Which I think if you don’t really care about base building, and just want faster games, I think Empire Wars is the best format. Especially in competitive play.
Since nothing really happens in the Dark Age. It’s just you build villagers and a house etc and then age up.
Unless you are doing the famous Hoang lol
For people like me it’s great because you see the buildings and the militia units advance through the ages and change in appearance. Starting from the oldest age and moving forwar. The very concept of a dark age is to enjoy that aspect.
So it’s for those who want a slow game and are gearing for a game that goes for 6 hours or so.
i’d love if any random map RTS (it doesn’t even have to be aoe4 or any aoe game in particular) got even 10% of the polish and support as SC2 did
and i’m referring to things like controls and multiplayer balance and map design stuff, not the quantity of content. the way microsoft has cranked out aoe civs is that they don’t care if something is overpowered because on a different map, some other civ will be overpowered. and then they let people see the map before they select a civ (so that only the overpowered ones get played) and try to claim that a bunch of lopsided games where different civs are massively favored somehow averages out to fairness
i won’t tell you which game is better or worse for you (my preferred RTS design is rise of nations, neither starcraft nor any aoe game), but for PvP SC2 probably got more post-launch support than every single other RTS combined if we could measure such a thing
I agree that AoE 2/4 has deeper macro depth compared to SC2, which is why I love AoE so much. It makes you feel like a real wartime commander for outsmarting your opponent on the map, rather than just someone who can press buttons faster. The strategic depth is the big thing that sets it apart. Sure SC2 has more micro, which might make it more “competitive” in some aspects, but I’d argue that makes it less competitive in other aspects. What I mean is that AoE and SC2 are both very competitive games, but they favor different strengths in the player. Watch TheViper or Lierrey in AoE2 and you’ll know what I mean.
Also, the support for AoE in recent years has been incredible. The fact that a 20+ years old game is still getting regular balance updates and expansions shows that Microsoft really cares about the longevity of AoE and its very dedicated playerbase.
“the micro side is probably worse”… PROBABLY, and you just revealed your low skill level. Dude stop making all Terran players (I’m assuming you’re terran) look like moany whiners.
Just for the record both good macro and micro in RTS require good decisions to be made quickly in real time. Whoever “clicks faster” and most efficiently will come out on top unless faced with something overpowered.
A player might understand how to macro or micro better than another player, but if another player can carry out those actions more effectively and faster, they will have a bigger economy and more of an army left to steamroll the opponent.
“Just being able to switch between civs without having to start from scratch will be a huge advantage. I have 15.000+ games played as Terran but less than 20 as Zerg or Protoss. In SC2 if there is a balance problem you can not just switch races since you lose a large portion of the skill you acquired. You have to spend several months just to get back the level you were before if you switched.”
That doesn’t sound like fun. I’m glad AOE4 will make this a bit easier for you.
Have you played AOM or AOEO before? I mention those because they have more asymmetry/differences among civs than in other AOE games, though it’s maybe not as much as Starcraft 2.
“Playing is fun and not stressful like SC2. You need to be fast but not insanely fast. Even losing feels ok in AOE4, not infuriating like in SC2.”
That is great to hear and that’s what I remember about AOE games. There is a little stress but it’s a good stress and doesn’t kill the fun.
I just wanted to add my note of perspective that I will be playing for fun, not competitively in the e-sports sense. Of course I will be competitive and try to win when I play PvP matches (looking forward to 4v4 again finally). I am a casual player that loves the AOE franchise. I hope that AOE4 is a solid game and has a strong player-base of casual players so I have people to play with. If at some point I am unable to get a game with anybody other than super-competitive expert players that micromanage like crazy, then I will likely stop playing PvP. Micromanaging battles does not seem fun to me, a little sure, but not like I’ve seen some do with thousands of clicks on one archer dude.
I will also note that I’ve noticed this forum has a super heavy leaning toward competitive players. It makes sense, more time spent, more focus, etc. But please stay aware that competitive players are not the only audience for this game. In fact I wonder how much revenue a game like this will earn from the super-competitive players vs those that are casual players.
I have not played Starcraft 2. I know some of its reputation as an excellent RTS game with big PvP following. But I care zero about Starcraft 2. If some SC2 players play AOE4, then great, the more the merrier.
I agree with that. As someone who has always played random map when playing PvP, non-random maps would definitely remove something from the experience.
I don’t have time/energy to thoroughly read 107 replies but as a LEL SC2 player I share the same sentiment.
The moment blizzard announces the cease of releasing more coop content, the game has been officially declared dying. You know what recent patch do? Adding %%& new maps and remove archon ladder that nobody plays! They told balance patch might come but without professionals, changing balance just because will only anger players and esports players alike.
SC2 did receive impressive 10 years of support. But remember: what’s happening in the past can’t in any form dictate what’s happening in the future. Not in 1999, not in 2010, and certainly NOT in 2021 and onwards. AOE4 is going to be released as a rough game with tons of issues and whatnot to fix, but that’s the new norm we are living in right now. Imagine AOE4 is released through Blu-Ray disc today, I bet devs would be a bit more careful releasing better polished game.
SC2 is generally being considered as the peak of RTS, but that doesn’t mean it is always No.1 and cannot be replaced by new comers. While it is true that AOE2 originally did not receive much support like blizzard until Voobly, user patch, HD edition and now DE, but Microsoft didn’t just abandon the franchise like now Blizzard did. There might still be some hope.
Esports needs sponsorship and contracts to make it a reality. SC2 current contract will last until 2023 or 2025 iirc, but what will happen after that? Blizzard may not be as incentivised to dig into renewing contract, meaning esports scene might die out eventually. AOE4 at least still has Microsoft official support for a few years, and there might be new franchise coming out in the coming years who knows. Remember, blizzard officially abandoned SC2.
AOE4 can have lots of potential. I mean, SC2 is what it is, pretty much. If you don’t play Arcade, there’s really nothing much else new to come. Like the OP says: stagnated. AOE4 has yet to be released, and devs have already tried really hard to shake up what’s convention in AOE2/AOE3 while bringing new stuff mixed from AOE1/2/3, and that’s a good thing. Being new also means new players can be attracted into the franchise, and maybe play other games along the way. Imagine trying to invite someone to play a stagnate SC2, I’d argue it would not be very easy.
I personally will switch to AOE4 competitively if SC2 esports scene dies. I am still playing SC2 daily but AOE4 seems like a better RTS to go, alongside AOE2. There’s much to discover and explore, and I am already interested in some of the new mechanic changes in AOE4 that’s unique from AOE2.
thats what I like about Age of Empires 4 compared to Starcraft 2 the most. The focus on mid to long term strategy planning and less reliance on micromanagement and split second decisions.
The amount of shilling and Blizzard fanboyism in this thread is off the scale. And I only read the first few replies, didnt have the stomach to continue. I mean, I like SC2 too, but jesus christ some people act like their family was attacked. God forbid someone say something about the mighty holy SC2. Breaking news for you: SC2 is not perfect either. And after what Blizzard did to Warcraft 3 among some other of their many recent fiascos, I can only laugh when I hear about them.
Oh, btw, a throwback to some typical examples of Blizzard fanboys from this very forum from the time when Warcraft 3 Reforged was barely announced, and AoE2DE wasnt released yet to judge anyway (guess we all know how that turned out):
Poor guys, they disappeared abruptly, probably having no choice but to enjoy AoE2DE, that actually proper remaster.
