I’ve been an RTS fan for many years. Not to the extent of some of the pro’s like Grubby, Viper, Hera, etc (forgive the shoutouts as they have youtube channels, respect to many others I didn’t list).
Anyways there is constant complaining in the forums and I’m guilty of it myself in game when I run into a certain experience in game that is frustrating. Once the initial anger subsides I actually learn a valuable lesson about the game and strategy.
There are levels to gameplay in AOE4 and each map has multiple layers also. (Something I’m beginning to uncover)
Its a new game and a lot of ground is still left to be discovered. Trust me on this.
Once a base build order is complete for a given civ there are a TON of factors that come into gameplay that alter decisions on what is ideal for the given situation.
For example:
I just played a Holy Roman Empire player on Altai. Typically they build walls and towers and the odd time a player will duke it out in Feudal age with you. Their goal obviously being to fast castle. This map specifically is very easy to defend. This said the player just put up towers and had no army. I was able to get a Ram rush off with only 10 Longbows and was starting to get Pikemen up incase he went the usual Horsemen meta. Turns out a twist of luck and he went Men at Arms so it was a slight adjustment for me to start getting the same. Either way I had two rams atking buildings and was already making villager kills because the player didn’t wall off.
Part of the problem here is players don’t know proper strats for maps and more specifically civs. RTS games have a steep learning curve and only the truly dedicated can rise to the top.
I imagine as I climb in elo I will play better players that will force me to learn new ways to approach that map. Had they walled off they would have guaranteed needed to fight me in the Feudal because my ram would have made quick work of the wall. (I’d have to check times to be certain)
This said it seems multiplayer has the same griping as 1v1 and I believe its less a game problem and more a strat problem. Like I took notes on Danube River today and I likely won’t be playing that map in rotation for sometime so its hard to mimic player vs player if I choose to practice vs the AI.
It almost seems like its a game that requires practice buddies. Or a more tighter community of players that help each other out.
So the responsibility is on you the player to network and work with someone to advance in the game.
So if anyone is looking to play against the English consistently at around 1100 Elo and rising feel free to add me. Note that I’m not overly fond of 2v2 as I have a TON left to learn in 1v1 before I start tackling multiplayer game strat and dissecting what needs to be done. By the sounds of it players sound upset with Wonder wins, Landmark wins, or teaming up. To be honest random generated multiplayer doesn’t sound good to me. Not being able to talk with a teammate or have a base strategy to go with doesn’t sound fun at all. However with a solid player that you practice with I imagine would have a lot of dynamic to it and would absolutely crush in ladder if anyone seriously approached it like this.
Basically the game is good. I actually believe the maps and strategy are way beyond most player levels skill. Myself included and this excites me to want to get better and learn more. However the game needs a dedicated community to improve gameplay and players skill caps.
For this reason I’m staying put with AOE4 and looking forward to when they release new civs to play. Maps not so much as there is already a lot to learn with just civs and map. 8 different possible matchups with a multitude of builds depending on what map you get and further increased by the skill level of the player you’re up against. The game has a lot of depth and replay ability it can just be very hard to see when you don’t know what to do vs something in game and have to go back to the drawing board. Made doubly hard when you can’t play with someone else to simply test out a game mechanic based on what you recently faced.
I’m going to state something here as people think English are just a rush civ. Depending on the map you actually don’t even want to rush as there are waaaaay better builds and strats to use that will put you waaaaay further ahead.
Good luck on the ladder