It doesn't lower the skill ceiling, it moves the emphasis on which skills contribute to winning.
It's relatively easy to spot when a game has a problem with low skill ceiling: the very best players have difficulty distinguishing themselves from other top players. So if the top player plays the 100th best player, in a game with low skill ceiling the top player might have a 55% chance of winning or so.
This is very much not the case in AoE4. And if AoE2 would add auto tracking arrows tomorrow, you wouldn't see the skill ceiling drop appreciably. You'd see players with strong micro but weaker macro and strategy fall in the rankings, and slower players with better macro and strategy rise.
It's relatively easy to spot when a game has a problem with low skill ceiling: the very best players have difficulty distinguishing themselves from other top players. So if the top player plays the 100th best player, in a game with low skill ceiling the top player might have a 55% chance of winning or so.
This is very much not the case in AoE4. And if AoE2 would add auto tracking arrows tomorrow, you wouldn't see the skill ceiling drop appreciably. You'd see players with strong micro but weaker macro and strategy fall in the rankings, and slower players with better macro and strategy rise.