[NFP] What's your favorite expansion?

[Hellenism Salesman]

Civ VI has had lots of DLC over its lifetime, notably in the form of Expansion Packs. So my question for you is: which expansion is your favorite?

Now when we're judging them, I'm not talking about overall quality or which is the best buy, I am asking purely about which one brings you the most enjoyment and why.

Note: Even though it was not released at once, I am counting the New Frontier Pass as an individual expansion. Additionally, for the sake of putting them somewhere, I'm also counting all of those single DLCs that Firaxis was releasing directly after launch (Australia, Poland, Khmer, Indonesia, etc). I don't really expect many to choose them, but hey- they're there.

 

[Duke William of Normandy]

Gathering Storm, because of the great Civilizations and Leaders we got from it. They were just so unique, so fun, yet not too lavishly OP. I'm talking to you, Gran Colombia.

 

[Villager720]

I enjoyed almost none of the Rise and Fall additions, so for me it's : GS>NF>RF.
Ages are too 'gamey' and force you into shooting for a lot of the same stuff every game, regardless of how you'd like to play ("Guess I'll build a galley as the Zulu for the EPs"). I really hope we don't see Ages in Civ VII.
Governors are ... fine?
And I'm not wild about the mechanics of the loyalty system.

 

[raen]

For me clearly NFP, with all the new little functionalities.

 

[Zyxpsilon]

GS really offered us a crazily complex twist of the ruleset dynamics and yet simultaneously, very cool set of other features lead by impressive "Global Warming" stuff, etc !

 

[Duke William of Normandy]

As OP predicted, no one sees the little guys as their favorite Expansion.

 

[Alexander's Hetaroi]

Gathering Storm definitely with bringing in natural disasters, World Congress back, and bringing in civs with unique playstyles.
NFP pass has brought in great things but not all are for me.

 

[Duke William of Normandy]

NFP pass has brought in great things but not all are for me.

Glad it's doing its job properly. Not meant to snark, just a comment on the NFP.

 

[Xandinho]

For me it's clearly GS, I didn't have to think too much.

 

[bonafide11]

I voted for Rise and Fall. Gathering Storm is nice but honestly the global warming stuff doesn't do that much for me because all of my games are decided before it ever has any impact. Rise and Fall actually changed how I have to play the game by caring about ages and governors.

 

[wxstall]

It was Rise and Fall for me. The addition of eras, loyalty, and governors felt so natural that I can’t imagine civ6 without them now. Gathering storm is certainly a close second with the natural disasters element and the strategic resource overhaul. The diplomatic stuff did not quite live up to my expectations though. I will say that GS did have the best suite of new civs though.

NFP by design is just no comparison. Since game modes are optional, it makes them impossible to weave into other game/civ mechanics since not all are always enabled. If NFP had been a proper 3rd expansion centered around a more robust economics mode (and a new Econ VC) and expanded barbarians like our upcoming mode, then it certainly could have competed for the best expansion.

 

[Eagle Pursuit]

While the disasters and WC were generally better than I anticipated, having disliked them in previous iterations, I enjoyed the features of RNF more than GS. With regards to NFP, I feel like I won't be able to judge it properly until it's complete. However, so far I dislike some Modes and would have liked others to be more fully integrated. There are good ideas (like Barb and Economy Modes) that would have benefited tremendously from receiving the full expansion treatment.

 

[Ivan Hunger]

When I started thinking about this, I realized that the changes that improved my experience the most were actually the ones that came in the free updates, like the rebalanced religious beliefs.

But I guess I'll vote for Gathering Storm, just because Meenakshi Temple is one of my most consistently built wonders.

 

[Stilgar08]

I'm in the R&F department. I enjoy GS, but R&F really set the tone of the game more thoroughly for me.

The features introduced there needed polish when the expansion came out (as usual), but after this has been done (I even consider it an ongoing task) it added more to vanilla than GS did IMO.

NFP is nice and all and I preordered, but I'm a full expansion guy and in case FXS decides to got for a new season after April I might just play with what's in the game until then and get "NFP2" once it's completed...

 

[Alexander's Hetaroi]

Glad it's doing its job properly. Not meant to snark, just a comment on the NFP.

It's okay. I'd still put NFP as my second favorite.

 

[Zaarin]

GS for the unique civs and the disasters. If it's any consolation, my second vote would have gone to the miscellaneous DLC. I think I've played as Persia and Poland more than I've played any vanilla or R&F civ except maybe Cree.

 

[ehecatzin]

Gathering Storm for me. The NFP I'm 50/50, I really didn't like most of the modes, and some have way too much fantasy elements for my taste, however corporations is great, and barbarian clans looks to be as promising.

if they did another NFP, I hope It's all on the same level as those 2.

 

[Hellenism Salesman]

I appreciate that single pity vote for the misc. DLCs

Poor little guys...

 

[Alexander's Hetaroi]

I appreciate that single pity vote for the misc. DLCs

Poor little guys...

To be fair I think most of my favorites civs come from the misc. DLCs and I would rank it been if not for a lack of content besides mainly scenarios which I never play.

 

[iammaxhailme]

I love features from both RnF and GS, but I think Loyalty has to hand it over to RnF. Being able to do something about cities forward settled against me without having to go to war is a real game changer for me. Also polders.