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Improved alot but still feels like a solo game
cujo603
Member UncommonPosts: 103
I got the game when it first came out but it seemed buggy and half finished. Just came back and leveled a couple classes to 22 or so. The game plays very nice now only a few graphical bugs. It just seems like alot of other games, like eq 2 , lotr, and wow, mainly a solo grind with very little teaming.
Comments
Unfortunately that is what I found out earlier in the month as well. The combat is great, the graphics are better than anything on the market, and from what I saw of the end game on the test server the dungeons are superb. The sad thing is, no one wants to group from 1-75 because it's faster and easier to solo quest grind than it is to deal with grouping.
Actually there are alot of quests that you just cant solo...
25% of the game is group content
Hmm, I didn't have a lot of trouble finding groups for Sanctum, Black Temple and the outdoor group quests in Conall's over the last couple of weeks. I play on Set.
Noone of you noticed, that poster just came out of tortage? Tortage is extremely solo friendly but after ...
...there are not many players in the 20-75 range so doing group stuff can be difficult AFTER Tortage and the rest of the game is extremlely solo friendly as most alt O'holics solo up do to having seen the content before and it is faster. Hmmm I know EQ1, EQ2, Warhammer, and Aion there were enough areas to group up and level from the starter area till end game but not sure about Lotro, WoW had a few gaps but also had the most instances from level 10-60 and that is not counting the doubles like horde had one and alliance had another for some levels. Aion was a good grouping game but grouping was a bit stressful as it wasn't PuG friendly.
AoC has 5 or so instances but yeah it will be hard getting groups up, the one saving factor is they don't require much balance in the party....like anyone can tank and DPS and maybe a healer would be good but no CC required at all or a specialized tank as they are a bit on the easy side.
Maybe the expansion will help but all AoC players know that Tortage and level 80 is where everyone is and the middle levels are much smaller so I'm supprised with the OP's findings. Also many of the players solo alts to level cap repeatedly so I would be shocked if more than 7% or so of the entire logged on population was doing anything worthwhile in a group which is also inflated do to many people log on once a week to raid T1/T2 in a few hours.
Who knows maybe the expansion will fill up the servers and fix it as they are not raising level cap but less it ups the population by many times the players that played a lot and verteran comebacks will be on their mains.
Funcom has reviewed all of its assets relevant for
impairment testing. This process has led to
recognition of an impairment loss of around
3,1 MUSD for Age of Conan due to a decrease in
numbers of subscribers for the game. Funcom Q4 10 report.
http://forums.ageofconan.com/showpost.php?p=2926123&postcount=7 500 mains/alts on Tyranny in past 30 days - instead of merge servers let's open a new PvP server, again! http://forums-eu.ageofconan.com/showthread.php?t=106427
Yeah, the game until endgame is solo friendly, and no part so much so as Tortage. But there is a lot of group content in AoC, and even every zone can be done in epic mode, so the grouping opportunities is allmost endless. But with the game being in a more mature state with people mostly playing their max levels or making in-guild groups, joining a decent guild is what you need to do to access much of this.
finatic you clearly haven't played this game
Eh?
1) 5 or instances? You talking about dungeons here?
2) Like anyone can tank?
3) And maybe a healer? And maybe not huh?
Since you say this i have to ask, have you ever played Aoc?
Please see below the list of instances(as of 2009 there may be a few more now). And as for your comment about anyone can tank, all i can say is that some parties need to two tanks(and most parties normally run with two tanks) and CC is required but it is understated, so something you may have missed if you only played for 10 minutes. Most parties go with two healers and two tanks. Some may settle with 2 healers and 1 tank, or 2 tanks and 1 healer.
Note: 6 player Special dungeons are out door instances aimed at group play and scale according to the group, so can be run through out the leveling process.
Also as mentioned by someone above all play fields can be played in "Epic" mode which implies that they are aimed at a group of players. So AoC is exteremly group firendly as well as solo friendly.
Solo Dungeons
Name: Tortage Underhalls
Levels: 10-20
Zone: City of Tortage
Name: Acheronian Ruins
Levels: 10-20
Zone: City of Tortage
Name: Bubshur House
Levels:23-25
Zone: Khopshef's Province
Name: Abandoned Smuggler Tunnels
Levels: 23-29
Zone: Wild Lands of Zelata
Name: The Maze
Levels: 27-29
Zone: Wild Lands of Zelata
Name: Spider Caverns
Levels: 28-30
Zone: Conall's Valley
Name: Black Castle
Levels: 31-32
Zone: Khopshef's Province
Name: Border Range
Levels: 32-34
Zone: Wild Lands of Zelata
Name: Outflow Tunnels
Levels: 35-37
Zone: Old Tarantia
Name: Pyramid of the Ancients
Levels: 36-37
Zone: Khopshef's Province
Name: Treasury of the Ancients
Levels: 38-40
Zone: Khopshef's Province
Name: Noble Villas
Levels: 40-50
Zone: Tarantia Noble District
Note: There are several different dungeons in this group. They spawn mobs according to the player's level.
Name: Ice Cave
Levels: 50-52
Zone: Eiglophian Mountains]
Name: Cannibal Cave
Levels: 55-56
Zone: Eiglophian Mountains
6-Player Dungeons
Name: Sanctum of the Burning Souls
Levels: 37-39
Zone: Wild Lands of Zelata
Name: Cradle of Decay
Levels: 39-48
Zone: Fields of the Dead
Note: This is a public instance and not spawned separately per individual party.
Name: The Cistern
Levels: 50-53
Zone: Tarantia Noble District
Note: This is a public instance and not spawned separately per individual party.
Name: Main System
Levels: 52-60
Zone: Tarantia Noble District
Note: This is a public instance and not spawned separately per individual party.
Name: Catacombs
Levels: 55-60
Zone: Tarantia Noble District
Name: Toirdealbach's Tomb
Levels: 58-60
Zone: Fields of the Dead
Name: AoK
Levels: 59-65
Zone: Yimir Pass
Note: This is a public instance and not spawned separately per individual party.
Name: Os Harku
Levels: 65-70
Zone: Thunder River
Note: This is a public instance and not spawned separately per individual party.
Name: Halls of Eternal Frost (Ice Ruins)
Levels: 70-73
Zone: Atzel's Approach
Name: Scorpion Cave
Levels: 75-76
Zone: Kheshatta
Name: Caravan Raider Camp
Levels: 78-80
Zone: Kheshatta
Name: Atzel's Fortress
Levels: 80
Zone: Atzel's Approach
Name: Onyx Chambers
Levels: 80
Zone: Kheshatta
Note: This is a public instance and not spawned separately per individual party.
24-Player Raids
Name: Vistrix's Lair
Levels: 78-80
Zone: Atzel's Approach
Name: Yakhmar's Cave
Levels: 80
Zone: Eiglophian Mountains
Name: Kylikki's Crypt
Levels: 80
Zone: Fields of the Dead
Name: Black Ring Citadel
Levels: 80
Zone: Kheshatta
Name: Thoth-Amon's Stronghold
Levels: 80
Zone: Kheshatta
Special 6-Player Dungeons
These are group dungeons whose level is variable. It is based on the level of the first person in the group to zone in.
Name: Imirian Ravine
Levels: Variable
Zone: Poitain
Name: Oasis of Zaara
Levels: Variable
Zone: Purple Lotus Swamp
Name: Frost Swamp
Levels: Variable
Zone: Lacheish Plains
Came back two months ago and I've been grouped a lot. Many many PUGs and guild raids are regular. I've very pleased with it since that was one of the reasons I unsubbed after launch.
"Never met a pack of humans that were any different. Look at the idiots that get elected every couple of years. You really consider those guys more mature than us? The only difference between us and them is, when they gank some noobs and take their stuff, the noobs actually die." - Madimorga
Do you guys play the game and really do that stuff? because most do all the solo stuff and the solo portions of those regular zones nicknamed public instances. But they only do the ones linked to quests or have bosses to kill in a group and as it has been pointed out AoC is linear so you go through A to B to C but many of those instances, especialy the solo ones are either quest linked and usualy very small like 20 mobs about Warcraft yeti cave size or they have no quest links so they don't get done.
That argument has been done to death we know what AoC had at release which was all but a few instances added later and there was a big well founded complaint that it was not enough for an MMO. Content is linear and then end game is very thin so far. Expansion may help end game but out of the people who stayed, most left do to little content and even Funcom admits it when they demo TSW.
I did most those instances and I could almost tank as an assassin, ToS and many other classes can tank as they are on the easy side. But even if all the content you listed was done regularly and had good risk/reward it still wouldn't compare to most the high end MMOs quantity wise....AoC just doesn't stack up but that is OK it is a nitche game that goes for graphics which take more time to design I bet.
Funcom has reviewed all of its assets relevant for
impairment testing. This process has led to
recognition of an impairment loss of around
3,1 MUSD for Age of Conan due to a decrease in
numbers of subscribers for the game. Funcom Q4 10 report.
http://forums.ageofconan.com/showpost.php?p=2926123&postcount=7 500 mains/alts on Tyranny in past 30 days - instead of merge servers let's open a new PvP server, again! http://forums-eu.ageofconan.com/showthread.php?t=106427
LOL you can't tank epic mobs so easily. Even lvl 80 bearsaman will have problems with for example lvl 60 epics
The top tank server wide in all of age of conan hypotheticaly wearing all T3 or full level 10 or whatever PvP gear would probably have trouble and get owned trying to tank level 60 epics because of the anti farming things where grey bosses go into rage mode. http://forums.ageofconan.com/showthread.php?t=85317 I didn't hear them change it back and I doubt they would with so many public instances. But yeah that is just another reason I would shy away from AoC...pawning bosses or solo clearing stuff has always been very fun and challenging in MMOs for me.
But if anything after the stat ulgrades with 1.05 pre 78 stuff got very very very easy.
Funcom has reviewed all of its assets relevant for
impairment testing. This process has led to
recognition of an impairment loss of around
3,1 MUSD for Age of Conan due to a decrease in
numbers of subscribers for the game. Funcom Q4 10 report.
http://forums.ageofconan.com/showpost.php?p=2926123&postcount=7 500 mains/alts on Tyranny in past 30 days - instead of merge servers let's open a new PvP server, again! http://forums-eu.ageofconan.com/showthread.php?t=106427
So you can solo grind pretty much to max level. After that it is all grouping. I have 3 80's and I feel so bored in that game because it requires groups at endgame and I'm more of a soloist. I tend to find myself leveling faster than my friends, so solo grinding is not new to me in the least.
I am still sub'd and do enjoy the game, I just don't play often.
"If you're going to act like a noob, I'll treat you like one." -Caskio
Adventurers wear fancy pants!!!
Meh you have no idea about this game whatsover. This i have gathered from your comments above. For example:
"Name: Cradle of Decay This one is a bit bugged and not sure if it is done anymore but I did it and it is a regular world zone."I did Cradle of Decay twice over the weekend. So it is still done.It is a dungoen instanced to your group. This instance was never a public instance so i believe you are lying.
Name: Main System This is a regular world zone.
You are out of date by about a year + As it has changed to an instance dungeon, and this with the Cistern takes over two hours to complete.
"I did most those instances and I could almost tank as an assassin, ToS and many other classes can tank as they are on the easy side. " I find this comment frankly astonishing !
I did the Cistern and the Main system over the weekend (I have 9 alts before u ask) as well. We wiped on the first 3 mobs as we took them on whilst we awaitedour second healer, I was a conq lvl58 and we had a lvl50 Guard in the group as well. So for you to say you can tank as an assassin is just incorrect. Even a lvl80 assassin could not tank a lvl50 dungeon.
I appreciate that you may have played AoC in the past, but it is clear from your comments tht you have not done so in a very long time.
And it is pretty naive of you to think that AoC is exactly the same as it was when you played, actually i am disappointed in you that you have the audacity to make comments about something which you have no current information about. And have the nerve to even argue about it on a public forum, anyone who knows anything about MMOs knows that they change over time, and as such i conclude that you must have an ulterior agenda to somehow discredit AoC. I am sorry but will not engage in debate with an ignoramus. Get updated first and come back then we talk.
We agree on that http://forums.ageofconan.com/showthread.php?t=85317 as even a level 80 tank couldn't handle lower level instances.
But no the game has not changed as much as you wish, I played during win backs and the two patches since didn't touch any of it. It isn't your fault so we probably both don't care so much but the lack of content needed to be addressed in the expansion.
IDK what to say about that group, but the high preformance players that could do that instance probably are not leveling up or playing AoC, usualy they grind out on their mains until they run out of stuff and then they stop playing so they may be back for expansion. I know well that wipes just didn't happen with PuGs even. Heck half the time I played I would get the level boost buff or whatever and be level 30 in a level 40 instance with no problems and that buff did very little aside from let me hit mobs. It's cool you can just market it as a more casual game with more soloing and that is who is playing AoC anyway hence why so many have so many alts.
Maybe I confused the name of cradle of decay there are two instances about a minute away from each other in oasis, one of them is open and there wasn't anything there and I soloed that one but I ran the other and we blew through it with with a reck of a think a ToS was healing and tanking and we may have had a gladiator but a newbie PuG w/o wiping or anything the one with all the quests out front that looks like a temple on the outside then we went to the open one and set it to hard and both where meh.
There where a couple cool instances but isn't like the back bone of the game at all. In some MMOs grouping is much easier and assisted with more places and reasons to. A better LFG system and more instances for loot would help AoC.
Funcom has reviewed all of its assets relevant for
impairment testing. This process has led to
recognition of an impairment loss of around
3,1 MUSD for Age of Conan due to a decrease in
numbers of subscribers for the game. Funcom Q4 10 report.
http://forums.ageofconan.com/showpost.php?p=2926123&postcount=7 500 mains/alts on Tyranny in past 30 days - instead of merge servers let's open a new PvP server, again! http://forums-eu.ageofconan.com/showthread.php?t=106427
Content is limited in AoC of that there is no doubt, I have 5 alts in WoW and 9 here(limited by max possible, why FC limits alts when their content is low is baffling to me) and hence i would say that WoW has double the content that AoC has. But what content AoC does have it uses well, like the ability to run a whole play field in epic mode with a group is nothing i have seen in any other game(maybe cos it is not needed).
And btw the outside instances do have quests, daily quests actually and the bosses do drop loot, my barb is almost fully kitted out with armor from these 3 instances. Although they are not run as much as others instances, simply, I think, because people are not aware of how they work, again this is not a common feature (mini play fields aimmed at groups that scale to the group) in other MMOs.
There are no open dungeons in AoC anymore as far as i am aware.
And i agree that the LFG mechanics could be a lot better, but it is no game killer and they could also scale the XP better for when a high level char joins a lower level group(currently you get 1xp if you have a high level char in your group, which is anti-grouping to say the least).
And yes there could be a few more Instances in the game, they have added a few like the Cradle of Decay (low 40s), Aok (low 60s) (which is a pretty cool instance) and the iron tower (hi 70s). But there is room for a lot more, FC has identified the content issue and i believe that is why there expansion is aimed at content with no level increase, they also say that the play fieds will be larger,. much like the new Yimir pass. So yes lots of room for improvement, but not as bad as you remember it.
I play regulary on Tyranny, for a solo game I sure as hell get ganked a lot at the lvl 50+ range.
For every minute you are angry , you lose 60 seconds of happiness."-Emerson
Well said Vulture Skull. I think you cleared up a lot of misconceptions.
.. .... .- - . - .-. --- .-.. .-.. ... .-- .... --- .-. . .--. --- .-. - .-.-.-
--------------------------------------------------------
Promote what you love instead of bashing what you hate.
Reluctantly decided to cancel today. Just cant see paying a subscription to play solo. Really like the game play and world alot though. I can recommend this game to anyone who likes to solo alot.
What about joining a guild?
Godfred's Tomb Trailer: https://youtu.be/-nsXGddj_4w
Original Skyrim: https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/109547
Serph toze kindly has started a walk-through. https://youtu.be/UIelCK-lldo
All MMOs are solo play until the player decides to involve themselves and start working in teams and/or joins a guild. I play alot of solo myself in AoC, cause I don`t have much time to spend online, and I found out I spend it best alone. Only team up when I go for a instance.
For me it is not just the quests and low population that make it feel like a single player. The lack of risk vs reward is a big problem for me. When all death does is respawn you 5 or 10 secinds from where you died and there is no equipment damage who cares if you die or not. It is like a kiddy game. That and all the forced pathing makes it feel more like a single player game than a MMORPG. Makes for a nice third person view persistant world FPS, but not really a MMO in my opinion.
I miss DAoC
If you want a death penalty, why don't you just make one yourself? Some of us think death penalties are a pain that subtract from being entertained and I don't know if I'd bother to play if it had any. If it entertains you, just delete all your gear and run back and forth to OT every time you die. Problem solved, we can both be happy.
I play all MMOs in the same way (maybe eve differently) and that is solo-ing, possibly grouping with people that are hanging around a group quest area when i wander by, but otherwise i solo all content in all games and I group when it comes to dungeons(which i do enjoy a lot).
Low pop does make it harder to get a group yes, but i have learnt that if you want a group for a dungoen in any game thenit is easier and quicker to start your own group.
In Aoc group dungeons start with the Black Castle and although i have passed this level with all my alts I saw last night people LFM for this instance. I have alts allthrough the level range
VultureSkull (Barb 77)
RevDeath(Necro 73)
Rashala(Demo 63)
Rashaa(Hox 66)
Onyeka(POM 55)
Tutus(Guard 62)
Stabbicus(Assassin 44)
MaBaker(Bear Shaman 44)
Barabus(Conq 58)
and i regularly find groups for dungeons (sometimes it is hard) sometimes i get a group in 5 minutes. Cos i have so many alts i can be soloing with one char, see a call for a dungoen and log the char that fits the level of the dungon being called for.
Yeah the consequence of dying in AoC is almost nil, even if you do not pick up your corpse stone. However in other games where your armor degrades, what is the penatly? Money to repair the armor, which is simply a mechanism to take money out of the game, as is buying mounts etc. So I am not overly fussed about that. Also in AoC you do not res as a ghost and then run back to res at your body, so that may be considered a consequence cos you cannot simply start where you died, you may have to fight back to the place you died which may take time=consequence.
The new play areas area a bit more "free" as well, Yimir pass is an expample of a new play area in Aoc
Godfred's Tomb Trailer: https://youtu.be/-nsXGddj_4w
Original Skyrim: https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/109547
Serph toze kindly has started a walk-through. https://youtu.be/UIelCK-lldo