The continents: some are better than others

[Beerbeer]

Indar, in my opinion, is the best continent by far for one reason and one reason only: it's small and easy to get into fights without much downtime.

Esimar: I never go there anymore as it's too big and way too much downtime between fights.

Amerish: looks nice, but too big.

Indar: perfect size and all three empires are always in each other's faces. It's easy to find fights quickly even if you have to hoof it.

Which brings me to a suggestion: make all future continents smaller IMO.

[Timealude]

personally...I hate Indar. When I lead an outfit squad normally I go to Amerish or Esamir over Indar.

[Beerbeer]

I love it, at least on Thebe. The other continents are too big and everyone is zerging in different directions a lot of the time.

[Crator]

Once we get more then 3 continents this might not be much of an issue anymore. Just guessing. Constant 3-ways, which is what the empire footholds on all continents currently produce, is not good. I produces stalemates and going around in circles taking territory. This isn't anything new, we had 3-way stalemates happen in PS1. But there were ways to break those stalemates in PS1 by attacking other continents that gave powerful benefits to the other empires that owned them.

EDIT: What they need to do eventually is have it so there's a chance that each empire can have an opportunity to fight over all the different maps with a chance to see the entire map. Not all maps at the same time, but eventually after playing a while you would have the chance of seeing all the content the maps have to offer. That should be the final design goal and I believe it will happen with more continents.

[Beerbeer]

That makes me worried actually, unless continents can be locked down as people will be spread too thin.

[Crator]

Sorry Beerbeer, I added more to my post after you read it. Check it out.

[Beerbeer]

I see, thanks.

[Ghryphen]

Pretty sure all the continent's are nearly the same size.

[Beerbeer]

Huh? They don't feel like they're the same size. Maybe it has more to do with the proximity of bases?

[Crator]

Yes, it has a lot to do with that. They have added more outposts, and bases?, to Esamir after they first launched it. They seem to be constantly tweaking and building on all the things they've discovered during beta testing. Also, they are going back to the older continents, like Indar, and making those tweaks to them as well.

If you ask me though, Indar was much more complete then the other two they put out. They just did't have the time to finish them all the way. It was in their plan to do this I think though. Due to how they've been designing them, learning from the mistakes made before. They most likely have templates made for all the continents they want in the game. Then they just stack all the features into it ad-hoc after that.

[Beerbeer]

If that's the case, esimar and Amerish needs more bases/outposts.

[Crator]

I just now remembered, Esamir was much more wide open when it first launched due to player feedback. It was a test of game flow really. They took what they learned from Indar and Esamir and mashed that into Amerish. Of course still making changes on all the continents looks like.

[Sunrock]

Indar is my favorite too. But I think that has to do with I have spent allot more time there and know every little rock by name now. Making it allot easer for me to maximize my combat efficiency. On Esamir and Amerish I still some times have to pop up the map to orient my self when driving.

But if we are talking about art design Esamir is the most beautiful looking continent. The aurora effects are extremely cool. And as I'm Swedish I always feel at home in snowy continents in games....

My least favorite continent most be Amerish all categories. It just felt rushed to me. And the art design is just blend. I also might be because I had pictured the continent to be a jungle.

[Rago]

Very Different Feelings about this.

Amerish: Love it. Best so far !(@bearbeer i think its fine)

Indar: Great, because there is ever a ongoing Fight, if Amerish is overrun by one Fraction i play there.

Esamir: To wide Designed Areals and Space between the Bases. (We dont play there,if possible)

[typhaon]

Originally Posted by Gryphon

Pretty sure all the continent's are nearly the same size.

I was going to say... I thought they were, too.

I think a lot of people enjoy Indar the most because it's the most conducive to meatgrinding and faster cert gain.

If SOE can get the focus of the metagame shifted more in the direction of conquest/capture-and-hold gameplay... then I think you'll see the other continents improve in popularity.