So reading about the new changes in the upcoming addon and how a lot of the mechanics are very non AoE like, and realizing how many non AoE mechanics there already are in the game, particularly with the last Khans addon, but also in previous addons, I think it would be interesting if previous game versions would be released as official data mods.
Lets say to take the final build of each version of the game right before the next addon was released.
So to have one AoK, AoC etc. These could still keep all the quality of life improvements but have the balance and Civilizations of that game version.
Could be interesting to have AoK lobby games, and even AoK tournaments.
I wouldnt even be against making this a 5$ DLC I actually would be more excited about this than the announced addon, or filling the content of the upcoming addon with these datamods. Sure, it would make it only available to part of the community and therefore probably not very useful outside of the pro gamer scene, but still would be better than nothing.