Apart from the Crystal Raiders update at the top of the year, Albion Online has had a slow 2024 so far – and even Crystal Raiders was fairly low-key, with content aimed chiefly at guild territory raiding. That was probably to be expected, as at the tail end of last year, Sandbox Interactive told players it’d be shaking up its development cadence, turning patches from slower large patches into faster small patches in time with the three-month guild seasons.
Well, now we’re finally getting a look at the next content burst, which Sandbox is calling Foundations. The update will continue the overhaul of territories begun with Crystal Raiders, adding new fortifications that guilds can build and improve to ward off attackers (i.e., other guilds). SBI hopes the changes will “catalyze Albion’s stone economy” and force “greater variety” into the way players siege and defend territory battles and raids.
We note here that this is surely the first time anyone in the history of MMOs has used “catalyze [the] stone economy” as a bullet point in a patch’s favor. And we’re not mad about it.
Expect tweaks to territory guards and new daily reward chests for activity in territory areas – specifically designed to “discourage guilds from attacking players doing PvE activities near their territories” and encourage them to “protect such players from potential attackers.” In other words, players could run their territorial base as a hub of protection for the PvE toons.
We don’t have a hard date for Foundations, but SBI’s Robin Henkys says it’ll launch before the start of the next season.
