Civilization VII

[Jacob]

And that's your preference.

For sure, but this subthread of the conversation is in response to "what didn't you like about districts?"

[crazy canuck]

And that's your preference.

For sure, but this subthread of the conversation is in response to "what didn't you like about districts?"

Districts add more for the player to think about so I wondered what the down side is.

[garbon]

And that's your preference.

For sure, but this subthread of the conversation is in response to "what didn't you like about districts?"

And I'd argue someone posting that the point of games should be to be the best at it or why bother playing doesn't shed much light.

[Valmy]

Do you "have to"?  No, of course not, you don't have to play the game either, no one is forcing you.  However, if I'm playing a strategy game, I need to know that I'm playing it the best I know how (excepting marginal improvements that cost a lot of QOL). 

I know that a juicy district/adjacency bonus synergy can smash the game, so voluntarily giving up on finding them would mean voluntarily accepting a substantial penalty.  I've never been a fan of self-imposed limitations on strategy in strategy games, I think it's on game designer to create a game where me trying to do the best I can aligns with getting the best enjoyment out of the game.

Seems like he was only talking about himself to me. I don't think he was saying that the point of games should be to be the best for everybody.

[Tonitrus]

In my preference, I would sometimes limit development/tile improvements if it made the map less pretty. 

*But Civ 5 was my last-played Civ, and even then not much...mostly a lot of 4.

[garbon]

Do you "have to"?  No, of course not, you don't have to play the game either, no one is forcing you.  However, if I'm playing a strategy game, I need to know that I'm playing it the best I know how (excepting marginal improvements that cost a lot of QOL). 

I know that a juicy district/adjacency bonus synergy can smash the game, so voluntarily giving up on finding them would mean voluntarily accepting a substantial penalty.  I've never been a fan of self-imposed limitations on strategy in strategy games, I think it's on game designer to create a game where me trying to do the best I can aligns with getting the best enjoyment out of the game.

Seems like he was only talking about himself to me. I don't think he was saying that the point of games should be to be the best for everybody.

Area where disdained seemed to be expressed: Do you "have to"?  No, of course not, you don't have to play the game either, no one is forcing you.

[DGuller]

  I think you're reading into the post something that isn't there.  I was just offering my own explanation for why the district system killed the enjoyment of the game for me.  If you enjoy Civ VI, by all means continue enjoying it, who am I to judge your shockingly poor taste in strategy games?

This discussion did remind me of a related point of why the district system was not enjoyable to me, which I didn't originally remember because I literally haven't played a game in over three years.  The district system forced you to plan everything out the moment you founded your city, so much so that I recall there were even mods that let you drop pins to mark locations where you would eventually place the districts. 

I found that it made the game very rigid, because instead of dynamically developing as you go, possibly in response to changing needs and priorities, you have to in great detail plan out exactly what each city will do even a few eras from now.  It was just too static for my tastes, you made all the decisions once at the founding of the city and then the rest of the game you just mechanically followed through on them like a bureaucrat.

[Tamas]

IDK... most strategy games you need to be intimately familiar with the systems at the start of a new game to be able to min-max to the maximum potential.

It is far from impossible to win a game without placing every district to the most optimal hex imaginable on the game map.

So while DG you are free to dislike Civ6 for not having systems that you find fun, the district system is no broken or failed or anything of the sort.

[crazy canuck]

IDK... most strategy games you need to be intimately familiar with the systems at the start of a new game to be able to min-max to the maximum potential.

It is far from impossible to win a game without placing every district to the most optimal hex imaginable on the game map.

So while DG you are free to dislike Civ6 for not having systems that you find fun, the district system is no broken or failed or anything of the sort.

Yeah, I want strategy games that have challenging strategic elements. That increases the number of consequential decisions which increases my enjoyment of the game.

[Zanza]

I agree with the views that the Civ6 system is too static and that to minmax you had to plan ahead a lot.

In general a more dynamic map that changes or needs different minmax strategies in different ages over time would be good.

But the mechanic still had more of a strategic element than placing cities in earlier Civs. Unless I forgot about the mechanics there.

[barkdreg]

What didn't you like about districts?

I've always liked the civ series for it's story telling potential.
Civ 7 and the districts turned the game into some kind of pre-planning simulator.

[Jacob]

I haven't analyzed the possible reasons, but personally I found the district mechanics tedious. I didn't play VI very much, and I don't know if I'll even get VII.

[crazy canuck]

What didn't you like about districts?

I've always liked the civ series for it's story telling potential.
Civ 7 and the districts turned the game into some kind of pre-planning simulator.

Yeah, I can see that.  Have you tried Old World?  And if so, what do you think about how that game approaches adjacency bonuses?

[Syt]

I like how AOW4 handles it. It uses a similar concept, but upgrades are per province instead of tiles, making it much more manageable. Also, replacing improvements (or upgrading them when you unlock something better) is straightforward.