Today we closed the metrics chapter. We might revise metrics once again with developed plantations but this most probably will be in a long time for now, outside beta period.
Here is what is next:
Acres Expansion at PortsWe currently have Fertile Lands.
We will also add National Public Works (you will adjust a law for how much % of the income you want to direct from each port towards this end, up to 25%).
We also want to add a manual way to expand port acres (it will also book these acres for own usage, for a period of time). The question is whether we should use gold bars again for this or gold coins. We lean towards gold bars, which will most probably signal a new gold rush period.
You can find all these details herePlantation ManagerThis guy/gal will take care of your plantation. This one is a big one and an expansion in essence. However, due to his importance in making plantations entertaining and viable for most, this is deemed as an important element and we will need to develop this before we are out of plantations.
You can find all the details for Plantation Manager hereGovernor ToolsWhile governors can currently use Statistics to get details, we need something easier for them to use. We are designing an interface where they will get an insight (from public available stats) of the profitability of current applicant. This should help them get an actual idea of what they should charge and hopefully this will result in more fair prices per applicant.
These tools, besides improving gameplay for Governors, will also help in profit balance. If someone manages to make a fortune with his plantation, the governor will be able to nick some of this fortune for himself and the nation, effectively distributing excess wealth among multiple recipients. This is a strong element, having a human taking such decisions for the game and we do not want to abolish it due to poor information.
For those who have been around forever, we always wanted Governors to have an effect on port prices. With plantations, this is indirectly achieved.
More StatsWe need more stats but this can be developed later, outside beta period.
Out of the 4 elements above, the hardest one to release is the Plantation Manager and the development progress on this feature will determine when the beta period ends.
However, in terms of necessity,the acres expansion is the core feature missing. Which means that after this is released, beta period will be theoretically over. Practically, we do not any longer want to official move out of the beta period, as this means that we will need to advance at Game Version 2.0
Before Game Version 2.0 can be declared,we want to issue some skin improvements (we have done some work already in the past few weeks). This is important, as we expect old players back and we would like them to see a facelift of the interface once they return. In different situation, we will enrisk them thinking that we have not evolved much, while the reality is so much different.
To close up, August period is coming and as you all may know, this is the worst period for us. In comparison to previous times, this August there will be active development, for the first time in years, as we want to catch up with features that have been left behind. The pace however cannot be similar to what you all experienced lately. The pace lately was etraordinary even for our standards and always based on the team size and as a result, it is impossible to maintain it for large periods of time.