What do you think would bring more players to age of empires 3 de?

Age of Empires III: DE III - Discussion
177

What angers AoE3DE players is simply that despite the stellar work the FE/Tantalus devs have put into the game it is still treated like the unwanted stepchild. I think they’re pretty justified in that frustration when you consider Redbull, and somehow an event that was supposed to celebrate the ENTIRETY of the franchise yet 3DE was glossed over. Btw, after the event, the 3DE discord community made such a ruckus World’s Edge themselves came in to do damage control.

And yes, AoE3 mechanics that are added to AoEIV are never mentioned. Total mystery what inspired the Ottoman vizer system and Rus levy, etc.

EDIT: AoE3 was mentioned at the event, how could one forget about those iconic AoE3 cannon galleons?

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178

Well, I see many comments from people asking to remove mechanics that are very characteristic of AoE3, such as homecity, decks, snerf, etc. Let’s be objective, we love it, but the other players in the saga hate it, it’s no mystery. If you decide to try to attract more players, and think back to AoE2 and AoE4 players, then what these people are proposing isn’t too crazy. Because let’s be honest, that’s what they don’t like, my friends who play AoE2 hate 3 and don’t even give it a chance, for those reasons.

I would create a new game mode, as an experiment, with some name like “nostalgia mode” or “superclassic mode”, which, the game mode is very similar to AoE2 or AoE4, but using the AoE3 graphics engine and its variety of civilizations, map design and units (the strongest point of AoE3, which far surpasses any other game in the series without discussion).
It could be faced in several ways, without thinking much these occur to me.

  • Remove most things, like homecity, experience, snerf and decks.
  • Rework trade routes
  • Add relics or even “wonders” (I put them in quotes, because they don’t necessarily have to be the classic wonders) and regicide (which exists)
  • Maybe even create a counter system that is more friendly to them.
  • Make some balance changes, taking into account the non-existence of homecitys.
  • Change the battle formations to something more friendly to them.

All this, obviously, some things can be applied as well as everything.

This is clearly not AoE3, it’s AoE2 with a nice graphics engine, with a very wide variety and in the contemporary age, basically everything that AoE4 tried to be and couldn’t.

I also clarify, to do this and think that it can replace the classic AoE3, is to be wrong. The classic mode is unbeatable, but I think that a game mode like this, more friendly to AoE2 and AoE4 players, can motivate them to love the game, give it popularity, get more content and encourage them to try the classic mode. , give it a chance and have as much fun as we all have.

The only problem I find with AoE3 is that people don’t even try it, because it’s not what they were used to when they play another RTS, but I’m 100% sure that if they give it the time and learn the game, they will realize that it is the TOP1 of the saga. It’s like that food that you didn’t like as a child, because it looked or smelled bad, and when you’re older you try it and you realize you were a fool. It happened to me particularly with the stew and the soup hehehe.

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179

well, what i would make me player aoe3 again instead of league of legends aram is that lobby games could be balance automatically, just as on league of legends people of bronze level play versus bronze level people and not versus diamond or gold. ON age of empires the skill unbalance is bigger on the teams and lesser on the civilizations balance, and there is no way to balance teams because the system doesnt give a real score of how good is the player on lobby game, the score is only for ranked, the system on lobbies games is not numeric…

180

I remember that jimrising, a professional SC-2 player and one of the best in Latin America, was pleasantly surprised with AOE-3. I compare it with warcraft referring to some mechanics and I admire the details of the game For example:

  • He liked that the galleon could create units and thought it was a good idea for a ship with a similar role for AOE-4.

  • I admire the siege operator of a culverin.

  • He thought it was better aesthetically than the AOE-4.

  • He said that if he had met him before, he would have been playing it for a long time.

  • I’m sure he would play AOE-3 again if he sees that he has enough of a following to make the game worth playing.

The point I want to get to with this is that the only really bad thing about AOE-3 is its lack of popularity and the discredit that it unfairly placed on the game.

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181

Respectfully, with the amount of effort needed for this, the drastic changes needed to provide a separate mode, and the complete divergence between this and actual AOE3, just make AOE5 instead. Including this mode would not attract AOE2 players, since their mind is made up about AOE2, and if any were attracted, they would never switch over to actual AOE3.

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182

They said the same with Return to Rome, now it’s a fact, so I don’t lose hope.

183

Not sure how a game mode that fundamentally changes AoE3 into something else would help attract said players over AoE3. Seems like a waste of resources, especially in the case of AoEIV I’m sure World’s Edge would love to siphon existing playerbases of those games into the new one. And I don’t think that is what happened.

Between a botched launch, the existing reputation of AoE3, lack of marketing, and a smaller playerbase compared to AoE2/4 we still have managed to get 4 DLC (6 civs) in two years with stellar patches and updates. Of course, more players would be nice but not at the cost of the game’s integrity. It’s not like the playerbase has stagnated or dropped off, either, in fact, the player numbers are good and have increased gradually over time.

AoE3 is a niche game in a niche genre and that is pretty cool if you ask me. It may never stand out in player numbers but it does in innovation and design. That alone makes the game worth investing in to any of those who are courageous enough to do so.

I guess what I’m getting at is we don’t have to do anything drastic. 3DE is not on life support. All it needs is a little more marketing and credit where it is due. World’s Edge needs to do a better job. The devs and the players have done their part and continue to do so.

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184

100% agreed. As others on the thread have noted, the top 3 things needed to grow the player base, in order of significance, are:
1.) Advertising. Include AOE3 as if it’s an AOE game. Don’t leave it out of future tourneys. Market it.
2.) Updates. Both QoL, such as the oft requested casual game overhaul, and balance changes.
3.) New content. Cosmetic packs, map packs, single-player campaign DLCs, maybe even more civs.

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185

Details on RoR are scarce, but the rumor mill indicates it’s probably just an AOE1 skin on AOE2 in a non-crossover game mode (i.e. you only play against RoR civs). Assuming that’s true, the DLC is basically just a large civs DLC, not a complete rework of an entire game. In addition, since AOE1 and 2 share a game engine, porting potions of the game over is far easier than rewriting a game engine, as would be needed for this blandified proposed version of AOE3. Also, the AOE1/2 game engine is much easier to modify, since it’s basically 10 years older and far more simplistic than the AOE3 game engine. There is also huge financial incentive to tap into the apparently massive legacy AOE1 market in SE Asia that never switched to DE, as well as all the AOE2 players who will buy it because it is AOE2, whereas there is little financial incentive to ruin AOE3.

186

when someone says aoe3 is dead all i do is point people to halo infinite just to point out what a DOA game is actually like, aoe3 DE still maintained about 25-27% of its players when you look at the concurrent number, but in reality, the number over the day has really small drops compared to smt like infinite, since ik halo on pc isn’t smt globally popular, while aoe games, that run on far lower requirements have that option

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i think its kind of obvious why it was done like this tho, can’t risk aoe4 looking bad next to it

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they can add the shift click line from aoe4 ,they can work on more architectural differences other than those things games look full maybe new nations could be added too

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got smt better in mind, we already have a ctrl/shift toggle to toggle between aoe2 and SC2 way it works in unit selection panel, what could be added to this is the blizzard style ctrl-click, smt aoe4 does have and is a positive

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If you are only interested in increasing the number of players you can always target countries with a high population density, but in my personal opinion I think a major change needs to be made.

I think there is a dissonance between civilizations, they don’t seem to be from the same game, I think the perfect age up system for Age of Empires 3 is the African/American civilizations, 2 cards with each age.

In addition to the above I would say that it is necessary to redo all the cards so that they are competitive from the moment they are sent to the end of the game, I think the best example of this idea is the Native American cards that send units and improve them.

In short, I think that the developers should standardize the system that best suits the main mechanics of the game and abandon the most archaic systems that only generate dissonance between civilizations.

Obviously this is just my opinion and there is no guarantee that it will work. :slightly_smiling_face:

198

The release of more content is definitely something that can bring more players, However I would also say to make the multiplayer part of the game completely free [the rank skirmish and multiplayer]. I would say to do this to all AOE games as we do see an increase of players on free weekends

Then devs can release campaings, missions, any other type off non PVP content and lots of skin. Start making more skins devs not only for heroes but for all units too.

Alongside missions, we can have more game modes or those same missions that can just educate new players into how AOE3 is.

Implement a system where you do keep releasing new civs but make it so people can sort of grind these new civs through quests and do make them the same way you did with USA day type of quest that would then take months for them to get or they can purchase it

in the same hand to civs, you can do something where every 2 month or every set amount of time a rotation quest appears and it can replicate same quest, Like a random type of quest. This quest gives that civ or skin or w.e content you keep releasing

And to be honest it is also part of the content creators work to also welcome in new players.

If game ever goes free in the multiplayer aspect, even though I bought it and many others did. You can compensate by giving a skin of those you release and that would be it.

last but not least, don’t take 6 months to release content :slight_smile:

200

If they’re going to start flaming between communities, then I think I’m going to have to close this thread and that’s it.

So refrain from that, gentlemen, and discuss with respect.

201

100% agree with you

This “super-classic nostalgia mode” would be still AOE3 but with AOE2/AOE4 playstyle by the way!

I have already proposed something similar and almost got banned! hahaha :rofl:

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I think that is a very bad idea either way, since for that to work, you would have to massively rebalance the civs, which would be a massive resource investment, which I’m afraid would prevent the actual community from getting new content.
But even if that weren’t the case and the dev team is big enough to do both things, I still don’t know how they would attract new players. OG aoe2 players still despise this game and I doubt many new players would want to try a game from 2005, they would rather go the new one, i.e., aoe4.
The only way to remedy that would be with a massive marketing campaign. But, let’s be honest, if this game was excluded from the 25th anniversary Red Bull event, do you think this would even be remotely possible?
I think this game should focus on the small and passionate community that, despite all odds, has kept this game alive for more than 17 years.

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And to be honest, the aoe3 community isn’t that small either. There are only a handfull of rts with a larger playerbase than aoe3

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A predefined bonus system like AOE2 would be easier to develop and manage than 25 cards per deck and unlimited deck creation you know

Not talking about more than 20 civs that we have, unique mechanics, revolts and so on

Why do you think devs need to tweak a bunch of cards every patch?
:clown_face: