Update 1.3.0 is on the horizon + a message from the devs!

[queenpea]

Thank you for the news and especially for making this content free to play! That's a very nice gesture to your players.

 

[Lebo44]

Not totally opposed given this is a free update.

I'm not particularly thrilled about the inclusion of the Pirates as a separate civ because:

1. They’ve taken the place of civilizations with greater historical significance
2. I’m worried about Civilization leaning too far into fantasy...

That said, I’m open-minded and willing to reconsider my stance once I see how they fit in-game along with other changes to exploration

 

[Leucarum]

A wild Civ7 wishlist just appeared...

I mean, I can give or take the DLC (but if it's free I'll take it)... However the update plans are basically what I'd been hoping for Firaxis to focus on. Overshadowing that though, moving to a new communication style gets a giant Praise Meier from me...

 

[Siptah]

This is simply fantastic in my opinion! All around - the changes to naval combat, free interesting content, new resources, new communications, and what’s mentioned for the not too distant future.

 

[notNamed]

1. I’m worried about Civilization leaning too far into fantasy...

Well you're going to have a pirate republic facing off George Washington flying the Stars and Stripes while listening to the marching drums and orchestral music of 3000BCE.
The pirates are the most appropriate thing for the period, since piracy existed even back then. Unlike George, the Constitution or marching drums.

 

[chaosprophet]

Lots of good news, and looking forward to the content from the updated and to grab the new content pack for free.

On the changing of the ways legacy path works, I find that as a great thing. In my mind just having each path in each age have multiple ways to progress so to not fix someone on a certain path would be enough, but a more radical change to them can work as well.

On the making possible to play the same civ, I'm glad they are adding for those who want it, but as someone who loves the idea of the evolving civ/cultures with the ages and picking a new kit to a new age depending on how things are going with you, I hope it is something that won't then make they need to completely change the design of future civs they add. So maybe something more generic like on the ages that civ isn't the main one you can choose to make a kit based in bonus all others would have, limited to pick bonus based on what attributes your civ is from, or just clone the kit of a different civ.

 

[Siptah]

Well you're going to have a pirate republic facing off George Washington flying the Stars and Stripes while listening to the marching drums and orchestral music of 3000BCE.
The pirates are the most appropriate thing for the period, since piracy existed even back then. Unlike George, the Constitution or marching drums.

While this is correct, the pirate civ will likely Model Caribbean pirates of the early modern and modern era. And not Illyrian, Berber, Somalian or Indonesian pirates of these and other eras. So, they will likely be just as specific as George.

 

[Alexander's Hetaroi]

Also what datamined content hasn't made it in yet. Whinna Cooper and Moari, right?

Along with an Atomic Age.

I'm not particularly thrilled about the inclusion of the Pirates as a separate civ because:

1. They’ve taken the place of civilizations with greater historical significance
2. I’m worried about Civilization leaning too far into fantasy...

I assume it will be more like Black Sails, than Pirates of the Caribbean. But yeah, I understand that a Republic of Pirates was way down on a priority of civs.

While this is correct, the pirate civ will likely Model Caribbean pirates of the early modern and modern era. And not Illyrian, Berber, Somalian or Indonesian pirates of these and other eras. So, they will likely be just as specific as George.

Definitely, considering their icon is the Jolly Roger Skull and Crossbones. Plus it's being released alongside Edward Teach.

 

[Mudkip1001]

Well you're going to have a pirate republic facing off George Washington flying the Stars and Stripes while listening to the marching drums and orchestral music of 3000BCE.
The pirates are the most appropriate thing for the period, since piracy existed even back then. Unlike George, the Constitution or marching drums.

I personally wish they were the Barbary Pirates so you could re-enact Stephen Decatur fighting the pirates of Tripoli in the Barbary Wars but c'est la vie, although i guess they are adding the ottomans anyway so i guess that counts

 

[Ryansinbela]

Republic of Pirates is most likely referring to this

Flying Gang - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[UWHabs]

Free content!

 

[UWHabs]

This is great to see overall. Still iffy on the pirates, but I can't complain about it being free content. Adding some dynamism to the seas will help as well. Privateers will be a pain I'm sure, please give us the option now to attach a treasure convoy to a fleet commander and escort it across the seas!

 

[Lord Lakely]

I personally wish they were the Barbary Pirates so you could re-enact Stephen Decatur fighting the pirates of Tripoli in the Barbary Wars but c'est la vie, although i guess they are adding the ottomans anyway so i guess that counts

Sayyida al Hurrah was a barbary pirate, so you can play her *as* the Pirates into the Ottomans.

 

[uppi]

This is great to see overall. Still iffy on the pirates, but I can't complain about it being free content. Adding some dynamism to the seas will help as well. Privateers will be a pain I'm sure, please give us the option now to attach a treasure convoy to a fleet commander and escort it across the seas!

With the Flotilla promotion you can do this today.

 

[PlatinumPoster]

The naval content update looks really good!

They are working on improving age transitions and civ identity improvements between civ changes - so I would assume that staying as the same civ is the more extreme version of that during age transitions.

I personally dont care about staying as the same civ, but it will add more gameplay variation and I think Ill enjoy it. I assume the Collapse mode will be added at the same time too.

Looks like the commerical hub and other UI changes arent ready though which is a shame

 

[Mudkip1001]

Sayyida al Hurrah was a barbary pirate, so you can play her *as* the Pirates into the Ottomans.

lol, thank you, i didn't know that the more you know! Now I'm Super Hype'd to get two Pirate Civs for the price of one!

 

[Boris Gudenuf]

A true "Republic of Pirates" would be like a set of Hostile naval IPs that re-spawned from Antiquity to early Modern Age with specific 'pirate' ships like Liburnians, Barques, Schooners, and modern speed boats, the 'Civ' being constantly at war with everybody unless paid off. It would be something very, very different to play, but also require a lot more work than a simple "slap a new label on a bunch of Settlements" which appears to be what they are doing.

We shall see.

IF Play the Same Civ Continuously is in addition to the current Civ Switching, it will be a major positive for the game, but if it simply a reversion to the old way of doing things, it is an example of the utter Bankruptcy of Civ Game Design and you can stick a fork in the game, because it is Finished.

The 'back-dating' of naval unit types from Modern's Light and Heavy to Exploration is a little overdue, since frankly, I never found the modern light units like Destroyers to be of much use: Dreadnaughts/Battleships did all the naval work with the occasional aircraft carrier (which took too long and too many resources to build along with its air component): I think since release I have built maybe 3 Destroyers, and those all very early when I was trying to figure out what exactly they were for.

But note that adding, presumably, 3 new Naval Units (3 Tiers x 2 types to the current 3 Tiers x 1 type) to Exploration is actually quite a bit of new graphic and coding work - assuming they do it right. Also, if the difference is that light units are Melee and heavy units Ranged, who is going to be what? Cogs and Carracks were used for both, Galleons were the first hulls built specifically to carry big guns, while Frigates are the 'classic' light unit but come in early Modern, not Exploration Age.

I suspect a return of the Caravel as a naval Scout, which would be extremely useful in Exploration Age to ferret out those Distant Lands resources except that nominally it comes at the end of the age. The Viking Drakkar long ships or Knorr roundships come much earlier, but are also pretty Civ-specific to be useful: again, We Shall See - pretty quickly, if they hold to their timeline.

 

[Mudkip1001]

Republic of Pirates is most likely referring to this

Flying Gang - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

According to the leaks on the civ mod discord by Phantagonist Spoiler:

Spoiler :

Flying Gang is the name of their civ ability so you are correct

 

[Eagle Pursuit]

I'm not particularly thrilled about the inclusion of the Pirates as a separate civ because:

1. They’ve taken the place of civilizations with greater historical significance
2. I’m worried about Civilization leaning too far into fantasy...

That said, I’m open-minded and willing to reconsider my stance once I see how they fit in-game along with other changes to exploration

1) the idea that chronology infers priority is a fallacy. just because a civ comes earlier in the development cycle doesn't mean it's taking the place of another civ. It just means you have to be patient for whichever ones you want.

2) This is based in reality. The Flying Gang established a self-governed base in the Bahamas and operated it for 12 years. While it's a push to put it on equal terms with Spain, for example, they were at least a thorn in the side of European powers. I'm hoping they give the pirates a heavily asymetrical design.

 

[Lebo44]

Looks like the commerical hub and other UI changes arent ready though which is a shame

It seems likely that patch 1.3.0 might include additional UI changes. The updates revealed today focus more on gameplay enhancements and new features, so any UI-related fixes may still be listed in the full release notes for 1.3.0.