No shade here on the Fallen Spire. I was holding that up as one of the biggest and best innovations that Keith brought to the game, that really kind of kept things interesting and fresh after the base game was getting bloated in those later expansions.
Neither he nor I wanted to recreate the Fallen Spire in AI War 2, but having narrative quest driven bits were something that were always sort of a stretch goal. After a lot of years on other projects and this one, I kind of see that as a mandatory way of providing structure for the average player now. I talked about it more in the podcast, but yes making it an organic thing that you can choose to do later in the game when you're realizing you're doing well is something I want to be possible. You shouldn't have t know you're going into that game mode at the start, it should be something that you decide... when you feel like it as you play.
Which is not to criticize the original Fallen Spire, but just to state what my goals are in this game.
