soo whats going on with this game?

Dewm

 

Played during beta, wasn't impressed. thought I would wait to see what has happened...

 

 

...after a year, what has happened?

 

Looks like they released a little content..  do people still play this game? how many? is it on its way out?

 

thanks!

Dr_Negative

Pretty much in a nut-shell since you last played in beta:

• They switched to a true free to play model where you could earn all content for free (Empire Points), this greatly increased the then dwindeling playerbase. Also launched on Steam.
• Added 4 more civs to play for a total of 6.
• Added 4 booster packs which are a skirmish mode, survival mode, and lots of additional quest content.
• Enabled Arena PvP gearless mode (Champion mode) for free civ users.
• Created lots of Vanity content through a free service called "Vanity Island"...Empire Points sink basically.
• Added PvE endgame focus on what is called "Alliance Wars", this also gives players to ability to earn lots of Empire Points, which is used to purchase civs and stuff in lieu of cash.
• Heavily promoted the PvP aspect via http://www.twitch.tv/ageofempires which now has over 2 million views and does really well.
• Microsoft announced that the game had ended development phase and entered support phase and now considers the game complete similar to a standalone AoE game.

 

There are many other minor polishes they did but the above list is the most notable imo. Don't play anymore, played in beta myself and I killed time with it while wating on Rift Storm Legion, but had a lot of fun while I did.

Maktub

Well, Age of Empires Online is pretty nice, but it lacks something that other AOEs had... I play it from time to time, but it bores me in the end. Other games are like "I started building house, and need to wait 2 days for that" which is absolutely boring for me, as I said, the simplicity rule, I want to get into game, play a match, finish, and go play another one. I like to make my base again every time I play, not just to continue from the last time.

Karahandras

This biggest thing going on is that it's being shut down in july and no new accounts to be created.

Omali

Originally posted by Karahandras
This biggest thing going on is that it's being shut down in july and no new accounts to be created.

Yep, this. When Microsoft ended support for the Microsoft Point and converted over to regular dollars, Age of Empires Online did not convert its systems to the new format. When Microsoft announced that Games for Windows Live would be terminating their services, they made the choice to shut down age of empires online rather than move it over to its own service. 

Tibernicuspa

Originally posted by Maktub

Well, Age of Empires Online is pretty nice

Not compared to literally any Age of Empires game.

It has less features than the first AoE for god sake.

Microsoft really screwed this one over. I have no idea why its listed on an MMO site.