This game should be called "Leaders," because it's not "Civilization."

[SonofaGlitch]

In every Civ game prior to 7, you picked a Civilization, and tried to "stand the test of time" and get from the beginning of the game, to the end . . . with that Civilization.
In 7, you pick a Civilization and then you're FORCED to change it. TWICE. For no actual reasons other than the game demands you do it!

Meanwhile your immortal leader who can be from any time or place and need not have any tie whatsoever to your Civilization that can mutate from the Romans to the Americans to the Huns and back arbitrarily, you're stuck with them forever.

So, the central core aspect of this game, the thing that "stands the test of time," is not the Civilizations. It's the leaders. So it's not really a Civilization game.

[(Rúna)]

You'd be better off using your time to play a game you do like, rather than moan about a game you dont even own, in the steam forums. On the most facile of reasons too, lol. What are you trying to achieve?

[Eekhoorn]

Save yourself from disappointment, soulless cash grabbing, corporate greed, locking 8 civs behind some "über" edition, early access, WIP...

Civ V still is a beautiful game!

Civ VII is just... well, what did you expect!? A good solid and complete game!? In 2025!?
Nah.

Maybe Civ VII will be good down the line. But for that even is a possibility, it first needs to be finished. Will take a few years.

We just have to wait and see how they envision the entire game. Maybe the changes are for the better. Maybe not. Hard to tell when not all cards are on the table.

[SonofaGlitch]

Originally posted by (Rúna):

You'd be better off using your time to play a game you do like, rather than moan about a game you dont even own, in the steam forums. On the most facile of reasons too, lol. What are you trying to achieve?

I'm a long time Civ fan. My number one game on Steam is Civ 6. My number 4 is Civ 5. The stated reason above is why I'm NEVER going to play Civ 7. And I know I'm not alone, And I know others will not know exactly why they know something is wrong with Civ 7, but they don't know how to voice the complaint. So I'm putting it forward on my, and their, behalf.

And the point may be blunt and obvious one, but that doesn't make it facile. In fact, it's so obvious, that every single member of the Firaxis team should have thought of it, and at least ONE of them should have paused and said, "hey wait, what are we even doing, guys?" and then they should've not made this game in this way.

Seriously. What were they THINKING?

[katzenkrimis]

Leaders VII.

I don't know about that.

The Ages are so impactful that I believe I lost my first game partly because of the switch to Modern Age. In addition to making mistakes from being new to the game.

I certainly didn't lose because of Tecumseh. He's nothing more than an avatar. A figurehead who can be replaced by anybody.

Love seeing the evolution of Civilizations. It's the people matter most.

They say that Alexander the Great was god-like. What about all of the people that died fighting for him and constructed his cities. You didn't see Alex carrying a tool belt.

Khufu didn't build the Great Pyramid. He didn't do jack. It took 30,000 people to build the damn thing. They are the ones that deserve the credit.

Eventually leaders fail. And they are always replaced by someone better.

Next we'll be putting humans on Mars. While Musk will take all of the credit, I think that he's smart enough to thank his employees.

[Anarch Bushey]

Civ 5 had a terrible ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ release and it was practically unplayable for months.

It must be nice to lie to yourself about how good things were in order to justify spending more time ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ in forums than actually playing games.

[kyotod]

But you will still build your nation. Some changing names, mechanics and architectonical styles doesnt change that its still you who puts all of those parts together. You pick tool kits, that are inspired from different cultures througout history and create something you think works well with your map and game.

In the older games, you played that one civ. But the time frame where it actually felt like its historical counterpart, was always short. Greek after the antique era, havent felt like greek anymore. The only things, that kept those feelings alive, where certain nation bound buildings and those are still in the game and will stay with you througout the game.

I realy think this hatred on the switch mechanic is more of a psychological issue and not so much one of the actual gameplay. When you can overcome this unfounded "something is wrong" feeling, you may start to like it.

[acosnil]

The leader / civ change was done because early game civs tended to completely obliterate late game civs.

[Steve]

Originally posted by kyotod:

But you will still build your nation. Some changing names, mechanics and architectonical styles doesnt change that its still you who puts all of those parts together. You pick tool kits, that are inspired from different cultures througout history and create something you think works well with your map and game.

In the older games, you played that one civ. But the time frame where it actually felt like its historical counterpart, was always short. Greek after the antique era, havent felt like greek anymore. The only things, that kept those feelings alive, where certain nation bound buildings and those are still in the game and will stay with you througout the game.

I realy think this hatred on the switch mechanic is more of a psychological issue and not so much one of the actual gameplay. When you can overcome this unfounded "something is wrong" feeling, you may start to like it.

That's the big thing though. I don't want to be a different civ than the one I picked. I want to take the one I picked through the test of time and come out on top.

I loved being the Maori in Civ VI. I loved being able to start out in the middle of nowhere and rise up to the top civ on the planet and beyond, launching pedal-powered rockets to the next star system because I didn't even need to build oil/coal/nuke plants.

Those strategies are gone now. You gotta work with what you're handed, so there's little to no long-play strategic value when before, the series was well-known and well-loved for it.

That could have been a toggle. It didn't need to be an excuse for a new installment. But that's what it ended up being.

Why reinvent the wheel when all it needs most times is realignment?

[Slooge]

Originally posted by Anarch Bushey:

Civ 5 had a terrible ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ release and it was practically unplayable for months.

It must be nice to lie to yourself about how good things were in order to justify spending more time ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ in forums than actually playing games.

Yep and civ5 is still a terrible game and a big step backwards from either 3 or 4. civ 6 was another leap backwards. Looks like this is yet another step backwards. Looks like CIV has lost it's soul.

[Martin]

Leaderliezation? Hmm..

[martinolund]

Originally posted by SonofaGlitch:

So it's not really a Civilization game.

OK sure, it's not stopping me from having the most fun playing this version then any other civ game in the past. I'm very pleased with it thus far.

[Steve]

Originally posted by martinolund:

Originally posted by SonofaGlitch:

So it's not really a Civilization game.

OK sure, it's not stopping me from having the most fun playing this version then any other civ game in the past. I'm very pleased with it thus far.

I assure you, no one is saying "stop having fun". If you're enjoying it, fantastic!

[Bodom]

I share OPs opinion. In a way the ages and evolving civilizations dont bother me so much, but beeing able to pick any leader and lead any civilization seems really off to me. It pushes the whole series closer to a fantasy game and farther away from a historical game. And before the comments, I know previous entries weren't that realistic either, but this is pushing it.

[Cheeky little sausage]

Yeah, I am not a fan of it either. I prefer choosing the nation rather than a leader. I feel no affinity to whatever nation I am in charge with now, because I know at some point I will have to pick something else.

[PhalseDemeise]

Shuffleization got a nice ring to it