Scout report

RM 1v1 sample: 6,388,699 games. Overall win-rate leaders: Romans 54.3%, Tupi 53.2%, Bulgarians 52.7%. Most played: Mongols 5.7%, Franks 4.9%, Persians 3.6%. Elite slice: Byzantines 79.1%, Chinese 77.7%, Tupi 76.6%.

AoE2.ai is tracking 45,573 RM 1v1 players. Top five: #1 TAG_MbL_ 2,903, #2 VIT | Hera 2,903, #3 wR.Lucho 2,885, #4 Oni.Vinchester 2,884, #5 TAG_Sitaux 2,849. Longest hot streak in the sampled top ladder: 抖音ique (64 wins). Best sampled win rate with 300+ games: VIT | Hera 74.9%. 0 of the sampled top players have played in the last 24h.

I’m not against DLCs. New civs, campaigns, and gameplay content are important ways to keep AoE alive. A good DLC can bring players back, create new strategies, and help the game continue to grow. The Viking Sagas is also a very strong DLC theme. Compared to the previous two Ranked DLCs, the Viking theme is much easier for players to connect with and fits naturally into AoE. If the previous two Ranked DLCs didn’t exist, The Viking Sagas would probably receive a much warmer reception. However, the issue isn’t The Viking Sagas itself. The issue is the order of priorities. The previous two Ranked DLCs are already part of AoE2. Once a DLC is released, it’s no longer just a product sold at launch. It becomes part of the game, and the devs have a responsibility to continue improving, balancing, and supporting it. Players aren’t against new content. They just want existing content to be properly maintained. This leads to a DLC idea: The Empty DLC A DLC with no new civs, no new campaigns, and no new units. Of course, that wouldn’t make much sense from a business perspective. But I believe there’d still be players willing to purchase it, especially in today’s AoE2 community. Because they wouldn’t be buying “empty content.” They’d be supporting a message: “Please invest more resources into improving the game we already have.” The Empty DLC: More time for balance adjustments Better support for existing civs More testing before major releases Improved mod compatibility Empty doesn’t mean nothing “Empty” doesn’t always mean a lack of value. Sen no Rikyū (千利休), a cultural figure of the Sengoku period between the eras represented by AoE2 and AoE3, showed that empty space can have meaning. The same idea applies here. The Empty DLC wouldn’t add more content. It would create space for better balance, testing, and long-term support. Empty doesn’t mean nothing. Sometimes, leaving space is what allows something to become better. The Viking Sagas can be a great new chapter for AoE. But th

I know, I know, it's a tough call. If there truly is an objectively most underwhelming naval unit, it surely leads by a very tight margin. But I'm not looking for an objective measure here, I want you to consider what you personally find to be the least impressive. What really underdelivers in the 'whelms? What makes you say, "damn, this thing blows" when you use it? And, of course, please explain your reasoning--as fun as it is to lampoon the new demo ship, it's not very interesting for the readers until we hear about your emotional attachment to the destruction the old ones left in their wake. As for me, I'd have to say the hulk. And that's for a couple of reasons, all relating--in one way or another--to its aesthetic. Importantly, it looks very impressive... right up until you see that grappling hook get tossed and the tiniest sliver of health drop from whatever target it decides to inconvenience. Problem is that the hulk looks formidable; it's a stout ship, and certainly appears to be the most intimidating out of all those in Feudal Age. It looks as if it can take a beating and just as easily dish out one too. However, once you realize that the hulk's attack only consists of tossing that aforementioned grappling hook without the boarding party to back it up, then you're back to wondering if you should even bother to defend your fishing ships. And don't even get me started on it's health. Imagine, being called a "hulk" and having a measly 90 health and 1 pierce armour. What, is this just two fishing ships glued together? No, two fishing ships do more damage (with a dock). This is of course to say nothing of the balance of the ship, I'm not qualified to comment on that. But I'm very qualified in criticizing the vibes... and this ship's got bad vibes.