Now that we know all the factions - which do you like more than others?

[Kozlov]

1. Slavic Federation
2. Slavic Federation
3. Slavic Federation
4. Slavic Federation
5. Slavic Federation
6. Slavic Federation
7. Slavic Federation
8. Slavic Federation

 

[Osmotic]

I hope that BE will be designed in such a way that all factions will have paths to victory that are demonstrably equivalent in terms of likelihood of victory, given competent play. If choosing good play leads to defeat because it happens to be ineffective in light of imperfect information about opponents, that will still be acceptable as long as there is a reasonable way to reduce the risk of catastrophic choices by having access to a flexible and balanced espionage system: not just dirty tricks, but progressive intelligence gathering.

 

[Martinus]

I hope that BE will be designed in such a way that all factions will have paths to victory that are demonstrably equivalent in terms of likelihood of victory, given competent play. If choosing good play leads to defeat because it happens to be ineffective in light of imperfect information about opponents, that will still be acceptable as long as there is a reasonable way to reduce the risk of catastrophic choices by having access to a flexible and balanced espionage system: not just dirty tricks, but progressive intelligence gathering.

I think differences between factions for human players are cosmetic - they definitely seem to be much less pronounced than in Civ5. For AI the differences with playstyle will come from preferences.

 

[KrikkitTwo]

I think differences between factions for human players are cosmetic - they definitely seem to be much less pronounced than in Civ5. For AI the differences with playstyle will come from preferences.

Of the 2 we know in detail, one seems like a significant change (Elodie tech from culture)
Brasilia seems less so (only +10% melee strength)... But if it was 15 or 20% it could have a pretty big effect.

 

[Pokefenn]

We also know that the slavic federation gets 20%~ (I don't remember the exact number) more time on their Satellites, which changes them a decent bit from other factions.

 

[KrikkitTwo]

We also know that the slavic federation gets 20%~ (I don't remember the exact number) more time on their Satellites, which changes them a decent bit from other factions.

Right forgot about that

So only 1 of the 3 seems like a small change, another feels like a big change (changing the Role f certain resources), another like a moderate change.. some things slightly stronger

 

[Esmer]

From Favorite to least favorite:

1.) Franco-Iberia: I like their image as sophisticated, secular humanists and the idea of "Space France" is a refreshing concept that we should see more often in fiction (France is the leading European space travel country, after all)

2.) Slavic Federation: Because I consider Yuri Gagarin a hero of mankind and I like stories that focus on exploration and discovery of the unknown

3.) PAC: Stories about a prosperous and self-confident Africa (as opposed to war-torn hellhole) are always welcome. Besides I plan on playing African civs more often in Civ games anyways.

4.) Polystralia: I like their multiethnic, multicultural nature, but not so much their "Trade civ" nature.

5.)KP: I like the story of space exploration as a journey of spiritual discovery, Kavitha herself is a little creepy though.

6.) Brasilia: Military powerhouses who focus on aggressive expansion were never my favorite civs. Wasn't too fond of the Spartans/Mongols/Zulu/etc either.

7.) PAC: While I liked Chairman Yang's Human Hive in SMAC, the PAC reminds me too much of a poor man's version of the same concept. Not very original.

8.) ARC: Mega-corp who specializes in stealing other people's stuff and secrets - very obviously the bad guys of this game so far.

 

[Calapine]

No faction really intrigues me (unilke Byzantium in CiV). I think for my first game I'll just pick one and rename it "European Union" with leader "Calapine" and go with that...

 

[Mount Suribachi]

Only faction that really intrests me is Slavic Federation. I really like the idea of them going the Supremacy route, even though Purity appeals to me most personally.

The rest of the factions I find a bit meh, but once I've started playing the game certain factions may grow on me. Failing that, I'll do what I always do in Civ4 and choose a random faction.

 

[gunnergoz]

I'm less interested in the factions as "personalities" and more interested in their UA - though the personality of the leader will matter when they are AI opponents.

 

[jokii]

1. ARC -25% is a huge bonus in a long run
2. Polystralia -Trade routes are extremely rich
3. Pan-Asian Cooperative - production bonus is always useful, and you also can stack it with industry virtue for wonder rush
4. Slavic Federation - you can can get one of the higher value technology early, and satellite bonus is nice
5. Franco-Iberia - good choice if you want to go on culture - technology rush
6. Kavithan Protectorate - good for city spam - prosperity virtue tactic
7. Brasilia - 10 % isn't much ( they should put 15 % or enhance bonus in some other way )
8. People's African Union - the least favorite, it is really hard to stay healthy, especially in the early game ( I think they should enhance this bonus as well )

 

[Japper007]

1) Franco-Iberia, I love French culture (and food) and so far I like their UA a lot, though that may change when I get my hands on the game. And their leader is a sweet old granny, you don't get lot's of those in gaming, especially not as player characters.
2) Polystralia, Hutama seems like a nice guy and I found trade to be the best new feature of BNW.
3) ARC, The spy game seems really cool this time around and I like the Freemason/Illuminati vibe to their icon, their leader seems like a bit of a b*tch though.
4) PAU, high pop cities are always good and their leader seems friendly and warm
5) Kavitha, I don't like playing a cult, but their UA seems good
6) Slavic Federation, The USSR dissolved two decades ago, get with the times Firaxis.
7) PAC,
8) Brazilia, I'm not a very militaristic player and their UA is a bit dull.

 

[Selereth]

The PAC with their 25% increased worker speed is appealing to me, and of course a good representation of today's current Asian countries, most notably China for obvious reasons. It'll cut a few turns off of building improvements, for example, terrascapes should only take 11 turns instead of 15, provided it's rounding up.

Other than that, Polystralia might be interesting plus their faction's colour is green which is my favourite colour.

 

[gunnergoz]

Interesting the reasons folks give for choosing favorite factions. Truly everyone's Civ experience is uniquely their own, thus reminding me that is is really difficult to generalize about others while drawing only from my own perspective.

 

[ajrhug]

i like the KP because seeing India represented in science fiction is wonderful, and i consider a KP purity victory the "canon" victory

 

[ConanTLibrarian]

Well, if I had to rank them, I'd put them as:

1. Frano-Ibera: I've always been huge into culture and tech, so the second I heard about them, they seemed like my perfect fit.

2. Polystralia: I'm also huge into the economic side of empire-building (Trade Routes OP ), and the Hutama interview was hilarious

3. PAC: WONDER SPAM!!! In all seriousness, it appears that worker speed is much more important in BE than CiV.

4. Slavic Federation: Longer duration on orbital units is nice, but the real deal here is that early free tech, lots of interesting opportunities with that.

5. PAU: I like a nice n tall civilization, and these guys can make that happen (though I think that others like FI & 'Stralia are better...). They also have the flexibility to make that "wide" empire a littler "taller" if you manage your health decently.

6. Kavithan Protectorate: Nice bonus (esp after their buff, much needed) if I'm even in the mood for a bunch of quick land-grabbing. Arguably going culture-focused with a different sponsor (or that prosperity virtue) will mimic the result, but maybe that's their strength: not HAVING to take those measures as their borders will grow quickly anyways.

7. ARC: While I've seen the power of espianage (and am impressed by how they spiced it up compared to CiV) I'm drawn toward the others as they more defined playstyles. Like I mentioned with KP, maybe that's the point, is that they're so flexible, you do what you want.

8. Brazilia: I can echo the "bland power" comment. Useless power? No. Good for early alien killing? Yes. Good for late-game wars? Hey, 10% extra is nice on bigger combat numbers. You can probably guess by me ranking FI & 'Stralia up top, that I'm not a huge warfare guy (I prefer to win economically/technologically) and this guy's bonus can be aquired (arguably) easily enough by anyone else in a manner of speaking.

 

[motku]

1. Kavithan Protectorate
2. Franco-Iberia
3. Polystralia
4. PAU
5. ARC
6. PAC
7. Slavic Fed.

 

[Acken]

1.KP As argumented in another thread, fast expansion seems pretty important in BE.
2.FI I think free techs coupled with the tech web has the potential to be completely broken.
3.Poly More trade routes in a game emphasizing them. Value decreases on bigger maps.
4.PAC We'll have to see if their wonder bonuses really end up useful or not. Worker boost certainly is good especially with fast expansions.
5.ARC I'll have to see how good spies are and how much is 25% so I put them inthe middle of the pack
6.PAU Growth doesn't look as big as it was in civ5 (less science from it) and expansion will delay healthiness anyway.
7.SF Awkward bonus in my opinion. A one time free tech that could delay a solar collector from ruins. FI just sounds better.
8.Brasilia Pigeonholed into fighting all game long for a mediocre bonus.

 

[Cyon]

Have they changed (nerfed) the Arc from 40% more intrigue to 25%, or was it always 25%?

¹. Kavitha: flavorful story and useful different trait.

². Franco-Iberia: just seems a lot of fun to play with, intresting to play a cultural snobb.

³. Slavic Fed: the postetive pioneering aspect of Soviet union, Gagarin for president! The trait seems fun, satellites seems like a blast to play with and a free tech is icing on the cake. But maybe they should have a bonus to range instead of duration?

4. People's African Union: I love the name and back story! United socialist Africa is awesome and Barre is a cool leder (especially robot Barre) but the trait seems north bland and not that good, staying healthy is not that easy, and if the 10% is only a bonus to growth and not to food as the text says it is also not a lot. But trimming to play him tall could maybe be fun.

5: Arc, spying is fun, leader though a bit bland.

6: Polly: i like the evil capitalist pop star thing, the trait does seem to toned down, if we will have 15 cities with autoplants
, the difference between 47 and 45 trader routes are not that great. It will make a bigger deal in the beginning four is a lot more than two...

7: PAC : maybe I should have ranked them higher, the leader is really cute (I would rather play against them China+ is semi intresting and the trait seems very useful but something just feels lacking.

8. Brazilia: cool back story but as every one here says far to bland trait.

 

[bhavv]

They're all looking awesome and well balanced now, I'll give my run through of my preferred order and what I think:

PAC - Faster tile devolopment and bonus production to wonders, both are great to have together. Combine with +2 production per city for best effect.

Polystralia - 2 more trade routes in the capital should mean lots of extra resources for the capital.

PAU - +10% food means bigger cities faster, and fewer food tiles need to be worked. Combine this with +2 food per city for best effect.

Franco Iberia - Free tech every 10 virtues enables several outer rim tech slingshots.

Slavis Federation - Makes satelites better plus a free tech slingshot

ARC - Espionage bonuses will be fun to maximise spy use with this faction

Kavithan - Got buffed from its pre release bonus to double all tile acquisition, this can let you get second and third rim resources connected much faster than others.

Brasilia - Im not really a warmonger, so these are last place for me.