It’s a very strange hill to die on.
Them being called this by the game should be no surprise since as you say people have been clamoring for “Byzantines” to be in since before the game came out, they are called that in AoE2 already. Ha so how is this suddenly such a huge surprise today?
Why is the Abbasid not called “Saracens” like in AOE2 then?
This is THE Roman Empire. The Roman Empire didn’t have a gap until around 1250. This isnt a successor state or anything.
So yeah, they are the Romans. There is a reason why nobody calls HRE romans but HRE to emphasize all 3 words.
Asking if the developers are racist and disrespecting several forum users is good for a few days of rest when you are very tense.
Regardless of your historical interpretation of the term “Byzantines” (which many of us have adopted as a term that comes from the name of the city Byzantium), what you have done is to give you rest, that you have disrespected some here.