Sorry, no good story about why they're there. I asked Eric, and he says some of the beta-testers wanted them. Since the beta-testers represent all of you, that means you guys wanted them too.
It's a good thing the beta testers didn't want aircraft carriers.
Great line, but this is really a significant problem, and I think a big misstep by the game creators. What is the name of this game? it is "Forge of Freedom: The American Civil War 1861-1865". The CSA sailing around with a whole fleet of ocean going ironclads in November 1861 might be "fun", but it has no connection with the American Civil War. Perhaps truth in advertising might call for the game to be called "Forge of Freedom: Beta Testers Flights of Fancy". In AU Tiger's thread called Epiphany about the level of accuracy in the game, I remember the outcome as tending toward the conclusion that it's ok for the game creators to leave out what they wish for simplicity sake, but what they chose to put in should be accurate. To see an intentional mistake like this built into a game with a 200 page manual is frustrating. I too would like to see some of the beta testers step out and argue for why this choice was the right one.
Not that I am giving up on the game by any means. Personally, since my personality type forbids me from playing anything less than the most advanced version, and from playing tutorials, and from sitting down and reading the manual properly, I am still working myself up the learning curve slowly [:)] Hopefully by the time the first patch comes out fixing the fort/seige CTD problem, I will be ready for some email or direct competition, then we'll see how fun this game is.
