Player stats, sales, and reception speculation thread

[Lazy sweeper]

Anyway, I'm trying to contribute some substantive content that demonstrates the what and why of negative community sentiment. There's still this sense of incredulity at the notion that there's a problem here, so in between discussing sales figures, let's just make sure we have the context behind the sentiment driven the outcome we're analyzing.

I watched some of these videos, and I have to say that they are very well made, especially the one were Gotham Chess becomes a ranting meme XD...
But the whole video is just a comparison between Civ VI and Civ VII, with some Gotham Chess memes in between ...

The game is not very Interactive... it seems like the script was written by ChatGPT and read aloud...



My reception of Civ IV, coming from Civ III was immediately starting a gameplay with the Gauls, and unlock the Celtic warrior...
but unfortunately, the devs nerfed what was basically the stronger unit of Civ III, to one of the worst units of Civ IV...
And it also removed the Crusader units... and the Persian Immortal was now a useless... Seleucid horseman
I wasn't very happy... but the graphical jump was immense... so I bought all expansions anyway...

Civ V changed the grid and 1Upt, didn't re-introduce neither the (fast) Gallic warrior nor the Crusader, but Persia got an OP Immortal that was also an Archer?
This was treason at the highest possible degree I thought... but no...

Civ VI came out... what you mean I can't build my roads???? Gauls got ancient workshops, yeah... nice... but the unit is still a slow brick...
Crusade is now what??? A religious card policy that EVERYONE can adopt???? Oh my....

Civ VII came out and doubled down starting from Civ VI... What'do you expect??? A Gallic warrior that could build bridges with vines, steal vine plants and Oats when pillaging and re-planting them at home??? A Crusader school for jobless legionaires so they could now build also castles and Cathedrals instead of just moats and trenches and roads and.... oh everybody can build moats now??? But you can't plant trees....



This is more or less what my video rant script would be...

 

[Siptah]

I have never played one. I guess I thought they were more simulators than 4X? Totally open to being wrong. Which one would you guys recommend? Any particular mods I should try?

For me, EU4 is the best strategy game. If you like historically informed and inspired strategy, and care to invest a few weeks into learning a game, it‘s fantastic. Its successor will be announced on Thursday, might be a good point to start with that when it releases (I guess in September).

 

[GeneralZift]

My bad, I mixed up who made the Endless series, which are frequently mentioned by 4X gamers as competitors to Civ. But Paradox did also make Stellaris.

This quality talk seems highly subjective.

Those who made Endless also made Humankind right? Which I also mentioned. I think Stellaris is another genre. Haven't tried it.

You're right about it being subjective. Perhaps I'm using the wrong word. But I'm saying in a roundabout way, I am not seeing "cherry on top" innovations in 4X the same way that I am seeing them in RPGs. And I gave some examples of what I would consider 'cherries'.

 

[CliffCo]

And others might say that such news doesn’t quality as news as it represents a completely predictable outcome and complies to the obvious trend of a recent game release.

In what way to you think people may regard one specific patch as predictable and no better than any others? I was merely stating that I found it the best out of all the patches to date.

 

[aelf]

It's called confirmation bias, and it seems that those who defend this release are just as guilty as those who critique it. The problem is that without any constructive criticism this release is going to wallow even further into mediocrity. Personally, I think the fundamental design of the game is broken and it I dont think they will fix it because they would need to acknowledge their mistakes.

I'm referring more to his assertion that the positive videos are "forced." While the negative ones are being real, I suppose.

He also said previously that those who enjoy playing Antiquity Age are just coping - I'm basically quoting here.

 

[AD1730]

I'm referring more to his assertion that the positive videos are "forced." While the negative ones are being real, I suppose.

He also said previously that those who enjoy playing Antiquity Age are just coping - I'm basically quoting here.

I won't label it "coping", but I think it is fair to point out that the attempt to create a game players would want to finish resulted in one that players would only want to play 1/3rd of.

 

[Lazy sweeper]

For me, EU4 is the best strategy game. If you like historically informed and inspired strategy, and care to invest a few weeks into learning a game, it‘s fantastic. Its successor will be announced on Thursday, might be a good point to start with that when it releases (I guess in September).

I got EU4 on Steam long ago for 1$ without any DLC, and it's a fun game even vanilla. Some friends of mine only plays EU3-4 since the time of Civ IV, and there has always been the discussion on which is superior... the mag generator, mods, and general straight-forward understanding of what was going on where my arguments for Civ as the superior creation... EU friends always said Civ was too much simplified, for kids, whilst EU was for Adults, because of the deep State and Nationalism mechanics, and also the far more realistic trade and commerce...

I understand people likes to argue between the two.
In some aspects, Civ VII is more similar to EU than has ever been... I don't know if it's a good or a bad thing...
Stellaris is just boring for me... I don't like the combat system or the units -spaceships- particularly but I also am not very good
at playing it... at least the first one...

 

[queenpea]

In what way to you think people may regard one specific patch as predictable and no better than any others? I was merely stating that I found it the best out of all the patches to date.

I was being facetious.

But yes, a game with a rough launch receiving patches after release, some of which are well received and praised by YouTubers—it’s not that unusual you could say

 

[MutilationWave]

I won't label it "coping", but I think it is fair to point out that the attempt to create a game players would want to finish resulted in one that players would only want to play 1/3rd of.

Opposite effect here. I used to quit my civ 5 and 6 games around gunpowder if I knew I was going to win. I've been finishing games in 7 far more than any time since 3, even though obviously antiquity is my favorite.

EDIT- Teenage free time and ability to sit through the mundane is unbelievable. I used to build railroad on every tile in my globe spanning empire in 3. Today I think hell no.

 

[CliffCo]

Opposite effect here. I used to quit my civ 5 and 6 games around gunpowder if I knew I was going to win. I've been finishing games in 7 far more than any time since 3, even though obviously antiquity is my favorite.

EDIT- Teenage free time and ability to sit through the mundane is unbelievable. I used to build railroad on every tile in my globe spanning empire in 3. Today I think hell no.

I was the opposite as I wanted my play history to be recorded in the hall of fame so I could refer to it later, this resulted in me finishing probably 80% of my games. I’d like to see a hall of fame etc added to Civ7 and can’t understand why it wasn’t included.

 

[GeneralZift]

Opposite effect here. I used to quit my civ 5 and 6 games around gunpowder if I knew I was going to win. I've been finishing games in 7 far more than any time since 3, even though obviously antiquity is my favorite.

EDIT- Teenage free time and ability to sit through the mundane is unbelievable. I used to build railroad on every tile in my globe spanning empire in 3. Today I think hell no.

Wow, see this is interesting but I just can't relate to it. I never quit my games early or for example, restart until I get a good start.
But me personally I enjoy it more like a narrative and can't quite quit if I don't see myself literally win...

The thing is, once you know victory is confirmed that lets players disengage. (That I can understand)

I firmly believe then that the issue is that players are not receiving enough challenge at later stages of the game. Then people can't be quite sure they'll win until the end. I had many close call games in Civ5 for various reasons.
The solution should not be to reset every age, but to force conflict (via good design decisions) at every stage of the game.

 

[queenpea]

I was the opposite as I wanted my play history to be recorded in the hall of fame so I could refer to it later, this resulted in me finishing probably 80% of my games. I’d like to see a hall of fame etc added to Civ7 and can’t understand why it wasn’t included.

Big agree. Leveling up your leaders and collecting mementos doesn’t have the same motivational pull for me as competing against myself as I learn to play the game.

 

[Xur]

I feel like late game fatigue started with 1UPT (civ5), but got worse when the ending screen got worse in civ6. The only thing that kept me going late game in civ5 was the replay map and stats. It's a bit of a carrot and stick situation. They removed the carrot in civ6 and civ7.

 

[queenpea]

I feel like late game fatigue started with 1UPT (civ5), but got worse when the ending screen got worse in civ6. The only thing that kept me going late game in civ5 was the replay map and stats. It's a bit of a carrot and stick situation. They removed the carrot in civ6 and civ7.

Also, I think the lack of steam achievements is affecting player count. I’m not sure why the game launched without really any of these outside of leader wins.

 

[MutilationWave]

I feel like late game fatigue started with 1UPT (civ5), but got worse when the ending screen got worse in civ6. The only thing that kept me going late game in civ5 was the replay map and stats. It's a bit of a carrot and stick situation. They removed the carrot in civ6 and civ7.

I miss the map time lapse and stats so badly. I would love to know things like units produced, kill/death ratio, total commander levels. Graphs of yields over time. Instead of just "You Win, bye"

Is there any way to even see your score unless you do score victory? I haven't done that one.

 

[bitula]

After the patch the ratings dropped from 43% to 41%. I read them diligently, nothing about bad UI, so that was probably patched. The dominant concern now is the age transition and boredom. It wasn't so in the beginning.

 

[trev1972]

I miss the map time lapse and stats so badly. I would love to know things like units produced, kill/death ratio, total commander levels. Graphs of yields over time. Instead of just "You Win, bye"

Is there any way to even see your score unless you do score victory? I haven't done that one.

Completely agree, why on earth these disappeared is beyond me

 

[GeneralZift]

Completely agree, why on earth these disappeared is beyond me

 

[MutilationWave]

Also, I think the lack of steam achievements is affecting player count. I’m not sure why the game launched without really any of these outside of leader wins.

Remember all the fun achievements from 5 and 6? There were silly ones and lucky ones and really hard ones like the teenage mutant ninja turtles one. I was proud to have the League of Extraordinary Honayehs. 1% of players have it. You play Iroquois during the conquest of the New World scenario and instead conquer Europe. So much fun.

Early on I took Roma as Carthage in antiquity and was expecting an achievement to pop up. Nah, they are all so boring in 7.

EDIT- Thinking on it. We could really use some scenarios to shake things up and some kind of online scoreboard for them. I probably need to get into game of the month on here.

 

[Ornen]

For me, EU4 is the best strategy game. If you like historically informed and inspired strategy, and care to invest a few weeks into learning a game, it‘s fantastic. Its successor will be announced on Thursday, might be a good point to start with that when it releases (I guess in September).

I like EU4 a lot, but it feels very badly in need of a reboot.

over the years (and ~12 expansions) they've tacked on system after system, mechanic after mechanic, currency after currency, 90% of which are not at all explained in-game. (what's 'absolutism'? fool around and find out!)

the learning curve is steep, just to learn how the game works. but once you learn how to play each of its systems you can play an optimal game across each system and steamroll the map. then somewhere between 1600 and 1700 you can become the dominant world power, with 100-200 years left to play out...

I'm hoping EU5 (or whatever they decide to call it) is more unified with its systems, with a bigger gap between skill floor & skill ceiling. still not a day 1 purchase for me, after getting burned by Victoria 3