While the player is attempting to overthrow the current king of Albion, they need to gather support from the people. However, depending on the amount of control the tyrant exerts over a region, initial support can be hard to gather. To encourage citizens to join the revolution, the player must amass ‘Guild Seals” by completing quests, interacting with the people or performing good deeds to gain support and make promises to improve people’s lives when the Hero has the throne. These promises can affect anything from a single individual’s life to affecting the entire population or a class group within it. After the player has gained control of the crown, they have the opportunity to carry out or ignore the promises they made that allowed them to achieve their position.
As Peter Molyneux, Lionhead’s Creative Director, explains:
| “ | The really strange thing about leadership is that there’s a common thread that has existed for centuries in all cultures. Whenever politicians, rebels or juntas are climbing to power they make promises, and very often these promises are not delivered on. We want to give a sense of that, so as you’re building up your forces, as you’re being a rebel, you will find this opportunity to promise things to get more power. Then after you’ve become leader, the opportunity to live on those promises has real consequences. | ” |
When queried over how the game would work after the player had assumed control of Albion, Molyneux was quick to deny that the game would become a Theme Park-style management game and that Lionhead would not be returning to its roots making strategy games.
