There has been oodles of people stepping up to say they didn't want MP.  Look in any MP thread, or any thread that even mentions MP, and there are people in there responding that they have no interest in MP, and do not want to see development resources reallocated to build MP when there is still so much more to do in SP, whether it be bug fixes, or adding content.

On MP: No thank you. I cringe when I hear multiplayer and "strategy" in the same sentence. Waay too many tradeoffs. One of the most long-awaited sequal/upgrades in the last two years - Starcraft Wings of Victory - had an amazing campaign but sandbox was terrible because the designers made the MP and sandbox equivalent (i.e., crushingly limited). And that was an RTS, a genre that lends itself very well to MP. I can't even envision a TBS with the scope of FE being multiplayer.

On Topic: I would TOTALLY buy a dlc map pack with that awesome looking world map in it. Heck, I'd shell out $5 for that map alone . Can't wait to see it. 

Any ETA on the map pack?

Dominions III does not have any single player to speak of.  I definitely understand why a someone who cares about single player would be afraid that an emphasis on multiplayer would negatively impact the single player experience.

I'm sorry but I completely disagree, Dominions 3 single player is just fine never had an issue with it, MP on the other hand...

Dominions 3 is a long game which basically means MP is played on smallish maps due to time constraints and the length time taken to complete a single game.

The issue with any MP game is people quitting whenever it looks like they maybe on the losing side, yes Dominions 3 AI will take over these positions which is very thoughtful of Illwinter games.

Played hundreds of SP games of Dominion 3 and the AI does a good Job. An absolutely great game, as Fallen Enchantress is also shaping up to be.

Quin, I may come as a bit condescending... Hell, I am condescending.  Dominions 3 AI is beyond retarded.  I must have played hundred MP games in Dominions 3.  I stopped because my not-yet-wife asked me, but not before I won the first two official tournaments, not before the point when people were ganking me four at the time, and still losing... and not before I came up with quite a few strategies that forced Illwinter to change quite a few rules.  Thanks for reminding me of that game, and making me revisit the threads for my most fondly remembered games.

I played Dom2 and Dom3 for years.  In all that time, I must have played 5 games against the AI, unless you count a few turns to test a new pretender (against another side played by me).  The AI could not deal with super-combatants, could be lured again and again into undefended territories and be wiped out for 1 gem, could be pushed into wars with other AIs, did not know how to use province shields, etc, etc, etc...

In 2008 Dominions 3 had NO single player, for all intents and purposes.  I know of no good player who would bother.  This may have changed, but it would really surprise me.

And the reason for this is that everyone who played it, played it for the multiplayer.  And when someone wanted to drop, it was considered really poor form to switch to AI instead of finding anyone, including a newbie, to take his place.

this is perhaps the first 4x game where a "map pack" has sufficed as a DLC item.  Normally, as i said before half of the DLC out there just feels like it was plucked out of the game to be sold separately to minimize content.

That said, i am surprised i find myself looking forward to the map pack.  Now i am hoping for a Civ Pack (which would hopefully include new sand to create characters with!) or a campaign pack (to add 12 chapters to the campaign - or give a campaign to each of the other default leaders).

Welp, consider this a pledge to the Fallen Enchantress telethon!

Funny, that's how I feel about a map pack
No offence, but I am not here for the maps, some players are and if they buy it, and enjoy it, fantastic!
Also just saying those kind of feelings are different from player to player, that said I hope the dlc is at a proper price, have seen some decent dlc waaay overpriced (imo).

Sincerely
~ Kongdej

Dominions 3 Single player AI is pretty simple.  It masses crappy indy troops and throws them at you.  A couple SCs and you win.  It's pretty much a MP game with a SP mode for testing shit.  

Exactly.

don't keep us waiting too long... we demand an update on the map pack status!

Multiplayer games tend to want to decide a winner based on strategy and tactics.

Solo games are boring without some chaos and random luck thrown in.

MPers hate being knocked out or having a game decided by a luck event. Soloists hate being limited to strategy vs an AI which usually sucks.

Its hard to mix the two equally. Some games might have switches for toning down the random luck of map placement, or random events, but usually not to a complete on/off level so games (and maps) lean toward MP or Solo.

As far as Dominions 3.. yes the devs have said it is meant to lean toward multiplay. And their previous game (altho updated to version 3 and now their newest game) of Conquest of Elysium is meant to lean more toward solo play.

Side question: when talking about Dom3 MP vs Solo, are both vanilla? If you only find mp worthwhile but always play it modded then it seems an unfair comparison unless you try solo play with mods and maps meant to improve that also.

BY THE WAY the reason I dropped by is to announce that both Illwinter games have a new patch released. Presently the Dom3 patch can only be gotten directly from the illwinter.com site

Wow, I understand people much more when I realize they don't look at the real world, they just generalize the ideas behind why and why not...

Sincerely
~ Kongdej

In Russia game been released 10 december 2010 and i don't have credit card. Maybe you invent some easier way? Webmoney, as example, or something else.