Standardize Player Order in the Tribute Menu

Age of Empires II: DE II - Discussion
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The player order in the tribute menu currently changes between matches, making it unnecessarily difficult to identify allies and opponents quickly when sending resources (even if it’s just few seconds). A possible solution would be to standardise the order, as illustrated in the attached image, so that players always appear in consistent positions.

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Ideally, in team games, allies would always appear above opponents. For game modes that do not require diplomacy, an even simpler solution would be to hide opponents from the tribute menu entirely, since their civilizations can still be identified through the score panel or the notification icons in the top-right corner (trumpets icon).

If removing opponents is impractical, player positions could instead follow a fixed colour order: cool colours in positions 1–2–3–4 and warm colours in positions 5–6–7–8, corresponding to odd- and even-numbered player slots.

The main advantage is predictability and clarity. Once players learn the order based on their colour, they can identify recipients by position rather than searching through the list every time. For example, if you are Green and always occupy the second position, Blue will always appear above you, Cyan below you, and Grey at the bottom.

This would also preserve the positional logic of team games: flank players would occupy the top and bottom positions, while pocket players would remain in the middle. The same intuitive arrangement would respect the map positioning (for most of the games excluding nomad maps), therefore apply both to team coordination and to resource transfers, making the tribute menu faster and easier to use.

What do you think? Do you have any suggestion about that? Do you have trouble find the player that needs the resources in the Tribute Menu like me sometimes or not? Let me know!

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I see your point, and I get what you’re going for. Because I have also been inconvenienced by players not being in an expected position on the screen. However, there are some facts that you may be overlooking. So, if you don’t mind too much, I’ll rain on your parade for a bit.

First is that that is the Diplomacy screen: changing diplomacies is its primary function, tribute is just a related function.

Second, is that locked teams, fixed teams, and a standard team order is only one of many ways of playing the game. So there must be the functionality available of sending tributes to enemies and neutral players as well as having the same player remain in the same spot when the diplomacy changes.

Third, the current order is the order that most of the game is in. That is, lobby order. Changing it would require adding a system that is, for the most part, non-existent. And of course there would be bugs.

However, none of these issues is impossible to solve, but they would require careful consideration.

Now, because I think it would be nice to have a more intuitive screen for sending tributes, here is an alternative idea:

Quick Tribute dialogue box:

Designed to make sending resources to allies in intense moments quicker, easier, and more intuitive; the Quick Tribute screen only shows your allies and displays them in color order. Additionally, hotkeys can be customized to your own individual preference, but an intuitive set for the most common arrangement is defined by default.

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Thanks for the thoughtful reply! You raise some fair points, especially regarding the different ways diplomacy can be used and the need to preserve the existing functionality.

I don’t play Diplomacy games very often, which is why I referred to it primarily as the tribute menu. I’m aware that the screen also serves a broader purpose, and I agree that a fixed player order could be more complicated to implement in games where diplomacy can change or where tributes to enemies and neutral players are relevant. Of course, introducing a new system would also require careful consideration to avoid bugs or unintended consequences.

That said, I wonder whether part of the solution could be to make the menu adapt to the game settings. For example, in a standard team game with locked teams, the menu could follow a consistent order, with allies grouped separately from opponents. In game modes where diplomacy is not relevant, perhaps opponents could simply be hidden from the tribute menu altogether, if that were technically feasible. The existing diplomacy functionality could remain unchanged in modes where it is needed.

The Quick Tribute idea is very interesting, particularly the possibility of allowing players to customise hotkeys. That could address the same problem without necessarily requiring the entire Diplomacy screen to be reorganised, at the cost of another screen.

Ultimately, my suggestion was just one possible approach, rather than a definitive solution. My main point is that ranked team games would benefit from a more standardised and intuitive experience, where players can identify their allies and send resources quickly without having to search through a different player arrangement every match.

I agree that there are implementation challenges to consider, but I think it is still worth exploring different solutions depending on the game mode. My point is to give the developers an idea to consider alongside other community feedback, so they can have a broader picture of the possible approaches, as well as the potential issues identified by the community, so they can evaluate the alternatives and implement whichever solution they consider the most practical, intuitive, and effective.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts, especially about the Tribute dialogue box! :slight_smile: