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PCGamer: "Civilization 7 senior historian prays it'll be a 'gateway drug' into textbooks", and physical PCGamer article

Because there isn't any more wall space for bookshelves
Every time I get a new book, I have to move a book to my desk drawers, but my desk drawers are now overflowing.

One of our cats has learned that when I'm head down in a book or e-reader, the only way to get my attention is to sink a set of claws into my arm or butt - works every time, but thankfully he hasn't taught the other cats or my wife about it . . .
My cat Varda just died a couple months ago, but she used to to either rest her head in the nook of my arm or, to better get my attention, on my book itself when I was reading.
 
Every time I get a new book, I have to move a book to my desk drawers, but my desk drawers are now overflowing.


My cat Varda just died a couple months ago, but she used to to either rest her head in the nook of my arm or, to better get my attention, on my book itself when I was reading.
The bookshelves are already stacked two deep in places, so when I say there's no space left, it's not just a figure of speech.

Mac the Cat is the one that whacks me for attention (he's named after Bertold Brecht's "Mac the Knife", with good reason). Our oldest cat, Bean, simply hops up on the desk and sits in front of the computer screen in his passive-aggressive way, which is equally effective.
 
That was me up through college; since then I've become a much slower, more deliberate reader. If I'm reading more than one thing at once, it's a non-fiction book plus a fiction book (currently Phoenicians and the Making of the Mediterranean and Ursula K. Le Guin's The Other Wind, respectively).
i’m trying to avoid the gen z stereotypes and get into more reading—though nowadays i primarily read nonfiction which pertains to urbanism, i also want to start reading more fiction again.
 
i’m trying to avoid the gen z stereotypes and get into more reading—though nowadays i primarily read nonfiction which pertains to urbanism, i also want to start reading more fiction again.
Like I said elsewhere, literature is my first love so I read a lot more fiction than non-fiction; when I read non-fiction, it's generally research for my writing and world-building (hence the books on Phoenicians).
 
I've always been a reading, and mostly of nonfiction -- history being the main attraction. Civ has ignited my interest in some historical topics -- wanting to learn more about particular unique units, leaders, etc. A lot of leaders I would've never heard of were it not for Civ. That applies across games, though: I suspect SimCity 3000 lies behind my frequent reading about urbanism!
 
All my life I've read a awful lot, but almost always fiction. Science-Fiction and Fantasy mostly. And as I was an IT professional, lots of IT books of course. Now retired, I'm back to only fiction. Lately, I read Tad Williams The Navigator's Children, James S.A. Corey new Mercy of Gods and Deborah Harkness's The Black Bird Oracle.

And I've also moved to digital books as my wife told me in no uncertain terms a few years back that there would be NO more wall bookcases entering the home :crazyeye:
 
I learned a lot reading this forum waiting for this game (thank you folks)! And I suppose civ was a gateway drug to textbooks for me, I very well may have not got into history the way I had back in school if not for Civilopedia from III to V. It indirectly helped me win some lifechanging history competitions back in middle school, and otherwise I wouldn't have memorised 400 pages out of a 1000 page book about ancient Greeks hoping that the essay subject on my Matura exam would be about them. Then, the essay subject was about the Romans (and I scored only 11 points out of 12). I disremembered all my history knowledge out of sorrow and haven't really picked up many history books since. I'm happy to let VII challenge this stance, as it already sort of has.

In recent days I returned to reading a proper amount of fiction though, and as a piece of trivia I have to mention that the tone of Hundred Years of Soltitude really reminds me of Mexico theme (wrong country, I know, but a similar feel to me). :)

And later today I think I'll buy and read the PC Gamer issue so that I can comment on it a little.
 
The article is really good and worth a read, especially if one wasn't following the development with their nose to the screen. There were many things that we, Civfanatics already knew by heart, but there were some interesting mentions of how the mechanics we already learned of applied in game.

One quite important think I'd like to mention is that, according to Ed Beach, the expansion system might be changed. So that may be pretty radical...?
 
One quite important think I'd like to mention is that, according to Ed Beach, the expansion system might be changed. So that may be pretty radical...?
By expansion system was he talking about some in game mechanic or the big packages of DLC?
 
I've always felt my history knowledge better than average due to civ. While it hasn't necessarily been a gateway to textbooks, it's definitely a gateway to further interest and learning. Heck, often when I travel around, just knowing there's a civ wonder in the place I'm visiting kind of gives me an extra push to visit. I'd probably still have visited the Torre de Belem when visiting Lisbon, but it's kind of fun to be able to check one more item off a list by having visited it.
 
By expansion system was he talking about some in game mechanic or the big packages of DLC?
The latter, and how the big packages of content will be delivered. I dunno what it may entail, but one idea I have in my head is that we might get updates and expansions akin to Paradox with both updates and expansions having mechanic additions?
 
By expansion system was he talking about some in game mechanic or the big packages of DLC?
The exact quote is:
"I have to wonder how Firaxis plans to expand [Civilization 7] with its usual DLC. Beach wouldn’t say, of course, but he says that the team is 'looking at new approaches for how to do big drops of content like expansions'."
 
Fun fact: Big Drops of Content was the name of the Cobain tribute band (focusing on his pre-Nirvana material) I played in in college.

Ok, I'll stop now.
 
The exact quote is:
"I have to wonder how Firaxis plans to expand [Civilization 7] with its usual DLC. Beach wouldn’t say, of course, but he says that the team is 'looking at new approaches for how to do big drops of content like expansions'."
If they had
Expansion=update mechanics for free (so they don’t have to worry about maintaining multiple versions)
but pay for the pack of Civs/Wonders/NatWonders/Leaders that take advantage of the new mechanic

That would be nice
 
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The exact quote is:
"I have to wonder how Firaxis plans to expand [Civilization 7] with its usual DLC. Beach wouldn’t say, of course, but he says that the team is 'looking at new approaches for how to do big drops of content like expansions'."
the new model def favors Paradox-style DLC drops if they want to do it that way. Small packs = a couple of civs and leaders with anywhere from 2-6 dropped p/year. Big expansions = a dozen civs, 6 leaders, big gameplay changes.
 
the biggest issue(but not the only one) with the paradox model is tying new features into a dlc, and not base game. The more this happens, the higher the chance of weird compatibility issues between people who have one and not another dlc.They even sold some features in several dlcs at one point for EU4 to try and deal with this.

Adding features to the base game or a rare expansion is a better way to go in the long term.

Personally i would prefer they continue what they did in Civ 5/6. Smaller DLCs with a few civs, and a major expansion every 1-2 years. This doesnt preclude them from updating/overhauling existing features that need it between expansions.
 
the biggest issue(but not the only one) with the paradox model is tying new features into a dlc, and not base game. The more this happens, the higher the chance of weird compatibility issues between people who have one and not another dlc.They even sold some features in several dlcs at one point for EU4 to try and deal with this.
What about game modes, as for the New Frontier Pass ?
 
Kinda funny that he says this about what seems to be the least historical game of the series.
 
the biggest issue(but not the only one) with the paradox model is tying new features into a dlc, and not base game. The more this happens, the higher the chance of weird compatibility issues between people who have one and not another dlc.They even sold some features in several dlcs at one point for EU4 to try and deal with this.

Adding features to the base game or a rare expansion is a better way to go in the long term.

Personally i would prefer they continue what they did in Civ 5/6. Smaller DLCs with a few civs, and a major expansion every 1-2 years. This doesnt preclude them from updating/overhauling existing features that need it between expansions.
The EU4 PDX model is outdated though. CK3‘s take seems to be preferable: all mechanics are free in patches, but the flavor and most content is DLC. Which is also great for modders.
 
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