Thought I’d open a thread for folks to comment on the new map pack. Good, bad, indifferent.

I bought the pack last night, didn’t have much time to play. I started with the Wildlands map. Wow. Start is very challenging. I found my starting location highly constrained by wildlands right on the border – no doubt “hence the name”. On the plus side, there were pre-existing roads leading from my start around both sides of the wildlands, so initial exploration was way quicker than normal (until my scout got eaten about three seasons after leaving my capitol). Lots and lots and lots and … of monsters. None exceptionally tough nearby, but the expansion locations are very definitely not easy to access with a lowly pioneer. I feel this map is geared toward “few and powerful” vs “many” at least initially. Another cool thing, I discovered my very first ever X/5/3 settlement spot – which was relatively nearby. Can you say “fortress”? Unfortunately an unchained jug was sitting next to it. A bit much for my sov+clubwielder early unit, but that critter is “dead man walking” as soon as possible.

I did notice that both the adjacent wildlands to my start location seem to be spawning wandering monsters that cross outside the borders. I know that in plain vanilla there are a couple that do that  whether or not you have triggered the quest, but I was wondering if anyone knew whether ALL the wildlands on this map would spawn. Maybe I shouldn’t have set monsters to “dense” in the world slider.

Anyway – I think I’m in love with this map (I’m saving the Anthys map for when I can do a marathon with it).

What do you all think about the new maps?