Subtle changes....or not

With the last wipe i had to recreate a new character so i chose a different path to follow..which started me out in High Vale. Well i have run all over exploring Novia since i am pretty familar with Hidden Vale and now that i am doing some different things i have noticed some changes. The main change i saw today when romping through Soltown and Solace Bridge. The whole Solace Bridge area is different. Is this because this is not the path i chose or what. Half the area is on fire....the one exit from town past the ruins is closed off with fire and Edmar now has a boat on the river that takes me to Soltown. The boat has always been there but didnt do anything....and now it takes me to Soltown which never had that before. There is a small area across from the camp with the boat dock.
If these changes are not due to me changing starting points then this is a very radical and different turn. And some of the quest stuff isnt working right as well. Just curious as if other towns and scenes were changed.
I have noticed some of the landscape has changed. East Reach Gap is a little different as well...or at least to me. Took me forever to get through that place coming from Desolis and i dont remember the additional pathway that wraps around. Just a bit confusing to me.

 

Yeah, they changed it so that you can now start the other two story campaigns just by visiting those towns at any time later.

 

Some areas do change over time. I remember entering Greymark forest once to harvest my favorite cotton and ore nodes, and everything had changed. I suspect the devs had just rotated the scene, having players enter by a different route, but it was very disorienting. I have since experienced this same thing with other scenes. The most significant change I have found in scenes I used to frequently visit is in the resources available. The devs are starting to change the resource nodes - I suppose it is to accommodate their plan for regional scarcity/availability.

Regarding the Soltown/Solace Bridge experience, as @smack already said, it is because you can now experience all beginner campaigns. I'm not sure this is a good idea because the quests aren't complete yet and it is indeed confusing. Some details:

If you start out on the Path of Love (the only path that is fairly complete) as a Ranger, the lunar rift takes you to the Battle of Solace Bridge scene. Edvard tells you to take a boat to leave the scene, and the boat takes you to Soltown.

If you start out on the Path of Courage as a melee warrior, the lunar rift takes you to the Battle of Highvale scene. Normally, you would walk out of that scene and continue your path in the neighboring town of Resolute. Because the quest line isn't complete and you will hit a dead end in Resolute, you have the option to take a wagon to Soltown, where you can complete some of the Path of Love quests. This is only temporary and may already have been changed since the last time I embarked on the Path of Courage.

If you start out on the Path of Truth as a mage, the lunar rift takes you to the Blood River Massacre scene. Normally, you would walk out of that scene and I think you would continue your path in the town of Aerie. Because the quest line isn't complete, to prevent you from hitting a dead end you currently have to take a boat to Soltown, where you can complete some of the Path of Love quests. This is only a temporary workaround.

No matter what Path you start out on, you will still have the opportunity to experience all the content related to the other paths. So even if you have been playing for a while, the first time you enter Solace Bridge you will find it burning. You get a clue by the name of the scene - it is called "Battle of Solace Bridge" instead of "Solace Bridge". The same thing holds true for the other two starter areas. The first time you enter Highvale or Blood River you will encounter the battle version.

Once all the quest lines are complete, this will make sense to new players. Imagine starting out in Highvale, arriving in the aftermath of an attack by the elves and completing quests related to Resolute. At some point you will travel out of the region and explore the southern shore of Novia. You enter Solace Bridge and learn there has been a fierce battle as armies of undead have attacked the garrison! You journey on to Soltown as instructed by Edvard and there are new quests for you to complete there that you have never seen before. When you visit these places again (Highvale or Solace Bridge), the scenes are different because the battles are long over, and you see what has since become of the towns. Solace Bridge is deserted, inhabited only by the undead. Highvale is now inhabited only by the elves who originally attacked the town and bandits, who have seized the garrison.

Right now, this switching back and forth between scenes is very confusing, I agree. Once all the quest lines are compete, we experienced players will have to put on our "new player" glasses and try to experience the flow of the quest lines without our foreknowledge getting in the way. Then it will all make sense.

Regarding East Reach Gap - there has always been a side road on the right circling around the front gate of the control point and ending in a cliff overlooking it. There may have been some small changes, but I probably wasn't as familiar with the original layout to notice them.

 

Thanks Kara. The reason i was asking is Solace Bridge used to be good for resource gathering....now there is nothing there. Also the plague zombies didnt bother me either. Only skeletons i saw were on the bridge itself...nothing else roaming at all. So wasnt sure if that is like that since i didnt start there or what. I havent made it to Blood River yet. This second round of playing i chose the Courage path and started at HighVale.....lots or resources there. So i will check Solace off the list of resources for now...or at least until i finish the quests involved with it....Thanks again for the imput.

 

The initial starting scenes say Battle of before the name. So Battle of Solace Bridge is the scene you would see when you leae the Isle of Storms. If you've been to the Battle of ... scene, either as part of the First Time User Experience (ie. Arabella and the Isle of Storms), the name changes to just the scene name. So visiting the Battle of Solace Bridge gets you started on the story line. When you come back the next time the Battle scene is gone and the regular scene, now showing as Solace Bridge, appears. This is the scene that would have the resources, quest completions, etc.

 

Ahhh once again thank you. Just confused me a bit as i hadnt noticed it before. Makes sense.