Age Of Empires Online

[GoodGame]

I think what Remake20 means is does it have an action timer like most web/facebook-based MMOs have? It's not unreasonable to have that, but the games tend to charge actual money if you want actions done in a reasonable amount of time.

 

[Maniacal]

Angry Joe plays AoE:O with a friend, this isn't a review but they discuss it. Definitely NEVER touching this. I think you'll be better off picking up Age of Empires 2: Gold from somewhere. It will be cheaper and a vastly superior game.

 

[hoplitejoe]

AoM is where it is at I think you will find my friend.

 

[W|M]

I thought this was a thread about the Age of Empires from 1997.

 

[FriendlyFire]

Angry Joe plays AoE:O with a friend, this isn't a review but they discuss it. Definitely NEVER touching this. I think you'll be better off picking up Age of Empires 2: Gold from somewhere. It will be cheaper and a vastly superior game.

Its not that bad.

But hes right though paying players have access to advisors which give insane bonuses such as +50% worker health and -20% worker cost which is huge advantage. The preiumn units in co-op single player missions are insane I played with a greek player and he pumped out a ton of these. I watch as these decimated enemy calvary, infantry, archers, towers and forts. The rock, scissors, paper mechanics go out the window.

 

[GoodGame]

Its not that bad.

But hes right though paying players have access to advisors which give insane bonuses such as +50% worker health and -20% worker cost which is huge advantage. The preiumn units in co-op single player missions are insane I played with a greek player and he pumped out a ton of these. I watch as these decimated enemy calvary, infantry, archers, towers and forts. The rock, scissors, paper mechanics go out the window.

Definitely sounds like pay-to-win then.

 

[Maniacal]

I'm just going to give my AoE & AoM disks in the container next to my desk a good ol' pat on the case for still being good games many years later.

 

[FriendlyFire]

Definitely sounds like pay-to-win then.

Free players are matched up against other free players in PVP. Like wise for Premium players. They just have an easy time doing to solo missions. Free players have to ban together and co-op the mission to have a chance of completing it.

 

[Maniacal]

That's still pay to win.

 

[GoodGame]

Just saying that if paying lets you reap frequent and often +50% modifiers than it effectively is pay to win. The free players playing themselves are playing a completely different game is all.

I much prefer World of Tanks model to this where paying just makes the gaming experience more productive, but the same functionality is there whether or not you pay. You still fight a fairly level battle versus the non-paying players.

 

[Wolfbeckett]

I much prefer World of Tanks model to this where paying just makes the gaming experience more productive, but the same functionality is there whether or not you pay. You still fight a fairly level battle versus the non-paying players.

Yes, that's how League of Legends works too. Players who pay money can unlock things right away, but free players can still unlock all of it too, they just have to play the game longer to do it. Paying doesn't gain you any competitive advantage, it's just for shortcuts and cosmetic changes. Definitely not interested in this game after reading more, if I want to get my RTS on I'll Reinstall AoE2, RoN, or Dawn of War.

 

[FriendlyFire]

I more or less finnished the main greek campaign since the reward at the end is a nice "trojan horse" statue (which I cannot even deploy in my city since Iam not premium. which is very stingy of Microsoft). There are still a bunch of challange missions and non story related missions which to play with.

Overall as a free player the restrictions are bearable and the game can be played without spending a cent. Main issue is that there are quest which give you certain premium only building which cannot be built, destroyed or gotten rid of which clog up your limited inventory space. No access to advisors also hurts since as I pointed out convey large bonuses and access to special units. I dont see why I cant unlock this since as a free player all rare and epic items cannot be equiped. Advisors i would be able to use would only be common and uncommon types.

On the other hand though there are a decent number of paying players on the servers. I visit there towns and see all the premium buildings. They have access to stores which vend rare items that other players buy and earn them in game money.

Once I had hit level 20 I had access to final tech which made the single player missions soloable. Still very tough for a free player but I managed to do them.

I dont mind limited inventory, limited buildings, restrictions on rare and epic items since it is an RTS. No access to the advisors and not being able to deploy quest buildings which are stupid. Not to mention the pricing is very high rather then use small micro transactions.

Still overall not bad for a free RTS MMO game.
If player base bulks at shelling out $20 per civilisation (2 at the moment 2 already in the works) maybe Microsoft will change there pricing structure.

 

[Maniacal]

For $20 (or less) you can get 18 civilizations and ever unit and building at Amazon.com.

 

[Dachs]

Why is a game that came out thirteen years ago going for twenty bucks? I mean, it's an awesome game and I always enjoyed it, but still.

 

[hoplitejoe]

Apple were still selling AoM at full price last time I checked

 

[W|M]

I just checked, and the Conquerors expansion alone is also $20.

 

[Maniacal]

$20 is about the lowest price most games (unless they were bad) fall too, probably also involves the seller not wanting to sell it for less than it paid.

 

[carmen510]

What? I got Age of Empires Collector's Edition (Age of Empires 1, The Rise of Rome expansion, Age of Empires 2, and Conquerors expansion) for $10 at Staples.

 

[Wolfbeckett]

$20 is about the lowest price most games (unless they were bad) fall too, probably also involves the seller not wanting to sell it for less than it paid.

Say WHAT? Deus Ex 1 is $10 on Steam. I've seen Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines for as low as $5. I bout Fallout 1 for $5. Games most certainly go lower than $20 without having to be bad.

 

[Maniacal]

Boxed copies on Amazon and retail mostly is what I was referring too. Though you can find them lower at some stores, and also on Steam and stuff (dunno why I forgot to mention that ).