Three Continents at Release?

RavenUSC3 · 2012-03-08, 09:50 PM

I don't know where, but I read something recently that mentioned just three continents right now? Amerish, Esamir, and Indar? Is that all they have for now, or was that the plan to go with just three continents and add more in content updates later?

I hope there's going to be more than three at the start and I'm just remembering something wrong. I know each continent is huge, but, part of the appeal for me with the first game was just how much area you have to attack, and defend for that matter, in so many areas, on so many continents.

Zulthus · 2012-03-08, 09:52 PM

I've never heard or seen anything about Esamir or Amerish. But I might just be missing something.

VioletZero · 2012-03-08, 09:53 PM

I suppose it is for the best, but I'd prefer just starting out on one map and going from there.

Death2All · 2012-03-08, 09:58 PM

Unfortunately it looks that way.

They are however, or at least they've stated, that they're making sure each region on the map is fun to fight in, so there's more of an emphasis on making a great map, rather than shitting out a bunch of terrible ones.

Whether or not that will actually translate, we'll just have to wait and see. They can say all day they've play tested the maps to ensure they're fun, but it could wind up to be the most boring thing ever. Again, we'll have to wait and see.

DaddyTickles · 2012-03-08, 10:01 PM

IIRC, the 3 continents will embody some of the features of 2 or more old-style continents. So that means they will be pretty varied geography, I think.

RavenUSC3 · 2012-03-08, 10:01 PM

If there's just three then I'd imagine its to encourage bigger fights by keeping you to a limited space. At that point the game isn't as much player driven as we're being bottlenecked into the same areas over and over again. We figured it out before in a massive world. We can do it again.

LZachariah · 2012-03-08, 10:02 PM

The PC Gamer article lists those three continents, yes. Esamir is the arctic continent (that evidently has some frozen urban environments; interesting!). Amerish is the lush Irish Highlands continent wherein we see alot of the forest footage, and of course Indar is the desert/mesa continent of which we have seen a great deal.

I dunno if they'll release more than three continents at launch or not. Beta will give us a better idea :-)

~Zachariah

SwitchView · 2012-03-08, 10:08 PM

Being a Free2Play Game, most F2P Games will last for quite a long time, and get content. So they game might release with 3 continents, but more continents will most likely be available after the launch of the game.

Being F2P they have tons of opportunity to add on and expand on the game.

SgtMookie · 2012-03-08, 10:22 PM

Think of the 3 continents as a start, if they release with 5-8 conts then there would be major resource farming right from the start. Where ghost hacks would be taking place all the time which I believe would hurt game play. 3 Continents will be nice to have different areas to fight at and get a good feel for the game. Plus it will not flood the pocket books of some empires. Also with 3 continents it will reduce the work load of fixing issues that arise from the players interacting with the terrian. Then hopefully they will release a new continent every 4-6 months after release.

Graywolves · 2012-03-08, 10:23 PM

I think it's just that making these continents takes lots of time.

Each part is basically handcrafted to make sure as much of it as possible is unique.

For release I think a few will be enough but they will need to adjust a few things as they add more.

Johari · 2012-03-08, 10:56 PM

Ya we know of atleast 3 and I wouldn't be surprised if they released with just 3 but now they have a 5 year plan and I would not surprise me of having atleast 10 again if not more.

Lonehunter · 2012-03-08, 11:18 PM

I'm pretty sure Indar, Amerish, and Esamir are the only 3 available at launch. I was also slightly depressed to hear this. I know they're going to add more later, and they're focusing on other priorities, and I'm worried about them releasing the game before it's finished, but

damn it I wanna play no matter what condition it's in

SgtMookie · 2012-03-08, 11:55 PM

Originally Posted by Graywolves

I think it's just that making these continents takes lots of time.

Graywolves I think you hit the nail on the head, It will take alot of time to create just one continent and with all the content that goes into each one I will be happy with 3 if that means I will be able to get to play as soon as possible.

**Malorn** · 2012-03-09, 12:15 AM

Those seem like great continents to start off with, and yea PC gamer mentioned Amerish and Esamir.

If it was just Indar I think the game would quickly get dull as the continents would generally be a 3 way stalemate fighting over the same area all day, and even with a day night cycle it would get old fast.

3 continents would add variety. I also think that shifting the position of the 3 empire sanctuaries on each continent would go a long way to keeping the game interesting and fun. That should be done once a month or so on each continent. Fighting over the same ridge from the same direction against the same enemy using the same tactics will get old. Mix it up.

ThirdCross · 2012-03-09, 12:26 AM

They're still working on 2 of the 3 continents as it is now. I'd hate to see how much longer release would be pushed off it they'd have to design and create 2-3 more.