Re: Games Discussion Thread
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Warning:
Age of Empires Online requires Games For Windows Live, and potentially Steam if you choose to get it through that(which I recommend, as you can skip MS point bullshit by purchasing DLC directly through steam instead). You have my full understanding if this is enough to make you go "Well fuck THAT, AM OUTA HERE".
- Online RTS
- 4 Civilizations
- Freemium
- Summer Patch
- Final Words
1)
Online RTS?
Yes, Age of Empires Online is an RTS, and also an Online Game. You have a persistent Capital City which you can decorate and build in, which also have a few important buildings you'll revisit time and time again such as the Palace(Tech Tree), Gear Hall(Equipping Units), the Arena(No-Profit PvP VS Friends) and a few other things.
Theres different areas to visit in the game, such as Argos(Level 20+ Universal Quest Hub), Crete(For those with the Crete Defense DLC), Cyprus(Level 35+ ish Universal Quest Hub along with Skirmish DLC), and of course your Civilization-specific quest areas(Unless you are Persians).
There is a few channels available both outside and inside matches that are the bog standard MMO channels: General, Trade, Looking For Group. You will never -see- a player unless playing co-op with them though. Or paying a visit to their capital city, but even then, you just check their city out in order to mock them for their poor decoration skills.
2)
Four Civilizations?
Yes, there are four Civilizations available to play in the game, with more coming further down the road. Three of them that you can test out for free, but one requires purchasing to even play at all(Persians).
The Greeks) They are the all-around stable, ready-for-anything civilization boasting sturdy infantry, powerful cavalry, and devastating ranged units. They even have a broad variety in naval and siege units at their disposal. The Greeks are the go-to civilization if you want a flexible civilization to play as. Their capital is located in ancient Greece, and their main quest leads them into Troy later on.
The Egyptians) They have fairly weak infantry/ranged units ontop of a poor selection of these, so poor in fact, that their Barracks and Archery Range were combined into one building. The Egyptians strength lies in their cavalry, including camel riders, chariot archers, war elephants and elephant archers. They have a wide variety of naval units along with some siege units. They are very focused on a stable economy, and age up by building temples to Ra, Set, and Ptah. Each of these also provide a priest unit with different roles. Their capital is located in Egypt, and later their main quest leads them into Nubia and Libya I think.
The Persians) These are primarily focused on PvP, but also boast a powerful and varied range of units much like the greek, with plenty unit variety in infantry, archers, cavalry, naval and siege categories. Their iconic unit is the Immortal, an Infantry unit that also serves as an Archer. What differiates the Persians from the other civilizations, is that they have no campaign to quest through! Instead, they start at level 20(out of 40), and get to head into the Argos quest area right away.
The Celts) The race that I play myself! The Celts are heavily infantry focused, boasting the most infantry variety, poor selection in ranged units(but the ones they have are pretty stable), the worst cavalry selection ever, a SINGLE naval combat unit(albeit it is a very strong one), and their siege equipment consist of hulking brutes lugging around trees or chucking off stones(Both of which are fairly weak compared to the siege units of other civilizations). They also have two priest units, the Druid that heals in combat, and the Augur that can sacrifice sacred deers for a global boon to your military units. The Celts sport low-health, high-damage, and often high-speed, military units fit for harassing and raiding. Their campaign quests takes them from Celtica to Thrace, and their questlines have been praised as some of the best ones in the game to date.
I apologize for my bias towards the Celts, they are the only ones I've played extensively, and thus know the most about.
3)
Freemium?
The game, while free to pick up and play to try it out, will require some payment if you want to get the most enjoyment out of it. Who woulda thought? Specificly, there are a few differences between "Free" and "Premium" civilizations, not to mention "Pro". Of course, theres also non-civ DLC to purchase, such as the "Defense of Crete" and "Skirmish" 'Booster Packs', which unlock new game modes. IE Skirmish Booster is regular old playing VS the AI, up to four of em, with up to three friends(and you!) against them. Defense of Crete sums up as "thirty minutes of surviving wave after wave of enemies to get some random loot". Also decoration packs for -decorations-. Which you gotta purchase for ingame currency after unlocking with real world currency... I. What?
Free) These civilizations can play up to the max level, but are restricted to wear green equipment, can't use Star Tech, can't use Advisors, restricted to 2 Item Storage Buildings, restricted to 1 Crafting School, and can't play Ranked PvP, and likely a few other things I forgot. But hey. At least you can play from level 1 to 40!
Premium) These civilizations can use all gear qualities(Green, Blue, Purple, Orange), Advisors(Providing benefits as you age up in matches, some gives new units to produce), Star Tech(Special talent tree unlockable benefits), up to 5 item storage buildings(and not restricted to just 12 slot ones either, these are essentially 'inventory bags'), two crafting schools(Not that crafting is of any use at low levels), and Ranked PvP(Essentially 'Gearless' PvP, unavailable to Free civs which could use it the most)
Pro) Currently only the Persians. All the Premium benefits along with starting at level 20. Likely resulting in no campaign quests being available though.
4)
Summer Patch?
In ten or so days, 12th of June, is the scheduled day for the Summer Patch, meant to overhaul many things with the game. Including the Tech Trees, Unit Balance, along with providing new endgame content, it will also include an overhaul how the ingame special currency "Empire Points" will be used, which will be used as cash bought currency, that is also earnable ingame. These Empire Points will be used to purchase DLC, such as Premium/Pro civilizations, Booster Packs such as the Skirmish or Crete Defense DLC, not to mention used to buy individual vanity/decoration items ingame.
I believe its been said a Premium/Pro Civilization will cost around 900 of these Empire Points, and that people can earn about 1000(Casual) to 1600(Hardcore) EP per month through endgame questing. There will also be some EP gains as you level up what I've gathered. I have also read that people that started playing AoEO before the Summer Patch hits, will get 500 or so Empire Points for free, a nice boost if you do not wish to spend a dime on the game but still want to try it out.
5)
Final Words?
Please play with me. ;_;
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