There are a few areas / mechanics where I'd be very surprised (and, you know, disappointed) if FXS didn't add something.
- Ideological Pressure. Just seems crazy to me that having kept Tourism from Civ 5, and then implementing Loyalty, that FXS wouldn't then introduce Ideological pressure. Again, just seems like a total no-brainer, particularly when they could also leverage mechanics like Alliance and World Congress etc. That might also be the way to lead into more conflict in the mid to late game, something where the game is very lacking and people have been quite vocal about that lack of conflict.
- Governors. Governors are essentially the Civ 6 version of Civ 5's Social Policies (e.g. Victor=Honour, Magnus=Liberty, Liang=Tradition, Moshka=Piety, Reyna=Commerce, Amani=Patronage, and Pingala=Rationalism). Assuming that's right, I'd find it amazing if we didn't get mid to late game Governors that sort of mirror Civ 5's Ideologies. It would be pretty easy to implement too - just have certain Governors unlock with the Tier 3 and 4 Government Civics.
- Future Tech. The only Future Tech unit is the GDR. Seems like an obvious place for FXS to add some welcome content. Then there is the Future Techs themselves. Currently, most of these only boost the GDR (except for that one tech which "boosts" normal units by removing their CO2 cost). Again, just seems like a non-brainer for FXS to have Future Techs have more impact on the game by buffing other units, buildings etc.
- Religion and World Congress. It's clear a significant number of people are a bit unhappy with these. I can't see FXS really changing how these work, but I could see them keeping the current mechanics and rebalancing things a little and maybe expanding mechanics in a few places. Having more Religious Beliefs unlock unique units (not just Monks) seems like an easy one to implement. Having the World Congress triggered by building a unique Wonder (or just having a Wonder that buffs your votes in the WC or something) or upgrading the World Congress into the UN all seem like easy wins.
- Other Low Hanging Fruit. There's plenty of other stuff that would be pretty cool that FXS could put into the current mechanics. Certainly, the addition of all the cool maps via Patches last year strongly suggests some desire to add cool stuff to really fill out the game. Obvious things to me (beyond units, buildings, wonders etc), would include an Economic Victory, More Unique Units for Barbarians and or City States, More "Unique" Districts like the Government Plaza and / or late game Districts that obsolete Campuses, Commercial Hubs etc.
Like I said, I'd be quite surprised if FXS didn't tackle most or all of the above mechanics (particularly the first three). But does that mean I'm expecting an Expansion?
Well, they certainly could have a Third Expansion if they wanted to. If FXS really wanted to go to town on Ideology etc, then I think there's enough material that they could stitch together into something cohesive, and there's clearly enough appetite for a third expansion in the market.
But if FXS instead decided to keep any new mechanics fairly narrow, and just focus on obvious gaps or other "low hanging fruit", then I could see them maybe dealing with those mechanics purely via DLC or Updates. They could maybe have DLC with just introduces new Leaders, Wonders and or Units etc., and then add mechanics for free via updates (with the DLC in effect funding the content - a bit like EU4's model); or it's possible some particular mechanics would require DLC (e.g. Late Game Governors and Ideological Pressure). If they took that approach, I think that would result in mechanics being less deep and or more modular, but it could be done.
My best guess? I think given the Survey, and just how things have been travelling, I think DLC with Leaders / Civs, Wonders, Units and maybe some other stuff, and then FXS maybe tweak / expand mechanics and or fill gaps via patches, but it would be really quite limited and narrow.
If they did that, I could maybe see a small expansion maybe even next year, but it would be pretty cheap and narrow, and maybe just focus on something like War or Colonization which then gets folded into a "Complete" addition.
I guess I'm okay with DLC or whatever, provided FXS do fill in some of the "gaps" the game still has. But, you know, I still find it odd that FXS haven't just gone down the Third Expansion route. There's a lot of appetite for something like that, and the game has room for that, and I think FXS could still do DLC and season passes and whatever money making things they want to after that. But it looks like that's just not the way forward.
I'm still giving FXS the benefit of the doubt, just because the base game was so good, and the last year with GS and the free updates was just amazing, and because on the live streams and when they post FXS seem like good guys that are real enthusiasts. So, yeah, cross-fingers, whatever's coming.
TL;DR. DLC with Leaders, Wonders and maybe units / buildings. Additional mechanics via updates released with the DLC. Maybe later on a DLC / small expansion which will also have discreet and very modular "additional" mechanics (e.g. new late game Governors and Ideological pressure), but nothing as big as RnF or GS.
[edit: reordered bullet points.]
[In the interests of not posting these points again ad nauseam, I’ve created a separate thread for Brave New World for Civ 6 - see
link.]