The ever-shrinking creative side of the Brain

[Baloo]

I'm sorry for putting up a catchy title but I just need to spew out my pent-up frustration. All the anticipations of a new revolutionary Civilization game end up in tatters. This is game is not a revolutionary Civ game. It's more like CTP 2.5 perhaps less if we're looking specifically in the Innovation standpoint. One BIG mistake that Firaxis makes is not adding enough new stuff

So, the Leaders faces and all the glitz multimedia are darn cool but where are all the missing meat, such as:
a) The Firepower concept. IIRC this game is all about acquiring the latest technology since that's what's happening in the real world. Civ is a TBS game that uses historical/ real world context. If I want a fantasy TBS, I reinstall AC.
At least gives a toggle switch for people to use Firepower. Heck, I think the group who likes the FP concept is the majority. So are you (Firaxis) against the majority wish just because you feel righteous and well-informed on the subject?

b) Variety of government types. Afraid of not achieving playbalance between the types of government? Forget it. Types of goverment are there for people to try them. IMO, some people don't care if type of government A brings out more maladies than benefits. Sometimes they just want to experience. Sometimes they just want to roleplay.
Help us bring about Fascism and Fundamentalism in the expansion.... please.

c) Border. Ahh, what a lovely concept of Border you have there. I just love it when a congenial Friend nation of mine builds his city very close to my town causing my border to move back 1-2 boxes back. Now it munches up the resource that I once had. I should be able to tell him "hey don't go into my pie, man" but as usual, I can't. He can still freely wagging his arse and put it loudly on the ground near my city - delibaretely causing my domain to shrink. Can you guys for once move away from that City-State border set up? It's old. And It's flawed from a real-world standpoint.

d) Micromanagement Stuff. Ok, it seems the trend today is to simplify the looks of everything. Like Windows XP. Civ III is no exception to this. But is it really a sin if sometimes we need helping tools to fine manage our virtual empire? When things get so complex where efficiency is crucial, we want to have all winning tools at our disposal.
I sometimes want everything in my control, especially while playing in the higher level of difficulty. I dream about micromanagement tools when things go haywire. Such as assigning destination city for a unit. Or a strategic resource finder utility. Even a better queue list like in CTP 2 without pressing all those Shift and Ctrl keys. This micromanagement stuffs don't have to be seen right away but they will be revealed if gamers want to use them. Just like Windows XP.


Those are my rants. Hell, I love this game in its state now but there are a few design shortcomings that should be addressed while making a "revolutionary" game. Here's hoping that the expansion will make it revolutionary after all.

[Wexu]

A) I don't think firepower is needed.

C) Just build a library and a temple to city next to that nasty enemy city and the city is swallowed by your culture very soon, after that, you can remove the city by building settlers if you want to.

D) There's much less micromanagement than before.

[Boris Godunov]

The Firepower concept.

While this is a valid point in terms of unit balance, it is being addressed in other forums. But saying this:

Heck, I think the group who likes the FP concept is the majority. So are you (Firaxis) against the majority wish just because you feel righteous and well-informed on the subject?

is pretty childish as you are asserting something you admit to not knowing being true, and you're asserting that Firaxis is somehow obligated to include something in THEIR game that YOU think is appropriate. It's not your game, it's theirs.

Variety of government types.

This argument is meaningless, as you can change the existing governments and add your own via the editor VERY easily. You can have as many darn governments as you want. Unless, of course, you're too lazy to do it.

Border.

The situation you described is 100% realistic. Ever hear of border disputes? That's one of the major causes of wars throughout history. In the game, you can easily assimilate those cities if your culture is high enough. Even Friends have had wars break out over border disputes. So either sit back and take it, or march over there and kick their butt. Isn't that what the game is about?

Micromanagement Stuff.

There is a very fine line Firaxis had to follow between eliminating enough micromanagement to streamline the game and including enough to give an in-depth game and feeling the player has a lot of control. I think they did a beautiful job, although I think they were stingy with information delivery. This, according to the chat, will be addressed in the first patch. Otherwise, I think the micromanagement balance is quite right. I don't think you're using the governors particularly effectively or automating workers right. These tools give you a LOT of power to eliminate micromanagement. Me, i like a little micromanagement, being a slight control freak, so I want some in the game.

Cheers.