Lets's muster this mass respons to FUNCOM, Let's get AoC revitalized and a new starter area!! (Poll)

DaSpack

For some reason all MMOers (or at least many of them) say OMG Tortage is the best MMO moment ever. People love the first 25 lvls of AoC. Particularly the trolls say that. They say that sort of to justify all the QQ they want to share about the rest of the game (or at least it used to be like this... a couple of years back when it was popular to hate on AoC ). Anyways, I was one of the guys that was not too found of Tortage. I loved the game after Tortage and have been here for almost 4 years now. The only bad thing about the game is boring boring Tortage, and every time I want to make a new character I have to run through that same old same old again. I am sure some people must feel it the same way.. Or perhaps a whole bunch of people feel it like this. So here is the thing, I am sure if this thread get like 5000 people saying that Tortage as the only starter area basically is one of the primary reasons for not picking up the game again they would do something about it.

So lets do this. Lets do the poll and overwhelm them with, "We need a second starter area!!". For those knowing the lore which area would you suggest as new starting area. My favourite would be Kush or Shem... The lore from Amra and Belit.

L0C0Man

I 100% agree with those that say that tortage is great. It' not only one of the best areas in the game, I'd go as far as to say it's one of the best starter areas in MMOs today. But also agree that alternatives are needed, bit problem with tortage is that it's only one.

It's great for your first character... for your second... but when you're playing it for the 5th or 6th time you end up trying to get out of it already. It's one of my pet peeves with MMOs these days when there's only one linear path of progression (you're X level, go here, until you reach Y level, now go there and so on), and personally it's one big thing that games like GW2 and WoW got right, a different starter area for the different races, so that playing an alt doesn't feel like doing it all over again, and different leveling areas available for each level range.

Sevenwind

Will not happen. I think there is too much lore tied into the main destiny questline that comes off Tortage.

I agree completely the island is a hassle after your second character. I am grateful I have a majority of my characters at max level and the free 50s you get. After your second character you are a Tortage pro and you know exactly where to go to level up fast and how to do the night time quests fast as well.

So much of AoC is focused on level 80 that I highly doubt anything will ever be done for the 1-79 levels. 

How can you not enjoy watching noobs fighting the Batdemon get knocked off the ledge???

DaSpack

Vote people!! And also, which area would you like to see as starter area?

DanitaKusor

It would be a bit of a waste of time spending development time and $ on a new starting area when most experienced players will cruise through in under 2 hours.

FromHell

Not really necessary, putting on one of the account wide XP boost and Tortage Survival pack for alts and you fly through the starter area. It´s still fun although I did it like four times already. Afterwards you have all choices of the world to level in 4 different large countries.. UNLIKE TESO, with their funny faction lock, as far as I know.

As you probably know you can even leave Tortage early by talking to the smuggler after finding his note in the back alley

evilastro

They would be better off just letting people skip straight to level 20 for alts after doing it once. Although I don't see anything wrong with Tortage, and as others have said, it fits in with the lore since everyone is supposed to follow the same destiny.

FromHell

Originally posted by evilastro
They would be better off just letting people skip straight to level 20 for alts after doing it once. Although I don't see anything wrong with Tortage, and as others have said, it fits in with the lore since everyone is supposed to follow the same destiny.

With the Kithai expansion you even got the option to create one lvl 50 character, if you already had a char above 50 

MrSchnuffi

Alternative starting area makes no sense, since the entire lore up to defeating Toth-Amon is tied to Tortage. And you have already 3 routes to play in the starting area (white sands, acheronian ruins and catacombs), of course none of them is sufficient to gain L19 but you are not forced to do all quests neither.

If FC would decide to sink some time and money in "classic AoC" they should work an Keshatta, an area where I really hated questing.

But I still would prefer another masterpiece like Khitai anyway but unfortunately that is not likely at all.

kevjards

Seen has i,m one of those guys who has done tortage on 7xlvl 80's .yeah it does get repetative but its no different than any other mmo..tera is the same.but to the point of a change of start area..i dont think so..it still is the best start area of any mmo i have come across and its ideal to get to know your char.and then there is the cost of the revamp..it would cost a lot to make a new start area..funds that are better spent on end game content...i do wish it would go b2p because it would sell thousands without a doubt..its still one of the best looking games out for its age.the combat is amazing..if only they had'nt screwed up the launch of the game.

evilastro

Originally posted by FromHell

Originally posted by evilastro
They would be better off just letting people skip straight to level 20 for alts after doing it once. Although I don't see anything wrong with Tortage, and as others have said, it fits in with the lore since everyone is supposed to follow the same destiny.

With the Kithai expansion you even got the option to create one lvl 50 character, if you already had a char above 50 

Yeah I was granted two level 50s at various stages, just wasn't sure of whether that was a one off promotion or a permanent thing.

Po_gg

Originally posted by FromHell

Originally posted by evilastro
They would be better off just letting people skip straight to level 20 for alts after doing it once. Although I don't see anything wrong with Tortage, and as others have said, it fits in with the lore since everyone is supposed to follow the same destiny.

With the Kithai expansion you even got the option to create one lvl 50 character, if you already had a char above 50 

Just a correction, jumpstart at lvl50 was implemented way before Godslayer (more than a year before if I remember correctly). Maybe you ment offline leveling, that arrived closely the same time as Godslayer, maybe a few weeks earlier with the update right before RotG launch.

As a lore/story focused dude who loves leveling alts, I never liked those two features and never used them either. I understand that there are players who only want to get a capped character quickly and do the endgame grind, lvl50 + offline levels are good for them. It doesn't change the fact that it's sad... AoC has a great and well-written leveling experience, it's a waste to skip it. If you compare that to reading/books, those options are like:

-Here, you can take Howard's books and enjoy his writings by reading them all OR if you're lazy you can choose this post-it, it has "Conan always wins" written on it.

 

On a sidenote, it's funny when Age of Wulin-shu reviews say "new stuff, it has offline leveling option"  AoC has it since years...

DaSpack

Don't get me wrong people. I love AoC too, but hell.... It WOULD NOT hurt getting another starter area option in place. Add another culture/race another nation... bake in that new crafting system and just relaunch the entire thing.. Even as B2P if that's what it would take to get revtilized the starting experience.... sure sure sure, there are ways to bypass starting area, but it just does not feel right it messes a bit with my immersion and RPG feel with my character. Vote people (and do answer yes !! )

Po_gg

For me Tortage is the best starter area in mmo's (Shire is close second), I've played it through ... let's just say it's a two-digit number (don't want to sound too fanboi-ish ) and I'm not tired with it at all. And I agree that every new content / area / expansion is good and welcomed for a game.

But I think Danita is right, building a new starter area and fitting it into the world and the story would consume lots of resources, way too much for the expected benefits. I mean most players aren't like me, they play through the content once, or a couple of times at most, after that they only rush through the game until level cap. So putting resources into a lvl1-20 content... I don't think it has high chances...

What's more likely (especially with Joel and parallel development) is upgrading previous areas, like they're doing it with TSW's Issues. New quests, new lines at npcs, new areas opening up from old content, etc. Maybe returning back to Tortage at mid-level for some additional quests, check how they manage after Strom...

Toolfan

I agree. I hated/hate Tortage. Not sure exactly why.

 

I think everyone thought Tortage was the shit because it was fully voiced over.

FromHell

You know what would be even better?

Add ONE giant underground catacombs zone to Tortage, perhaps at the southern part, with some "skull and bones" themed ghost pirates. Monkey Island FTW !  

 

- add one more fully voiced Destiny Story quest which ranges from 1-80, like the original Destiny quest

DaSpack

Originally posted by Toolfan

I agree. I hated/hate Tortage. Not sure exactly why.

 

I think everyone thought Tortage was the shit because it was fully voiced over.

Well don't know about the voice over.. They are btw voicing over entire AoC now. was in last development letter for February... That aside they need new starter area. I also see from the poll now that the yes percentage is creeping up. 

ozerinx

i voted no because, funcom is not likely to read or make changes to what the people want this late into the game. 

Panthien

A new starting area would be all good and all, and I agree would be fun. But.. imo development is better spent elsewhere.

DaSpack

Originally posted by ozerinx
i voted no because, funcom is not likely to read or make changes to what the people want this late into the game. 

Dude.. Answer No only if you mean No. If you actually would like to play again if a new starter area like Tortage was added then answer yes.

LuckyDucky

Originally posted by Panthien
A new starting area would be all good and all, and I agree would be fun. But.. imo development is better spent elsewhere.

This is how I feel about it. I think the leveling between 70 and 80 could use a boost. A play area like Dragonspine or Turan to fill in the gameplay once you enter the 70s. In fact the 70s is where I use my off line levels because the content is so sparse for those final ten levels. A lot of the quests that are available seem to require a group to get done, and thay are scattered all over Hyboria. A cool play area like the Eiglophian Mountains or Thunder River for levels 75 to 80 is what I think is needed.

snapfusion

Conan is a beautiful world with fluid animations fun raids but a broken melee combat system  ( the combo system) just doesnt work for enough people, and being a  caster to avoid it isnt an option for everyone.

 

Remove the combo system replacing it instead with button executes ability and you might get enough people to stick around.  The combo system is a confusing and distracting mess that takes away from situational awarness and burns up 6 keys that could be better spent on abilities, it may have looked good on paper but it just doesnt trasnlate well in application.

 

Mashing extra buttons for the desired result is nothing more than button mashing for the sake of button mashing.  This is not a console game, this is not dance dance revolution or guitar hero.  I as a player want to focus on abilities and counter abiliies not click 3 extra buttons to execute my ability.

 

This was such a major design flaw but such a huge part of how they built the game that they just so far havent figured out how to remove it, they have tried obviously, by slowing removing the number of combos but that really wasnt enough to keep people around.

Its one of the reasons the original game designer was let go.  But now they seem stuck with it.

LuckyDucky

Originally posted by snapfusion

Conan is a beautiful world with fluid animations fun raids but a broken melee combat system  ( the combo system) just doesnt work for enough people, and being a  caster to avoid it isnt an option for everyone.

 

Remove the combo system replacing it instead with button executes ability and you might get enough people to stick around.  The combo system is a confusing and distracting mess that takes away from situational awarness and burns up 6 keys that could be better spent on abilities, it may have looked good on paper but it just doesnt trasnlate well in application.

 

Mashing extra buttons for the desired result is nothing more than button mashing for the sake of button mashing.  This is not a console game, this is not dance dance revolution or guitar hero.  I as a player want to focus on abilities and counter abiliies not click 3 extra buttons to execute my ability.

 

This was such a major design flaw but such a huge part of how they built the game that they just so far havent figured out how to remove it, they have tried obviously, by slowing removing the number of combos but that really wasnt enough to keep people around.

Its one of the reasons the original game designer was let go.  But now they seem stuck with it.

The combo system has been simplified quite a bit since launch. My son doesn't play this game anymore but I told him it has a new game director." Oh yea? is he going to reinstate the combat system like it was at launch? Combat was so much more fun when it took some effort to pull off a combo. They dumbed it down and ruined it." So there ye be, you can't please everybody. I think the way it is now is a good compromise. Takes enough effort to keep you alert and paying attention without being tedious.

esty17

Originally posted by snapfusion

Conan is a beautiful world ....

 

The problem is that if you do change the combat system you will lose people like me who keep coming back to AOC because all other games seem boring in comparison.  I like the fact I need to shield check to max dps. I like the movement involved between attack directions - no other game system gives this. I feel much more involved with combat with this system. Just my opinion, of course, but many feel the way I do and we all pray the system is not watered down.

Trust me, I understand your viewpoint about keeping things simple as this is an MMO. Well, why do all MMOs have to be the same? Why cannot at least one have a skill based component to the play? You call the current version button mashing, I counter that all other games are button mashing/facerolling - put it anyway you like.

Personally, I think that the poor launch, combined with ongoing bugs and stabillity issues (despite the many improvements), perpetuate a bad image of the game. I wish more people would give the game a serious chance, fight through the lower level content (I say fight as without a population in the early stages it can be a rather solo experience - unless friends all join at once) and experience all of the content that is available at 80. 

Starter Area - I am one of the people that really likes Tortage and am not bothered having to go through it again. With that in mind I think people with at least one character out of Tortage should be able to just start at say lvl18-20 within their starter zone in greens.  A new starter area would be great, but unfortunately I am not convinced diverting limited resources to that effort is the best bang for the buck to up population.

There certainly is increased activity on a least Set and Deathwish in NA where I have toons. Hopefully some buzz can be created to bring people around and something hooks them to the game. In the meantime, all of this discussion is great as it shows people still care about the game's success.

 

Slappy1

First and foremost,I feel Tortage is great and you can zip through that area if you choose,it doesn't really take that long a time.

I don't think FC should put resource's toward another start area,just seem's a total waste to me.The time would be better spent elsewhere.

Brixon

As starter areas go, I always thought Tortage was pretty good. It is even slightly different depending on the class you choose. Can it get repetitive? Sure it can, but that is the case with most MMO's when it comes to alts. I would rather see Funcom focus it's efforts on revamping Anarchy Online frankly.