Co-op campaigns would make this game 10x better than it already is. Something that is enhanced with multiple playthroughs, whether that’s challenge modes, mutators/modifiers, or randomized objectives.
Giving people a reason to play with friends and family of all skill levels would open this game up so much to new players, and give people a reason to stay invested in the series.
Why do destroyed buildings leave foundation rubble/scars all over that ‘never’ go away? Late-game maps/terrains get extremely cluttered (unattractive visually) and hard to read. Lingering remnants are confusing to see, as you sometimes wonder “Is that building still there, or is it gone?” It also makes it harder to find out where the last few enemy units or buildings are in Conquest matches.
Siege units shouldn’t self-destruct explode after suffering like two swings of a sword
There shouldn’t be some weird build limit when making farms with shift-clicks on mill or TC
It’s jarring and hard to understand why when you have several villagers selected and you’re placing farms, all the sudden farm placements hit a hard-stop and the placement tiles turn red. This never happens in AoE2:DE, so please use AoE2:DE as inspiration
Add a market tech where you can make trade carts go faster
Still think the animations need another pass where they are sped up. So many animations are weightless and floaty (slow motion), which is often the result of inexperienced animators. That’s fine for a while, but we are now a couple years post-launch and the game should be entering a phase of polish, imo
Ottoman needs a few more buffs, here are my suggestions.
Suggestions
Allow villager production out of the military schools. This will help alleviate the constant complaint (even at pro levels) that Ottoman is too slow. Of course they would produce a lot slower than from the TC, but will still provide an economic boost on villager production. This is also consistent with Age of Empires 3, where they produced villagers for free out of the TC but at slower speeds
Allow traders produced from Sultanhani Trade Network to be auto-placed into the landmark, and let them either build faster or more cheaply than from a market. This is consistent with other Civs like China (Imperial Officials, etc)
Add a Vizier option to produce 3-4 villagers in the first level. Right now people are selecting 10 sheep nearly every time, so there needs to be a better option there. Again, this is designed to speed them up a little
What needs to improve is the AI.
It’s far from saying the problem has been solved.
The AI in this game won’t improve, and what the management is giving us is despair and resignation.