AoE IV: Conflict of Fanbase

Age of Empires IV IV - Discussion
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I would like everybody to perform a quick exercise, as I’ve seen a lot of people with really strong opinions on AoE IV and the way it aught to be, and often the opinions are conflicting.

Think of everything you don’t want to see in AoE IV, take a deep breath, and let it go.

The setting and era is important for nostalgia’s sake or for flavor’s sake, but it won’t define the game play. Some people want to see AoE III’s homecity shipments again, some don’t. some people want 600 different factions with 1 difference each and some want fewer with many differences. Some people demand it be on steam. Some ppl see AoE III as the best game of all times and other wish it had never been born at all.

In reality, nobody is going to get everything they want out of the game. What I hope to accomplish with this post is broader acceptance for the thing that we do see when we finally see it. You people here on this forum reading this right now are the biggest AoE fans out there. a new game hasn’t been released in over 10 years, yet here you are. Yet somehow I feel like this community is actually the LEAST likely to accept the game for whatever it will be.

In this day and age, we need a full support behind the game if we want it thrive within the gaming community. So I hope everybody gives it a chance, because every Age of Empires/Mythology game has been good, and we have no reason to believe this one won’t have the same quality. While it’s fun and exciting to talk about what might be, speculation and demand will set you up disappointment if taken too seriously.

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Pretty fair commentary. Speaking as a fan since '98, I’m just really glad to see the franchise continuing to develop and try new things. I’m also really pleased with the loyalty and following of the fans because there is only ONE Age of Empires, despite all of the other attempts at competitors developing knock-off products.

Much like Star Wars fans there are going to be some who only like it the old way, some who like the new variety and such. Speculation over what will come vs not, these are very natural because that entire exercise is both entertaining and acts as an outlet.

It’s also important to remember that we have a new generation to consider and how to stay in keeping with the franchise’s core values of the game while appealing to them. That middle ground will be difficult to achieve because gaming from 1998 to present has changed dramatically. Let’s just hope it isn’t too watered down and can still be played maturely.

Either way, the resources obtained are going to help the products future viability, so, positive when you look at it like that. I’m sure the team is pretty aware of all of that though and will do its best to honor the franchise and its followers.

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