Nah, I couldn’t care less if this gets implemented or not in AOE IV. I am happy with AoE II and I’m ok if that’s the only AoE game I get to play forever. I’m fine with its limitations because I understand that at its core it’s a 20 year old game.
But because of mindsets like yours is that we are seemingly getting AoE II: Part Deux with a severe lack of fresh ideas. A day in these forums is enough to get a feeling of what most people think when they see the trailers.
I doubt you would have approved AoE III’s card system or home cities, or AoM’s god powers or changing tech trees with age advancement. Those things also affect gameplay and the classic AoE “feel”.
This is a new game, by a completely new-to-AoE dev and it should not be weighted down by the legacy of AoE II. That’s why Windows 10 still has Win 3.1 dialog boxes if you dig deep enough, it’s dumb. I would’ve loved to see Relic be given free rein to develop a medieval RTS using fresh ideas. If it bombed at least they took the risk. Way better than bombing because you wanted to play it safe.
I can already see the headlines from reviewers about AoE IV: “Iterative RTS with no soul and no new ideas. An acceptable upgrade if you are an AoE fanatic, but a middling game otherwise”.
Is it going to sell a ton of copies anyway? Probably yes, the AoE name has a lot of inertia and it’s been a long time since the last one, but it may kill the whole franchise for good. See Fallout 76.