I haven’t been defending the devs. They can do what they want. I think it’s unnecessary, and I prefer the current zoom. I think it function weel, leads to good map navigation starts in the micro, and looks good.
If it goes full zoom because somehow that’s actually what enough people want, whatever. I just don’t think it’s true that it’s that demanded, don’t think it actually would make the game better, and wouldn’t stop playing regardless.
I accept the a vocal minority of people want it, and oh boy, do they remind everyone.
But seeing as how there are so many more pressing things to worry about, it just boggles my mind that zoom is the bee under some people’s bonnets.
Like, it’s fine. This game has lower zoom. Until maybe it doesn’t, or whatever. It’s like Persia guy who can’t get over them not being in the game and keeps going on about it.
There are more important things…
literally none of these arguments make sense
let me phrase it in a different context for you so you can see how nonsensical it is
let’s pretend for some reason, the developers have not added a 1440p resolution to the game, and many players are asking for the developers to add a 2k resolution to the game.
I will take your stance:
I’ve only seen a few people complaining about the max resolution being 1080p, so it’s really not that big of an issue,
It’s just my preference that they don’t add the option to go to 1440p, I like the aesthetic of the game at 1080p the best. Why are you threatening the developers to not play the game just because they aren’t catering to your exact demands?
Hopefully this helps you see our point of view.
Again, scroll up and we are far past the point of “a vocal minority”
We have proved beyond any doubt, with polls, threads, and other evidence that it is the MAJORITY who want more zoom.
YOU are the vocal minority, who is for some reason extremely against the developers adding a feature that so many of us desperately want
YOU do not get to dictate what is “more important”
WE are telling you that THIS ISSUE is important to us.
We have shown that MANY people hold this view.
at this point you are just gaslighting us to believe that it is a “minority” and “not important” in the face of many of us stating to you directly, we are here, and its important to us. Please stop trying to downplay this issue which again, we have stated is very important to the many of us that want it.
Half-life 3 confirmed is all I’m saying.
If I were you I’d look for a more attainable goal than one which by your own admission the devs say they have no intention of implementing.
I’ve got a nice right with a nice ultrawide 2k screen. More zoom would look great in game I’m sure.
I just don’t care have it be a priority, and if/when they decide to add it I think it shouldn’t apply to ranked games.
You make it out like I am adamantly opposed to zoom on some core level - I’m not.
I just personally think it’s a bottom teir addition to be added to this game.
I’m not “looking for a goal”
I currently do not enjoy playing age of empires 4 due to the claustrophobic level of zoom, and prefer to play age 2 and 3 de which have a level of zoom I enjoy much more.
I really want to enjoy this new game and recommend it to all my friends, so I have been asking the developers to please include this option to zoom out more on the roadmap for future updates since the closed beta
I know you don’t care to have it be a priority you have said that many times, but you have also said it’s a “minority” of us that want this feature, which is blatantly false, if not the majority of the community then at least a large part of it want this feature, which again will not harm you at all if they implement.
There is a huge difference between what you just said, that its low on your list of additions
and what you said previously that it was only a small minority of us who want it, and that you hope the developers do not add it. Both of which sound very malicious and like you just want us to not get something we want for some reason.
I hope you will learn that things that make others happy, and have no negative affect on you, are a net bonus.
If many people in the community would enjoy the game more with this optional setting, then it would make the community better off for it.
The most logical explanation is the one people have suggested, which is that it would require changing the game’s minimum hardware specs.
Anything that would raise that at all would cut directly into sales, and sales is money, and money is the bottom line.
Even if I wanted more zoom, and again, for some things I do, I can understand that the devs are out to make that scrilla, not give us a perfect gaming experience.
Do I have to like that reality? No.
But I accept it.
They should probably (no, absolutely) be more communicative with the fans about the “why” of their decision making regarding this game. Even the patch notes lack any basic reasons and thought process regarding the changes.
You make a good point, and I will say I regret coming out a bit hot on that take.
I do stand by my perception that it’s a minority of people for whom this is an important issue. Maybe a majority would like it added in some way in future, but I don’t think it’s a top priority for a majority of players.’
Also, my opinion about this has changed, and I think that is a good thing, as I have heard and digested your, and others arguments, and I now believe there is a stronger case for this feature being added in the future than I previously did.
I fully agree on that. It would clear up many things. I don’t care about all the rhetorical middle fingers handed out by the likes of you. But I’d accept an open explanation (or middle finger) by the devs themselves about why the game is broken (mechanically and design-wise) and how they gonna fix it. That’s something you can expect for a 60€ product.
But who are we kidding? That’s never going to happen. They will stick to the occasional awkward stream with a lot of PR blabla and a steady dribble of patches, randomly fixing and breaking stuff.
Who gives a flying fuck about how you rank the issue? If it’s an issue for someone, let them voice it. If you have a more pressing issue, voice that one. The one requested more will be seen easier by whoever filters the public opinion for such data. In the end, the devs will decide what they change. You don’t go and actively seek out other issues to then try and salt the earth around it. What an absolute self destructive and pathetic form of a forum culture is that?
I’ve been on this forum for 10 years and can assure everyone here that as soon as anyone ever declares they are the true spokesperson for a silent majority, you can go right ahead and tune out everything that comes out of their mouth next.
None of us are capable of speaking for anyone but ourselves, and the more we each admit that bias and work from there, the stronger the discord here becomes.
In my view and tastes, the devs have heretofore totally ignored and diminished the very sincere need of a good number of players for better zooming out and viewing the game. AoE4 objectively lacks in this area compared to every single AoE game and forces us to experience their game in a hemmed in narrow scope. The devs can do with my opinion as they wish, and for now I will wait and see how they continue to develop the game and continue to look forward to one day playing it.
That would be nice actually if they did tell us that they won’t ever change the zoom no matter what. Some have already reached that conclusion on their own, but no doubt there are some hopeful wishful dreamers around too. Don’t hold your breathe on that. We won’t know the true number of lost sales, although there is more evidence that it would be a number way way way above 107 as opposed to evidence of 107. We could look at sales of AOE 3 DE and/or expansion packs after they added the ludicrous zoom level option. I have a suggestion: if you are tired of people discussing zoom level, don’t read and respond to a thread about zoom level. Read the threads you care about.
It probably isn’t because the ones for whom it is a top priority have already stopped playing or never bought the game in the first place (me, refunded pre order after I saw the zoom in person). So you are undoubtedly correct that it isn’t a top priority for people who are still playing the game now. I never could have predicted that AOE 4 would come out and that I wouldnt play it because of a broken zoom level. Was looking forward to it quite a
bit 
If you want to experience what the zoom level is like for people whom it is top priority, keep zooming the game in until you hate it and try to play it that way. Then you will understand.
I’ve already said I came out too hot on this with initial comments, so my apologies, and no need to get testy.
I’ll list my higher priority items, acknowledging that I would like more zoom, but it’s near the bottom of my list.
Bug fixes
Balancing
Color choice for teams and players throughout the game
Hotkey customization
UI scaling/location options
Fixing the character/weapon models
Getting ranked games
Further refining the map spawns
Easing the chat restrictions in multiplayer (I can’t even say “oh snap” to my friend without censor blocks)
I would put zoom above
More civs
Modding capabilities
More campaigns
Civ/unit skins
This isn’t a complete list I’m sure, but what came off the top of my head.
I starred the mod capabilities because often mods can cause performance problems on lower specs, and that seems to be something they are avoiding, but as you say, because they entirely optional and have to actively sought by the player, this shouldn’t be a problem.
Perhaps this is where the solution lies in fact.
Have a devs created mod released simultaneously with mod capabilities which allows for more zoom.
Whether the mod is allowed for ranked games is a separate discussion, but this could be an elegant solution which wouldn’t require them to have to change any base specs for the game without the zoom mod.
I hope you can see that I’m trying to be more construction I’ve about my suggestions and am not trying to salt the earth or bad mouth people.
Again, sorry for coming in hot on this one.
I agree with everything on your list of additions
my worry is not even that zoom is low on the priorty list
its that they dont see it as an issue at all and have no plans to add it
i just want to see it on the roadmap
You summed this up very well. I fall into the camp that find it very hard to play with how the FOV currently is. What I find most interesting is the discussion about people accessing a wider FOV during the beta. If correct this would indicate that what we are hoping for is possible and just is not implemented for some reason.
Yeah I always agree with Andy’s posts, he very succinctly lays it out.
I played the closed beta and the stress test and I did not see any improvements in zoom, on the contrary, it was ever so slightly worse. Previous to the closed beta maybe?
The zoom did not get worse. The only change was they let it zoom out a little more, specifically you could now see 20% more on the screen.
I meant to say that zoom during the closed beta was worse, like you said. Whatever “improvement” we got for the stress test was risible and was kept unchanged until this day. Age of Noob even made a video about how much of a joke it was.
Zoom sucks AOM have more fov on map…
One thing I’ve realised recently is that much of the problem with the zoom is caused by the game’s mechanics. WinterGaming talked on a recent stream about how AoE 4’s mechanics are basically at the level of Brood War rather than SC2. I only very briefly tried SC2, as the sci-fi setting doesn’t appeal to me, but I think he was saying that you can set a gather point on a unit rather than a location. If that functionality were also tied in with control groups, it would be game changing for me, and would remove most of the issues I have with the zoom range, as it would be so much easier to jump between places on the map. What I’m envisaging is that you’d set a gather point on a unit, and if that unit is in a control group, all new units that gather to it would be added to its control group, and if it dies, the gather point would move to the closest unit in the same control group, that kind of thing. With better mechanics like that, I can see that the need to zoom out more would be greatly reduced. There would still be some problems with large water regions (particularly combined with certain types of ship that spread out a lot) and high ground, which is where I most notice the current zoom limitations.
As for priorities (discussed in posts above), for me the priorities are:
Those aren’t particularly in order of priority, it’s more that I want all of those for the game to be in what I see as the state it should have been in at launch. So they’re roughly equally important to me, the game doesn’t make me want to invest time into it until all those things are in there.