Westerner here. European civs bore me. I think it’s stupid to assume white people want to play white civs. I want to travel the globe and learn about empires my history classes left out.
And I think it’s pathetic to relegate African and American civs to expansion pack afterthoughts.
That is not what I said. And yes, most Europeans want to play European civs, as there is currently a huge Medieval European interest revival going on in the continent (HEMA community is taking advantage of it).
Regardless, what I did say, is that RTS sells the most in the West, by a wide margin. The Western market IS the primary market for RTS, if not Strategy gaming in general.
If you follow my civ requests in AoE2 and 3, you would know that I am indeed a fan of non-Euro civs, but that RTS sells the most in the West, and that European civs tend to top most of the requests, are realities that CANNOT be ignored.
RTS is to the West, like Fighting Games are to the East. Sure, they are not just played in their prefered markets, but they are overwhelmingly more successful in them.
Sorry, I didn’t intend to say you said that. I’m addressing the topic in general.
I have no idea about your civ requests.
I think one African civ would be nice, I also want a middle eastern civ, the Middle East has a very rich and interesting history, as for a middle eastern civ I would say saracens, maybe Turks, and for africa I think the most obvious choice would be the Malians
Scorch earth policy never fails 11
Cowardly? Maybe. Its Not Like age of empires is a teaching Tool though. Its a Game, the 4th indtallment of an IP that once Made RTS great - and WE are in a time we’re Not many great RTS are around.
MS needs to make Money First, and AS mentioned, known civs are better for Marketing.
Not including some ,“interesting” civ from lesser known empires wont hurt the Sales AS much AS including known Ones would boost Thema 
Pure economic decision there. No cowardice imo.
How ist IT pathetic to make a Business decision?
War3 is very popular in China and has a high level of players. It is the strongest in the world. Aoe2de also played very well.
The civ in the Middle East is the Abbasid Dynasty.
There are 8 civs 
Hola! No sabía que hablabas español XD
In another Note and alsy maybe regarding Popularität of Western civs- how many remnants of mezo civs are left in the big coties? Because aztec Tempels we’re mostly in the Jungle i assume there Arendt Many Ruins etc in Real Life which are left.
Castles however in Western and probably asian cities often are still there and therefore more often Seen in regulär Life, mailing them more easy to grasp.
Just a random thought I Had, AS i dont know i thought I asked Werther thats with mezo civs structures aswell?
I am French and I want to play French we have a great medieval history. But I would also like to play Japanese, Byzantine. In short there is something to do full of extension with all civilizations
French are a very obvious choice for any medieval game, a very good history and a very iconic kingdom of Europe, I also want the Byzantines in the game but I think they would be better as a future expansion if I had to pick what 8 civs would be in the game I would want
French- cavalry, economic
English- archer
Delhi- technology, elephants, late game
Mongols- hand and ranged cavalry, raiding, aggressive
Chinese- gunpowder, infantry, population growth
Malians- gather gold fast, diverse civ with many options
Some middle eastern civ, either saracens or Turks, maybe timurids?
Either bohemians- siege, infantry
Or slavs, economic infantry
^ This
I’m from Germany and hour history class was basically:
Stone Age (Central Europe) → Egypt → Greek → Rome → Frankish Empire → Holy Roman Empire → Short trip to the New Word → Napoleon → Industrial revolution and Imperialism → very short WW1 → Like a complete school year of Interwar period → short WW2 → German division and reunification.
Even countries like China were only briefly mentioned in the context of Imperialism (The German Empire owned land in China)
(Btw it’s not true that German history class is all about Nazis, we only spend little time on the Nazis themselves, most students wanted to hear more about that topic. The school focused a lot on the time before the Nazis and how they got to power)
Most I know about history is stuff I learned after school. The world is so big and has so many interesting civilisations why always do the same ones. It’s like military shooters where you always play a US soldier. You only ever play a Russian in a WW2 game but even in those games you spend more time playing an US soldier. Apparently US customers never get bored of that.
I can see why American doesn’t fit into the game. There was no contact with America in the Middle Ages. There were no Middle Ages in the “new” world.
But Africa especially places like Ethiopia were well known since ancient times (There were even Ethiopians helping the Trojans in the Iliad) so they would be a very good choice. Mali of course too.
At least it seems like we are getting a Eastern European civilisation this time.
On civilisation on that one scene were you can see the game lobby looks very much like “Rus”. (I don’t know many other 3 letter civilisations with a red flag).
AS a German, i disagree, i Loved the age 2 campaigns, Most of which we’re Western and cant wait to Play english campaigns. Of course thats Personal opinion.
However AS you wrote, WE are Not tauGht much of external History. Which is why Marketing would ne focused on stuff WE already know about. Because thats what will Generally attract more PPL.
Fewer are Like you, interested in actively learning new histories
I think the same way as you do. And no, it has absolutely nothing to do with anti-white or any other racist dogwhistle to wishing African civs in the base game. African architecture is great and to be honest, African history isn’t taught that much anywhere.
Hearing for the 20th time the history of the Mongol invasion of Europe or the 100 year war between English and French gets a bit old after a while.
There were multiple other contacts to America too but none of them on a relevant scale.
There was no cultural exchange.
Chinese technologies made it to Europe though trade and the same thing happened with Africa.
But before the Colonisation of the Americas there was no cultural or technological exchange.
And this makes a very high similarity. As people simply start to adapt technology and war tactics from each other. In Medieval time a pikeman would from Scotland to Egypt have clearly very similar in role and gear. Therefore, Factions not next to Europe and “Mediterranean Sea” are more interesting in a medieval setting.
