and abilities really doesn't move the needle much to them. I doubt anyone will refuse to buy the Leader Pass because they don't like the abilities of the second set of leaders. And if it gets us fanatics a little more speculation and discussion and keeps us involved, that's not necessarily a bad thing. It kind of ends up being an easter egg for those who are really passionate - like when they sneak in a toy trebuchet to a first look video or whatever, it's just something for the hardcore fans. That doesn't mean they intentionally release with that data, but they probably don't run a full text diff between every line of the patch to make sure that Tokugawa isn't listed somewhere obscure.

 

[pokiehl]

Someone I know noticed one of those leftover files in an NFP update immediately and privately messaged a Firaxis employee about it and got a very enthusiastic “omg thank you!” type of message in response. Really doesn’t seem intentional.

 

[Zaarin]

overanalysis of what’s in front of us.

Overanalysis based on scant information? At CivFanatics? We would never!

 

[Linklite]

Maybe they realised the GS leak actually had beneficial consequences in terms of building up hype so they went along with it in the post-GS DLC?

That would be my guess..."huh, that generated a lot of fuss and got people talking...maybe we shouldn't fix that leak and see where this goes" is much more likely than being this prone to leaks and not being able to do anything about it for years on end.

If everytime you go to a particular store you get overcharged...eventually the simple answer is that it's not an innocent mistake. Even if they do act apologetic when you inform them and they refund you the difference.

 

[AntSou]

@pokiehl I don't think the major leaks are intentional (like the list of LP leaders on that Chinese website). On the other hand, they're aware we will overanalyse everything, so just throwing a little clue here and there could be intentional. They've even adopted that spirit in their NFP video updates.