this is my reply to @Mahazona earlier few replies back. just no, no thanks.
1 Like
Before making them, we really need different skin for different unit. Why names and skin of different units are the same ? :
- dark age scout vs feodal one
- feodal tower vs castle
- trade unit before and after the upgrade
- feodal stone wall vs castle stone wall
- (perhaps vil with their upgrade because they only affect them)
also agree for elit units
Make it client side and most troubles are gone
1 Like
Its called readability.
Enough people have been saying this for 20 years I canāt believe the devs have never done anything about it.
6 Likes
Whatās funny is they HAVE actually done it. They gave kings and trade carts regional skins and in the files since the HD edition thereās monk regional skins just waiting to be activated yet they never did. Theyāve even given merchants regional skins a unit that makes no appearance in skirmish.
5 Likes
Readability? Why houses when you age up change design? A little boost of hp. A small change for a big visual change
Sure, that was always the ideaā¦
I ended up buying the dlc of the hero skins for Christmas simply because they were good, it was very cheap and it also helps them bring more content to the gameā¦ I think the same could be applied to aoe 2 if they set their minds to it and donāt abuse it of itā¦
Of course, they have been making that excuse for a while and they forget that we have 42 civs from all over the world with different types of architecture and unique units of the most variedā¦
You are against payed work? You are vowing for slavery?
Cosmetics require work to be done, some artists work hard for that, have nothing to do with devs.
A game is not made by 100% devs, not even 50%, there are lots of other types of employees there.
And bout feasibility, it is very feasibleā¦ Its not like they did not do it before with Mesoamerican monks (and nobody complained not even pro players that talk about readability in competitive games) or every unique architecture or unique unit in the game already.
Even more, Mesoamerican monks are already activated since day 1 
1 Like
Nobody wants 40+ unique skin for each unit in the game, we only want the few regional skins exactly as they are in the game already but they did not finish the job.
There are already regional carts and they are fine, nobody complains.
There are regional monks but not for all regions (only for Mesoamerican civs).
There are regional barracks, stable and archery ranges with their regional units but not for all regions (only partly for Mesoamerican civs and part of the South East Asians stable).
We need regional barracks, stables and archery ranges with their regional units for:
- far east region (Chinese/Japanese/Koreans)
- middle east region
- Africa region.
- south-east Asia region
Finish the job that is already started with the few 4 regional skin types that are missing and that is it.
Nothing to do with the readability, just a thing that should be completed so the game does not break the feel or become absurd from a historical point of view.
hereās the deal, they still get fair paychecks, also
thats the dumbest take i ever heard, and i heard fair amount, the difference in what you ask for is the following: this isnāt a free DLC, obviously, and this technique has been abused beyond comprehension since oblivion came out (imagine paying 10$ for a skin pack now when not long ago that was a price of full on expansion style dlc)
the publishers will always use these small wishes of yours as a bait to milk your wallet, theyāre absolutely interested in your ideas, but not to give you what you want, but to milk your wallet, i donāt tolerate any āmodern gamingā ideas being trickled in, its always subtle at first, but before you know, any unlockable skin suddenly sucks and all the good stuff is behind a paywall
this is microsoft weāre talking about, not some small indie dev
1 Like
Nobody said anything about the price and the amount of skins for that price.
You are just assuming things that nobody ever said.
We ask for regional skins that could mean like 4 sets of skins for barracks/stables/archery ranges/siege workshops and monasteries, and that would be hard work done (documenting + designing + integrating them) that can be sold on steam for 5 euros, a more then fair price.
Or they can add to it a new civ and a campaign to rise it to 10 euros.
Also 10 dollars now are not the 10 dollars then if you understand how inflation and value of money over time works. 10 dollars now would be like 1 dollar 30 years ago 
If that is āāmilking moneyāā from your point of view it means that you have nothing to do with appreciating work and the value of it.
Your talk based on fears not on facts. You cant assume Microsoft will do nasty things to us before they actually do it.
its called hindsight, iāve seen enough bad cases in any other game with cosmetics to be on my guard
also ik what inflation is just as well as you do
in case they would end up doing it, iād also expect a sort of toggle to see default sprites, similar to toggle for event mods in aoe3 DE, now, as a standalone cosmetic pack for 5 euros, to me thats tough sell, but the other option you mention would be more interesting and less controversial
fears yes, ones that have nearly always been justified, microsoft has proven track record of crappy monetization making its way in, not to EA, activision or Ubisoft level, but being less bad that the worst doesnāt make one a saint
True what you sayā¦ but age of empires (even aoe4 that is very recent) and rise of nations franchises were not touched by this practices yet so lets keep our faith.
Maybe they understood we are a niche and they donāt use this kind of practices on us cuz for sure wont work.
maybe, there is tho solid proof that there will be cosmetic dlcs in aoe4, iām talking about that wording in their season 3 survey, and relic, the developer, has track record of doing those too
Forgotten empires and tantalus were very fair so far and it would be a real shame to do smt stupid after so much done right
if it stops at 1 DLC, then iām calm, but this is rare
Yeah but that is differentā¦ in aoe4 you already have regional units so from a historical point of view that game does not break.
The cosmetics will be pure fantasy that donāt affect the game mechanics for people that want to have extra fun, so if you wanna have fun buy it if notā¦ donāt.
In aoe2 we have a lack of historical accuracy that breaks the game feel. having champions and cavaliers with Japanese is hilarious wile with Mesoamericans is even worse. Wile having white villagers with black unique units on African civs is alsoā¦ making u laugh.
If I want to make a historical battle scenario for my friends to play with, I will be limited to like 1 single unit with Japanese or 3 with Mesoamericans while with European civs I can use all the units available.
Itās about consistency, either no regional units and builds at all either all regions with their specific units and buildings.
They already did regional units and buildings why not finish the job so we are all happy and the game become consistent.
Read your own comment again you want to reskin units and rename them.
My bet is that after Return of Rome, the next DLC will be a Skin pack.
They started with Aoe3 with the explorer pack and a skin pack would be more fresh than a DLC with 2-3 civs (the game already has a ton of civs)
1 Like
in fairness, i did like the addition of hero unit unique sprites with DE, william wallace for example, but 1 dlc is my personal limit, preferably with campaign or 2 included (there are enough civs)