Aging strategy in Forge of Empires

It is very important when you age up to do so with momentum. To do that you need to be prepared and choose your timing.

Preparations

There are few considerations that need to be considered before aging up to prevent being in an awkward position. These involve map progress, quest progress, building age, forge point storage, and the availability of goods.

Map progress

When aging up, it is important that your progress on the continent map is sufficient enough that you have boosted goods from that age, or that you can easily reach them. Progressing too far on the map can lead to problems, in that it can remove the ability to access recurring quests. Make sure you are observant of that.

Quest Progress

Prior to aging up, it is important to make sure that you are in a good place in your story line to take advantage of any "camping" options the next age may have. For example, in Late Middle Ages you can have access to two recurring quests at the same time if you take precaution with the story line.

Building Age

Special buildings (such as those from events or the antique dealer) do not automatically age up. Some don't need to, because the only added bonus is more gold. Others do need to, such as certain buildings giving attack power, or builds which provide goods. In order to accomplish this, you will need a boatload of one up kits or renovation kits; the more the merrier, and each age will progressively require more and more as well.

Forge Points

You will want to have enough forge points saved to move through the first 3 or so levels of the tech tree. This will require a decent amount of banked (inventory) forge point packets as well as timing your collections so that your bar has as many as possible. You may also end up buying some points with gold.

Available Goods

Aging up will require a decent amount of goods in order to purchase tech in the tech tree. Make sure you have enough goods on hand so that you don't accidentally get stuck needing some.

Timing

Once all of that is in place, make sure to plan on getting to your boosted goods and to your military of choice on day 1 of aging up if possible. With that plan in place, it is best to wait until right after both a season of Guild Battleground and Guild Expedition start. This will allow you to fight with advanced aged troops for 10 days in GBG and 64 encounters of GE.

All that is left is to start preparing, and to figure out which age is best for you. You may find that certain ages fit your fighting style better, or that more goods are available for trades, or that a neighborhood is easier to be in, or that your guild needs goods from that age.

Good Luck!

Yes, I know it's over a year old and you may already have all the answers you need, but, like me, others may be finding this later, and I'm writing for them, too :)

That first answer is an excellent overview of "how" but not "when" or "why".

But I'll start with the last part of your question first.

If you get stuck in a higher age you don't like, move on to the next, then the next, until you get to one you like again. If you can't find one, start a fresh world (or delete and start again on your current world), knowing that you're never going to advance beyond the age you've decided is yours.

More generally, the "Why" is much harder to answer. Some of the more experienced players in my guild(s) say they age up when they're near the top of their neighbourhood, or are bored with their current age. Yes, they'll prepare for the move by stockpiling goods and fp's for the tech tree, but having sufficient prep isn't the "reason why" they move when they do.

As for "When", the exact timing, there are different opinions as to whether it's better to age up before, during or after the next Event/GBG/GE season. Ask within your guild, you'll get lots of different answers and can then choose the approach that fits your style of play.

Finally here's a little insight into my own thinking when I am trying to decide when/why to move up an age:

I enjoy "camping" in an age. After 3 years and 6 worlds, I find I really like EMA. Battle quests (for events) are easy because you still have "small" players at the lower end of your neighbourhood, who are easy to beat. By Colonial, most of those have dropped out of the game.

None of my cities is higher than Industrial. On some worlds I've aged up because my guild required it. On one I aged up to Colonial because I dislike the appearance of the buildings in LMA. On another I got as far as Industrial because I wanted to see what it was like, and am nearly ready to move beyond that. I've also decided that on one world I'll race ahead about 3 or 4 eras to something well advanced of my other worlds, just to see how it feels, but I don't know which of my six worlds I'll use for that experiment - probably the one that's already at Industrial. But I've been reluctant as I don't want to deal with 2-lane roads and "refined" goods once I hit whatever age it is that those kick in. I might get there, and find that I really love those features, and wonder why I've deprived myself of them for so long. Who knows? It's a game, the idea is to enjoy it.