The free-to-play launch brought an unprecedented number of adventurers to Albion, and the Outlands have felt the strain. To give guilds and solo players alike the room they need, the black zones are being expanded significantly.
The expansion adds a large number of new territories, spread across fresh regions on the far edges of the map. Each region brings its own biome mix, resource distribution and set of contested points, so the value of a territory depends on far more than its position on the map.
Travel between the new regions is deliberately demanding. Portals and roads have been laid out so that controlling the routes between clusters is as strategically important as holding the clusters themselves.
Alongside the new land comes a rebalancing of territory rewards. Seasonal points, resource yields and the tribute system are all being tuned so that holding remote, high-risk ground pays off proportionally to the danger involved.
Full patch notes will follow closer to the release date. Guilds planning a move outward should start scouting now.