Spirit of the Law stated in one of his many videos that most people are playing SP which wouldn’t surprise me to be honest. I’m part of this community and my Steam friends which play AOE play it this way too.
Here’s the relevant video:
Aom I agree with you, I even add the Microsoft should make DE of Rise of Nations and Rise of Legends (anybody remember Rise of Legends?), but Age 1 I dont think that’s the case, I dont think there is a huge crowd that will cherish Age 1 expansion and start to make tournaments like 2 and 3, outside some few fans that would no justify a proper expansion of content. It looks like the plan for Age 1 was this from the start, and no problem with that actually, after the patchs I think the game is in a ok status, could be better, could be worse, but the game itself is finished, not abandoned, that idea of abandoned game is more of a modern statement about live service games and we need to understand that no every game will fit this model, and Age 1 is one of those games, it’s too close to Age 2 gameplay and Age 2 outshine it in every way. BUt that’s my opinion, I can be wrong and there is a huge Age 1 community wanting more, and that’s ok too. But Mythology need a DE!
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My thoughts about MP vs SP ( not only on Age)
Multiplayer scene is what every developer want they’re game to shine, that’s a fact, specially in a Esport world, buut that mentality is one of the reasons rts games almost disappeared in the last decade. Because a mp focus environment don’t attract and maintain new players, only a pocket of dedicated players, and sometimes that is not enough to maintain the game.
Rts Games need to attract more players through godd SP content, and from what I saw these years, good COOp content is amazing to get new players. Starcraft 2 commander co-op mode launched with the second expansion gave the game a new life and multiple times Blizzard said that it was the most played content. Because people want to play online, but rts Mp scene is scary as hell, specially legacy games like AoE, Starcraft and CoH, that’s why we are seeing Age 2 toying with different MP coop and non competitive ideas, that’s why Starcraft Commander CO-Op was the mode that received more support in the final years. These modes attract new players, and convert some of them to the competitive scene.
And SP content with good production value help sell the game, with some crazy maps, missions, cinematics that it’s not possible in MultiPlayer, and Skirmish mode is a great confort mode for people, just go and playe the game your way, without the pressure or the need to play with the meta. Myself stopped playing competitive MP due to Anxiety (I’m treating it), but I still love rts, and skirmish and coop keeps me playing it.
And for a personal note, campaigns with a meta that value replayable content is also a great way to attract new players and specially those that like rts single player only and keep them playing for more tha a few hours. And usually those modes are not to convert players to MP, are just to give them value, and wish more games does that, sadly AoE4 looks like they are not going that route, but a more linear and not replayable campaign.
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I believe that there are many fans that would come back to AoE1 DE if more content was added and even more QOL improvements and at the same time new players would check it out if they would have a plan for it just like AoE2 & AoE3.
The same goes for AoM with a DE or even better AoM2. I love AoE1 especially the timeline in that game, is in my opinion far more interesting than AoE2’s timeline and they should have made AoE4 with the first game’s timeline as a reboot and then having AoE5 be medieval, etc., etc.
Also I think that AoE2 is quite a big shoes to take upon knowingly that so many hold it close to their heart as the best AoE game out there, and rebooting AoE4 with first games timeline would be more easy for them and fans wouldn’t be too much worried as there can only become better in terms of QOL and new engine etc.
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“In fairness, though, not everyone treats AoE2 as a PVP bloodsport. Indeed, for my first 19 years with the game, I played it entirely for relaxing campaigns and single player comp stomps. And at least by the estimation of AoE2 stats demigod Spirit Of The Law on YouTube, this is the case for a surprising majority of players, despite the booming competitive scene over the last year or so”
Source
So, your stats are good and they show how the most people play skirmish vs AI. For those people Graphic Is important.
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The old song starts again…
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AMEN. It’s not so hard to understand. Single player modes, missions, xpacks, help to sell copies: E-sport Will make pro-players more famous but Will not sell more copies.
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Did you read the previous link? Readability it’s the main apsect only for the competitive scenes.
I know that, you probably think StarCraft 2 has been supported all these years by people playing skirmish? No, there was sport, there were investments and advertising contracts that brought in a lot of money and did not allow them to score on the game, broadcasts on the platforms gathered viewers and allowed people to find out about the game, that it was popular and played. Skirmish won’t do it.
I would ask you this: do you think Aoe2 has been saved by competitive scene? From your answer i’ll probably understand if know what Aoe Is.
Including the Red Bull, Wololo and so on tournaments made the audience. YouTubers make content with matches attracting people, attracting advertisers, attracting money. The first Russian organization of players in AoE 2 was created, so yes, it was the active promotion of esports that helped popularize the game, look at AoE 3 and 1.
No, AOE2 have been saved by modders, content creatore, DLC, missions, scenarios and skirmish. Multiplayer scene Is a Little percent.
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Even by Starcraft2, the most money did come from Campaigns and co-op Commanders.
Where were those people as Age of Empires 2 HD was launched 2013?
Red Bull Wololo started 2020
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The evidence is in the studio, it’s just unfounded. I see the results of promoting the sports scene and how the audience grows in proportion to this success.
E-Sport undeniably helps to grant a game more visibility. Ladder anxiety and a pure focus on only one game mode, may it be SP or MP, isn’t helpful for a game’s growth.
It would e.g. be extremely helpful for AOE4 if it would come with Coop missions/scenarios/campaigns at start, considering how many RTS enthusiasts enjoy playing together rather than against somebody.
Anyway, success of a RTS game is like some kind of multifactorial equations which changes while you try to solve it. It’s almost a impossible task to do and to be honest, I think a lot of luck was involved into making AOE2 the game it is nowadays.
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And for those people Who Think i’m going yo hate the AOE4’s Graphic Is not the Truth.
This Is my last post on the 'merged graphic thread"
These are the modes where 500 people sit in a room? This is a very small part of the community, compared to 200k 1x1 matches in the ladder.
Source, please? Steam stats are Saying another thing.
A lot of people are not taking into account of those on the Microsoft Store and those who play with cheats. Me personally I enjoy campaign content. I will typically buy any DLC that not only comes with new civs but also SP content. I’m a sucker for new stories.
We don’t know and probably won’t know the full figures but much of the silent majority would typically play skirmish and the occasional campaign when you think about it.
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My source is the views of the broadcasts and the number of audiences on video hosting sites, before the start of the active promotion of the sport, AoE 2 was not needed by anyone, I do not think that it could be found in the top online Steam, or higher than StarCraft 2 on Twitch.