Having to Unlock Stuff in a Civ Game

[Aluminum Elite Master]

Not at all a novel observation, but it's pretty galling that I got to the Exploration Age of my first game and had just four choices.

That's really, really hard to accept as I look at these other civs where I had to do some task or play as some other civ to unlock them. Just four? How was this decided upon as a design choice, that unless I play the game as a rouge-like or go out of my way to complete certain tasks that I have just *four* options.

And yes, a player will eventually do the stuff needed to unlock more choices.

But I would have loved to have been a fly-on-the-wall while this particular design choice was being discussed. Somehow, I'd expect, or at least hope, that there was a voice in the room saying this was probably not going to go over well with the playerbase.

If anything, it makes the game harder to get into for a new player, because it's fairly limiting.

Further, mementos... those have to be unlocked, too.

Mementos I can somewhat accept, because they are what appear to be optional (though potent) boosts.

Yet all the same, it's really, really hard to have come from the last handful of Civ games and arrived here where it's got a pretty serious amount of useful stuff behind in-game unlocks. Age of Wonders 4 had a similar system but it wasn't like whole factions had to be unlocked... this feels far more limiting than when I started Age of Wonders 4 and had stuff to unlock.

[Akadai]

I'd hate to be the guy that says "it's ok, a mod will fix it" buuuut... a mod has fixed this (the civ selection part at any rate). I know Civ 7 doesn't have a workshop just yet, but if you head on over to Civfanatics, they already have a couple of mods to address certain complaints

Not that I'm saying it's ok for a game to release in a less than ideal state because mods will fix things. It shouldn't be up to modders

[Aluminum Elite Master]

Originally posted by Akadai:

I'd hate to be the guy that says "it's ok, a mod will fix it" buuuut... a mod has fixed this (the civ selection part at any rate). I know Civ 7 doesn't have a workshop just yet, but if you head on over to Civfanatics, they already have a couple of mods to address certain complaints

Not that I'm saying it's ok for a game to release in a less than ideal state because mods will fix things. It shouldn't be up to modders

Now, I appreciate the suggestion of a mod, BUT:

I expect the first few months are going to be patch-heavy. That means, broken mods.

So when the patching slows down, I may take the suggestion and look for mods. But indeed, this shouldn't be a thing that has to be modded in the first place.

[(Rúna)]

I hear you - I felt the same the first few times I did a antiquity to exploration crossover. Though I was more mildly miffed than pretty galled, lol.

Upon reflection, and more playing, I realised it wasn't such an issue for me, as it helped counter my decision paralysis.

I am also reasoning that the limited amount of options is affected by the current roster being rather small. I'll probably appreciate it even more when there are dozens more potential civs to choose from in an age.

That being said, the game I've just taken a break from, I unexpectedly had 7 or 8 options, and it was a game where I really getting to grips with strategizing ideal settling, building queues, planning for improvements, etc. I wasn't trying to unlock any, it just happened as a byproduct from pretty good gameplaying. I decided not to go with the civs I originally planned on in the 2nd age (Hawai'i or Inca) and have taken a curve ball to the Normans, and that was quite fun to see that open up for me

[Greatly Annoyed Niko]

Originally posted by (Rúna):

I hear you - I felt the same the first few times I did a antiquity to exploration crossover. Though I was more mildly miffed than pretty galled, lol.

Upon reflection, and more playing, I realised it wasn't such an issue for me, as it helped counter my decision paralysis.

I am also reasoning that the limited amount of options is affected by the current roster being rather small. I'll probably appreciate it even more when there are dozens more potential civs to choose from in an age.

That being said, the game I've just taken a break from, I unexpectedly had 7 or 8 options, and it was a game where I really getting to grips with strategizing ideal settling, building queues, planning for improvements, etc. I wasn't trying to unlock any, it just happened as a byproduct from pretty good gameplaying. I decided not to go with the civs I originally planned on in the 2nd age (Hawai'i or Inca) and have taken a curve ball to the Normans, and that was quite fun to see that open up for me

"I didn't like this thing, but after getting beaten over the head with it over and over again, I realized that I really loved Big Brother all along and it's not a problem anymore!"

Man, if only Stockholm Syndrome worked on everyone, then nobody would ever complain about piss-poor gaming decisions ever again.

[(Rúna)]

Originally posted by Greatly Annoyed Niko:

"I didn't like this thing, but after getting beaten over the head with it over and over again, I realized that I really loved Big Brother all along and it's not a problem anymore!"

Man, if only Stockholm Syndrome worked on everyone, then nobody would ever complain about piss-poor gaming decisions ever again.

Oh, get a grip. We're talking about a game, a piece of entertainment, that I was already enjoying enough to continue playing. No one is forcing you to play.

Maybe spend less time trying to twist peoples words into some ridiculously made up quote, it's just completely toxic of you.

[Nsixtyfour]

Originally posted by (Rúna):

Originally posted by Greatly Annoyed Niko:

"I didn't like this thing, but after getting beaten over the head with it over and over again, I realized that I really loved Big Brother all along and it's not a problem anymore!"

Man, if only Stockholm Syndrome worked on everyone, then nobody would ever complain about piss-poor gaming decisions ever again.

Oh, get a grip. We're talking about a game, a piece of entertainment, that I was already enjoying enough to continue playing. No one is forcing you to play.

Maybe spend less time trying to twist peoples words into some ridiculously made up quote, it's just completely toxic of you.

OR Maybe you should stop typing and go do soemthing else, because you being rude to a perfectly reasonable comment about perfectly reasoanble frustrations about a overpriced and undercooked game are allowed and this is the place to vent them. And he is right, if you shill for a company and excuse their bad behaviour...guess what your gona get more of. Its weak -minded individuals like you, that are the problem in this industry. You are the reason we got this game released unfinished and broken and expensive. They can rely on little paypigs with no moral backbone to keep buying their unfinished games and then defending them in the public space, so why would they ever do better? Speaking of which, you need to do better. No one is forcing you to comment here and no one is forcing you to be toxic.

[Ðe§er†FoX]

You people who just assume that if there is a feature you don't like that it should not have been in the game as if you determine what is objectively good or bad. It doesn't need fixing, its an awesome feature. Sorry to break it to you bud but the world doesn't revolve around you.

[Bouncer]

I think limiting what you can pick is better for balance and replay? I dunno for sure but, I don't mind it one bit. Keeps the choice paralysis demon away.

Though the unlock methods for various civs should be visible somewhere.

[Martin]

I agree, there are some strategies that you can't work in to your game, play the map.. sometimes things fall into place sometimes they don't.

But the biggest issue really is don't do war.. it's just so utterly broken. By the time you get everything in place to fight.. the age is over. All that time getting better and better building up your supply networks, building you army.. you can play with your soldiers for 20 minutes then the age expires.. all the fights prior to this are set back because you didn't get x or y research item, which buffs your soldiers you go from even fights to insanely op fights, either you're cake walking it or being stomped on.

It's like the very concept of game balance is just out of reach for these devs. They remind of that guy from starfield.. the one who lies all the time.

Civ 7 is soo close to being a legendary game and it's ruined by 1-2 people in firaxis.. it's a shame it really is. There is so much to civ 7 that is 11/10 and so much that is -10/10.

[Aluminum Elite Master]

Originally posted by Martin:

It's like the very concept of game balance is just out of reach for these devs. They remind of that guy from starfield.. the one who lies all the time.

Even before the game came out, it was obvious to me there would be balance issues because I had played HumanKind and seen how the civ-switching was very hard to balance around.

The unlocking of civs is new, though. In HumanKind, you raced to complete the era first to get first pick... but if you completed the era dead-last, there were still always 3-4 picks left.

Here, I've had at least two age transitions where all I got was a single option. One. Just played as the Inca in a game, and on age up, everything was locked but Mexico. Which, okay, maybe I missed doing some things that would have opened up other unlocks, but at least give me a choice of 2 or 3 civs by default. That's where it's weird to me.