Im very disappointed it turns out like this
Microsoft and World’s Edge clearly dislike AOE4 and its not getting enough money and funding
Why cut Funding for AOE4?
Wasnt it supposed to be the Best Selling AOE4 DLC in the Entire Franchise of Age of Empires History
People have been waiting for years, and no new Civs, only Variants, people want actual new Music, new Buildings, new Voicelines, Victory and Defeat Themes
Why is Microsoft doing this? Do you really hate AOE4 that much
Worlds Edge is just an AoE II fan club
I wonder why they even developed IV on the first hand, sincerely
They should have just stuck to developing Age of Empires II instead of wasting time and money on anything else.
I don’t understand how people can still play II after seeing IV. II is just TOO OLD.
It is their most popular game.
Their golden egg hen
Their lottery ticket
Their sacred cow, and they will milking it forever and ever
Yes.
They have no real production team, which is why the content we are served is limited in its scope. We are effectively being fed mods by the very same team of developers who are put on the game to keep it afloat. To put it in other words, Microsoft is double dipping the skeleton crew by making them produce these during downtime.
What worries me however is the echochamber that AoE4 is about to become. Every single streamer that has backdoor access to developers keep moaning about them using the term “variants”, and I suspect the developers will cave in to these idiots eventually and start announcing DLCs with “new civilizations” when in reality, they are just another French mod.
Another angle to contend with is that Relic, in fact, imploded entirely. Dawn of War 4 is not even made by them. Which means unless Microsoft or WE comes out with a statement soon about who has been assigned for actual AoE4 content production, then the DLC we just got is all we are going to get from here on out.
It’s been 2 years since we got real civilizations. The only saving grace for this game is if they might produce more in the future, and I don’t think that is likely anymore, in fact, I doubt it entirely. Some glimmers of hope such as seeing cacti and new world biomes persist, but these developers are doing themselves no favours by being so insanely cryptic about what they are doing with this game besides putting out patches.
Hope is lost and so is this game. The end.
EDIT: So apparently Relic is doing the heavy lifting, even in this DLC. Since they have been mostly responsible for new civilizations in the past, this tells me that it is indeed about funding and sales strategy. Microsoft doesn’t seem to be willing to invest in anything more than this form of content, meaning get comfortable, because this is the way forward for AoE4.
If they stick to variants it means the scope is locked forever.
Are you going to design Vikings and Poles as HRE or Rus variants? Iberians and Italians as French variants? Koreans as Chinese variants? With no unique landmarks or voicelines? Seriously?
Are you going to design mesoamericans as variants at all?
Remember you still have a faction in Hungary and Bohemia who’s still using Aachen cathedral
If they only want to cater to the esports part. Good luck. I bet the prize pool must have been skyrocketing
I already said it since their unceremonious ditching of AOE3 that they’ll need something solid to rally trust. And people were like it’s just business or even happy the game they hate had been gone and resources can be allocated to them.
Then you got two variants at full price. And people fiercely defended it. Fine. Good for you.
Then you got 3K. Even reddit couldn’t sustain their forced positivity.
Then they laid off their outsourced team which is the only one that managed to produce a positively received DLC in two years.
Then you got this.
I may even trace back to V&V where things really started to go downhill.
However you like the gameplay, the value and efforts had been declining. The price had been rising. How would you believe they’d return to real quality work after they had the money? But rather doubling down on less work for more price, if it already worked for them? Tell me if there is anything they had done in two years that made you trust their empty promises, if any.
The only new contents that looked promising were AOM ones. Yet they are still within the preorder and the numbers don’t look amazing.
No it is not the end of AoE 4. It’s really exciting and fun to see all of the new ways people explore how to trash a game they’ve quit over a dozen times.
Extremely predictable. The expansion is announced and suddenly “AoE 4 is DEAD!” is all over every community.
Where do people even get the idea the developers hate the community? It’s some parts of the community that hates the game, and then stays around to let everyone know how much they hate the game. It’s mind boggling.
I know I’m not the only person who can’t stand it because the single largest reason people I introduce to this game quit is because of how hostile and negative this community is as a whole.
Join here: This discord server is creating A MOVEMENT to complain about the exclusion of Spain in aoe4: Iberia for Aoe4!
You are being too hopeful, i think this may as well be the Last DLC for AOE4 before they move onto AOE5
I highly doubt we will ever get new Civs again, just Variants only
they probably will make Korean as Variant for Chinese, with Korean Units for Chinese Civ…
When it doesn’t do I get a prize?
The developers hate the community?
Really?
FYI They obligated AoE I and IIi to left the chat while ago, all with malice in mind
There is so much behind the curtains, and if you can not see it, then you are blind
Thats all kid!
He is in delusion and denial
All is going the downward spiral now and then
It’s really that I’m frustrated that a game I enjoy playing has been polluted by angry disillusioned people who lash out at their fellow community members when they don’t get specifically what they want.
It’s exhausting how often this community is in tears because of things they were never promised not being delivered. The sheer entitlement.
The crazy thing is that you guys aren’t causing the game to die by crapping all over it. You’re just making it unpleasant to share a space with you. And then I get talked to for not letting you all have your tantrum in relative peace.
You should blame the company who made it toxic by constantly disappointing and disrespecting part of its playerbase.
Are you on the stormgate Reddit? They desperately need people like you.
Edit: also, I know you are super rich. But we don’t have infinite money.
I ironically think all six variants released this year are okay in their design. But the DLCs are not worth the price. And I am not going to reward that behavior. Because I know if I do they’d charge me more for less next time
You hate people with “expectations” so much because they hurt your little sweetheart company. Then take away all expectations and see if the community can sustain one day.
Its been 4 years and we barely got any new Civs, after 2 years almost 3 years of waiting we got 6 Variants, 0 New Civ
So we should all just shut up and be happy about it?
If they did a Vikings, Spanish and Aztecs as DLC expansion, it will SELL WAY MORE than the Variants stuff they are doing
Knights and Cross had a Poor Sale cuz its 2 Variants
No you should be vocal about your opinion.
You don’t like it, say it! Shout it from the rooftops!
I’m just saying it’s exhausting to have this conversation of how awful, terrible, bad, no good, disappointing, etc the game and its development team is. It’s practically a weekly occurrence. Plus, it always gets worse with any kind of major patch or expansion announcement. It sucks what little fun or joy exists in between the ranting right out of the room.
I mean, come on. The thread is about how the game is doomed for failure. There’s no nuance, it’s just pure spite and hatred. It’s incredibly obnoxious.
Incredibly obnoxious is the company behind this
Is there a chance to be happy about 2 and a half years of waiting for nothing and then getting gaslighted, dismissed, betrayed, and lied every time then?
I don’t know man. If this was a relationship the answer would be to leave them not slash their tires.
To be clear, I don’t want to encourage you to leave because of a disappointment in DLC. I’ve been through way worse things with this game in the past. I just think this might be a good time to re-evaluate your expectations of the game. It really isn’t like they made a promise of anything other than another DLC existing.
Seriously though, this kind of feedback is important. You guys feel strongly about it. I’m just saying put down the torches and pitchforks and pick up a pen. They need feedback about this, something that actually speaks to the exact issues that people are having. It’s solid feedback, and it’s important to you. That does matter.
There’s just got to be a way to do that without simultaneously destroying the community, dig?
i bet you would still be like this if the next DLC was another Variant…
