Hello everyone 
In the video from my post “The Next Major RTS Will Fail. This is Why” the speaker mentioned that it is important for a RTS to have some spectacle.
A very good example of a spectacle is the wololo from the monks. It is not realistic but nevertheless very funny.
It would be great if AOE4 would have more of this kind of things.
I read a post once with the suggestion of adding traps to the game. I find this idea very good.
I imagine holes with leaves over them for example. The opponent does not recognize them. When his units run over them, they fall down and shout.
Also the time of day should change during a game. At night for example the radius of vision of units and buildings would be limited. Thus attacks at night would be advantageous.
I also envisage pitch fields. Archers can shoot at their own pitch fields and start a fire that burns enemy units. Similar to Stronghold.
In addition I am thinking of palisades (similar to those of the English archers) that can be erected.
For more spectacle I also think that the individual units (at least the special ones for each civilization) should have special attacks.
There should also be more unique units per civilization.
It could also be interesting if from time to time witches appear that cause, for example, droughts, which slows down the food collection rate, can enchant units, etc. (More as a game option) These could best be defeated with monks.
For me the spectacle also includes several different animals like in AOE3. Hippos, tigers, crocodiles etc. (depending on the BIOM)
A special unit that can disguise itself as an enemy unit and sneak in would also be interesting. Similar to a spy but who can fight in addition to spying.
There should also be a hero mode. Each civilization has a hero. For example, William, Johanna from Orlean and so on.
Furthermore there needs to be fun taunts. The AI should also have a face like in AOE3 (for example Napoleon) and react to taunts.
Something else interesting would be spying birds that could be trained. Archers could shoot them.
Another idea would be to hang dead enemy soldiers or something similar to weaken the enemy’s morale.
In town centres there could be a technology that lets villagers take up arms. Similar to AOE3.
Advanced mega random mode (additional option besides Mega Random): Besides the randomly generated map, you start a game differently every time. Fixed build orders would therefore only work badly. For example one time you start with 20 peasants, then everyone has a castle at the beginning, one time everyone has 2 village centres at the beginning and so on.
Of course some of the creative ideas could also be incorporated as game options. So that everyone can decide for themselves what they want to play.
I think multiplayer balancing is important. But entertaining content is even more important. Especially for casual players.
The developers should not get too lost in balancing and not have the resources for new content. Outside the e-sports scene, small balancing differences between civs are not match decisive or the most important thing.
What do you think of the ideas? I will probably create my own topics on one or the other at a later date. However, I would like to know your initial ideas.
Do you have ideas for more spectacle in AOE4?
Kind regards