Muscle Might Win a Battle But the Economy Wins the War

The words ‘fantasy’ and ‘economy’ might at first appear to make strange bedfellows, but strategy gamers know that being in full command of your economy will win you a war; even when losing the battles. In the massively multiplayer strategy game Dawn of Fantasy, understanding the in-game economy is crucial to winning the game; but the economy differs in significant ways between the three races.

There are five resources to collect in Dawn of Fantasy - food, wood, gold, stone and influence. Each is gathered at a player’s cities and then used, in varying amounts, for the production of buildings and/or units; with the exception of influence. Influence only features in the Online Kingdom mode and is gained through successful quests and PvP warfare – or alternatively through purchase via the online store. It’s a hugely-powerful resource, able to boost construction, give powerful upgrades, or unlock new content from the online store, including new quests, mini-campaigns, exotic units, and perhaps even entire races and game modes.

Each of the three races gains its resources in different ways. Most traditional are the humans, who mine gold and stone, chop wood, and gain food through hunting, livestock and summer farms. The Orcs’ economy is similar, though more primitive; though they still mine and chop trees, they are hunter-gatherers, able to survive just on warg meat and foraging, making them a hardier race in prolonged, aggressive campaigns. Finally, the Elves still mine and gather, but get their wood and food from a symbiotic relationship with their surroundings year round, meaning they find defending much easier.
Players’ starting resources aren’t just affected by their race, but where they choose to start; different regions give bonuses to different resources; for example a mountainous region may be good for mining and highly defensible, but poor for hunting and farming. Moreover, players can trade resources within their guild or sell them in the persistent global market. Not all regions have access to all resources, meaning trading with, or conquering, other regions is not only an attractive prospect, but all the more necessary to survive.

Headed exclusively to PC, Dawn of Fantasy will be published by 505 Games on June 17, 2011.

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