You may have some better success finding games to play on GameRanger .
I just logged on and saw 250 rooms for Age of Empires 2.
For Age of Empires there were only about 30.
gaming.stackexchange.com/users/6745/Weegee
Voobly: They got a rating system where you receive and lose points for each battle win or loss.
They got some nice features like download of recorded games of other games played.
Maps for custom scenario, random maps like Michi, Land Nomad, Arabia and Black Forest usually played there.
GameRanger:
Very fast client software (faster than voobly).
They usually play maps like Black Forest, Arabia and custom scenario with rules like NR (no rush) and Diplomacy (you choose allies during gameplay).
Garena: never played there.
Another option.
gaming.stackexchange.com/users/13643/Victor
Age of Empires II : Conquerors has been re-released as Age of Empires 2 HD on Steam .
It includes all the usual Steam-based matchmaking features and runs on Win 7, 8 and 10.
You're going to find a larger player pool if you don't mind paying for it again.
gaming.stackexchange.com/users/3404/Drew
You can still play them online, if other people are actually in the lobbies is a different detail all together.
Your best bet is to get friends to play the game with you.
I'm not promoting illegal activity but disk sharing if they don't have it could get you some AoE1 and 2 online goodness.
gaming.stackexchange.com/users/7998/Jeff Langemeier
Found a online service called http://www.hellaoe.de/ which offers to play AOE together via Hamachi .
gaming.stackexchange.com/users/10296/powtac
I don't know about Age of Empires I, but people still play Age of Empires: Conquerer's Edition online, on Tunngle.
It's available here:
http://www.tunngle.net/index.php?l=en Just register with a username, download the software, login, join the network of the game you want to play, go to LAN connection section in the game to view servers and start playing.
Have fun!
gaming.stackexchange.com/users/25411/Forbidden Overseer
Can I still play Age of Empires 1 or 2 online? The GameSpy room for AOE 1 is always empty.
Age of Empires (1+2) online?
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gaming.stackexchange.com/users/10296/powtac
Try using Gameranger or Voobly instead. They usually play maps like Black Forest or Arabia with rules like NR. Age of Empires (1+2) can be played online on a variety of platforms.
A variety of online platforms is available.