The Last Rising Tide Sponsor

[Maximus_Light]

Well to be fair, unless there was some serious reconciliation between Korea and Japan I don't expect they would ever really co-operate unless they absolutely had to, which is what we see in the real world with them and China. They are 3 of the biggest (if on THE biggest) economies in that area of the world, so they kind of have to deal with Japan and vice versa even if they don't really want to.
I'm basing the idea that they could single them out to form a union based on their concept of what happened during the great mistake where China nukes North Korea for no apparent reason. Given that I can see that Korea and Japan based on how things are currently in that situation wouldn't co-operate with post-mistake China. Why would you work with someone who is antagonistic towards you (Japan) or basically nuked you (Korea). Since North Korea in that scenario basically is a wasteland I image the remaining population would have to immigrate to China, South Korea (now only Korea), or Japan just due to lack of choice but they would all have some Korean culture because of that.
Korea and Japan working together out of necessity just seems to fit the theme they are going for, and the fact remains that they could actually be a comparable super power to China if they joined together... and the fact that they are both the big democracies in the area... and then there is their industrial perfectionism workethic/mindset... and that the ocean would be the most pressing ecological issue to deal with...
There really is a lot in the way that it make practical sense that they would practically benefit from working together in tackling the challenges they face, it's just not actually realistic due to the hostility between the two (someone about was right to point out it's not just the last 100 years, they've basically ALWAYS been at each other, it's just the last 100 that really make things dicey post-world war era)


I was more worried about suggesting a union between the two more because of the Japanese occupation of Korea, which we won't get into here but needless to say I'd like not to offend anyone in that regard.



Anyways, I would ideally like a different sponsor actually, if I could pick and sponsor it would be Antarctica because they could do whatever they want with that.

 

[Eagle Pursuit]

The way they said on the first videos gave me the impression that sea cities are indeed weaker. Something about, "we can get a lot done on the water, but we can also lose everything very fast", i can't remember the exactly quote.

Today featurette video shows a bunch of size 1 land cities (strength ~20), a size 5 land city (strength 27); also some sea cities (size 4/strength 14, and size 19/strength 27). Well i don't know what buildings are in each city, and that was definitely only a promo video with fog-of-war off, but that's my evidence

The impression that I got was that your city is vulnerable to getting swarmed by nasty sea aliens and that one aquatic city could move in close and reduce your maritime borders with their own.

 

[Stringer1313]

I would absolutely love a Caribbean - based sponsor. It would really mix things up.

 

[Barathor]

As much as I would love to see an isolationist Japan, especially with this expansion's heavy emphasis on water, my gut is telling me it's going to be something else.

1) Firaxis usually likes to save a few of their big guns for later expansions (example: Zulu / BNW) to make them more enticing.

2) In RT so far, we have some pretty familiar, civ-standard areas represented so far, perhaps we're due for something new now -- it would be a good opportunity to do so.


I'm also going to go with a Caribbean faction that is focused on the seas and pirate-like. Or, at least "explorers" if Firaxis doesn't want to fully label them as pirates and offend anybody.

1) It would give a good opportunity to bring another black leader into the game to diversify things. I guess it would be a male if Firaxis wishes to maintain the gender balance.

2) Alpha Centauri had a pirate faction in it too, Nautilus Pirates. There's even a pirate planet in Starships. Plus, pirates are usually associated with water.

3) It would fit with the whole "Rising Tide" "stakes are risen" theme with a dangerous new faction making planetfall. Plus, we're really in need of some badder, more aggressive leaders.

4) They can easily gain some type of bonus to exploring and hunting artifacts around the planet (booty!), one of the new features of RT. Firaxis likes to fashion their new leaders with abilities focused on new features whenever they can.

Hmm, I think I had some other points but I've forgotten them now.


That being said, if we're right on a new pirate faction, I really hope they aren't "too" different from the other factions. I was never a fan of Venice in Civ. I'd hate to see a single, water city (or hideout/lair/whatever-you-want-to-call-it) faction and you have to conquer other cities to expand your empire. Hopefully, that won't be the case since Firaxis at least has many cultures that they can represent from that region in this faction's city names.

 

[Doviello]

But why a pirate faction, though? Why would pirates do such a selfless thing as financing a seeding project, which won't bring any booty back to the sponsor itself? Is it a Caribbean dictator cassino-tycoon drug-dealer libertarian-trillionaire financing the expedition out of his own pocket? Wait ok that would be kinda cool.

But still, for a Caribean civ, i think something more reliable than "sci fi pirates" would have to be used as the main theme of the faction, IMO.

 

[Shidan]

Not sure why some people are so adamant on Japan-Korea being a thing.

I'd say a good enough reason is that the devs implied it themselves. Try listening to 25:25-26:15 of this video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vMe7-1ywRTU

 

[gyrobot]

But why a pirate faction, though? Why would pirates do such a selfless thing as financing a seeding project, which won't bring any booty back to the sponsor itself? Is it a Caribbean dictator casino-tycoon drug-dealer libertarian-trillionaire financing the expedition out of his own pocket? Wait ok that would be kinda cool.

But still, for a Caribean civ, i think something more reliable than "sci fi pirates" would have to be used as the main theme of the faction, IMO.

It is to escape from the great powers of the Americas, dealing with an increasingly aggressive ARC and Brasilia, the Seeding lets them get offworld and establish a new pirate planet where they can pursue what they well damn please.

They could also be more leaning towards freedom since the American continent sponsors are very autocratic. Knowing oppression first hand they do not want their children to suffer the same fate so the seeding was taken to ensure their freedom.

 

[Westwall]

I'd say a good enough reason is that the devs implied it themselves. Try listening to 25:25-26:15 of this video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vMe7-1ywRTU

They did say specifically South Korea. Meaning that for some reason they don't see Korean unification happening in the next hundred years (if this game came out in 1985, would they say the same about East/West Germany?), but they do see Japan and South Korea unifying?

That would be funny though, if only to see the mutual shock and anger expressed by both Japanese and Korean players. They would have to make it extremely ambiguous who was in charge. But if they were going that route, they shouldn't have included Korean city names at all in PAC. There are so many other Southeast Asian countries like Thailand and Laos that they could have emphasized instead.

 

[Barathor]

Well, I'm sure Firaxis could think of something clever -- such as a group hijacking a seeding ship or something. Though, it might be strange for them to be another generation ship since their knowledge of the seas and of that culture would be greatly diminished.

Also, going "pirate" may be a bit much for a playable faction. Especially when they need to construct many types of buildings within their colonies, conduct research, steadily grow their population, and all that other civ-like stuff. A bit of a stretch from simple pirate life.

Like I said, they can simply be labeled as explorers instead; it would probably be much more appropriate. Their leader can still have a bit of a salty, sea captain like appearance but with a modern twist -- plus a full beard would be nice too for a change. Much like Duncan is made to look very blue-collar, worker class in his space outfit with its padding emphasizing his strong physique and his belt which symbolizes a back brace worn by laborers.

Yeah, I would actually prefer more of a seafaring explorer faction instead, with a Caribbean leader that has a bit of a salty, rugged appearance.

 

[DefiantMars]

Well, I'm sure Firaxis could think of something clever -- such as a group hijacking a seeding ship or something. Though, it might be strange for them to be another generation ship since their knowledge of the seas and of that culture would be greatly diminished.

Also, going "pirate" may be a bit much for a playable faction. Especially when they need to construct many types of buildings within their colonies, conduct research, steadily grow their population, and all that other civ-like stuff. A bit of a stretch from simple pirate life.

Like I said, they can simply be labeled as explorers instead; it would probably be much more appropriate. Their leader can still have a bit of a salty, sea captain like appearance but with a modern twist -- plus a full beard would be nice too for a change. Much like Duncan is made to look very blue-collar, worker class in his space outfit with its padding emphasizing his strong physique and his belt which symbolizes a back brace worn by laborers.

Yeah, I would actually prefer more of a seafaring explorer faction instead, with a Caribbean leader that has a bit of a salty, rugged appearance.

I quite like that characterization, Barathor.

I do actually enjoy the character designs of Beyond Earth, its just the affinity progression that makes me a bit sad. An explorer style character that combines colonial era naval attire and the modern/future materials and styling sounds very intriguing indeed.

 

[Eagle Pursuit]

Maybe a group like the bad guys in Waterworld.

 

[vahouth]

What if the last faction is an alien one?

 

[SupremacyKing2]

What if the last faction is an alien one?

I doubt it since I am pretty sure they want all the factions to be humans that left Earth after the Great Mistake since that is after all the backstory for the game. But an alien faction would be very cool.

At E3, I seem to remember that the devs did hint that 2 of the new factions would be a bit different or non-traditional. Al Falah is probably the first one since she is the only faction that did not use cryosleep. So, I think we are due for a non-traditional faction as the last one.

 

[Barathor]

What if the last faction is an alien one?

Whoa, wait a second, please come back here and pick up that mic.

Personally, I highly doubt that happening in this expansion. And I hope it doesn't happen in the next expansion either.

Though, I think it would be really cool to see a "nonplayable" alien faction appear mid game and be this powerful faction you have to interact with. You either play nice with them and get some unique benefits or try to conquer them and reap some big rewards. They can be what replaces the early threat of the native wildlife.

They would have to be somewhat mobile, perhaps utilizing a mothership as their base that most of their units roughly follow around while others explore. It would be unfair to have a powerful alien faction (especially if they're aggressive) land right next to you.

Or, better yet, maybe some type of mothership is assumed to be near the planet and it periodically sends its transports in to make planetfall and setup cities scattered all around the map in uninhabited areas. Somewhat like its own alien seeding mid-game for a wide number of turns, similar to our own seeding in the first 40 turns.

Maybe even a couple of different progenitor alien personalities can be added, but only one of them appears each game to keep things random.

 

[Galgus]

Contact victory would need to be redone for that probably.

Perhaps the beacon could still be constructed, but it would just give a diplomatic boost or somesuch with the aliens.

 

[vahouth]

Contact victory would need to be redone for that probably.

Perhaps the beacon could still be constructed, but it would just give a diplomatic boost or somesuch with the aliens.

But that wouldn't be a victory anymore, would it?
It would be just another quest, but one I'd gladly take over Contact victory as of now.

 

[Red Menace]

Caribbean civ

Guys i got it, TROPICO.
ALL HAIL EL PRESIDENTE THE SAVIOR OF THE WORLD

 

[Kaigen]

Though, I think it would be really cool to see a "nonplayable" alien faction appear mid game and be this powerful faction you have to interact with. You either play nice with them and get some unique benefits or try to conquer them and reap some big rewards. They can be what replaces the early threat of the native wildlife.

They would have to be somewhat mobile, perhaps utilizing a mothership as their base that most of their units roughly follow around while others explore. It would be unfair to have a powerful alien faction (especially if they're aggressive) land right next to you.

Or, better yet, maybe some type of mothership is assumed to be near the planet and it periodically sends its transports in to make planetfall and setup cities scattered all around the map in uninhabited areas. Somewhat like its own alien seeding mid-game for a wide number of turns, similar to our own seeding in the first 40 turns.

Maybe even a couple of different progenitor alien personalities can be added, but only one of them appears each game to keep things random.

Soooo, kind of like dropping XCOM into the middle of your Civ game. That would be an interesting twist on the 4X genre. Perhaps an experiment best not performed in a game like BE, though.

 

[Westwall]

Soooo, kind of like dropping XCOM into the middle of your Civ game. That would be an interesting twist on the 4X genre. Perhaps an experiment best not performed in a game like BE, though.

I've been advocating this for a while now. BE really needs a common, enigmatic threat beyond just the native wildlife. An advanced alien invasion whereby all human factions receive some kind of prior warning so we have time to build up and mobilize our forces would go a long way in keeping things interesting into the mid-to-endgame slog. I like the mothership idea, though I would add that there should be the possibility of alien units being dropped within our borders to shake things up.

But yes, alien cities scattered in uninhabited areas that can become a threat if left unchecked... ALL OF MY MONEY.

God yes.

If any Firaxis employees read ever read these threads, please pay close attention to this idea.

It will improve this game like you wouldn't believe.

 

[Eagle Pursuit]

Sounds like a fun idea for a second expansion.