Now that the DLC has been released for near 2 weeks, the verdict is out: this whole thread is mostly moot…
Because it’s currently sitting at 0 Steam reviews in the Vietnamese language.
And this is a foregone conclusion, easy to see from 10 miles away - some of the devs probably foresaw it as well as anybody before they embarked on this project.
We know one of the DLC’s goals is to court the VN market. Back in late 2022, long before the Lac Viet civ or the D3 mode was announced, they had specially invited VN beta testers, and sent out user surveys that were translated into Vietnamese.
But we also know how AoE1 is played there - using free downloaded copies of Rise of Rome version 1.0 (because they utilize a bug where you can press “S” to infinitely replenish Farms). You cannot possibly replace a free download entrenched into a low-Steam-adoption national esports community by simply asking them to make a Steam purchase. Even if Return of Rome was priced competitively as my post suggested, it would still fail to achieve this goal.
To seriously pursue the goal, you’d need boots on the ground - have somebody in Vietnam to speak with all the stakeholders face-to-face - the net cafe owners, the tournament organizers, the common stream watchers, the average students, the athlete players. You’d have to listen to and observe their needs, to sit down and drink with them, immerse yourself in the cultural ambience to gain an understanding.
And this replacement product would have to be closely based on the local community’s needs. The price can be as low as 100% free, and the stakeholders would still need something to gain from making the switch.
But from the franchise owner’s perspective, what do they have to gain from winning over the VN market? The answer is probably: not worth the effort it takes. Very well, Return of Rome it is then.
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As an aside, OTOH a better pricing strategy might have bumped up its Steam review score a notch.
Return of Rome currently has 1060 total “bought on Steam” reviews at 44% positive, which translates to ~594 negative reviews.
It has 488 reviews in English at 58% positive, which is 205 negative reviews.
For comparison, it has 255 reviews in Simplified Chinese at 16% positive, or 214 negative reviews -
clearly the largest slice.
Other than the typical complaints, apparently an important factor of the negativity in China is the local price point - higher than AoE1DE itself, and near double that of other DLCs.