Thats like, the worst approach you could have to this.
You should keep the minor and overlapping but recognizable to last so people buy them anyway and the game stays alive for longer
And also, even if they were to just focus in the rest of the world after being in Europe and Asia, waiting so long for the world to get its fair share of attention sucks.
What they should focus on is NOT releasing anymore DLC. But rather, they need to fix their games and address bugs first and foremost. Pathing and microāing is atrocious at its current state. They need to fix this asap. I have been saying their unit auto formation is one major contributing factor in this horrendous pathing/microing issue.
Your account can be measured in minutes, what balance changes are you asking about?
Speaking just about regions that we know enough about historically (and which donāt need egregious creative license to work), I think Africa and the (non-North) Americas are the ideal next choices to focus on. Europeās plenty saturated, albeit ripe for some notable inclusions later on (ex. Slavs split into a few civs across Balkans/Ruthenia, Swiss + Frisians for the Low Countries, maybe Venetians with an emphasis on their larger Mediterranean holdings and syncretism). And while thereās a bunch of Asian civs that deserve attention, weāve recently had Last Khans and now Mountain Royals to flesh out Eurasia, so Iād personally go with (South) East Asia first. Who knows if thereās ever going to be a sure fire way to add Tibet/Tubo, even if disguised as the Qiang. I get where the Polynesia advocates are coming from, but the Tongan Empire was far more about trade and chieftain prestige than conquest and any kind of bureaucracy, let alone having more technological isolation than even the Americasātheyāre a long shot at best. Brunei and the Visayans could help fill that gap, perhaps.
WRT whether they could add Songhai without it becoming redundant, the emphasis there should go to the empireās coastal holdings, as well as adjacent powers like the Jolof. They engaged in slave trading far more than old Mali, and Sonni Aliās rampage through the western Sahel (followed by Askia the Great trying to manage it) gave them a distinct identity. Kanem-Bornu can distinguish itself as the mediating power between Songhai and the Hausa states, with more of a cavalry focus due to Berber/Ayyubid proximity. A new West Africa DLC ideally features the Songhai and Kanurians as new civs, plus a new and improved Berber campaign (with Tariqās campaign becoming an official mod).
Iād be keen to see how far FE could differentiate the Adal/Ajuran Somalians from the Swahili sultanates, given they both derived much of their power from coastal trade and naval control, but both would work great as civs. (Would suck for Ethiopia to have another campaign where their empireās basically toppled, even if Gelawdewos saved his country in the end.) Christian Nubia has everything it needs for a great campaign where you contend with Ayyubid invaders (better yet, the initial Rashidun invasion), plus the chance to swap archer bonuses with Ethiopia for historic accuracy. You could even add in a valid Polynesian civ via the Malagasy (Merina Kingdom), which we know quite a bit about and whoād offer more design space than normal. Letās not forget the Bantu kingdoms; Zimbabwe (Mutapa & related Shona) and Kongo would be trickier to design since they mainly warred with early Portuguese colonials, but they fit into the end of the timeline reasonably well. For the initial DLC, Iād choose Nubians (Makuria-Nobatia), Somalians (Adal), and Swahili (Kilwa et al.), plus a reworked Ethiopian campaign centering on the rise/peak of the Solomon Dynasty.
The Americas are tricky, as always. If FE were to split DLCs by region here, the clear Mesoamerica choices would be the Zapotecs and Purepecha, both non-Mexica peoples whose states resisted Aztec/Nahua hegemony and which reacted differently to Spanish conquest. The former would have a bit of Andean flavor, mixing boni/uniques from the Aztecs and Mayans. Given their metallurgic prowess and well-organized defenses bordering the Triple Alliance, the Purepecha makes most sense as the main defensive civ for the region. Top this off with a proper Mayan campaign and weāve got a strong pack. South America mainly needs the Chimu and Mapuche, both to enliven the Inca campaign and to cover alternate angles of Andean conquest. I love the contrast between a centralized, naval + infantry Peruvian rival to the Inca (emphasis on offense) and a looser, archery-focused guerilla civ which can get late-game access to some kind of cavalry/foreign tech. Sadly thereās no strong civ choice east of the Andes, and I honestly donāt think the Muisca experienced enough complex warfare or resistance to conquest for them to really work.
Honorable mentions to the perennial North American choices, too. I think both the Mississippi and Haudenosaunee can effectively share an architecture set and have strong campaign premises (Tuscaloosa/Quigualtam vs. De Soto + Forming the Great League of Peace and repelling the French). Theyād be pushing right towards the edges of the timeline, just like the Mapuche, but shouldnāt necessarily intrude on AoE 3ās history/design territory if handled right. Still, FE should practice due diligence and consult indigenous experts on how best to represent these cultures while providing a fun, meaningful experience to players. I believe any DLC tackling North America would come towards the end of the development pipeline, if ever.
I believe that at this point the highest priority would be Sahara & Sahel DLC for a better representation of North Africa, which to some extent is already in the game, but is far too modestly presented. Mamluks, Moroccans (or Songhai), Kanem-Bornu and Somalis civs would be perfect for such a DLC.
Then there should be an American DLC adding Chimu, Muisca and Tarascans civs so that America will get double the number of highly evolved pre-Columbian civs from Mesoamerica and the Andes. This DLC MUST be included in the Andean Architecture Set.
The next DLC (third in line) I think should be an East Asian DLC adding Jurchens, Tibetans and Siamese civs + rework of Chinese and Japanese civs. Such DLC MUST include the Nomadic Architecture Set and the Chinese Architecture Set. By the way, Armenians and Georgians civs should receive their own Caucasian Architecture Set as part of the TMR DLC.
These are the highest priorities in my opinion at the moment. The West African and the Bantu areas are plans for two more DLCs, but they REQUIRE completely new Architecture Sets.
As for Europe, there are three huge umbrella civs: Teutons (the current Teutons civ would represent the Teutonic Order and the Livonian Order + add Allemanians, Bavarians, Franconians and Saxons civs), Vikings (they should be renamed into Norwegians civ + add Danes and Swedes civs) and Slavs (they should be renamed into Ruthenians civ + add Croatians, Romanians and Serbs) civs. Potentially, Celts (they should be renamed into Gaelic civ + add Goidelic civ) and Spanish (they should be renamed into Castilians civ + add Aragonians civ) are also possible options to split. For Europe, the following Architecture Sets should be added:
Its quite telling that in average theres 4 votes for every voter here despite each voter getting 5 votes. Thats 80% of the votes used
It just goes to show that people arent tired of DLCs yet
Just wanted to point out that now Africa occupy all places in the top 3. Also, thereās been a huge gap between first and second place that has been pretty consistant for quite some time.
That wonāt happen anytime soon either.
There are still certain regions/civs that deserve a place in AoE2 + an active multiplayer scene is always hungry for new content. Although you have to say that AoE2 is very long-lasting, just because of its gameplay. Balance patches also play their part.
I can imagine AT LEAST 3 more D.L.C.S and as long as the player base is healthy and the DLCs sell well. I donāt see an end in sight either.
Hope so too. Though I hope they will add new architecture sets with future additions or at least try to not use some of the most used ones yet again.
Yeah we still have somebunderused sets but the lack of new architecture is quite the problem rn
They will try but there is no guarantee
What would be your predictions and what would you want next?
My predictions would be:
Would love to be proven wrong but I have a hard time not expecting devs to come back to Europe after three DLCs
Devs after dynasties of India, not releasing an European civ for a whole year:
So at least we can change the joke instead of the overused letās add the Italian village one
My predictions would be pretty similar, but with some variations:
I would personally not mind at all if the Balkans dlc came after three different ones from around the world. To be honest, I would be annoyed but not surprised if it came before any American one. I would be quite mad if it appeared earlier or if the next European dlc was about another region.
To me the omly reasons it would annoy me is because we already got 4 Euro civs and 3 Euro adjacent civs out of the 10 new civs we gave gotten, and because Africa in particular is so barren
If we have a second African DLC before the Balkan DLC I think I would be fairly happy
What makes you think Moses Georgios would be preferred over Qalidurut?
Are you sure Khitans would be the second choice in an East Asian DLC?
Why would the devs prefer Muisca and Zapotecs over Tarascans?
A Turkish campaign still has high chances appearing in African DLC, even if the DLC itself has 3 missions. Suleiman had battles in North Africa and East Africa. The campaign itself could focus on many different regions, like Middle East, East Africa, North Africa, Mediterran and East Europe.
The devs like to tie into old campaigns if possible, Thoros ties with Saladin for example. The same would happen here with Moses
Same goes for Khitan and Kushluk, they wdre in the Gengis Khan campaign
I have no strong argument as for why I put Zapotecs and Muisca over Tarascans. I think Zapotecs are more recognizable, but thats kinsa it. I just included those two idk
Also yeah I included Turks with the East Africans because the Ottoman Portuguede wars over the Indian Ocean
the Tupi are probably the strongest contender for a civ East of the Andes, the Tamoio Confederation is well recorded and romantized enough that you could get a ########## campaign out of it and they kind of cover the entirety of Brazil depending on your definition so they are pretty appealing as far as civs go.
Kuikuro is the underdog option here cuz they are mostly unknown yet they technically did have a campaign appearance in the game as they were the legendary Amazons! Or at least speculated to be the legendary civilization Francisco de Orellana met when going down the river.
Next up roman campaign and venice and vandals as new civis bringing the mediterranean buildings to 10.
Sorry, but why Japanese campaigns have to be introduced with a DLC that focuses on insular SEA? They could very well be introduced in a DLC about East Asia.
Medieval Japan had nothing to do with Indochina or insular SEA whatsoever, on the other hand they had quite strong connections with Korea, North China, and Manchuria, or else where do you think they got their Sumo wrestling and Yabusame horse archery from?
Some history revisionists and weeaboos online are trying hard to detach Japan from Northeast Asia by making random claims like āJapanese originated from South China / SEAā or āYayoi originated from South China / SEAā, however those claims are nothing more than baseless rumors and are not supported by any historical record nor by any genetic, archaeological, or linguistic evidence.
Yes granted some Japanese pirates and ronins did sail to South China and insular SEA and even fought the Spanish in the Philippines, however that happened in the late 16th century at the very end of AoE 2ās timeline. For much of AoE 2ās timeline Japan had almost zero contact with Indochina or insular SEA.
Hereās what I have in mind about potential DLCs about East and Southeast Asia:
A Tang themed DLC featuring Gokturks, Dians, and Tubo. If Tubo or Tibetans cannot be included for whatever reason we could replace them with the Tanguts. Korean or Chinese campaigns could be introduced with this DLC.
A Song themed DLC featuring Jurchens and Khitans. Japanese or Chinese campaigns could be introduced with this DLC. A new Mongol campaign featuring Kublai Khanās conquest of China could be introduced with this DLC as well.
A DLC about Indochina featuring Siamese, Mons, and Chams, with new campaigns for the new civs.
Another DLC about insular SEA featuring Javanese, Visayans, and a reworked Malay, again with new campaigns for the new civs.
