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Age Of Empires Online |OT| Yes, it plays like Age of Empires.

Z

zlatko

Banned
Got to level 2 before starting to watch this EA live stream from Gamescom. Great game so far. Never having played Age of Empires it feels super similar to Starcraft 2 which is my only RTS. I'm digging the single player stuff, and can only hope the multiplayer is fun and balanced. I don't think I'll be dipping into Egypt, and I'd rather grind it out to have more stuff to do as a Greek. If I get into the game though, and they add some more interesting civilizations then I'll definitely buy.
 
B

bill0527

Member
I'm debating on whether to DL this or not.

Is this 'freemium' game basically bare bones to the point where you almost have to buy shit to be competitive?
 
F

FieryBalrog

Member
bill0527 said:
Is this 'freemium' game basically bare bones to the point where you almost have to buy shit to be competitive?
Click to expand...

You can't compete without buying a premium civ, but it's a one-time $20 purchase for that civ (the rest of it is cosmetic stuff and additional game modes).

However, you can play the "PvE" portion without buying anything all the way to the end. You will have to play it even if you buy the premium thing because you still need to unlock the techs and units and stuff.
 
ElRenoRaven

ElRenoRaven

Member
FieryBalrog said:
You can't compete without buying a premium civ, but it's a one-time $20 purchase for that civ (the rest of it is cosmetic stuff and additional game modes).

However, you can play the "PvE" portion without buying anything all the way to the end. You will have to play it even if you buy the premium thing because you still need to unlock the techs and units and stuff.
Click to expand...

Yup. And luckily you won't need to buy anything but that one premium unless you want to. Hell I still haven't bought one yet and I'm in week 3 of playing. Course I'm also taking my time and have restarted my Civs twice. lol
 
C

cwmartin

Member
FieryBalrog said:
You can't compete without buying a premium civ, but it's a one-time $20 purchase for that civ (the rest of it is cosmetic stuff and additional game modes).

However, you can play the "PvE" portion without buying anything all the way to the end. You will have to play it even if you buy the premium thing because you still need to unlock the techs and units and stuff.
Click to expand...

So all the competitve games with be "Premium Civ vs Identical Premium Civ"? BORING.
 
F

FieryBalrog

Member
cwmartin said:
So all the competitve games with be "Premium Civ vs Identical Premium Civ"? BORING.
Click to expand...
Geez, way to jump to conclusions? The tech tree decisions you make in PvE, as well as the gear choices you make, carry over to PvP. The real concern is not "identical civ vs each other", it's the complete opposite - how to balance the vast variety of stuff. I get the sense this is not that kind of cutthroat competitive environment though.

Besides, even if what you said was true, I fail to see how that's different from any other RTS.

Edit: I think you misunderstood when I said "premium civ". The two civs are Egypt and Greece and they both have premium versions. They're the "full-featured" versions that allow you to use all gears/techs.
 
A

AusQB

Member
Think of it like this:

If WoW was free to play besides having to pay for premium PvP gear and items, such as the Arena-rated armor sets, would you be complaining?
 
L

Lumine

Member
Err pardon my ignorance, but I downloaded the game, updated it, launched it and logged in with my GFWL account... but now it's asking for a product key? Where can I find this?
 
W

Winnie the Pimp

Member
Ok here is my one HUGE criticism for this game:


Granted the devs wanted to go F2P with microtransactions, fine!

But who the HELL thought up that idea to charge 20 effing bucks for ONE (premium) CIV???

I mean seriously WTF guys???

am i the only one that thinks this is freaking retarded? I get if you charge 5 bucks PER CIV, that way if you want to own them all in the end it will probably come down to like a full price game right? 50 bucks, 60 bucks whatever... but this way if you want to have what we all had YEARS ago with AOE1+2, ALL CIVS available to PICK as you see fit you have to pay what? 200 bucks in the end? as much a as fucking console?

*face plain*

and before some people come in and say the obligatory "well no one is FORCING you to buy em all blah blah" guess what? let me take the next battlefield game or whatever and give you ONE CLASS to play with ONE meager pistol... you want more? well it's 20 bucks per class champ... oh and another 5 bucks per additional GUN since the classes don't come with guns

i don't think this is the right way to go about the whole F2P scenario but what can you do besides not buy into it right?
 
F

FieryBalrog

Member
Yea, I think it would be a really cool move if buying one civ gave you a discount for all the other civs. So you put in $20 for one, but you can buy additional civs after that for $8 or whatever.
 
H

hamchan

Member
Winnie the Pimp said:
Ok here is my one HUGE criticism for this game:


Granted the devs wanted to go F2P with microtransactions, fine!

But who the HELL thought up that idea to charge 20 effing bucks for ONE (premium) CIV???

I mean seriously WTF guys???

am i the only one that thinks this is freaking retarded? I get if you charge 5 bucks PER CIV, that way if you want to own them all in the end it will probably come down to like a full price game right? 50 bucks, 60 bucks whatever... but this way if you want to have what we all had YEARS ago with AOE1+2, ALL CIVS available to PICK as you see fit you have to pay what? 200 bucks in the end? as much a as fucking console?

*face plain*

and before some people come in and say the obligatory "well no one is FORCING you to buy em all blah blah" guess what? let me take the next battlefield game or whatever and give you ONE CLASS to play with ONE meager pistol... you want more? well it's 20 bucks per class champ... oh and another 5 bucks per additional GUN since the classes don't come with guns

i don't think this is the right way to go about the whole F2P scenario but what can you do besides not buy into it right?
Click to expand...

If it doesn't sell at that price (which I think it won't sell) then they'll be sure to reduce it.
 
L

Lumine

Member
D

Dinosaur Tamer

Member
AusQB said:
Think of it like this:

If WoW was free to play besides having to pay for premium PvP gear and items, such as the Arena-rated armor sets, would you be complaining?
Click to expand...

Yeah, if I had to pay 20€ per class, I would be complaining.
 
C

Chiaroscuro

Member
What pack do you guys think it will be the best option to buy?

There are four civilizations announced, at $ 20 each
There are two booster packs announced (up to now), at US$ 10 each
Plus 2 cosmetic packs for each civilization at US$ 5, total US$ 40.

All content should be around US$ 140 (or US$ 100 if you only counts what matters).

The Season pass is US$ 100. If you buy the special offer of 2 civs + the first booster it would be US$ 40, which will end at US$ 90 after the other two civs and the other booster pack.

Is the Season Pass really worth the money?
 
dorkimoe

dorkimoe

Gold Member
I bought the 20$ game, stuck at work so cant play. I plan on buying any addons but not the skip straight to level 20 thing.

Whats the thing that lets you skip to level 20 called, so i know not to buy that
 
E

ezodagrom

Member
Winnie the Pimp said:
Ok here is my one HUGE criticism for this game:


Granted the devs wanted to go F2P with microtransactions, fine!

But who the HELL thought up that idea to charge 20 effing bucks for ONE (premium) CIV???

I mean seriously WTF guys???

am i the only one that thinks this is freaking retarded? I get if you charge 5 bucks PER CIV, that way if you want to own them all in the end it will probably come down to like a full price game right? 50 bucks, 60 bucks whatever... but this way if you want to have what we all had YEARS ago with AOE1+2, ALL CIVS available to PICK as you see fit you have to pay what? 200 bucks in the end? as much a as fucking console?

*face plain*

and before some people come in and say the obligatory "well no one is FORCING you to buy em all blah blah" guess what? let me take the next battlefield game or whatever and give you ONE CLASS to play with ONE meager pistol... you want more? well it's 20 bucks per class champ... oh and another 5 bucks per additional GUN since the classes don't come with guns

i don't think this is the right way to go about the whole F2P scenario but what can you do besides not buy into it right?
Click to expand...
You're not the only one. In my opinion, even $10 would have been acceptable, but $20 is just too much.
 
R

rakhir

Member
This whole micro-payments is pretty disappointing (and, as you guys said, a bit pricey - season pass costs four times as much as a normal game in my country), but i'd love some old-school Age of Empires stuff, even if it's not, like with AoEII, in medieval times.

But god dammit, does it download slowly.
 
dorkimoe

dorkimoe

Gold Member
Hmm yeah some of this micro transaction stuff is a bit silly

That season pass is expensive...i dont need any shrubs for my city... I plan on buying both civs and the boosters sometime but no items, i like to unlock and loot
 
F

FieryBalrog

Member
dorkimoe said:
I bought the 20$ game, stuck at work so cant play. I plan on buying any addons but not the skip straight to level 20 thing.

Whats the thing that lets you skip to level 20 called, so i know not to buy that
Click to expand...
It's not in yet.
Sectus said:
How does the coop in this game work?
Click to expand...
Same server I believe. Which is retarded, someone correct me if I'm wrong.
Sectus said:
Can any quest be played in coop?
Click to expand...
So far it looks like it.
Sectus said:
How many players max is there for coop?
Click to expand...
Not sure.
 
G

ghst

thanks for the laugh
my ankle deep impression of the game so far is "cautiously impressed". while i haven't had time to get into the soft mechanical underbelly, i've been instantly won over by how snappy and responsive everything is. i was sure it would have some sort of casualized gumminess to it, but the individual units are every bit as responsive as in a game like sc2.

having separate sliders for scroll speed and scroll acceleration is the kind of thing that makes my heart go aflutter.
 
Hari Seldon

Hari Seldon

Member
Definitely downloading this when I get home. I have a question, how many people can you co-op with? Is it always 2v2 or 1v1 or are there like 4v4 games?
 
A

AusQB

Member
Sectus said:
How does the coop in this game work? Can any quest be played in coop? How many players max is there for coop?
Click to expand...
Only certain quests can be completed in co-op mode, indicated by blue text in the quest log.

When viewing the quest, you will have the option of inviting a friend to assist you. I'm unsure what the limits are and whether they change based on the quest.
 
I

inky

Member
I see you people saying that cosmetic packs are $5.00 in the US... well, there are 640 MP in my country, which is around $8. Woah, 9200 MP ($115) for the Season Pass? That is insane... horse armor levels of insane. This is not an MMO, Microsoft. It is AoE but with some 'build your city' farmville crap as the multiplayer hub, nothing more. If this were a retail release at $60 it would've included 4 civs at least. Meh...
 
V

VALIS

Member
Chiaroscuro said:
What pack do you guys think it will be the best option to buy?

There are four civilizations announced, at $ 20 each
There are two booster packs announced (up to now), at US$ 10 each
Plus 2 cosmetic packs for each civilization at US$ 5, total US$ 40.

All content should be around US$ 140 (or US$ 100 if you only counts what matters).

The Season pass is US$ 100. If you buy the special offer of 2 civs + the first booster it would be US$ 40, which will end at US$ 90 after the other two civs and the other booster pack.

Is the Season Pass really worth the money?
Click to expand...

It seems the Season Pass is only worth the money if you want all those cosmetic items for your capital cities. Unless they might come out with more than 4 premium civs and 2 booster packs between now and Feb.? I don't know, I'm finding the whole what's free and what's not system to be bit confusing right now. All I know is I keep playing for free, did 7 quests and haven't needed to buy anything yet. Mind you, the first 3-4 quests are basically tutorials (but without much annoying hand holding, thankfully).
 
S

Sinatar

Official GAF Bottom Feeder
Every other time I try to run this it says my GFWL installation is corrupt. Then it'll work. Then it won't.

Reinstalled all of it, GFWL, the game all of it and it still happens. Ironically this didn't occur in the beta =p
 
C

Chiaroscuro

Member
Can I upgrade to the premium civs at any time? Ie I won't loose progression or achievements?

I am sort of money this month, could buy the special 2 civs + booster but not the season pass. Should I hold until next month and buy the pass?
 
I

Iadien

Guarantee I'm going to screw up this post? Yeah.
GFWL: slaystench
Server: Athens

I need someone on my friend's list for a quest. =p
 
M

MiniKelly

Member
Chiaroscuro said:
Can I upgrade to the premium civs at any time? Ie I won't loose progression or achievements?

I am sort of money this month, could buy the special 2 civs + booster but not the season pass. Should I hold until next month and buy the pass?
Click to expand...
Yes, you can upgrade anytime and you wont lose anythinganything
 
V

VALIS

Member
According to the hot keys chart, Print Screen key takes a screenshot, but does anyone know where they're saved? Looked through all the likely suspects (AoEO folders, My Documents, My Pictures) but don't see anything. Want to post couple 1920x1200 max settings shots in here.

Also, love those crocodiles. <3
 
R

rakhir

Member
Oh god...

I've started it for a minute, just to 'see what the hell' - and three hours just flew by...
It's just superb from what i've played of it, and addicting as hell.

I will probably buy the Celts pack when it comes out.
 
F

FieryBalrog

Member
ghst said:
my ankle deep impression of the game so far is "cautiously impressed". while i haven't had time to get into the soft mechanical underbelly, i've been instantly won over by how snappy and responsive everything is. i was sure it would have some sort of casualized gumminess to it, but the individual units are every bit as responsive as in a game like sc2.

having separate sliders for scroll speed and scroll acceleration is the kind of thing that makes my heart go aflutter.
Click to expand...
Yeah, that's exactly what impressed me. The game handles really well and has great animations and art style.

I have to imagine that's the Ensemble dudes doing that. GPG didn't exactly wow me with snappy unit control or aesthetics in SupCom and Demigod.

I do have my doubts as to how competitively viable this thing is going to be, but I don't think that's what they're aiming for, and I don't think that's why I'm really playing it.
 
R

Rodney McKay

Member
If I didn't have 20 pages to write before Thursday I would be all over this.

This, Bastion, and From Dust are going to take over the rest of my summer. D: .... :D
 
B

Bossman

Member
cackhyena said:
Never played one of these, but am interested. If I want to just try out SP, should I not even bother?
Click to expand...

It's mainly a singleplayer game that you just happen to play online.
 
P

PaulLFC

Member
Just finished patching, so about to play now, looking forward to it. Is it true that you basically have to buy one (or both) of the civilizations for £15 a pop if you want to progress, though?
 
dream

dream

Member
Getting this to work is the worst gaming setup experience I've had in a long time. I downloaded a tiny install stub which downloaded, like, 20 megs of install data. Cool, it needs data to install after all. Then I launch the game and it downloads patches for an hour. In its defense, it might have been done sooner but the patch window didn't take focus to tell me that it was complete. I just noticed the "Play" button activated when I alt tabbed back in to see how the patching process was going. So the game finally loads and it asks me to log into GFW Live. Fair enough; it's a Microsoft game. My first attempt to log in gets me that rad 0x2393821 error. So I try again with the same result. Figuring the third time's the charm I try it again and finally manage to log in...I think. I'm not actually sure if I'm logged in or not because it's asking me for a product key.

For a free game.

So I come here to see if anyone has the same problem and I see the post above that links to some workarounds on Microsoft's forum. One possible fix is to open GFW Marketplace and buy AOE Online from there so I can get the product key in my downloads list. So I open GFW Marketplace and hey, look, AOE Online isn't on the front page. I guess they didn't want to remove hot new titles like Grand Theft Auto IV, Bioshock 2, Dawn of War 2, Fallout 3, Lost Planet 2, Batman Arkham Asylum, Age of Empires 3, and Gears of War from the front page. So I figure I'd just search for AOE Online but it turns out GFW Marketplace does not have a search function.

I realize this is pretty nitpicky but how in the fuck is this process reasonable for a free to play game?
 
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