Age of Empires 3: Definitive Edition UI improvements:
In Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition, enhancing social interaction within the game is crucial for fostering a vibrant and connected community. Currently, players are faced with numerous UI bugs that hinder seamless communication and interaction, resulting in a multiplayer experience that feels lonely, isolated, and anti-social. Players hardly meet each other, which stands in stark contrast to the legacy version of the game, which had a robust and social online interface through ESO.
By fixing these UI problems and creating a more engaging social hub, players can more easily meet, chat, and play with each other. This improvement is vital for the game’s longevity, ensuring that Age of Empires III remains a beloved game for years to come while fostering a sustainable and growing community!
Urgent requests:
1. Show correct online indicators in the friends list; 2. Improve the whispering system; 3. Show ELO rating on the loading screen when launching into a game.
But, there’s more… Way more… View the document below to see the rest of this list, including videos, screenshots, more UI issues, bugs, and requests. View the document below by clicking on the Google Drive link.
Have you opened AOE3 legacy since DE launched? Go ahead and look at it. It’s terrible. DE’s UI is so much better than legacy. Don’t look through the rose-colored glasses and think about the old ranking system; the reality is Legacy’s single and multiplayer UI was clunky, crowded, difficult to navigate, and very clearly made in 2005. Are there lots of improvements that could be made? Absolutely. Are there some things that worked better in Legacy? Sure. But don’t insult the good work that has been done by FE and WE. It’s a huge improvement over where it was.
I should hope it does look visibly better almost 20 years on… But I don’t think visual aspects are the point of these requests. DE is of course far better on the eye and is incredibly smooth. It has more to do with a lack of basic interaction within the game, something that new and old players alike thrive on.
I’ve just started playing again after quitting in 2014. DE is great don’t get me wrong, but it’s very isolating, even more so if you were to use me as an example who has lost touch with a majority of the people that I used to play with.
Adding these improved and frankly simple features would make this good game a great game. The fact that one of our players has taken the time and the effort to create such a detailed document on some extremely important improvements to be made shows how dedicated the fanbase is. Surely the creators would only want to build on that?
Update – July 2026 (during the open beta of the new The Baltic Powers DLC)
First of all, thanks to the developers for bringing a new DLC to AoE3:DE! A new expansion is also a great opportunity to address long-standing issues with the game’s user interface (UI).
Back in 2024, the document above was shared across multiple platforms. Looking at the feedback listed in that document, 5 out of the 43 requested improvements have now been implemented.
These are:
From the General Fixes list:
Order social buttons.
Move negative options down.
Add an icon to the Play tab.
Remove the green bar when closing your deck.
From the Other Requests list:
The casting UI.
While the addition of the casting UI is a significant improvement, I believe there is still plenty of room to address more of the points raised in the original post. I hope the developers will revisit the document and implement as many of the remaining suggestions as possible.
The lack of social features in the UI (especially compared to the legacy version (ESO), which offered many more social functionalities) remains a major issue. Alongside gameplay balance, there should also be a stronger focus on improving the social experience. Features such as a practical friends list that remains visible on screen, accurate online status indicators, and improved chat functionality (including a better whisper system) would greatly enhance the game.
Lastly, displaying players’ ELO ratings when loading into a match is another important improvement, as it immediately lets you know who you’re facing.
To summarise, fixing 5 out of 43 requested improvements is a good start, but there is still more work to be done. Please take another look at the document and consider implementing more of the remaining suggestions. Thank you in advance!
Age of Empires 3: Definitive Edition UI improvements: 
In Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition, enhancing social interaction within the game is crucial for fostering a vibrant and connected community. Currently, players are faced with numerous UI bugs that hinder seamless communication and interaction, resulting in a multiplayer experience that feels lonely, isolated, and anti-social. Players hardly meet each other, which stands in stark contrast to the legacy version of the game, which had a robust and social online interface through ESO.
