What civs would you like to see in hypothetical Civ 7 vanilla?

Byzantium not being in the base game feels weird only because it hasn't been done before. That was the same with the Ottomans, the same with the Iroquois (both in the base game in Civ V), Sumeria (in the base game in Civ VI), etc etc. Similarly, Civ VI saw many fan favorite civs not returning.

We shouldn't always use the past as a predictor, as the likelihood of something happening doesn't necessarily increase over time. Sometimes, expecting a key result (i.e. that swans found in Australia will be white, like all the swans Europeans saw in Europe) doesn't help correctly predict anything (the swans were black). Maybe we are used to Byzantium not being in the base game, but that doesn't mean Civ VII won't surprise us. Civ VI certainly surprised us by including Australia in the game at all, let alone Canada, and by excluding Maya, Babylon, Portugal, etc.

 

Haven't worked on it for a while, but this is my list:

Europe: 6
- British - England (Henry VIII)
- French - Francia (Charlemagne)
- German - Prussia (Frederick II)
- Roman - Rome (Livia)
- Russian - Ruthenia - (Olga of Kyiv)
- Athenian - Athens (Alcibiades)

Africa: 3
- Egyptian - Egypt (Hatshepsut)
- Phoenician - Carthage (Hamilcar)
- Ethiopian - Ethiopia (Taytu Betul)

Near East: 5
- Arabian - Abbasids (Harun al-Rashid)
- Armenian - Armenia (Tigran II)
- Hurrian -Hittites (Puduhepa)
- Assyrian - Assyria (Sammuramat)
- Persian - Parthia (Mithridates)

Far East: 3
- Chinese - Ming (Yongle)
- Japanese - Nippon (Meiji)
- Indian - Maurya (Ashoka)

America: 3
- Andean - Inca (Tupaq Yupanqui)
- Sioux - Lakota (Sitting Bull)
- American - United States (Jefferson)

Pre-order bonus:
- French - France (Louis XIV) (alternative empire to the French civilization)

They don't have to copy it literally, but a similar template will do. (maybe one additional far eastern civ)

 

Oh I'm definitely not someone to propose using the past as a predictor. I just see that releasing Rome and Byzantium simultaneously needlessly hampers diversity. And that Rome is considered by many to be the quintessential empire/civ and it would be blasphemous not to include in the base game. If Civ ever had any essential selling points, Rome would be one of them, but not Byzantium.

Which, to be clear, I find boring af, just as much as everyone's obsession with eeking out multiple Mesopotamian civs. But I can see why Byzantium just wouldn't stand a chance in most situations. It's not a true black swan situation because of just how much developer and consumer preferences lean odds against putting Byzantium first.

That's not to rag on Byzantium at all. It's certainly a relevant part of history. But I think it's just too...conditional to be a clear frontrunner for inclusion. Doubly so since it often cockblocks many good Balkan and Steppe civs that deserve a chance.

 

I agree Rome is a quintessential civ, but I note other civs that are almost as quintessential, such as Spain, have in the past not appeared in the base game. And now we have the situation where Maya, Portugal, Byzantium, Ethiopia haven’t appeared in Civ VI at all. Sacred cows can be killed at any time depending on what the developers would find interesting.

I don’t think we can know how much “developer and consumer preferences lean odds against putting Byzantium first” since all we have is forum chatter and Facebook/YouTube etc. chatter to judge by. Frankly, I see Byzantium as basically Rome, albeit in a later period. Having Byzantium would be similar to having a Rome civ with Constantine as its leader, just with slight flavor differentials (I.e. more likely to have a cavalry unique unit than an infantry unit).

 

I believe every region of the globe need to have the same number of civs to be more fair.I believe every region of the globe need to have the same number of civs to be more fair.

Europe: 6 (As a Eurocentric game, I believe this one is the most important europeans civs, so, because they are 6, I will list the 6 best civ for area
- England
- France
- Germany
- Rome
- Russia
- Greece

Middle East
- Babylon (Or anyother Bronze-Age empire)
- Persia (I would like to see a Sassanian Persian this time, I'm kind of tired of Achamenid Persia)
- Jews (I never understand why they was never in this game, they are one of the few civs who can have U.U. from ancient and atomic era at the same time!)
- Turks
- Arabia
- Egypt

Far East
- China
- Japan
- Mongolia
- India
- Korea
- Siam

Americas (Far West hehe)
- Aztecs (Acctually I also miss some civ more ancient in Americas as Zapotecs, Toltects or Olmecs) at least one, don't matter witch
- Inkas
- Guarani (Maybe Solano López as the last Guarani leader XD)
- Haiti (The first black republic in the World, defeating Napoleon's troops to achieve the independence, they really deserve be a Civ!)
- Iroquois
- Colômbia (Despite I'm brazilian, I believe Simon Bolivar is cooler than D.Pedro II)

Africa
- Zulu (SURE!)
- Ethiopia
- Mali
- Zimbabwe (Mwenemutapa, is the name of this kingdom around 1500 when Portugueses take note, but I think Zimbabwe is cooler)
- Swahilli
- Dahomey (U.U. = Amazons Warriors; but this game need to lost this shame to put slavery kingdom, every history deserve be prouded, even the Empire who really grows with slavery)

.

 

My choices would be as follows (Assuming 20 Civs and a pre-order bonus):

America (Franklin Roosevelt)
Babylon (Hammurabi)
Byzantines (Theodora and Justinian)
China (Wu Zetian)
Egypt (Hatshepsut)
England (AEthelflaed)
Ethiopia (Taytu Betul)
France (Philip IV)
Hittites (Puduhepa)
Inca (Huayna Capac)
Matamba (Nzinga)
Maya (Lady Xoc)
Mississippians (Tuskaloosa)
Mongols (Mandukhai)
Mughals (Akbar)
Persia (Shapur I)
Portugal (Henry the Navigator)
Rus (Olga of Kiev)
Turks (Mustafa Kemal Ataturk)
Vietnam (Trung Trac and Trung Nhi)

Pre-order bonus: Arabs (Al-Ma'mun)

 

Maine game

Rome - East and West - Aurelian/Justinian
Britain - England - Henry VII
Germany - Germany - Bismarck
France - Aquitaine - Elenor of Aquataine
Greece - Macedon - Philip the Great
Russia - Kievan Rus - Vladimir the Great

China - Song - Taizu
Iran - Persia - Khosrow I
Turks - Rum - Kilij Arslan II
Mesopotamia - Sumer - Ur-Nammu
India - Sikh Empire - Rajat Sing
Arabs - Abbasids - Al-Mamun

North Africa - Egypt - Hatshepsut
West Africa - Oyo - Shango
East Africa - Ethiopia - Menelik II

Southamerica - Colombia - Simon Bolivar
Mesoamerica - Maya - Lady Six Skies

Northamerica - USA - James K. Polk

DLC:
Mesopotamia - Assyria - Semiramis
Levant - Israel - Herod
Anatolia - Hittites - Suppiluliumas
Mesoamerica - Mexico - Benito Juarez
Southamerica - Inca - Pachacuti

 

Just give me Albania and Skanderbeg and I’m happy

 

My line up would look like this with two leaders per civ and one double leaders:

Vikings: Harold Hadrada or Guthrum
Anglo-Saxons: Alfred the Great or Harold Godwinson
England: Elizabeth 1 or King Richard the Lion Heart
Rome: Juilus Ceaser or Consotintine
Spain: Isabella or Philp 2
France: Napoleon
Mongolia: Gangis Khan
America: Donald J. Trump or George Washington


William the Conqueror: England France

Ones I don't have leaders for
Persia, Macedonian, Greece, india, China, kora, japan, maybe some native American tribes. Byzantium

 

I would love to see Ireland in the base game.

 

If Ireland were included it would be as DLC, I suspect. And frankly we don’t need more European civs in the base game. We have plenty of “must have” European civs in the Civ formula already (i.e. the countries that buy Civ a lot, like Germany).

 

I'm totally fine with losing England, worldwide exporter of football hooliganism, if it means we get a cultured civ in its place.

 

I think that either they should equalize the civs by geographical region - in base game the new world was so empty in TSL (which I do enjoy) that I often preferred to leave the entire hemisphere blank - or have the base game be exclusively old world, then the 1st expansion be 10 new world civs and maybe an exploration/colonies focus... Though that would probably carry some serious controversies...

 

Why Richard who spent maybe six months of his life in England and didn't care that much about it?

 

He fought in the crusades which might give him some cool alternate UA that has not been seen for england.

 

He did little for English culture or government except his real life capture and ransom almost bankrupting the Angevin Empire and being used for setting in the subsequent Robin Hood tales.

 

I was thinking more of his skill in battle than how cultured he was. Maybe giving English units a combat bonus against units of civs of other faiths. Religion has not been an English thing so that might be cool. Maybe even something having to do with Robin Hood.

 

I can definitely get behind having at least a little more of an even spread of civs in the base Civ 7. Each new game should be getting more civs anyway so that would mean either more DLC/expansions or or civs in the Vanilla version (perhaps about 25 or so). Assuming it would be anywhere from 25 to 30 civs, here's what I'd like to see in each region and what I'd like to see each region get in the DLC/expansions:

Europe: 6 (it's very unlikely it would have fewer than this)
- Rome (Trajan)
- England (Elizabeth I)
- France (Philip II)
- Germany (Otto von Bismarck)
- Russia (Catherine II)
- Greece (Cleisthenes)

What I'd Want to See from DLC/Expansions: Spain, Norway, Portugal, Netherlands, Sweden, Hungary, Poland, Scotland, Ireland, Macedon, Austria, Denmark

Middle East: 4
- Persia (Cyrus)
- Phoenicia (Dido)
- Sumeria (Gilgamesh)
- Assyria (TiglathᐨPileser III)

What I'd Want to See from DLC/Expansions: Arabia, Babylonia, Scythia, Ottomans, Georgia, Armenia, Hebrews

Far East: 5
- China (Taizong)
- Japan (Hojo Tokimune)
- India (Chandragupta)
- Mongolia (Genghis Khan)
- Khmer (Jayavarman VII)

What I'd Want to See from DLC/Expansions: Korea, Siam, Burma, Vietnam, Philippines, Nepal, Yakutia

Africa: 4
- Egypt (Senusret III)
- Mali (Mansa Musa)
- Ethiopia (Menelik II)
- Kongo (Mvemba a Nzinga)

What I'd Want to See from DLC/Expansions: Zulu, Morocco, Nubia, Benin, Buganda, Zimbabwe, Swahili, Angola, Madagascar, Dahomey, Ashanti

Mesoamerica: 2
- Aztecs (Montezuma I)
- Maya (Wak Chanil Ajaw)

What I'd Want to See from DLC/Expansions: Purepecha aka Tarascans, Mixtec, Zapotec

North America: 4
- America (Theodore Roosevelt)
- Tlingit (Katlian)
- Iroquois (Thayendanegea)
- Navajo (Manuelito)

What I'd Want to See from DLC/Expansions: Cree, Canada, Comanche, Powhatan, Choctaw, Lakota/Sioux

South America: 2
- Inca (Pachacuti)
- Brazil (Pedro II)

What I'd Want to See from DLC/Expansions: Mapuche, Muisca, Colombia, Argentina

Oceania: 2 (depends on if you count Indonesia as part of Far East Asia or Oceania)
- Indonesia (Gitarja)
- Maori (Hongi Hika)

What I'd Want to See from DLC/Expansions: Australia, Hawaii, Tonga

 

Civ that deserved to be in Civ 7 based on contribution to world culture and history :
Europe:
- Rome (Julius Caesar)
- England (Elizabeth I)
- France (St.Louis / Louis IX)
- Germany (Otto von Bismarck)
- Russia (Catherine II)
- Italy (Vittorio Emanuelle II)
- Netherlands or HRE (Maximillian I)
- Austria ( Marie Therese)
- Venice (Enrico Dandolo)

East Asia:
- China (Qin Shi Huang or Wu Zetian)
- Japan (Tokugawa Ieyasu or Oda Nobunaga)
- Korea (Sejong the Great)
- The Huns

West and South Asia:
- Mughals
- Timurids

South East Asia :
- Indonesia
- Cambodia
- Philippines

Middle East :
- Persia / Babylonia
- Abbasid
- Ottoman

Africa :
- Egypt
- Nubia
- Ethiopia

Oceania :
- Hawaii
- Polynesia
- Australia and New Zealand

 

I like @TahamiTsunami idea of having more civs and leaders in the base game. My ideal 30 civilization line up with a male and female leader for every civ would be as follows:

America (Eleanor Roosevelt and Thomas Jefferson)
Arabs (Zubaidah and Al-Ma'mun)
Byzantines (Pulcheria and Alexios I Komnenos)
Carthage (Dido and Hannibal)
China (Wu Zetian and Yongle)
Dahomey (Tassi Hangbe and Agaja)
Egypt (Hatshepsut and Thutmose III)
England (Elizabeth I and Alfred the Great)
Ethiopia (Eleni and Gebre Mesqel Lalibela)
France (Yolande of Aragon and Louis XIV)
Greece (Telesilla and Cleisthenes)
Hittites (Puduhepa and Supiluliuma I)
Inca (Mama Ocllo Coya and Pachacuti)
Iroquois (Molly Brant and Hiawatha)
Japan (Hojo Masako and Tokogawa Iemitsu)
Maurya's (Asandhimitra and Chandragupta)
Maya (Lady Xoc and Pacal)
Mongols (Mandukhai and Genghis Khan)
Mughals (Nur Jahan and Akbar)
Netherlands (Wilhelmina and Maurice)
Norse (Margaret I and Cnut the Great)
Nubia (Amanirenas and Taharqa)
Persia (Atossa and Shapur I)
Poland (Bona Sforza and John III Sobieski)
Rome (Julia Maesa and Cincinnatus)
Rus (Olga of Kiev and Peter the Great)
Spain (Isabella I of Castile and El Cid)
Turks (Roxelana and Mustafa Kemal Ataturk)
Vietnam (Trung Sisters and Ho Chi Minh)
Zulu (Mkabayi kaJama and Shaka)