now imagine skins that dont affect gameplay and are made professionally
imagine selling these skins to players who are into cosmetics
who would buy them you think? millions of people who will try out the game because its free to play.
people who usually would not play RTS games but want to give it a try without having to pay 60$ or own a gamepass
I think I would stay away from micro transactions like selling unit skins.
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name me one down side of offering people well made cosmetics for a small amount of money
no body forces you to buy anything
doesnt even have to be cosmetics
it was just an example and a reply to mr. IamDalv
Since it would only be cosmetic and would not give players any advantages, I guess that’s fine
Hi, mate! I literally said several times that I was not advising it be monetized like that.
Did you get advantages over other players the more money you spent in the original aoeO? I never played it
No advantages anymore. That got fixed quickly after launch.
one small cosmetic i would personally buy are customizable banners
imagine being able to create your own flags/banners and attach them onto your buildings or units
another cool one would be customizable castles, build and design your own castles or buildings that just look different but dont affect gameplay
stuff like this are probably too much to ask
lets make the game cost 60$ and have horrible graphics instead.
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So they got rid of micro transactions when the celestial project restarted the game?
That would imply those skins would be made how you wanted them; since you are unhappy with art direction what makes you think they would suddenly do realistic unit skins? I think not, they would continue with same style for cohesion, whereas modders are usually the ones to fill the gaps.
You are very wrong if you think “millions” would buy them. Didn’t really work for SC2 either. RTS has a niche audience of its own with people that tend to have a repulsion for purchasable cosmetics. And most people who do not play RTS will continue to not play RTS. Free2play is not the way to go for RTS.
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Yeah, it was fixed waaaay later by fans, not quickly after launch as Andy puts it haha.
Our project is under the MS game usage rules and is 100 percent free forever for everything.
But in 2012 the official devs removed the Pay to Win aspects of PvP, though you could still buy little power ups and stuff for help v. the AI. In this way there still were micro transactions but it wasnt problematic in any way.
It was fixed in 2012, perhaps 6 months after launch iirc.
Ok, I see, because I thought that was one of the reasons a lot of people didn’t like it
The game was horribly monetized and under developed at launch in August, 2011. That first impression doomed it, and players ran off in droves. Similarly most reviews were written then. So the written record haunted it. Those that stuck it out or came later know of a very different game but it was too late to recapture commercial viability. We AoEO fans have gamer PTSD and I use mine to scream about how absolutely necessary it is for AoE4 to launch perfectly and how it can all come unglued because nothing is immune from disaster.
There’s no releasing naval later if there is no such thing as later. For instance.
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I respect you, Andy, I really do. You are so articulated and a long time fan that I understand why you got picked up in the council.
But your blind love for the ever too little AoEO game sometimes makes you not see the forest from the trees. I’m sure you are good influence as an advisor, I’m just worried of the few times when you are not, because you are always way too vocal about AoEO, always trying to push almost every discussion towards it. 
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"We know nothing about all the features AoE4 "
We know a lot of things already, 4 months before release, things like
-Poor animation
-Poor immersion (caused mostly by animations, graphics, unit proportion, buildings size, cartoon style)
-Game play, new features only units on buildings and hiding in some trees, no modern features already set in previous RTS like cavalry charges, morale, use of shields etc.
-Siege weapons unmanage (again removes a lot of immersion).
-no blood
-no corpses
The problem with the things mentioned above is the immersion, immersion for me is most important thing in a video game. I see that relic is trying to remove immersion for the sake of “Readability” and this is a huge problem for many gamers.
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you don’t like the youtuber ok, but where are your counter arguments? some people can’t face the reality.
The nice thing about the truth is it doesn’t need you all to believe in it for it to still be true. 
AoEO is a masterwork and represents the pinnacle of AoE design. particularly in the area of civ design. AoE2 is a rusty old spoon next to the sharp edges of an AoEO civ. I will die happy having been a part of creating two AoEO civs.
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But seriously, I find the level of conversation so freaking remedial when only AoE2 people are discussing the franchise. There’s soooo much more to Age than what ensemble had done in 1999.
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