Tbh I remember a post regarding the NDA where the dude said something like, don’t even say if you liked it. So… be careful lol. I am curious to see how it comes out, I’ve been waiting for this since it was announced
Sadly Blizzard doesn’t make the player-base count available like Steam but there is a site called www.rankedftw.com, that counts the total games per day.
If you look at the stats on the site currently there are 1.21m games/day weighted by the games-per-player-avg (5/player) . So, 242k players per day → 10K~ per hour (Only counts the multiplayer player-base tho, differently from Steam, so we can only speculate).
Do you think this is an appropriate comparison? Rankedftw is giving you total games per day, you’re estimating 5 games per player, and then dividing that number by 24… while the steam stats dont seem to differentiate between people in a ranked match and people doing anything else in the game. If so, the comparison is inaccurate.
You have to count on all the servers that SC2 has (SC2 stopped giving meaningful content) and also the number of players that SC BW has to realize that, for now, it has not been surpassed by AoE saga, for now.
I think AoE IV will be the turning point. There are people like @Amphiprion6 who are not optimistic, but it is clear that the game will continue to improve even after its launch.
Relic’s announcements of the game will intensify over time, and leading Microsoft-sponsored content creators will play the game.
And I repeat, that there is a divided decision among AoE fans does not mean that fans of other games do not like it. I just hope that AoE fans (especially some content creators who live off AoE2 content) don’t try to boycott the game, direct or indirect, so that it doesn’t succeed. You have to evolve and we all have to be together.
Those people don’t boycott the game,
they are rather very skeptical for the concept AoE4 does try to do.
We just don’t see such games to succeed,
it’s not like people are boycotting the E-Sports RTS genre,
the developers are just presenting games people have no interest into.
For example recent Kickstarter for
Sparta Definitive Edition: / KINGS AND SOLDIERS: Ancient Warfare failed.
Its pretty much like AoE sequel in 3D for AoE1.
They wanted on Kickstarter just 33.400 dollar to make the game. And failed to raise this money. The game has free beta/demo, you can check it, its pretty decent.
I agree. I think MS has probably invested a lot of $$$ so they will not want to see it flop. So they will do whatever it takes to make sure it does not flop.
I say wait until you play the game. I used to be one of the most vocal contesters of AoE4, bashing it everywhere I could. I used to say it’s just a money grabbing scheme, a way to cash in on AoE fans, a mobile game with Cartoon Network graphics, and other things I’m not really proud of.
The trailer imho wasn’t well made. Even in closed beta during the first few days I wasn’t convinced, that’s how bad were the prejudices I got from the trailers. But despite that I still had a small itch to come back and play a little more, and step by step I started to go from being unimpressed, to really like it. It is very carefully crafted, and the graphics really work. I am sorry I can’t tell you more, but you shouldn’t judge it by the trailer, or compare it with indie kickstarter games.
Imo they should have made a quick let’s play, where someone like ZeroEmpires would play a game with one of the civs. Then another let’s play with the beginning of a campaign mission. This is what they should have done instead of that out of place “cinematic” trailer that caused people to now ask for manned siege engines and other graphics related things. They’re judging it how it was presented - as a movie, not a game.
Microsoft can control, to a certain extend, which version is played by the community.
Pros will play the version with the bigger tournaments, since they obviously play for the money. Streamers will cast and stream the game which gives them more viewers and where they can cast pro games, this would then also be AoE4.
What the community sticks to longterm is a different question, but short term I am sure casual and pro players will give AoE4 a try.
This biggest issue right now , are the AGE2 players.They comparing this game so much , that they even want to have zoom level of AGE2 in 2D ;].This is funny , because I was playing AGE4 , and the zoom level is really good for a 3D rts game.For me also the art style , and gameplay over all is much better and dynamic , compare to AGE2 , which I didnt like
Although I’d mostly agree, I’m afraid the success of AoE4 will heavily hinge on its initial reception. AoE2DE had the community’s patience because it was an improved version of the game people already knew and loved - so even if they took almost a year to get the game properly polished, people waited. I don’t think people remember how God awful AoE2DE was at launch.
Now, I don’t think folks will be giving AoE4 the patience it deserves. It is controversial in many topics already - like graphics, Civs, animations, etc - and folks who are on the fence will likely make their mind in the first few weeks. If they launch a slightly improved version of the Beta we played, I think Relic and Microsoft will have a rough time convincing people back…
Having said all that, I’m optimistic. The core gameplay is great. I just hope they really dig deep and polish for a good enough first impression - and that’s one of the reasons why I think they should delay the launch tbh.
I can tell you, objectively and unequivocally, that it’s something the devs need to address. Certain things are subjective - such as liking or disliking the art style - but if there’s an inadequate zoom level for players to work with, this objectively hinders the gameplay. Zoom level of ~10-15% difference amongst players is subjective, but definitely not 100%+. Nobody plays ultra zoomed out or ultra zoomed in without significantly handicapping themselves. Without commenting on the Beta itself - I’ll give an arbitrary example:
Would people like to see the Trebuchets and the walls/towers they are shooting at? Yes. They need to know what’s going on in the city they’re sieging, and they also need to know if their Trebs/defending troops will be under attack from a charging group of enemy Cavalry. If I can’t see both at the same time, I have to flip back and forth, and that’s an awful gameplay experience. This is one of many examples that could occur in a fast-paced RTS.
Hence, I don’t think this is an AoE2 player complaint. Any tester who thinks the zoom level is awful will call it out.