Some newbie driver wrote: ↑24 Sep 2021 10:19But the main reason for sure is what Shiva already suggested lots of months ago: either they start to map big chunks of Russia now (Baltiocs was just a small taste) and intercalate with other places, either we will have 3 or 4 consecutive Russian DLC. As the second option is way worse from the marketing perspective; better to start right now.
Sure, this must be one of the main reasons for expanding in the eastern direction ASAP. However, in order to avoid making consecutive DLCs feeling too similar to each other, Russia DLCs need to be interchanged with stuff like Western Balkans, Northern Scandinavia or Iceland, not Belarus and Ukraine. So if they made a Belarus + Western Ukraine DLC first and saved Heart of Russia for later, it wouldn't have been much of a loss in terms of variety of future DLCs, and we would have gotten a better-shaped map.
But hey, what's done is done. And this way Moscow is coming in the game sooner, so I'm not really complaining
oldmanclippy wrote: ↑24 Sep 2021 14:43I've always liked that map whenever you post it. Realistically I think that's as far as SCS will go with ETS2 except for maybe venturing into Northern Africa at some point. I don't think there's a lot to gain by going further into the black regions of your map besides Northern Africa. Leave the Middle East to ProMods unless something very drastic changes in geopolitics. Your three Russia-included DLC's post-HoR are good choices. Kazakhstan interests me a lot. It's a shame that all the most important cities such as Almaty, Nur-Sultan, Karagandy, etc are all in the eastern side of the country. At least I'd like to see the undeniably European part like you have in your map.
Thanks!
Northern Africa is probably fair game, but I agree that Middle East will most likely remain a no-go zone for SCS even if they start mapping other non-European territories. Which is a shame, because I'm not a very big fan of the ProMods ME addon - it is too crowded for my liking and has very few new dedicated assets. I don't know what exactly it is supposed to look like, but seeing Soviet buildings interchanged with French villas in tiny three-block cities is the opposite of immersive to me. It would be interesting to see the region done in SCS quality, but alas.
oldmanclippy wrote: ↑24 Sep 2021 14:43The most intriguing question in terms of when are we getting certain DLCs and in what form would be: what will happen to Ireland and Iceland? Will they be bundled or separate? Will one come much earlier than the other? Is Iceland even guaranteed to come? Would the Ireland DLC include northern Scotland and western Wales, or would they be added to the base map?
I am absolutely positive that, unless SCS suddenly goes out of business or something, Iceland will arrive sooner or later. It is a full-fledged European country, it uses European trucks and has weekly cargo ferry routes running to mainland Europe - why shouldn't it be in ETS2?
I see no point in bundling Ireland and Iceland together. They have very little in common beside being relatively small and sharing the general direction on the compass. They're not even connected with a ferry, to my knowledge. IMO, they both should just be separate smaller half-price DLCs. If I had to guess, I'd say the rest of Scotland and Wales will be added to the base map, but Ireland will be a DLC.
And you are right, it is a lot easier to speculate about future ATS DLCs than ETS2 ones. I feel like aside from Iberia, SCS are always surprising us with the exact nature of new ETS2 map expansions. But I'm certain that these DLCs will keep coming as long as they keep making SCS money, which I hope they will keep doing until all of Europe is mapped at least. And I'll gladly keep buying them
oldmanclippy wrote: ↑24 Sep 2021 20:06Slovenia, Northern Ireland, Ireland, and Croatia are among those who have been tortured the longest by being tantalizingly close to in-game roads for the longest. Although perhaps poor Liechtenstein is the truest victim, being mere meters away from mapped roads since the very beginning
I've seen a couple of players from Andorra around, I can only imagine how they feel. Iberia arrived, but new roads went right around them
I'm lucky though - you will be able to see my
home city block in the background in the game soon