First expansion discussion (split from other thread)

[Mánagarmr]

If you add Egyptians and do not include Anubis...I'm going to personally go find Anubis and unleash him on your sorry arses.
 
Because...Anubis. Nuff said.

[FallingStar]

My culture preferences would be something asia inspired (Japan sounds fun), Celtic (heritage reasons), Aztec (sounded neat), Egyptian (is a bit obvious).  Depending on how far out you want to go, another option might be something Lovecraft inspired (everyone loves Cthulhu!).

I think the big draw to any new culture would be how it played differently.  A twist on gameplay more than "strong archers, poor footsoliders" or something.  But then, if its less than a cup of coffee, its probably an impulse buy anyways.

[Mick]

Yeah I have an Irish heritage so you'd think I'd be all "WOOO Celtic!", but I think many people who say they like Celtic mythology probably can't even name 5 Celtic gods...

I think it's best to start with choices that are a bit more well known. Yeah, Egyptian might be too "obvious", but it's obvious for a very good reason.

[Pepisolo]

Yeah I have an Irish heritage so you'd think I'd be all "WOOO Celtic!", but I think many people who say they like Celtic mythology probably can't even name 5 Celtic gods...

To be honest, my mythology isn't great, so I'd be struggling a little to name 5 Egyptian gods. Definitely struggling to name 5 Japanese or Chinese Gods. Norse and Greek really are the big daddies of mythology. This game has gotten me interested in mythology a lot more, though. I know a few Celtic gods since I've been looking into it, but I probably wouldn't have known many beforehand, true. There are some very interesting ones, though. I'm quite looking forward to learning a little more about mythology through this game, actually -- educational value, nice! Oh, I got a couple, Shiva and Raiden.....

Really I'd be happy with whatever new faction. It's all good stuff.

[Mánagarmr]

Egyptian gods? Off the top of my head:

Ra
Anubis
Apophis
Hathor
Bastet
Set/Setesh
Horus/Heru'ur
Isis
Osiris
Sekhmet


etc

It's not an entirely unknown mythology, you know

[Pepisolo]

It's not an entirely unknown mythology, you know

I said it previously somewhere, no doubt that Egyptian is the next best known of all the mythologies (actually I agreed when someone else said it... close enough). I'm just saying that I personally due to a lack of knowledge would struggle a little to get to 5. I think I would have got to 4. So sue me!

If the next faction should be the most well-known, then yeah, Egyptian should be the winner. There are other factors to consider as well, though.

[sojourner]

I personally think the obviousness of the Egyptians is exactly what makes them the perfect choice.
Barring that, my order of preference is Aztec, Asian of some kind, celtic(like the idea, but agree that it's top similar to current factions. 

[Teal_Blue]

I would agree with the 'obviousness' of the Egyptians, but also because of the differences that they bring to the game with their 'possible' powers sets (based on death?) and the terrain differences. Caves, deserts, oases, rivers, deltas...

All of which of course can be tweaked to have very specific traits and or bonuses or penalties. What if stepping on a desert tile takes half my units health? Yikes!!     Now that makes a game interesting!!



-Teal

[Winge]

Two more possible factions:  Babylonians or Persians.  However, their mythology won't be very obvious to most people, just like many of the other factions mentioned.  That may not be a problem--it makes learning the game a bit more interesting--but it is important to consider what players will be interested in.  I think Egyptians, Chinese, and Japanese will have the most appeal, followed by Celtics, Native Americans, Aztecs, or Inca.

As for me?  I'd love to see the Chinese...I'm pretty sure their mythology includes dragons.  And who doesn't love dragons?

[iozay]

I honestly like Japanese, it will give a different kind of view on the game(And the possibility of having 3 factions fighting with each other to make things more interesting could be fun too )

[solosol]

Egyptians and desert tiles...these tiles could damage health of non egyptian units...or maybe all...and imagine the sandstorm woe...the map covered in sand....
An asiatic culture pack could be great too...lots of stuff there...even for bandits
If more factions were included, a "random choice" would be great
Maybe random minor events (like resources or monsters spamming sometimes, and not only map changes).
A new building that opens a new unit, but as a consequence triggers these events , or quests...

[zespri]

I want, if at all possible, a more robust citybuilding sim that is more economy-for-economy's sake rather than everything backing the military. 

In this whole OP the quoted part gets me most excited. Don't get me wrong - there are a lot of sweet ideas there but this one in particular is something I wished for.

[nas1m]

For me, I'm particularly interested in doing ancient Japanese, honestly.  I think there's a lot of interesting material there, and it's very different from the other two.

Celtic would be cool, but I don't think something that would be a good idea until a bit further in (later expansions), because otherwise it really starts to feel very clustered in those geographic regions.

Egyptians are of course cool, but they seem like too obvious of a choice to me; I'd rather do something more unusual.

Aztec or ancient Chinese are also really interesting, but I prefer the Japanese for whatever reason.

All in all, I'd love to do all of these over the course of new expansions, given sufficient time; it's a matter of order, presuming the game continues to have life in it over a goodly long period.

My inclination for the first expansion is to just do one new faction, and then to spend the rest of the expansion efforts on larger new gameplay mechanics that transcend one specific faction.  New buildings for all, new general mechanics, etc.  I think that's most interesting.

For the second expansion maybe it's two new factions or something.  I'd rather the expansions not be formulaic.

Sounds good to me!
I definitely would prefer something a bit more uncommon than ancient egypt to be the theme for the next faction.
Japanese is fine with me.

[chemical_art]

Don't over estimate the the negatives of a choice being too obvious. For a first expansion, it is actually a huge plus.

It is true Egyptians are the obvious choice...so what? Norse and Greeks were as well, but they are the most relatable.


Egyptians have the benefit of both being familiar to players, yet have lore that is different enough from the current two to introduce new unique mechanics which in turn warrants their own expansion.


When I hear about the "non-obvious" ones I yawn, not because they are boring...well, actually, yes, because they are boring! I want some death gods! Some foreign (desert) tiles! I know these are totally unlike the current ones. That already puts Egyptians above the other potential factions, where in terms of mythology I really don't know one way or another.

I want something I know enough about to know it will be very different from the current two factions.

[Misery]

Don't over estimate the the negatives of a choice being too obvious. For a first expansion, it is actually a huge plus.

It is true Egyptians are the obvious choice...so what? Norse and Greeks were as well, but they are the most relatable.


Egyptians have the benefit of both being familiar to players, yet have lore that is different enough from the current two to introduce new unique mechanics which in turn warrants their own expansion.


When I hear about the "non-obvious" ones I yawn, not because they are boring...well, actually, yes, because they are boring! I want some death gods! Some foreign (desert) tiles! I know these are totally unlike the current ones. That already puts Egyptians above the other potential factions, where in terms of mythology I really don't know one way or another.

I want something I know enough about to know it will be very different from the current two factions.

Totally agreed.

Granted, in all honesty, I'll probably be happy with whatever you guys end up going with, but I very much agree with this reasoning, at least for the first of the expansions.   It's the sort of thing that'll make it easier to sell to players.   Not that I think you'd have a difficult time of that, since those who like this game seem to REALLY like it alot (which is the constant impression I'm getting when reading what players say about it), but still, every little bit helps, yeah?


Whatever it ends up being though, I'm sure it'll be pretty darn great!