We drastically need a better in-game waiting/lobby UX

It awesome that the community seems more vibrant than ever, but the whole multiplayer in-game lobby system is awful and a huge detriment to the community as well.

Looking at some of the issues with the current implementation

• Lobbies can get perpetually frozen so you constantly see them but can't join
• Lobby list doesn't update in real-time, and searching is a terrible experience
• Lobbies don't always get listed
• No list of players looking or playing
• No way to chat with players who are online but not in-game (and not in your lobby)

The main improvement has been the matchmaking system which I think is great, but everything else is seriously lacking. Outside of the top 20-30 players, I don't think many people could list a player who isn't a friend, there are no "regulars" that you see online or clans you see frequently.

Both MSN Zone and Voobly (which was modeled after Zone) solved these problems pretty well. There were other problems with the way they built their lobby browser (aside from it being another piece of software outside of the game) but made the game much more social and community-driven IMO. Zone interface - source and voobly's interface

The inability to chat, or see other players who aren't just in your lobby but are online is drastically reducing the community building in game. Community seems to be an afterthought - and most of it feels as though its on Reddit, built around the top 20 players, or watching SotL videos.

https://aoe2.net/ has solved a lot of the lobby UX problems, but you still are missing the whole player and chat components.. as well as being a completely separate website.

I also have no idea what, if any clans exist or who to contact if I was interested in one. Of the top 200 listed players, theres maybe 4 with only 10 players with clan tags in their name.

Maybe gaming has changed so much that people don't want these sorts of features, but for me, its a regression and not a step forward.