It’s that time again. But, this time in-game ranked map pool voting is available!
Open Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition to vote for your Ranked Map Pool for the next two weeks.




To participate in the community ranked map pool vote, you will need to open Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition. Then, on the home screen click the Ranked Map Pool Vote announcement to jump to this week’s poll.

:alertalert: Polls are open until 12pm PT (3pm ET/ 19:00 UTC) on Sunday, September 4, so be sure to cast your vote and check back to see which maps emerge victorious!

Come jump into to another fun-filled release with exciting updates, in-game ranked map pool voting, a huge list of fixes, and more for Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition!

With this HUGE update, we’re celebrating in style with a new Dress to Impress Event! Unlock golden fleece-wearing sheep and Crusader Knight mods, plus some really impressive profile icons! So don your best armor – it’s time for all the fun and spectacular challenges!

While there are plenty of notable fixes and features to which to look forward to today, here’s some of the big highlights coming with this month’s update:

• Dress to Impress Event!
  
• Rematch shortcuts!
  
• In-game ranked map pool voting!
  
• Optimized many art asset files to reduce the installation size by 20 GB (5 GB for Base Game and 15 GB for Enhanced Graphics Pack).
  
• A huge list of fixes based on your feedback!
  
• Be sure to dig down into the post below to get all of the juicy details before hopping in-game and checking them out firsthand.

This is just a small taste of what is coming in the latest update. For a more complete list, please visit our site and check out our blog. Happy Gaming!

READ MORE HERE!

💬 DISCUSS: Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition Forum
🗣 JOIN: The Age of Empires Official Discord

Thanks again to our amazing community members, all of whom have helped to make Age of Empires what it is today!

—The Age of Empires Team

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Age of Empires II: DE is celebrating a big update dressed in style – welcome to the Dress to Impress Event! Grab your best armor, shine it all up, maybe grab your golden sheep too, and come battle it out with some flair!

TODAY through September 12th, complete the in-game tasks within the time limit to unlock exclusive rewards!



Remember: if you sign in to Xbox Live at any point during the event, you get to keep all the mods and profile icons you unlock! Sign in, earn your rewards, and enjoy!

This is just a small taste of what is coming in the latest update. For a more complete list, please visit our site and check out our blog. Happy Gaming!

READ MORE HERE!

:alertalert: DISCLAIMER

This list is subject to change and should not be considered a comprehensive list of all the known issues we’re tracking. The above is to inform you of the team’s current priorities, which will change as other issues arise or take precedence.

For the latest updates and announcements, please visit our social channels.

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!

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!

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

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, August 07 (or 3:00p Eastern / 19:00 UTC), so be sure to cast your vote and check back to see which maps emerge victorious!

Hosted by OrnLu and NOVA, RMS Cup 2 is part map contest, part Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition tournament. Long before the tournament began, map creators were getting their time in the spotlight because this tournament features the largest map pool contest in Age of Empires II history. After 99 submissions, 10 maps were selected, granting each map winner a slice of the $4,000 contest prize.

Check out the maps below, or download the map pack to get these custom maps in your game!



After the maps were chosen, the 1v1 tournament began, with world-class players battling it out on these exciting maps. Only the top eight players remain in the RMS Cup 2 Tournament, fighting for their share of a nearly $20,000 prize pool.

Only two will be lucky enough to win the most coveted prize of this tournament: two qualifying spots to Red Bull Wololo Legacy at Heidelberg Castle in October. Catch the conclusion of this exciting event this weekend, July 29 through 31, live on https://twitch.tv/ornlu_aoe and https://twitch.tv/novaaoe!

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!

Last year, we released an update to ranked team game (TG) Elo acquisition for Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition as an initial step aimed at resolving some of the team game matchmaking and rating issues that players were experiencing.

Since then, we’ve continued to monitor this issue and take feedback about unbalanced team games and rating inflation on the team game ladder! We’re certainly aware team game Elo is inflating over time at a rate that is much higher than the 1v1 ladder, which we’ve been working in the background to address. It’s our goal to get team game Elo distribution to more evenly match 1v1 Elo distribution, which in turn should result in better matches found more quickly for players queuing for team games!

Today we are taking a large step toward resolving this issue with two changes to the way points are awarded for team games in Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition.

1. The first change is a one-time adjustment to current team game Elo to help normalize player ratings. For most players, this means you’ll see your team game rating drop, as a correction toward rating inflation.
   
2. The second change is an adjustment to the way points are awarded after a match.

Currently, all team members receive the same number of points for winning a match, based on a calculation according to the average Elo of each team. Example:

• Team 1
  
  • Player A at 2000 Elo
    
  • Player B at 1000 Elo
• Team 2
  
  • Player C at 1500 Elo
    
  • Player D at 1500 Elo
• If Team 1 wins:
  
  • Both players on Team 1 gain 16 Elo (as if a 1500 Elo player beat another 1500 Elo player)
    
  • Both players on Team 2 lose 16 Elo (as if a 1500 Elo player lost to a 1500 Elo player)

With this system, Elo still rose higher than it should for some players (notably, the higher rated players on a team with lower rated teammates.) Our initial step was intended to fix rating inflation, but when there is a large Elo difference between teammates it didn’t correct this issue as much as we had hoped.

Currently, players who team up regularly with lower rated players could artificially increase their Elo. Player A would get more points than they should, while Player B would get less than they should. This is bad news for Player B (and for his future opponents!) because Player B’s rating would be artificially low. Over time, this causes unbalanced matchmaking, and makes for a poor-quality team game experience.

We plan to correct this problem by using a player’s individual team game Elo, instead of their team average, and calculating that against the average Elo of the enemy team. Example:

• Team 1:
  
  • Player A at 2000 Elo
    
  • Player B at 1000 Elo
• Team 2:
  
  • Player C at 1500 Elo
    
  • Player D at 1500 Elo
• If Team 1 wins:
  
  • Player A on Team 1 will gain 2 Elo (as if a 2000 Elo player beat a 1500 Elo opponent)
    
  • Player B on Team 1 will gain 30 Elo (as if a 1000 Elo player beat a 1500 Elo opponent)
    
  • Player C on Team 2 will lose 16 Elo (as if a 1500 Elo player beat a 1500 Elo opponent)
    
  • Player D on Team 2 will lose 16 Elo (since their rating is the same their teammate, they lose the same number of points in this scenario)

In the example above, points awarded are based on a player’s individual Elo compared to the average Elo of the enemy team, avoiding the inflated Elo that results from high rated players regularly teaming up with less experienced or lower rated players.

Because rating inflation has worsened over time, a one-time correction to team game Elo will correct for player ratings that have been able to climb artificially high with the current system. Again, for most players, you will find that your team game Elo has gone down, perhaps even significantly depending on how inflated your Elo has become. If you’re concerned about how this impacts your placement in the ladder, just be aware that this is true for your opponents as well! For exceptionally low rated players however, you may see your team game rating increase slightly.

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Our hope is that these combined changes will alleviate rating inflation and significantly improve the user experience in matchmaking. Over time, this should help team game Elo to be distributed more fairly and lessen the number of inflated accounts at the top of the ladder.

Your feedback is always appreciated, and we will continue to listen to your suggestions on our official forums, Discord, and social channels to find ways to improve your matchmaking experience. We will continue to monitor your feedback and may make additional changes to improve the system in the future.

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!

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

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, July 10 (or 3:00p Eastern / 19:00 UTC), so be sure to cast your vote and check back to see which maps emerge victorious!