It’s hard to believe that Civilization VII has already been out (almost) a year. Tomorrow will mark the fateful day that big spenders (like yours portly) began their early access to the game, which was clearly incomplete at the time of release.
That said, the game—for all of its flaws—was still fun. Indeed, I still find it super fun. If anything, the game has gotten better—much, much better!—over the last year.
Perhaps the best improvement to the game has been the big naval update a couple of months back. That added lots of new water resources and improved naval combat. It also added Edward Teach (Blackbeard the Pirate) and, in the Exploration Age, The Republic of Pirates. I currently have a game going as Blackbeard and it is really fun.
Will the game ever reach the heights of Civ VI, it’s much-beloved predecessor? It seems doubtful at the time of writing. Have I played Civ VI since VII‘s release? Nope! That’s a testament to how much I enjoy this game.
With that, here is 5 February 2025’s “Civilization is Coming“:
Civilization VII is coming out next week. Technically, players who pre-ordered the higher tiers of the game can start playing tomorrow.
I told Dr. Girlfriend that the release of Civ VII is for me what seeing Taylor Swift on the Eras tour was for her. I was planning on pre-ordering the standard version ($70) after bringing in some juicy lessons incomes.
Out of the blue, she sends me the money to buy the coveted Founders Edition. Holy moly!
So, after today, I will probably go without sleep for days. Just… one… more… turn!
See you on the other side!
—TPP
The Portly Politico 
Was it an update or a DLC? I despise the latter. It’s just pure greed. Add to which, if one has patience, that DLC will be a freebie in a few months time. Most content DLCs are crap anyway. Features, items, a piddly level. Iki for Ghost was the best addition and we got it for free because we waited.
LikeLiked by 1 person
An update! They have done a TON of free updates for the game. Also, I neglected to update this article with the big news in Civ VII: they are rolling out a massive, expansion pack/DLC-sized update for FREE this spring (tentatively; release could be delayed as they tweak things). It’s going to be a massive overhaul and I am super excited.
Also, I played for a bit with my buddy Justin last night, and the most recent update (which added Gilgamesh to the game—again, all for free) adds tons of quality of life improvements to the UI, which has desperately needed them. You’d think nested tooltips would be a pretty basic feature, but I think Firaxis was steering too hard towards accommodating console players when they made the game. No offense to you and other consolers, but the Civ franchise is really made for PCs first and foremost. They should have set their sights on that audience first, then tweaked the PC design for consoles, not the other way around.
I miss the days of expansion packs—essentially, you’d pay $30 for massive amounts of new content, not $5 twelve times over to get piddly re-skins and maybe a scenario or two. For a game I love, I’d rather spend $50-70 for the base game, then spend $30 in two years for a substantial expansion, and maybe $30 in another two years for another substantial expansion. That has been the model for most Civ releases, and for my favorite RPG of all time, The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind.
That said, Firaxis is doing right by adding these major features for free to the game. They botched the release, and this massive spring update is going to bring them a lot of goodwill—and will make the game even more fun and replayable.
LikeLiked by 1 person
By the way, have you ever bought/built Lego Botanicals? I bought Tina a cherry blossom one which she built over Christmas. Also doubles up as a great ornament. Standing in front of a lamp on one of our tables near a lily and fern, you could almost mistake it for another house plant.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’ve never done one personally, but I got Dr. Wife one last year for Valentine’s Day and she loved it. They’re much more practical than real flowers (and, believe it or not, sometimes cheaper), though I’ll hasten to add that I do get Dr. Wife flowers most Sundays when we go to the grocery store after church.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Keeping her on her good side! 😉
One Sunday, you won’t get her flowers and she’ll wonder why! 😂
LikeLike