www.dipwiki.com?title=Haven

You've all played my Haven map... I've been considering some changes for the 3rd playtest, and was looking for input on the concept...

1) Making Spiral Castle adjacent to Ivory Tower (the two circular tower spaces linked)... and possibly, making one or both of these also adjacent to Two Towers (by the Hobbits). i.e. atop all the wizards towers are magical portals that can link you to the other towers. (this was suggested by a player)

2) Making Zhentil Keep adjacent to Dargaard Keep, presumably by a hatch in the floor / secret passage. Right now, Dargaard Keep starts right in the center of 5 powers, none of which can reach it with a land unit in 01, but three of which can reach it with a fleet, creating a dead zone / negotiation point. If you could move from that space (armies only) directly to Zhentil Keep, would that be too strong? Does that give the northwestern powers too much influence of the central island?

3) A link from Devils Canyon to Ice Reach.

These are designed to facilitate units moving around the map. Would it be better? Not needed?

Keep in mind the game was designed to be a world-style variant in that it supports 19 players, but avoid the typical large-variant-syndrome of the game bogging down midway into massive armies that are all stuck in their own worlds with relatively little interaction.

Ideas welcome,
-mike