Hello from 2006

[HuzeyLongtail]

Long time AOE3 player here. Returning to the game that brought me so much joy/pain as a child.

Excited to connect with everyone and have fun.....except

There are so many patches; I dont even begin to understand where to start or even how to launch the proper patch to be able to play with everyone.

Which brings me to my point. ACCESSIBILITY. I see there is a winter tournament. I would love to register/play. BUT I see I need an xp mod....hell I cant even connect to play an online game much less launch the special xp mode patch and find someone to play with me.

All in all I hate to sound too negative but I'm flustered and a bit overwhelmed by the complexity required to get back into this game. It seems like a fun/active community here. I am a very casual PC gamer. Using Aoe3 Asia way to take a break from sports betting. Maybe it has all just passed me by....shit at the moment.I cant even get my ESO password to work to try and play online.

HELP lol.

[EAGLEMUT]

Hey, most players simply play on the regular official patch you get out of the box, on latest expansion (The Asian Dynasties). No extra patches required
XPMOD is just something you can use to gain max level cities and all the cards instantly, it's something you do once and that's the end of it.
If you wish to join the tournament, that is indeed played on ESOC Patch. ESOC Patch is included in the same installation as XPMOD, you can get the installer here and you're all set: esoc-patch.php

ESO password can only be reset through this website: https://esoaccounts.agecommunity.com/PasswordReset.aspx
If you are unable to get your account back, perhaps some other user from around here will give you a new account.

Welcome back

[XeeleeFlower]

Hugs

I understand that feeling of being overwhelmed. It hasn't passed you by, you just have a little catching up to do. No worries though! Our community is really great and filled with many helpful people. You do need to be able to logon to ESO in order to play with/against others. If you are unable to get your password to work, I suggest either repurchasing the game or maybe someone on here can help you out with a new account. Using the XP mod is super easy and you can ask someone on Discord (get on Discord if you aren't already) to help you. Sometimes you'll get an answer straight away, though do expect that you may need to wait a bit as people may not be available when you are.

Welcome to the community!

Edit: @EAGLEMUT 2op4me

[Cometk]

@HuzeyLongtail once you’re all set up, let’s play some games together! My eso username is nxworries

[Mitoe]

Welcome back!

[deleted_user]

Very excited to see you.

[Zutazuta]

Guy claims to be PC gamer yet all the mac boiz pile in...

[bittersalt123]

Welcome back man I hope you stay a while and have fun/

[fightinfrenchman]

Welcome. My name is The Ear

[jesus3]

Hello we are essentially the same as you, a bunch of old sweaty nerds. Welcome back!

[kami_ryu]

You can make Captain in this game with a single build order that you nail pretty well, imo. Game becomes harder at a higher level than that

welcome back though :)

[Superfly47]

Below Captain level everyone pretty much plays the RE patch (stands for regular patch). Don't worry about the EP patch until you get to Captain. Their would be big meta changes and build order changes since 2006 that are far more impactful than difference between RE and EP patches.

Your build orders and meta will be extremely out of date. You have two options, you can play with old and discover changes from opponents, see how old strategies do vs new ones. I expect not very well, but it could be fun to try at first. Then once you start to get tired of struggling with worse strategies, you can read up on guides about how to play your favorite civs. Here they are viewtopic.php?f=29&t=9169. Many if not most of the guides are a few years old, which actually makes them kind of out of date, strategies keep improving even this many years after the release. A guide from 5 years ago while out of date, would be far better than using 2006 strategies. You could also search for posts on your favorite civs, many of those are pretty recent. They won't be as extensive as guides, but could talk about latest strategies.

Since build orders and meta have changed so much since 2006, your favorite civ then might not be your favorite now. I wouldn't suggest just focusing on a couple civs right away. You could start with old favorites, but also try others as well.

Most important, focus on what you enjoy most. If you want to just jump in instead of doing lots of research, do that. If you want to research lots of changes and better build orders and meta before play, do that. I left the game for many years, came back a couple years ago and most enjoyable was when I first came back.

[SoldieR]

RE actually stands for Robot Entertainment. They were the company after Ensemble Studios that took over for a short period of time. They made the last patch before all support faded away.

[HuzeyLongtail]

Thanks for the response. I'm doing much better now with playing online and now that I'm getting my hotkeys all set up....it feels like home again. I was a little baked and easily confused when I posted this. Thanks ya'll.