Hello guys,
I will get straight to the point. I am sure you all know the standard procedure for queuing in AOE 2 DE. You queue, you can put preference random by hitting the random button ( red, with an question mark ) , so the system queues you with other players that also prefer random civs.
However, both in ranked team games AND in ranked 1v1s ( no experience for DM and other modes, Civ picking is the preferred method. Why is this bad for the game ?
To understand this, we need to dive into the history of AOE 2 ranked games: In voobly times, many different stages came and went away, the 1v1 hun war phase etc. I personally reentered the game around 5 years ago during the HD time. HD had many faults, but it revitalised the game, kept it alive and growing, together with the core community at voobly. For team games and 1v1s, there was a general ground rule, that could be changed if people wanted to and accepted the change, but generally speaking the rule was : PICK RANDOM CIV in the lobby.
Now, why did it come to this ground rule. This is something very new players just dont understand, and how could they… Picking Random Civ only enhances the fair play, and the general experience of the game, it makes the experience for ALL players better. Why is that ? Well for example, AOE 2 is a very diverse game, with lots of facettes, and was NEVER ment to be a one sided, stale and simple experience. Playing different civs and playing against different civs every game means you have to learn new build orders and face different strategies. You can never be sure BEFORE THE GAME what strategy you will use, because you dont know your civ yet and therefor your civ strengths.
In HD and Voobly times 5 years ago, the civs were even less balanced then now. Koreans were straight up only good at trush, and so on. You had to make due with the cards that you got dealt. Why did that make you a better player over time, than only using britons all the time, for example ? Because, like a chess player, you had to learn different openings and strategies, which is ofc better for understanding and managing your game than always playing the one and only opening and strategy that you know…
There is nothing wrong with trying to enhance your franks scout play, or your britains arc opening, and training with that civ for a long period of time.
There are many more reasons why the community back then was very outspoken about that rule, and enforced it harshly. IF you picked a civ, in most cases you would just get kicked out of the lobby.
Nowadays there are many more players, and that is good. I dont know the names of 90 percent of the players in my games, and that is good as well. I am happy for the game, the community, the developers, and the content creators.
However, the situation has become insufferable for many long time fans, that played the game long before the HUGE DE success. In a standard ranked 1v1 competitive I have a 90% chance to face a S Tier civ, and in ranked teamgames it is the same.
A standard 3v3 ranked, elo 2000 looks like this: Ethiopians franks britons vs britons franks ethiopians.
The magic is gone, the mystic energy that brought me back to the game again and again. Back then I could face a korean tower rush, a huns fc cav arc strategy, a celts maa feudal all in, UU strategies etc etc. Nowadays, in 1v1 it is wall to fc, or scout rush to fc, or arc rush to fc. Thats it. And it is the same for team games arabia.
In HD times, we would play 4v4 nomad all random, and you never knew what civ you would get. Nowadays, my favourite mode has lost all its magic. Persians, Malians or Spanish is ALWAYS present, sucking the magic right out of it.
The mindset went from: lets play on a fair and even leveled, fun stage together, to I want to win at all costs.
The asian gaming mindset took over completely ( IF I can choose, I will choose the civ that will make me win the most, because this is ranked and I want to win at all costs )
This mindset took over the community, and it has destroyed the competitive modes of DE completely for the core community, the long time fans that this whole project is built on.
If I face Franks and Ethiopians every time in ranked, the thrill is gone and the magic too. I know what strategies they will go for. I know what units they will go for. And if we are on the same skill level completely, they will win, because of their eco/civ bonuses, they will unfairly but they will win.
When commuting this you are faced with the following argument: You can choose your civ as well, and if you dont do that, you have to be the better player and you loose your right to complain, because this is competitive and we want to win.
This toxic and stupidous mindset dominates all other online competitive gaming areas EXCEPT AOE 2, at least it used to.
Why did the truest, most devoted fans of the game, the core of the core, choose the rancom concept for ranked games then? When they had nothing to proove, 20000 active players left in both voobly and HD, WHY did they choose this principle ?
Because it makes sense, because its the most fun way to enjoy the game, but foremost it is the most FAIR way.
Yes sometimes you get a low tier civ, sometimes a high tier civ. But it had style nonetheless. That style is gone, replaced by efficiancy , and the overshadowing will to win at all costs.
Why do you think , do the top tier players all choose random civ in the lobbies with TheViper, MrYo, etc. (even in Membs BF lobbies) ? It IS the most fun way to enjoy the game, all long time core fans will agree with that, or most of them.
DE needs a ranked mode for players that wish to play ONLY random. This button is a VERY good thought, but it is too little to stem the tide. People should still be able to pick civ like they do right now, but people should also be able to play other players EXCLUSIVELY with random mode.
For example, a solution could be: the same button, but you get matched up ( lets say in a 3v3 ) with other players and NOONE is able to PICK civ, it is set to random and cannot be changed. I dont care waiting 10 Minutes longer, In HD with 5000 active players we had to wait 10 Minutes or more to get a full nomad lobby anyways. But it gave us so much more than these fake nomad games. Savage, DeezNuts and other players would have LAUGHED at you if you would have picked persians or spanish all the time.
Because the way it is now, is garbage. This civ picking has sucked the magic out of the game, it has made the game devoid of crazy, fun strategies. I dont want to play ranked nomad and face spanish all the time. I dont want to play arabia and face a franks or magyar scout rush all the time. I want the style, the love, and the diversity back. I want to face turks or huns or japanese and get surprised by creative, out of the box strategies.
I remember getting rushed by huskarls only in HD and I was awestruck and hooked, after many hours I learned a new, valuable strategy. I remember getting persian douched the first time.
Long gone are the times of creative plays, now is the time of the same old same old. Scouts pocket, archers flank, game after game after game. May the best Britons player win. What a sad and lifeless, grey state of an otherwise colorful game. This is NOT how the original devs wanted it to be played, I am sure.
sorry for the wall of text. I wrote so much because I loved this game and I still do. By the way, I was sometimes a toxic little ■■■■■ to other players. But the community in HD showed me so much love, so much respect, I try to be a better player nowadays, and I nearly never rent ingame.
It gives me no pleasure to write this, but if this continues, I will abondon DE after hundreds and hundreds of ours and go back to HD, and pay the price that comes with it. Yes, I thought about creating lobbies in DE but its not the same. I want my elo to change if I loose, I want ranked mode, but not like this. Not like this. And I KNOW I am not alone. I know the core feels the same.
This is not a developer problem. It is a community problem, and the community should talk about it and come to a conclusion. Because the DE game CAN NOT afford to loose its most important , most loyal fans. It would be just a hollow shell then. and after the success is gone, it will just be a dead shell.
If you have read this far, thank you for your time.
Please share your opinion on this topic
I wish you all the best and lots of love.
P.S.: I love the commitment, energy, work and love the community and the developers have put into AOE 2 DE. You guys are truly amazing. This is, for me, without a doubt, the best and wholesome big gaming community online at the moment right now, you guys never fail to amaze me with your awesomeness.
Take care, stay healthy and happy <3 one luv
I will get straight to the point. I am sure you all know the standard procedure for queuing in AOE 2 DE. You queue, you can put preference random by hitting the random button ( red, with an question mark ) , so the system queues you with other players that also prefer random civs.
However, both in ranked team games AND in ranked 1v1s ( no experience for DM and other modes, Civ picking is the preferred method. Why is this bad for the game ?
To understand this, we need to dive into the history of AOE 2 ranked games: In voobly times, many different stages came and went away, the 1v1 hun war phase etc. I personally reentered the game around 5 years ago during the HD time. HD had many faults, but it revitalised the game, kept it alive and growing, together with the core community at voobly. For team games and 1v1s, there was a general ground rule, that could be changed if people wanted to and accepted the change, but generally speaking the rule was : PICK RANDOM CIV in the lobby.
Now, why did it come to this ground rule. This is something very new players just dont understand, and how could they… Picking Random Civ only enhances the fair play, and the general experience of the game, it makes the experience for ALL players better. Why is that ? Well for example, AOE 2 is a very diverse game, with lots of facettes, and was NEVER ment to be a one sided, stale and simple experience. Playing different civs and playing against different civs every game means you have to learn new build orders and face different strategies. You can never be sure BEFORE THE GAME what strategy you will use, because you dont know your civ yet and therefor your civ strengths.
In HD and Voobly times 5 years ago, the civs were even less balanced then now. Koreans were straight up only good at trush, and so on. You had to make due with the cards that you got dealt. Why did that make you a better player over time, than only using britons all the time, for example ? Because, like a chess player, you had to learn different openings and strategies, which is ofc better for understanding and managing your game than always playing the one and only opening and strategy that you know…
There is nothing wrong with trying to enhance your franks scout play, or your britains arc opening, and training with that civ for a long period of time.
There are many more reasons why the community back then was very outspoken about that rule, and enforced it harshly. IF you picked a civ, in most cases you would just get kicked out of the lobby.
Nowadays there are many more players, and that is good. I dont know the names of 90 percent of the players in my games, and that is good as well. I am happy for the game, the community, the developers, and the content creators.
However, the situation has become insufferable for many long time fans, that played the game long before the HUGE DE success. In a standard ranked 1v1 competitive I have a 90% chance to face a S Tier civ, and in ranked teamgames it is the same.
A standard 3v3 ranked, elo 2000 looks like this: Ethiopians franks britons vs britons franks ethiopians.
The magic is gone, the mystic energy that brought me back to the game again and again. Back then I could face a korean tower rush, a huns fc cav arc strategy, a celts maa feudal all in, UU strategies etc etc. Nowadays, in 1v1 it is wall to fc, or scout rush to fc, or arc rush to fc. Thats it. And it is the same for team games arabia.
In HD times, we would play 4v4 nomad all random, and you never knew what civ you would get. Nowadays, my favourite mode has lost all its magic. Persians, Malians or Spanish is ALWAYS present, sucking the magic right out of it.
The mindset went from: lets play on a fair and even leveled, fun stage together, to I want to win at all costs.
The asian gaming mindset took over completely ( IF I can choose, I will choose the civ that will make me win the most, because this is ranked and I want to win at all costs )
This mindset took over the community, and it has destroyed the competitive modes of DE completely for the core community, the long time fans that this whole project is built on.
If I face Franks and Ethiopians every time in ranked, the thrill is gone and the magic too. I know what strategies they will go for. I know what units they will go for. And if we are on the same skill level completely, they will win, because of their eco/civ bonuses, they will unfairly but they will win.
When commuting this you are faced with the following argument: You can choose your civ as well, and if you dont do that, you have to be the better player and you loose your right to complain, because this is competitive and we want to win.
This toxic and stupidous mindset dominates all other online competitive gaming areas EXCEPT AOE 2, at least it used to.
Why did the truest, most devoted fans of the game, the core of the core, choose the rancom concept for ranked games then? When they had nothing to proove, 20000 active players left in both voobly and HD, WHY did they choose this principle ?
Because it makes sense, because its the most fun way to enjoy the game, but foremost it is the most FAIR way.
Yes sometimes you get a low tier civ, sometimes a high tier civ. But it had style nonetheless. That style is gone, replaced by efficiancy , and the overshadowing will to win at all costs.
Why do you think , do the top tier players all choose random civ in the lobbies with TheViper, MrYo, etc. (even in Membs BF lobbies) ? It IS the most fun way to enjoy the game, all long time core fans will agree with that, or most of them.
DE needs a ranked mode for players that wish to play ONLY random. This button is a VERY good thought, but it is too little to stem the tide. People should still be able to pick civ like they do right now, but people should also be able to play other players EXCLUSIVELY with random mode.
For example, a solution could be: the same button, but you get matched up ( lets say in a 3v3 ) with other players and NOONE is able to PICK civ, it is set to random and cannot be changed. I dont care waiting 10 Minutes longer, In HD with 5000 active players we had to wait 10 Minutes or more to get a full nomad lobby anyways. But it gave us so much more than these fake nomad games. Savage, DeezNuts and other players would have LAUGHED at you if you would have picked persians or spanish all the time.
Because the way it is now, is garbage. This civ picking has sucked the magic out of the game, it has made the game devoid of crazy, fun strategies. I dont want to play ranked nomad and face spanish all the time. I dont want to play arabia and face a franks or magyar scout rush all the time. I want the style, the love, and the diversity back. I want to face turks or huns or japanese and get surprised by creative, out of the box strategies.
I remember getting rushed by huskarls only in HD and I was awestruck and hooked, after many hours I learned a new, valuable strategy. I remember getting persian douched the first time.
Long gone are the times of creative plays, now is the time of the same old same old. Scouts pocket, archers flank, game after game after game. May the best Britons player win. What a sad and lifeless, grey state of an otherwise colorful game. This is NOT how the original devs wanted it to be played, I am sure.
sorry for the wall of text. I wrote so much because I loved this game and I still do. By the way, I was sometimes a toxic little ■■■■■ to other players. But the community in HD showed me so much love, so much respect, I try to be a better player nowadays, and I nearly never rent ingame.
It gives me no pleasure to write this, but if this continues, I will abondon DE after hundreds and hundreds of ours and go back to HD, and pay the price that comes with it. Yes, I thought about creating lobbies in DE but its not the same. I want my elo to change if I loose, I want ranked mode, but not like this. Not like this. And I KNOW I am not alone. I know the core feels the same.
This is not a developer problem. It is a community problem, and the community should talk about it and come to a conclusion. Because the DE game CAN NOT afford to loose its most important , most loyal fans. It would be just a hollow shell then. and after the success is gone, it will just be a dead shell.
If you have read this far, thank you for your time.
Please share your opinion on this topic
I wish you all the best and lots of love.
P.S.: I love the commitment, energy, work and love the community and the developers have put into AOE 2 DE. You guys are truly amazing. This is, for me, without a doubt, the best and wholesome big gaming community online at the moment right now, you guys never fail to amaze me with your awesomeness.
Take care, stay healthy and happy <3 one luv