Age of Empires...goes online?

Brother None

Brother None

This ghoul has seen it all
Orderite
What is this I don't even

With more than 20 million copies sold worldwide, the Age of Empires series redefined real-time strategy games for Windows PC players. Now the timeless franchise once again invites players to experience its rich storyline in new ways. Age of Empires Online will invite you to create a living, growing online world, shared with friends and friendly rivals around the globe.

Begin the journey with your own Greek civilization and watch as it progresses from a village to an empire. Embark on quests along the way, alone or with friends, and immerse yourself in epic tales, diverse characters, adventure, history and strategy. Together with the Games for Windows – LIVE service, Age of Empires Online delivers a rich, social experience that lets you play however you want – anywhere, anytime.

Marrying fresh features with iconic gameplay, Age of Empires Online offers something for long-time fans, newcomers, and everyone in between.
Click to expand...
 
Wait...so it's an MMO, but instead of being an RPG its a RTS? How is that going to work?

Oh I know you'll play against other players just like in the custom and ranked matches you already have in any online RTS only this time the community will be "connected" in some sort of cohesive "world" so they can call it an MMO.

Sincerely,
The Vault Dweller
 
Link dead. Sounds cool though, for those that are into that sort of thing...

I wonder how they'd do it though.
 
I read the FAQ, and to be honest, Im not impressed, I don't see the game working at all, and probably short lived like many other MMOs, and the graphics are cartoony, unimpressive at the same time. will certainly give this one a miss
 
Man, these new cherry cartoon graphics ALONE almost totally killed my interest in the game. I mean, what was wrong with the old, maybe a bit oddly scaled, but otherwise realistic graphics?
 
Puokki said:
Man, these new cherry cartoon graphics ALONE almost totally killed my interest in the game. I mean, what was wrong with the old, maybe a bit oddly scaled, but otherwise realistic graphics?
Click to expand...

I agree, not impressed right there, I always liked the look of AOE 2and thought that was a great game, but it seems that M$ is trying to get a quick buck from the series, but many MMOs have failed or been very short lived, I think after a month or two, people will move on, I don't even see an appeal to the game, unite friends under one banner, and become a powerhouse? it will only take a a guild to amass a fortune and dominate the game, which means those that play alone will be doomed, I don't see how the system will be fair? then again not interested in trying the beta to find out, the whole game and concept is very unappealing, especially the graphics, a real turn off

@sea

yes I noticed that, they seem to be taking the route that many big publishers are taking, killing game studios while reassigning some to others, there are fewer and fewer good studios out there now, and most are getting owned by the big publishers, not fair and not right at all
 
well, i would see it as a type of persistent bonus system

you start off with like x resource points or unit bonuses or research options...

you play games to get more of these points, and as you win/rank up, you basically get easier to start
 
Giving some bonuses to players who have hacked the game for a long time would be against all common sense; the original AOE was a game where skilled players could crush newbies even if the n00bs were given several different bonuses (believe me, I have experience about this), so this some kind of level-up-system or the like should be made completely differently.

I think the best way to do this would be that experience would not give you gameplay bonuses, but new ways to show off, like unit and building looks customing, while their stats would remain the same.

This level system might actually be a good thing for online games, to keep n00bs away from pros and let people find opponents of their own skill level (at least if it's done correctly.)
 
I sorta like the cartoony style, but I fail to understand why they thought it would be a good idea for the AoE series. It's a huge change from the earlier work.

Puokki said:
I think the best way to do this would be that experience would not give you gameplay bonuses, but new ways to show off, like unit and building looks customing, while their stats would remain the same.
Click to expand...
That's a nice idea. Unlocking extra units that can still be countered with a more basic army. Unlocking statues to decorate your city. Stuff like that.

But I'm sure cosmetics will be implemented somehow.
 
SkuLL said:
Link dead. Sounds cool though, for those that are into that sort of thing...

I wonder how they'd do it though.
Click to expand...
I just would have liked it if they simply would continue from where Age of Empires 2 stoped. I think most people agree that it was the best AoE particularly with its expansion. Just making a game with great visuals "somewhat" realistic units and nice stories behind it the game had even a small encyclopedia behind it where you couldread about feudalism, the history of certain units and a lot more. Making a kind of "MMO" out of it doesnt sound that interesting particularly with GFWL behind it ...

Sadly they closed the team behind AoE in the past.
 
It went downhill with Age of Mythology: the graphics were pretty sweet (the water landing on the shore, that was just mezmerizing), but the campaigns were boring and although you could have different interesting combinations with the Gods you chose, it just didn't feel as big as AoE2. Manual was bad as well. I bought AoE3 and the first expansion, but it just felt like a copy with different graphics. I gave it to some dude for his birthday soon after. AoE2 was surely the best so far. I "wasted" a lot of time on that game.
 
Crni Vuk said:
SkuLL said:
Link dead. Sounds cool though, for those that are into that sort of thing...

I wonder how they'd do it though.
Click to expand...
I just would have liked it if they simply would continue from where Age of Empires 2 stoped. I think most people agree that it was the best AoE particularly with its expansion. Just making a game with great visuals "somewhat" realistic units and nice stories behind it the game had even a small encyclopedia behind it where you couldread about feudalism, the history of certain units and a lot more. Making a kind of "MMO" out of it doesnt sound that interesting particularly with GFWL behind it ...

Sadly they closed the team behind AoE in the past.
Click to expand...
Yeah, having seen the website now, I am appalled!

You mentioned all the good things I loved so much about AoE2 - the chance to learn a bit of history, and how different units work. It was the first strategy game for me where you didn't have to concentrate on jut one uber-unit, but had to combine strengths and weaknesses of all, otherwise your army would suck, no matter its numbers. It felt and looked just realistic enough to be fun.

Sure, some of that might be available in the online AoE, but from the look of it, it's lost its appeal to me (and most traditional fans). Cartoon graphics, really? :sad:
 
alec said:
It went downhill with Age of Mythology: the graphics were pretty sweet (the water landing on the shore, that was just mezmerizing), but the campaigns were boring and although you could have different interesting combinations with the Gods you chose, it just didn't feel as big as AoE2. Manual was bad as well. I bought AoE3 and the first expansion, but it just felt like a copy with different graphics. I gave it to some dude for his birthday soon after. AoE2 was surely the best so far. I "wasted" a lot of time on that game.
Click to expand...
I think from the visuals AoE2 was the best so far. Even with just its 2D graphic. but it feelt compared to any other game like "hand made" and a artistical piece. The units, buildings and landscape feelt at least for me better.
 
It is really great news for me. Because, The Age of Empire is one of my favorite game and I have all the parts of it. I like war type games and It is amazing war game. So, I will take more advantages of it. I am really exciting about it.
 
Hm..., is it just me or does the graphics looks a bit like the old Warcraft 1 or 2 games?

As for this style of MMO game play, it has been attempted before, and I've played it. The game I played was free though, and it got pretty addicting if you got friends with you. The way that game worked is that the game keeps running even if you aren't at it, meaning your troops will keep spawning (if you queued it) and you will keep gathering resources. But, the best way to get ahead is to cooperate with others and raid other towns for resources, then you can expand faster and build way more troops. It got addicting for a while, until the clan fell apart. It really wasn't feasible to play the game alone. Since attacking was done in real time, if your friends were too far away or not online to protect you, you can get wiped out easily if there is a clan around you who is hostile.

In the end, it became too time consuming, since it requires a lot of micromanagement.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top