Igor wrote:Hmm... I remembered that 8 Kingdoms map had random start points sometimes. A horde of games were completed on it, one of most popular map.
And a starving man will eat Rats if that's all that's available. But if there were other choices, would he still eat those Rats? Unlikely. Once upon a time there were many fewer maps to choose from and there wasn't the ability to set up starting spots. So players had no real choice but to accept the random start spots in 8 Kingdoms. That's not the case now which is why I fixed it.
Also, Snowflake has only 6 start spots. There are only 15 possible starting combinations for 2 players. 6 of those are next to each other meaning 40% of games start next to each other. 8 Kingdoms has start 8 spots and 28 possible starting combinations for 2 players. 8 of those are next to each other meaning only 29% of games start next to each other.
Igor wrote:Battle Field map has now strong items in the center. This map is very often in use.
Thus I see no problem both in random start positions and strong items in the center.
The items in the middle in Battlefield are what makes it unique and interesting as a map. Plus your center area is MUCH larger and better defended (2 Giants and 1 Ghost is a joke for L3 items when you can potentially get 3 of them per turn and 6 in 2 turns). Why copy that concept on another map? I don't think all 6 items need to be removed. But why not remove say 4 of them and leave just 2 good items there. Then place 6 items in the 6 cities on the outer islands between the start areas and make those cities a bit better defended than 2 units (say 4 units). Then you have more options / strategies for players and you aren't copying what you already have in Battlefield.
KGB
