it is actually not that hard to connect.. hard is not to lose connection. made 5 matches now. lost connection in 4. could end only 1 mission. so for all the guys trying to connect.. its not really worth. just wait for fix.
there is only one which was close but was closed too.. Age of Empires Online don't had cards like BattleForge but you could equip your units with items which you had to farm and which had the typical ratings (common, uncommon, rare, ultrarare, superultrarare). And the fun coop part..
edit: i just found this: https://projectceleste.com/