Current Situation on Aoe4 and Aoe2

[SuperskinnyBLS]

Do you think BOA will be announced right after the release of new DLC
[ conspiracy ]

 

[robo]

Do you think BOA will be announced right after the release of new DLC
[ conspiracy ]

Battle of India

 

[Tendo]

Do you think BOA will be announced right after the release of new DLC
[ conspiracy ]

I would guess BoA will be announced right after the final of RF3.
Would be a perfect moment imo, like when HC3 was announced at the end of NAC3.

 

[LowEloNobody]

Upcoming tournaments Aoe2 vs Aoe4 according to Liquipedia.

Aoe2:

View attachment 199728

Aoe4:

View attachment 199729

You would have to be an ***** to plan a major tournament during the biggest tournament in Age of Empires history
(I would also guess that the tournament coordinator wouldn't fund tournaments that conflicted with Golden League)

 

[Steeldust]

Also noticed this aswell 11

But AOE4 has an ongoing tournament with a 125k prizepool. It will "entertain" us for the next weekends.

 

[Kaschperili]

You would have to be an ***** to plan a major tournament during the biggest tournament in Age of Empires history
(I would also guess that the tournament coordinator wouldn't fund tournaments that conflicted with Golden League)

Aoe2 has also many smaller tournaments for semipros and amateurs. Aoe4 has only one big series for pro players and thats it.

 

[Kaschperili]

But AOE4 has an ongoing tournament with a 125k prizepool. It will "entertain" us for the next weekends.

If you want to have a healthy scene you should also offer tournaments for the semipros and amateurs.

 

[Tendo]

Aoe2 has also many smaller tournaments for semipros and amateurs. Aoe4 has only one big series for pro players and thats it.

Agree and disagree at the same time.
GL has 64 participating Players, so it's not like it's only for a small elite.
The game is also still new and undergoes a lot of changes / big patches, so you actually want everyone trying to compete for the top right now.
Like the ranking there is way less set in stone compared to aoe2 where you have players who are "stuck" in the top 32-64 since ages and a top 20 which you see in almost evry tournament.

 

[amazing_knight]

Upcoming tournaments Aoe2 vs Aoe4 according to Liquipedia.

Aoe2:

View attachment 199728

Aoe4:

View attachment 199729

This is indeed very encouraging!

Aoe2 vs Aoe4 was never a competition. Viewers have no interest in Aoe4. Looking at the gameplay of Aoe4 was enough to know that this game won't get past the initial hype.

Now it's time for all players, streamers and funders to return back to where the RoI is highest. It's time for devs to focus on aoe2 and fix the gameplay/MM issues to further expand the player base.

Hoping MS also moves past its aoe4 disillusionment and realigns its focus on its best game. We need HC5, we need BoA, we need Nations Cup. Let's make Aoe2 great again!

 

[LeoMontero]

But AOE4 has an ongoing tournament with a 125k prizepool. It will "entertain" us for the next weekends.

aoe4 and entertainment, dont go together

 

[akku]

This is indeed very encouraging!

Aoe2 vs Aoe4 was never a competition. Viewers have no interest in Aoe4. Looking at the gameplay of Aoe4 was enough to know that this game won't get past the initial hype.

Now it's time for all players, streamers and funders to return back to where the RoI is highest. It's time for devs to focus on aoe2 and fix the gameplay/MM issues to further expand the player base.

Hoping MS also moves past its aoe4 disillusionment and realigns its focus on its best game. We need HC5, we need BoA, we need Nations Cup. Let's make Aoe2 great again!

I wish this was as good for aoe2 as you're making it out to be.

But honestly, this is because aoe4 is having one of the biggest tournaments in aoe franchise, and it lasts for months. It involves 64 players too.
Why would you have a tournament in the meanwhile?

 

[MongolTCRush]

How exciting that there are so many aoe2 tournaments! I will certainly watch some of them! It's such a healthy and good model to have so many tournaments for up and comers and amateurs as well!

But I just wanted to chime in on that list of tournaments post as someone from the aoe4 community

several months ago the creator of Aoe4's current tournament Golden league said on stream that he really had his mind set on doing a $250k prize pool tournament,

Whilst I wont be looking for the VOD and timestamp unless there's an insane amount of interest in it,
a few of us in the Aoe4 community are predicting it will be announced at the end of Golden League, which is still several weeks away - but would coincide with custom maps built for tournaments with a few map making competitions currently running with $3k+ prize pools.

Of course all rumours and speculation at the moment with nothing announced, but its enough that the general consensus within the aoe4 community isn't overly worried about "will there be anything after golden league", & it would make sense to announce something major after Golden league now that aoe4 has its modding tools for custom maps and game modes, etc, and it is something that he really wanted to do as mentioned on stream.

How exciting, as a franchise, to have two of its games with tournaments running! I hope both games continue to have tournaments, and many of them - long into the future!

 

[Steeldust]

aoe4 and entertainment, dont go together

Exactly. And that is the reason I put it in ""
It bores me to death every time I give AOE4 a try.

 

[Rissen]

aoe4 and entertainment, dont go together

****ing kek

Aoe2 vs Aoe4 was never a competition. Viewers have no interest in Aoe4. Looking at the gameplay of Aoe4 was enough to know that this game won't get past the initial hype.

What do you mean. Starcraft and moba e-sport fans are flocking by the dozens of thousands to play and watch aoe4 games on twitch on a daily basis.

 

[LowEloNobody]

Agree and disagree at the same time.
GL has 64 participating Players, so it's not like it's only for a small elite.
The game is also still new and undergoes a lot of changes / big patches, so you actually want everyone trying to compete for the top right now.
Like the ranking there is way less set in stone compared to aoe2 where you have players who are "stuck" in the top 32-64 since ages and a top 20 which you see in almost evry tournament.

It is looking very likely that 7/8 of the players from NC4 will be the finalists for Golden Leageue. Its a small crowd at the top in both games

 

[LeoMontero]

****ing kek


What do you mean. Starcraft and moba e-sport fans are flocking by the dozens of thousands to play and watch aoe4 games on twitch on a daily basis.

i dont know if you are for real or sarcastic.

 

[lecracheursagacite]

You would have to be an ***** to plan a major tournament during the biggest tournament in Age of Empires history
(I would also guess that the tournament coordinator wouldn't fund tournaments that conflicted with Golden League)

I wish this was as good for aoe2 as you're making it out to be.

But honestly, this is because aoe4 is having one of the biggest tournaments in aoe franchise, and it lasts for months. It involves 64 players too.
Why would you have a tournament in the meanwhile?

Generally people do not consider a tournament and a league to be the same thing, however you are right that if all the top AoE4 talent is occupied weekly by the same major event it doesn't make much sense for any others to exist. I can also concede that something which calls itself a "league" may actually be a tournament as UEFA helpfully illustrates for us.

 

[Lord_patito]

It is looking very likely that 7/8 of the players from NC4 will be the finalists for Golden Leageue. Its a small crowd at the top in both games

Wam and Puppypaw have a good chance to be top 8, so maybe 6

 

[JUDAS]

When the playerbase is tiny, and there are not that amount of "new RTS" players playing the game, the likely outcome will be that the same guys will dominate every tournament, maybe when the pool prize disminishes and these old players got tired of milking the game, some new guys could climb up.

 

[LowEloNobody]

Wam and Puppypaw have a good chance to be top 8, so maybe 6

PuppyPaw looking stronk IMO.
Should also caveat that Mista effectively dropped out (dude has farming to do I guess).
So it's more like 6/7 participating players from NC4

Disappointed to see that Bee likely won't make it in

 

[Lord Bolton]

PuppyPaw looking stronk IMO.
Should also caveat that Mista effectively dropped out (dude has farming to do I guess).
So it's more like 6/7 participating players from NC4

Disappointed to see that Bee likely won't make it in

Mista will dominate in winter when he will farm elo Kappa

 

[Rissen]

i dont know if you are for real or sarcastic.

what do you think

 

[StupidPieceOfSheep]

at beginning i used to be worried that aoe2 competive scene is dying as it was big part of my entertainment. lack of competive tournaments made things boring and i stopped caring. right now i already dont give a **** who wins some b-tier event or stops playing altogether, fortunately ive got more hobbies to focus on, and you know, some elo to donate XD

i bet there are more people like me, no longer watching most tourneys, not being active in chat, not subbing or donating cash etc. it's just not interesting right now, like watching some regular football, without champions league and world champs, with three biggest clubs switching to some curling, matches with zero stakes, just dudes playing, very whatever unless you are hardcore supporter of some club

 

[Thisplacehasaproblem]

at beginning i used to be worried that aoe2 competive scene is dying as it was big part of my entertainment. lack of competive tournaments made things boring and i stopped caring. right now i already dont give a **** who wins some b-tier event or stops playing altogether, fortunately ive got more hobbies to focus on, and you know, some elo to donate XD

i bet there are more people like me, no longer watching most tourneys, not being active in chat, not subbing or donating cash etc. it's just not interesting right now, like watching some regular football, without champions league and world champs, with three biggest clubs switching to some curling, matches with zero stakes, just dudes playing, very whatever unless you are hardcore supporter of some club

Yes exactly. Not that I blame t90 or Viper or anyone, but these days there are 3/4 people who stream aoe2 on twitch. The community has just vanished. I'd have taken the money too, but them leaving has definitely had a huge impact on the community.
When I first got interested in aoe2 end of 2020 there was banter between streams, loads going on, tourneys coming up and the top of the ladder was active and competitive. A big feeling of community and the future felt exciting with competitions/aoe4 on the horizon. Those times are gone. Its not that aoe4 has taken over at all. aoe4 has just helped split the aoe2 community and helped it die, and aoe4 won't survive long itself. The golden ages of aoe2 DE competitive scene are gone imo. I still play aoe2 and will always love to play it. Just feel over the pro scene right now.

 

[stanno]

This is indeed very encouraging!

Aoe2 vs Aoe4 was never a competition. Viewers have no interest in Aoe4. Looking at the gameplay of Aoe4 was enough to know that this game won't get past the initial hype.

Now it's time for all players, streamers and funders to return back to where the RoI is highest. It's time for devs to focus on aoe2 and fix the gameplay/MM issues to further expand the player base.

Hoping MS also moves past its aoe4 disillusionment and realigns its focus on its best game. We need HC5, we need BoA, we need Nations Cup. Let's make Aoe2 great again!

I'm sorry but, in my opinion, you are deluded if you think that AOE2 will ever grow beyond 18-20k average players on Steam monthly, tops.

There's a fundamental redesign of the game that would need to happen in order to convince all the tens of thousands of players who prefer to play other kinds of games consistently(or if you want to stay within the RTS subgenre, SC2).

I do agree that devs need to keep fixing and optimizing the game, and Microsoft needs to keep funding them.

I would like to see improvements such as:

- Ability to navigate the entirety of the menu while queueing for a ranked game.
- Higher benchmark required to play online, in order to avoid players playing 4v4s on toasters. It would alienate a part of the playerbase for sure, but I think it would also bring back a good number who stopped playing because of the insufferable lag in the late game.
- Ranked seasons like many good competitive games. It gives extra incentive for players to keep grinding.
- Implementing the ability to rewind replays without needing capture age and a paid membership.
- A more complete leaderboard in-game. One that lets us click on each player's profile and see everything from their match history, to preferred civs, maps, etc. without needing to visit several different external websites. This is all stuff that SC2 has.
- Modify Empire Wars to make it a bit slower(so it is less intimidating for noobs) but keeping it faster than standard RM(so that it speeds up the repetitive start that you do in 99% of games). Something like a 12 villager start could work decently.
- Implementing a separate balance for EW.
- Optimize the pathfinding as much as the 20 year old engine allows.
- Find a way to make team ELO meaningful.

If all these improvements happened, I think AOE2 could consistently float in the 18-20k active players range. But not much more than that. We have to face the fact that this is an old game, and it's already a miracle that Microsoft is still supporting it, when it could be putting the money into other games that could be making them a lot more money.