Hi!
I just wanted to share my thoughts about the DLC and give general Feedback:
I still miss QoL features, like an option to disable Enemy chat. Hotkeys for the new Variants have to be polished. Yatai and Damyo Estates especially.
Variants are okay, but new Civs with new architecture, music, units add greater value to the game.
The new biomes are very nice. The work put in is noticeable. But the readability of the minimap suffered for some, black sand is straight up a headache.
Sengoku: I think the design is overly finicky. Why have the production building to be next to the estates? Delete the production speed bonus but give them their bonus hp and shield without them having to be in the aura. Scrub the levies mechanic, I dont think they add something meaningful. Yatai are fine early but weird in lategame and lose their impact. There arent enough farms to get 6 Yatai maxed on 80 food per min, outside food should be depleted by then. Losing your maxed Matsuri or your third estate is very punishing. Why not integrate the Damyo and the technology into the according production building after building the estate? Shinobis are blatantly overpowered. I think there are too much gimmicks, which seem like a variant design problem. Those mechanics (Damyo Estate Auras and Levies) dont add depth but feel like chores. Like the old animal killing RUS.
Tughlaq: The healer elephant is broken. You are a sad person if you spam Healerelephants + X in Teamgames. There are people playing in Conq 3 in 2vs2 with that cheese that where platin last season. There are maps where you cant do anything against it, eg Gorge 2vs2. The Ajmer Fort should not be usable offensively. Otherwise the Forts feel insignificant, the Tower of Victory is the worst Landmark in the game, Worker elephants snatching sheep seem so weird to me. Put the Compound Feudal and the Healerphants Castle.
Macedonian: I think they are fine, Ridaris are a bit on the strong side. But I think Vikings deserve their own architecture and landmarks. Byzantines houses kill the Viking, north, woody rough vibe, that Norsemen should have.
Golden Horde: The design is interesting, the mongol assets suits them well. Their early is weak, their lategame is completely broken. Havent played 4vs4 since the release because of them. Their mechanics are a bit bugged and/or broken.
JD rework is still missing, please dont add another hero civ.
I think Zhu Xi should get a rework too, that alters the tax system.
Black Riders seem out of place for HRE, there should be a Spanish Civ with Conquistadores.
Abbasid deserves some love.
Proscout changes are cleverly done.
Get in contact with Heartmove, the Battleground mod dev, give him money and and implement it officially into the basegame. It has far, far more potential than crucible.