In AOM: Retold, when a player loses connection, the match continues normally for everyone else. If the dropped player manages to re-establish their connection, client must download all the missed data packets and then runs the game in “fast-forward” (the catch-up mechanic) until they reach the real-time point where the other players are.
In the classic Age of Mythology, the system was much fairer and more democratic for everyone in the match: When a player lost connection, the game automatically paused for everyone. Immediately, a voting screen would appear with three options: Wait for player / Save the match / Continue game and kick player. Since we don’t have the option to save matches in Retold, we could at least have the option to wait 60 seconds for a reconnection.
I believe bringing this feature back would be a massive improvement for the multiplayer community and would make matches much more stable and enjoyable. Because many reconnections, although successfully reestablished, result in a bug that prevents the player from returning to the match.
See the example below: I had lost connection but had also regained it! The “connection lost” message appeared, and I had no options other than to accept and leave the match. Since I didn’t click anything, the game kept running normally — because I was actually reconnected! However, the game didn’t recognize that I was back online, which meant I couldn’t keep playing. (Note I was moving around the map with the cursor)
This type of bug wouldn’t happen if there were a waiting system after a disconnection.
Notice that I was still in the match and even saw the exact moment when my team won: