Honestly the game has enough points of interests as is, the game already features 4 resources and a map which is randomly generated in addition to sacred sites and relics, all of which are a fine dance of attention that have their own purpose and strategic values.
I can’t say the same for these new Points of Interests. Sacred Sites were specifically added as an alternative win condition. It has a very distinct reason to exist. But, a Point of Interest that generates +15 of all resources?
Resources in this game should be delegated to economy. You are already benefiting from having your army outside your base by controling the map. We don’t need to double down on that, nor do we need to keep adding details that muddles what players ought to put their attention in.
Not only does these smaller Point of Interests do that, but they encourage bad gameplay. A player that doesn’t know any better will plop their armies down at these points instead of using their armies to deny resources. A player that does know better will just send 1 unit from their armies to them.
What is the benefit of that? What emerging gameplay is arising from this that doesn’t already exist in the game?
This strikes to me as AoE3 developers being moved to AoE4 and forcing mechanics into it. I don’t play AoE3 exactly because that game is full random mechanics like this. Please don’t import them over for no reason at all. I understand taking inspiration from the likes of WC3 and AoE3, but AoE4 IS a perfectly valid game and it doesn’t need to be arbitrarily “improved” by worse games.
What makes AoE4 and AoE2 beautiful is exactly that fine balance of resources and strategy. Points of Interests, alongside Hero units and abilities, adds nothing but flashiness that simply does not age well nor scale with the existing depth of the game. It is just an addon that detracts from the overall experience.
New Feature: Points of Interest
Points of Interest are dynamic reward locations being added to several maps. They feature neutral map objectives that provide players with various reward types. Some may grant a consistent flow of resource yields, while others can uncover a relic. While it can be tempting to focus exclusively on capturing them, your opponents can capture them back to steal the benefits. Just be warned that the wolves of the Wolf Den are more dangerous than ever before! More information can be found in the Maps section of the patch notes.
Where is the justification? Does the game REALLY need this? It really REALLY does NOT. All of what is noted above, is already done by other existing mechanics. Moreover, I would really not want to see army generating resources “just because”. That is why we have such an indepth and complex system of economy that dramatically varies from civ to civ.
