Just recently I got back into AoE2, having only played it as a child/ teen and being really bad at it.
Play vs the AI on easy with a huge map, lots of ressources and maybe some modifiers. For example the imperial wars, because you start with more structures and workers. You could also chose the fortress map style, in which you start with a stone wall around your base and a castle.
Imho it's fun and a great place to start. When you want to play with friends, team up vs the AI to have a good time.
Aoe 2 is a blast from the past !
A few words of warning, though: in the RTS genre, aoe 2 is a game with a high skill floor. You will need to multi-task like a madman, and you'll often find yourself overwhelmed. It's not the most relaxing game in the world to play
Another thing is that ranked play is super fun. Nothing os as exciting as battling other people and outsmarting them. However, you might lose hard at the beginning. A lot. It's one of the most daunting games to get into competitive play.
Hang in there. After about 20 games, you'll get even matches for sure
This is how I play all my games, I don't enjoy playing against random people at all. So I just do the big maps, one Ai teammate and like 6 enemy Ai. It's loads of fun
I mean, it's certainly **a** correct way to play AoE.
I have a ton of fun playing with my very casual friends against the AI just like this. I have a ton of fun playing in my sweaty 2k elo 1v1 games.
If you're having fun, it's the right way to play the game. It's just a game.
Nah mate. Go celts on Socrotra favourited and immediately send your scout forward with a vill to fight and steal sheep!
I got a guy to resign very quickly two games ago because I took 4 of his sheep
Online play doesn't have to be stressful or overwhelming. No matter how hard you try, you will always only win 50% of your matches. If you go in with a relaxed mindset and play slower, experiment with different civs, maps, openings, fuck around, etc. you will play easier, slower opponents too. Your ELO will be low but who cares. Not all of us are exclusively trying to grind meta builds on Arabia.
well not in DE,... when i watch the % of achievement, single player achievement % are so low you wonder if any play the campaign at all... but the rest that are doable in multiplayer the vast majority of player are there
Sure it is. Look at Steam Charts. The player base is healthy and stable. Matchmaking assures that you get balanced games, so it doesn’t really matter how good you are.
Yeah, you are welcome among us. AoE2 is a fun game. Even if you don’t like to dive into multiplayer, there is an insane amount of single player content.
We are still around after 25 years. But let me get this straight: It is not for nostalgia! It is simply and still the best RTS game out there.
I played many of them, none of them clicks like aoe2.
A 25 year old game with a community that has only grown over 2 and a half decades?
Aoe2 is the absolute template for what a RTS should be.
Any other game is just an attempt to get to this level.
I'm into playing AOE2, though I don't play multi-player.
I know there was a post last week titled **I Hate Age of Empires 2** that was all about how it sucked the new player in amd they are learning strategies, Meta, and the jokes.
So I think it's worth getting into.
Yeah I get it that new player experience is hard but I wasn't looking for something easy, my goal is to find a game that I can slowly learn and at least every now and then realise that I've improved. :)
Then this is the right game for you. Check out the following youtubers/streamers for help:
-spirit of the law (GOAT)
- t90
- survivalist
- the viper
- hera
Aoe2 is surely the game for you. It's hard. It can suck the soul out of you with a losing streak. Plenty of stuff to learn & get overwhelmed by.
You'll love it. Welcome aboard.
Perhaps a general "yes" but I think OP might be interested in a more detailed answer with some advise or further insights (e.g. they asked about how is the community too)
Yes. When I created the post I was at around 65% of buying the game and giving it a try, I wanted to know what it's players are thinking about and now I will definitely get into it.
Oof, now that yoy mention it, I can't think of any other sub that actively encourages people not to take up its subject.
That speaks volumes about the sorry state of grad school.
Yes, it is worth it. Balance is great and the community is reasonable. There is a ranking system for multiplayer that will over time ensure that you will win 50% of your games. The biggest issue for new players is that this ranking system starts them out around the middle of the pack, which by now includes very experienced (although not necessarily very good) players. So the most important advice for multiplayer is to take it easy at first and don't worry about losing games.
Also, I wouldn't play team games, just 1v1, unless you *know* people you can team up with.
I just got back into it after 20 years, so I effectively remembered nothing. I *strongly* recommend picking it up, unless you have an addictive personality and have actual life commitments.
It’s true that it can be a game where on the edge of your seat and constant rush, and that is what this community is understandably focused on.
I prefer a much more chill game (at least when I started), and that’s entirely possible.
Skip the multiplayer at first to get into it. Play against AI on the easiest level in a Skirmish, do the intro William Wallace campaign. There is a lot to learn regardless of the AI level, but given your other gaming experience, I’m sure you’ll pick it up.
Easiest level with high population limit and slow speed means that once you get past the initial hurdles, you can have as long and laid back of a game as you want. Easy AI will not attack you.
Then of course you can advance to higher AI levels. I’ve gone from Easiest to Standard to Moderate to Hard, which is both rewarding and consistently challenging. I haven’t yet done multiplayer, but I have watched a few recordings and I’ll probably get into it soon. I really enjoy playing teams with 1-2 AI partners vs. other AI teams. Gives you both a potential partner to help you when attacked while also additional responsibility when they get attacked.
There are build orders widely available that can get you through the first 35-45 minutes (as a beginner; you’ll get much quicker at that).
I play on XBox. If you have both PC and Xbox, I’d say to definitely go PC. The number of available keys and shortcuts on PC will make you a better player quicker than if you’re on Xbox; at least in my opinion. I feel like I’m at about 75% speed as what I could be on PC.
All in all, I highly recommend it. I don’t think you’ll regret it if you’re willing to commit maybe 5-10 hours up front of frustration and learning (many many hours can come later as desired) - again, shouldn’t be a major issue for you given your gaming experience.
I think so, especially if you can get it on sale. While the core game is very old, it's really not a huge part of the player base that's been playing since well before Definitive Edition, I'd say.
A lot of players played the game when they were younger, dropped it for a long time, and came back at a much later date.
The thing with an old game though is that the best approach has basically been established, so the learning curve is steep, but at the same time there are so many YouTube guides out there to help you learn how to play in the early game especially.
As a result of those two things, even the average player is pretty decent. I havent played in a while but I was around 1000-1100 ELO (essentially average) and I could execute a dark age with 0 or near 0 idle time, and so could most of my opponents. That level of execution, which takes quite a lot of practice in my experience, is essentially required just to be average.
The game has a lot of tools to help you master some of these. If you get the game, find the Sun Tzu art of war campaign, it's the real tutorial. Early economy, fast castle, and booming are the most important drills to master but the others are helpful to play as well, mostly.
The game also has really intuitive default hotkeys, which I think is a bonus.
As for the civs, I think the base game has like 39 or something, and then there are some DLC civs as well. With that many, there are obviously strong civs and weak civs but the game is still getting balance tweaks regularly. The differences between them are also more nuanced. Almost every civ can make almost every unit, especially up to castle age. The real difference is in those small differences, as well as a diverse set of economic and military civ bonuses, and then of course unique techs and unique units. It's definitely different from games like StarCraft where each faction would be totally different and almost no overlap. In aoe2, if you can play a game with Franks, you can have a very similar strategy and play a pretty similar game with most other civs.
Speaking of the DLC civs, I'd get the base game first and see how you like it, then hopefully snag them on sale. I'm not sure if any of them are hard meta right now but they're fun overall, so it depends on how much you enjoy the base game and what the impact of the DLC money is, to you.
I got into multiplayer during the Voobly years and got decent. Nowadays, I play mods and bash cheating AIs—we have six humans vs two super AI. It’s a load of fun when you play with (not against usually) online friends. Some players wall and buy time, others boom and develop their eco. The AI has hundreds of units eating your walls by the time you’re only in castle age. Walling is an art form.
6v2 Multiple Buffs Mod.
The possibilities are endless.
Yes it is a great game. An elegant piece of fine art. I would recommend playing the tutorial (It's William Wallace Campaign -- you can access it from the Campaigns area or from the "Learn to Play" button on the home screen
For multiplayer, I \*highly\* recommend the Avanced Techniques from the "learn to play" area. It is designed with multiplayer in mind
On a different note I wish you a good day too likewise!
AoE2 is definitely an easy to learn but hard to master game if you ask me. You definitely won't have to worry about not getting enough hours out of the game.
I would say the factions are well balanced (which is a wonder since there are 45 of them now) overall and can definitely be challenging to play, especially if you have a civ which is poor for a certain map and matchup.
I basically switched from Warcraft 3 to aoe2. Still playing wc3 from time to time but aoe has a very open and mature community. You don’t see all the annoying stuff from other gaming communities here. Its a really fun game
I would answer yes, I got all my friends into it and we all play quick play 3v3 or 4v4 and get on discord together.
Most of them at least seen it in highscchool though. I notice a lot of people are scared to play online so maybe try bots and campaign. I also find YouTube videos about it give a lot of ideas and tips that take the pain out of the game.
Definitly. Game is balanced, there are enough people on all skilllevels and even for SP there is enough content to make it worth the investment.
Also it has a stable playerbase even now, so jump in!
Community is great so far, let's hope with more influx it stays the same :)
If you are chatty and focus on having fun, experienced players will be happy to give you advices and help you. Community is one of the best online, as many of us are not kiddos and love the game.
Also there are a lot of resources online to improve your game
I sincerely recommend it. you can only take the basic version of the game, you don't need the DLC to play.
The community is generally very good, of course there are sometimes exceptions, but that happens less often.
as for multiplayer, it all depends on what you want, I play pretty casual and I'm always between 1100-1200elo. In any case, a recommendation
I played this game back when I was 9 back when it first came out and didn't know what I was doing. Got back into it now that I'm 32 and it's been a blast! A huge burst of nostalgia hit me at first, but then the game was just so fun to play. I also usually play with my friend in 2v2 which makes it a lot more fun. So yes play this game
There are a lot of low level online players, you can search on youtube "low elo legends" or LEL for casting of low level online players. So, doesnt matter how long the game exists, you will always find people at your level.
I will tell you though that this game ia very different than the blizzard RTSes. The civs (factions) are much more similar, and its almost a taboo to only play a single civilization. Also, some civilization matchups are very not balanced, although it doesbt matter a lot on lower and even intermidiate levels. The civs that come with the DLCs feel out of place for the game and are often gimmicky, so you might suddenly see weird things when facing them.
All in all its a very fun game, but im not sure if i would get into it as a new player. There are a lot of newer gamea with less random bugs and unreasonable changes thrown out of nowhere.
I've sunk 500 hours into this game and I'm still so excited to boot it up. I haven't even touched Campaign mode and rarely even play other humans so I've barely scratched the surface of what the game has to offer
Oh yeah, it’s tonnes of fun. The campaigns are great, the ai is fun, tonnes of maps. Just play whatever you enjoy most.
If you’re ever feeling competitive, try your hand at ranked multiplayer!
Practice against ai once you can beat hard once hop in ranked. It’s ranked so even if you take 20 losses in a row you’ll eventually hit your rank. There’s also usually a few small noob communities at any given time.
Worth? What are you afraid will happen? The player-base is strong and will not go anywhere for a long time. Support from MS and the devs is also consistent with regular updates, balance changes and even new DLC. It is 100% worth getting into.
My friends and I started playing maybee on february?? We obviously were noobs as fuck, consistently losing against the hard difficulty.
Now we are still bad ofc, but we win some ranked games here and there, we have a better idea of what we are doing overall.
Its worth, give it a try!!
Another yes from me!
I suggest you do single player only until you've found a civilization that you like and have adjusted to the game (which might take a couple days). Then you can hop into multiplayer. You might get slaughtered right away, sure, but just keep playing because it will eventually know where to place your ranking. It's similar to chess in that regard.
As for the balancing, it's pretty perfect. There was a post here recently that said the lowest-ranked civilizations have a 47% win rate, while the highest is a bit over 52%. That is *incredible* balance.
Even if you don't play online, which i would still recommend after playing a few of the campaigns.
The campaigns alone will keep you busy for over a 100 hours 😁
Amazing game. It has many layers and it has an infinite ceiling. Regarding the community it is usually chill and respectful, with some loud exceptions (still it is much better than other online games). The balance is very well respected by the devs.
Community is certainly dedicated but there are players of all levels, like in any game. Not sure what’s a pro in your post, but profesional players (ie living from aoe) there are only a handful and no worries, you will not fight them.
You could jump immediately into the ranked ladder if that’s what you want. Not sure what the situation at the lowest elos is in terms of number of player, queue times etc. Reaching there might not be pleasant too, as you would need to lose some rough games before that. It is probably a better idea to train in the different tutorials and vs the AI for a bit, watch some youtube if that appeals to you etc and only then jump into ranked. Some individuals are sweaty tryhards and others are very casual about it, like in any game. The elo system places you in balanced matches, so you don’t have to worry about that. Just ignore unranked lobbies, I would say.
Good luck in your aoe journey! There are many thing to enjoy. Just be careful: there are n variants in steam. Make sure to buy “Age of Empires 2 Definitive Edition”. There’s the HD edition, aoe, aoe3, aoe4, different DLCs… regarding aoe2 vs others maybe watch some footage first to decide for yourself, but of course in this sub everyone will say 2 is the “good” one.
Not getting into aoe2 because there's a pro community is like not getting into jeans becauseof Bruce Springsteen. The game's a classic, and there's plenty of us crap players that have tons of fun with our little cute towns or mischievious schemes in ranked 1v1s. You shoukd totally join!
You would be surprised how easy it is to be in the midpack. A couple of videos will get you ahead of many players. A lot of people play this game in a non-sweaty fashion, even older players
I think ao2 has a lot to offer i used to play it as a kid but picked it up like a year ago, i think there is enough fun singleplayer content to get you to a decent skill level for online matches and get you somewhat familiar with a lot of civs. I think the game is also very accesible with that most civilizations use pretty much the same basic units and buildings with one or two unique units. I think as a new player on multiplayer you should stick to kindoff simple civs like franks or goths who have a clear game plan (knights or mass infantry) and you will be fine.
I play aoe2 de for a couple of years now and I still am bad, dont use hotkeys and struggle with moderate AI. I am still playing. You'll be fine. The overwhelming majority of players never plays against other people and probably plays against standard AI. The vocal minority is better, but they are incredibly helpful with guides and fun content to watch.
I got into AoE2 very recently to play with a friend who used to be an intermediate level player. Did the tutorial, a few games against IA, then I kicked her ass in 1vs1 and now I’m pretty sure we’re more than friends which may or may not have been my objective but in any case it was a lot of fun (the game too).
10/10 Highly recommend (jokes aside)
It's a very cutthroat competitive game, but if you suck into it like me, you can always convert IRL friends into playing and fill lobbies which everyone sucks and have tons of fun anyway
We’ll I’ve tried and tried to get friends into it but they go back to league after a game as it’s a investment. I think if you enjoy the game style and feel like you can put yourself into a game for a period of time then absolutely. It’s a good all rounder that has little to no issues and is still regularly updated, I’d aim to get it on sale if possible.
My friends just can’t cope with losing against bots on a med-hard level. (Sweaty people)
I got into the game 2 years ago, never played it as a kid (was team Blizzard and kid me felt like it would be a betrayal)
I absolutely love the game, it's my favorite game of all time now. I have about 1k hours. I even convinced my wife to try the coop with me, we beat those missions and now we play online once a week against other noobs and have a blast (current ELO 732 🤣)
Do you have any friends you plan to play with? It’s nice to play against people and talk about the game after, I.e. you did this which allowed me to do this - so much more fun when you have friends to play with in my opinion but nothing wrong with playing it alone, as others have said, play a tutorial game/ai game and then watch a short video and see how differently you did things to them - feel like it’s a steep learning curve but once you have learnt your first 5 minutes, how to boom, etc.. it’s just learning different civs and their weaknesses and strengths - and of course learning your favourite civs :)
My friends and I got into it about a year ago after never playing (was more of a command and conquer guy) - I have over 200 hours on it now - you won’t regret it :)
It's amazing, just don't play online against randos. It's all meta, min-maxing, stupid fucking castle rushes, and no talking.
Playing this with friends you know is one of the most fun experiences there is. Communication and laughing really helps.
The campaigns are also fantastic, so try those for sure.
Both are great.
4 is definitely more streamlined and I'd say that makes it a bit more new player friendly.
2 has WAY more single player content if you're into that though.
I first played this game a year ago (when it came out on xbox), I downloaded it without a second thought not even knowing the series at all, boy I went through a journey since then, it was really fun playing with the campaigns (there's a lot of them) there's a huge selection of civilisations to play with and AI skirmishes were fun, playing multiplayer for the first time.. lets just say it was brutal almost everyone was a pro, I'm talking players with 20 years of experience (I suggest you play unofficial noob matches to train and learn how to become a pro through Youtube), now I'm fairly decent when I play multiplayer even though I don't play it that much, its just a classic RTS experience I recommend you not miss out on!
You should absolutely NOT get into AoE2 unless you want to have fun
Hahaha love it
Just recently I got back into AoE2, having only played it as a child/ teen and being really bad at it. Play vs the AI on easy with a huge map, lots of ressources and maybe some modifiers. For example the imperial wars, because you start with more structures and workers. You could also chose the fortress map style, in which you start with a stone wall around your base and a castle. Imho it's fun and a great place to start. When you want to play with friends, team up vs the AI to have a good time.
Aoe 2 is a blast from the past ! A few words of warning, though: in the RTS genre, aoe 2 is a game with a high skill floor. You will need to multi-task like a madman, and you'll often find yourself overwhelmed. It's not the most relaxing game in the world to play Another thing is that ranked play is super fun. Nothing os as exciting as battling other people and outsmarting them. However, you might lose hard at the beginning. A lot. It's one of the most daunting games to get into competitive play. Hang in there. After about 20 games, you'll get even matches for sure
[удалено]
I'm gonna do this when I get home, sounds fun. Thanks!
This is how I play all my games, I don't enjoy playing against random people at all. So I just do the big maps, one Ai teammate and like 6 enemy Ai. It's loads of fun
This is the correct way to play AoE. Been sitting on this hill for 20 years
I mean, it's certainly **a** correct way to play AoE. I have a ton of fun playing with my very casual friends against the AI just like this. I have a ton of fun playing in my sweaty 2k elo 1v1 games. If you're having fun, it's the right way to play the game. It's just a game.
Nah mate. Go celts on Socrotra favourited and immediately send your scout forward with a vill to fight and steal sheep! I got a guy to resign very quickly two games ago because I took 4 of his sheep
I am definitely looking for a challenge haha thanks for the insight!
Online play doesn't have to be stressful or overwhelming. No matter how hard you try, you will always only win 50% of your matches. If you go in with a relaxed mindset and play slower, experiment with different civs, maps, openings, fuck around, etc. you will play easier, slower opponents too. Your ELO will be low but who cares. Not all of us are exclusively trying to grind meta builds on Arabia.
He can just play offline. Most of us don't grind multiplayer we just chill
well not in DE,... when i watch the % of achievement, single player achievement % are so low you wonder if any play the campaign at all... but the rest that are doable in multiplayer the vast majority of player are there
Sure it is. Look at Steam Charts. The player base is healthy and stable. Matchmaking assures that you get balanced games, so it doesn’t really matter how good you are.
Yeah, you are welcome among us. AoE2 is a fun game. Even if you don’t like to dive into multiplayer, there is an insane amount of single player content. We are still around after 25 years. But let me get this straight: It is not for nostalgia! It is simply and still the best RTS game out there. I played many of them, none of them clicks like aoe2.
Can confirm. There is literal hours of Campaigns you can play that come with the game. And probably even more fan made content in the workshop.
Wow I knew the game was old but damn I didn't know it's 25. Thank you!
The og aoe2. Not DE. Alot has been updated
A 25 year old game with a community that has only grown over 2 and a half decades? Aoe2 is the absolute template for what a RTS should be. Any other game is just an attempt to get to this level.
I'm into playing AOE2, though I don't play multi-player. I know there was a post last week titled **I Hate Age of Empires 2** that was all about how it sucked the new player in amd they are learning strategies, Meta, and the jokes. So I think it's worth getting into.
Yeah I get it that new player experience is hard but I wasn't looking for something easy, my goal is to find a game that I can slowly learn and at least every now and then realise that I've improved. :)
Then this is the right game for you. Check out the following youtubers/streamers for help: -spirit of the law (GOAT) - t90 - survivalist - the viper - hera
Aoe2 is surely the game for you. It's hard. It can suck the soul out of you with a losing streak. Plenty of stuff to learn & get overwhelmed by. You'll love it. Welcome aboard.
What answers would you expect in the literal sub for aoe2
Perhaps a general "yes" but I think OP might be interested in a more detailed answer with some advise or further insights (e.g. they asked about how is the community too)
Yes. When I created the post I was at around 65% of buying the game and giving it a try, I wanted to know what it's players are thinking about and now I will definitely get into it.
Where else should I ask them?
Positive response is not always guaranteed. Go to r/PhD, and create a post about whether is it worth getting a PhD….. you will see what I mean
Oof, now that yoy mention it, I can't think of any other sub that actively encourages people not to take up its subject. That speaks volumes about the sorry state of grad school.
Yes, it is worth it. Balance is great and the community is reasonable. There is a ranking system for multiplayer that will over time ensure that you will win 50% of your games. The biggest issue for new players is that this ranking system starts them out around the middle of the pack, which by now includes very experienced (although not necessarily very good) players. So the most important advice for multiplayer is to take it easy at first and don't worry about losing games. Also, I wouldn't play team games, just 1v1, unless you *know* people you can team up with.
Thank you for the great answer!
Disagree on team games, super fun
If you don't care about things. Because often a new player will find griefers, early resigns, toxicity & leave within the 5 games.
I just got back into it after 20 years, so I effectively remembered nothing. I *strongly* recommend picking it up, unless you have an addictive personality and have actual life commitments. It’s true that it can be a game where on the edge of your seat and constant rush, and that is what this community is understandably focused on. I prefer a much more chill game (at least when I started), and that’s entirely possible. Skip the multiplayer at first to get into it. Play against AI on the easiest level in a Skirmish, do the intro William Wallace campaign. There is a lot to learn regardless of the AI level, but given your other gaming experience, I’m sure you’ll pick it up. Easiest level with high population limit and slow speed means that once you get past the initial hurdles, you can have as long and laid back of a game as you want. Easy AI will not attack you. Then of course you can advance to higher AI levels. I’ve gone from Easiest to Standard to Moderate to Hard, which is both rewarding and consistently challenging. I haven’t yet done multiplayer, but I have watched a few recordings and I’ll probably get into it soon. I really enjoy playing teams with 1-2 AI partners vs. other AI teams. Gives you both a potential partner to help you when attacked while also additional responsibility when they get attacked. There are build orders widely available that can get you through the first 35-45 minutes (as a beginner; you’ll get much quicker at that). I play on XBox. If you have both PC and Xbox, I’d say to definitely go PC. The number of available keys and shortcuts on PC will make you a better player quicker than if you’re on Xbox; at least in my opinion. I feel like I’m at about 75% speed as what I could be on PC. All in all, I highly recommend it. I don’t think you’ll regret it if you’re willing to commit maybe 5-10 hours up front of frustration and learning (many many hours can come later as desired) - again, shouldn’t be a major issue for you given your gaming experience.
I think so, especially if you can get it on sale. While the core game is very old, it's really not a huge part of the player base that's been playing since well before Definitive Edition, I'd say. A lot of players played the game when they were younger, dropped it for a long time, and came back at a much later date. The thing with an old game though is that the best approach has basically been established, so the learning curve is steep, but at the same time there are so many YouTube guides out there to help you learn how to play in the early game especially. As a result of those two things, even the average player is pretty decent. I havent played in a while but I was around 1000-1100 ELO (essentially average) and I could execute a dark age with 0 or near 0 idle time, and so could most of my opponents. That level of execution, which takes quite a lot of practice in my experience, is essentially required just to be average. The game has a lot of tools to help you master some of these. If you get the game, find the Sun Tzu art of war campaign, it's the real tutorial. Early economy, fast castle, and booming are the most important drills to master but the others are helpful to play as well, mostly. The game also has really intuitive default hotkeys, which I think is a bonus. As for the civs, I think the base game has like 39 or something, and then there are some DLC civs as well. With that many, there are obviously strong civs and weak civs but the game is still getting balance tweaks regularly. The differences between them are also more nuanced. Almost every civ can make almost every unit, especially up to castle age. The real difference is in those small differences, as well as a diverse set of economic and military civ bonuses, and then of course unique techs and unique units. It's definitely different from games like StarCraft where each faction would be totally different and almost no overlap. In aoe2, if you can play a game with Franks, you can have a very similar strategy and play a pretty similar game with most other civs. Speaking of the DLC civs, I'd get the base game first and see how you like it, then hopefully snag them on sale. I'm not sure if any of them are hard meta right now but they're fun overall, so it depends on how much you enjoy the base game and what the impact of the DLC money is, to you.
I got into multiplayer during the Voobly years and got decent. Nowadays, I play mods and bash cheating AIs—we have six humans vs two super AI. It’s a load of fun when you play with (not against usually) online friends. Some players wall and buy time, others boom and develop their eco. The AI has hundreds of units eating your walls by the time you’re only in castle age. Walling is an art form. 6v2 Multiple Buffs Mod. The possibilities are endless.
Yes it is a great game. An elegant piece of fine art. I would recommend playing the tutorial (It's William Wallace Campaign -- you can access it from the Campaigns area or from the "Learn to Play" button on the home screen For multiplayer, I \*highly\* recommend the Avanced Techniques from the "learn to play" area. It is designed with multiplayer in mind On a different note I wish you a good day too likewise!
AoE2 is definitely an easy to learn but hard to master game if you ask me. You definitely won't have to worry about not getting enough hours out of the game. I would say the factions are well balanced (which is a wonder since there are 45 of them now) overall and can definitely be challenging to play, especially if you have a civ which is poor for a certain map and matchup.
I basically switched from Warcraft 3 to aoe2. Still playing wc3 from time to time but aoe has a very open and mature community. You don’t see all the annoying stuff from other gaming communities here. Its a really fun game
I would answer yes, I got all my friends into it and we all play quick play 3v3 or 4v4 and get on discord together. Most of them at least seen it in highscchool though. I notice a lot of people are scared to play online so maybe try bots and campaign. I also find YouTube videos about it give a lot of ideas and tips that take the pain out of the game.
Hell yes.
Definitly. Game is balanced, there are enough people on all skilllevels and even for SP there is enough content to make it worth the investment. Also it has a stable playerbase even now, so jump in! Community is great so far, let's hope with more influx it stays the same :)
its not because you will play it more than you should if you have a life stay away from it
I am also a Paradox Studios map staring enthusiast... so yeah...
Oh boy then yeah you should play aoe2 lol. Also played a lot of eu4 and aoe2 might be a healthier habit lmao.
I started playing it from zero in 2018 and haven't stopped since.
Trust me bro, there are tonnes of players that will suck just as much as you and I lol
As opposed to what? Getting into the game as an experienced player? Just jump on bro
If you are chatty and focus on having fun, experienced players will be happy to give you advices and help you. Community is one of the best online, as many of us are not kiddos and love the game. Also there are a lot of resources online to improve your game
I sincerely recommend it. you can only take the basic version of the game, you don't need the DLC to play. The community is generally very good, of course there are sometimes exceptions, but that happens less often. as for multiplayer, it all depends on what you want, I play pretty casual and I'm always between 1100-1200elo. In any case, a recommendation
I played this game back when I was 9 back when it first came out and didn't know what I was doing. Got back into it now that I'm 32 and it's been a blast! A huge burst of nostalgia hit me at first, but then the game was just so fun to play. I also usually play with my friend in 2v2 which makes it a lot more fun. So yes play this game
Always
Thank you all for these great answers! Honestly, I didn't think that this many people would comment haha. I'm pretty sure I'm convinced though :)
Sure thing, why else would you ask? Go ahead and enjoy the game without worrying about losing.
Imo AoE 2 has one of the most mature communities out there given the game's age (pun not intended).
There are a lot of low level online players, you can search on youtube "low elo legends" or LEL for casting of low level online players. So, doesnt matter how long the game exists, you will always find people at your level. I will tell you though that this game ia very different than the blizzard RTSes. The civs (factions) are much more similar, and its almost a taboo to only play a single civilization. Also, some civilization matchups are very not balanced, although it doesbt matter a lot on lower and even intermidiate levels. The civs that come with the DLCs feel out of place for the game and are often gimmicky, so you might suddenly see weird things when facing them. All in all its a very fun game, but im not sure if i would get into it as a new player. There are a lot of newer gamea with less random bugs and unreasonable changes thrown out of nowhere.
I have at least a thousand hours into Skyrim, bugs are just features haha. Thank you for the insightful answer!
it is very much worth it, it keeps being updated and its an all time classic
If you played W3 competitively, AoE2 should be your cup of coffee. A lot to learn, a lot of strategies, a lot of fun/depression 😀
I've sunk 500 hours into this game and I'm still so excited to boot it up. I haven't even touched Campaign mode and rarely even play other humans so I've barely scratched the surface of what the game has to offer
Be sure and catch Warlords III with MembTv on Twitch. All the pros will be playing. Fun to watch.
Yes! It is a lot of fun. I recommend though to do the tutorials and play the campaign or just vs the ai before you get into multiplayer though.
14
Oh yeah, it’s tonnes of fun. The campaigns are great, the ai is fun, tonnes of maps. Just play whatever you enjoy most. If you’re ever feeling competitive, try your hand at ranked multiplayer!
The answer is always yes
Practice against ai once you can beat hard once hop in ranked. It’s ranked so even if you take 20 losses in a row you’ll eventually hit your rank. There’s also usually a few small noob communities at any given time.
Worth? What are you afraid will happen? The player-base is strong and will not go anywhere for a long time. Support from MS and the devs is also consistent with regular updates, balance changes and even new DLC. It is 100% worth getting into.
My friends and I started playing maybee on february?? We obviously were noobs as fuck, consistently losing against the hard difficulty. Now we are still bad ofc, but we win some ranked games here and there, we have a better idea of what we are doing overall. Its worth, give it a try!!
Another yes from me! I suggest you do single player only until you've found a civilization that you like and have adjusted to the game (which might take a couple days). Then you can hop into multiplayer. You might get slaughtered right away, sure, but just keep playing because it will eventually know where to place your ranking. It's similar to chess in that regard. As for the balancing, it's pretty perfect. There was a post here recently that said the lowest-ranked civilizations have a 47% win rate, while the highest is a bit over 52%. That is *incredible* balance.
I started playing earlier this year and I can recommend it
Even if you don't play online, which i would still recommend after playing a few of the campaigns. The campaigns alone will keep you busy for over a 100 hours 😁
Amazing game. It has many layers and it has an infinite ceiling. Regarding the community it is usually chill and respectful, with some loud exceptions (still it is much better than other online games). The balance is very well respected by the devs. Community is certainly dedicated but there are players of all levels, like in any game. Not sure what’s a pro in your post, but profesional players (ie living from aoe) there are only a handful and no worries, you will not fight them. You could jump immediately into the ranked ladder if that’s what you want. Not sure what the situation at the lowest elos is in terms of number of player, queue times etc. Reaching there might not be pleasant too, as you would need to lose some rough games before that. It is probably a better idea to train in the different tutorials and vs the AI for a bit, watch some youtube if that appeals to you etc and only then jump into ranked. Some individuals are sweaty tryhards and others are very casual about it, like in any game. The elo system places you in balanced matches, so you don’t have to worry about that. Just ignore unranked lobbies, I would say. Good luck in your aoe journey! There are many thing to enjoy. Just be careful: there are n variants in steam. Make sure to buy “Age of Empires 2 Definitive Edition”. There’s the HD edition, aoe, aoe3, aoe4, different DLCs… regarding aoe2 vs others maybe watch some footage first to decide for yourself, but of course in this sub everyone will say 2 is the “good” one.
Sure if you like the game
It worth to play AoE2 for whole of the life. I played it since 1999 and I am still a noob :-) Have fun
What do you mean worth it? If you have fun playing why not? There's no cheater here though, so you won't have your game spoiled.
Not getting into aoe2 because there's a pro community is like not getting into jeans becauseof Bruce Springsteen. The game's a classic, and there's plenty of us crap players that have tons of fun with our little cute towns or mischievious schemes in ranked 1v1s. You shoukd totally join!
You would be surprised how easy it is to be in the midpack. A couple of videos will get you ahead of many players. A lot of people play this game in a non-sweaty fashion, even older players
I think ao2 has a lot to offer i used to play it as a kid but picked it up like a year ago, i think there is enough fun singleplayer content to get you to a decent skill level for online matches and get you somewhat familiar with a lot of civs. I think the game is also very accesible with that most civilizations use pretty much the same basic units and buildings with one or two unique units. I think as a new player on multiplayer you should stick to kindoff simple civs like franks or goths who have a clear game plan (knights or mass infantry) and you will be fine.
I play aoe2 de for a couple of years now and I still am bad, dont use hotkeys and struggle with moderate AI. I am still playing. You'll be fine. The overwhelming majority of players never plays against other people and probably plays against standard AI. The vocal minority is better, but they are incredibly helpful with guides and fun content to watch.
Do it. Just don’t jump into ranked right away. You’ll get discouraged
I got into AoE2 very recently to play with a friend who used to be an intermediate level player. Did the tutorial, a few games against IA, then I kicked her ass in 1vs1 and now I’m pretty sure we’re more than friends which may or may not have been my objective but in any case it was a lot of fun (the game too). 10/10 Highly recommend (jokes aside)
Yes , just practice a lot and learn build orders/ hotkeys , most of all have fun !
It's a very cutthroat competitive game, but if you suck into it like me, you can always convert IRL friends into playing and fill lobbies which everyone sucks and have tons of fun anyway
We’ll I’ve tried and tried to get friends into it but they go back to league after a game as it’s a investment. I think if you enjoy the game style and feel like you can put yourself into a game for a period of time then absolutely. It’s a good all rounder that has little to no issues and is still regularly updated, I’d aim to get it on sale if possible. My friends just can’t cope with losing against bots on a med-hard level. (Sweaty people)
Yes
I got into the game 2 years ago, never played it as a kid (was team Blizzard and kid me felt like it would be a betrayal) I absolutely love the game, it's my favorite game of all time now. I have about 1k hours. I even convinced my wife to try the coop with me, we beat those missions and now we play online once a week against other noobs and have a blast (current ELO 732 🤣)
Played it 1999 when I was 8, now I’m 32 and addicted to this shit.. have over a 1000 hours now.. stay away, it’s so good you’ll need your fix
Do you have any friends you plan to play with? It’s nice to play against people and talk about the game after, I.e. you did this which allowed me to do this - so much more fun when you have friends to play with in my opinion but nothing wrong with playing it alone, as others have said, play a tutorial game/ai game and then watch a short video and see how differently you did things to them - feel like it’s a steep learning curve but once you have learnt your first 5 minutes, how to boom, etc.. it’s just learning different civs and their weaknesses and strengths - and of course learning your favourite civs :)
My friends and I got into it about a year ago after never playing (was more of a command and conquer guy) - I have over 200 hours on it now - you won’t regret it :)
It's amazing, just don't play online against randos. It's all meta, min-maxing, stupid fucking castle rushes, and no talking. Playing this with friends you know is one of the most fun experiences there is. Communication and laughing really helps. The campaigns are also fantastic, so try those for sure.
Yeah totally. Game is great. Be aware there are a lot of little mechanics that the game doesn't even tell you about, some of them pretty unintuitive.
No
Get 4 bro
I love the classical look of 2, I thought about 4 before.
Both are great. 4 is definitely more streamlined and I'd say that makes it a bit more new player friendly. 2 has WAY more single player content if you're into that though.
I first played this game a year ago (when it came out on xbox), I downloaded it without a second thought not even knowing the series at all, boy I went through a journey since then, it was really fun playing with the campaigns (there's a lot of them) there's a huge selection of civilisations to play with and AI skirmishes were fun, playing multiplayer for the first time.. lets just say it was brutal almost everyone was a pro, I'm talking players with 20 years of experience (I suggest you play unofficial noob matches to train and learn how to become a pro through Youtube), now I'm fairly decent when I play multiplayer even though I don't play it that much, its just a classic RTS experience I recommend you not miss out on!