The things that Ruin CIV 5, What can we do prevent this?

[Diesel47]

Repost: http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=520980
@Camikaze, I was looking for a discussion. Sorry it was not obvious. I bolded the part about discussing for you.

I love the gameplay of Civ5, it would be the perfect game for me. But as there can never be honest game developers anymore, it seems like they've gotten to this game aswell.

I'm going to make a list of all the things that infuriate me (and probably others too).

1. DLCs - I hope I don't have to explain why DLCs are complete crap? Expansion packs I can live with... But G&K wasn't an expansion pack... You were just paying for something we had in Civ 4 anyways, just another way to milk you dry. DLCs are just there to make a quick buck. I've avoided games that have this kind of business model, but it seems to be every game now (besides indie). Pay 5 bucks JUST to play babylon? Screw that. Pay more to have my maps be more randomized? Wow really? And guess what, if I want to use babylon in multiplayer... I have to convince my friends to also buy it... just so I can use it against them. Thanks 2k.

2. Multiplayer, or lack of - The multiplayer of Civ 5 is broken, with no hope for a fix. They've officially announced that "Civ Vs development is complete". So this is the best it is going to get.
In its current state, the multiplayer is like something out of an actual beta test. There a million bugs and the gameplay is laggy. MANY key features are missing, and there is no dedicated server support (Sorry, pitboss doesn't cut it). Only the love of the game and desire to play with friends can force me to play multiplayer, because the whole thing is just embarrassingly bad for an AAA game title.

3. Optimization - Just because Civ 5 is a turn based game... doesn't mean you can get away with optimizing. Load screens in the middle of games.. Major lag between turns when there are more units in the late game.. This stuff should not be present in a complete high budget game from a well known studio like 2k/firaxis. Especially when you charge so much for it. The game can run much better than its current state, anybody who disagrees has to be a fanboy or delusional.

4. AI - The AI is stupid, and does dumb things. Sometimes I think the barbarians have better war tactics than the actually AI Civs. After a few games, you learn to be able to predict everything the AI is going to do... Diplomacy is kinda pointless outside of trading... For example: I know that Rome will always try to backstab me... EVERY SINGLE GAME. Did you guys run out of time or something with a rushed release date? Why is it still so dumbed down in 2014? It is sad.


The only reason they can get away with this is because the playerbase will let them.

10 years ago, if a game company tried to bone its customers this badly... It would go out of business. Now its the norm. What the hell happened?

Basically these things are just complete game ruiners for me, I don't want Civ to become like one of those other franchises that dumb the game down, sell you a bad product, and try to make you buy extra things at every opportunity.


How can we the community prevent this from happening to CIV 6? What will you do about it?

Personally I will boycott CIV 6 if I think the same thing will happen, I might even write a website and have some kind of petition for it, I'll post it here in the future if CIV 6 is announced and it is bad. Lets hope and see greed won't overtake them from making a good game.

 

[Brettapod]

As for DLCs-Gold Edition is $20, for the DLCs and GnK, which I think is well worth it. $30 for BNW, which is one of the best expansions I've seen for any game, is well worth it. There's also the steam sales so you can get these at a discounted price. I'll agree that multiplayer should be better in future installements, and hopefully civ6 won't require some much out of my computer.

Just want to say that bashing Civilzation on a forum full of people who enjoy this game is not a good idea.

EDIT: Now I see that your old thread got closed. I'd don't know why this thread won't have the same fate.

 

[Diesel47]

As for DLCs-Gold Edition is $20, for the DLCs and GnK, which I think is well worth it. $30 for BNW, which is one of the best expansions I've seen for any game, is well worth it. There's also the steam sales so you can get these at a discounted price. I'll agree that multiplayer should be better in future installements, and hopefully civ6 won't require some much out of my computer.

Just want to say that bashing Civilzation on a forum full of people who enjoy this game is not a good idea.

You misunderstand.

I enjoy this game also, I enjoy it actually very much.

But I do not enjoy developer greed and the stupid business model that is going to ruin it. I am not blind, I know CIV 5 is not a complete game atm.

Speaking out against things you think are wrong only benefits all of us, if the developers know that we won't blindly accept subpar products and rip-offs. We the end user will get a better game. I don't see how that is a bad thing in any way.

 

[Mr. Grieves]

I agree that the game is far from optimised and has a rather piggish, inefficient engine (renders stuff that isn't happening on the screen, really?)

No one will probably argue anything other than that vanilla at launch was complete and utter nonsense, but it has come a long way, and many people now actually enjoy the game quite a lot.

As for the DLC, haven't they released like two paid DLCs in the last 2 1/2 years? And not until development on BNW was rounded up? I've seen a lot of swindle and rip-offs regarding DLCs through the years, but I honestly feel Firaxis has handled DLC comparatively tasteful; nothing more than a couple of small quality extras which don't alter the game in any meaningful way.

 

[Brettapod]

You misunderstand.

I enjoy this game also, I enjoy it actually very much.

But I do not enjoy developer greed and the stupid business model that is going to ruin it. I am not blind, I know CIV 5 is not a complete game atm.

Speaking out against things you think are wrong only benefits all of us, if the developers know that we won't blindly accept subpar products and rip-offs. We the end user will get a better game. I don't see how that is a bad thing in any way.

All right, you make some good points. I agree that gaming is shifting from big corporations making everything, setting the standard, to having Indie games as the norm. Firaxis will have to step up in civ6 and make some of your suggested changes. I'd like to see their plans before boycotting the release, however.

 

[Diesel47]

I agree that the game is far from optimised and has a rather piggish, inefficient engine (renders stuff that isn't happening on the screen, really?)

No one will probably argue anything other than that vanilla at launch was complete and utter nonsense, but it has come a long way, and many people now actually enjoy the game quite a lot.

As for the DLC, haven't they released like two paid DLCs in the last 2 1/2 years? And not until development on BNW was rounded up? I've seen a lot of swindle and rip-offs regarding DLCs through the years, but I honestly feel Firaxis has handled DLC comparatively tasteful; nothing more than a couple of small extras which don't alter the game in any meaningful way.

It isn't the effect it has on the game that matters so much, it is the principle. Personally I would argue that the effect is a big deal, but people have different ideas of what their money is worth and what they want in a game.

I'm an oldschool gamer, I am used to having games made CORRECTLY and once you pay for a game.. You get something complete that works, patches don't cost you money and developers take PRIDE in their work. They want to make the best game they can, not the fastest way to make money off their fans. Expansion packs back then added so much content, it was practically a new game.

But if you knew how most "DLC" content works you would infuriated. Most companies release the game and purposefully cut out content to then sell it to players as "DLC". It is a way for them to just milk the players out of money. I find this dishonest, and I do not want to stand for it or support companies that do this.

The saying is "If you give them an inch, they will take a mile." I believe that is true, because if you think they "handled DLC comparatively tasteful"... Just wait until CIV 6 is out. It will just keep getting worse, and history has shown it. First it "isn't so bad" then it gets worse and worse... Until you have EA and Activation.

I think this needs to be stopped before it goes too far, just keep in that mind when CIV 6 comes out. I'd hate to see it be ruined by greed.

 

[Camikaze]

Moderator Action: Don't repost a thread that's been closed, without permission from a mod. You can PM me with another try if you like, but it will have to be better than this; this is the same rant with a token question tagged on the end.