New Weekly Ladders Added
New weekly ladders are up and running. These weekly ladders will give players the chance to compete in faster ladders to earn medal each week. Each week we will change the ladders so everyone gets a chance to compete.
This week's ladders are 1v1 Supremacy and 1v1 Deathmatch. Now get out there and play.
10/6/08
Bruce's Blog - Closing Ensemble
Bruce Shelley has updated his blog with more information and thoughts on the closing of Ensemble Studios. He goes into the details on the decisions behind the closing and the future of the studios.
We are forging ahead right now here at Ensemble and continue to support the game and the community during this time.
9/22/08
The best 12 years
I am sure that you have all heard the news by now, Ensemble Studios closing its doors after we ship Halo Wars. It was certainly a shock to everyone when we found out about the decision. The team took it as best they could given the circumstances, and handled themselves professionally.
We are happy that Ensemble got to spend as much time as we did entertaining our fans over the last 12 years, and we would not be where we are without such a great bunch of people standing behind us. For what it is worth we thank you. As we move into the future we will continue to support the Age of Empires and Halo Wars fans and franchises and make sure that they are supported fairly.
I am incredibly proud our team here at Ensemble and of the time we have spent making games for you. It has been some of the best years we have had.
9/12/08
Good Bye Graham
Bruce Shelley updated his blog with news about Graham "Thunder" Somers. Graham worked at and with Ensemble Studios and in the community for the last 10 years, and recently has gone back to his hometown of Vancouver British Columbia.
Ben "Solus" Donges also has his latest blog up at EnsembleStudios.com, discussing community relations, and with more pictures from inside Ensemble.
9/8/08
ESO Server Maintenance 9/9
We will be taking the servers down briefly again, but they will be back up as soon as possible.
The ESO servers are going to be taken offline for regularly scheduled maintenance on 9/9 at 1:00pm GMT (7:00am CST). Server down time is expected to be approximately 30 minutes.
Thank you for your patience as we strive to improve your online experience.
9/8/08
Multilingual Support
For the last 3 years we have been supporting multiple languages on AgeCommunity.com. After analyzing our statistics over the last few months, we found that our alternate language pages have not been receiving any significant traffic.
As a result, we have decided to remove the links to those pages. Direct links will still work, however we will not be updating them. If you have any issues with our removal of multilingual support, please send an email to webmaster@ensemblestudios.com.
08/26/08
20 Million
In 1997 a small group of people came together in Texas to form Ensemble Studios, and make a new kind of RTS game. The first Age of Empires surprised the critics, developed a major fan base, and went on to sell over a million copies. With each release of Age of Empires and Age of Mythology our success has grown along with our fans and community.
Today we celebrate selling 20 Million copies of the Age of Empires franchise and we want to thank you our fans for making that possible. We hope to keep entertaining you and playing games with you for many years to come.
08/20/08
Bringing home the Gold
Just when it seems like it is Michael Phelps can't get any more golden, the New York Times runs this awesome article, and a closer look page 2 reveals this gem.
"When Phelps is not sleeping, he plays the computer game "Age of Empires" with his suitemates or watches the documentary "Planet Earth." Anything to keep his mind off swimming until he returns to the pool for the preliminaries, where he follows the same prerace routine."
Here at Ensemble we are happy that our games help entertain Phelps and his friends. Keep on taking names Phelps!
New York Times | 08/18/08
The Tapir Witch Chronicles
Heaven Games is running a Age of Empires 3 contest with some RTS games as prizes. To win a prize player's must defeat the Custom Online Scenario by capturing the Sacred Cows and destroying the Tapir Witches.
So if you would like to try and capture the sacred cow head over to Heaven Games and check out the rules.
Heaven Games | 08/011/08
ESO Server Maintenance 8/11
We will be taking the servers down briefly again, but they will be back up as soon as possible.
The ESO servers are going to be taken offline for regularly scheduled maintenance on 8/5 at 1:00pm GMT (7:00am CST). Server down time is expected to be approximately 3 hours.
Thank you for your patience as we strive to improve your online experience.
08/11/08
ESO Server Maintenance 8/5
The ESO servers are going to be taken offline for regularly scheduled maintenance on 8/5 at 1:00pm GMT (7:00am CST). Server down time is expected to be approximately 3 hours.
Thank you for your patience as we strive to improve your online experience.
08/04/08
MrMilo's HotKey Guide
Have you ever wondered why expert players are so fast? Milo has put together a great new hot key strategy guide that helps out all of our players, no matter what civilization you play. His guide will give you tips on creating an efficient hotkey setup that will speed up your reaction time and give you that extra boost.
HotKey Guide | 07/29/08
Community Bannings - Point Traders
We have been removing point traders from the ladders for several seasons, making sure that they are not awarded medals and ruining the hard work of our legitimate players. After seeing that there are many repeat offenders that take part in point trading we will be enacting a harsher penalty. Players that are caught will still have their medals removed. We will also be banning players found to be point trading for at least 2 weeks and longer if you are a repeat offender.
We are also investigating reports of cheating in Death Match games. We will continue to pursue players that try and cheat our online system. If you suspect that you have been cheated in a game write in to Age3.Abuse@EnsembleStudios.com
7/21/08
AOM Server Maintenance 7/22
For real this time!
The Age of Mythology servers will be going offline for maintenance on 7/22 starting at 12 noon GMT (7:00am CST). Down time is expected to be aproximately 8 hours. This will not effect Age of Empires III.
We thank you for your patience as we work to improve your online experience.
7/21/08
IGN Previews Mythologies
E3 is going on this week in Los Angeles and the press is being shown many upcoming game titles, including Age of Empires: Mythologies, the DS AOM game. IGN has a preview posted with news on how the game is shaping up.
Also at E3 this week is Ensemble's next game, Halo Wars! Check out HaloWars.com for articles and impressions from the show.
07/16/08
AOM Server Maintenance 7/15
Update: We are delaying this maintenance session until 7/22.
The Age of Mythology servers will be going offline for maintenance on 7/15 starting at 12 noon GMT (7:00am CST). Down time is expected to be aproximately 8 hours. This will not effect Age of Empires III.
We thank you for your patience as we work to improve your online experience.
7/14/08
Milo's Russia Rush
Villagers? Bah, who needs 'em. Mr.Milo has put together a strategy article with Russia that involves a halt to villager production when you've invested in the second Age, and prepare for an all out assault! What shipments do you need? What units should you make? Head to the strategy forum for the full article, or check out Milo's VOD.
NVR Rush article | VOD | 07/02/08
