Alright, I've seen some work-in-progress version, so how does it look now?
Visually, it's a mix of high quality standard terrain in the north and south, and and interestingly design village in between. I guess this village will take some time getting use to, but no complaints for me.
Regarding gameplay:
-Well, boats. The map seems to have a good way of implementing boats, they seem to give an advantage, but it's nevertheless possible to play without them.
-AoW-Creeping: Only the 6-4-4 polar bears are an option, and while you cant build the AoW right in front of them, the reward (both lvl 2 and a big potion) seems rather strong. I would like this to be changed. Maybe you could make it so that the harbour is the "natural" target for AoW-creeping? This would give a further incentive to use boats.
-No complaints about items otherwise.
-Many ensnare creeps and if I remember correctly, they can cast ensnare on boats. This does not favor using boats.
-It is possible to buy items at the shops from "behind" the houses? Was this intended? It's alos possible to attack the trolls guarding the shop from across these houses.
-In the same manner, the murlocs can be attacked from "behind", causing the to walk around weirdly.
-The creeps at the harbours will attack players units that might walk past. In theory that is bad, in practice it seem that units that are rallied to your army are unlikey to walk too close to those creeps, and it's likely that these creeps will get taken out early anyway.
-Please check the pathing/ramp at the locations marked on this screenshot:

-Nightelves (kotg) will not like the lack of trees in central village.

So I'm kinda how to moderate this map. It is high quality, but there are some issues. I dont insist that you fix (all of) them, but maybe explain how you think about them and if you would make changes. Therefore I'll keep the map as pending until you reply

I did a quick fix for now. Replaced most ensnare creeps and added an AoW spot at the shipyard.

-Idk why it happens with the houses, there's vision blockers (I even checked to be sure) but they seem to work in mysterious ways. I guess I'll have to redo the area around the shops. Or does it balance out BM? Murlocs are intended though
-There's actually another AoW spots in the middle next to the tavern and troll camp (lvl2 charged + lvl1 book)
-The pathing has been taken care of, I always miss some spots
-Too bad for him, guess he'll have to change tactics if he wants to use trees nah, I wanted to add some but they didn't really fit the atmospere (this is sadly a form over function dispute). One thing I didn't want to add were trees next to taverns though. Why couldn't NE build moonwells like others?
-There's a hidden feature due to previous pathing issues. If you destroy the boxes next to the trolls in the middle, units are prone to aggro them. Idk if it's useful or not, maybe if I left them with ensnare.

Anyways, I guess I'll have to redo the middle in the Rivertown2.0 version. I wonder how Reforged will handle the visuals

Well then. Most of what I said above still stands.
But in the end these are no "objective" flaw, but rather some debatable design choices that are within the limits of what imho should be acceptable in melee maps.
Therefore map approved. Still, please feel encouraged to make a 2.0 version.

rating 3/5