That sums it up.
The best thing that AoEIV has to offer right now is the novelty bias of being new. Something that will fade away fairly quickly as in any game.
Still hoping to see significant changes some time post-release although I don’t hold my breath.
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Yeah I saw things that made me believe this was way unfinished which unfortunately I can’t talk about because of NDA. So I also am holding onto hopes that it actually was unfinished. Maybe they even hid features from the beta players to surprise them post launch? 
There are things i’ve seen as well that point to the version we played very clearly being a beta version. But I just dismissed them as being blatantly clear things devs would change.
Of course theses game have a lot of details, especially MOBAS. Their type of business are microtransactions, so they create basic models and then sell tons of skins and cosmetics. By the way, these games are updated every year since their release, and even with these updates some characters have problems with models, like Morphling and Pugna in Dota 2.
I understand the concern with unit details, some of them aren’t very good, but I think some people here on this forum are overreacting. Not just those who complain, but also those who defend the game. Unfortunately (or fortunately), developers won’t change AoE4’s art style or graphics, because it’s too late. Maybe they can update it in the future, as Dota 2 and League of Legends still do. Now, unfortunately it’s time to wait and only time can show us whether the game will be a success or a failure.
In general, I liked the game when I played the beta, I never care too much about graphics or artstyle. However for me AoE4 is too expensive (200 Brazil Real), so I will need to wait until I decide whether I buy or not the game. The biggest detail that matters to me in making this decision is whether or not the game will receive new content over time. So I have to wait for the community reaction to the game and how World Edge and Relic are going to make decisions from that.
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The AOE franchise are becoming microtransactions as well by publishing new civs. For an RTS game, publishing a new civ is like publishing a new character in LoL. It’s the style of modern gaming. Hence why Sims 4 now over charges for every expansion pack that came in entire bundles in SIMS 2 and 3.
It’s a future for the gaming but it should also be motivation for a game to put as much production value into the game as possible. People will be so hyped for a unique Japanese civ DLC bringing the unique Japanese architecture arecreations, the highly texturised Samurai’s and units, the immersive medieval Japanese campaigns and history. I swear to God AOE IV would take off like nuts if it did that. I’d pay $60 for each unique new civ, jam packed with features. And with over 100 civs in the Medieval era, it’s such a massive long term investment that can revitalise RTS, bring RTS into the modern gaming and trump even all those TBS games too. And I can definitely see pro gamers leaving AOE II and AOE III to get on the AOE IV train.
That is the future I want to see of my favourite all time game that Relic has taken the responsibility for.
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You’re not wrong. I mean Return to Empire, an Age of Empire mobile game, is really a thing. Ironically, some of the graphics from that trailer is more convincing than Age of Empires 4.
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wow, you are gonna make me cry! like look at that graphics. When people cry how their windows 98 PC’s can’t handle high level of graphics, but my apple iphone will be playing the level of detail i badly wanted for AOE IV. omg this makes me sad. I honestly hope that what we have seen so far in AOE IV is not what we are getting.
That mobile game that i’ll be using an iPhone or iPad to play looks so much aesthetic and appealing than this i7 PC game.
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You know what’s sad? The gameplay trailer for this is also released by Xbox Game Studios.
That gate house is so far from historically accurate but look at the level of detail put into it. This is also cartoony graphics but it looks so much more polished. The units look as basic as AOE IV which is expected for a mobile game, not a PC game.
Red walls? Gold roof? black roof tops for normal buildings? THIS looks like a CHINESE CIV. not a generic ASIAN civ. This mobile game is doing the cultures justice more than a PC game!!!
They clearly didn’t just copy one wall and paste it onto the other with minor changes here and there.
you take one look at this and say “Yup, that’s a Roman civ”. Because it has so much detail on architecture. It does seem a bit fantasy like, but I guess that’s the art style, just like the gate house in the beginning. But then again, it’s a mobile game. And the game mechanics look like Rise of Kingdoms.
But this is definitely a mobile game that will take off. This is a fantastic way of showing how level of detail is so important and the kind of production value in the game. They even rigged AI characters and created unique appearances for hero’s. And then people say why graphical things like manning siege weapons are so irrelevant, when mobile games are going a much step further.
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(Please note, this content is not my will for age of empire 4, please ignore it)
You are rigth, we don’t need maned siege units.
It is a rts game.
We don’t need the detailed units.
Let us replace all detailed unit by chess pions or cube.
The crew hp, is any way, already in the healt bar, we don’t need more distraction.
Game need to be fast and the readability at 100%.
Land need to be flat.
(We migth actualy kill game if we do this)
Edit:
The game Galcon 2 actualy work well whit geometric form, why not use that in age of empire 4.
Can some one give me a picture preview?
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I am loosing interest by the day, they show us so little. And no crew/ golden ghost is a hard pass for me. It just looks lazy, like how they did the walls and I am not ready to get that much buyers remorse after paying 60$ for that and discovering whatever else there is that can’t be talked about.
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They give excuses for readability but it’s just an excuse to take as much money for so little I feel 
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well said mate, while firing, unpacking, packing they have spectral human figures around them, so I don’t think it’s needed. if they add humans then it should be like Ancestors Legacy, where enemy kills the crew, but they can capture siege equipment for their own use, I don’t think AOE is meant for such style gameplay so the current one works fine. The current version is more symbolic than realism and it’s a good thing.
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Here’s a solution to that: Just don’t buy it.
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This has never been the philosophy of the franchise. AOE does not do surreal and gritty. You have a specific look in mind and are seeking to impose it upon a franchise that does not subscribe to that aesthetic.
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“If you don’t like it, don’t buy it”
Hmm…where have I heard this one from before?
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Dude’s out here sounding like he’s obligated to buy a game.
There’s no point in sounding like they are stealing from you when you could literally just opt out of buying it.
Its also basic logic that applies to any game you don’t like.
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It’s fineeee, just as I have the right to state my complaints, he can complain about people’s complaints
There’s two types of people who love AOE. Those who get dissapointed when someone doesn’t do it justice, and those who love it that no matter what they can’t hear anything against it
This whole competitive play was not part of the franchise. Majority of it was like a simulation of History with the most advanced graphics for that era. As Internet developed much later, AOE was introduced to ranked and competitive play. That too far later. It was just a family game to learn history and enjoy and play with your friends by attaching a blue cable from one computer to another.
But just as the game evolved upon the introduction of new technology, adding more hyper realism such as increased particle effects and detail, changing the sounds of units to make it more realistic, thus it is only natural that in the age of modern gaming where everyone is use to high amounts of detail, that the next evolution of the AOE franchise would be up to par.
For a game to cater to the entire gaming community, the game needs to be equivalent to what is out. If the game is only catering to its small RTS fan base, then it sticks to the olden ways and completely ignore new technology. Meaning it will never become big because the small RTS fans will not encourage devs to pump out more value for their bucks. They will happily throw away so much money for the absolute bare minimum. Which will completely deter the new gamers who are playing games like Civ 5, TW, LoL, Dora 2, Assassins Creed, Black Ops, CS etc.
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Hyper realism does not equate to dark and gritty.
You can have a bright and cheerful world that is also hyper realistic. Gritty is a stylistic choice, and is not necessary to attract new fans.
Contrary to what the movies portray, the medieval times had a similar climate to present day and we need not have the game pretend sunshine did not exist.
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That’s fine, that’s artistic choice. There are different styles of art, catering to different people. But what determines whether a game is on par with all the modern bright and gloomy games of 2021 is the level of detail in the whole game. From the units to the scenery. Which I’m AOE IV is the absolute bare minimum. Meaning that game is not going to wow anyone.
The problem with that is for RTS to revive, it needs that wow factor. Which AOe IV has the potential but the devs are being allowed to get away with the bare minimum. (This is all speculation as I could be completely wrong when the final product launches and find out they added so much detail. The beta we played was a month old at that time so who knows what they did)
Hence why we have peopleraising their voices trying to get the game to where it needs to be so it can take off at launch.
Yes the game can survive because there is a dedicated RTS fan base, but when every game of other genres are thriving, we don’t need a brand new RTS revival to be on par or below a 20 year old predecessor. Surviving on the small lifeline of its dedicated players who accept AOE IV even if it was stick figures.