Quote Originally Posted by Duncan_Hardy
In that case the faction system in M2:TW is flawed, since it is skewed towards peoples who existed as an entity c.1050, while eliminating potentially more influential factions who may only have come into being at a later date. An emergence system would solve this problem (much like the appearance of the Golden Hord in M:TW).
Unfortunately I do not see how this will solve the problem, as even if factions emerge as they did in MTW, they would not be playable. I agree with you that not only does this make the game skewed towards peoples that existed in the late 11th century, but it also takes away fromt he game itself. I really hope that eras in the manner of MTW would be reintroduced in the expansion. When I think about it, it was quite possible to achieve a victory in MTW by the mid 13th century, before gunpowder was discovered and sometimes before even the arrival of the Horde. This of course meant that so many of the cool late period units seldom appeared, and after the first 150 turns the human player was usually the only super power left, meaning that the AI continued producing cheap early units, as it simply did not have the buildings necessary for the better later types. However, starting at a later date introduced a completely different game, in which not only the factions were different, but the units and the whole setting.
I am sure this must have been improved in M2TW, because otherwise prolonging the game until 1530 and introducing the New World with its Aztecs would make no sense. What point is there to play just so that you discover the Americas in the late 15th century, if you have conquered everything in the mid 13th? I am confident CA have tested the game and this will not be the case.