alt Hacker NewsAs someone who spent an immeasurable amount of time on AOE 2 online multiplayer, it has been a steadily refreshing experiencing the rise of AOE2 DE over the recent years. The game not only received updates that brought in the total civilization count to 50+, but also a ton of visual enhancements and improvements in the overall gameplay and performance.
This is nothing short of stunning to see new developments happening for these games, especially in the open-source community.
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Imagine AoE being owned by Nintendo. :D
A no small wonder. I never thought that MS, as the IP owner, would allow such an open community to grow and thrive. MS is notoriously bad at game community growth development.
I remember that right after the acquisition of ES through MS in 2001, Microsoft went on a rigid IP enforcement role and, for example, targeted people at MFO.
The story of DBD_Jinx losing his account to MS
Legendary DBD_Jinx lost his account and had to start anew under _IamJinx because MS suspended his ZONE account due to copyright infringement for using MS trademarks without a license.
What did he do?
He advertised at MFO to help people increase their early game through his academy training, which offered advice on micro-management, game planning, strategy, and scouting.
Together with a couple of other 2000+ Zone Rating dudes from the US, they started to make a few bucks on the side using AoE as a vehicle.
What a knee-jerk reaction from MS back then.
And today? Red Bull Wololo - I hardly can hold my pants compared to 2001.
I hope this keeps going, even though I am a purist "old-schooler" who prefers the AoE 2 classics game.
Cheers + gl + hf!
_CN
It probably won't matter. When I play a "random civ" game with my friends, I always get Vikings. On maps with no oceans.
For real, though, it's really great to see this game continue to live on.