why did civ 6 steam rating increased?

[Kupe Navigator]

I remember at least early 2021 civ 6 rating wasn't so hot and it was like 70% positive or something ( I remember it being yellow) but now it is 81% positive review and surprisingly more than Humankind (71% positive review) Why do you think it is? what is with all this positive view?
With how many people are complaining and release of Humankid here you would think it should decrease.

 

[Buktu]

My best guess is that lots of people are getting the game now where you can get the all in one bundle often times discounted (which is also another factor I guess, you have other expectations in a game you pay around 200 bucks for than in a game you pay like 30 for). Alot of them play the game casualy so most critism you hear in a fanatics forum is no big deal for them. If you are struggling to win on emporer the AI might not seem as bad to you as if you consistently beat deity. Who cares if mechanics dont work too well together if you just want to build up a nice empire and try to understand one at a a time or have a good time steam rolling the AI with your military? And so on.

 

[HorseHead]

My best guess is that lots of people are getting the game now where you can get the all in one bundle often times discounted (which is also another factor I guess, you have other expectations in a game you pay around 200 bucks for than in a game you pay like 30 for). Alot of them play the game casualy so most critism you hear in a fanatics forum is no big deal for them. If you are struggling to win on emporer the AI might not seem as bad to you as if you consistently beat deity. Who cares if mechanics dont work too well together if you just want to build up a nice empire and try to understand one at a a time or have a good time steam rolling the AI with your military? And so on.

This pretty well sums up what I expect the reasoning to be as well.

 

[Haig]

No wonder Humankind's reviews are so low, the game is a mess and even many of the "thumbs up" reviews on Steam have a big list of negatives.

Player amounts have seen a crazy drop and it has dropped from the top 100 active players list.

Civ 6 on the other hand is great game and are on top 15 played games.

 

[KayAU]

I think @Buktu got it right. As for the comparison with Humankind, I think it is just too early to say. I am currently playing it myself, and enjoying it a great deal, but that was also the case with Civ 6 in the early days. Humankind brings a lot of ideas to the table, some of which I like (such as the narrative focus and Neolithic start), some of which I feel ambivalent about (such as the morphing cultures), and some of which I don't like (such as pre-defined regions). What matters now, however, is how the game evolves with coming patches, content updates, and expansions. This is where Civ 6 faltered to me, as I don't feel like it really improved with all the new content. But I've been over that before. Hopefully Humankind will be more like Civ 5, which improved dramatically with time. As it stands, I think Humankind is already a fun game, with lots of potential for improvement. My registered playtime is a little over 100 hours, which is already closing in on twice what I have in Endless Legend.

Back to Civ 6 reviews, though, I should note that my own Steam review was positive. This might surprise you if you have noticed how critical I have been about the game the last couple of years. Indeed, I haven't touched it since May, and think it will be a good while until I do, as I'm having more fun with Vox Populi, Humankind, and Fallen Enchantress (which is still getting updates!). Still, while it never reached the potential I hoped it would, I do think Civ 6 is a good game with many redeeming qualities. Not all of my 2,4k logged hours have been great fun, but many of them were. As someone who preordered the gold edition and purchased all the subsequent content at full price, I still think I got a decent deal. For someone buying the whole thing now at a discount, it's a great deal.

 

[Leucarum]

Yeah, people buying a fully formed game seems about right for civ6's rising rating.

Humankind. I have yet to leave a review and I can't decide if it's a thumbs up with a lot of negative caveats or a thumbs down which had a lot of promise. I don't see it getting better over time, the parts I dislike are very fundamental game systems, like the neolithic era always being so heavily biased towards pushing your luck, the exponential cities of the mid/late game, and a combat system which I don't enjoy...

Edit: I think I just talked myself into a thumbs down...

 

[Kupe Navigator]

combat system which I don't enjoy...

People have been harking on about how HK's combat system is miles of improvement from civ 6.

 

[Leucarum]

People have been harking on about how HK's combat system is miles of improvement from civ 6.

Not universally, there's a thread in the HK forums https://forums.civfanatics.com/threads/is-anyone-else-frustrated-with-the-war-map.672669/ which has quite a few different dissenting viewpoints... It feels to me like a lot of people just want anything which isn't 1UPT.

 

[KayAU]

Humankind. I have yet to leave a review and I can't decide if it's a thumbs up with a lot of negative caveats or a thumbs down which had a lot of promise. I don't see it getting better over time, the parts I dislike are very fundamental game systems, like the neolithic era always being so heavily biased towards pushing your luck, the exponential cities of the mid/late game, and a combat system which I don't enjoy...

While there are some issues people have with the game which might be hard to do much about, such as the whole system of regions and the morphing cultures, others could certainly be improved. For instance, the economics of cities and the combat system are things you could do something about. It really depends on the developer. Look at what Paradox did with Stellaris, for example, where they completely overhauled and replaced several systems. I don't expect anything quite as extreme with Humankind, but I'm hoping for something a bit more substantive than Civ 6's +1s here and -1s there.

On the topic of the combat system, I have mixed feelings about it. On one hand, it's a definite improvement on Endless Legend. On the other hand, I don't think it's nearly as good as games like Age of Wonders 3 and Fallen Enchantress. I personally would have preferred if they had gone with separate tactical maps for the battles, and I would have liked some kind of general/admiral system. I think the former is unlikely to happen, but could see the latter being added in an expansion.

 

[coolhandluke147]

I remember at least early 2021 civ 6 rating wasn't so hot and it was like 70% positive or something ( I remember it being yellow) but now it is 81% positive review and surprisingly more than Humankind (71% positive review) Why do you think it is? what is with all this positive view?
With how many people are complaining and release of Humankid here you would think it should decrease.

The rating didnt increase,valve have spent the last 12 months banning and removing unfavorable comments from there platform.i wrote an unfavorable comment on football manager and this was removed and i was banned from writing another. Moderator Action: *Snip*

Moderator Action: Post has been edited to remove discussion of piracy. Civfanatics has a zero tolerance policy concerning discussion/advocating of piracy/illegal activites. ~ LK

 

[Leucarum]

While there are some issues people have with the game which might be hard to do much about, such as the whole system of regions and the morphing cultures, others could certainly be improved. For instance, the economics of cities and the combat system are things you could do something about. It really depends on the developer. Look at what Paradox did with Stellaris, for example, where they completely overhauled and replaced several systems. I don't expect anything quite as extreme with Humankind, but I'm hoping for something a bit more substantive than Civ 6's +1s here and -1s there.

On the topic of the combat system, I have mixed feelings about it. On one hand, it's a definite improvement on Endless Legend. On the other hand, I don't think it's nearly as good as games like Age of Wonders 3 and Fallen Enchantress. I personally would have preferred if they had gone with separate tactical maps for the battles, and I would have liked some kind of general/admiral system. I think the former is unlikely to happen, but could see the latter being added in an expansion.

Fair point, though Stellaris is pretty much the only example I can think of where the developers were willing to completely re-engineer their system and Humankind needs a pretty thorough refurbishment. Stellaris also had the advantages that it was a solid game before, and that paradox already had a working (if quirky) pop system from Victoria that they could build off. Amplitude don't have those advantages.

Also, one of the big issues for me is that the graphics are too indistinct, it's difficult to tell where you've built stuff, and even elevation can be a pain sometimes. I can't see that being fixed...

 

[Aristos]

People have been harking on about how HK's combat system is miles of improvement from civ 6.

And it is. It would be very difficult for anyone that knows both to argue coherently in favor of the opposite. Firaxis should have gone that way decades ago, right after it was hinted by a wannabe competitor in the 90's, and many of us requested them to consider a model like the one in CTP (to start with), and they blatantly ignored it. Now they have lost the initiative.

 

[pokiehl]

Humankind’s combat system is probably its most overrated feature. I find it really tedious and not enjoyable.

 

[Haig]

Humankind’s combat system is probably its most overrated feature. I find it really tedious and not enjoyable.

Yup and what sucks is that autoresolving combat gives really busted results so you need to control battles yourself and it becomes repetitive.

 

[KayAU]

@Leucarum Well, we'll see. I'm enjoying it as it is right now, and think the potential is there to make it a lot better. I do get the impression that they are trying, as their first few patches have pretty substantive. I'm really curious to see what the first expansion or DLC is going to be like. Absolutely agree about Stellaris, by the way. It was quite solid from the beginning.

@Aristos
Even before CTP, Interplay's Conquest of the New World had an army system. It was quite simplistic, with tactical battles taking place on a 3x4 grid, but it worked very well still, and offered a fair amount of tactical depth. I agree Civilization should have taken this route a long time ago. I think it is an elegant solution to any issue you may have with 1 UPT or stacks of doom, while also introducing so many more tactical options. Even if you don't have full-blown tactical battles, you could have a much more sophisticated auto-resolve system, with outcomes being affected by unit composition and synergies, terrain and other situational factors, as well as army leader abilities.

 

[Lightjolly]

No wonder Humankind's reviews are so low, the game is a mess and even many of the "thumbs up" reviews on Steam have a big list of negatives.

Player amounts have seen a crazy drop and it has dropped from the top 100 active players list.

Civ 6 on the other hand is great game and are on top 15 played games.

Yup and what sucks is that autoresolving combat gives really busted results so you need to control battles yourself and it becomes repetitive.

1: Brand Power, the game will always sell and be played a lot through it's brand. HK is a new IP and has to prove itself, even then 4X genre is niche.

2: You might want to pretend it never happened, but civ 6 released to mixed reviews for a very long time. It only got to very positive after years and years of patching, expansions and content, so don't kid yourself into thinking it released to unanimous praise

3. I'd take HK's combat over civ's bland basic combat any day, even the ai is better at it. Civs ai hasn't been good at combat since removing unit stacking from Civ 4. Age of Wonder 3 is centered around combat, everything else of the game is lacking, plus it would just slow down the game

 

[Kupe Navigator]

And it is. It would be very difficult for anyone that knows both to argue coherently in favor of the opposite. Firaxis should have gone that way decades ago, right after it was hinted by a wannabe competitor in the 90's, and many of us requested them to consider a model like the one in CTP (to start with), and they blatantly ignored it. Now they have lost the initiative.

Hmmm not many seems to agree with you mate.

 

[Aristos]

Hmmm not many seems to agree with you mate.

Who is not many? I see only a few postings, and the few are basically half and half... but it's off topic anyways, and a mix of objective and subjective appreciations, so in the end, who cares? The only thing I know is that I am enjoying it thoroughly, and for the first time in a loooooong time in 4X, I feel somewhat threatened by the AI (no, I don't cook settings in my favor, on the contrary) and their use of the battlefield and the bonuses, so to each its own...

Better return to topic before we are made to.

 

[Gedemon]

I remember at least early 2021 civ 6 rating wasn't so hot and it was like 70% positive or something ( I remember it being yellow) but now it is 81% positive review and surprisingly more than Humankind (71% positive review) Why do you think it is? what is with all this positive view?
With how many people are complaining and release of Humankid here you would think it should decrease.

Why trying to oppose the games, they are different. While Civ target the widest possible audience, Humankind has to do things differently and has made some bold moves that can't make it as popular as the former but could still bring it a robust player base, even if it will surely take some time. And if they fail, DLL modding is possible...

Amplitude never targeted Civ but designed its game to be an alternative, and it's great that way, I love it, even with its snowballing issue.

The whole "civ-killer" hype was made by influencers trying to get more clics, and honestly I think it did more bad than good for Humankind.

Now, even if HK was more popular than Civ6, why would that make civ6 rating goes down ? Why would a new game suddenly make a game that was considered "good" to be now "bad". I don't get the relation/logic here.

 

[AntSou]

Regarding HK combat, the only issue I have with it is that at present it isn't challenging enough once you get the hang of it (though I feel there's room for improvement). But even at its worst it's still a better experience than combat in Civ (Stacks of Doom or 1UPT) imho.

I'm not saying Firaxis needs to follow this solution to a tee, but they'll at least need to handle unit clutter which has been present since Civ 5.