Would you buy New Leaders -DLC ?

[Siptah]

Don't kid yourselves. Alt-leaders don't take less work to make than entirely new civilizations, so Firaxis wouldn't charge less for them. Saying two alt-leaders should cost the same amount as one new civilization is like saying two scoops of ice cream should cost the same as one scoop of ice cream with sprinkles.

Sure, but you get less than two civs, so selling it for the same price might not work.

 

[kaspergm]

Probably not - or, I would, but only at discount. It would not be a priority for me. In fact, new civs in general are low priority for me.

 

[kryat]

Don't kid yourselves. Alt-leaders don't take less work to make than entirely new civilizations, so Firaxis wouldn't charge less for them.

They would only need to come up with a leader ability, rather than both an ability for civ and leader. Any tile improvements, districts, or units could also be reused, so that would save some effort in asset creation.

By my reckoning, a new leader requires:
Writing an agenda
Writing a leader ability
Historic notes (including voicing for Sean and Sarah)
Leader depiction, voicing, and animation
Capitol selection

I think it could go either way for pricing. In any case, I would absolutely buy an alternate leader pack at the same price point that the new civ packs have been.

 

[pgm123]

They would only need to come up with a leader ability, rather than both an ability for civ and leader. Any tile improvements, districts, or units could also be reused, so that would save some effort in asset creation.

It also takes less effort to balance it since you're only changing one variable. Still, Ivan is right that it's the most expensive part of developing a civ. I still think they could package them and charge less than one civ price per leader if they thought they'd sell. They'd likely know that people won't pay full price for just a leader and you make money by selling more copies.

 

[Ivan Hunger]

Sure, but you get less than two civs, so selling it for the same price might not work.

And that's exactly why we haven't seen any alt-leader DLC packs. The amount of cost on the production end is the same, but the amount of value on the consumer end seems like it's less, even though it actually isn't.

One trick Firaxis could maybe use to get around this problem is to just include additional "bonus" content to justify the price in the mind of the consumer. Charge the same amount for alt-leaders that they would for full civs, but also include more scenarios, world wonders, natural wonders, city states, etc. than they did in the full civ packs. Basically, the same trick they already did with the Vikings DLC, which may have been a test case to see how readily consumers would accept that kind of content as valuable.

 

[Siptah]

And that's exactly why we haven't seen any alt-leader DLC packs. The amount of cost on the production end is the same, but the amount of value on the consumer end seems like it's less, even though it actually isn't.

One trick Firaxis could maybe use to get around this problem is to just include additional "bonus" content to justify the price in the mind of the consumer. Charge the same amount for alt-leaders that they would for full civs, but also include more scenarios, world wonders, natural wonders, city states, etc. than they did in the full civ packs. Basically, the same trick they already did with the Vikings DLC, which may have been a test case to see how readily consumers would accept that kind of content as valuable.

I agree with that except for the "even though it actually isn't". It really is less than a new civ: less unique units, less unique buildings/districts/improvements, less abilities, less music.

 

[Ondolindë]

Plus again Ed said that alternate leader development is left mostly for modders. Maybe they’ll release some, but it will be limited. Unless they see a real value.

 

[Gabhar]

The alternate leader thing was a weird route to go down considering how sparingly it's used and how the leader is still obviously the better part of the overhead in a new civ. Maybe they cut some of the cost by standardising the template (simple background, no trading voicework, everybody stands more or less in the same place) but I doubt it made that much difference.

 

[Art Morte]

No - but then again I haven't bought any of the DLCs anyway. New civs have been too OP compared to vanilla to make me want to add them and alt leaders just don't seem to add much value in my view. The game is 95% the same regardless of the AI civs - or leaders - you face.

 

[Ivan Hunger]

Leader depiction, voicing, and animation

The problem is that the entire expense of the DLC packs is tied up in just this one part. When you pay $5 for that Australia pack, you're basically paying $4.50 to see John Curtin throw his hat at you, and the other 50¢ gets you everything else.

Love it or hate it, that's how the modern, graphics-obsessed game industry works.

 

[Sagax]

Depending on whether the new leaders bring actually new play styles - and so far they have been doing just that.

However, if this is something like “Play as that other Montezuma - now with more sacrifices!”, then I’ll pass.

People have also mentioned how tricky it is to measure true value of a leader DLC vs the cost. And by that logic I’m afraid that we won’t see any alt leaders with additional unique units...

 

[GermanSettler]

Yes very much so.

I would love to see:

Willy Brandt for Germany
Churchill for England
Ramses II for Egypt
Catherine for Russia

Controversial as a leader but very interesting might be Eleanor Roosevelt for the USA.

 

[Thormodr]

Yes, I would pay for additional leaders. One of the best parts about cIV was the alternate leaders.

 

[bite]

who am I kidding I would buy them all

 

[Lord Lakely]

Nope. My dad will buy them instead.

 

[durfal]

I rather have new civ packs, but if they released alt leader packs I would most probably buy them anyway.
Only map packs I wouldn't buy, until they are in price reduced.

 

[Duuk]

Yes

 

[Thormodr]

Nope. My dad will buy them instead.

Your dad plays Civ? A Civ playing family sounds cool. ^^

 

[ChocolateShake]

The problem is that the entire expense of the DLC packs is tied up in just this one part. When you pay $5 for that Australia pack, you're basically paying $4.50 to see John Curtin throw his hat at you, and the other 50¢ gets you everything else.

Love it or hate it, that's how the modern, graphics-obsessed game industry works.

Since they're willing to reduce the price for double civ packs to $4.50 per civ, they'd probably be willing to drop that further to $4 or $3.5 and not have to include the other art and music that comes with a full civ. At $3.5 they could attract a large portion of the player base, and at 2 for $5 or $6 I think it would have mass appeal.

If you're right and they're not willing to reduce the price below $5 per leader, then they'll have to include replacement unique units and buildings/districts/improvements if they want it to have the same appeal as a new civ to the majority of the player base, and that might cause other issues. I'd be willing to pay $5 for ability-only alternate leaders that interest me, but to get them all I'd probably wait for a discounted complete edition.

I do think they'll release DLCs after the expansion, so I guess we'll have to wait and see

Depending on whether the new leaders bring actually new play styles - and so far they have been doing just that.

However, if this is something like “Play as that other Montezuma - now with more sacrifices!”, then I’ll pass.

People have also mentioned how tricky it is to measure true value of a leader DLC vs the cost. And by that logic I’m afraid that we won’t see any alt leaders with additional unique units...

Yup as long as the new leaders add new play styles, they'll be a great addition. That's definitely the case so far, and I think that they'll continue down that path. Like you said, alt-leaders will probably be restricted to alternate abilities only, but that reminds me of Roosevelt's Rough Riders. I think they're planning on a new leader for America that would replace that unit.

 

[blackcatatonic]

If it was reasonably priced and they went for interesting leader choices and cool abilities to go with them, then yes, sure. In fact I'm surprised they haven't done this already as I was expecting something similar as soon as we learnt that Civ 6 had the capability for multiple leaders.