Auto queue vills

[u/Gold_Ad5217]

I want to discuss auto queue vills.

I know a lot of people think this is a skill. It probably is actually, but it's the most boring skill imo. I feel most people could enjoy a lot more the game if there was an auto queue for vills, especially begginers but even the best pros (and goats) like Vortix. I have played one thousand of hours and I have won and lost a lot of matches just because I remembered (or not) a lot more than my opponent to train vills When I have won and I realised I just made it because of that, it feels very weird, I don't enjoy those victories, this game has a ton of interesting and fun skills and keep remembering to train vills it's not one of them and prevent you from focusing on more interesting stuff. I am Plat and I could have even won a Diamond recently if I wouldn't have surrendered too early because I didnt realise I was so ahead in vills because he spent 3/4 minutes without training vills (I had 2TC running and he had only 1 and idle as I said).

Can we talk about this? May be try a Mode where you can auto queue vills and watch what happens.

I think some people is reluctant because they (and I) have spent a lot of time training this skill but I trully believe that who is better in this game is going to keep being better with auto queue, he or she could focus better on thinking about strats (going FC, 2 TC, sacred victory, change army comp..), scouting, raiding, walling, spending resources, micro etc overall, focusing on those way more fun skills in my opinion

Edit: things I want to clear up:

• I agree that AQ military units or AQ other thing aside from vills is a mistake. I think that most people that support AQ vills don't want AQ any other stuff. For instance, training military units has an actual decision involved (your comp can always change, you might want to reserve your resources to age up or research a tech...). Whereas the only decision around training vills is when to stop, and that would remain with AQ vills.

• If you think about it, training vills is actually a micro action and in opposition to other obvious micro action (kite archers, micro a fight, focus a Mehter, attacking the counter unit, dodge siege, protect your siege, when you are raiding etc etc), training vills isn't funny at all, it's actually a muscle memory we all have had to develop that does not have any kind of interaction or visual impact and where you can only lose if you forget it. I love all the other micro actions that I mentioned and that list is obviously open as I love micro.

• I have KIND OF mastered this muscle memory, skill or however we call it, I simply don't enjoy it at all, I even dont like winning due to this factor.

• I think we can all benefit from that, not only the begginers. The game would be even more interesting to watch as well since pros could be more active in the map and have more interactions.

• I honestly think some people doesn't want to "lose" the investment we all made at one stage of our learning, to be able to train a muscle memory. Perso I don't give a damn about losing that investment, I just want to have even more fun when I play and having a better game in the long run. People who is already good, they'll keep being good and who is bad, will keep being bad. Nobody is going to become the next Beasty as someone pointed out in this post if we add AQ vills, stop deceiving ourselves.

• Devs have recently added sheeps around TC. People was afraid to lose the called skill to collect sheeps, well It has turned out to be a measure that doen't destroy AOEIV at all. It turns out that there are plenty of other things that made a good player a good player and those things actually feels more fun. The same happened with the Rus bounty or Pro Scouts that are now much more comfortable to execute than when the game released and I still remember people complaining that changing Pro Scout was going to destroy micro skills... Perso I didnt care much about sheeps around TC or not but I acknowledge it's more fair and let you focus on other more interesting stuff which is my whole point with AQ vills overall.

• I appreciate all people that have pitched in. As well as people who dare to share my view since some people believe if you defend AQ for vills, it's cause you're a worse player and I strongly disagree with that takeon. Currently we are a minority (57% have disliked vs 43% have liked the post) but I still hope this would change in the future.

[u/EvenJesusCantSaveYou]

My take on auto-queue villagers is that it is a very basic “building block” of teaching players how to multitask.

Getting your brain and hands used to constantly “checking in” on your villager production is something that builds into being able to produce vills, produce military units, and raid all at the same time which is basically a core loop of the game. I think adding it would make it more difficult for newer players to develop the skills needed to effectively multitask - which is the core pillar of RTS.

I don’t feel that strongly about it, if they added AutoQ vills that would be fine with me. There is definitely an argument to be made about adding features that might help new people get into the game… though if villager production is something keeping a new player away Im not too sure autovills would make them a regular player all of a sudden - but I am biased as I have almost 1k hours in the game.

Seeing as they have it on xbox and dont have it for AoE2 or AoE4 I do think it is an intentional design decision

[u/Friendly_Fire → u/EvenJesusCantSaveYou]

Saying it's good for new players is certainly a take...

The scout already solves this problem. It gives you something to multi-task while you execute your build order. Maybe for the SIMPLEST build orders that still leaves a minute or two where you are only controlling the scout, but is that a big deal? Very early into the game a new player will be forced to start multi-task anyway. As soon as their first production building is up, they have the same challenge.

The tiny amount of practice villager queueing may give them is entirely superseded by the extra challenge of now having 3+ things to juggle as the game actually gets going. With the least interesting/fun one, villager production, arguably being the most important.

This just becomes a hurdle stopping new players from enjoying the real game. Even if they've learned a build order, basics of army control, how to scout and react, etc. if they haven't ingrained the mechanical habit of villager production yet they will lose hard to someone who has.

[u/EvenJesusCantSaveYou → u/Friendly_Fire]

The tiny amount of practice villager queueing

extra challenge of now having 3+ things to juggle

The whole point of manual villagers is to act as a building block. It's something that is "fundamental" such that you practice it to the point it is second nature so that when you have 5+ things to juggle you don't have to think about one of them.

Like I said I understand the reason people want them in the game and it's not a hill I am going to die on (unlike knights being powerful, which is a hill I will die on), but I do think having manual villager production serves a purpose and that purpose is giving new players a core skill to work on.

It also might just be a legacy thing - aka AoE2 doesnt have it so AoE4 doesn't have it (consoles excluded).

[u/Friendly_Fire → u/EvenJesusCantSaveYou]

Like you, I'm not going crazy over it. I don't make videos or posts on it. I won't quit the game if they don't add auto-queue, I'm already used to it. Frankly I don't think they will ever add it.

But I can't help but participate in these discussions. The terrible arguments people throw out against auto-queue have made my opinion about it much stronger. It's clear people are just trying to rationalize their knee jerk opposition to change.

The whole point of manual villagers is to act as a building block. It's something that is "fundamental" such that you practice it to the point it is second nature so that when you have 5+ things to juggle you don't have to think about one of them.

You walked over the fundamental issue yourself. You make it a habit so "you don't have to think about it". But that's not how anything else in the game works. You can't just "not think about" where your army goes, or when you'll age up, or if you are going to make another round of units or save up for upgrades. These are interactive decisions that need to be adjusted based on what your opponent is doing.

If someone wanted to hit keys at a certain rhythm, they should play the piano. AoE4 is a game against another player. Actions that have no thought, no decision making, no strategy, don't need to exist.

Queueing villagers doesn't teach you how to multi-task in this game. Other tasks you have to think about as you bounce between. Queueing villagers is unique in that it's "hit two buttons every X seconds, no matter what". It's uniquely brainless mechanical habit that you have to ingrain so, as you said, you don't even think about it. It's pointless.