New Countries: No Expectations

Day 1,041, 02:19 • Published in Canada USA • by PimpDollaz

I was a bit disappointed when I found out that Jamaica wasn't one of them, especially seeing as how my add eJamaica article was so well received last year. In reality, Jamaica is a small country, so it likely won't be added for a while.

I would like to see them fill the map with more countries from Africa. It's the only continent with massive swaths of grey. They might have a look at Egypt or Nigeria, seeing as those two nations have large populations. Egypt has decent internet penetration and is relatively "progressive"

As for the nations that they are going to add, I would be curious to see which alliances if any, they will join. I feel that Belarus would likely end up in Phoenix due to their proximity and cultural similarity with both Ukraine and Russia. Same with Montenegro being close to Serbia in terms of historical ties. Being in the same area as Bosnia and Croatia will make for some new power dynamics in the Balkan region. New Zealand will likely join an alliance with their Aussie cousins.

The other countries I am not so sure about. Cyprus is half Greek and half Turkish by ancestry, so I see some major conflicts in that country, especially given it's physical proximity to both. Expect lots of PTO's and misunderstandings.

Taiwan is an interesting case. I would be curious to see how much RL attitudes towards China and vice versa spill into this game. The two nations have never been on good terms since Maoist times, but in this game they may choose to work together against a Russian or Indonesian threat, who knows. Or maybe Taiwan will be the stepping stone for Phoenix to strike at Beijing finally.

And of course, Macedonia, the country that may or may not be a country, being claimed by both the Greeks and the Slavs. I don't even know where to start with them, we'll just have to wait and see how it unfolds there. From an EDEN perspective it would be good to get them on our side to hold Serbia in check, but again, you never know how much RL loyalties will seep into this game. I'm guessing that Cyprus, Macedonia and Montenegro might change hands a lot between alliances, before their RL game playing populations have a chance to establish themselves.

All just speculation at this point, and we may be surprised when these nations actually come into existance here.

Do you like the new countries that they are going to add? How do you see their futures unfolding? Any other thoughts?