Play Age of Empires Online Why You Need to Believe My Lies

 
Be warned: I am a strident fan of classic computer real-time strategy series Age of Empires and when finally given the opportunity to play a new take on the game I will go to great lengths to make sure it sticks around.
Usually that wouldn't be a problem. But Age of Empires Online's survival faces two challenges: It's an unequivocating real-time strategy computer game hitting during a time when the best of its ilk have shrunk away to become casual or Facebook games. It is a free game that can only survive economically if people are willing to eventually spend too much for too little.
So be prepared to be lied to, because I can't let this game die.

Here's the part where I'm telling you the deep, honest-to-god, from-my-heart truth.

There are a lot of things about Age of Empires Online that make it better than the games that came before it. But what makes me love it more than those previous versions (Yes, even Age of Empires II... even the Rise of Rome expansion) is that for the first time in my life I am the father, not the son, in the long, late-night matches I play with my family.
The fact that I can play with my son, while sentimental, isn't a reason unto itself for my adoration of the game, it simply highlights what's great about this new take on gathering, building and conquering.
I spent a few sleepless nights playing Age of Empires Online, offline. While technically I was still connected to the internet, I didn't have to be, well not for any meaningful, game-mechanics reason. I completely ignored the ability to play cooperatively and competitively as I played through the quests of Age of Empires Online as if I were tackling the campaign of one of those earlier age games.
While the basic mechanics of Age of Empires Online is fairly reminiscent of previous versions of the game, the overall approach to the game has a component of persistence that changes everything.
The game's new core is built around a persistent city that is home to both the game's many quest givers and the decorative spoils of war, but also things that allow you to permanently shape and augment your armies.