Of all the content going into Albion Online’s Wild Blood patch next month, the islands and farming rework has been the bit that caught my attention hardest. In fact, I logged into my account to make sure my personal islands – essentially, the closest thing the game has to player housing – were properly moved ahead of the patch just a few days back. But did I choose correctly? Today’s dev video from Sandbox Interactive will tell me.
SBI explains that where previously all islands looked pretty much the same no matter which city you were attached to, Wild Blood adds specialized biomes for each home town – so islands linked to Fort Sterling will look like snowy mountains, while Bridgewatch bases will look like a balmy oasis. (I chose poorly; I should’ve gone with the swampy Thetford! Oh well!)
Moreover, islands in different biomes will now have different bonuses for farming; each biome offers a bonus for a specific crop, animal, and animal food. “These different bonuses will encourage trade and allow the planning of a sophisticated growing, transportation, and processing schedule,” SBI says.
I would’ve assumed that the move would also encourage more people to engage in the per-character sub so they can cross-feed their farms, but not anymore, and that’s because Wild Blood will finally introduce a method for individual characters to own multiple personal islands, “up to one for each city, allowing players to build a trans-continental farming empire.”
However, SBI doesn’t say how players will be able to acquire multiple islands. According to players on the test server, it’s with in-game cash, not real money – though whether it’ll upend the game’s already depressed farming economy is an open question.
