New Expansion Speculation Thread

[kryat]

I could see an announcement next week, even with the Switch release, but, realistically, I think the week after Thanksgiving feels likely.

That’s when R&F was announced

 

[Sherlock]

 

[Leathaface]

It'd be sweet to get an announcement in the month of November, i'm thinking early December at the earliest.

 

[kryat]

My money is on Nov 27. That puts it exactly 52 weeks after the R&F announcement and it’s the Tuesday after Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving is at its earliest this year, so a November announcement is likely, where it can catch that holiday buzz for preorders. Had we been in a year where Thanksgiving was on the 28th, I’d agree that the announcement wouldn’t be made until December, but we’re likely catching it early this year. After that, we have about 10ish weeks to launch, so probably the fifth or twelfth of February.

 

[RohirrimElf]

Thanks for sharing the video. Natural disasters would be great when worked out as a big feature. And would fit the name Vesuvius as next expansion. Actually do think it would be interesting marketing wise for firaxis. Not only disasters like meteorite sightings (hit on economy and unrest). Vulcano eruptions, floods, famine, plagues). But also many plenty of positive events. Like temporarely double resources on metals (iron/gold/silver), plentifull harvest (boom on city growth) or a powerfull diplomat that improves diplomatic relations between 2 nations. Plenty of Possibilities on positIve and negative events.

 

[Leathaface]

I like the idea of natural disasters, but if I played a good game, built my cities well, placed the right districts at the right time and am on track to winning I don't want a disaster to be the sole reason I lose.

I agree it would be nice if a disaster could knock you off track and you'd have to be skillful to get back to winning your game, but I don't want disaster to be so OP to stop you completely from winning. Or coming very close to that. If the disaster made you weaker and tested the strength of your military for example, that would be nicely implemented.

 

[Giskler]

If natural disasters are being added, perhaps man-made disasters will also make a comeback? Pollution, global warming and nuclear winter anyone?

 

[Eagle Pursuit]

Just a follow up. They did end up sneaking the old vanilla header images back in.

 

[God of Kings]

I wouldn't think so. But maybe these leaks pushed their marketing schedule up? If they put in a new non-Vesuvius header up soon, then probably not.

And it's not like they would promote the iPhone and Switch versions on Steam. (Switches don't run Steam, right?)

The day Nintendo consoles have Steam is when Nintendo as we know it is completely dead.

Oh, and the Switch has many games that are also available on Steam anyways.

The closest Valve ever officially (i.e. not fan-made) got to a Nintendo console is the Portal 2 set in LEGO Dimensions (which is available for the Wii U).

 

[Disgustipated]

One thing that would be nice that I'm surprised they never put in the game is an aggressive personality option for AI civs. Something to increase the difficulty some more. Just something to put in the advanced options.

 

[Morningcalm]

For the Tongan leader, I have in mind king Tuʻi-tā-tui, who was king over the Tonga Empire ~ yes, they had a pre-colonial empire! Alternatively there is ʻAhoʻeitu.
Queen Salamasina and queen Nafanua are two potential female leaders for Samoa.

Interesting, though some of those leaders seem on the border from legend to myth, more so than say Jigonhsasee (though the Iroquois could use more firmly historical leaders like Joseph Brant or Cornplanter instead I suppose, to offset any further complaints about legendary leaders).

One thing that would be nice that I'm surprised they never put in the game is an aggressive personality option for AI civs. Something to increase the difficulty some more. Just something to put in the advanced options.

We already have aggressive tough leaders in Civ VI who are ridiculously hard to please though--they would be more threatening if the AI was better at tactics, but alas, such competence is only seen now in Civ IV AI.

 

[c4c6]

perhaps man-made disasters will also make a comeback?

The first moment I thought, you are talking about multiplayer ...

Just a follow up. They did end up sneaking the old vanilla header images back in.

So we are officially closer to the 2nd than to the 1st expansion?!

 

[Greywulf]

Interesting, though some of those leaders seem on the border from legend to myth, more so than say Jigonhsasee (though the Iroquois could use more firmly historical leaders like Joseph Brant or Cornplanter instead I suppose, to offset any further complaints about legendary leaders).

I think it was fairly common place for well liked leaders who passed away to be essentially made into demigods, but generally they were based on real people who weren't all that impressive, but the people liked them...or they did something cool, and the people retold it to be something legendary.

 

[Canterbury]

I'd guess that the male leader is probably Māori. The clothing may not be exact – and yes, he doesn't have a tā moko right now – but it's still close enough with the bone pendant, shoulder cloak, kilt/skirt with hukahuka (tassels) and piupiu. There have certainly been less accurate depictions before in Civ games. [SIDE RANT: Including Kamehameha in Civ 5. Ugh, they based his look on a statue that appropriated elements from Ancient Roman culture. Seriously, no Polynesian leader would've actually looked like that. They even had him wearing speedos in Civ 5, for crying out loud.]

And since we're speculating in this thread, I was also thinking that the new sea district/tile improvement could potentially be one of those "floating cities/villages" that they're planning to build in French Polynesia. It would certainly fit with a new Polynesian civ.

In any case, I hope to see a new Māori or Polynesian civ in the next expansion. Perhaps the latter, so that other Pacific peoples are included as well.

 

[Guandao]

He forgot Queen Waifu and the xebec ship.

 

[AtlantisAuthor]

I've been lurking and reading everyone's speculation and Wish Lists with great interest during recent days. I've no idea whether an expansion is actually coming, let alone what may be in it, but I'm hoping that Firaxis will, at some point at least, bring back some old favorites as well as introduce new Civs, Leaders, and features. Maybe it's largely due to the fame and charisma of Civ icons like Napoleon, Nobunaga, and Bismarck, among others (and the far superior and lifelike Leader animations in Civ V sure didn't hurt), but many of the Leaders for major empires in Civ VI just feel...second-rate, for lack of a better term.

I have a bunch of Leaders/Civs that I miss from Civ IV and V, such as Nebuchadnezzar II (Babylon), Napoleon (France), Nobunaga (Japan), Katherine (Russia), Bismarck (Germany), Elizabeth (England), Washington or Lincoln (United States), Dido (Carthage), Boudicca (Celts), Theodora (Byzantium), Pachacuti (Inca), Attila (Huns), Suleiman (Ottomans), Hiawatha (Iroquois), Kamehameha (Polynesia), Maria I (Portugal), Augustus or Julius Caesar (Rome), Pocatello (Shoshone), Ramkhamheung (Siam), Askia (Songhai), and Enrico Dandolo (Venice). I realize that we'll probably never get (close to) all of these, but at least some would be great to see make a comeback. Not to mention that the omission of so many iconic Leaders from the base game...specifically great military leaders like Napoleon, Nobunaga, Attila, the Caesars, and so on, makes me wonder if Firaxis has a military-centric expansion planned out somewhere on Civ VI's roadmap. Those missing names and personalities simply create an undeniable void, particularly for this franchise.

Of course one huge mechanic still absent from Civ VI is the World Congress, where diplomacy can pay huge dividends in the late-game. One would think that will return at some point. One thing plaguing Civ VI's later turns, at least for me, is the sameness of the overall mechanics compared to the earlier periods (Turns obviously tend to take longer during the late-game, but I don't really think there's a solution for that aside from ensuring said turns are as meaningful and fun as possible).

The idea of natural disasters is definitely intriguing, but I hope they'll be balanced so as not to suddenly ruin a player's entire game. Researching tectonics, diseases, meteorology, and the ability to make sea walls could help curb at least some of the potential damage to cities in high-risk areas of your empire. It's things like anticipating such problems and being able to research, plan for, and prevent or limit the damage they cause that, at least in theory, would be a lot of fun, because it would scratch that same micromanagement itch we get from the rest of Civilization's mechanics.

I'd also love to see Civ-specific military units in the late-game (such as tanks, helicopters, etc. that are recognizable as NATO or Russia/China/Warsaw Pact). And "near future" technologies...perhaps someday even including setting up colonies under the sea or on the Moon, Mars, and beyond...would add both length and tons of content to the late-game, as well as an extra dimension for logistics (while I don't expect we'll see such ideas in Civ VI, perhaps a future Civ game might incorporate it, combining the best of "regular" Civ and Beyond Earth).

 

[Craig_Sutter]

Could there be a blob Polynesian or Micronesian Civ with a leader representing Tonga, Hawaii, etc. separately? If both Gorgo and Pericles city state leaders can be used to represent the Greek blob, and there is a possibility of a Mercian Queen representing an alt English Leader, why not?

 

[Vrenir]

Could natural disasters be linked to a World Congress mechanic based around humanitarian relief?

 

[nzcamel]

Maybe it's not fair to judge until I see it all, but tell me, how likely is it that they will add the Maori and not make them military focused, and make them specialize at colonizing tiny islands?

Could there be a blob Polynesian or Micronesian Civ with a leader representing Tonga, Hawaii, etc. separately? If both Gorgo and Pericles city state leaders can be used to represent the Greek blob, and there is a possibility of a Mercian Queen representing an alt English Leader, why not?

Yeah, lets have a Micronesian Civ. They were at it long before the Polynesians.

 

[Mr Jon of Cheam]

When the leak first broke I was sceptical, it seems too soon after R&F, but looking back through Civ history, it turns out that second xpacs have typically been released just one year after the first, so now I am very hopeful of announcement before December. Exciting times! Honestly I think I prefer the build up to a new release more than the releases themselves...