Civilization 5 Announced

[Sciz]

Assuming I do get Civ 5, i will probably be playing both anyways

[Sullla]

I am still personally undecided on whether to purchase Civ5. While I know that probably sounds insane, I'm simply not that interested in many of the new features that the game is offering. I'd really like to see the opinions of people I trust (such as the RB community) instead of getting force-fed hype from the Take Two marketing department. I'd also like to try the free demo when it comes (on the release date, because heaven forbid they let people try the game before buying anymore ) and see how it all plays. Mandatory Steam installation and all the preorder bullshit are huge negatives for me; Firaxis, you are doing your best to drive me away from your games...

When Civ4 came out, we waited about a month to let individuals aquire the game and play around with it before creating our first Epic. I expect to follow a similar pattern with Civ5, so no one feels pressured to rush out and buy the game until they're ready. But by all means, feel free to set up some succession games and enjoy yourselves.

We can continue running Civ4 events as long as there's interest. Whatever you guys want to do as a community, let me know. My guess is that most people will want to move onto Civ5, but we'll have to wait and see what happens. I still remember the Master of Orion 3 fiasco, where the "new" game was so bad that we migrated en masse as a community to the original game released a decade earlier. Fortunately, Firaxis is not Quicksilver, and there's no way that Civ5 will be another Moo3.

[Krill]

Does the advent of civ5 spell the end of the Civ4 events here at RB? Sullla? Griselda?

MP games will go on as long as there are players...

[MJW (ya that one)]

Absolutely! I don't like the direction Firaxis is going, but then the whole industry seems to go that route.

I'm still not sure if I should get the game or not. I would buy it instantly if it weren't for Steam. Until now, I have resisted to buy several games I originally really wanted to have because they required Steam. Civ 5 might be the first one to break me.

I have to do some research on the current state of Steam first. It's really hard to get reliable information out of the Steam fanboi vs. hater discussions on the forums. To me, the most critical question is: Does Steam install an application, service or driver on my system that will run in the background all the time (and probably connect to Steam servers), even if I don't play Civ 5? As a malware researcher, I'd get all sorts of nightmares if this is the case...

You can make Steam not start up unless you run games. You can also make Steam not connect to the Internet while playing offline. There have been no major hacks of Steam otherwise the gaming media would have gone crazy.

[haphazard1]

I am planning to get Civ V (have pre-ordered), but like many here I have reservations about the new game. Mostly I am worried about removing information and control from the player, such as the puppet city aspect -- I want to run my empire as I see fit, micro-ing as much or as little as I choose -- and about balance issues. Will have to see how much the game grabs me once it arrives.

I expect I will still be playing some Civ IV, as what we have learned about Civ V so far sounds like the emphasis is very different. The new game may occupy a different mental niche than Civ IV for me.

As for Steam, I have been using it for a couple years now and have had no problems, so Civ V requiring it has not been an issue for me. Steam only runs when I start the client or one of my Steam games; as far as I have been able to tell there is nothing going on in the background when Steam is not officially running. I am a bit concerned still about how Civ V patches and updates may affect the community with version changes during events, but you can set the specific game to not auto-update. That may help, although I do not know of a way to dual install using Steam.

I also hope we hear from some of the RB community's "old hands" if/when they try Civ V. Thoughts and ideas from the RB community have made a huge difference in my play over the last few years, and I respect the opinions of so many of the players here.

[darrelljs]

IGN's site, Direct2Drive sweetens up the pot considerably for me.

For your $60, you get the Mesopotamia map pack, the new Nebuchanezar civ, and you get the first DLC pack for free when it comes out.

It seems the $50 version of the game also comes with the first DLC for free. Or, put another way I'm a moron for buying the game through Steam .

Darrell

[MJW (ya that one)]

It seems the $50 version of the game also comes with the first DLC for free. Or, put another way I'm a moron for buying the game through Steam .

Darrell

You can cancel stream preorders if you contact them...DON'T CHARGEBACK!!!

[darrelljs]

Not sure what chargeback means, but I told them if they weren't going to offer the free DLC as well to cancel my order.

Darrell

[MJW (ya that one)]

Not sure what chargeback means, but I told them if they weren't going to offer the free DLC as well to cancel my order.

Darrell

If you contact your credit card company they can force the Vendor to give you a free refund. This was done so the vendor has to sue you in case something happens rather the other way around.

Because the credit card company charges a fee around $200 Valve will perma-ban you for wasting that money.

[darrelljs]

Ah okay, thanks for the tip.

I think its time for a Civ 5 forum so I can start the SG planning thread . I'll PM Griselda...

EDIT: Actually as I think about it, there is a case to be made for keeping one forum for both. I'll just ask her what she wants me to do.

Darrell