This is a really niche issue maybe but I find my civ experience is best when I’m immersed in the game - when I can make a story of what I’m doing. But the settlement limit is such an immersion killer. Like why has my empire decided that 4 settlements is fine but 5 is too much? Why do the people in my empire start revolting and rioting if I’ve founded that 5th new settlement?
I feel like the limit just isn’t a good addition, but I understand why they added it from a gameplay standpoint - enemy civs are easy to steamroll and they’re always desperate to give cities away in peace deals, so there needs to be a balance. But the limit is a bad balance maybe? What if we make cities harder to conquer and what if we made it so gold, resources, influence, and maybe even production can be given away in peace deals? What if there is still a limit, but it’s only for cities and not towns too?
It’s a shame because growth in civ 6, and presumably other entries in the series, felt really natural with growth in terms of cities
Im still enjoying the game though! Can’t wait for Britain hehehe
#Settlement limit
soft kettle
little whale
They wanted to put an anti snowballing mechanic in the game, previous games had corruption or empire wide happiness, we get settlement limits
obtuse fulcrum
I'm with you on this. The limit should be on cities not towns. Also, something needs to be done to make AI players want to settle nearby their starting city over plopping down at random across the map...
maiden reef
In my head, the settlement limit is a beaurocratic thing. You're a young nation and you just dont have the bureaucrats and civil servants needed to maintain a harmonious large empire. You can go over the limit, but everyone gets a bit unhappier if you do.
steep aspen
I think the cap is preferable to either corruption/waste or ever increasing city maintenance. It's also a soft cap, you can go over by 1-2, and if you get enough happiness you can ignore it completely.
frozen briar
In my head, the settlement limit is a beaurocratic thing. You're a young nation ...
There's an Advisor notification that pops up when you break the limit that basically says exactly this! "We're good at keeping things orderly, but if you spread too thin, we aren't able to maintain things"
maiden reef
They should have called it the 'Bureaucratic (Settlement) Limit'
soft kettle
I guess my issue just boils down to this game being really rigid in structure. It feels like I have a backseat driver telling me what to do with my game vs just me playing. Every game feels sort of samey - even down to how many settlements I have now
But I do get why it’s there. But a loyalty system would perhaps be better? I’m honestly not sure haha
maiden reef
Loyalty sucked tbh
novel sierra
The settlement cap is raised by civics/techs that imply that your empire's beurocracy is better able to handle the extra extent
Yes it's a game mechanic, and it's designed to make the game play better, but it represents a very real thing that happened to many overextended empires across all of history
unique crane
I love settlement limit.
pastel tundra
I love settlement limit.
Yup
Over-expansion requires planning and actual purpose outside of "theres some land here and I am a cockroach"
novel sierra
I think the best part about it is that it discourages conquest in multiplayer other than on the margins. There is little point in making the game unwinnable for someone else
pastel tundra
I think the best part about it is that it discourages conquest in multiplayer ot...
Well, sure there is
If they cant win thats one less competitor
novel sierra
Oh yeah lol.
Haven't played anything truly competitive but it's still a bit of an opportunity cost. It makes wars feel less bad in games with friends is more what I was getting at. Nobody feels like they can't win after losing a war and there's not an incentive to grab everything from someone to make the science and purple science go brrrr
And it's a lot easier to defend the handful of your settlements that actually matter a lot
frozen briar
It would be nice if, in the Modern Era, there was a way to continue to expand the settlement limit for people who really want the big land grab power fantasy. Maybe Future Tech or Future Civic could also include a settlement limit boost in Modern, so that there isn't a hard cap once you've already gotten to the point where you're going to win?
novel sierra
It would be nice if, in the Modern Era, there was a way to continue to expand th...
Yeah I like this idea a lot. Maybe in a leaf node on the tree so you can just ignore it if you want
odd yarrow
there's no settlement limit, you can always settle more.
soft kettle
Ok here me out - the limit only applies to captured settlements? I just want to play wide without a slight disadvantage being applied hahaha
maiden reef
TBH, OP I dont think this is a popular idea but also it will easily be something that mods can change later on
bright cairn
Going over the settlement limit is not as bad as people think. It's totally fine to be a few settlements over the limit as long as you have sufficient empire-wide happiness.
unique crane
You get wide enough as it is.