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Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition News

VOTE! Your Ranked Map Rotation starting June 15!



It’s that time again! Visit the official Age of Empires forum to vote for your Ranked map pool for the next two weeks.

This Week's Dev Picks
[h3]1v1 Random Maps[/h3]
✔ ARABIA ✔ ARENA ✔ BALTIC ✔ GHOST LAKE
[h3]Team Games[/h3]
✔ ARABIA ✔ ARENA ✔ BLACK FOREST ✔ LOMBARDIA ✔ MEGARANDOM ✔ PACIFIC ISLANDS
Cast Your Vote Now!

To participate in the community ranked map pool vote, you will need to login to the official Age forum using your free Microsoft account. Then, click the images below to jump to this week’s polls.






:alertalert: Polls are open until NOON Pacific on Sunday, June 13 (or 3:00p Eastern / 19:00 UTC), so be sure to cast your vote and check back to see which maps emerge victorious!

Ranked Map Rotation – June 01



Here is the latest Ranked Map Rotation as determined by the developer picks and community vote. For the next two weeks, you’ll be able to pick from the new set of maps listed below!

Map pools as of: 6p Pacific (9p ET / 20:00 UTC / 22:00 CEST) on Tuesday, June 01 to Tuesday, June 15
👤 1v1 MAP POOL
This week's 1v1 Community Map Picks are in BOLD.
ARABIA
ARENA
FOUR LAKES
HIDEOUT
ISLANDS
NOMAD
VOLCANIC ISLAND


👥 TEAM GAME MAP POOL
This week's TG Community Map Picks are in BOLD.
ARABIA
ARENA
BALTIC
BLACK FOREST
GOLDEN PIT
HIDEOUT
MEGRANDOM
NOMAD
VOLCANIC ISLAND


👤 1v1 DEATHMATCH POOL


ACROPOLIS
ARABIA
FOUR LAKES
GHOST LAKE
GOLDEN PIT
GOLDEN SWAMP
KILIMANJARO
SERENGETI
VALLEY


👥 TEAM DEATHMATCH POOL


ARABIA
CENOTES
GHOST LAKE
GOLDEN PIT
GOLDEN SWAMP
KILIMANJARO
LOMBARDIA
OASIS
VALLEY

Server Maintenance - Wednesday, June 2



WHAT: Server Maintenance (Matchmaking Servers)
WHEN: Wednesday, June 2nd @ 2:00p PT / 5:00p ET / 21:00 UTC (Countdown)
EST. DOWNTIME: 1-2 HOURS

[h3]GAMES & PLATFORMS IMPACTED[/h3]
[h3]OBJECTIVES[/h3]
  • Routine server updates and maintenance.

[h3]DETAILS[/h3]This coming Wednesday, June 2nd, the platform team will be taking the multiplayer servers down for regular maintenance. Please note:

  • Ranked matchmaking will disabled exactly one hour before the maintenance window to prevent disruption to newly-formed matches.

  • Any matches still in progress at the start of the maintenance window will be disrupted when it begins.

  • DURING THE MAINTENANCE WINDOW, YOU WILL STILL BE ABLE TO LAUNCH THE GAME, BUT WILL NOT BE ABLE TO MATCHMAKE OR ACCESS ANY ONLINE FEATURES.

To prevent any interruptions, we recommend wrapping up any games at least 10 minutes before the maintenance window. The downtime is expected to last between 1 and 2 hours. You can watch this thread with any changes to the schedule as they arise, as well as the all-clear when the maintenance is complete.

Thank you for your patience!

VOTE! Your Ranked Map Rotation starting June 01!



It’s that time again! Visit the official Age of Empires forum to vote for your Ranked map pool for the next two weeks.

This Week's Dev Picks
[h3]1v1 Random Maps[/h3]
✔ ARABIA ✔ ARENA ✔ ISLANDS ✔ VOLCANIC ISLAND
[h3]Team Games[/h3]
✔ ARABIA ✔ ARENA ✔ BALTIC ✔ BLACK FOREST ✔ NOMAD ✔ VOLCANIC ISLAND
Cast Your Vote Now!

To participate in the community ranked map pool vote, you will need to login to the official Age forum using your free Microsoft account. Then, click the images below to jump to this week’s polls.






:alertalert: Polls are open until NOON Pacific on Sunday, May 30 (or 3:00p Eastern / 19:00 UTC), so be sure to cast your vote and check back to see which maps emerge victorious!

This Age of Empires 2 player wrote over 11,500 words to help you get good

With an RTS game as mature as Age of Empires 2, competitive play is no joke. Anyone who's been sticking with the scene since its original release back in 1999 will be pretty good at the strategy game by now. But with the initial HD re-release in 2013, followed by Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition in 2019, new players are likely to have come to multiplayer circuit, ones that won't have the benefit of over 20 years play time.


Retaining new and casual multiplayer audiences is an ongoing challenge for any game, whether you're Age of Empires or Rainbow Six Siege. The general goal is to always nurture newer players until they're good enough to take on the veterans. One Age of Empires 2 player has decided to do their part by compiling a 11,500 word article to help people up their game in AOE2's ranked multiplayer.


We spotted it first on the Age of Empires 2 subreddit, but the guide itself is on DiamondLobby. Author Luke Roberts states that this compendium isn't his advice specifically; rather it's a guide filled with "mathematically-proven strategies", as well as "effective tactics utilized by the top pros."


Read the rest of the story...


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