[Request] New matchmaking queue for 1v1 Co-op mode

Age of Empires II: DE II - Discussion
1

Hey all,

I think the feature that 2 players can control 1 base (a.k.a. Archon mode from starcraft), is great and super fun teamgame, that it is already working in AoE 2!! (in custom games, 2 players choose the same color, then they spawn controlling the same base)!

My proposal/request to the developers is to launch a new ranked queue for the 1v1 Co-op game mode. So is 1 civ/base vs. 1 civ/base, but each are controlled by 2 players.

My arguments for creating a new (ranked?) queue for this mode:

  • It would allow players to experience a higher level of gameplay. As we all know AoE2 has a lot of depth to it, skill cap is very high! If 2 players could put all their APM into controlling the same civ, we could play some very interesting games.
  • The current 2v2 mode can be off balance, chaotic or rather unrewarding sometimes, as the civ balance seems to be designed for 1v1
  • Team games are popular! There are 77k players who are on the Team Random Map ladder, 1v1 Random Map has 46k players, while all other ladders, like EW, RoR, DM have at most a few thousands. See Leaderboards
  • Water maps are unpopular, see this post Maybe due to the extra complexity to fight for water control in parallel. While in the proposed mode 1 of the players could take care of water play.
  • Players do not need to learn anything new about civs, matchups, because all of those are the same as in normal 1v1.
  • No major new features are required, as it is already available in the game (maybe some supporting QoL features, e.g. a toggle at unit control menu to prevent other player to accidentally interfere with chosen units, or setup phase before the match starts so the 2 players can distribute tasks (like lanes/roles in MOBA games).
  • The same game mode in Starcaft 2 (Archon mode), has been kicking for quite a long time, since 2014! And with active players, see

Open questions, discussion points:

  • How to determine rank? Maybe the same way how the Team Random Map ranks work, it would be fine as a start. But as Spirit of the Law pointed out, it might not be that trivial, see The AoE2 team Elo fix explained
  • What could be a good name for this mode? I think “1v1 Co-op” is a confusing name, but I don’t have better ideas.

I personally would love to see the “1v1 Co-op” queue added to AoE2 DE!
What do you guys think? Any idea or response is welcome!

2

You can already play 1v1 co-op in the lobby. Just let both pick the same color and you will play with the same player. So this is already in the game. Did you know this?

Can you show me how many 1v1 co-op games there are in the lobby? Is there really a fan base for this game mode already? Personally i dont think so. As result we can add it to ranked, but it will be pretty dead. Only very active game modes/settings will work in ranked. Personally i dont see any other game mode except RM that is suited for ranked. Even EW - that is in ranked - doesnt really fit the requirement of a big fan base. As result 1v1 co-op ranked doesnt really work.

3

Thanks a lot for picking up the topic @WoodsierCorn696 !

Yes, I know that this feature is available already, but I think it is very underappreciated and barely known by the player base.

I’ve been looking in the lobby to try to find 1v1 Co-op games, but I’ve never seen any. For this I think the reasons are:

  • players are not aware that it exists, it seems a kind of hidden feature
  • this mode doesn’t have a good name, because "1v1 Co-op " is confusing I think.

As I listed my arguments in the post, I think this mode is an awesome mix between popular team games and the well-known 1v1 match-ups/mechanics.

How do you think we could verify that a ranked queue would be viable for 1v1 Co-op? Some poll? Maybe contact some AoE2 communities?

4

After talking to multiple ppl in different discord Servers, I conclude that there s no sufficient interest such wide introduction as a ranked queue.

BUT, i found a community on discord that is organizing tournaments with This mode (they call it Coop Cup): The Co-Op Cups

5

Ranked wouldn’t work with co-op because the whole ELO system is based on the premise of 1 player gaining points and the other losing points.

6

Yes, @NastyHigh you are definietly right, but that is also solved (somehow) for team games. I think similar system could apply, not sure how the Team Random Map ELO is implemented…

How to calculate the ELO is beside the request to create a new queue though. Now I dont think either that there will be a new queue for the coop 1v1.