Marie Croall, Senior Game Designer for Fallen Earth has posted the January State of the Game letter on the official forums. The letter takes player questions into account and goes into great detail about the upcoming Sector 4 Alpha County that is set to debut sometime in early 2011.
What's in it/How is it being released?
We are planning to release Sector 4 in four counties. The first of the counties, Alpha, gives players their first look at what's behind the wall and why it was built. Alpha County will raise the level cap by 5 levels and introduce all new recipes, abilities, mutations, gear and consumables. We expect Alpha County to hit the server in Q2.
Why is it taking so long?
I've sort of touched on this briefly, through other formats, but the overall game balance was a big concern for us this past year. There were several areas of combat that we needed to adjust before we could properly design encounters and instances as we moved forward. Additionally, our art team has been taking these past few months to make huge improvements that are necessary for the gameplay, story and setting. As important as it is to us to get the new content out, it's more important to get it out right. Both content and art are very focused on auditing the existing content to make the necessary revisions to ensure quality for release.