- Will Friendly Fire be better highlighted? What is planned to ensure people will know they are committing Friendly Fire - will there be indicators like different colours for the damage numbers, warning messages, etc.?
This is something we are working on now and we will definitely make sure that players committing FF will understand what they are doing. Hopefully, it will be in an update soon! We believe that players’ awareness of mechanics like FF should be taken on board by additional supporting materials like guides, videos, and community discussion.
- What are the future plans for balance changes?
It is quite early to name any specific changes. Currently, we are looking at progression speed as well as the general effectiveness of specific commanders and units. We can say for sure that balance will be constantly changing before the Open Beta arrives, and by that point we believe the balance should be pretty stable.
- Are you planning any new maps, Commanders, units or features to be added soon? (Features such as a party system, player ranking, modding, etc.)
Definitely! Social features like friends/parties will be introduced in the next few months. The same goes for units, Commanders, and maps. Ranked matchmaking will be introduced later this year. As Total War Arena is a competitive multiplayer game, we do not intend to support modding in the near future.
- Are there any plans to make battles easier to read? (Such as corresponding different colours to all units per side, etc.)
We are constantly working on improving battle UI, as well as match sounds. So yes, in the next couple of phases you can expect to see number of changes which will improve battle awareness. We’ve already introduced the alternative battle view: when you hold down space, you can see units highlighted in their faction colour. This is an option that you can customize in the “Unit Identifiers” section of the options.
- A lot of bugs remain - will they be fixed anytime soon?
We are very grateful for all the bug related feedback you guys are providing. Everything has found its place in our backlog and we hope to address as many issues as possible over the next few updates.
- Will the camera settings be changed to allow for more freedom of control/more strategic overview of the game by being able to scroll out further?
The current camera zoom level is roughly where we want it to be, and even though we’re considering optimising this, we are not planning on changing it in a big way. It takes you closer to the action and gives you a better feel for your units, what they do, and how the battle is going. Arena is a much more action-oriented game than our other Total War titles, so you need to be a lot closer to the battle to understand what’s happening and play well. Additionally, raising the camera too high would make situational awareness trickier than it needs to be.