One of the most asked questions in Earth2 related conversations is if roads are needed in Earth2 and why didn’t developers pave roads before releasing E2 to the Public. Roads are shown as a big selling point by Megacities in E2. Roads are shown as a critical success factor for megacities when comparing with cities, where users bought land with no planning. So we will do a deep dive into this topic today so that you can clearly understand whats the use of roads and do we really need it.
Before we dive into roads in E2, it’s better to start with an understanding of why roads are there in our world.
- Paved roads are needed for vehicle transport: In the initial stages of human evolution, everyone used to walk around. Then came horses, horse carts, and then motor vehicles to make traveling from A to B faster. And to travel paved roads were necessary, so towns and countries started paving the paths and it became roads as we know now.
- People don’t want strangers on your land: When living somewhere, you need some privacy and would prefer if strangers don’t walk around your property. Stangers on land definitely will lead to some stealing/theft at some point.
- No Teleporting: As you, all know there is no ability for humans to fly or to teleport from one place to another (You know where I’m going with this)
- Paved roads: May not be needed unless we bring in cars or transport into the picture. Even if there are cars in E2, it’s doubtful that people would really use it as a primary mode of transportation.
- Stangers on your land: In this factor, E2 will be the exact opposite of how it happens in the world. you would be thrilled to have more strangers pass through your land, to have more footfalls and advertisement revenues.
- Teleporting: Yes, it is going to be there in E2. So why would someone walk from the Empire state building to Times square when they can teleport there in a second.
So all the top 3 factors which make roads a necessity in our world, is not applicable in Earth2.
When it becomes really crowded: When it becomes crowded it would be easier if you have a road and property is next to it. Definitely not a case for a couple of years, and when combining it with fact that many people are buying land as an investment, this would not come to play for a long long time.
When you have really bad neighbors: When you have neighbors who build big walls around you or have build skyscrapers without leaving an inch of property around you, it would become hard for you to attract people to your property. Having a roadside property will help you here.
When someone bought land around you, to force you to sell: This is one tactic used by big construction companies to force you to sell your plot, by cutting access to your property. If (and only if) your plot is next to a road, you will still have access on one side, and would be able to hold to land or get a better bargain for the same.
Devs wanted it as an open world where anyone can build anything without having to worry about restrictions on Earth. They wanted communities to come up in cities/places in E2 so that communities as a whole can decide what’s better for the community.
So Conclusion from all this is that roads might not be a success factor in Earth2. Some may wish they are next to a road because of some nasty neighbors, but for an avatar who wants to roam around in E2, roads might not be of any use. (Unless we can do NFS in E2!, wait… is NFS coming to E2?!!)