Silver

The video is really accurate. My experiences with Microsoft support have been amazing but some of the problems Microsoft products/billing has can be frustrating... you wonder why it happens in the first place. It's also confusing that is has to be so exclusive right down to Windows 10 and Creator's Build update specifically. Windows Store exclusive? OK, I'm fine with that but they should be providing options to purchase it for Mac, Linux and not require Creator's for Windows 10 PCs. It seems like you're really hurting the market for this game before you even get started.

Well, I'm surprised to say the least about this huge announcement. I guess I kind of forgot how key Age of Empires was to Microsoft's entry into the gaming industry. They've become so big and moved on to XBox that you forget their origins but they obviously did not and want to re-enter the PC gaming market which is still large and lucrative. $20 is a reasonable price-point. All the stuff I see in here and on the various gaming media websites looks good. I honestly never thought I would see the day they re-released AoE1 when they ignored it with the HD stuff. I can't believe they announced the same treatment for AoE2, AoE3 and the creation of AoE4. That's a big move and a big gamble. I hope it pays off since I'm a huge fan of the time period and RTSes.

I think what's interesting in that article is the theory (it was proven through analysis I think) that the two plagues this one and the one in medieval time - arose independent of one another. In other words it's theoretically possible we could see another plague today especially in some of the poorer, crowded cities of the world. It's a slightly scary thought but from where I'm sitting - I think the hygiene in Western cities and many other cities is good enough that the chances of another plague are probably low. I'd be worried for people living in slums in say Mumbai, India for example.

I don't particularly remember any game - I just remember The Zone, that 'hack' to get a cooler game/lobby title and info, joining different clans over time and switching from Random Map to Deathmatch (for Age of Empires 1 and Rise of Rome). One map that really stands out would have to be that Age of Mythology map where it's just the giant trojan wall across an empty map. Two teams of players, one on each side. You started with ridiculous amounts of resources so it was essentially a 'super' deathmatch since you didn't really need villagers after creating housing, military structures.

A bit late to this but I enjoyed it and I hope it does well. The RTS genre has been suffering for quite a while so it desperately needs a boost. I'd only been playing the odd game of League of Legends up until the AoE II HD release. I can't say it's blown me out of the water since I always preferred the original AoE but it's a nice enough distraction. I haven't explored 0AD since the early Alpha that was barely playable. Real life can really squeeze almost all your gaming time. Hopefully over the next month or two if it's available, I'll try it out again. Although it's 19.99 for basically nothing (I can barely see the difference on a 1920x1080 screen) graphics wise - it revives the multiplayer.

I felt Age of Empires struck the right balance... I guess if I had an unlimited budget, I'd want an incredibly detailed, living representation of either the Roman period, the Italian Renaissance period (along with right before it) or the Greek period. Not really a game in the traditional sense but kind of like Second Life - you 'play' as someone in the world, you interact and it changes things in the world slightly. If you want to work towards something - your goal can be to become a general, a ruler, a wealthy merchant or whatever. The main reason I enjoyed RTSes aside from competing against others (unfortunately the quantity just isn't there to have lots of fun in multiplayer anymore) was the history and getting me interested in the history. I took history classes in University because of Age of Empires for example. It's also why I like period dramas that aren't accurate like Rome, The Borgias - they're exciting, they get you interested and looking in to the actual history.

The game was rushed to market in my opinion. It's like the higher ups at Microsoft told the developers and community PR people "We want Age of Empires gameplay combined with Farmville and World of Wacraft" and then they wanted results and money too fast for the time put in and the 'dream' of what the game should be like.

The flip-side is with the ability to charge over time, the campaigns can be expanded on, updates can be made to 'balance' PvP so the expected life of the game would far surpass a normal $60 RTS from the store. It also allows you to not spend the $100 - just spent $20-60$ unlocking your 1-3 favorite civilizations if you're not interested in the questing and making your city look beautiful. I could be wrong though... I don't have a great understanding of their price models and what the various prices offer. Edit: Thanks Pureon for mentioning Anno 2070, I'm going to follow that game closely. Looks like fun, I've always liked RTSes and to a lesser extent world building/shaping games so I'll probably end up getting it. To address Mythos Ruler about not buying a game any time soon - I kind of agree. There's one definite buy for me GW2 but that's about all I can see myself getting now. Unfortunately the trends in the gaming industry seem to be moving towards the Phone/Tablet APP games and other games for casual audiences. The Wii sold huge, iPhone/Android App games sell well, Facebook and other social networking games seem to do well. Maybe we're just being caught at a bad time in the history of the gaming industry - the casual gamer is driving the market. The upside is there's only so much further casual gaming can go, the Wii is out, Microsoft put out their motion sensor thing and there's not much more to expand on in terms of App and Browser games. Maybe in 10 years (or less) - we'll see a return that blends some of the new stuff technology that has been refined and perfected (motion sensors) with the 'hardcore' (all relative when compared with App games) games.

As a beta tester for a very long time - it was disappointing to say the least. Hopefully with full release I can buy the 'booster packs' and try out the PvP and decide more from that... I really disliked the MMO aspect because it was so incredibly boring and grindy. Setting up PvP matches and Co-op in the BETA took some time to figure out and the quests were often repeatable and incredibly boring. The farm quest in particular was annoying - I could finish the first 3-4 (I forget how many there were) but I had to do it OVER AND OVER - I couldn't cash in for the rewards of all 3-4 at the same time. I am ranting here but I did take it up in the beta forums and soon after I pretty much stopped beta testing. It was a little too boring and I had real life stuff that became more pressing.

I've seen the discussions on other forums and occasionally taken part so I'm wondering does anyone else read the books and/or watch the TV show? I have only watched the TV show but the books seem to get a lot of praise from people I know so I might pick them up.

Also a giveaway on Curse apparently: http://www.curse.com/keys/ but I have not tried it because I've been in the beta for a while. I've been slightly underwhelmed throughout the entire beta but it is a beta and it is an MMO so hopefully they will continue to add and make the game more interesting to me.

Guild Wars and World of Tanks are two games I sort of play...

I am in the same boat. I do know this was transfered from a game I used to play but I honestly have no recollection of how I came up with it. I got my name from Guild Wars where I was Legendary Silver because it required two word screen names.

Probably most, I would think. Wish I had the laughing emote to display at the end of this.