Many good points here! Here is my wish list:
- the return of map trading
- expanded city state options and quests (it's getting really tedious to hear everyone wanting to eliminate the other all the time)
I think the existing quests cover pretty much everything - after all they include (in my experience):
- Obtain Resource X
- Obtain Great Person X
- Build Wonder X
- Discover a Natural Wonder
- Give us units
- Kill Barbarians
- Destroy Barbarian encampments
- Destroy City State X
At least. The trouble is the way and the frequency with which they're triggered - everything's there, the 'wrong' missions just get triggered too often. In particular, it is only minimally context-dependent - they'll ask for help vs. Barbarians if, indeed, they're under attack by barbarians. But they'll only ask for military help against another Civ if that Civ declared war the previous turn, regardless of whether they're actually being physically attacked, and not if they *are* being physically attacked but they were on the side that started the war, or the war started more than a few turns previously. The Destroy City State one is particularly bad; without an inter-CS diplomacy mechanic there's no actual justification for this coming up, and it never relates to whether or not those two city states have ever been at war (because their allies have, for example). This should be triggered much less often, and mainly in specific circumstances (and not, for example, if the city-states are at opposite ends of the world but somehow know one another because, although they have to meet civilizations, they always know every other city-state).
- overhaul of the diplomacy system, and more ways to influence your opponents. More benefits for declarations of friendship.
Agreed. Introducing denouncement, declarations of friendship etc. makes diplomacy look deceptively sophisticated for someone new to Civ V - right up until you realise they don't actually seem to do anything, and you can declare friendship with someone one turn and have them declare war on you the next. I think it should offer greater favour from the friendly Civ in terms of trade and deals, perhaps allow international trade, but be offset by greater penalties in relations for refusing their offers, not supporting them if they go to war etc.
- more civilizations, especially African and (Meso-) South American.
I'm happy enough for Civs to be added through DLC - in the year since release, a full quarter of the game's civilizations are DLC civs. However, I would like some essentially cosmetic changes to the way DLC civs are handled - each should have its own graphical style for architecture, and it would be good if a new civ-thematic Wonder was added with each (either as a World Wonder or as a new type of national wonder that is only available to that civilization); after all they have scenario wonders like Domesday Book - e.g. to take a wholly random example, if the Khmer were added, they could have the Bayon as a wonder, Indonesia could have Borodbodur, Zimbabwe Great Zimbabwe etc.
In terms of Civs, I want the Khmer back (and the Dutch, for all that European civs are inevitably overrepresented), but I agree that I'd like some of the African civilizations. I like the Merina due to their relative obscurity and my interest in Madagascar, but from a historical relevance perspective there really should be a Swahili empire in Civ.
- a way to work religion into the game, perhaps through the social policies. There HAS to be a way to put such a large portion of world history into a game without making it to dominant, like they did with cIV. Maybe religious city states?
I don't think religion is intended to be absent - after all, there are religious techs, there are temples etc. There's just no intent to treat it separately. The key thing people seemed to like about it was the diplomacy aspect and the fact that empires could share religion. It would be good to see this aspect come back, but I'm not sure how it would be done without causing at least some of the same problems with exclusive religions that Civ IV had.
- more units and resources.
- more wonders.
What would more resources really do? I'd like to see some complexity added back to the ones we now have - which mostly just give the same +1 X bonus to whatever terrain they're found in.
More units/wonders I'm happy to leave to DLC. I do want more natural wonders (not more per game - you'd get the same number per game, but a random selection from the available options). The choices they've made for the few in this game are weird to say the least, not least because two of them are 'wonders' that never actually existed.
- new leaders for existing civs (although I realize it is pointless if the UA remains the same).
To be honest it was a bit of a gimmick anyway. Aside from the fact that you keep the same special unit(s) and building(s), it essentially amounts to playing a different civ - and in Civ V the units and buildings often seem to be selected specifically to complement the UA (oh what a coincidence, I get an extra great general bonus to each of my attacks and also just happen to have a ranged unit that can fire twice a turn), or at least to balance them (Korea has one of the strongest UAs, but both its unique units are of more limited/specialised utility than the units they replace - they wait longer than everyone else to get a siege unit because the Hwach'a can't attack cities, and longer than everyone else to cross the ocean because the Turtle Ship is confined to coastal squares).
Religion as well in some form, should be added. Remember religions were created by men!
