Questions for the team about world map plans

I have a couple of questions for the TT2 team about future plans for the world map. Sorry, if you have already mentioned this, I missed.

1) For now, the world map seems too small to host everybody and let every player to expand as he/she wishes. For example,  in all my hero's worlds there are situations when either my hero is sandwiched between bigger neighbors, or my hero has to push her small neighbor in order to expand. Right now I noticed a newly established domain right next to my border side by side - there is no chance for now not for me, not for this new player to play evenly. I will be unwillingly pushing her from the very beginning. She will have to do the same with me to raise her country. It seems not fair to place new heroes next to other domains. So, the question is: in the upcoming update will the map be bigger to have even chances to develop for everyone with bigger space around domains?

2) The question about spice and marble. A player should have these resources in his/her domain to raise. But neither of my three heroes have them even close or around my domain. I don't see any at all on the maps, thought I explored a lot. Well, for now it is also a little bit unfair. I can see a button, I know that I can possibly do it, I see that other player do it (I saw screenshots here in the forum), but in fact can't because there is no possibility - no resources. So, what are the plans for future? Will these resources be implemented more frequently on the map so that everybody could have a chance to try them? If not, consider it as my suggestion for the future updates.

There is always going to be some competition, it is a game after all. However, at the moment we have several issues that contribute to a situation and make it notably more tense then it is intended to be.

Firstly, I'm afraid we still have a bug when newly created kingdom is placed at the spot that had been occupied before by some now deleted other kingdom, in which case this new kingdom most probably becomes virtually unplayable, since all its neighbours are already big and far more developed. That is going to be fixed.

Then, at the moment, abandoned kingdom are never deleted by the game, unless the player themselves deletes them, so frequently other players (the neighbours of that abandoned one) are brought to a situation when they have to have some tiles at their borders occupied and therefore unusable or even blocking their progress, even though the owner of those tiles doesn't care about them anymore at all. Surely, this is going to be changed too.

Then, and probably most importantly, the players in the real game will be notably different. In spite of while now we have most of the players who have access to the game very devoted and willing to play, the circumstances will become quite different after the game server goes publicly open. It is the fact, confirmed by all other free-to-play games, that only a small fracture of people who try the game, actually continue playing after some short period of time (not like we want or are in any way going to encourage it, that is just how it is and we have to accept it). That means that if now, on the testing stage, almost all of your neighbours strive to grow alongside with you, which obviously makes the game world quite a crowded and competitive place, in the 'real' game only maybe 2-3 of 10 of them will keep playing after a week's time and the density will be much more scarce.

Also the world map we have now was created purely for testing purposes and it is going to be replaced with a wholly different one.

And saying all that, if time should prove that additional measures are required, they will be implemented too.

Now concerning unique resources. Well, you just can't have them all. Some other players might have some cacao or whatever what you have not, but that also works otherwise, you probably have some that you neighbours haven't got.

Yet I admit that having the 'build a quarry' button without an actual opportunity to use it is somewhat disappointing.

Thank you, Guro, for such detailed response! I think this information will be interesting for many players.

Just finished researching Music and can not see either coffee or cocoa anywhere in Jonberg and most of it is clear.  Does Hero level (mine 21) have anything to do with it?  Thanks.

Just finished researching Music and can not see either coffee or cacao anywhere in Jonberg that is clear.  And that is almost all of it.  Does Hero level (mine 21) have anything to do with it?  Thanks.

No.  Once research unlocks a global resource you will see it if it is present in the climate zone.  Coffee and cocoa are not in the tundra.  :-)

Then, at the moment, abandoned kingdom are never deleted by the game,

Late in A4, an auto delete function was introduced to remove these abandoned domains.

This feature does not seem to be working in A5.

Is it being blocked by players using the vacation mode on their domains?

Just finished researching Music and can not see either coffee or cacao anywhere in Jonberg that is clear.  And that is almost all of it.  Does Hero level (mine 21) have anything to do with it?  Thanks.

No.  Once research unlocks a global resource you will see it if it is present in the climate zone.  Coffee and cocoa are not in the tundra.  :-)

That clears that up. Thanks.  Sure wish it wasn't listed in that tech.  Would not have researched as early.

Nor is Ivory. But Tea is, as are Incense, Spice, and I think Sugar.

Since biological knowledge is clearly irrelevant, I agree with maigheu: There ought to be warning from the game.