Hello,
I used to play the original game a lot with my father and brothers. Now that this game was coming on steam in Definitive Edition I thought it would be very nostalgic to do the same again. Unfortunately, LAN seems to be disabled when I start the game in offline mode (unlike AOE 3). Do I really have to buy this game 4 times now to be able to play with my family?!
Please update this in the future!
Well, technically yes. Each person needs their own copy.
I don’t know for Steam version, but technically, AoE DE allows LAN with same license, if each one created its own gamertag. Without offline mode (is this mandatory?). I suffered random crashes but I don’t have proof it’s due to same license using.
Are you sure about AoE DE allowing LAN with the same license, or are you talking about the non-steam version perhaps?
The reason I start Steam in offline mode is because all computers are running Steam on the same account. If Steam runs in online mode, only one pc can start AoE DE simultaneously.
I could however try to create a separate account on each pc and maybe do library-sharing with that account. Don’t know if that will work, but I will try later on!
Definitely a lot harder than just sharing the cd like we used to do!
I know the Win Store AoE DE : you choose the account on the Xbox app, if you start the game on several computers, each one with another logged account in the Xbox app, each one can run the game and join other’s game. (note I didn’t test on the ‘new’ AoE DE client, I talk about the older one)
Just tested it, it doesn’t work 
Steam complains that the shared library is in use if you try to start the game on another account.
This sucks, I hope they make a change in the future to allow this after all!