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Age of Conan 4 years later
Erow
Member Posts: 14
Well I went back to AoC just for grins. Not so much has changed.
The quest lines still drop in quality post Tortage. Just think about all the Tortage quests both day and night that referred back to the Strom as tyrant theme. Think about the fact that the evil spirit that was purged when you almost drowned became the Bat Demon. How cool was that? Not much afterwards compares.
You still can't ride a horse until level 40. Now how hard would it be to lower the level requirement to 30?
You still can't craft until level 40. How hard would it be to lower the level requirement to 20?
You still can't set guild permissions for different ranks. They are what they are and guild leaders can't change them. How hard would it be to fix that?
The above disappointments were present day one and they are still there four years later. Seems to me all but the quest line problems would be an easy fix. Kinda makes you wonder if AoC is on autopilot.
Comments
Age of Conan is one of those games I only played for a few days and just couldn't find a reason to keep playing. The memory of it has blended into a conglomerate of all the other boring games I've played. I can't remember any specifics about it, including what class I tried or the name of my character.
Nice to know nothing has changed.
There are certain queer times and occasions in this strange mixed affair we call life when a man takes this whole universe for a vast practical joke, though the wit thereof he but dimly discerns, and more than suspects that the joke is at nobody's expense but his own.
-- Herman Melville
I just started playing myself, so obviously I can't comment on how it is now compared to any time before.
I am loving it though so far. Combat feels pretty good to me, it's visually stunning (my god is it just downright beautiful in some places at max settings), and I love the music. I just love the ruggedness and brutality of the Conan universe, it's quite appealing to me. I'm only halfway through Tortage (level 11) and I understand the game changes after level 20, but I figure the questing can't be any worse than what's currently out now, plus the other things I enjoy (setting, visuals, music, combat, etc) should help with any boring questing. The Guild Cities also intrigue me a bit, so I can't wait to see what all that is about once I level up a bit and get into a guild. Also, supposedly Funcom is looking to base their crafting revamp on SWG, so that should be pretty nifty.
All in all, I think it's pretty fun and entertaining. I'm sure it has its rough edges (hell, I experienced a bug today where the slavemaster wouldn't spawn at the top of the volcano ruins and had to have a GM fix it) but I'm impressed. It perhaps could be the "this is new to me" factor though. I'll find out soon enough.
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This...
And WTF was up with all the instances in AOC. I mean there were litterally instances inside of instances. Just makes me feel trapped. I would much rather play a sandbox.
Never trust a screenshot or a youtube video without a version stamp!
There have been quite a number of changes and content and mechanics updates throughout the years that negate your statement that AOC is autopilot.
There have been changes in guild city leveling and ranking, class revamps, content updates from an expansion to added new areas and dungeons, weapon stats and mechanics changes, graphics update and so on, up till now the crafting overhaul. There's a significant difference to how AoC played back then in those first months and now.
But ok, this summing up has little to do with whether someone likes the game in the first place of course.
Was just adding some facts to counter your false assumption that AoC was on autopilot, even if the changes you want most weren't the one carried out.
Well, there's your problem. AoC isn't a sandbox, so it'd never be able to sate your sandbox cravings.
It had some changes but the game plays much like it did in beta and is so shallow and mediocre. The graphics were good 4 years ago but that was the only reason to play and now they are dated. Your comment is an echo from the lead developer http://forums.ageofconan.com/showpost.php?p=3043769&postcount=48 . The problem is the changes over 4 years were very little and whoever is in charge of the last four years does not know how to develop.
less than 40 developers? Most working on cash shop or mission packs.
2 huge blocks were nothing was developed, post expansion was an entire year and how long has it been now?
I'm glad some stuff was changed but the game has been on auto pilot since launch, they released an expansion that changed things but the expansion was a seperate launch for $$$ and it didn't seem to fun, no new raids and grind the same few quests forever.
You do realize this game requires a subscription to do anything aside from level? The developer must not benchmark very well as Aion, SWTOR, LOTRO, Rift, and others blow them away in development scale and pace.
Like I said, the list of changes has little to do with whether someone likes the game or not, and if someone isn't interested to play the game or having fun in it in the first place, as good as all changes to it they'd care a rat's ass about, since it won't change their core dislike of a game anyway.
Obviously you disliked the game from the start, so there you are
If you found the graphics the only reason to play, then that says it all to me. hard to camouflage a dislike or disinterest of a game with comments like that. I played the game bc I liked the low fantasy setting, the visceral melee combat that's among the best combat I've experienced in an MMO in the past 12 yrs of playing them, and bc I found the questing more appealing than questing in other MMO's. Added to that guild cities that can be leveled up and expanded and keep sieges that were pretty fun.
But hey, if the graphics were the only thing you liked, can't help you there, to each their own. Probably other MMO's that float your boat more, good for you, everyone should have their pick of MMO's they enjoy, it'd be insane to think that those would be the exact same for each and every one person.
As for development pace, SWTOR I discount bc it's only out a few months yet and I find their development progress depressing, it's obvious that AoC beat other MMO's in development pace like FFXIV, WAR, VG, DDO and DCUO, RIft has one of the quickest paces if not the quickest but still has no expansion, the same for Aion that has no expansion in all these years and where I question the speed of development pace of, regardless of comparing it with AoC's.
But hey, you dislike AOC and like some other MMO's, so it seems that you're not really interested in the positive aspects that happened to AoC's gameplay and updates in the course of years. So I'm going to leave it at this, it's kind of futile to rehash the same arguments esp when people dislike a game to that extent that they're closed off to any good about it
Played it to around level 25. Great environment. Loved Tortage, it easily rivals any SP RPG I've played.
It wasn't a perfect experience.
Loading after zoning is soooo slow. I'd have to stand for a minute or more outside the Thirsty Dog for the world to load up.
Post Tortage gameplay just feels clunky. This was the reason I stopped. I don't know if it was just burn-out or boredom, but I cannot imagine questing from 25 to level cap as anything less than torture.
The cash shop driven business model isn't terrible other than being about 50% over-priced based on my comfort level.
Overall, a good game but could easily be much better.
Development is still in full swing!
Funcom is constantly hard at work on innovative and fun features for this mature rated PvE game.
Why, they just added Facebook into the game! Even managed to code it into the game option menu, by golly!
-Letting Derek Smart work on your game is like letting Osama bin Laden work in the White House. Something will burn.-
-And on the 8th day, man created God.-
A lot ofthings have changed in AOC LOL if you think its still exactly as it was when first released you need to go back and try again.
As for the quests well after doing the fully voiced quests a few times they are pretty boring now, they dont stop in the start area but continue through the game by the way as they are the main story quests..
AS for the other game quests well they are your standard run of the mill themepark quests nothing wrong there.
I dont play anymore but in my opinion AOC is one of the best themepark MMORPGs out there.. sure its not what we where promised all those years ago but they still made a game that was fun to play and thats the main thing.
*Great combat system
*Awesome graphics still nothing beats this game in the MMO world when its maxed out (TSW will soon tho)
*Awesome game world/setting
*Great character progression with different builds.
*PVP battle grounds are fun but i hate that type of PVP, open world PVP can be pretty good
*Some of the best pve on the market.
I'm very simple, I have no atachments to any game, genre (don't FPS anymore), or playstyle. I like quality games and dislike substandard games.
Quality is simple - well thought out game mechanics, consistancy of the gaming experience, functionality of what is in the game, quantity of content on par with other similar games, etc. Is easy to tell when developers skimp out on a game as quality suffers. I'm going to take the company resources into consideration but Funcom had a typical MMO budget of what 40-60 million?
For MMOs there is another one I add that is very easy to prevent. Keep server populations as high as possible so players have other people to do stuff with. Looking at you age of conan and SW:ToR.
I think AoC is a pretty good MMO and a great Conan game. It captures the essence of Howard's stories better than any other video game out there. It has done a great job of adapting Conan from pulp fiction to PC game. The DX 10 graphics are better looking than most MMO's and even many single player RPG's, but the real reason they impress is the art work and attention to detail put into them. The whole world of Hyboria is stunningly recreated, making the game universe a fun and awesome environment to play in.
If you are cool with a quest driven action MMO that has excellent visuals, high production values, set in a low fantasy universe, AoC might be worth a fling. It is not for everybody, but there is a lot to like about the game. It is a matter of appreciating what the game has to offer. To say it has nothing to offer, or the game is garbage is just trolling nonsense. It has plenty to offer and is continually being developed. In the 2 years I played it I saw it improve and grow at a steady clip with major content additions, gameplay tweaks, engine upgrades, and many minor patches.
If you are fond of bloody melee combat in a beautiful setting, backed by an award winning musical score, you may get swept away with Age of Conan!
"The Pen Is Mightier Than The Demo"
AoC has a nice looking world and some good ideas, but it was just never finished and launched far to early. The expansion wasn't that amazing either, it was basically a remake of the level 20+ content and it didn't fix any issues with the game
i loved playing conan regardless of its faults..hehe i,m a vanguard veteran and that game was bad at launch compared to conan..the rise of the godslayer was the last straw for me.it was such a grindfest i just gave up.saying that though they have made alterations to godslayer content but for me it came too late.still a great game though and still looks way better graphically than most mmo's on the market today.
I do pop in on f2p now and again but i can't se me ever subbing to this game again unless they come out with a great expansion pack..then i may be interested.
I agree on many points, the quality drops after Tortage, and updates lately have been slow. If they get some money after TSW is launched I hope they can spend some on voicing the quests after Tortage and add some quality quests.
Crafting will soon start at 20, and a dungeon finder should be ingame before the end of the year.
Questing in AOC isn't that much different from many other games though, the quests in Rift or Tera isnt much better. But when I leveled in Rift last year I did so many dungeons, in AoC it's hard to find dungeons and they don't start before 30-40 range. the first dungeon Black Castle is fairly hard too and not so popular.
The game is dying now, income has dropped dramaticly since Q4 2011.
Played this back in 08/09. Lemme ask some questions
The PVP still centered around Keshatta? Hows the PVP siege zones? Did they dumb down combat even more? (Before i stopped they cut down the steps for combos to 1-2 arrow clicks.) I loved how you could time a 4-step combo and try to land it.
What happend to that district in the city? Where you could park-cour and shit? High level pvp zone nowdays?
thanks!
What you want, its the game to be easier and to be like World of Warcraft and lower everything.
As if a MMORPG should always follow path of WoW.
AoC is my favorite themepark MMO.
U.O is my favorite MMO.
I dunno, Funcom sent me an e-mail, talking about it being their birthday, and I get free stuff, so I go to my acount download the game, and gee cant play my account, unless I re sub.
Typical, from my recollections, of all things Funcom.
See the world and all within it.
Live a lifetime in every minute.
Actually you need to go into your account on their site and reactivate it as a free account.
The game still isnt that great...it suffers from being a Funcom game...they still havent learned how to create new content and fix bugs in a decent amount of time....took almost 4 years to re-do crafting.
I hope we shall crush...in its birth the aristocracy of our moneyed corporations, which dare already to challenge our government to a trial of strength and bid defiance to the laws of our country." ~Thomes Jefferson
Yup sure enough, I spoke too soon, somehow I had the EU client, doh.
See the world and all within it.
Live a lifetime in every minute.
I have to say I am currently enjoying AoC,
I have a sub for Tera, WoW, and I bought D3, but I find myself playing AoC more then anything.
(The sad part is I am doing the free 2 play, first time I have ever enjoyed a F2P game other then LoL)
I think I may cancel my sub's, and play D3 on the side, and sub to AoC.
I do want to say there are some bugs and more loading screens then youll like, but if you can play the game on high settings it looks AWESOME, and its an adult theme, so it lacks the childs game feel that most MMO's are doing. (Atleast that's how I feel)
This would also be my 3rd time back, The first 2 times I just couldn't stick to it- This time, I just cant get enough.
I started a new account 4 days ago and im already at level 50, ugh I need to stop playing 8 hours or more a day........
EDIT* I forgot to say- This is the ONLY game I dont turn off the music, the music is really good for this game, It just goes with the area's.
I cannot agree with this. In fact, I was shocked at how unlike a Conan story the game was. AoC is high fantasy and lacks the organic methods in which REH wrote his stories. It's the main reason why I quit the game.
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I guess it is all in the perception. The game actually inspired me to start reading REH's Conan stories. So as an added perk I was reading the stories along with the game. I found many references to Howard's stories that would have gone right over my head had I not been reading the books. There is some adapting to be done making the transition from Howard's actual stories to a multiplayer MMO, but over all I think Funcom did pretty good.
"The Pen Is Mightier Than The Demo"
Played at release.
Loved Tortage.
Melee and spell casting combat was good to great - I do not like the Mortal Kombat-key squence for abilities, though. Pushing four buttons for one action is outlandishly dumb.
Good graphics, great world.
Zonelines hurt the feel of the game.
The quest quality dropped substansially past Tortage.
I kind of liked it, but it had too many serious flaws to keep at.
(I played Anarchy Online for right at five years, and Everquest nearly six - so I can stomach alot of shit.)
Forgot to add:
The NPC scaling was laughible - I shouldn't have trouble with a lvl 37 giant as a 47+ berserker.
Total lack of gear relevance or stats (Something even EQ had) made me wonder why they put so much effort into the graphical quality. At least, given gear is 100% useless (or was when I played) I could run around topless on my busty redhead to no ill effects beyond my own distraction.
I can't believe it's 4 years, where has the time gone?
For me, May 2008 stands as a moment of epiphany. A loss of innocence. Several key revelations came to the front that moment:
“What could have been” is something I often think about when it comes to Age of Conan.
Its source material was interesting in the sense that it was a fantasy setting with a good mix of harsh reality and subtle sorcery. One thing the Conan books and movies emphasised above all was that a person’s worth was based purely on their actions.
The potential to craft a mature online experience with this concept was an exciting prospect. Coupled with a truly unique, visceral, battle system the likes no other MMO had seen before raised my anticipation even higher.
Then the game released. Broken. Formless. Unpolished. What was I to make of this?
This was not the experience they paraded in their countless marketing trailers. I was supposed to be able to coordinate formations with my guild mates. Strike our enemies from hiding deep within their territory and collect their blood money. Besiege rival cities and fortresses with an epic march of destruction amongst mammoths and catapults. Fear the mounted warrior who could duel me with their many attacks from horseback. Run from the law with the risk of being captured and put into prison. After all that carnage, retire to a pub and partake in a drunken brawl with my brethren.
A laughable pipe dream looking back at it now. I outlived that launch, forever changed. These wounds I had on May 2008. Old men forget; yet all shall be forgot, but I’ll remember, with advantages, what feats of disillusion Gaut and Erling fed us. “May” shall never go by from this day to the ending of the world without me remembering that atrocity.
They stole from us. They lied to us. I shall never forget. I shall never forgive.