Is "upgrading" from Microsft Store to Steam worth it?

That doesn’t allow you to create a mod in the first place though? You need to be able to edit the game files, which you can’t do. You can do it in the MS Store version of Halo MCC, which installs as a modifiable app, but the MS Store version of AoE II DE doesn’t install as a modifiable app (or at least it didn’t when I last installed it).