The Malay/Javanese umbrella issue is far less pronounced than the Slav category. Not all umbrellas are equally culpable. I would compare this to the Italian/Venetian issue. Right now, the devs attention should be focussed on Africa and East Asia/China umbrella.
Its not nearly as bad, but you are still putting a very large and very varied group, which no, doesnt compare at all to the Italian/Venetian thing. These guys had waaaayyy more diferences.
Although tbh I agree that its not a must have civ
I disagree. There’re many civs in East Asia-Southeast Asia that can still be added, and the market is definitely there.
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The term “Han” is anachronistic for the time period of AOE 2. If you’re referring to the Han Dynasty then that was AOE 1’s time period, and if you’re referring to the Han ethnicity then that was only created in the early Republican period.
My opinion is to keep the civ name as Chinese, or name them as “Sinitics” instead.
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I donty think theres a big market to get into for any of the east Asian civs (I dont think a Khitan civ would catch that much attention of the Chinese people) and in South East Asia I dont think theres anything else that would catch that much attention beyond Thai and Javanese
But either way, I dont understand the Chinese market that much.
China is a huge market by itself, adding Jurchens, Tanguts, and Dians/Zangkes would definitely attract many Chinese players. And if you’re going by “market ideology” then most of the African civs are even more unknown than East Asian and SE Asian ones, and African is also a much smaller market compared to East-SE Asia when it comes to gaming industry.
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Keep them as they are, indeed.
For the purpose of discussion. suggest some differences between the Malay and the Javanese then? I’m from the region and I can tell you that the variations are well captured in what they have now. A maritime UU, a ship may be added to add more flavour at most.
I disagree. Theres a lot of diferent African civs that are welll known by western audiences, way more than most East Asian civs except for Thai, Manchu or Javanese
How much though? Are Tanguts, Nanzhao or Gokturks even that popular in China? Jurchen sure
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The Tibetans would be but they seem to be a poison pill for many here, though a number of Chinese players have said a Tufan/Tubo named civ could get away.
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Yeah Tibet would be great but Im afraid devs see it as too much of a risk
“Han” is an anachronistic term to use in AOE 2, the reason I already mentioned above in another reply so I won’t bother repeating myself.
If you really want to rename the Chinese civ while at the same time keep its integrity, then “Sinitics” is the best alternative, or maybe the Chinese term “Huaxia”.
People are being scared of their own shadows.
Tbh while theres some diferences to be had gameplaywise, like bonuses for gunpowder and maybe an archer UU, the biggest diference is how they were culture wise from what I have seen
If we have to be honest the current civ is based off Java more than Malays, but I think putting both togheter wastes the potential of the region
I disagree, in fact if it wasn’t for this forum I wouldn’t even know civs like Songhai, Gao, Kanem, etc. existed. Average western audience might even assume Songhai and Gao to be Chinese names judging by how they sound like. I’m not downplaying African civs by any means, but saying that they’re more well-known by western audiences than most East Asian civs is definitely overexaggerating.
Tanguts, Khitans, Jurchens, Nanzhao, and Gokturks are definitely quite popular in China, much more so than you think.
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Songhai are quite popular, partly thanks to Civilization V and so is Kongo. Beninese and Zimbabweans are also decently known
And beyond Manchu and maayyybe Khitan, I just dont think any westerner would recognize any of those names
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This empire only existed at the very end of the AOE2 timeframe and is already represented by the Malians
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Recognising names is not an issue. Could someone who know nothing about history recognise the Teutons Goths Byzantines and Saracens for example ?
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And how is Taiwan related to AoE2?
Aren’t we talking about AoE2 here? What does Songhai and it’s popularity in a 4X strategy game have to do with AoE2? Kongo, Edo/Benin and Zimbabwe I will heartly except as new civs with Edo/Benin might even have a decent campaign.