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I'm not sure how diehard fans of the real-time strategy series Age of Empires are going to take this, but they had to know change was coming. The good news for them is that AoE's core city-building and troop-producing gameplay remains intact. The good news for you (if you're in the Age of Empires Online beta) is that I'm running a sale on Greek statuary at my capital city of Tangtown, and every Statue of Winged Victory and Aphrodite must go. You've got an uncle in the premium lawn ornament business.
OK, so I can't actually control the prices at my statuary store. But the fact that I have a statuary store that you can come over and shop at (all sales are final) is indicative of how much has changed in the world of AoE.
The game will be free to play (release date: all they're saying is "2011"), which is so hot right now as far as business models go, but AoE Online won't make its money by charging for war elephants with racing stripes. Instead, you'll have the option to buy premium versions of civilizations, which will unlock a whole package of features at once. The pricing of all that is still TBD, but if done right I think it could appeal to hardcore gamers more than the average death-by-a-thousand-cuts free-to-play model.
More interesting to me, though, is how Age of Empires Online tweaks the formula to create an MMO/RTS hybrid. Let me count the ways (hint: four)….
Get a loadda that hedgework!
Persistent World
In most RTS games, you build up a new town/camp/base/whatever with each mission. You do that in AoE Online, too, but you also have a capital city that you return to between quests. As you level up, you unlock new buildings for your city – stores that you can buy materials and rare items from, an arena for setting up PVP matches, resource-producing buildings, etc.
Just like gear in a normal MMO works as a signifier of player level and (sometimes) skill, AoE Online's capitals reflect how far you've progressed in the game, and also offer a canvas for creative city builders. AoE Online does not have a world-map-like overworld view, however; if you want to travel to a friend's city you'll do so via menus.
Quests
It's all quests these days; levels are for old people. Quest givers roam around your capital, with the usual yellow exclamation and question marks, exhorting you to “find and escort the lost cows back into the pen,” “conquer the map,” and similar. You choose what quest you want to do and in what order, and when you complete one you earn XP, in-game currency, and items or materials as a reward. Most quests take you to a new map and play out like a traditional RTS level, while others are a bit more meta, asking you to kill a certain number of elite enemies during the course of carrying out other quests, for example. And some are about herding cows.
Crafting
Check that box, too. AoE Online offers professions, called Schools, that grant bonuses, equipment upgrades, and consumables in particular fields, like archery, craftsmen, religion, etc. But you can only choose two to specialize in. No first aid or fishing professions – sorry, masochistic World of Warcraft players!
Oh, you want the war elephants with blue stripes? That's a $10 item.
Loot
OK, so loot and gear drops aren't exclusive to MMOs, but the way AoE Online handles them is more like an MMO than a traditional role-playing or action game. Loot comes from chests and quest rewards, and every unit (including buildings) has multiple stat-boosting gear slots. Loot follows other familiar MMO conventions as well – you'll start out finding green (uncommon) gear, then blue, then ultimately the top-tier purple items. You can sell items to other players, and you can find blueprints to create stores that also sell rare items (for currency earned in-game, not real cash).
Of course, where there's loot there's a shortage of bag space. I'm currently 50 pine planks shy of what I need to build another storage building, which will give me eight more item slots. Hey buddy, can you spare 50 planks? I'll cut you a deal on a bust of Hera….
