There was no choice, they had to abruptly create a setting for Dragon Country and then place an NPC in Kavala, an NPC who could recite the "Tao Te Ching"—that way, they could claim to be promoting traditional Chinese culture.
But the inspecting comrade, sharp as an eagle, said don't assume I don't understand games.
During the public testing phase, most of the player traffic was in Constantinople, so what's the point of sticking a China NPC in some backwater corner? Move it to Constantinople.
The design team then explained that in our main storyline, Constantinople is doomed to fall.
Apart from two Empresses, nearly all other civilian NPCs would be gone; what then would you do with your China NPC?
You surely can't have him summon a heavenly sword to simply step on it and fly away as the Seljuk forces breach the walls, can you?
