Why does everyone hate CIV5?

[Yngvi]

I must say I love and enjoy the game (after the first patch convinced me it could be saved), and I think it has the potential to be a classic, but I understand why someone could feel otherwise. I myself have gone back and forth about it.

For me, the main problem is that the game was released unfinished, and the first impression of the game was disappointing, to put it mildly. The upcoming patch will likely get the game to what should have been its initial, pre-patch release version (at least for single player). The disastrous release really got me off on a bad note with this game. I am optimistic many mechanics will be repaired soon, but the sour taste of the release will be harder to wash away.

That said, I know others do not like the increased stress on warfare, but I like many of the changes in that direction. I enjoy going to war far more than in Civ IV: I really hated dealing with those SoDs. Hopefully tweaking the diplomacy will help this with players somewhat.

Some prominent elements have been eliminated from Civ V: civics, espionage, vassal states, religion, corporations, diplo trade options, and this helps to lead to the feeling of a lack of immersion. The Civ IV versions of some of these features were far from ideal, and many of them were not in Civ IV vanilla, but it does seem like the devs went too far in simply eliminating them.
There should be more features, not fewer when a new version is released, even if some old favorites are reworked. I am fortunate in only sorely missing one of them, espionage, and can still feel immersed. Others react differently.

This game was a big gamble, and the varied reactions are not a surprise.

 

[rjmghome]

Didn't hate it, got bored of it. It lacks the depth and challenge of previous incarnations.

Absolutely right. It seems to assume that endlessly exploring the map replaces the subtlety of managing cities at a more granular level. I just get bored playing V, something that never happened in a decade or more with I,II,III or IV.

 

[Akka]

Why does everyone hate CIV5?

Because it's bad.
You've about two monthes of threads constantly debating the why and the how. I'm pretty sure your thread is not genuine in the slightest when asking this question.

 

[BobeBrown]

How long have you got? Give me a ring and ill talk to you for an hour about why this game is so sh1t. I dont even think it has potential to be good.

 

[Volstag]

I personally really enjoy the game.

Initially I wasn't that keen on it and I felt rather disappointed. But I stuck with it, and now I think it's a worthy successor. I felt the exact same way when I started playing Civ IV..... and Civ III.

People hating on the game, right after release, is nothing new. It's the same histrionics, the same nostalgia for the previous version, etc, etc. Check forum posts from right after Civ IV's release..

-V

 

[Aristos]

I don't hate the game.

I hate Shafer.

More seriously though, to me it lacks a lot. A LOT. There are many people here, and unfortunately some go for the "easy kill" when it comes to discussing shortcommings or likings... using the word "hate" is one of those easy kills, as much as using the word "fanboy". There is something wrong with your thinking if you cannot accept that some people don't like it and the only word, or reasoning you can come with is "hate" or "whine"...

Also, I really, really WANT to like it. Civ is part of my computer hobby-work. I cannot possibly hate the game. I can, though, despise short sighted developers that transformed the franchise into something I don't think is true to the history, goal, target and spirit of the series.

But I still am trying to like it. Right now, I'm playing an Emperor game without the squalid City States, and 15 civs, 100621, and it has made some difference... some. But I just cannot like it, not the way I'm used to.

 

[LordTC]

I like this game a lot, but I find myself discussing it far more than playing it these days. I used to play most of my Civ and world maps, and I find it really difficult to deal with the idea of longbows or cannons firing across the English channel or on most of the Europe, so I end up having to pretend I'm on some tiny world (even playing on huge), so that the bows are firing less of a distance. Even then the idea of the bows firing from one city to the next is rather jarring. This flaw takes me completely out of the game to the point that I really hope they completely redesign the combat engine. First strike might have been complicated and awkward in terms of odds and math but its far better than shooting from London to Paris in 500 BC.

 

[CivFanaticMan]

I think people get bored of Civ5 so easily because:

1. The end goal for a player was designed to be to win no matter what through predictable circumstances and linear gameplay, instead of going through an epic journey that would take you through an unknown future, where the outcome would be as unpredictable and mysterious as your own future life.

2. Winning is easy, even on deity.

3. War is the only interesting part in the game and the AI still won't give you a challenge.

 

[PawelS]

I'm slightly disappointed with Civ5, I expected a 9/10 game, and I got a 8/10 one. (In this scale, Civ4 would get 7/10 from me).

I'm unpleasantly surprised by the number of civ5 haters here, I don't know why they come to this forum and spoil the discussions with nonconstructive and impolite posts. Of course there are some things that I don't like, but in Civ4 there were more of such things. The general design decisions of Civ5 (hexes, 1upt, city states, one tile at a time expansion, no sliders and so on) are good for me, maybe their implementation needs some more polish, but this is what expansions are for. The reasons why I'd give it "only" 8/10 are not very good AI (but it was never good in the civ games), strange diplomacy (but again, it was never good in civ series) and the exploits that need to be fixed in patches (like ICS and the famous "four horsemen of apocalypse").

I hope with expansions it can become a 9/10 game, and with some good mods even 10/10

 

[markantony]

Here is why I don`t like it. From the box:

*All new features*

Hex based play
City States
Improved dimplomacy
Better music

Hexs are not implemented properly
City Sates are okish
Diplomacy is some kind of joke
Who cares?


The game has no depth, takes too long and is DULL.

 

[Proud Canadian]

Thanks for all your comments on this thread. You've convinced me that this is not a game that I want. I'll just stick with Civ IV, which I still love.

 

[Disraeli]

It's not that I don't like the game, it's that it's so much worse than Civ 4.

 

[CivFanaticMan]

I'm unpleasantly surprised by the number of civ5 haters here, I don't know why they come to this forum and spoil the discussions with nonconstructive and impolite posts.

The haters are mostly civ veterans who are disappointed at the lack of depth and challenge in civ4. Most civ vets are used to being extremely engaged in their games and civ5 just doen't engage the player as much as in older games. The 'haters' simply want to express there disappointment and see some changes made.

 

[Geddy]

The community largely hates it because
1/ It was dumbed down
2/ For the first time concepts were removed
3/ It's booring to play
4/ It lacks the subtlety and complexity of Civ 4 BTS
5/ I was given away free to Mac users because sales are already declining. (mwhahahaha)

 

[freeluos]

I don't hate it. Bought Civ 2 and it was good. Bought Call to power and it was great (not that the game was flawless but everything was just there). Never looked back or forward until CIV IV. But Civ IV wasn't very complete at release so I forgot. But BTS made it complete and it is good too. So I picked it up recently very cheap.

Probably will forget CIV V too. At the time CIV VI is there may be I choose V or VI. However I think it will be V. (Sids Civ) Games aren't released complete anymore it seems. Thats good. They allow me to spent the money on something else.

I love it!

 

[charon2112]

Thanks for all your comments on this thread. You've convinced me that this is not a game that I want. I'll just stick with Civ IV, which I still love.

You shouldn't really go by the people on this forum that hate the game. It's much, MUCH better than many on here would have you believe. At least give the demo a try.

 

[Varvar]

It is better then most games out there, it is just worse then Civ 4.
Even before I read these forums, I tried it out... and it just didn't feel right... There was no 'OMG this is awesome' feeling I got from previous Civ versions I've played.


Problem in my mind is that Civ 5 is very unbalanced. While there is a decent amount of strategic choices, there is always a dominant strategy... Having read up on the strats in these forums I recently beat the game on deity...

I felt cheated - not only am I not 'one of the best civilization players in the world' far from it, it wasn't even particularly challenging... and to be frank I made several mistakes here and there, yet I never lost a unit (except for a scout early on) despite being outnumbered 10to1 or so by my 5 opponents, and out teched by 4 out of 5 as well (at the end).

Sadly enough the map had a lot of rough terrain, and yet I never had to reload an auto save (the dreaded Greek horseman rush was my strategy).

I remember winning vanilla Civ 4 on prince (slightly hard) recently and it was a lot more satisfying. I made research choices - to grab a religion, grab early Pyramids, or develop military tech would influence the rest of the game, and all 3 had merits...
Later on again, in Civ 4 I had to adjust my strategy based on what happened, rather then waiting an extra turn for all my horses to heal in my Civ 5 game...

I feel like a big weakness of the current combat system is that you can conquer a stronger civilization with 0 losses which is completely unrealistic. Sure your guys get wounded, but they just heal up, and get promoted as well. What is even the counter for a 5 promotion full honor tree Companion Cavalry? Rifleman? lol

I think this is what makes rushing and warfare type strategies so powerful - by preventing losses, while the AI ignores them human player gets a huge advantage. In CIV 4 you had to lose units to conquer cities, unless you had a significant technological advantage. So if you had limited resources, your conquest would sooner or later stop, and you would have to deal with diplomatic consequences.

In Civ 5 your army is actually getting stronger as you conquer new players, so you can simply ignore diplomacy except buying well located city states... Gandhi messages me, insults my army... and 3 turns later 75% of his own 1 era superior army is wiped out... This shouldn't be possible.

 

[jprc]

Oh mon Dieu !!... encore et encore ...

If some one does good to others, many will forget quickly.
If some one does bad (to you), you will riot and call for arms!

I do not like Civ 5, and I have posted in Civ 5 forums about it.
Ok. But let us be honest: anger gives you strength for complaining. If you are happy, you will simply feel peaceful and won't post as much as if you are frustrated (evacuating your stress... as suggested by CivFanaticMan)...
I do understand that, perhaps, a majority of gamers appreciate the game, perhaps not loving it, but at least having fun, which is the point.

I do not see anymore the point of a new thread.
What is done is done.
After all, there is so little time, and so many games!!! Thanks to Civ 5, I gave a try to Dragon Age Origins, and I have a fantastic time with this game. Otherwise, I would have played Civ 5, and just never discovered Dragon Age !...
Civ 5 exists, mods or expansions won't change much to the global philosophy of this game (for me), and I am afraid I won't be alone left with 1 solution:
...wait for Civ 6.

so be it.

 

[CivFanaticMan]

5/ I was given away free to Mac users because sales are already declining. (mwhahahaha)

it was given away free to mac users who already bought the pc version.

 

[Humakty]

Hate is maybe a bit strong. I just feel haters comment as being the very truth about this game.

Is it hatred to express what you really dislike in a game ? Keep in mind we all had great expectations about this game !