I believe the quote actually goes something like this. Please note the highlighted sentence here:
"We’ve got some big surprises still waiting for you along these lines and they’ll take their own form as we continue to work on entertaining you in new ways,
so to the extent that you enjoy and support *Victors and Vanquished*, we fully intend to keep Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition like a year-long Christmas tree with the presents piled high (without getting clothes from Grandma – cool toys only). Note: this doesn’t at all mean that the DLC you love is going away, but it definitely means we’re trying new things in an effort to make you even more happy."Source: Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition - Update 107882 - Age of Empires - World's Edge Studio
Unless sales figures are good, then considering the widespread V&V backlash in the community, it seems there may be no year-long AoE2 Christmas tree… and nary a present to be found
Devs reply to bug or issue threads sometimes, so they’re at not completely silent. But maybe regarding V&V, sure.
I mean, there aren’t a ton of things they could say that could change peoples’ minds about V&V or make them feel better. And most anything they say would be met with even more/continued harsh criticism, unless they say, “IT’S FREE!! ENJOY!!” or “85% OFF, ENJOY!!” – which likely isn’t going to happen. (At least not until Steam Winter sale or something.) So I bet they’re not exactly jumping for joy at the thought of saying something, and may just wait until the next DLC or content announcement, whenever or whatever year that comes now.
PS: I’m pretty sure FloosWorld is a moderator(?), not a dev. His tagline says, Dev Agent N°1 which I take to mean he is an agent for the devs (i.e., a moderator) – not an actual dev. I used to think he was a dev, but I realized he probably isn’t based on how they post, and I think devs get a different tagline.
FloosWorld pointing to a reddit post by the husband of the artist was great. And then the husband actually posting in the thread itself was cool, too…