Fans of the series are waiting patiently for any news on Civilization 7, and many are busy speculating on what new and exciting features might be added. Civilization 6 was released in 2016 and not only did it introduce several new elements to the series, but it also developed on much of what was present in the five previous mainline entries. There can't be room for everything though of course and developing new features often necessitate the removal of old ones.
When Civilization 6 was released, several elements of older games in the series were removed in order to make way for a lot of what made the game great. Some of them were beloved by fans and may even be one of the things they'd love to see make a comeback in Civilization 7.
10 We Love The King Day - Civilization 1, 2, 3, 4, & 5
We Love The King Day is a classic element of the Civilization series, and it was strange to see it missing from Civilization 6. We Love The King Day is an event that occurs in the first five Civilization games, after a player's city demands a specific luxury resource. The player enjoys a boost to the city's growth rate for 20 turns when the demands are met.
This feature could easily return in Civilization 7, and it could even be broadened to include a variety of different demands from the player's population as well.
9 Diplomats - Civilization 1, 2, & 5
Diplomats were present as espionage units in the first two Civilization games, before returning in Civilization 5 as an option for spies to convert to with similar functions. In Civilization 6, espionage only becomes available in the Renaissance era and other information about rivals is learned by paying gold in exchange for diplomatic visibility.
In Civilization 7, diplomats could return as an earlier era version of spies with fewer functions, and could even help towards a diplomatic victory. This would add a little more depth to diplomatic visibility and more options for players in the earlier stages of the game.
8 More Unique Great People - Civilization 5
Unique great people were originally introduced in Civilization 5 with Mongolia having access to Khans and the Brave New World expansion added the Merchant of Venice too. Unique great people returned in Civilization 6, but this time only Gran Columbia has access to one; the Comandante General.
This is an interesting feature that Civilization 7 could take from the previous two entries and expand upon. Not every in-game civilization should have a unique great person and the ones that do, could have different requirements to satisfy for obtaining them.
7 More Scenarios - Civilization 4
Every entry to the Civilization series is a game that you can sink hours into and while a lot of players choose to create their own adventures, a strength of the series was always its original scenarios. The number of scenarios in each game was growing until Civilization 4, when it featured 23 with all the DLC included.
The next entry went down to 11 and the sixth topped out at 14. Given that each of these scenarios adds a lot of value for more casual players, it might be worth changing course and increasing the number in Civilization 7.
6 Slavery - Civilization 4
Slavery was a highly controversial feature added in Civilization 4, although it did make sense to include as it was a prominent aspect of human history. The Rise and Fall expansion for Civilization 6 introduced the ability for players to fall into a 'dark age' and adopt specific policies that provided huge benefits, but at great costs.
If Civilization 7 continues the concept of ages, slavery makes sense as a 'dark age' policy. It could return with a similar function, where a player sacrifices some of their population in order to finish construction of a new building or district.
5 Attack And Defense Values - Civilization 1, 2, & 3
After Civilization 3, the series decided to simplify the combat mechanics a little by replacing individual attack and defense values with overall strength instead. Knowing how to modify this value is key to winning a domination victory, and returning to separate attack and defense could add more depth to this aspect of the game.
Bringing back separate values for these two forms of combat allows for a way to further differentiate between different units as well, as some could have high values in one area at the expense of another.
4 Puppeting A Conquered City - Civilization 5
Many players conquer cities even if they don't intend to look for a domination victory. Players are then given the choice to either keep or raze the city, but Civilization 5 also had the option to puppet a city as well. This allowed the player to benefit from the conquering the city without actually having to manage it.
This option could return in Civilization 7 with some slight modifications. Puppeting a city could transform it into a city-state that you are automatically the suzerain of with a specified number of envoys, potentially helping to reduce warmonger penalties as well.
3 Plague - Civilization 1
The plague was a key part of the first Civilization game as one of the disasters that could hamper a player at random. The concept of natural disasters still exists in Civilization 6 with this one being removed, although the Black Death is present in a specific scenario.
The plague is an interesting disaster, as the threat could be removed once the required building is built or science is researched. Until that requirement is met though, the plague could be a disaster that doesn't end in any number of turns.
2 Vassalage - Civilization 4
The Civilization series has long been regarded as one of the best government simulation games and the depth of options available is part of the reason why. Alliances are commonplace but Civilization 4 also allowed rivals to become vassals of the player, or each other.
This feature was removed in the games that came after, but it served an important purpose and alliances in Civilization 6 are only available part-way through the game. It could return in Civilization 7 as a way to demonstrate a heavily one-sided alliance, and to allow those options to be introduced earlier in the game.
1 National Wonders - Civilization 3, 4, & 5
National wonders (referred to as small wonders in Civilization 3) introduced some variation in the wonders of the world that players could build. Great wonders of the world have been available in every entry in the series, but there can only be one per game. National wonders on the other hand are allowed once per civilization, but can be built by every one in the game.
Nothing would need to change about them in order for them to be included in Civilization 7, and adding them back into the game would give players more options.
Civilization 6 is currently available on PC, Mobile, Nintendo Switch, PS4, and Xbox One.