Be sure to direct your constructive feedback to the team via the Age of Empires forums. This was many people's first real look at gameplay, which has been anxiously awaited. Whereas the closed beta had a strict NDA policy that prevented anyone from sharing gameplay, the stress test was open to all. New zoom distances were tested, as were balance changes to the English and Chinese civilizations. If you also played the closed beta, you might have noticed a few changes to the game. As for civilizations, Chinese, English, Holy Roman Empire, and Abbasid Dynasty were playable on five different maps. This stress test focused on multiplayer in order to properly test servers, but players were able to run through the tutorial and play against AI in a custom lobby. Unlike the closed beta that ran a few weeks ago, this stress test was open for everyone with no invite needed. A technical stress test was recently held, running from Sept.
