Yes, 4 resources has become a little boring. A 5th would be more variety to both micro’ing resource gathering and the variance it adds to tech/structure building. A 5th would be impetus to devising an interesting, thoughtful, creative, and well-rounded solution. I’m thinking anyone proposing a 5th resource in the forums of AoM or AoE3 back in the day would have been met with staunch criticism from you… yet here you are defending them and using them as shining examples of 5th resources.
Truth be told, I’m merely proposing ‘some’ fifth resource; and saying/implying, “It could be cool, given the right thoughtful planning, integration, creativity, and implementation.” On the surface, yeah, it looks like I just want to task villys to a 5th resource. Not true. I want it smartly embedded in the game, just like you feel Favor/Culture and XP were.
I’m not getting paid to build out and create a project plan for implementing a brand new resource, so i’m not going to spend more time charting anything out more than I already have here and elsewhere. It’s for those closer to the game to chart out, if they want. I just ask that you try to keep a slightly open mind that cool solutions might exist that you haven’t thought of. You never know what ideas might exist, just like XP or Favor/Culture coming out of the blue and winning you over.
One idea I considered in the past is maybe opening up the 5th resource in a late age. It’s not my favorite thing in Civilization games to, say, have oil all the sudden appear on the map late in the game. In AoE something ‘like’ that ‘might’ work, though. Again, I’m not getting paid for this, so I’m not going to chart out the pros and cons, or brainstorm a bunch of resource alternatives or ways to implement them. I’m just keeping an open mind about it and hoping an expansion pack someday adds another resource, with a well thought out reason and system behind it.
Thankfully, Apple one day decided we didn’t need to be limited by buttons on a cell phone and got creative. I feel there is room for creativite ideas in AoE. And I, for one, won’t get overwhelmed by its inclusion. I’ve had years to get accustomed to the same 'ole 4 resources. One more to add more depth to the game won’t ruin me. And if done smartly and well, won’t ruin the game. On the contrary, would hopefully make it more interesting, and future proof it. Imagine 20 years from now if no more AoE games are made in the franchise, four decades will have gone by with the sammme fourrrr resources.
I appreciate your thoughts and discussion on this. Thanks!