Atlanteans, AQ and Titan: Tearing the community
One consequence of the changes and additions to the gameplay in Age of Mythology The Titans was the tearing of the gaming community. More the fact that there were now two games "AOM" is especially very different gameplay which divided the players. Most players have purchased the expansion of course but quickly after the first few months of discovery, the community is divided into two players who loved TT and others who returned to play AOM do not support some changes.
Evoking these changes with my personal experience as a player, I will try to explain the reasons that pushed a part of the players to deny TT. And much to say right now, I have a very unfavorable opinion on these changes.
New civilization: The Atlanteans
Let's start with the main change that is the arrival of Atlantis, a new civilization with its gods, its units and features. If balancing a game with three civilizations (nine gods) was difficult, the arrival of Atlantis has not improved the situation, on the contrary! Immediately labeled as "civ noob" the Atlanteans have unique characteristics that have not really liked many players.
Kronos,Oranos and Gaia
To start , they have "super villagers" a peon Atlantean equivalent to 2.5 / 3 villagers base. This obviously to affect the number of villagers to manage and order total construction much easier to perform. Therefore an ideal civilization for beginners because the economy is much easier to manage, especially if you add the auto-queue which I ll talk in a later chapter. The real problem was the power of Cronos and Oranos with their bonuses and powers were formidable to the game's release powers "Deconstructing" (goodbye temple opponent, the first port or barracks), "Wave shock "(advantage when engaging combat), or" Valor "(goodbye mythological unit free) at the age I and II made these two gods and mortals particularly effective especially when they were used more than once !
It took quite some time for players to adapt their styles and it has only amplified the "hate" of many players to this civilization. Note also that the Atlanteans can take a forum at an early age, unlike other civilizations must wait until the age II.
The impression was also that ES had not worked hard enough and chooses the easy way out in many areas. Must still recognize that civilization is unique with special features that make the gameplay very different ancient civilizations. All these factors made the Atlanteans a "civ noob" hated by many players
Free mythological units
Before discussing big changes start slowly with mythological unit (MU) free. To increase the use of UM The Titans, ES had the idea to offer a free pass to the player in each age group. And the operation is quite simple: an Isis player who chooses Bastet to spend ages 2 receives a Sphinx, a player Oranos who chooses Prometheus receives a Promethean, etc..
"So it seems a good idea that it's nice!" ... yes but it was not. You'd think that mythological unit enables free to make the game more nervous with rushes for example, but this is not the case since the player gets attacked him free unit to defend themselves. Add to that forum and possibly towers that attack and rushes it gives a little more difficult to implement. Worse if the player FH (III rapid transition age, specialty Egyptians in general) since then has two UM defense that must of course add divine powers! A few loan equal level, the player who defends a real advantage.
ES should do things differently in my view with eg UM appears every 5 minutes after coming of age and that kind of thing. This would not impact the rushes and young adulthood II / III while offering the player a reinforcement later. Nevertheless it remains a still acceptable change compared to others we will see later.
Forums age I and II: Long live to the boom!
In addition to getting a new and divine power units / improvements, coming of age in AOM III was very important to finally take additional forums and increase its population limit (from 115 to 130 then 145 with three forums ). Forums allow villagers out more quickly and thus improve its economy, an essential key to victory. A larger population also allowed to have an army bigger and thus gain an advantage over the enemy. So it was really important to spend Age III!
On TT the coming of age III is much less important and essential for the continuation of the game and for good reason, the Atlanteans can build a forum from the age I and other civilizations from the age II. This change will have a huge impact on the gameplay in TT since it is not useful if most of the time you rush Age III, it is possible to "boomer" (make peons on several forums to quickly increase its economic power) at the age II. Given the importance of the economy most players can take two forums, economically and achieve boomer pop max 145/145 before moving on to the next age. This change therefore completely change the dynamic of the game stay very long since age II is no longer a concern if your economy is flourishing while in AOM meant to stay on a single forum with a limit of 115/115.
A novelty which made the players enter in "Age of Boom" or "Age of economy" with a more passive gameplay. Indeed, what is going to be a wild attack if your opponent gets to take forums and hide behind? A nothing if not lose more troops and delayed economic and military to defending player. Of course it does not mean not to attack at all or stay home but the dynamic was much changed.
Ports that attack: Advantage to the defense
But maybe the battles were great? Ok not really. Whereas in AOM order almost perfect construction was necessary to win on the water (including the Mediterranean) a change in the dynamics changed size too: ports can shoot arrows if you put boats stationed.
In other words a defending player can use his ports to take advantage. The attacker has only one solution: back. With this defense strategies evolved and FH was now playable on the maps waters. The coming of age III gives access to the strongest ships that counter those of age without forgetting the UM II free for some gods ... Again while the game was very fast and nervous TT on things change and there is often a delay of battles to get to the age III. Of course it is still possible to win the water age II but the dynamic is different and typically longer battles.
In itself it is necessarily a dramatic change, but as we will see later in the conclusion of the article are all these small changes that abutted completely changed the game
Auto-queue Long live to the automatic production!
This is the worst change in TT in my opinion. The principle is simple, just create a unit and then press a button which makes the production of this unit automatically when you have the resources (and the space in the population) needed. While the purpose of a strategy game in real time (and especially games "Age of"!) Is to build a strong economy simultaneously creating villagers and military units, Aq automates these actions are the very foundations of the genre! A true sacrilegious, but this is a personal opinion ...
The AQ has terrible consequences on gameplay. Any player can have a strong economy (many villagers) and a whole army by pressing a button. A beginner will have almost as strong as the economy experienced player. On AOM a bad player could not do several things at once: create villagers and manage its economy, build buildings, explore the map, engage in combat, to produce military reinforcements, etc.. So there was a difference between a great beginner and average player.
on TT the gap is very small due to AQ. You have to kill 10 peons your enemy with a superb raid? No problem for him, his AQ is already in the process of creating villagers and in two minutes the economy will be back on top. AOM in your opponent not only lost his peons and had to redo them manually but this created more tension, more stress while on TT, and even if it is a real concern for losing peons it is that against a small-time catches up alone.
Same story for AOM in the army where he must not only manage your army and battle but also think about producing units in order to replace dead units if your army gradually decreases and you lose. No problem in TT, AQ on the units you want and rallying point in the right place and you have an endless stream (well obviously depending on your resources) military units who join the battlefield.
Aq has nonetheless been greeted with delight by many players, especially new ones who discovered the game since it allowed them to learn more easily and have a chance against more experienced players. Myself as a true beginner yet at the time I had nothing against this feature at first, but after including the best strategy games and found the game more in depth I've changed my mind ...
If the ports that take the Free UM forums or do a lot of harm to the gameplay, QA remains for me the worst part of all. Without this feature the other changes would have a much more limited impact and the level difference between players would be greater.
Titans: Who wants a unit almost invincible and super powerful?
Ah the Titans, a nice big mistake to be polite, especially in a strategy game that plays like AOM on the number of units. A solid unit, very powerful and strong, who do not want? And it is precisely the concern as to whether the base ES wanted to add to give the Titans an option for many parties that never ended, the reality was quite different. AOM at times it is easy to see if you win or lose depending on the score, forums, your army, etc.. on TT there is always an alternative if you are bad at the moment:: make a Titan.
Sure, it costs ressources and the door of the Titans takes time to build. But unless you have already completely lost the player who makes the Titan will pose walls, fortresses, towers and an army so it will prevent the construction of a door that is not easy most of the time even if you dominate part widely.
Players have become accustomed to rush to the Titan and in many cases it has even become a key strategy for some ... Instead of fighting age III or IV to finish the game the player will rush towards the Titan and the same level it is impossible most of the time to counter it but also to create a Titan ... This is far from the basic idea that Titan gave the role to complete some endless and that more advanced, it becomes a part of the army that players looking for quickly.
Age of lame: Too much lame kills the fun
The various changes mentioned have had an impact on another aspect of the game: "lame". To try to explain it simply, "laming" is the act of use methods not very fair play and / or too powerful in the game I explain it in more detail in another article, but I will try short.
An example to try to illustrate this is to make three fortresses one beside the other. This is not prohibited but it is considered "lame" by many players. The use of multiple rounds is considered "lame".
on TT on one of the things I noticed at the time, and now also as I could redo parts in preparing this case is that players like to "lamer" than on AOM. I think the reason is quite simple: it is easier. With the AQ and more passive gameplay, players have a better economy and more free time to devote to this kind of thing. AOM had to spend a lot of time to create a good economy and army to initiate fights, etc.. on TT is different and the extra time available, combined with ressources that accumulate easily, allows to place more buildings and fortify positions more easily.
To put it simply the players place more towers and fortresses in on TT on AOM. If this does not bother some players, it bothers me a lot me and many people, because it produces a more passive game even with players who remain stashed behind their towers and will seek a Titan ... A strategy game should not make such a good option but encourage great battles. ES with all these changes, unfortunately, took a different path.
conclusion
As announced earlier in the article, I do not refer merely changes the gameplay but also comments and as you can you realize I'm not at all for the news! I played a lot and loved The Titans to play online with my friends and my clan but the gameplay itself has often made me leave my hinges so it is different from AOM.
Each change in itself is not a disaster, it is all these elements together causing a massive change in the gameplay. Many players have loved, I hated it. And it split the community into two with the pros and pros-AOM-TT. So there were fewer players to play with as rare were the players who liked to play both, which also had an impact on the clans and players have to play a game only if he wanted to stay in the clan and play with them. At competitions like if early tournaments were organized on on TT was seen very quickly appear AOM tournaments again.
In the end, even if on TT is a nice game, I think ES has introduced too many changes having a heavy impact on the gameplay. They probably felt one more civilization was not enough and had to change the game to bring new depth and easily give the illusion of greater extension. As I said many players liked changes, but others are not tearing the community at the time was very bad for everyone.
in 2012 TT remains the most played both wherever on ESO GameRanger or Voobly but I like to mention that in another article.
Subject: Atlanteans, AQ and Titan: Tearing the community 
Sat Nov 03, 2012 2:45 pm
