Will there be any micro-managing in The Settlers: New Allies?

If you've been keeping up (a little) with the news Ubisoft publishes about The Settlers: New Allies, you probably know the game is plagued by many things.

The new name can't hide the delay in release since the first alpha version back in 2019. It also can't hide the lack of listening to user feedback, so it seems.

In a news update last September, Ubisoft announced they simplified the usage of tools in The Settlers. 

Tools in Settlers = micro-management

In the TTS Insight (Technical Test Server), the Settlers team mention an important part of the Settlers experience:

Since the early entries in the series, a variety of tools were needed for their specific jobs. Scythes, fishing rods, hammers, saws, axes and pickaxes were all employed. 

I know, right? Who hasn't thrown their keyboard from the desk (and reeled it back in with the cord) in anger when they found out those two farmers were just idling about because they didn't have a scythe... 

Anyway, I digress.

The Toolsmith was an essential part of your economy, as he would provide your budding empire with the right tools. And if you weren't in need of any tools, you could just send the fella home to chill.

Great job!

The Settlers team intend to "re-capture that feeling". Oh, and attack "the problems we found". 

Say what?

Tools in Settlers: New Allies = Swiss Army Knife?

Apparently, this part of micro-managing was not what the Settlers players could or want to do. 

Because in The Settlers: New Allies, individual tool types will no longer be available. Instead, there will be some kind of Swiss army-knife kind of tool that will be used by fishermen, farmers and swordsmiths alike. 🤔

We decided on this based on the increased burden it would put on players to micro-manage their tools.

They tried to add tools as a requirement for workers. Which are, obviously, an important part of the game. 

But this requirement would halt economic expansion when the stores of tools would run empty. Tool production would be the backbone of all empires and the most important objective for the short term.

In that form, it would make devising masterful strategies all that much harder.

Verdict on Tools

Micro-management has always been a great part of the Settlers games. It is what makes the games stand out from the 'competition' because without it, it would just be a clone of any old RTS game.

The same seems to be true for the other players anxiously awaiting the release. Or not...

"This is so disappointing,", writes Bibiana."I thought after playing Settlers for 20 years I would have the same feeling when playing Settlers II, but this is not gonna happen."

Which is very sad indeed. Truth be told, Settlers II (or 10th anniversary) are my favourites by far, so I'm rooting for that feeling to come back too. 

C4ssy5 takes it one step further and says "Stop bending every established mechanic in The Settlers to fit to your RTS-style game."

The most spot on comment I think, is from Tjomis82. 

The micro manage part of tools is exactly why settlers is so good. We want separate tools so it feels like a real strategy game where you need to think your strategy from early start. If not micromanage, this new settler game will be just another strategy build game no different from any other game.

Yes, that 👆👌

Because I need reasons to throw my keyboard through the window. 

It's wireless these days, so it would mean having to go fetch it from the yard... 

Oh well 🤷‍♂️