With the recent news of the upcoming DLC this year, and the AoM release timeframe confirmed, there are some things that have come to my mind regarding the content of the DLC and the future of this game:
The scope: This upcoming DLC will have 2 civs. Based on precedent, ###### with 2 new civs came bundled with more content**. TAR and KotM both released with a multitude of new maps, minor civs, units, and expanded on other features. TAR was wealthier in graphical assets and artwork, but KoTM came with multiple Historical Maps with their own mechanics. Thereās no guarantee that the next DLC will come with all of these things, but I at least expect them to include more than the bare minimum (Danes and Poles).
Future support for the game: with the release of AoM this year, this means that the game is coming out of full production. While Iām sure Forgotten Empires will continue to develop future content for that game, the required staff for AoM will be much smaller, and the rest will be free to be reassigned or laid off. Since AoE 3 and AoM are based on the same engine, the developersā skills are transferable. Itās no mystery that the cadence of new content and updates for AoE3 dropped significantly after AoM was confirmed. This MIGHT mean that once AoM is released, the resources could be split more evenly.
Themes for future content: With the Danes and Poles as full civs, thereās basically no more reasonable options for Europeans. The European map would be practically filled out. This could mean that if thereās any more future content, the developers would have to look outside and finally give different regions a chance. Or they could scrape the bottom of the barrel and continue hyperfocusing on Europe, as Iām sure some here would prefer.
That said NONE of these things are guaranteed. The worst case scenario could still come true and this could be the last hurrah for the game, but paying attention to context makes me believe that we are not out of options yet.
If weāre getting to the point where Belgiums an option in an age of empires as a full civ weāve not only scrapped the barrel but dug 10 metres underneath.
Revolution, sure! Full civ? Could get the wrong press - especially as the combo of āEmpiresā and āBelgiumā suggest some terrible things that the empires (as negative as they are seen today) of the time to wince at.
Austia-Hungary fine, however weāre in the timeline where Germans covers both them, Prussians and all other German states whether we like it or not.
Switzerland are a pretty dry civ for the time span - their Merc export business was more subtle past the heyday of Swiss Pikes - they often served in some capacity as Royal Guards, in fact they are already portrayed pretty well as Mercs and Italyās Papal Guard.
Greece is the one I can get behind now, especially as USA and Mexico are in. Greece also have more legitimacy to them as a civ to the aforementioned due to the fact that not only was the fall of Greek Byzantine the start of the Early Modern Age, they revolted and initiated uprisings all the time under the Ottomans plus there was one Greek territory that held out the whole time.
Greece also lends itself to having an interesting trait relating to these constant revolts. They could even have a nod to the Greeks in AOM by having one of their Godās traits of destroyed houses spawning Partisans/Rebels/Militia.
Itās highly unlikely that AOM staff will be laid off, but instead reassigned as you mentioned. AOM will get DLC (probably a re-added Chinese civ once they fix everything wrong with it). Weāll likely see an uptick in support for AOE3 after AOM launch and the inevitable gauntlet of bug-fixing.
As part of the early pushback of the Ottoman Empire yeah they were actually rather important - Malta, or rather the Hospitallers acted as defense force to prevent Ottoman forces from reaching Rome along with corsairing Ottoman shipping. After that they did pursue some Caribbean colonies in the 17th centuy, then a fairly quiet period untl Napolenic took Malta then becoming a British Proctectorate for the rest of the 19th century. Sooooooo, basically important early on then fades into the background.
Maltese were an odd, but legit choice and whilst the effort of some of the assets (Wild West Commandery and Depot buildings could have looked like proper Mediterranean structures) is a little lacking, they would still be far more interesting than Belgium.
At first I was a little reluctant about the Maltese joining the game, but reflecting on 2 things made me have a more positive outlook:
-The Order of Malta is an order of international recognition and prestige that received much support from several European nations (in the economic, logistics, troops, military intelligence, etc.)
-That the characteristics of the Maltese allowed the devs to make a civilization quite unique and different from the others (the defensive emphasis, the archaic and crusades theme, the unique and Order units, etc.) which couldnāt be better represented by another European nation in the AOE3 timeframe.
Denmark was another important colonial power that deserves to be in the game as much as other small countries such as Sweden, Netherlands or Portugal.
Switzerland, Belgium and Greece can function well as revolutions: Switzerland from the Germans, Belgium from the Dutch, and Greece from the Ottomans.
I really donāt understand the desire for Tatars. Other Steppe peoples like Kazakhs, Uzbeks, and Oirats had powerful empires, but the Tatars were just an Ottoman vassal in decline. If you mean Tatars in the broader sense then theyāre already adequately represented by the native Tatar Archer and Lipka Tatar units.
You guys say no more euros but id bet money if they give devs and tilanus enough funding weād have lichtenstein at some point. If aoe2 can get to 40, we might see offfial lichtenstein
Iām convinced that they only made Maltese because they could cram so many existing assets and concepts from the campaign into it (naturally, without giving much love to the campaign content itself). Itās basically an easter egg, self-referential, meme civ. And I have suggestions on how they could make it even more so.
Iād very much doubt weād see a complete non-player civ like Lichenstein. Malta are in as if youāre trying to create Euro-based expansion with Euro maps, Royal Houses and the idea of bringing in Italy (as once a potential original civ), you probably want to tie it with a theme and in this case, itās Mediterranean, so Malta made sense - theyāre āinā the game in the campaign, they had some quirky units and theyāre in similar region.
For all we know they may have entertained the idea of an Asian civ this time round, however after the slight (rev) flag leaks and unit models, it may have made them change focus - otherwise weād have people whinging on here that theyāll never see PLC/Denmark despite the small amount of assets found.
Who knows.
Anyway Iād bet money that they wonāt go near Euros after this as (German states aside) weāre kinda done with any Euro āpowerhousesā of the era.
