Age of Empires Online on Steam, $5 civilizations

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Johnked6

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Age of Empires Online is on Steam right now, they are having a sale, $5 for each civilization or the Wonder Bundle for $16.99. AOE online is free 2 play game that meshes an mmo with rts. To get the most out of the game it's recommended to pick up a civlilization pack that unlocks better loot, advisors, and more bank storage. The civilizations started out costing $20 at release so this is a good bargain.

http://store.steampowered.com/sub/13943

Age of Empires Online: Pro Persian Civilization $4.99
Age of Empires Online: Premium Egyptian Civilization $4.99
Age of Empires Online: Premium Greek Civilization $4.99
Age of Empires Online: Premium Celtic Civilization $4.99

I played it during the beta and it was fun if your looking for an old school style rts.
 
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So what exactly is it and how is the community?
 
Bambi said:
So what exactly is it and how is the community?
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You pick a civilization and level it up like you would a character in an rpg. It's free to play, but if you buy a premium civilization you get to equip better loot to your units, get to use advisors, and get more bank storage.

This video explains some of the game play,

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u0t8xbAR_UQ

You have a capital city that you build over time, you get to decorate and add buildings to it. To level up you'll accept quests that will force you to engage in a traditional AOE style rts battle. As you level up you'll unlock new units to use in your quests. You'll also get drops and quest rewards that are color coded like Wow loot that you can equip to your units. You can also gather crafting material to craft more loot.
 
Melon said:
The queue time is terrible. I've spent upwards of 40 minutes in the queue and didn't get a single match.
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You would most likely be crushed by a pro-civ anyway, except in the lower levels.
 
junfan said:
You would most likely be crushed by a pro-civ anyway, except in the lower levels.
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As is the case in most games that have a "Pay to win" market place. The thing that keeps me from paying for any premium content is the fear of it being a ghost town.
 
I've never understood the Pay to Win model's success. I understand it being around, I just don't understand how just about everything has been sucked up into it. There must be a core group of people that pay ridiculous amounts into these schemes.

"I now have the sword of 1000 truths!" off ebay.
 
jpm100 said:
I've never understood the Pay to Win model's success. I understand it being around, I just don't understand how just about everything has been sucked up into it. There must be a core group of people that pay ridiculous amounts into these schemes.

"I now have the sword of 1000 truths!" off ebay.
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This isn't a pay to win game, it's a pay $5 for the complete experience game. I think $5 is a really good deal for the amount of gaming you'll get out of it.
 
Johnked6 said:
This isn't a pay to win game, it's a pay $5 for the complete experience game. I think $5 is a really good deal for the amount of gaming you'll get out of it.
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Right, because the 4 civ packs, 2 booster packs, and 5 extra packs all available at launch for 5 bucks a pop are all not part of "Complete".
 
requiem99 said:
Right, because the 4 civ packs, 2 booster packs, and 5 extra packs all available at launch for 5 bucks a pop are all not part of "Complete".
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This payment model is all about flexibility. If your the kind of person that needs to have every single piece of the game then pay $16.99 for everything. That's still more than fair for a AAA rts game.

However, you only need to unlock 1 civilization to have a "complete" experience. You could buy all 4 civilizations but only the most die hard would actually level all 4 to the level cap. For instance in Wow, you can have a complete experience with only 1 main character. However, some people may want to level up a bunch of alts.

The other boosters are for fluff or bring in some repeatable quests for some additional variety. Not necessary but nice to have if your inclined to pay for it.
 
Johnked6 said:
This payment model is all about flexibility. If your the kind of person that needs to have every single piece of the game then pay $16.99 for everything. That's still more than fair for a AAA rts game.

However, you only need to unlock 1 civilization to have a complete experience. You could buy all 4 civilizations but only the most die hard would actually level all 4 to the level cap. For instance in Wow, you can have a complete experience with only 1 main character. However, some people may want to level up a bunch of alts.
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What you are writing is bad and you should feel bad. You cannot redefine the word "Complete" because you want to make more money.

edit: Considering this is your thread and you are defending this crap cashgrab attempt I can only assume you have a stake in it.
 
requiem99 said:
What you are writing is bad and you should feel bad.

edit: Considering this is your thread and you are defending this crap cashgrab attempt I can only assume you have a stake in it.
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Not sure why your against this game, unless you think they should develop a AAA game and then give it away for free.

This model actually lets you try out the game for as long as you want for free, then you can decide for yourself if it's worth the money. That is more than most other games can say for themselves, we're lucky to even get a 15 minute demo nowadays.

Have you even played the game? Maybe you should before dismissing it as "bad" for the industry.
 
1) It's not an AAA title its a cheap budget title using what was at one point AAA IP.

2) "we're lucky to get a demo" is the kind of corporate apologism that I refuse to tolerate. We are not lucky to get a demo, they're lucky we are a possible customer for their game. It's their job to make a sale, not our job to justify purchasing an unknown quantity.

3) I have played the game. 15 minutes is all I needed to realize it was a rubbish "F2P-but-microtransactions-required" yawner. User Metacritic of 54 backs me up.

We done?
 
We'll just have to agree to disagree. Most of those low scores are due to the original price point of $20 per civilization. I would agree with them if I had to pay $20, but at 75% off this becomes a good deal and well worth it for people who want to play an rts in an mmo environment.

I would also disagree that it's a cheap budget title, it actually has a lot of polish and style and the mission variety is actually much deeper than the original AOE campaigns.
 
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I used to be very much into Age of Empires -- this latest game is a joke and an insult to what the game used to be.

1 - it's not a AAA title - it was a low budget money grab. They saw Team Fortress 2 raking it in with the silly hat and collectibles crap and thought "hey! me too!"

2 - I've played this game, and after about an hour I uninstalled it and deleted it.

3 - companies taking a term and redefining it these days are pretty much a slap in the face to anyone with half a brain. Outside of nickle and diming everyone for the "Complete" experience we see this other places like the sudden redefinition of "unlimited bandwidth".

I foresee my gaming options becoming more and more limited if this trend continues. 60 dollars is as much as I'm willing to pay for ANY "AAA" title - and if there is content on that disc from day 1 that I've already paid for, then I'd send a nice "go to hell" to the developer.

Any micro-transaction game just by sheer common sense will have more kids with mommy's credit card playing and at that point it's not about skill but about who's got the deeper wallet. Why would anyone want to invest 20,50, or 100 hours of gameplay when some 12 year old can jack his mom's credit card and charge a bunch of little crap on it and beat you from day 1?

What's next - I buy the new viper coming out in a year or two and after paying $85,000 I discover that 2 of the 10 cylinders are deactivated? For the low low price of an extra $10K i can have the full V10 engine I've already paid for.
 
i think its a decent game and well worth the $5 for the time you get out of it.It reminds me more of AOM than AOE though.
 
i downloaded it to try it... I saw that it used GFWL and then it started asking me for a product key. So after 5 minutes of trying to find one I gave up and deleted it.


After seeing some of the reviews and posts here it seems I'm not missing out on much
 
Gaming gets more frustrating and invasive every year. Soon I'm going to stop playing new games.
 
collegeboy69us said:
What's next - I buy the new viper coming out in a year or two and after paying $85,000 I discover that 2 of the 10 cylinders are deactivated? For the low low price of an extra $10K i can have the full V10 engine I've already paid for.
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But your NOT paying for this game its free. So what your saying is they they released this game with all the available content on a disc for 60 bucks you'd be content? But if they release the game VIA interwebz and you can have your "COMPLETE" experience for a fraction of the cost and you rage because the company breaks each race into DLC?
 
ImInNeedOfHelp2 said:
But your NOT paying for this game its free. So what your saying is they they released this game with all the available content on a disc for 60 bucks you'd be content? But if they release the game VIA interwebz and you can have your "COMPLETE" experience for a fraction of the cost and you rage because the company breaks each race into DLC?
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That's what I got out of it.
Essentially, you pay nothing for an infinite test drive of a 4-cylinder Viper, after which you can pay to add cylinders.
 
Sparkhard said:
i downloaded it to try it... I saw that it used GFWL and then it started asking me for a product key. So after 5 minutes of trying to find one I gave up and deleted it.


After seeing some of the reviews and posts here it seems I'm not missing out on much
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I saw this on another forum,

If the code does not show up in your downloads tab you can force it to show up.

Log onto XBOX.COM
Sign in with your Gamer Tag
Search for the "Age of Empires Online" product page.
Click on "Buy for Free"

That will get you the product key.
(Do not download the game again, simply use that key to activate your game on Steam.)
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Modred189 said:
That's what I got out of it.
Essentially, you pay nothing for an infinite test drive of a 4-cylinder Viper, after which you can pay to add cylinders.
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It was a bad analogy I wouldn't have used. How about a better one involving cars? You buy (or test drive, doesn't matter) a car but it has many pieces missing from the engine. The company that made the car doesn't tell you which ones, how many, when/if they will be available, how much they will cost, and in fact will be determining these based on how many cars they sell in the first place. You may end up with a car you didn't want, or to get the car you thought you were getting in the first place you might have to pay a lot more money. You can't buy the missing pieces from anyone else, nor can you buy any upgrades of any kind from others, only from the original company.

It's a micromonopoly using microtransactions to keep your entertainment budget in perpetual microslavery. Where the fuck do I sign up for this awesome free gift?
 
requiem99 said:
It's a micromonopoly using microtransactions to keep your entertainment budget in perpetual microslavery. Where the fuck do I sign up for this awesome free gift?
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Your misconstruing the definition of microtransaction. When people say pay to 2 win they mean being able to buy a sword, gun, or piece of armor for a few bucks that is overpowered. Now, the only way you can compete is if you also buy these items.

You cannot buy a piece of armor or weapon in AOE, you cannot buy xp boosts, you cannot buy levels, you cannot buy in game currency, all you can buy is additional content. There is nothing wrong with creating new content for the game. If I buy Fallout I'm not going to complain that Bethesda keeps pumping out DLC every couple months and charging $10 to get the "complete" experience.

Every civilization is complete onto itself, the content that they are putting out are new civilizations and decorations for your capital city. They have a couple of game modes as dlc but these are minor and not necessary for hitting the level cap and gearing up.
 
I've played every game in the Age of Empires series, and although I would have a tough time saying which one I like best, I can say with all certaintly that I really enjoyed AOE: Online. Before I go on, I'll mention I mainly play the campaign due to the fact that I rarely have any guarantee to be able to dedicate 1-2 hours to a game without having to leave.

I played for free for a day and then went ahead and got the package that included a couple of civs and an expansion for $50. I'd say that's a bit expensive if you list the actual content you're getting, but there's no doubt in my mind I've gotten $50 worth of enjoyment out of it. Definitely more than I've ever gotten from paying for an MMO for 3 months.

$20 for per civ might sound pricey, but these civs aren't different in the way a civ would be in AOE, AOK, Rise of Nations, etc. The single player campaigns for each civ are longer and consist of more scenarios than all the campaigns combined in previous AOE games, and they are extremely varied. The loot-driven gameplay also makes things more interesting in my opinion, as you can put together some cool stuff to customize your units with a unique strategy in mind.

With the most recent update, the AI has become very good as well. In the past, the computers in AOE games were not too sharp and would just endlessly crash into your defenses and get murdered until they ran out of steam. In AOE: Online, I've found that it's not unusual for the computer to use diversons, sneak around the side of the map, or just blitz with a ton of siege equipment if you try to dig like it was so easy to do in previous games. At the same time, defensive structures have a place in the game and thankfully aren't just friggin' useless like in AOE:3. Needless to say, I've really enjoyed the single player.

Still, the game isn't without it's flaws. Ironically, AOE:Online seems to have the LEAST robust multiplayer of any of the AOE games by limiting matches to 4 human opponents and having no replay or match save feature. This is something I still dearly hope they address, because IIRC every other AOE game ever made has supported 8 players. Still, 4 player gaming is pretty satisfying and the Co-op mode gets a big thumbs up from me.

I'm sure it's not for everybody, but AOE:Online has honestly been one of my favorite games over the last year and I wouldn't think twice about paying $5 for premium, especially as both an RTS and AOE fan.
 
No, I'm not. I know the difference between pay-to-win and noncritical microtransactions. I have an equal issue with both, and my post still applies exactly as I wrote it. By spending any money on a product, a consumer develops a link to this product, a link that is much harder to sever when the initial investment is small and he can more easily justify small "investments" to bring the product more into line with where it should be. The problem is that this relationship is an abusive one -- the customer has no say, no control, not even ownership of what he has purchased, little legal recourse over grievances, and is totally at the mercy of the company that administers the product. The company has no incentive to innovate beyond what brings in more income and the customers have no choice but to throw away their "investment" of time and money or socket up to the milking machine "just one more time". This type of manipulative entertainment "entrapment" fucking disgusts me and I'm glad to see I'm not alone.

Also, I most certainly do have a problem with buying something I thought was complete, then the company releasing the same product the next month, again calling it complete, but adding more content and/or lowering the price (as EA/Bio did with the original Dragon Age... about five fucking times).
 
requiem99 said:
It was a bad analogy I wouldn't have used. How about a better one involving cars? You buy (or test drive, doesn't matter) a car but it has many pieces missing from the engine. The company that made the car doesn't tell you which ones, how many, when/if they will be available, how much they will cost, and in fact will be determining these based on how many cars they sell in the first place. You may end up with a car you didn't want, or to get the car you thought you were getting in the first place you might have to pay a lot more money. You can't buy the missing pieces from anyone else, nor can you buy any upgrades of any kind from others, only from the original company.

It's a micromonopoly using microtransactions to keep your entertainment budget in perpetual microslavery. Where the fuck do I sign up for this awesome free gift?
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I agree with everythng you said except the last line. I mean, you got a functional car for free. If you don't like the car, in style or type etc, you never pay anything. On the other hand, you can cater how much you spend to your budget.

That being said, AoE:O does look like a pay to win scenario in a lot of ways, since you can never have access to a lot of stuff through regular play. That's like the above analogy, only you are buying a race car. If the point is competition (multiplayer) and not just use (single polayer), then the system is a whole new ballgame.

I like the way Tribes:Ascend and TF2 does it. The cool items CAN be acquired through standard gameplay, one way or another, PLUS, these items are not inherently better than the standard gear. You can be JUST AS COMPETITIVE with the standard gear as with the "upgrades" which are always a trade off (more damage, slower fire, shorter range, etc). GW2 looks to be using a similar theory.
 
i played it .... and im an hardcore AoE2 and age of mythology player. Im not quite sure about this one...
 
You forget: to many potential customers, including this poster, time is more valuable than money.
 
I doesn't have the AOE feel to me. Seems well done though.

I'll stick to my copy of AOE 2 for the occasional game.
 
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