What's your opinion on civ switching?

[vorlon_mi]

I doubt most players (especially casual ones) are just waiting around and examining each patch to understand whether to buy the game or come back to the game. There are a smaller subset of dedicated players, who probably hang around here and other forums who will be more engaged in that content, but I doubt it applies to most.

I suspect that for Civ 7 to be truly successful there needs to be large scale, almost universal buzz about the game that radiates out into the wider world. If you get a standard narrative that Civ 7 started out flawed but is now definitely an amazing game, then you might get a second wind of people rediscovering it.

It’s going to take a lot more work on the game and the systems involved to make that happen I think. Bite sized DLC which are basically flavour packs are not going to be enough.

^^ This ^^

The game launched with anticipation, which was followed by a large wave of disappointment. Negative reviews and low player numbers have reinforced that. The current buzz, or reputation of the game has been set. The views expressed by @aieeegrunt , @Verified_Confection_Being , and @Crashdummy (among others) are prevelant in the larger community.

As a result, I don't expect either the sales or the Steam player counts to change much for *months*, patches or no patches. I would expect that a sale later in 2025, closer to the holiday season, will convince some more folks to give the game a try. I expect that the reviewers / streamers / gaming press will wait until the first expansion pack or season pass to pay attention again. Only a widespread change in perception will move the numbers.

Speaking for myself, I think that I will wait to buy the additional DLC. The incremental fun from the new civs is not worth the $$ at this point. I'm still getting a lot of enjoyment from the content I have already purchased (Deluxe). I will probably get a new gaming machine later this year, with a bigger SSD. That should shorten my loading times for both Civ6 and Civ7.

 

[Leucarum]

The price of DLC is a big ask when so far I've only enjoyed 1-2 of the civs/leaders and then only get to play the civs for a single age...

 

[WillK96]

The price of DLC is a big ask when so far I've only enjoyed 1-2 of the civs/leaders and then only get to play the civs for a single age...

It is wild that Firaxis sold the gameplay, 30 civs and 19 leaders for $70, and then squeezed $60 out of the player base for 8 civs and 4 leaders. The base game, excluding gameplay, was like $1.42 a civ/leader. The expansions are $5 a civ/leader. And like you said, you only use the civs for 1/3rd of a game. Insane.

 

[Leucarum]

It is wild that Firaxis sold the gameplay, 30 civs and 19 leaders for $70, and then squeezed $60 out of the player base for 8 civs and 4 leaders. The base game, excluding gameplay, was like $1.42 a civ/leader. The expansions are $5 a civ/leader. And like you said, you only use the civs for 1/3rd of a game. Insane.

The rumoured lineup for civs possibly under development really doesn't inspire me either...

 

[WillK96]

The rumoured lineup for the first expansion really doesn't inspire me either...

Where does one view this rumor?

 

[Leucarum]

Where does one view this rumor?

Thread 'Asset file hinting at future and/or cut content' https://forums.civfanatics.com/threads/asset-file-hinting-at-future-and-or-cut-content.695000/

 

[stealth_nsk]

Regarding buzz on civilization. After each patch I see a wave of youtube videos and articles with various clickbait titles ("the game is finally saved" or "are they serious?" or "this should be from the start", that sort of things).

I know how recommendation algorithms work and I understand that people less interested in Civ games will see much less of those materials, but any person following a couple of video game magazines will meet those articles and people who have at least some interest in Civ will see some of those videos/articles recommended.

So nope, parches generate some sales, although not large ones. Sales and DLCs bring more (as we've seen a month ago). And expansion could bring even more people.

 

[McSpank01]

Regarding buzz on civilization. After each patch I see a wave of youtube videos and articles with various clickbait titles ("the game is finally saved" or "are they serious?" or "this should be from the start", that sort of things).

I know how recommendation algorithms work and I understand that people less interested in Civ games will see much less of those materials, but any person following a couple of video game magazines will meet those articles and people who have at least some interest in Civ will see some of those videos/articles recommended.

So nope, parches generate some sales, although not large ones. Sales and DLCs bring more (as we've seen a month ago). And expansion could bring even more people.

Yes I see these videos cropping up after each patch as well. The actual content of those videos is a bit more tempered however, usually being overall positive about the changes, but rarely outright saying the game is saved. At the same time I still see a steady stream of Youtubers bemoaning the state of the game and creating content that is very critical of it. I would suggest that Civ 7 is never going to succeed until the overall sentiment about the game becomes overwhelmingly positive. Also, it really needs the popular streamers to fall back in love with the game, I would really be happy if Potato McWhisky felt able to play the game again, and there are a few others out there who would create buzz by making gameplay videos.

Might be me, but I almost never see proper gameplay videos in my stream any more... or maybe I just ignore those.

 

[Mesix]

Just about everything you wrote here is unappealing to me. This probably means Civ's sandbox qualities are high up on my list, but not yours. Now that I think of it, this must be it. In Civ6, I don't think I've played more than one game with dramatic ages. Since it forces me to focus so much on era score, it ruins the game for me (on deity I'd lose a ton of cities if I enter a dark age). Abrupt age transitions and forced civ switching in Civ7 are similar to Civ6's dramatic ages. This is why I think it was a mistake to have them baked into the core of the game and not offered like an optional game mode. I get that many like Civ7's core mechanics and I'm happy for every single one of you. But they're not for me though. Last weekend I went back to a Pharaoh + Cleopatra campaign. Yep, that's how much I love sandbox games.

Have you tried Old World? It was designed by Soren Johnson (from Civ4) and is a much deeper game than Civ7 (or even Civ6 for that matter). I have been playing a lot of Old World since giving up on Civ7.