Realistic Expectations for the future DLCs

Age of Empires II: DE II - Discussion
1

Most people here probably know that theres a hardcoded civ limit and that devs will probably not stop making new DLCs until either the sales die off or we hit that limit. And while that limit may disappear sooner or later, rn that limit is 48 civs, so we only have 9 more civs to go in 3 to 5 more DLCs.

So what do you expect in the next DLCs? I personally expect a South African DLC (we will get at least Bantu civ for sure, they are very recognzable for african civs and could be very unique, and its most probably both Zimbabwe and Kongo but it could be something else but only one of them along with Beninese, Somalis, Swahili or maybe Kongolese with Kanem (who I really really doubt will ever get added) or Hausa (more sensible simply because of the African DLC for AoE3) as a central african DLC) an Indian DLC (I expect Bengalis and Tamils, but maybe they put Afghans somewhere), a Caucassian DLC (I cant see Georgians not being added, and with them it will have to be either Armenians, Khazars, or maybe just a middle eastern civ), an East Asian DLC (Thais, and either Jurchen (who will be called as Manchus for marketability I imagine), Khitans (odd choice but it could be fairly recognizable as the dudes that were in the Mongol campaign) or Tibetans somehow), a Balkan DLC (Serbs, and either Croats or Vlachs), a Middle Eastern DLC (Nubians and Mamluks but maybe Afghans too), a German DLC or a Mediterranean DLC (plenty of civ choices, not a fan of any of those: Aragonese, Moors, Vandals, Croats, Venetians, Serbs, maybe even Basques), a HRE DLC (you have to cash on Germans since AoE2 is HUGE there and you have plenty of HRE subfactions and civs close to them like Venetians, Swiss, Austrians, etc etc. Not a fan of any of those but they could happen) or even a Poly or American DLC (Mapuche are fairly popular and north american civs may be well recieved, and even Polys are a weirdly popular civ choice similarly to how Normans were). Of these I would pick the first five (and I think they are a real posibility), but I expect at least one European DLC.

If we talk about what I wish we get I want Somalis, Kanembu, Tamils, Bengalis, Tibetans, Georgians, Zimbabweans, Nubians and either Thai or Manchu. Tbh that seems to be what most people want as well more or less

2

i prefer 4 dlc

  • american (mapuche, missisipians, iroquis)
  • asian (tibetians, bengali)
  • africa (kongolese, nubians, songhais)
  • caucasians (armenians)
5 Likes
3

I may be a minority here but I really don’t want anymore civs; in my opinion there are already too many.

The game in reality doesn’t have that many dimensions to it so there’s just not that much room to make unique civs which results in new civs have gimmicks. Likewise it just becomes an absolute impossibility to balance properly and makes the game more intimidating / less approachable for those new players wanting to join the multiplayer scene.

5 Likes
4

It’s not really for the multiplayer, it’s for the casual players like me who loves the campaign and a bit of history. More civs more content more campaigns more support for the game. There are still lots of ways to add unique civs without resorting to gimmicks tbh.

7 Likes
5

Just fix the bugs and the performance issues first.
However in terms of civs, I can’t say I’d be excited for an african or american dlc, meh.
Asia or Caucasus on the other hand would interest me.

2 Likes
6

You need money for that.dlcs are a good way to get some quickly.

I doubt there will be any dlc’s till next year.new civis need time to settle and aoe4 is coming soon.ms would want all the attention on aoe4 for a while.

7

As long as there is no more ■■■■ powers like first crusade or flemish I don’t care.

8

Is there an official confirmation that the limit is 48?

9

Two DLCs plus the game are not enough money? How much money do they need to fix bugs and issues? :weary:

10

I enjoy both those techs and wouldn’t mind seeing more.

Anyone have any idea when the next DE2 event will drop at least?

11

After LOTW (Sicilians and Burgundians) I was in the “enough civs.” camp. Sicilians felt like budget Teutons and Burgundians felt like budget Franks, and they still do feel that way, for the most part.

This changed with DOTD (Bohemians and Poles) mainly because the devs showed some creativity and proved that civs don’t have to be as straightforward. Now I believe that there should be more civs as there are concepts that game can still expand on with proper design. Examples of this are the folwark and hand cannons in Castle age.

If I was to assume things, I would suggest that another DLC is already underway- probably african or asian, as the devs have heard enough of “no more european civs!”.

We have to judge by the approach Microsoft takes with AoE4, whether its meant to replace AoE2 as the “main” age of empires game or whether it will be a novelty thing that is expected to be left behind after a few big tournaments and a decent amount of sales (which, with the 60 euro pricetag, might not happen even).

If it’s AoE4 focus we can expect to get the 9 civs in 3-4-5 expansions and have AoE2 as a complete game for at least the next 2 decades.

If it’s not AoE4 focus they will probably try to build on the hardcoded amount of civs and maybe add even more, but I’m doubtful- the code base is from 20+ years ago and at this point, if it wasn’t done with DE, a rewrite to allow for more modern mechanics and freedom with modding etc, won’t happen now.

So, to the African, Asian, American ones I would sprinkle in one European just because we should see Swiss and idk what else, maybe Vlachia not sure.

3 Likes
12

if another 9 civs is all the game can handle then:

  1. Tibetans
  2. Jurchen
  3. Ghorids
  4. Pratihara
  5. Bengals
  6. Dravidians
  7. Bantu
  8. Romanians
  9. Georgians

But I would also like to see Kanem/Nubians, Armenians, Thai, and maybe Iroquois, Mapuche and Serbs.

1 Like
13

They are going to happen, theres too much money to be made

14

Tbh while I agree that the trend hasnt been very good lately and that maybe we need the posibility of a civ pool for the new players, new DLCs are just going to happen

Also I think they are going to keep the format to milk it the most possible

15

Indian buildings are under used so more of india would be good but then again more european factions are easier to add.

16

They arent really. It takes the same ammount of work and people are tired of those

17

Its easier to find voice actors for europe as most of the devs are form europe.finding 4 people speaking swiss is easier than finding 4 speaking zimbabwian languages.
You can easily make a swiss civi by using teuton voices or venice with italian/byzantine voices and people would not complain much.

18

Thats like the argument most based on laziness that I ever heard.

Its as hard to find voice actor for the burgundians as it is for the Tamils or Bengalis

19

Actually harder I would argue. Devs arent modders, they can take the time to do so.

20

You are talking about a dev team who made one building to make the set different rather than make a new set.they are doing things very “economically”.