I see well that there is a certain historical accurate in the names, skins, etc.
But that rework of the entire civilization from 0 is one of the reasons why several players did not like AoE3DE (I do not like that gameplay change of the community plaza and the way of gathering gold either).
Sometimes, in order to want to make everything as different as possible, fewer and fewer players understand the game (and more every day).
Gameplay > historical accurate.
I agree that the community plaza is bad design. Villagers just standing still and the building is hard to select quickly. The fire pit was better in this regard, however I get why this is offensive to some people. There must be a better way to keep the buffs mechanic. And the tribal marketplace is sooo bad design. Native civs do need some design changes, but not from the ground up.
If you play the native civs, definitely put the Community Plaza on a simple hotkey. It makes managing it much easier. It also helps to learn the hotkeys for the ceremonies you use often or to designate your own if you like. They generally have very logical default hotkeys in the legacy system, like X for the ceremony that trickles XP.
From humility I do not understand what is offensive that they dance in the form of a ritual or celebration.
The Lakotas (for example, to see if Ana confirms me) had the Powwows that were spiritual dances.
All Mesoamerican civilizations have dance as a sign of identity in their culture (each with some variations), I honestly don’t understand it.
From what I’ve read, some just don’t like this stereotype of mystical dances giving powers. But yes, native americans all had their traditionnals dances so it isn’t stretching on historical accuracy. The best is to find the right balance between gameplay and historical accuracy. I personnaly see community plaza buffs more as a gameplay mechanic than actual magical powers. But to each his opinion and I respect that, especially from people who those civs are supposed to represent.
You’re right, I’m just so used to manually select everything lmao. I’ve played this game since it first came out in 2005, but never bothered learning hotkeys.
Now it is the community plaza that gives powers…
I understand when there are stereotypes due to obvious inaccuracies, but the dance thing seems to me something beautiful mixed with the gameplay and that did not mean that they were wild or uncivilized. I think they should be proud of the culture of each indigenous people.
On this I totally agree, I was just pointing the opinion of some people who find it offensive. Just like you, I liked the fire pit dances. But some people don’t.
I’d love the Aztecs to get a proper temple so the priests can go up and down the steps (I’d also say sacrifices, which were a standard thing, however I think it’d be seen as a little graphic).
There’s never been a full rework from the ground up of any civ. There’s been heavy changes, but no full reworks. Other games like League of Legends show us that players can often take to full rehauls with a gusto the original never saw.
This is the main problem with the Plaza - the other is that it just puts us on a lower power level than other civs because we don’t get actual history-based upgrades and technology to keep up. Instead, we’re presented as though mystical dances and spiritualism is how we get power, which is, again, just racist stereotyping.
It’s just a game mechanic. There are many shipments, technologies in buildings and bonuses that also give civilization power, especially the speed of hunting hunting or its great speed with cavalry.
Also other civilizations that have more strength with those “stereotypes”. Example, the Chinese have more population. No one has complained, only they just enjoy the game.
Hey, but that each person is offended if they want, is within their rights.
China had more population at the time. That’s not a stereotype. That’s a fact.
Natives didn’t gain battle prowess and replace technology through mystical dancing. That’s racist stereotyping.
As long as changes don’t hinder the gameplay (bonus points if they change it up for the better though) then what is the harm in trying to giving Native Americans a little more accuracy in the portrayal rather go stereotypes perpuated by old racist 1950s media?
What’s offensive about the Chinese example? They factually had more pop as well as large urban centers compared to European countries for example. I don’t really think that’s a fair comparison.
the underlying design of directly spending villager seconds at a building in order to get a temporary bonus is interesting and theoretically unique asymmetrical design.
in practice its quite tedious and ends up cheapening the way the civs play and upgrade
Yeah, I totally get that. Would that mechanic be wonderful if used on a University/learning type building instead (for everyone). Stick your villages into the educational establishment and pick something that can abstractly be seen as your scholarly Villagers focusing (researching) on a facet of your society to get a temp bonus.
I don’t know Ana, many civilizations have technologies that suddenly heal units by “magic art”, etc.
If you consider that the native blacksmithing represented in dances, made by Esemble Studios, sought to stereotype and be racist with the Mesoamericans because they considered them wild and uncivilized, then ok. Maybe I see the Gameplay above historical accuracy and the Community Plaza is not the best option either.
You don’t have to be vile to perpretate racist stereotypes.
She complained just as much about the plaza though?
I seriously don’t get people’s obession with keeping the stereotypes and inaccuracies in AoE2 and AoE3. AoE3 Asian civs are also in dire need of reworking. They shouldn’t have monks as heroes.