ESOCommunity

Mitoe wrote:Hate to say it, but to me the game feels almost as dead as it did near the end of 2014. At least at the top level. Probably more so because all of the quick search players are gone. I can still get games, but it's always against the same 10 people.

Even tournaments don't bring players back anymore, and it doesn't feel like there are a lot of players stepping up to fill the shoes of absent top players. In terms of mechanical skill it feels like the game is at an all-time low, with myself included because I have no one pushing me to be better about my mechanics; or maybe it's just that there seems to be some kind of stigma surrounding mechanics lately. Feels like people say every single mechanic is "easy" and therefore either doesn't matter in the game (as in it's not going to affect the outcome), or doesn't reflect skill.

Lies! League of Legends is still the most popular and successful esports game in the world.

Mitoe wrote:Hate to say it, but to me the game feels almost as dead as it did near the end of 2014. At least at the top level. Probably more so because all of the quick search players are gone. I can still get games, but it's always against the same 10 people.

Even tournaments don't bring players back anymore, and it doesn't feel like there are a lot of players stepping up to fill the shoes of absent top players. In terms of mechanical skill it feels like the game is at an all-time low, with myself included because I have no one pushing me to be better about my mechanics; or maybe it's just that there seems to be some kind of stigma surrounding mechanics lately. Feels like people say every single mechanic is "easy" and therefore either doesn't matter in the game (as in it's not going to affect the outcome), or doesn't reflect skill.

Yea i was hoping this tournament would bring back some older good players. Sad that with only a few days left no old players have signed up, I guess you could sort of count umeu although he's remained relatively active on the forums and on twitch,and not even 100 players have signed up.

Ive played every past tournament on one of my smurfs tho! Adriancarrot, dutchlucifer, lordraphael etc

umeu wrote:Ive played every past tournament on one of my smurfs tho! Adriancarrot, dutchlucifer, lordraphael etc

You forget Iamgrunt

I am surprised that people honestly thought that this tournament would bring old pros back, and not even the relatively recently active H2O and Blackstar, but guys from 2008. Lol
$ 4000 is not that different from $ 1000, and the presence/LAN final rounds only discourage those who are now pushing 30 or more, or who just live very far

At the same time: the move from escapeaoe has been a real treat - more professional casting + the new world championship are definitely a boost. Viewership seems to grow also on twitch, no?

I mean I don't know anything about how it feels to be at top level nor have I seen AOE3's glory days in competitive e-sports, but as a viewer and occasional player it has gotten better over the last 2 years

Theodore wrote:At the same time: the move from escapeaoe has been a real treat - more professional casting + the new world championship are definitely a boost. Viewership seems to grow also on twitch, no?

Regarding ESOC, one-time viewership peaked with the first big tournament (1k about) and averaged like 500+ with semi matches and garja vs boneng.

It's not because production value has dropped but that the player base is largely stagnant and aging (becoming inactive). It seems there's too large a disconnect between Western and Japanese communities too.

Escape picking up coverage is certainly nice and increases exposure, but it's long-term (and short term) effect on viewership has yet to be significant. I think we're seeing excitement from the already active/semi-active fan base to bring good initial numbers, good initial subs and donations, but it will probably level out.

I don't mean to sound grim, because honestly I don't think anyone saw ESOC developing into what it is. And tournaments are being sustainably produced from community donations which is great. What we have now we've had and still have, but there's very little growth potential for aoe3, coverage is more in preparation for aoe4 and for fun.

I agree, though AOE3:DE holds hope, the big picture is AOE4, where the possibilities are potentially huge.

What is dead may never die.

I have been playing since 2005. I still suck, still love the game and will continue supporting it as long as there is a community.
Thanks to everyone who is helping to keep this game alive!

Warno wrote:What is dead may never die.

I have been playing since 2005. I still suck, still love the game and will continue supporting it as long as there is a community.
Thanks to everyone who is helping to keep this game alive!

what is dead may never die
but rises again harder and stronger

fucking amen brother

rsy wrote:

Warno wrote:What is dead may never die.

I have been playing since 2005. I still suck, still love the game and will continue supporting it as long as there is a community.
Thanks to everyone who is helping to keep this game alive!

what is dead may never die
but rises again harder and stronger

fucking amen brother

Yes, like Hairy's wood! Especially in the morning. Very hard and strong.

Also, don't fuck Amen's brother. He's only 17.

@deleted_user4 depending on microsoft's release plan and how they would like to push aoe2:de and aoe3:de, i actually somewhat expect a resurgence for our beloved games providing they put just half their back into it

i mean aoe2 just had it's largest stream ever this past weekend, right? 19 thousand viewers for the HC2 finals. there is still a sizable demand for these games

Cometk wrote:@deleted_user4 depending on microsoft's release plan and how they would like to push aoe2:de and aoe3:de, i actually somewhat expect a resurgence for our beloved games providing they put just half their back into it

i mean aoe2 just had it's largest stream ever this past weekend, right? 19 thousand viewers for the HC2 finals. there is still a sizable demand for these games

for aoe 2 because its the game of most peoples childhood. aoe 2 probably has the best viewer/ player ratio of all games on twitch. Theres maybe like 4 to 5x more players than aoe3 has, ( id guess like 5000 online players across all platforms on average ) but theres easily 20 or 40 x as many viewers. ALso those viewers donate and sub way more than aoe 3 viewers. ALmost no one subs or donate in aoe 3 while a lot actually do in aoe 2. T90 has like 4 k subs regularly, now is at 7 k cause of HC 2 viper has around 1.5 k regularly and then theres memb daut mbl and a bunch of others who all have sizeable subs+ plus donations. Its fairly common that some people donate 1k plus to streamers.
THeres big demand for aoe 2, but not for aoe 3.