izigame.me

If you're playing this game for the multiplayer then let this game die.

I won't deny that this game is fantastic and I love it. There are many varieties of civilisations to play, and countless cards and strategies allow for a combination of play styles. It's why I have a total of over 2,000 hours of game time (including the legacy version of the game). And what makes me excited are the countless updates that happen from time to time, which adds to its sandbox gameplay. In fact, my best childhood memories were just casually playing AOE3 when I was 5-7 years old back in the late-2000s.
Note: I'm only commenting on the game's team-base community. Not 1v1.
Angry Players
However, the community of this definitive edition (DE) is not the same as the legacy edition (LE). Before DE was released, I used to be active in the LE's multiplayer community from 2014 to 2020. People were friendly, always willing to help others, and would often engage in conversations. This would happen even when both the lobby and the quick match had rank on. I remember the community being so nonchalant, even during its peak player count during the weekends. This was also the time when players could review other people's decks in the lobby, which resulted in two things happening. Players with poor decks were either removed or consulted on making a better deck. It's not the same with DE. Players have to rely on the amount of games they played, their ELO, and civilisation experience. But that can only go so far until someone on your team checks your deck after 10 minutes of the game starting, complains, throws a tantrum, and leaves. As a result, the entire game disbands. This really wasn't much of an issue back in LE, but it's one of these frustrations that causes players to become aggressive.
Toxic Players
Another issue that DE has compared to LE is removing the "ranking" system from LE. Almost every lobby was ranked back in LE, which caused players to either try to balance the lobby by low/high players "break even" into opposing teams. For example, two lower players are not placed on the same team but on opposite teams to balance out the game. The other was gatekeeping the lobby to similar skill levels. Sounds bad, but in practice, it develops a community of familiar/known players; LE players tend to be more polite and tolerant of each other because why make enemies with your regular friends? There were many times where engage in small talk. Often asking each other where they're from, what they do, how's everyone's night. This was when Europeans, Latin Americans and some Japanese players dominated the servers in LE. Now, in DE, most lobbies have someone worried about another player or their entire teaming being "noobs" or "idiots." How can you develop a community when players are accusing each other of being noobs? This only reinforces hostility between players. Additionally, the introduction of other regions brought players with a bad mouth who enjoy taunting players. I'm calling out South East Asians and sometimes Chinese players. I've never seen tantrums as stronger than them. When they don't like something they throw a fit, and leave the game to reinforce their point, which ruins the game for everyone. I spent 4 years, since the release of DE trying to be nice to them. Have a conversation, and mediate issues between players and myself sometimes. They just won't have it. I get that they want to play the game but don't go ruining it for everyone. It's one of the reasons why I left Company of Heros 2 after 800 hours of playing its multiplayer. The community there was so toxic. In COH2, you can try muting your teammates until they start team-killing you. In this game, you can try muting these players only to lose out on possible teamwork, future lobbies, or someone rage quitting.
Lacking in Communication
My last issue with his game is teamwork. It's dead compared to LE. Back in LE, players used to write in chat about their plans. Sometimes, it turns into a short military council. We would say, "fb (forward base) here", "fb mid", "this player is weak ", "they might rush look at their decks", etc... Now, it's just silent. Chinese players normally keep to themselves and rarely communicate in English. It's cool as long as they understand what's going on or have a grip on the flow of the game. But it's truly disappointing to watch a team-based game become so quiet. Communication is usually left to asking their team to help them with/on raids. I guess, LE set the standards high in communications back then.
In my opinion, the community is dead. My childhood game, my favourite RTS game is dead. You have a rise of angry players who distrust their team, new groups of players who are starting to make the game toxic, and poor communication. If you're going to play multiplayer then just play 1v1 or with a group of people you know. Otherwise, don't bother with randoms. I'm really tired of watching games fall apart, genuine aggressive players spawn and a lack of/poor communication with my team.
I loved this game...once.