Every so often, you chase a design idea down the rabbit hole only to discover you’ve arrived somewhere you never wanted to be. One such example was our early plan to allow players to own houses that doubled as spawn points. On paper, it sounded delightful—personal, grounded, meaningful. In reality, it made a complete mess of territorial warfare.
The issue, bluntly, is this: if you can spawn in your lovely little cottage nestled deep in enemy land, you’ve effectively bypassed the frontline. No siege lines. No reinforcement routes. No tension. Just pop in, brew a cup of tea, and sabotage the battle from within. Charming. Disastrous.
So, we’ve gone back to the drawing board—not to abandon ambition, but to build something that respects the shape of the war we’re trying to craft. Battles in Stormbane now follow a structured, quest-driven format:
- Infiltration phases where stealth and sabotage matter.
- Aggression phases with brutal frontline objectives.
- Post-conflict consequences—because taking ground is one thing, holding it is another.
Each location moves between states—peaceful, wartime, and occupied—with corresponding NPC behaviour, quest types, and environmental changes. Supply lines can be cut, resistance can boil up, and weather can turn against you mid-battle. It's less about owning a house, more about surviving a siege.
In short, we've traded permanence for dynamism. Your story in Stormbane isn’t written in deeds and furniture—it’s written in the ebb and flow of conquest.