I love Age of Empires, mainly because I’ve played it since I was 6 <3 but how can it keep up with a lot of bigger games at the moment. I feel like it’s missing the hook to get players initially into the game. Any Ideas? 
I think AoE:DE is more fan service than anything, or an homage to the RTS days of old. Personally, I don’t think MS is trying to make AoE:DE into a competitive force for e-sports - that will (hopefully!) be done some day with AoE4. IMO, AoE doesn’t need to keep up - it’s for us old-timers, and for the new members of the community who will be attracted by word-of-mouth or by the game’s cult status. It’ll be revived, and surge in popularity, but I can’t tell how much.
For me, it was always great playing with my Dad. Now that I’m a Dad I think it will be awesome to introduce it to my kids and have awesome multiplayer battles together!
Yeah playing with my dad was what got me into this game I especially loved the missions where a strong navy was required to win. Those where always fun and the game difficulty was one of my favorites cause it was always a challenge. Your also right I do believe for those of us over 20 would be playing this mostly the younger generation of kids would probably blow this off. If I had to chose my favorite AOE would be Age of Kings. What would you guys say?
@XxKdawg95xX said:
Yeah playing with my dad was what got me into this game I especially loved the missions where a strong navy was required to win. Those where always fun and the game difficulty was one of my favorites cause it was always a challenge. Your also right I do believe for those of us over 20 would be playing this mostly the younger generation of kids would probably blow this off. If I had to chose my favorite AOE would be Age of Kings. What would you guys say?
My favourite is and always will be the first one + Rise of Rome. I don’t know I just love everything about it. I like the sounds the music and the Graphics more than AoE2.
I think I was 9 when my Dad got me this game. Old times… how many hours I’ve spent playing AOE 1. Actually spent a lot of time with map editor too, something I didn’t do that much with later versions. I guess the simplicity of it was appealing. AOM and AOE 3 had way too many features (normally I don’t complain about that).
My favourite is still AOE 3 for multiplayer gaming. AOE 2 is, I guess, most popular world-wide. But can’t wait to get hands on this one and re-live my childhood.
This showed up in my newsfeed on facebook and I’d love to get involved with this beta.
I feel the best way to market this title to a new audience is through demos and livestream. A trailer can only do so much when the best way is try it out yourself. Heck I got into Age of Empires because of that demo that used to be on MSN Zone.
I am certainly going to promote this game to everyone I know. While the previous games have a higher level of difficulty to hype somebody because of the age it will be a lot easier to mention this game with it’s modern way of playing.
@Otani64 said:
I am certainly going to promote this game to everyone I know. While the previous games have a higher level of difficulty to hype somebody because of the age it will be a lot easier to mention this game with it’s modern way of playing.
It will still mostly be aoe1 mechanics - That hardly qualifies as modern way of playing 11
@Jineapple said:
@Otani64 said:
I am certainly going to promote this game to everyone I know. While the previous games have a higher level of difficulty to hype somebody because of the age it will be a lot easier to mention this game with it’s modern way of playing.It will still mostly be aoe1 mechanics - That hardly qualifies as modern way of playing 11
I cannot believe they will not introduce enhancements like queueing technologies, better rally-points, better waypoint movement, improved hotkeys, … And maybe even garrisoning and gates?
@Otani64 said:
@Jineapple said:
@Otani64 said:
I am certainly going to promote this game to everyone I know. While the previous games have a higher level of difficulty to hype somebody because of the age it will be a lot easier to mention this game with it’s modern way of playing.It will still mostly be aoe1 mechanics - That hardly qualifies as modern way of playing 11
I cannot believe they will not introduce enhancements like queueing technologies, better rally-points, better waypoint movement, improved hotkeys, … And maybe even garrisoning and gates?
there’ll be no garrisoning, confirmed
Fair enough, just like the old days eh
Age of Empires games succeed when they feel and look good and when they are perceived as balanced.
For example AoEO was great fun but it caused back-lash from fans when it was launched because…
-
It didn’t look like an Age of Empires game because it chose a cartoony style over realism.
-
It was perceived as pay-to-win because, initially, gear or items could be used in PvP.
It took a long time for the devs to rectify this but the damage had already been done.
My two-cents are as follows:
Don’t allow any semblance of micro-transactions that are perceived as giving advantages in game-play…restrict micro-transactions to aesthetic changes and new content (e.g a scenario).
A realistic style should be implemented in menus, ui etc as opposed to a cartoony style.
Include the necessary tools to make this a legitimate competitive RTS. DO not launch the game without the following: modern post-game stats (charts, apm, possible build order), replays, leader-boards (potentially leagues and seasons and/or tournaments).
Without those things I feel like this will just become a niche nostalgic product for people that want to play around in skirmish mode and won’t sell for its multiplayer aspect.
Also they should honestly launch on Steam and provide work-shop support and modding tools packaged in game…and built-in twitch support. Perhaps it would have been easier to just build this game as a mod on top of AoE2HD’s engine.
The best way to attract new players is to be on steam - so that’s out of the question. Again I want to emphasize that I respect MS’s choice to promote their own platform, but it will hurt the game badly.
Beyond that you just need a nice clean package that reeks of quality. The gameplay itself is already proven to be solid and capable of keeping even new players occupied with random maps for hours on end. But the software package needs to feel modern and relevant to attract them in the first place. Quality of life improvements and quality of style is the key here. If it feels cheap it will die.
From what we have seen so far the biggest improvement I can suggest is a slightly more lively color palette and a sharper picture in general. Units seem to blend in with the rest of the picture too much and the overall feeling is a bit dull, reminds me of Cossacks 3 and their palette which got pretty boring to look at over time. This should be, theoretically, a easy fix by messing with the filters a bit.
I think in addition to launching on steam they need to really promote this game on their twitch channel and youtube channel with a really interesting caster commenting on 1v1s or other modes. They don’t need giveaways or anything complicated, just have a charismatic person casting games making it look like a great RTS experience for 20 odd dollars.
Anything that they do that is more than just depending on the MS store to showcase it once in a blue moon gets my vote. Seriously…