With the cancellation of the AOE3 DLC I wanted to try out some mods for the original game however I do not own it on Steam. Since the product has been delisted, the only legitimate way I can access the game is by buying a physical copy (which may or may not work) and an external cd drive since my computer does not have one.
Perhaps there is a way to make the Complete edition free for people who bought the aoe3 DE base game. Since the multiplayer support has ceased, the product’s value has diminished so I can understand Microsoft does not want to charge the full price for it but it is a shame there is no official way to download it.
I don’t really know if Steam/Microsoft store has a way to bundle it for free with the AOE3 DE base game but it would be nice to look into. I know some people who play the series may not have the most up to date hardware so allowing people to access the original version may be nice for people who’s hardware can’t run DE well.
Giving people a legitimate way to play the game is good for players so they can enjoy the hard work of modders of the original game and it is good for Microsoft since some people may buy DE as a result. Alternatively, if the Complete Edition was listed for $20 I would easily pick it up.
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I would second this if possible, or resuming sales of the old Complete Edition. Quite frankly, I am confused and baffled by the decision to delist the Complete Edition in the first place. It removed a source of free revenue for the company, and had no benefit whatsoever for consumers or for your company.
The only people who actually benefit from delistings of original versions of remastered games are secondhand sellers and criminals. It’s a lose-lose situation for both us legitimate customers, who are deprived of mod-compatible versions of games, and publishers, who lose all the goodwill and zero-effort money that keeping the old versions available would have given you.
Basically any customer can tell the difference between the up-to-date versions of games and the old versions if you put in the slightest bit of effort in the storefront, which you did do for several legacy AoE titles before you delisted them. The greying-out and saying “this game is a legacy version, the up-to-date version is here”, while keeping it available for sale, worked, and it is what you should do for all legacy versions of remastered games.
I personally purchased the AoE3 Complete Edition again a couple years ago, after AoE3 DE’s release, and would gladly have done the same for non-definitive AoE1 had it ever been released on Steam or GOG.
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