Civ Selection Criteria for an 8th civ, which may never be designed

Not necessarily. In a vacuum sure, but for a civ that a stone mine meshes well with, it could be very welcome. Not to mention if we continue to look at the vacuum then Stone Mines are merely a part of the total civ. The total civ has other features, possibly age up methods/prereqs and a unique military lineup that might overshadow the fact that yes, they have a stone version of the gold mine to the point that you would never mistake the civ for Celts. It isn't lazy design if it actually fits the civ very well.

 

I know I'm necroing an 8 week old thread but I fear for a world that doesn't blink an eye at the very real and wonderful prospect of an 8th or beyond civ. So I must keep the dream alive!

 

You think would be more popular as it’s a very real and very major possibility that can change everything forever.

 

Steppes civ please. I know Carthage is off the table, and so is Phonecians (unless the HNIC has changed his mind on this), so to me it's the most logical addition, considering East Asian and Americas civs are a continent away from the civs we have.

 

I mean eventually we could have India and Phoenicia. And possibly some civs most of you don't think much of but were big hits in AoE1 such as Hittites or Choson once the map gets big enough.

 

The other 2 alliance leagues are Egyptian and Greek places. Yet they're also playable civs?

 

Hmm, I think this gives a reason to consider the Carthago/Phoenecian civ even more.
Personally, I would prefer India to be the next civ to go more deeper into Asia and to go for a more distant civ.

 

Thinking on similar logic to Phoenicia vs Carthage: the Greek civ has mostly Macedonian troops.

 

So the civ can be called Phoenicia and have excursions to the Tunisian landscape and Libya.

 

Hannibal isn’t the only part of the whole of the Lebanon legacy: Hiram, Pygmalion, Dido, Hasdurbal and Halmicar to name a few could easily serve the Phoenician storyline