A few Questions

Commanderelk · December 2010

Hello Guys and Gals long time lurker here, Im a bit bad with posting my thoughts onto... well anything so please bare with me.So I have been looking for a new MMO to play for a while now and Age of Conan has cought my intrest But I have a few questions and i hope some of ya can answer them

1. What kind of end game PvE is there? i have always perfered small group sized PvE (4-6man) and never really got along with large groups of people

2.Is PvP relatively balanced?

3. At what point does leveling start to feel like a grind?

4.Are there any major bug problems? im in the trial at the moment and i havent ran into any atm but i would like to know about any "big ones" ahead of time

5.What is your personal opinion of the game?

In case anyone was wondering what games i have played in the past heres a short list.

WoW(3years)

PoftBS (1year)

EvE (5months)

Aion(3Months)

EQ2 (2months)

and meny more for less then a month or just trials.

Thanks in advance for any replys.

Nebless · December 2010

Originally posted by Commanderelk
3. At what point does leveling start to feel like a grind? - I found it to be right after I had tapped out my races initial zone. I rolled a Stygian (that whole Egypt thing) and had a blast doing those quests. Didn't even mind when the quests sent me on missions into the other races zones, since I knew I'd be going back down to Sun & Sand land. Well those tap out fairly fast and you're now stuck with having to run the other races quests in their zones (if I wanted to play in the snow and ice I'd have rolled a Cim for crying out loud!)

4.Are there any major bug problems? im in the trial at the moment and i havent ran into any atm but i would like to know about any "big ones" ahead of time - Pretty much see above. I've heard alot of the Pvp setups (Bori) are buggy or just don't work how they should.

5.What is your personal opinion of the game?

I really liked the shorter more mature quests than you get in a normal mmo. Also the fact that depending on how you reply to the NPC the dio can wander off into new directions; it wasn't just on rails with the same outcome no matter what.

I found it to be an enjoyable game, well worth the 3 months I put into the casual play of it, but once the above kicked in I decided it was time to go.

Biggest mistake IMO:

- Off playtime leveling. Basically pay your money and then let the game sit for a few weeks and Viola! You can now be max level (shortened just cuz I don't remember the time vs level numbers now).

cybertrucker · December 2010

Hey Commder. I played the game on and off for about and a half, not playing currently though my years subscription just expired last month and went back to Aion.

My thoughts on AoC is this.

1. The end game PVE is pretty awesome in the right guild. The game is a little harder to find PuGs in especially since guilds are always trying to increase their rank. That doesnt mean though that PUGs dont exist but definately find a good guild to join.

2. I never really did the PVP. I didnt like the whole you have completely different gear aspect of it. And I do mean completely different. The stats werent even the same. Its a wierd system. Which is funny because I love PVP.. just didnt care for it in AoC

3. AoC has some of the best Stories going hands down. If you love to read a story you can really lose yourself in this game. The quests are so well written, I cant count how many times I found myself laughing my ass off at some of the things going on. THey have implemented the ability once you hit level 30 to earn levels over time. Which is kinda neat. if it starts feeling grindy take a break. come back to it in a few days and get a level for free. Xp overall moves pretty fast in this game as well. You shouldnt feel to grindy at all ever.

4. Some of the dungeons in the game really need to be re adjusted. Overall lately havent noticed any real bugs.... Ohh on a side note getting to go in most lower level dungeons isnt going to happen anyway. Everyone seems to just pass most of them up these days. There a few though that people still visit. I found this sad. Dungeons in AoC could be tons of fun, and are extremely brutal.

5. Overall I Enjoyed AoC. I left due to the fact that most of my friends left.... If your going to play, find you a good guild like I said before. I was glad I got to run some of the dungeons in the early levels. Alot of people just bypass them like I said before which kinda sucks.

fallenlords · December 2010

Originally posted by Nebless

- Off playtime leveling. Basically pay your money and then let the game sit for a few weeks and Viola! You can now be max level (shortened just cuz I don't remember the time vs level numbers now).

Yep that has to be the most stupid decision taken in an MMO, offline leveling. Leveling without playing is bizarre, surely you want people to play?

With regards to the OP's original questions,

1) I was on a PVE RP server and when I hit max level life was pretty dull. Of course by that time I had alienated my guild and upset most of the server, never got into raids or anything because most of the time they crashed and my performance was so poor to start.

2) Large PVP guilds have left AOC due to the issues - game is going PVE from what I understand. I never found PVP to be balanced and quit AOC a few times until I changed to a PVE server.

3) Leveling in AOC is a major grind, out of all the games I have played it's the slowest most repetitive boring slog I have witnessed.

4) Tortage starting area has been optimised because it's the free trial area, some work has gone into performance and fixing obvious bugs. Overall bug fixing isn't something Funcom consider important, more often than not for every bug that gets fixed two new ones will be introduced.

5) Personal opinion, don't waste your money. Buy anything but, it's the only game I have spent money on and felt like I didn't get value for money in return (I subbed for a year due to an offer and I have never seen a game go downhill so fast).

MMO.Maverick · December 2010

Originally posted by fallenlords

Originally posted by Nebless

- Off playtime leveling. Basically pay your money and then let the game sit for a few weeks and Viola! You can now be max level (shortened just cuz I don't remember the time vs level numbers now).

Yep that has to be the most stupid decision taken in an MMO, offline leveling. Leveling without playing is bizarre, surely you want people to play?

Eh, because offline leveling is so unheard of, like the skill leveling in EVE Online?? I don't find the decision that stupid, because when you play for the first time you usually take about 1-2 months to reach level cap anyway, so you hardly need or use the offline levels (which'd be 7-15 offline levels in that time). But for leveling alts, this is ideal: use it when needed.

With regards to the OP's original questions,

1) I was on a PVE RP server and when I hit max level life was pretty dull. Of course by that time I had alienated my guild and upset most of the server, never got into raids or anything because most of the time they crashed and my performance was so poor to start.

Heh. Well, you provided the reason, right? MMORPG's are still a thing you do with others, especially at the endgame, so if you estrange the majority that certainly doesn't help for doing fun stuff together.

2) Large PVP guilds have left AOC due to the issues - game is going PVE from what I understand. I never found PVP to be balanced and quit AOC a few times until I changed to a PVE server. Yep, true, more PvE than PvP now.

3) Leveling in AOC is a major grind, out of all the games I have played it's the slowest most repetitive boring slog I have witnessed.

That's your experience. Certainly not mine, or a lot of others, especially compared to other MMO's like Aion or LotrO where leveling feels more of a grind (I'd include the dungeon runs in WoW that are a necessary evil and grind, but some like it like that, besides, post-Cata leveling has also changed). But hey, if you didn't much like the game already, then everything becomes a grind, as your comment clearly proves. I'd rate AoC's leveling experience in my top 3 of the 15-20 MMO's I've played. As a melee class, that is, as a caster it was more same old same old as in other MMO's. Still, the questing was good and smooth up till level cap.

4) Tortage starting area has been optimised because it's the free trial area, some work has gone into performance and fixing obvious bugs. Overall bug fixing isn't something Funcom consider important, more often than not for every bug that gets fixed two new ones will be introduced.

They're slow with bugfixes, but again, you're exaggerating. Let's just say it's differing opinions.

5) Personal opinion, don't waste your money. Buy anything but, it's the only game I have spent money on and felt like I didn't get value for money in return (I subbed for a year due to an offer and I have never seen a game go downhill so fast).

The 'personal opinion' is a nice touch, indeed. At the official forums I remember you indeed as one of a handful of persons that could do nothing but complain and whine nonstop, excessively, about any subject related to the game as long as they could talk negatively about it. It was incredible. Then again, you've stated clearly a few times that you 'hated the game and the company', so I admit, that was open and honest of you.

finaticd · December 2010

Originally posted by Commanderelk
Hello Guys and Gals long time lurker here, Im a bit bad with posting my thoughts onto... well anything so please bare with me.So I have been looking for a new MMO to play for a while now and Age of Conan has cought my intrest But I have a few questions and i hope some of ya can answer them

1. What kind of end game PvE is there? i have always perfered small group sized PvE (4-6man) and never really got along with large groups of people

They have a lot of small grp stuff for repeatable quest as end game is a huge faction grind atm. But don't expect them to add much more as they don't add much and have developed slowly.

2.Is PvP relatively balanced?
PvP is mad neglected in this game, you get PvP gear from mining rocks without fighting anyone for hour and hours on end. The game director likes grinding rocks and trees but most PvPers don't.
5.What is your personal opinion of the game?

In case anyone was wondering what games i have played in the past heres a short list.

WoW(3years)

PoftBS (1year)

EvE (5months)

Aion(3Months)

EQ2 (2months)

and meny more for less then a month or just trials.

Thanks in advance for any replys.

You may love it but I played all those titles and you didn't like Aion or EQ2 and those games both have way more stuff to do and well I started EQ 2 after it was out a few years but it was more polished than AoC's expansion trial then. Go ahead and play, but i doubt you will stay long do to your game history and a lot of people have been bailing on AoC ever since the expansion came out do to being bored of faction grind and no PvP stuff. But heck maybe you will play it for 5 years if it is up that long, who knows.

Nebless · December 2010

If your rig can handle it (mine really couldn't) and the cost won't hurt you. Then yea go for a 3 month sub and see what you think.

Personally I just keep the Tortage part loaded and play the Lvl 1 - 20 forever free trial when I get the itch. While seeing parts of Stygia are great as are the quests, having done them once I don't see the need to do them again or to take my old toon into new lands I really don't care about.

Tortage is without a doubt the best, most polished part of the game with full voice overs, a variety of quests, and a RP storyline / mission set.

Only downside is they pulled the Tortage Pvp in White Sands and the Underhalls out of the game so all you now get is the PvE portion of the game for free.

fallenlords · December 2010

Originally posted by cyphers

Truncated due to post size...

The 'personal opinion' is a nice touch, indeed. At the official forums I remember you indeed as one of a handful of persons that could do nothing but complain and whine nonstop, excessively, about any subject related to the game as long as they could talk negatively about it. It was incredible. Then again, you've stated clearly a few times that you 'hated the game and the company', so I admit, that was open and honest of you.

Offline leveling was one of the seriously most stupid decisions Funcom made when you have a game that is struggling to attract players. So now rather than a load of alts running around, that at least made it look like you had life on a server, you can level something up without hardly playing.

I didn't get involved with much group stuff in AOC full stop, because of performance issues. My fps/latency was rough just running around on my own. If I joined a group, I would crash out and all sorts of weird things would happen. I had problems just attending RP events never mind doing something like fighting mobs in groups.

AOC is a major grind, I am playing WoW now and I have a level 58 Fire Mage going on after a few weeks of casual play. Dungeon runs in WoW I like they are good fun at least for a new player. I am not noticing levels in WoW as I did in AOC. Part of the problem in AOC is rubbish gear, you are always waiting for your level indicator to ping. Just so you can use something you have been waiting 5 levels on using because nothing decent has dropped inbetween levels. Poor drops and the gathering/being attacked issue - makes it numero uno as far as grind goes. In other words poor design = grind.

Slow with bugfixes is an understatement. Their whole dev process is slow and flawed, why things go to testlive I have no idea when they are still released bugged. It wouldn't surprise me if what somebody said was true and they have 2 developers working on AOC. Oh yeah and a GD with no developer experience, should he handy in times of crisis.

I wouldn't waste money on AOC, Funcom do not care about the game. That is the thing that gets me the most. I wouldn't mind if they loved their own game and were going in a direction I hated. But they show no passion for AOC in the slightest. I have more passion, I hate the game and the developer. Obvious to me the people that had the passion for AOC were there at the start, all you have now is accountants and journalists running the show.

djazzy · December 2010

Originally posted by fallenlords

3) Leveling in AOC is a major grind, out of all the games I have played it's the slowest most repetitive boring slog I have witnessed.

You need to try more games then. This game has nothing on games like Aion and Lineage 2 for leveling grinds.

Only time I really noticed the grind is in the expansion and the faction grinds.

In my opinion, AoC has the best melee combat of any mmo out there. That is primarily the reason why I come back to play now and then.

Jakdstripper · December 2010

i mostly play mmos for pvp since pve bores me to death.

AoC wile it has many things going for it does not have a balanced pvp system.

pvp is all about gear. it requires A LOT of grinding to get that gear and without it you are wearing paper swinging wet noodles

class: always 2/3 classes rolling everyone else. sure the classes alternate from time to time but especially solo pvp it's a night mare if you dont have the fotm class. keep in mind that this is not balanced arround solo pvp, but group pvp.

skill: AoC has some very complicated mechanics, trust me when i say this. it takes A LOT of time to learn how to even just move your character in pvp, what so speak of all the abilities, buffs, debuffs,knockbacks, cc, cc dr, cones of damage, aoe, cones of healing, directional shielding, group tactics, solo tactics, etc etc.

computer and interntet connection: a normal high speed internet connection and midle of the line computer just will not do. you will find yourself lagging, skipping and cursing in any size encounter. in sieges no computer will give a smooth flawless gameplay.

finaly..... fun...it's just not all that fun. everything is so unforgiving that any small mistake is penalized by a quick and swift death. the contols are not smooth and the lag is almost ever present.

final thoughts? it's an awesome PVE game with some of the best graphics, sounds, stories, dungeons, butal realism i'v ever experienced, just not a fun pvp game.

fallenlords · December 2010

Originally posted by arenasb

You need to try more games then. This game has nothing on games like Aion and Lineage 2 for leveling grinds.

Only time I really noticed the grind is in the expansion and the faction grinds.

In my opinion, AoC has the best melee combat of any mmo out there. That is primarily the reason why I come back to play now and then.

Played Aion and I didn't find it a grind, in fact I enjoyed it . I could pick an area in Aion, kill mobs for XP, gather resources and get some decent drops. Sell the stuff I didn't want, sell quest stuff and sell resources. I make a bundle and buy the stuff for my character that I wanted. I actually felt involved with the game because of all the buying and selling I did, you can grind mobs in AOC for hours and not have one decent drop. Anyway I understand Aion has modified XP gains and drops recently so even if people did think it was a grind, it should be more to the liking now. Oh look they listened to user feedback, Funcom take note.

I don't think the expansion was ever done with the existing user base in mind, for the large part they were just ignored as Funcom tried to target a new market.

I think melee combat is alright, but then what annoyed me with that was the casters. There I am as a melee class hitting button sequences - which depending on lag/latency etc, didn't always work. Then you have casters spamming one button. I never thought that was fair at all. I did like fatalities but overall now with AOC and melee I think you may as well have the one button option. After all it's not like you are doing anything more than button mash (perhaps it might improve performance if it was changed).

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