Fan-based map progression thread

[Moros]

you just won't stop teasing us eh?
cmon mr. moros leak us hungry folks some information ;)

As I'm only working on two factions I can't really list them. But assuming provinces, settlements, starting positions,... is madness. There's new material since research days of EB I, new members,... logically a lot has changed. Compare some of the previous previews with those from EB I. The pritanoi have probably changed more than most factions, but most have a lot of similar changes as well.

For example in Arabia, I think almost all settlements and provinces have new names. Some are changed for other settlements, almost all borders have changed as well. Most parts of the map had been changed quite a bit with extra provinces here, fewer there, settlements that got swapped or relocated,... Now Arabia and Brittain are more extreme cases, true.

@Quitus:
I'm not sure if you know what I'm referring to. Also a lot is secret because it's not ready, fully debated or researched yet. How can I tell you about for example the new sabaean ethnicities or how their buildings will be if we haven't worked them out yet. We try our best to make previews once in a while. Sure you could say we could at least say something like whihc factions are in. But when we do reveal a faction we want them presented in good way, one that is backed up by sources and research. We've got some fans who ask difficult questions sometimes and who don't want us to present them historically correct as well.

[moonburn]

i was just rambling moros :\

[QuintusSertorius]

I'm not sure if you know what I'm referring to. Also a lot is secret because it's not ready, fully debated or researched yet. How can I tell you about for example the new sabaean ethnicities or how their buildings will be if we haven't worked them out yet. We try our best to make previews once in a while. Sure you could say we could at least say something like whihc factions are in. But when we do reveal a faction we want them presented in good way, one that is backed up by sources and research. We've got some fans who ask difficult questions sometimes and who don't want us to present them historically correct as well.

I'm well aware of the team's standards of historicity, but there's a tension at work there. Confirming, for example, that there is a Numidian faction doesn't actually require the production of a completed, fully-researched preview. That's a lot of additional work that could be happening after it's merely said "yes, Numidia is one of the new factions". Assuming of course the research has reached a stage where the team are happy that it will indeed be included as a faction.

All I'm saying is that in the gap between confirmation and completion of a faction, little is lost by simply saying "look out for this faction, soon to appear in preview". What's gained is a moderation of interest at a certain level and management of expectations, rather than peaks and troughs of attention. With a timeframe as long as this, each of those troughs may result in numbers of people simply losing interest and not returning.

After all there's a long history of mods that never see light of day, with all the anticipation and excitement coming to nothing. I guess I should add as a pinch of salt, I'm someone who considers "surprise" to be worthless, so that colours my perspective.

[Foot]

After all there's a long history of mods that never see light of day, with all the anticipation and excitement coming to nothing. I guess I should add as a pinch of salt, I'm someone who considers "surprise" to be worthless, so that colours my perspective.

Others don't, and neither do we. If you aren't particularly interested in following EB, then you don't need to. Just keep an eye on the old Twitter, and when there is a release you will hear about it. We enjoy surprising our fans with previews of new content, and we enjoy watching them guess (and so much of the content of these forums is speculative conversations). This is how we've always run things, and there is no reason to change.

Foot

[QuintusSertorius]

Others don't, and neither do we. If you aren't particularly interested in following EB, then you don't need to. Just keep an eye on the old Twitter, and when there is a release you will hear about it. We enjoy surprising our fans with previews of new content, and we enjoy watching them guess (and so much of the content of these forums is speculative conversations). This is how we've always run things, and there is no reason to change.

Foot

That's about as categoric a refutation of my position as I could ask for! :)

Fair enough, it's your team and you know what motivates them best.

[moonburn]

quintus sertorious for someone with a roman name you haven´t read the classics all that well i assume or else you would have read seneca and understand that presenting a faction and then due to the lack of historicity having it removed would break people´s expectations and as seneca states "rage comes from broken expectations" so the last thing the team should do should be to break people´s expectations

i mean seriously when the game finally comes out most people will eventually return and even those that don´t imediatly will end up showing up even if it´s a year or 2 after the game was released, it´s not like the eb team gains cash from adds from people entering the site so they don´t really need the extra attention (or distraction) if they made cash then we could expect stuff like what you said wich is marketing and masses management and the team would make like 1 preview per week and after 2 or 3 years "sorry the fallowing factions won´t appear on the game"

[QuintusSertorius]

quintus sertorious for someone with a roman name you haven´t read the classics all that well i assume or else you would have read seneca and understand that presenting a faction and then due to the lack of historicity having it removed would break people´s expectations and as seneca states "rage comes from broken expectations" so the last thing the team should do should be to break people´s expectations

Dude, punctuation is your friend.

As I said quite clearly above, what I was talking about was confirming a faction once it had been researched enough to be agreed as a faction. Not simply revealing a name then later having to withdraw it because later research showed it unworthy. It takes a lot less effort to say "yes, faction X is now in" than to prepare a preview (which can happen later).

i mean seriously when the game finally comes out most people will eventually return and even those that don´t imediatly will end up showing up even if it´s a year or 2 after the game was released, it´s not like the eb team gains cash from adds from people entering the site so they don´t really need the extra attention (or distraction) if they made cash then we could expect stuff like what you said wich is marketing and masses management and the team would make like 1 preview per week and after 2 or 3 years "sorry the fallowing factions won´t appear on the game"

As before, someone saying "yes, faction X is in, expect a preview in a few weeks/months" is hardly a great amount of effort or distraction. Hardly the scenario you suggest if the announcement only comes once its been confirmed.

In any case it's moot, the team like their approach to expectation management.

[M to the A]

There's nothing more fun than to randomly log in and find out that the Belgae have been included as a faction in some way through a huge new preview ^^

[Blxz]

Not sure that having the boii on the map as silver and the poles (or whatever) as white looks very clear. I almost didn't see them at first. Would the OP consider a change in the colour scheme?

[stratigos vasilios]

Change to colour scheme? No. Heck no. Never in a million years... ;-)

They are the colours the EB team had in their official previews so I just left them as they were, but I can see how it isn't too clear. I'll just put in a brighter colour, at this stage I wasn't planning on choosing the correct faction campaign map colours (I'll leave that for the EB team) but colours that are bright and easy to see. Any requests? Also if anyone feels like they are able to do a much better map please do so, I will surrender entirely and I'm sure Ludens will help me get the new map into the OP.

[Blxz]

Stratigos vasilios, the eastern indian parts of that map are looking too empty. Time for a mauyaran satraphy to be put in there =)

[stratigos vasilios]

Adjusted map. Added factions from EB1, although faction borders will be different to EB1... the map just looks prettier now ;-)

[Moros]

[Arjos]

Was looking at the possible locations map and imo it's a safe bet none of those will have a faction XD

Arabia and India had their fill...

Scandinavia and the northeastern Baltic will partially become Eremos and afaik there weren't large confederations, more deserving than other possible factions...
Same goes for Hibernia and Caledonia...

Belgae too close to the Rhine, in the 3rd century BC, the power centers would be around the Marne and Somme...

Veneti in Cisalpina didn't do much other than raid enemies, only when backed by greater powers...
Histria was ran over by Keltoi in the previous decades, before the EB start date and was settled by various tribes; while the Liburni lived in small communities, very little pastoral economy and raided the Adriatic, in league with other people...
Centers in the area were near the Shkoder, Dardania further inland, Singidunum and short-lived Tylis...

Armorica, that I know, was hardly united in the 3rd century, not even by the time of Caesar...
Aquitania, similar case, very few sources...

Pyrenees were settled by many small communities, each independent (Moros' map shows that at least the east is empty). Celtiberians would make a better candidate...

Mauretania I don't know in which state it was in the 3rd century, earlier there were phoenician commercial hubs. Maybe the Masaesyli held more power...