Uhhm there are 2 schools of thought
Some would like 4 variant civs and the DLC, as it is. Its new content so I buy it nevertheless. Who cares?
But we the majority of players are very upset with them since while ago and all the obnoxious decisions behind the franchise.
Some of the greatest pain points for the entries in the last year and signs of a company that “knows” their customers
We do not want variant civs, we want full unique civs plus campaigns/scenarios and casual PvE/Co-Op content (AoE IV)
We do not want to be lied about an announcement, a cancellation drop saying nothing has been done for 2 and half years, and then a fake apology letter, following a dismissal, gaslight, denial, blockade of its whole community (AoE III)
We do not want heroes in Ranked/Casual Matches and variants of a civ that does not belong to game timespan (AoE II)
I’m excited for the Crucible, in theory. The game needs more big game modes. More replayability.
Campaigns are fun but not necessarily replayable. The only ones I’ve ever replayed seriously are from Dawn of War II, and that adopted RPG mechanics (which is part of why they were replayable).
Why do campaigns have to be necessarily replayable?
I buy a campaign. Play it. I buy the next one. Play it.
I’m generating twice as much sales as someone who play the first one 10 times
I can respect that there are people who do not want variant civs, and would prefer not having them prioritized over base civs.
However! This last year has made it clear this is their focus. It speaks to a large number of people who want to see more from the civs that already exist, as they offer more ways to play as the civilizations that people are familiar with.
Expanding on Japan is huge for me. Having a viking focused faction is pretty big too. I’m not a fan of mongol or delhi, so I can’t speak to those, but the people that I do know that play them are excited to have more options in their gameplay.
By all means, share your thoughts and feelings on it. Try to keep in mind that they don’t make decisions for no reason. It’s pretty clear they feel confident in this being the right path forward… which is why they’ve done it twice in a row now.
Yeah I think getting a refund. The most expensive DLC to date (base price 20€) and a new procedural solo content, not even fleshing out the existing gamemodes…
EDIT: The Conquerors expansion had 8 new battles AND 3 new campaigns.
If they had made this DLC whith 2 unique full civs instead of 4 variants and a worthy campaign (done well of course in terms of narrative, length, gameplay, mechanics like Sultans Ascend’s one) people would not complaint, would not complaint at all.
And in addition of being very attractive to its customers it would have sold really well
I think a very large amount of incompetence is what they have.
They love to shoot themselves right on the foot!
On the other hand, these New variants look well-crafted. At least it seems like they listened to the feedback that we have been making about historical representation, and that’s good.
Also, the new mode they’re bringing is also a way to keep up with the competition:
Northgard also has a similar mode for single player called "Conquest Mode", which also gives you passive bonuses while you’re adventuring.
And this solo mode made me play more than 100 hours, although well, each game in Northgard can be very long. If it’s well-crafted, it could provide many hours of gameplay.
However, they need to improve the AI, because if it stays as bland, it’ll be the same as playing against the normal AI on Hardest, and once you reach Gold III, it becomes easy to defeat them in any situation.
The 4 variants are good but no including at least 1 unique civ nor campaign or Co-OP/PvE mode simply DO NOT WORTH THE WAIT AND THE MONEY when we got 2 full civs 4 variants and a campaign for way less money
On the other hand, AI is so much better now but still have issues!
I’m mostly a single player gamer and I’ve been replaying the campaigns in all the AoE games every couple of years since each one was released. But, I don’t like rogue-likes, most just feel like incomplete games that use the rogue-like part to keep people playing poor content. I sure hope I like this new DLC more than I am anticipating..
