Together We Rule Expansion

[Saxo Grammaticus]

From The-Cat-o-Nine-Tales on G2G:

Many players have told us that they see great potential in Humankind, that the game offers a great foundation to add not just more content but new systems to explore aspects like diplomacy or religion in greater depth. We’re happy to announce that we’ve been working on Together We Rule, the first expansion for Humankind! Aiming to expand your diplomatic gameplay, this expansion will include:

• Agents: A new class of units that can serve as diplomats or hidden agents; they can act on enemy cities or collect...
• Leverage: A new resource that can be used for various diplomatic actions
• Embassies: Form stronger ties with other empires and access cooperative treaties, like mutual access to Emblematic Units
• Congress of Humankind: Vote on globally enacted laws and resolve conflicts through diplomatic pressure
• New Cultures and Affinity: Sumerians, Han, Bulgarians, Swiss, Scots, and Singaporeans, sharing the new Diplomatic Affinity
• New Content: Natural Wonders, Cultural Wonders, and Narrative Events

Together We Rule will be released in Fall 2022, and will be accompanied by a free Update to the base game including the following main features:

• Third party Reinforcements: Lend control of your armies to an ally for a battle
• Reworked Stealth System: Based on depleting a “reserve” of stealth rather than a binary yes/no check
• Improved Independent People: Stronger competition for patronage and more detailed treaties

We’ll be talking in greater detail about the features of the Update and the Together We Rule expansion in the coming weeks, so stay tuned if you want to learn more!

 

[blackbutterfly]

No religious affinity?
Why is religion sidelined in HUMANKIND?

 

[Jkchart]

No religious affinity?
Why is religion sidelined in HUMANKIND?

Perhaps they're working on ideas for another expansion focusing on a religious affinity.

Thanks for opening a thread here, @Saxo Grammaticus . Interested to see what people on this side of 4X-forumland think about some of these things that have already been discussed a bit on G2G.

 

[Saxo Grammaticus]

I am not sure we are getting a Religious Affinity anytime soon. AOM's mod really beefed up the tenets and tied them to techs so as not to blob too early as a religion. With the change to religious districts, I am hopeful the tenets will be revisited. That said, it is now tempting to look at the overall religion system right up to the Irreligion civic as a compromise reflective of laïcité. Maybe Amplitude would prefer to work on other areas.

I am very curious about the Emblematic Districts. Especially for the Scots screenshot, they did such a great job with the overall architecture I am having trouble discerning the districts!

 

[bite]

I am liking everything I am hearing about this update

 

[Catoninetales_Amplitude]

No religious affinity?
Why is religion sidelined in HUMANKIND?

One step at a time. Religion is among the large aspects we want to address, but we felt diplomacy was requested more often than religion (though religion is certainly also requested quite frequently), so we started with that.

 

[blackbutterfly]

One step at a time. Religion is among the large aspects we want to address, but we felt diplomacy was requested more often than religion (though religion is certainly also requested quite frequently), so we started with that.

Oh, that's great news!

I suppose many Asian cultures would be part of that, considering the major religions are Asian in origin.

But I have to say I'm also a little concerned about balance: just as the game is beginning to feel (perfectly?) balanced, we are going to get a new affinity and systems that is going to upset the apple cart once again.

 

[KayAU]

Very interested to see how they will do the World Congress. I strongly dislike how Civ 6 did it, but a good World Congress and extended diplomacy could significantly elevate the game. It's not just about adding strategic depth, but about having more of a relationship to the other players and what they are up to, and maybe making the leader figures a bit more prominent.

 

[Ryansinbela]

Israelites, Georgians, and Tibetans might be good choices for the religion pack

 

[j51]

I'm looking forward to seeing how the new affinity plays out. I like the addition of Sumer, Han China and Bulgaria, but I am really confused by the Scots and Singapore.

Shouldn't the Scots be an Early Modern culture as the British are in the Industrial Era and they include the Scots. That could make a nice progression of English - Scots (reflecting the Stuart dynasty's rule of England) - British. Does the Scots' ability address being in the same era as Britain? Maybe they attach themselves to a bigger empire?

As for Singapore, how does a city-state work as a major culture? Do you drop all of you're non-capital cities for a big late game boost? That would neatly reflect Singapore getting booted from Malaysia after independence.

Israelites, Georgians, and Tibetans might be good choices for the religion pack

Armenians could be a good classical pick too and Punjabis for Industrial.

 

[Siptah]

I'm looking forward to seeing how the new affinity plays out. I like the addition of Sumer, Han China and Bulgaria, but I am really confused by the Scots and Singapore.

Shouldn't the Scots be an Early Modern culture as the British are in the Industrial Era and they include the Scots. That could make a nice progression of English - Scots (reflecting the Stuart dynasty's rule of England) - British. Does the Scots' ability address being in the same era as Britain? Maybe they attach themselves to a bigger empire?

As for Singapore, how does a city-state work as a major culture? Do you drop all of you're non-capital cities for a big late game boost? That would neatly reflect Singapore getting booted from Malaysia after independence.



Armenians could be a good classical pick too and Punjabis for Industrial.

Humankind is based on cultures. While the Scots politically were part of the newly created UK, they kept their distinct culture (to this day in many ways). What's wrong with them being their own playable and equivalent culture alongside the British? I don't think their abilities need to mirror their joining forces with another empire.

 

[Catoninetales_Amplitude]

Very interested to see how they will do the World Congress. I strongly dislike how Civ 6 did it, but a good World Congress and extended diplomacy could significantly elevate the game. It's not just about adding strategic depth, but about having more of a relationship to the other players and what they are up to, and maybe making the leader figures a bit more prominent.

We're saving the specifics for a future blogpost, but for now let me give you a slightly myterious answer: I chose "enact" rather than "enforce" for a reason.

 

[Jkchart]

I'm looking forward to seeing how the new affinity plays out. I like the addition of Sumer, Han China and Bulgaria, but I am really confused by the Scots and Singapore.

Shouldn't the Scots be an Early Modern culture as the British are in the Industrial Era and they include the Scots. That could make a nice progression of English - Scots (reflecting the Stuart dynasty's rule of England) - British. Does the Scots' ability address being in the same era as Britain? Maybe they attach themselves to a bigger empire?

As for Singapore, how does a city-state work as a major culture? Do you drop all of you're non-capital cities for a big late game boost? That would neatly reflect Singapore getting booted from Malaysia after independence.



Armenians could be a good classical pick too and Punjabis for Industrial.

The Scots one had me curious as well, but as was posited in the G2G thread (and suspicions confirmed by Catoninetails) the Scots were picked because of their influence on diplomatic thought during the timeframe, whereas the Swiss were put in EM because of their impact on the Peace of Westphalia/Thirty Years War. I personally thought they should be switched, but the reasonings work for me and getting cultures that don't have to be a state opens possibilities rather than making cultures based only on existing states in the timeframe.

 

[Ryansinbela]

I'm looking forward to seeing how the new affinity plays out. I like the addition of Sumer, Han China and Bulgaria, but I am really confused by the Scots and Singapore.

Shouldn't the Scots be an Early Modern culture as the British are in the Industrial Era and they include the Scots. That could make a nice progression of English - Scots (reflecting the Stuart dynasty's rule of England) - British. Does the Scots' ability address being in the same era as Britain? Maybe they attach themselves to a bigger empire?

As for Singapore, how does a city-state work as a major culture? Do you drop all of you're non-capital cities for a big late game boost? That would neatly reflect Singapore getting booted from Malaysia after independence.



Armenians could be a good classical pick too and Punjabis for Industrial.

Israelites are my classical pick mainly because I want the Maccabee Unit and Tabernacle quarter to work as I can't find anything else (Maybe I can replace the Maccabee with a slinger unit and add them, that leaves the Contemporary rep)

Punjabis are good

 

[Saxo Grammaticus]

Very interested to see how they will do the World Congress. I strongly dislike how Civ 6 did it, but a good World Congress and extended diplomacy could significantly elevate the game. It's not just about adding strategic depth, but about having more of a relationship to the other players and what they are up to, and maybe making the leader figures a bit more prominent.

I am also quite curious. For instance, will persona archetypes play some role without being too easy to game? There are many precedents from Civilization. Off the top of my head, we have the outrageous unbounded authority of Civ IV's Apostolic Palace, RFC's high stakes congresses, and Civ V's Ideology as examples of empowered and potentially game-changing diplomatic relations. Civ VI's emergencies were probably intended to play a stronger role, but like the World Congress largely fall flat. I am not familiar with Endless diplomacy, but I would hope the Congress of Humankind will be unpredictable, interventionist, and quite frankly fun to watch!

The cultures definitely merit detailed framing, as on G2G there was confusion over the majority of them. What I am most looking forward to are dedicated streams to demonstrate the new mechanics.

 

[Catoninetales_Amplitude]

I am not familiar with Endless diplomacy

To be honest, being familiar with our previous games would not help you very much in guessing at the Congress of Humankind. The closest we had to a game-wide organization in previous games was The Academy in awakening, and that was not a diplomatic or political actor, but a third party to garner favor with.

 

[Saxo Grammaticus]

Thank you for the context!

 

[Saxo Grammaticus]

Culture card for the Sumerians!

https://twitter.com/x/status/1576965347630092294

 

[Catoninetales_Amplitude]

I see your Sumerian Culture card, and I raise you a gameplay overview video:

 

[Saxo Grammaticus]

And I raise you your own announcement off of G2G!


Expansion Overview and Free Weekend

The release of “Together We Rule” is approaching quickly, and we know you’ve been eager to learn more about the first expansion for HUMANKIND™, so we’ve prepared a short overview video for you. But before we get into that, we have some other news to share:



From now until Monday, HUMANKIND™ is free to play! If you weren’t sure if this game is for you, or you just wanted to get some friends to try it, now is the perfect opportunity. More than that, Humankind is also on sale until Wednesday, and so are the DLCs and our other games, so this is a great time to round out your collection.

Now, let’s not keep you waiting any longer. If you want to know more about Agents, Embassies, and the Congress of Humankind, check out the gameplay overview video:

Liked what you see? Together We Rule will release November 9th, and you can already pre-order Together We Rule on Steam, Epic Game Store, and Microsoft Store!


But we have even more coming, as we’ve been working on the Metternich update to be released alongside the expansion. In this update you will be able to briefly give control of your units to an ally to reinforce them, ambush your enemies with the improved stealth system, and form stronger bonds with Independent People.


If you want to know more about the features of the update and the expansion, stay tuned for more news in the coming weeks and tune in to our streams on Twitch.


See you next week for a closer look at Embassies and allied reinforcements!