A major contributing factor for AoC's long run is the friendships and interpersonal relationships forged between players over months/years of close proximity and mutual interest in this incredible game. The MSN Gaming Zone, followed admirably by Voobly, provided maximum exposure for people to interact with each other. Recognizable names popping in and out of the main lobby, a list of everybody online and where they could be found, everyone's presence a small component of an ecosystem designed to enhance the game's potential through shared experience. AoC is a great game, but it's always been the people that made it worth sticking around for. Whether it was the Medieval Seige main room or the ability to converse in the game lobby, there was always visibility into the other players (even in 1v1s) and an opportunity to be social with one another. The release of DE, and its forced player migration onto the Steam platform, robs us of an essential interpersonal aspect that makes Age of Empires so much fun.
On Steam, players get auto-matched, stay for as long as the game dictates, and disappear into the ether. There is no communal nature, there is none of the social periphery that gave Age of Empires its two-decade staying power. When you play DE on Steam, you sit idly in a self-contained and lonely world waiting for a faceless opponent with minimal opportunity to inject fun or personality into the interaction. It runs so contrary to what made this game successful.
I'm 40 games into DE and have never had less fun with Age of Empires. As I watch the number of players on Voobly dwindle, I can't help but feel like we traded a vibrant community for some fancy graphics and 4 unbalanced and unnecessary civilizations. The appeal is completely lost on me. I do not see the community thriving long-term on Steam because it forces its players into isolation. The tragedy is that people will slowly leave and by the time we collectively realize the game was more fun before Steam took over, there probably won't be a Voobly platform or even much of a community left to go back to.
On Steam, players get auto-matched, stay for as long as the game dictates, and disappear into the ether. There is no communal nature, there is none of the social periphery that gave Age of Empires its two-decade staying power. When you play DE on Steam, you sit idly in a self-contained and lonely world waiting for a faceless opponent with minimal opportunity to inject fun or personality into the interaction. It runs so contrary to what made this game successful.
I'm 40 games into DE and have never had less fun with Age of Empires. As I watch the number of players on Voobly dwindle, I can't help but feel like we traded a vibrant community for some fancy graphics and 4 unbalanced and unnecessary civilizations. The appeal is completely lost on me. I do not see the community thriving long-term on Steam because it forces its players into isolation. The tragedy is that people will slowly leave and by the time we collectively realize the game was more fun before Steam took over, there probably won't be a Voobly platform or even much of a community left to go back to.