Civ3 EXPANSION PACK!!!!

[Farmer Jimbo]

I expected to come back to this thread today and find some comments from Firaxis guys. No? Somebody at Infogrames must have opened their mouth before they were supposed to then.

[loleod]

I might not buy the XP simply because I dont have an interest in MP ability. I will probaly wait for others to buy it and post the pros and cons. I am very interested in an updated UN , new civs, new traits , and god willing new units !!!!!!!I also dont have to much of an iterest in a better map editor for myself , but I hope they include it. Even though I dont edit maps I love to download maps made by other people, and a better editor will encourage more quantity and quality in maps.

As for the Civs we need a civ to fill up empty spots on a world map. that means another African civ. We seem to have the Zulus in the south and the Egytpians in the north so we are looking for a middle African empire. Australia doesnt have a very long history , but that section of the map is baron. We are also missing a civ from south america. Im not really up om my south american history , but that might mean either the Incas or the Mayans ( I forget which was based in south america if any )

Im not an avid video gamer , but when I like a game I am willing to buy it , XPs and all. In the past two years I have bought 3 games. One was CIV3 , one was The Sims , and the other was Sim City Unlimited Unlimited. I have 3 XPs from The Sims, and if Sim City 3000 had XPs then I would have bought one from them to. Granted the basis is they want to make money , but the other basis behind it is they want to see what will work and what we want. Who knows maybe I wont want the XP , I might not want a map editor and MP and I might not like the civs. Why should I pay for that stuff in the original if I dont want it.

[Brutus66]

The Sims doesn't bear good comparison to Civ.
I played the Sims a little-it was too close a simulation of real life for me. I found my character/s locked into a cycle of work, eat sleep; work, eat, sleep, work-eat-sleep, work-eat-sleep, workeatsleep, workeatsleep...Ahhhgg- let me off this treadmill!!

[Mikel]

Don't like the look of the expansion so far.

We are getting 8 new Civs ( wow 16 new animations... Woooohooooo!!!!!! )
and multiplayer ( I have always wanted multiplayer in a Civ game and now my dreams have come true)

Plus maybe some decent editing tools for the ModMonkeys (I won't need them to play the mods though will I?)

It just sems a bit lame compared to the additions other expansions have provided in recent years. Don't expect I'll buy it unless they put some fresh ideas in there (turnless mode? I'll wait and see), and some new features that will breathe some imagination into the game. I enjoy playing Civ3 anyway but they missed a chance here to take the genre to the next step ( I think thats what most people who are disappointed with the game wanted them to do, but their intention all along was to refine the original Civ 1 model).

[ajbera]

Just my two cents.

If I may chime in...

I look at the value of these games by comparing what I spent on them to the amount of enjoyment I derive from them. I have to work 2 hours to earn the $50 needed to purchase Civ3 (although I actually received the game as a gift, I purchase most of my games so my analysis still stands.) For a pure time comparison, I have gotten far, far more than 2 hours enjoyment from Civ3 so far. I usually play a game on and off for about a week, play something else for a while, then come back to Civ when I want a slower-paced TBS game. So, on a time-spent-earning vs. time-spent-having-fun basis, it's definitely worthwhile. THe same goes for Civ2 and SMAC (hell, I even spent more time enjoying CtP than I did earning the cash for it.) Even if you only make $5 per hour, if you've derived more than 10 hours of fun from the game, it evens out.

Now, beyond the main single-player game, the Civ3 XP will give us scenarios (and hopefully greater abilities to make them) and multiplayer. If I've already spent numerous hours playing the main SP game, I'll spend even more playing scenarios and MP with my buddies (who can negotiate, attack and defend far more effectively, and thus entertainingly, than the AI.) So I will probably spend twice as much time with these new avenues of fun than I would with just the SP game (which I haven't come close to exhausting yet, either.) So even if I have to shell out an extra $50, I predict I will derive more than $100 worth of fun from Civ3 and the XP. Not just on a hourly level, but in terms of what kind of other fun I can have with $100. Hell, I spent $25 for a copy of Civ2 MGE, haven't even played MP yet, but got far more than my money's worth just by playing the main game and oodles of groovy scenarios (I intend on trying the new Moria scenario soon, so as you can see, I'm still playing it.)

Now, I understand that not everyone works, or has a lot of discretionary income. To this I say: 1) Wait for your birthday/Christmas/other gift-giving opportunity and ask someone for it; 2) Save your allowance or get a part-time job to raise the cash. I also was (and still am) miffed that Civ3 didn't have the MP and editing tools initially promised, but by following the above analysis, the fun I had is still well worth the money I paid. I also understand that Firaxis is a business, and their primary goal is to make money by producing an effective product. I found their product to be effective, so I will give them money. For those of you looking for a fun Civ game without the associated expense, there's always FreeCiv, or the other private, non-commercial projects available. Donate some time and effort and help get them made.

I'm not saying my perspective is the ONLY way things should be viewed, but it certainly works for me and may help some of you as well. Some of you may feel my analysis is crap - so be it. It's just my humble assessment of how to calculate cost vs. return. It doesn't assess broken promises (of which folks should be rightly ticked off), but simply evaluates an end product, and the satisfaction gotten from that product, versus the time/money/effort required to gain that product.

In my humble opinion, Firaxis has earned my money, both for Civ3 and the XP (assuming it does, indeed, contain scenarios and MP.) In fact, the Civ games have been among the best gaming investments I've ever made (although Half-Life still leads the pack in that regard.) If you feel you haven't gotten $50 worth of fun from Civ3, just don't buy the XP.

[metalhead]

Thank God someone else mentioned the Byzantines as an appropriate expansion Civ. I'm usually alone when arguing that one.

A good new ability would be Artistic, things like cathedrals and temples add an extra content face, entertainers more effective, techs like Music Theory and Free Artistry give the civ extra benefits, like maybe a mini-Golden Age (called something else, like a cultural renaissance or something) of 5 or 7 turns, or maybe they trigger an event where every non-Wonder city improvement eing built will be finished in 1 turn. This would diversify the tech race more as Artistic civs may be more likely to race for these techs, rather than immeidately go for Military Tradition, like I think the vast majority of players do.

The Seafaring trait mentioned earlier would also be a good one to add.

Of couse, it's little more than a daydream that anything I suggest will be put in the game, but input is never a bad thing!

[Spatzimaus]

Originally posted by Hurricane
Seafaring sounds as a reasonable trait. Maybe reduced cost for harbors and +1 to sea movement. Could have a big impact on those Galley rushes over the seas.

Remember that Harbors are already flagged "Militaristic", so civs with that trait are already paying half cost for them. Reducing the cost for that one building would be inferior to Militaristic, which is a trend they don't seem to want to do.

(In my game I split Harbor into Docks-Harbor-Shipyard, so reduced costs on all of those would actually be a reasonable thing)

SirSebastian, I know the difference between the three (Turks/Ottomans/Byzantines), but does the average player? If you ask the average person what year the Ottoman Empire ended in, how many will even guess within a century? (Answer: 1922, although the process really started in 1908). Remember, they've tried to make the civs stretch over 6000 years, so you're bound to have some incongruities (Gandhi leading the Indians?), and "Turks" is a much more recognizable name for the average person. Although, they'd probably end up using Ataturk as the leader, and that might get kinda redundant, so maybe Ottomans is better.

What I don't want to see is every ancient civ put in there; Crete, Thrace, Assyria, Phoenicia, Macedonia, and so on. They probably want to avoid too many modern ones, which leaves the middle ages. On the bright side, this means they can just steal UUs from Age of Empires 2 at will.

[W.I.N.T.E.R]

Expenses be damned Sire! Build CITY WALLS
(err- buy Expansion, rather)

Well, the entire thing will include a couple of unique units- I would be happy if they'd announce if the expansion is also featuring a viable scenario editor... the reason is simple- are we gonna download every single unit file separately from the forum if we R to play MP games ???? No! We nEEEEd tools to make MP games easier- hence an editor and more customizable features (the ridicule starting position- issue, anyone?)

I will check it anyhow

[bshirt]

I can't believe you people. Geeesh...."one" date with a hot mama will cost you "three" xps. At least.

Heck, even "one" night partying will cost you two or three xps, even doing it under control.

How cheap are you???

[MarkG]

if someone starts a "what you can buy with 30$" thread i wont close it

[barkwaffle]

Expansion Pack has now revealed that it allows Sims characters to be entered into Civ. III. You can now take Hammurabi out on a hot date..... (whatever it takes to get those resources!)

[JtheJackal]

From what i have read is that people bought a buggy unfinished game back in October/November that isn't that great and isn't alot of fun with few features.

Could you please tell me the name of this game so i dont buy it in the future? I don't want to buy that game when I could be playing the awsome Civ 3.

[OldCharlie]

Cable TV costs $40 a month here. If you watch 4 hours a day ( the national average) thats 120 hours a month at a cost of 33 cents per hour (plus commercials).

I've played over 1000 hours of Civ III so far at a cost of less than 5 cents per hour and will no doubt log many more hours thereby lowering my cost even further (without commercials).

An Ex pack would just raise it to 7 or 8 cents for a couple of months till I played it back down to less that 5 cents. I'll take that kind of fun for 5 cents per hour anyday. (Try bowling, pool, or a movie)

Computer games that have the replayability of CIV III are practically free!

[bigfree1]

Re: Oh?

Originally posted by ChaotikVisions
(answered in order)

I'm annoyed at all the negativity being thrown by useless posts of people who don't even play Civ3. And it isn't being thrown at Firaxis, its being thrown at us. Sure some from Firaxis come here, but how many come here do you think we're directly involved in whatever reason that person has for his useless spam?

So go question/judge them, e-mail away. But if your gonna argue on here at least do it with some sense, not just spam. And why exactly am I a 'fanboy' of Firaxis? Because I like the game? Because I get annoyed at spammy post about hating a game they quit playing? The same could be said for others here, but I don't think anyone considers themself a 'fanboy'.

I say you are a 'fanboy' because you call my legitimate concerns 'spam'!

You say to 'e-mail' Firaxis as though that is the only proper channel in which to display my grief, while you freely post here to display your enthusiasm. It goes right to my point that you think ONLY good things should be said about Firaxis here, give me a break.

Some people only want to vent their general frustrations at Firaxis and don't want to write a soliloquy to be read at Firaxis's office lunch parties. If they only want to say: "It Sucks!" , I feel they have a right to do so just as much as you do to say 'It's Great!' I won't begrudge your opinion other than to say you must have tolerance for other's opinion's and methods of communication.

[barkwaffle]

Official eight new Civs revealed for Expansion Pack - - they are (not in specific order) - - 1) Crabby old women (religious) 2) Div. of Motor Vehicle Workers (anti-industrious) 3) Postal Employees (militaristic) 4) People Who Watch "Friends" (devastatingly boring) 5) The Simpsons (commercial) 6) Amazons (use your imagination) 7) Pre-Adolescents (warmongering) and 8) The Geeks (scientific)