New Kinda Noob game Starting

[Kobal2]

I'm ambivalent. On the one hand, it removes the whole gimmick of the map, and starting on the island is a tough proposition without the gem boost to fend off 3+ opponents at once. On the other hand, I really have no idea how much of a difference "Many Sites" make, or whether it would shift the balance the other way round and make the central nation(s) roll over everyone else easily.

[attackdrone]

Normally, each player would have two land neighbors, plus one more if they are one of the players on the island.

X-X-X
|.....|
X....X
|.....|
X-X-X

Opening up the island as a start position for two people results in each player having three land neighbors (the usual two plus one on the island) with each island player having three neighbors as well.

X-\../-X
|...X...|
X-..|.-X
|...X...|
X_/.\_X

The second diagram is not completely correct, but it is fairly close.