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Well I would have to consider it worse than all the other games I deem worth buying for $60, but I do not. Iâm sure I will get far more hours out of it than most of the others.
$60 is like dinner for two at a niceish place, or a couple tanks of gas, or going to see a few movies, 1-2 boardgames, etc⊠I fully expect to play aoe4 at least a few hundred hours.
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But how is that an argument about IVâs worth? CE and SEGA are known for milking TW brand with the number or releases, amount and pricing of DLCs.
I prefere to focus on the series of AoE. TWs are a different subgenre of RTS games. Just like survival builders like Banished or Going Medieval, or eco builders like Tropico or Anno.
Of course you can make arguments both ways - TW games have mods huge as games that potentially give thousands of gameplay hours. Without mod/map tools for IV there is huge (not) the added value of user content and being stuck with whatâs provided by Relic.
We have 3 major installments in AoE series, and most of the things Iâve mentioned were present in AoE from 1997.
I donât even expect more. I just expect the same what was achieved in 16 or 24 years agoâŠ
Itâs not off-spin in the series. Itâs the fourth AoE game. And yes while III was different from II- it added many new systems and depth to the formula. Whatâs IV adding or more important to me- what parts of II or III AoEIV is improving?
In other words- what are the hooks. What justifies it?
Production value of cinematics? Except for intro/trailers I havenât seen anything so hard to say atm.
A huge number of campaign missions? I donât think itâs a very large number, plus itâs more important how long and complicated they are.
Very deep civ customizability? There is none afaik.
Groundbreaking visuals? Art is subjective, but Iâm not sure IV will leave the broad market in awe.
Great tech? Engine in many areas feels very dated, or at least effects of work build on it are.
Again - I never said Iâm 100% sure the price should be lowered. Itâs part of the prestige for a product. I prefere to get more and/or better content.
There is a huge topic of gamepass system and what itâs doing to the market, but that is exceeding the scope of even this subject 
This discussion will be much easier after the release. Also some people would be less passionate if this wasnât a quarter-century-old series. In many cases, itâs more about the game itself, than just simply pricing. Pricing is okay- thatâs Microsoft and this is AoE. I want AoE IV to be a grand game, priced like other big, prestige brands.
You can get 2k hours grom that new Tetris re-release. Or you can play Deathloop for 4 hours.
Hardly a solid talking point when talking about quality of the game
In a market partially dominated by F2P games like PoE, WF, Apex etc. gameplay hours one can swueeze out odf something is at best secondary matter. Especially on PC with modding scene.
Itâs absolutely a solid talking point. I would argue it is in fact the MOST relevant talking point. Itâs cost per time spent enjoying the product. I can pay for two of us to go to 3 movies and maybe get up to six hours of enjoyment, or I can buy AoE4 and get hundreds of hours of enjoyment.
Itâs extremely subjective.
I donât like sport games and think FIFA should cost 2$. And?
No shit.
Isnât that what this whole thread is about? If itâs worth it for people in their opinion?
Iâm talking about the game. What are you talking about?
Everybody has âan opinionâ. Itâs worthless. Doesnât matter. And itâs pointless.
Whatâs provided as a product matters and can be discussed. Iâve wrote about this many time but nobody is willing to answer to anything. Zero arguments.
Tech, features, anything.
What of whatâs provided is impressive on a level of a flagship, cult-classic PC series published by Microsoft? Even if you donât like theme and balance at least III had an extremely impressive visuals and tech behind it, outstanding music, content, fresh systems etc.
It might be overpriced for some people but certainly not the Australian who have one of the highest income in the world
60 USD is not overpriced in my opinion, at least compared to other AAA titles. But that depends on the financial situations over there. But 60 EUR base price is not like other AAA games. Though, the income is actually pretty good on average in Cork and Kilarney area. So I wouldnât say the game is overpriced necessarily, more like itâs based on a different location. And instead of altering what it would be in different countries and regions they just slapped the same price on it. If only the whole world would just use Euros or something like it marketing would be so much easier.
Edit: To clarify, a game here would normally be 50 EUR. But some games, such as Civilization 6, are 60 EUR (roughly 70 USD), when in the US it would be 60 USD.
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I must say $100 is not a reasonable price in Australia, who will even buy the $100 game when 99% of other games are below 60 dollars
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As pointless as assigning arbitrary values to each of the games features/tech/whatever and seeing if they add up to $60?
Itâs a game. Literally all that matters is the enjoyment people get out of it. Also, the OP is asking for opinions.
If we had all the financials for the companies involved in making the game then maybe we could calculate total cost, a reasonable profit margin, how many people could be expected to buy it, etc⊠And decide from that point of view if the price is correct. Otherwise Iâm not sure what youâre expecting other than opinions.
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People who lives in USD currency might think âHey 60 dollars is not bad at all hereâ but please THINK ABOUT THE OTHER COUNTRY, we have to spend 100 dollars on a rts game and 10 usd extra. Let make it this way, if Australia spend 60 dollars here and Usd spend 100 dollars there, who will complain now? You get my point?
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Precisely. Itâs not subjectivity- itâs the financial and commercial situation is different regions of the world. Some people are better off, some countries have different standards for stuff like this. Like, one euro is roughly 128 yen. Plus, youâd have to think about the salaries, income tax, and minimum wage there. Itâs hard to put it in English, but we all have different circumstances.
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I strongly agree with your statement
Of course at the end of the day enjoyment is the most important thing. That doesnât mean people shouldnât discuss anything in-depth.
Whatâs the point of just writing âI think itâs fineâ, 'I think itâs too expensive. At least threads about purchasing the game are more interesting, especially with polls. Iâm not responding to OP, Iâm trying to talk about anything just slightly more objective than feeling about the game. Itâs not valuable or interesting - everyone that played beta has them.
So again -maybe asking that 10th time will give me some answers. What part of what was provided so far in form of both test periods was very impressive, especially on AAA level.
Where are the hooks, what is being pushed forward?
If you had to recommend this game to some friend to buy on release (friend that likes classic RTS games ofc) what you would point to?
Many times I put strong emphasis on the fact I like the game and want to play it more. But at the same time I was trying to closely look at certain parts and compare them to what we have already and maybe even what would be expected in current year.
So. Number of civs, capabilities of the engine, advanced building systems, innovative player progression, army customizer, new PvE/coop modes, complex strategic layer, huge array of units, a lot of fun history stuff?
Itâs the most basic thing when thinking about any new game. What are the hooks, how this game is different and better from whatâs already there. Itâs totally fine to just be âgoodâ. I think IV is solid, good RTS. A lot of long time fans do not view it as a good RTS series, but the best one on the market and itâs not unreasonable to expect a bit more than simply âenoughâ.
As you can see Iâm not talking about overpricing, but rather underdelivery.
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Haha most of my friends in Australia that likes RTS mentioned âOverpricedâ âWho would buy a $100 dollar game AUDâ âI can buy a gaming headset with that price and a gaming keyboardâ etcâŠ
60 euro for the base game would be ideal if any subsequent faction DLCs only lock the story behind their price but donât deny players the option to use them in MP.
The initial price point should be there just to make sure people donât just make however many accounts to troll, smurf or try hacking all the time.
Here, base games are typically 49.99 EUR. Thatâs roughly 60 USD. AoE4 is 59.99 EUR, roughly 70 USD. I wouldnât say itâs overpriced for the quality of the game so far- but I would say that they should probably think more about the pricing across the globe.