I'm not "opposed" to the new transport system. We're just talking about it. I've said multiple times that we won't know how well it works until we see the game.
Do you believe we should have similar restrictions on loading transports in Civ IV? Why is this suddenly an issue for Civ V? Has there ever been a mod which implemented such restrictions? I can't remember this ever being an issue before.
The problem, Arioch, is that those like yourself - who are against auto-transport - have not given any *solid* justification for why they hate the new feature . . . Aussie.
So this is been simplified from 7 - 5 steps, not huge when viewed on its own, but that isn't the only effect of this change. The lack of these steps have a big impact on strategy and tactics. From now on, one nation cannot intercept enemy transports before they set off to invade. You will no longer keep an empire with a larger or more advanced army locked within their own borders by destroying the transports before they are loaded.
Well not being able to stick a battleship on top of every transport will make protecting you transports more difficult.
I wish I could remember where I read this, but I can't. In any event, I remember reading (or hearing in an interview) an RTS's developer's thoughts on the Rise of Nations feature of "eliminating the tedium of building transports" and just have units turn into transports when they got to the shore. He said that it seemed like a great idea in theory, but in practice it actually eliminated the major specificity of water-terrain - that it is a barrier to normal movement. With "auto-transport", instead of something fundamentally different, the ocean became just blue-colored ground. Sure, land units are defenseless as they cross the ocean or sea, which is different from how they are on the land, but they have the same freedom of movement in both media.
Now this is obviously an oversimplification of the problem, but I think it's worth taking seriously, and I hope the Firaxis team has taken it seriously as well. This feature fundamentally changes the role of water in the game.
In a sense, it will make the sea and naval battle more important. Because the barrier-of-entry (pun intended) for sea transport is so low, you can be sure that it will happen more often than it did in previous Civ games. And I imagine that it will be easier for the AI to handle too - instead of having to plan ahead and build the right number of transports (something it never seemed to figure out), the AI just has to move its navy into position and then march its army into the sea. I think this is one of the reasons why the developers went with the idea - make navies matter, and not just be another place where the player can exploit fundamental AI weaknesses.
But on the other side, land units just being able to march into the sea will probably also have some unintended consequences - it's like adding flying units to a game. It becomes that much harder to predict where a player is going to move a unit. I don't know exactly how it's going to be play out - could be great, could be a disaster. But either way, this change is at least as significant as one-unit-per-hex, so I just hope it has been well-thought-out. I don't think it's fair to argue that it's "clearly superior" to previous Civs' transport model. It's just different.
sorry to intercept your naval discussion, which was certainly very productive.
But one thing that bothers me (and I didnt find any info yet, or maybe just didn searched enough). When you attack with ranged artilery (archers etc.) in more then 1 range, how the combat will work? The old way (the enemy units fights with you, eventually destroying your art. if it has enough str.) or more to PG series, where your main strategy was doing breakthrough with invincible artilery?
The thing is I would maybe like more the latter, but who knows how could evolve it in CiV series. In PG series it was sometimes too overpowering because AI there wasnt at the top.
And again, why should we have to build ships to transport units when we don't have to build trucks, or trains, or cargo planes to do so? Why should sea transportation be so different?