Age of Empires Online

The next update for Age of Empires Online includes continued tweaking of the matchmaking experience and party systems. The end result should be an improved multiplayer experience for both PvPers and PvEers.

First up, the update will finally allow Party matchmaking in Sparta PvP. You will now be able to start matches with another player in your party for both Standard and Champion modes of PvP. You’ll be matched with other fellow 2v2ers or random 2 player parties. Each player will also post to the leaderboards in Champion mode; currently there is no “team” entry. The Party 2v2 feature also allows Free players to experience Champion PvP and post to the leaderboards providing they’ve been invited to a party by a Premium player.

The fully configurable Skirmish Booster Pack allows you to choose every element of PvE gameplay, from resources, teams, and victory conditions to opponent civilizations, difficulty, and strategy.

• All units are automatically unlocked and battle-ready.
• It supports 2-player co-op against up to 4 computer-controlled enemies.
• You can also do battle on more than 20 different maps.

Hi everyone, we wanted to update you on Persia one more time!

Our goal when we started Persians many months ago was to give experienced players access to higher level content, and allow advanced players to jump right into the thick of things, including exploring Argos, gathering higher level gear, conquering Crete, getting to Cyprus quicker, among other things.

• Persia starts immediately at level 20 with access to the entire tech tree, and pre-equipped with gear for all units.
• This is special Gear that cannot be traded; it gives players a good starting suite of Gear right out of the gate.

We are putting final touches on this new Pro Civ, and we are really happy with the results. GPG did a great job for this new civ.

• You go straight to the action by starting at level 20
• By purchasing the Pro Civ, you have immediate access to top leveling gear, Advisors, and quests. People looking to hit PvP at a higher level sooner will also really like this type of civ
• This civ acts as a great addition and complement your current Greek and Egyptian civilizations. By owning more than 1 civ, you will also receive an extra unit, the Golden Hippikon.

The art is gorgeous, and we love the Immortal units and the Cataphracts/armored cavalry. You will soon be able to check out the free demo and judge for yourselves.

Keep in mind, the Persians have all custom units, a new tech tree, and all unique architecture, so they require a very different approach to play. We’ve also been playtesting them hard against Egyptians and Greeks in PvP.

What’s with the stores in my Capital City? Why do I care about the stores in my city? Stores are actually pretty important in Age of Empires Online. Stores help you grow your city, as well as sell craft goods and gear for your units to help you excel in battle. You can also find really cool, rare stores. And there’s also a way to make your stores work for you!

When you first log in, you’ll notice your city comes with two stores, the Empire Bazaar and the General Store. The Empire Bazaar is where you’ll be able to purchase premium content in the future (such as Empire Extras and Boosters.) The General Store is a store you’ll find yourself visiting quite often, or at least I do! Not only does it offer building goods, it also offers warehouses and the Construction Store – yes, a store offers a store!

It’s been a couple weeks in the trenches, and I thought we’d surface for air and give you a glimpse into our balancing process.

Players and developers alike, we all have (often passionate) ideas about what this game needs and doesn't need. Hell, we don’t always agree on the MGS team! What’s good to remember is this: This is the biggest Age game ever, and it’s really complex. Balance is a huge concern for us. We want to make the game fun and challenging but make sure you can’t just buy your way to the top. That’s what our balance team helps with. So today we’re going to introduce you to a few members of the balance team here at MGS: Tom, Rick, and David (the balance team lead).

As many of you have already heard, Gas Powered Games is now lead developer of Age of Empires Online. We figured you might have some questions about what this all means so I wanted to share a few thoughts on behalf of myself and the rest of the Age of Empires Online development team.

First and foremost, we’re thrilled! We have no doubt this is a great move for the game, and most importantly for all of you anxiously awaiting its launch this year. We’ve been working with Gas Powered Games for some time now on a collection of great new content packs (which we’ll reveal a bit later). In that time, it’s become really clear Chris Taylor and his team share our passion to make this one of the best games in Age of Empires franchise history. Rest assured, there’s a dedicated team of folks both at Microsoft and GPG who will continue to work hard to make sure this game blows you away. Anyway, with big news, you probably have some questions. We’ve tried to answer a few for you below.

Hi, everybody. Welcome to our new blog for Age of Empires Online ... long time coming, I know. I am Ian Vogel, the design lead at Microsoft Game Studios, and I am happy to write this first of many blogs for Age of Empires Online.

We’ve been holding off telling you a lot until we released the info about our business model, and we’ve released it! We recently had a great press event in San Francisco, and now the floodgates are open. We revealed to the world that Age of Empires Online is a free-to-play game, and we are giving you a full Age of Empires experience for free.

So what’s the #1 thing? I want to go over our business model so it’s really clear for you all. Trust me, it’s cool, and I think you all will be happy with it.