Just to clear this up:
I don't have any direct contact with Richie (The Shogun) or anyone else at CA/DT/EA. I was not asked personally to begin this thread. Richie said in a post in the General Discussion forum that if we wanted new features then we should start some threads to discuss them, get some ideas together, and he would read them.

I agree that the editor needs a big overhaul. Most games these days provide specifically for third-party map editing, including good map editing software out of the box. The impression that I get is that STW was never designed to work with third-party maps. For example the game does not automatically download maps you don't have. It doesn't even check to see if you have the same version of a map as the other players.

One thing to bear in mind is this: if the sequel has backward compatability with STW maps, by the time the sequel comes out we can have a large library of 3rd party maps ready. This can only help sales of the sequel, surely? Before I buy a game I often check to see what the online community is like; whether there are new maps and mods etc. I think that a strong online community is an almost essential part of selling a game these days and STW II could benefit from our maps and mods.