I am getting concerned

I participated in the beta. I had an absolute blast. (As far as I know saying the game was fun is not breaking nda) That being said, some recent videos by T West and Aussie Drongo about recent developer statements has gotten me very concerned.

A statement made about the zoom levels has been much discussed, but I add my voice saying that the attitude of the statement is very concerning. We, the players, do know what we want. Telling us that you know better as a dev (even if you are right) will destroy trust and confidence in the devs and gives one a very bad taste about the game in general. Give us what we (as a general community, not just one or two people) ask for, if we are wrong let us suffer the consequences!

The video by T West was even more concerning. Some things were mentioned such as map editor, cheat codes, and global que as not being there at launch. Whatttttt??? I have defended the devs and the game over and over on forums, livestream chats, and video comment section. I can no longer defend the devs if these things are going to be missing at launch.

We need map editor to learn the game, what works against what, and content creators (such as Spirit of the Law) use the map editor as a main part of their livelihood. How did this get overlooked?

Cheat codes, while not essential in the same sense have been part of the age franchise forever. They are a huge part of the nostalgia and enjoyment of the games for many people. We need these!

Global que
 ummmm how is this not in the game? If it is impossible to have even basic features by the launch date, please push back the launch. Don’t act like this is some crazy thing that we are asking for. It was in launch for Age II and III De. Those games had much shorter development periods. Yes they were bases closely on old games and old code making things quicker, but really, to forget about something like this inspires no confidence in the long term state of the game.

For 60$ I really think the game should launch with a full set of basic features.

I am getting concerned. The developer attitude seems to be one of superiority. They act like they know what we want better than we do, all the while forgetting some very basic features that we NEED. If the devs want our confidence that they know better than we do about what we want in this AAA priced game they need to prove it. It has not been a good start. Devs, I want to love this game. I have loved every age game I have played. Do what you have to, even if it is delaying the game, to make this game what we the consumers ask for at launch. If the launch is bad, the game will likely die. If the devs act like they know better that we do, the game may die. I do not want the game to die. Please work WITH us not against us Devs!

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Yeah I understand your sentiment.
I would advise you to not pre-order or buy the game until you are satisfied with what you are purchasing. Atm it seems you will get a Singleplayer(campaign) and Multiplayer(co-op/vs) at launch. Which is fine for me because I enjoyed the beta. But I understand that for a lot of people the other features are super important to them.

Until changes are made that will sway your opinion on the game I would advise you to wait.

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I think the lack of ‘global queue’ is misunderstood and needs some clarification - since it’s all based on 2nd hand info and not directly from the devs. I’m positive this does not mean there will be no ranked MP. It either means PvP will be region restricted at first so you don’t match with people on the opposite side of the globe from you or it refers to unit building queue where you can see some sort of global view of everything that’s being built or trained.

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My assumption would be that is the same “global que” from the DE games. The view of everything you have in que across the top of the screen. I think that is a pretty important feature to forget to add before launch.

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Could mean several things, but any little bit of feedback from the devs would clear that up.

They seem to have decided to keep tight lipped for the unforeseen future. To me it feels a bit like the hype around the game is slowing down due to it, but I hope they know what they are doing

Guess we will find out in October

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In any case, I don’t think that a small interview with one person is the final solution. I don’t think there is really serious ground for concern, the developers did a lot of beta testing, collected a lot of reviews (sent something in the mail), analyzing all these reviews takes a lot of time and effort, and you want to say that they are - "We of course conducted a beta test, collected reviews, analyzed them, spent our time and the time of our employees, but perhaps we will just pretend that this was not the case. ", this is nonsense. The man who gave interviews is clearly not competent (I would not let him out to make public statements at all), he is not a director of Relic or WE, he does not occupy a serious place in Microsoft, he simply expressed his opinion, and the community unfortunately accepted this opinion as official the developer’s point of view.
We are waiting for another beta test, worries early.

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I agree with the overall sentiment, but the global queue thing is misunderstood I think. I believe they’ll have regional ladders set up first (just like every other competitive game out there) instead of a global one. Normally, this is the right approach, but I’m just not sure AOE4 will have enough players to be able to fill multiple ladders when its best performing game is barely able to hold on with one global ladder. I suppose we’ll wait and find out.

Otherwise, things about cheat codes and a bunch of other things that you mentioned are inexcusable. For heaven’s sake, how hard can it be to add some cheat codes before you launch? I’m baffled. Age of Empires games have had some of the best memories for us with all those cheat codes, including the now infamous How Do You Turn This On, of course. Not having this at launch is just dumb.

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I think by global queue people refer to the global production queue.

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You know the article is horribly written when folks misunderstand it left, right, and center. Here’s the bit where it’s mentioned:

“As we stray onto the topic of the much-demanded global queue feature for ranked multiplayer, Isgreen takes a moment to (mildly) lament the high level of expectation on AoE4’s launch feature set driven by the runaway success of AoE2’s definitive edition. “It’s something that we absolutely want to add - but it’s worth remembering it wasn’t in AoE2 at launch, and it wasn’t even in Definitive Edition until later. So we’re
 we’re trying.” Given this level of expectation, AoE4’s developers have made the smart decision to launch with a roadmap of what’s being added to the game, across the campaigns, the multiplayer modes, and the scenario editor.”

So, while there is a very tiny chance that he, for whatever reason, is mentioning something as insignificant as a global production queue in an interview, I’m pretty sure he meant Global matchmaking queue, especially given that the paragraph is prefaced with “for ranked multiplayer”. Why would something like global production queue even be a discussion topic in an interview with limited questions?

Again, I find no fault in anyone who misunderstood the article, (heck, I could be wrong myself for all I know) because it’s just an awfully written piece that only fueled the fire of misunderstanding - especially since the Devs are dead silent and barely communicate.

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Well, I dont think global queue is insignificant at all. I was just speaking generally that this term is typically associated with that feature. Can’t tell if AoEIV has it or not.
I’m not aware in what context Isgreen used it in his latest interviews. Judging from the part that you posted it looks more likely to has something to do with what you mentioned as I can’t see why global queue would only get added for ranked multiplayer.

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The global production queue is one of those brain dead obvious QoL aspects I just assume would be in any age game, just like it’s been there for at least 10 years, if not since 2005 or 2002. We shouldn’t need to fight for every yard.

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Agreed. I’m just too afraid to take anything for granted anymore.

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They already said map editor and Steam Workshop support will come early next year.

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Asking for features is like a 1920s American football game. Everything on the ground, one yard at a time.

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This is 100% what it is referring to. That video first of all misquotes the article. Also, guaranteed that gaming “journalist” who wrote the article has no idea what that was even referring to.

Anyone who participated in the beta forums should know they are talking about the UI element and not matchmaking.

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It was added in DE for both AoE2 and AoE3. There are many RTS games that do not have such a feature. I agree though that they should add it for AoE4. In the interview they said they want to add it, although it sounds like it probably won’t make it in before launch which is a bit annoying. Stuff like that I would have been thinking of from the very beginning if I were making the game.

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I dont think devs decide those things. A dev that does not want the best for the game that he built does not exist. There is other things that we dont know.

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Well Im not even slightly concerned. How can you say that you rather wait for the launch because there are no cheat codes? Really? How can you call cheat codes and a map editor basic features. I much rather have a functional game at start, and have the ad-ons a bit later, just as was the case with AOE II, rather than waiting another 2-3 months. And learning the game in the map editor? You dont learn the game by fideling with the map editor, you learn it by playing the game against your friends and against the AI. There are some people now that wants nothing more than to find errors in the game and how it is developed. Wishing nothing more than that things will go bad for it. Please dont believe what any random u-tuber writes or publishes. They know just as much as we do if not less. So if you had a blast with the Beta, just as I did, Im sure you will have the same with the game as it is launched. Then adons like cheat codes and map- and senario editors will come soon enough. :sunglasses:

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To clarify exactly where I stand: I pre-ordered the game based on my beta participation. The things I mentioned are not necessarily deal breakers. Obviously cheat codes are fun, but of no competitive use so they are unnecessary. Global production que is a fairly big deal, but many games do not have such a feature so ok, fine. The game is certainly still fun and playable at current zoom levels so ok fine. It’s all good right? Nothing deal breaking is on the table, why am I concerned?

Because of the attitude and ignorance of the public representatives of the game.

Attitude: seems to be that they think they know better than players what the players want. I do not think that is a good approach to building a lasting game.

Ignorance: trying to restart a beloved franchise with a still vibrant community is tough. People are always going to complain about any changes. I certainly have mine which I shared during the beta on those forums. My issue is that things like cheat codes are important for the nostalgia factor that they are clearly playing for. I do not know the last time I used a cheat (I play ranked multiplayer always) but they are an important part of tying the old games to the new one. Throwback cheats would be a great way to add nostalgia to the game driving sales among anyone who played various age games.

I personally have spent hundreds of hours scanning tech trees and experimenting with editors. I am not a skilled enough player to think of something and implement it easily, but I can figure it out if I know it will work. Editors let me know if a certain strat will work even before I know perfectly how to play an off meta strat.

Editors are also a huge part of some people’s revenue streams. And thus a huge part of viewership for the fan base. How are people like Spirit of the Law going to break down crazy math facts for us without an editor? How will T West showcase wacky bugs, glitches, and features without an editor? How will MikeEmpires showcase every unit vs every other unit in both cost efficiency and raw strength? How will the viewers who like obscure facts and matchups get to see them if all the content available is meta high level gameplay. (Which is my favorite, but it can be very repetitive and stale!).

First and foremost I want the game to have a robust competitive scene with an active ranked ladder. That’s where I’ll be spending my time. But we can’t act like the other things don’t matter. My concern is not with the actual missing features but with the possible attitude and ignorance causing these oversights.

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