I enjoyed games like ‘Risk’ and ‘Defender of the Crown,’ and I’ve always wanted AoE to have a SP mode where you conquer a world, thus making an “empire.” (But doing so via SP random map type matches; not the pre-programmed campaigns.)
As it stands, SP games in AoE are isolated islands in time. You play one game, view your stats, reset, then play the next SP map. Rinse and repeat. Multiple matches are not connected in any way. You don’t even accrue an ELO or long-term stats. The only long-term stats you can see/find are through looking through Steam achievements. But you’re still not building an “Empire,” per se… just a town; and the in-game SP (non-Campaign) experience is just random map after random map.
AoE4 “towns” can feel more like an empire, with their large walls, but conquering a region or world would be a next step of coolness.
In the context of AoE, I envision the four map edges being one way to access/connect to adjacent territories for you to conquer. Not the only way, of course, because I’d want an overhead regional/world map that you can view, too (similar to the Campaign maps), but one way anyways.
Here’s some thoughts I shared in the past. My idea has probably morphed a little, and I didn’t explain/clarify things at length due to it being a forum post, but the foundation is here. I wonder if this is kind of what you mean…