Clash of culture makes this a dead end game

If you like not being able to control your fleet, if you like big brother constantly surveilling you during game play and that your game cannot be played unless you are playing under the watchful eyes of the developer, if you like to see the carefully built ships you equipped and bartered self destruct with no strategy, if you like not being the master of your own fate as William Ernest Henley once said in Invictus, then this game is for you. It is everything the Chinese Communisim done to the world and to the Chinese - the sending of spies to steal weapon designs, the arbitrary dictation of who shall rise and who shall fall despite hard work, the constant surveilling of your life (no online monitor, no game play), the mandatory reliance on handouts and social welfares for your survival, and the lack of control over things you should be able to call your own. At first, I wondered why this game is so irksome and so incongruous to my values. As I pondered on its origin, it all made sense. Of course, you can all of sudden have control of all your asset and fate if you are going to buy your way through, which is also reflective of the present corrupt and dictatorial society in China. Lastly, expect upgrades and latest patches to complicate the UI instead of simplifying it. 90% of the game is about acknowledging what you are about to do, i.e. "do you want to decompose so and so components?", or acknowledge for the 3rd time "you want to enter into this realm?", or "re-confirm" you want to expend 5 barrels of oil fighting this battle. It is exasperation and henpecking to the nth degree. I want to pull my hair out after each arena battle and each battle - because I have absolutely no control over my fleet in a battle. I dont know, maybe I am not Communist enough to love this game. The only redeeming trait I like about this game is that it is a little like the naval history version of "the Man in the High Castle". So, it will teach you a little about famous naval engagements and the naval ships from WWI to WWII. But it is an alternative history.

Fantom51 about Age of Ships