This Thursday's live stream will be "special surprise". 2nd BE expansion maybe?

[Acken]

XCOM EU/EW wasn't really balanced or particularly hard anyway. In Solomon's own words, the base game was mostly a tutorial for Long War.

 

[x2Madda]

And the possibility of enemy reinforcements being dropped right into the middle of your formation feels awful<snip>

In all seriousness I am mildy excited for x-com 2 and I don't mean to be a party pooper but firaxis just don't release fantastic games on day 1. Anyone still remember the aliens teleporting in x com eu? Glad they removed that and yet here we are, with another feature that doesn't seem to make too much sense.

For the few (and the proud) who managed to survive on the hardest setting, overwatch became your bread and butter. I can forsee players (ab)using it all over again to prevent or annihilate enemy squads that drop in unannounced.

x com eu was also incredibly dull the majority of the time as your team hunkered down; they seem determined to prevent that style of play but it was a solution to the problem which is aliens always have the advantage of superior numbers per map.

If we can't hunker down in cover then gameplay becomes more dynamic which is good, but if enemy numbers and spawns are not changed to reflect this then all that will happen is players will go back to hunkering down (they will find a new way to do it) and methodically exploring maps.

That was the whole point in x com ew to add 'mesh'? I forget its correct name but they were on timers and if you didn't get to them in time then you would lose them completely on that map so it created a sense of urgency, to rush out and risk triggering more aliens or getting shot to ribbons. Now we just have the aliens potentally just drop in on your head. Again. Yeah we had that in x com eu and it didn't go over well then either.

 

[Galgus]

@AriochIV

It still seems like an improvement over the tedious crawl forced by pod activation.

I don't have fond memories of Thin Men dropping into annoying positions out of nowhere, so drops and Cryssalid burrowing worry me.
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@Defiantmars

If anything I'm worried that the Grenadier will be too strong, given how powerful explosives were in EU/EW.
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@Acken

I tried Long War, and I thought it was interesting, but for numerous reasons it wasn't my thing.

The higher squad sizes and at times absurd durability seemed to really discourage any kind of risk taking, making Meld come from corpses, and the general insane ramp-up of enemies turned me off.

It felt far more reliant on playing extremely safe and abusing explosives/ scanners as much as possible to win.

Mostly though it felt like it limited one's creativity in how to use their squad: more like a puzzle and less like a canvas.

Which is fine, and I would recommend the mod to hardcore players, but it's not my thing.

With Xcom 2 I'm hoping for better implemented secondary objectives like Meld, to have an element of calculated risk taking.

 

[SupremacyKing2]

Watched the firaxis live stream.

Some initial thoughts:
- the upgrades to your soldiers look really good.
- missions seem very tense. Lots of careful planning and exciting action.
- LOVE the overwatch animations and your kill shot animations, like when your Ranger slashes the enemy.
- The enemy reinforcements dropping at random seem like it could be really annoying. When they drop right in the middle of your formation, it could totally screw your mission when you were actually winning.

 

[SupremacyKing2]

BE is a lost cause, XCOM is a thriving series with a competent team.

Respectfully, if you genuinely feel that BE is a such lost cause, why are you still on this forum?

 

[Acken]

That said what I really want out of Xcom2 is a way to accelerate alien turns and animations -.-

 

[Westwall]

Respectfully, if you genuinely feel that BE is a such lost cause, why are you still on this forum?

To chronicle the downward spiral so that future generations might learn from past mistakes.

Also in the hope that Firaxis will reboot the franchise with a new team, maybe even with Jake Solomon involved.

 

[DefiantMars]

To chronicle the downward spiral so that future generations might learn from past mistakes.

Also in the hope that Firaxis will reboot the franchise with a new team, maybe even with Jake Solomon involved.

If nothing else, they have stated that they intend the BE universe to be this spin off series implying that there is at least some intention to produce a sequel somewhere down the line.

Despite it's many flaws, BE has explored some interesting concepts. I quite enjoy the sci-to theme, more so than traditional Civ V. My only hope is that they don't abandon the series. It's not a sweeping success (clearly) but I think BE is an IP worth fighting for.

 

[Galgus]

BE definitely has a great theme to it, though it could be better implemented.

And for all it's shortcomings, it has a lot of interesting mechanics like traits, virtue kickers, the tech web, and artifacts.

 

[Kutuzov]

To chronicle the downward spiral so that future generations might learn from past mistakes.

The (d)evolution of Civ BE or of Firaxis games in general is a matter of public record. The 'downward spiral' that you are bringing to everyone's attention is not Firaxis'.

 

[Xinotine]

I think BE might be their place to test new kind of features, if they did that on Civ main Series and messed up it could harm their brand, on BE, less so.

Plus some features are possible on BE but not on Civ main Series due that BE is located on space. Take aquatic cities for example, they aren't sensibly possible on Civ main Series, but on BE they are nice and interesting mechanic. I could see some things like features from diplomacy or orbital units brought to Civ main Series too thou.

 

[Westwall]

Take aquatic cities for example, they aren't sensibly possible on Civ main Series

I don't see why not.

We saw Giant Death Robots and XCOM Squads in Civ 5.

 

[NASAROG]

I loved XCOM:EU/W and the Long War mod is amazing. I know I am going to play XCOM2 as much if not more than I played XCOM1. With all the mod tools and modability of XCOM 2, I can' wait to see what tLW team does with it.

 

[Galgus]

I more look forward to what other mods may arise in XCOM 2, since modding it will no longer be extremely difficult as I have heard.

 

[SupremacyKing2]

I don't see why not.

We saw Giant Death Robots and XCOM Squads in Civ 5.

As I recall, fans were not particularly happy with Giant Death Robots and XCOM squad units being included in civ5 because they felt they were too scifi and futuristic for a game that is supposed to end in the current era. Unless civ extends the game into future eras like Call to Power did, I don't see water cities fitting into the game.

 

[AriochIV]

It seems that XCOM2 includes a number of Long War features, so the mod community might need some time to go back to the drawing board.

Although the first thing they do may be to try to import the XCOM2 features into an XCOM1 scenario.

 

[Ryika]

Although the first thing they do may be to try to import the XCOM2 features into an XCOM1 scenario.

Naaaah, the first thing the modding community will do is build ~209127126 Maps of which about 159 will actually be fun.

At least I hope that's what people will do, because I like pre-built maps as an alternative to the randomized levels.

 

[NASAROG]

What I want is:

- region specific architecture.
- more voice localizations.
- more flags.
- more trooper classes.
- more face types.
- more expressions.


Just to name a few things.

 

[Westwall]

As I recall, fans were not particularly happy with Giant Death Robots and XCOM squad units being included in civ5 because they felt they were too scifi and futuristic for a game that is supposed to end in the current era. Unless civ extends the game into future eras like Call to Power did, I don't see water cities fitting into the game.

I'd like to see evidence of this massive fan outcry against them.

People I talked to seemed to think they were cool.

Also, having access to sea colonization would be really useful in the late game when most land territory would've been settled already.

 

[Callonia]

As I recall, fans were not particularly happy with Giant Death Robots and XCOM squad units being included in civ5 because they felt they were too scifi and futuristic for a game that is supposed to end in the current era. Unless civ extends the game into future eras like Call to Power did, I don't see water cities fitting into the game.

I liked the Giant death robots. Very efficient at stomping cities they are. Plus they look awesome.

I didn't care much for xcom squads though.