After Smokejumper revealed some info on Battle Islands, Sporkfire posted an official update and opened Comment and Questions forums for comments. Head on over and check out the new info.

Some of this will be more comprehensible with a full write-up, but here's a few tidbits:

a) The smaller islands are organized into Clusters.

b) Individual islands can only be empire locked if that empire locks ALL the islands within a Cluster. (Locking just the three bases on one island wouldn't create a "lock" situation on that island until all other islands in the cluster are also completely owned.)

c) Pop locks occur per island. So if an island has a swarm of people on it, the Cluster won't be pop-locked...just that individual island.

d) FLB and module benefit sharing occurs through warpgate links within a Cluster. Therefore, if you own a tech plant on one island, and that tech plant is connected through a warpgate to another facility on a different island, BUT within the same island cluster, then FLBs and module benefits get shared across that link.

e) Clusters have comparable numbers of facilities to the larger continents you're used to now.

f) Capitols *can* occur on island clusters, but not all clusters will necessarily have Capitols. Sub-caps might be located on separate islands from the main capitol building in that case, but within the same Cluster.

Questions Answered :

Q: Are you using the same bases?
A: "Initially, yes. Same bases. Very different setups (surrounding terrain) for those bases, but initially using the same ones."

Q: It would be infinitely cool if you could cross the seas between the Battle Islands in one cluster.
A: "The individual islands are still separate zones. This is so that we can have separate pop-locks for them (which is a VERY good thing) and so they are smaller so that events can alter the world in the future without colossally-sized patches. But that future flexibilty means it's not possible to sail/fly between islands. You have to use warpgates for that."

Q: What will population caps be on these islands?
A: "The poplock on a small island will actually be quite comparable to that of a full-sized continent."

Q: Are these Battle Islands taking the "First M in MMOFPS" out of the game?
A: "I understand why they think that a smaller island might somehow equate to smaller battles, but actually...the opposite is true. These smaller islands focus the flow of gamers..."

Q: Will we have to wait at the last base on one island before warping to the next in order to get our [XP] points?
A: "You'll get base xp if you leave one island and go to the next. Just stay within the cluster and you'll be fine."

Q: Are the Islands individually named?
A: "Islands (and Clusters) have individual names, so your commanders will be able to reference them individually."

Q: Won't there be messy warpgate fights and zerg fests?
A: Warpgate fights are anticipated, especially since the islands make use of a smaller version of the warpgate...That's why we're going to be doing testing...so we can watch you all play and adapt the maps to the new tactics.

Q: ...Will the Continental map become a Cluster Map?
A: Actually, the global map interface is being redesigned to go along with the concept of clusters, so that question is up in the air at the moment. I'll have an answer once that has been through the Development process for a bit longer.

Q: Are all the new battle islands considered one island and each differnt mini island called a cluster?
A: The three of them together, Ascension, Desolation, Extinction, comprise a cluster. So, there are 3 islands that form one cluster.