I got into anno a bit later, and ended up grabbing Anno in German when I was deployed there, getting 2070 when it came out and going back to get the other games. Even in 2070 the stench of corporate entanglements in bluebytes was heavy and rancid. However, it was tolerable in the end. Now some of the greatest aspects of the game are completely ruined, washed away by lazy design choices andI got into anno a bit later, and ended up grabbing Anno in German when I was deployed there, getting 2070 when it came out and going back to get the other games. Even in 2070 the stench of corporate entanglements in bluebytes was heavy and rancid. However, it was tolerable in the end. Now some of the greatest aspects of the game are completely ruined, washed away by lazy design choices and lacklustre gameplay.
1 - It's cheaper to trade with the world market in any case to complete a trade route/supply chain, entirely because of the trade-routes cost to manage, on top of building production, energy cost, logistics, ect. There's no 'easy' way (practical) way to sell excess goods as you make them and manage them either as there is only 3 slots you can have to the world market, so you are constantly either strapped for cash, or rolling in it. It's a waiting game.
2 - I actually like the sector idea, it was poorly done however. 9 building maps and 2 crisis map limitations is a massive "**** you" to any anno player, especially as the continuity of Anno 2070 was destroyed. What I mean by this: The Ark presented a presistant present throughout the entire games. You could build stuff in 1 map and transport it using the ark to another map, and you had bonuses associated with the ark itself. Any sort of customization in that route is gone, but that's not all. There's no real sort of career progression, and voting is kinda worthless...? Daily quests are non-existent and every quest in this game is a terribad fetch-quest, so what you can do on those 9 building maps is pretty much "fill it up, and your done." which leads me to point 3.
3 - There's no reason to advance.
What I mean by this is that the reason why you progressed in a map was so you wouldn't be eliminated in some way. You would progress in every map by building up your cities to unlock ships, weapons, and eventually, the ability to research and develop, unlocking cool things like the Hydro-dam and the Eco-Formers. The two unique sides each had an end-game reason to get them as well. You got to the end of Ecos to get access to sheilds, and the end of Tycoons for nuclear missiles. There was real variety, and a real need to develop yourself. There was many games where I felt the crunch... stocks on islands were being bought by AI, and friends were scrambling in a cold-war-esque military buildup, winning initial battles by the fire of commando-ships, to eventually fielding the bigger boats... then Aircraft.
4 - Military Aspect. The military-aspect for many was boring, but really... If there doesn't exist a threat to your existence, what the hell are you playing for? This should have been expanded, not shelved and hidden away in "Crisis centers" - about as fun to play as crushing your toes with a hammer would be fun to enjoy. Beyond the mandatory crisis-related battles, there's no way in hell I want to play on those maps. I ignore the quests indefinitely, only so I wouldn't have to do them. That's bad design when I don't feel like playing something because it's simply boring to do.
On top of that fantastic design choice, was the fact that you only have 8 ships, given to you, that you click to upgrade. It's a shame to, because they were onto something with the fuel and abilities for ships, and I wish that element would have been elaborated and brought into a meaningful game.
5 - Anno 2205 is afraid to be intelligent, and is afraid that you might be intelligent. Everything is managed for you, to the point where you have nothing to do. However, they have designed the game around wasting time. A lot of what you end up doing is build up a city block. Check to see if your arrows are red. Build more of Red-Arrowed goods. Upgrade (by clicking every god damn building instead of having it be smart enough to do it on it's own, unless I missed that very necessary feature somewhere.) I've mentioned the trading, but without actually managing trade and goods flow, there's nothing to do. There's no research as I've mentioned before (as far as I'm aware.) and it basically boils down to "See, look at how pretty your city can become.. PRETTY ISN'T IT?!" - Anno, you aren't SimCity, you aren't Cities: Skylines. There is no city-management in this game besides plopping stuff down. You don't manage tax rates anymore. You don't manage sewage flow or garbage pickups. This was a strategy game, as much as it was a city builder, and you did a pretty good job of blending those two things in the past. I'm just sad to see that it's no longer the case.… Expand
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