Originally posted by Sickpup

Originally posted by Fion

They let a whole bunch of people from the media play the game previous to E3. Sorry Sickpup, but they have let people play it. They just didn't during E3, but the way E3 is now, MOST games didn't have playable demos.

FYI I updated my initial post with the higher-rez Gamespot footage direct link. It's not the best quality, but it's a great demonstration. I cant see how anyone (besides the few forum trolls we have here,) cant be impressed by what we see here.

I read the gamespy,ign,gamespot hands on.Without getting into the outcome,they were basically all very controlled 1-4 player ,under level 60,pve features that they were allowed access to.Has there been any 1v1 or 2v2 pvp previewed by any media source?If so can you hook us up with a link please?

No PvP yet to the like of what your asking, wait 3 weeks or so for an expected showing in Germany.

This is the official viewpoint on what was shown at E3 this year:

Today, 06:02:07

#53

LordOrion vbmenu_register("postmenu_796374", true); Product Manager Funcom     Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Norway

What new stuff we showed at this year's E3 was basically: 1. We played the Barbarian, the Scion of Set and the Necromancer. 2. We demonstrated the pet system, with melee pets and caster pets. 3. We showed an outdoor area never shown "in-game" before: Atzel's Approach. 4. We showed the first dungeon shown: The Black Ring Citadel. 5. We showed boss fights in the Black Ring Citadel dungeon. 6. We talked about raids and the size of raids in Age of Conan. 7. We demonstrated the NPC conflict in Conall's Valley with a triggered invasion. 8. We demonstrated new spells and combos for all three classes. 9. We showed the magic cone and explained how it worked. Our focus for this year's E3 was really to show how the basic MMO gameplay works in Age of Conan, the dynamic between the three classes and to reveal a dungeon for the first time. We did not go for the more large-scale content like city-building and sieging -- and that was quite intentional. There is another huge convention coming up in August and we're gearing up for that as well (though I do not want to promise anything on what we will be showing there). We're looking forward to reveal even more soon. The format for this year's E3 was very different from previous years, with less press passing through as the Age of Conan area was placed in an "invitation only" section in one of the hotels. That's what the majority of the developers did for their games and that's why you're going to see less coverage this year. This is most likely the reason why there were few huge announcements or reveals this year overall.

So I never saw quite a few of those points from the 2 media companies that have shown footage so far. Maybe there is something else to come - I don't know.

Age of Conan: Santa Monican Adventures hands on Euro Gamer write up and links to other reports.

Aoc Audio  20 odd mins from a fan who wasn't allowed to video tape so he went audio.

As its the weekend expect more stuff to come in next week.

Originally posted by peenk

Think about this:

Hard to tell but it looked to me as if you have to press a button every 1.5 seconds or so.  This worked well in PSO/PSU.  This game is not PSO/PSU.

This combat system will be repetitive and you will get tired of it faster than your "normal" mmo combat system.

I'm speculating of course, but I have played PSO for almost 2 years and played enough of PSU (they made longer combos and different combos based on different weapons in PSU) to have at least some basis for this speculation. 

As to what you said Peenk - don't you click the skill bar in other mmo's every 1.5 secs or quicker in other games during a fight? Don't you find that repetitive?

By the want its not fricken button pressing all the time you can click or move the mouse over the "combat rose" to achieve the same thing. Funny how you can look into your mystic ball and say people will get tired of it quicker than a normal mmo - thanks for your heavenly insight but i'll try it for myself thanks. There is nothing more repetitive than games out there that make you click skill 1,2,1,4,1,6,5,3 etc, AoC takes a fresh approach to a stale over used approach.

Originally posted by Ryun511

 

Originally posted by Sickpup

Originally posted by Fion

They let a whole bunch of people from the media play the game previous to E3. Sorry Sickpup, but they have let people play it. They just didn't during E3, but the way E3 is now, MOST games didn't have playable demos.

FYI I updated my initial post with the higher-rez Gamespot footage direct link. It's not the best quality, but it's a great demonstration. I cant see how anyone (besides the few forum trolls we have here,) cant be impressed by what we see here.

I read the gamespy,ign,gamespot hands on.Without getting into the outcome,they were basically all very controlled 1-4 player ,under level 60,pve features that they were allowed access to.Has there been any 1v1 or 2v2 pvp previewed by any media source?If so can you hook us up with a link please?

 

It's not from a media source, but here's a video showing some PvPing. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bEndk3fElu4

I would just be patient and wait for it to come. It not like its not going to be in the game! People these days are all selfish its the me, me, me, I want, I want, I want generation....

Originally posted by AmazingAvery

 

Originally posted by Ryun511

 

Originally posted by Sickpup

Originally posted by Fion

They let a whole bunch of people from the media play the game previous to E3. Sorry Sickpup, but they have let people play it. They just didn't during E3, but the way E3 is now, MOST games didn't have playable demos.

FYI I updated my initial post with the higher-rez Gamespot footage direct link. It's not the best quality, but it's a great demonstration. I cant see how anyone (besides the few forum trolls we have here,) cant be impressed by what we see here.

I read the gamespy,ign,gamespot hands on.Without getting into the outcome,they were basically all very controlled 1-4 player ,under level 60,pve features that they were allowed access to.Has there been any 1v1 or 2v2 pvp previewed by any media source?If so can you hook us up with a link please?

 

It's not from a media source, but here's a video showing some PvPing. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bEndk3fElu4

That clip shows a Beta build nearly a year old, the directional attack rose is different now.

 

I would just be patient and wait for it to come. It not like its not going to be in the game! People these days are all selfish its the me, me, me, I want, I want, I want generation....

Hah, true but it still shows PvP

Originally posted by peenk

Think about this:

Hard to tell but it looked to me as if you have to press a button every 1.5 seconds or so.  This worked well in PSO/PSU.  This game is not PSO/PSU.

This combat system will be repetitive and you will get tired of it faster than your "normal" mmo combat system.

I'm speculating of course, but I have played PSO for almost 2 years and played enough of PSU (they made longer combos and different combos based on different weapons in PSU) to have at least some basis for this speculation. 

If the other player or mob moves, you need to hit from another direction and so on. The combo you were going for could be useless the next second.

And you get tired of puching buttons in combat......stay out of combat then

Originally posted by Jarlo

I've been pretty critical of AOC vids lately and I have to disagree.  If you watch while the guy is swinging at air he shows that there are several different combos available.  I'm sure each combo will have different bonuses and branches, thus making a far more complex combo system than is currently available.  If you notice on his melee wheel there are 2-3 lite areas each swing so there are several moves he can pick from.

That is far and beyond any current MMO system.

 

Note that at level 80 you can have 8 combos 'active' at any one time. But there are hundreds and hundreds of combos in total across all the classes. So you'll have to pick at level 80 the ones you want to use most of the time. You can change them out as you like, so it's not like GW where your screwed if you don't select the right loadout.

Considering you'll have to basically memorize each of your combos, this makes a far FAR deeper MMOG combat system then any other currently out or apparently coming.

:)

Im not talking demos or movies,I mean a hands on preview by the media.where the media gets to pvp vs each other.Germany is most likely going to be another controlled demo,movie.the number one excuse will be the german censorship laws.

Originally posted by Sickpup

Im not talking demos or movies,I mean a hands on preview by the media.where the media gets to pvp vs each other.Germany is most likely going to be another controlled demo,movie.the number one excuse will be the german censorship laws.

Just gonna have to wait it out then aren't you, instead of putting a negative spin on things. Media has PvE'd together already, PvP is next up - wait it out if your interested. German version is already modified. So the siege spin on things wont be a problem.

Sickpup how many MMOGs can you name where 3 months before launch they let just anyone sit down and play the game and PvP for a few hours? I could tell you in my 8 years of MMOG playing, I cant think of a one.

That said Funcom is more tight lipped then others are, but I think at the same time people are expecting way to much from the game at this stage. Let it come out at least before you start asking to see a nice open long sit-down session with extensive information on PvP.

wow, i was unimpressed with the video. the blood looks stupid, because from the looks of it, no matter how much or which way u swing, a fountain of blood squirts out of the enemy. and the combo thing isnt anything new, Sega thought of it years ago with PSO.  Is the Gamespot guy handicapped or something? 

A little update Quote from AoC Dev in specifics to the video and what I quoted him on earlier in this thread:

http://forums.ageofconan.com/showthread.php?p=798349#post798349

Today, 15:03:24

#82

LordOrion vbmenu_register("postmenu_797844", true); Product Manager Funcom     Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Norway

No, the GameSpot video did not include everything we showed to the press in the Age of Conan area. More coverage may appear later, though, so keep your fingers crossed and you may get the entire thing on video from somewhere. This year's format for E3 meant that only invited press got to see the game in action, and they may choose to show all or only parts of what they saw. At previous E3's you had a lot more press attending the whole show and they could in many cases just wander into any booth they fancied and start capturing stuff. This year's E3 was smaller and strictly invitation-only. Earlier you also had non-press attendees, like fans, who would capture everything and put it on YouTube or write in detail about what they saw on the game's forums. This time we're a bit more at the mercy of the select press who attended and got to see the game.

Today, 17:30:29

#98

LordOrion vbmenu_register("postmenu_798349", true); Product Manager Funcom     Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Norway

Quote: Originally Posted by Hyborian2007 Edited my reply into LordOrion's post. You are referring only to the GameSpot video, Hyborian2007. What we showed at E3 consisted of much more than that (it included everything I mentioned in the post you quoted), and we can only hope other press decides to extend their coverage and include everything we demonstrated. Keep your eyes open for more coverage to come.

 If anyone is interested..

Here's hoping that media content isn't too far away 

Originally posted by Fion

Sickpup how many MMOGs can you name where 3 months before launch they let just anyone sit down and play the game and PvP for a few hours? I could tell you in my 8 years of MMOG playing, I cant think of a one.

 

That said Funcom is more tight lipped then others are, but I think at the same time people are expecting way to much from the game at this stage. Let it come out at least before you start asking to see a nice open long sit-down session with extensive information on PvP.

There letting just  about anybody pvp each other in WAR and thats 6 months away.If they decide to launch without allowing a hands on official non-controlled preview,i.e a faith based launch.Then I will just hold off on buying it until it gets a review.The end line of my issue anyways is I'm not buying a game on a hope and a promise,been there done that.

Regardless on whether or not an MMO looks good I always hold off on buying it and never buy the pre order. MMO's can bomb very easily and many can be very buggy at launch. Usually wait a month or two until all the info about the game comes out and they iron out alot of the bad bugs.

What shocks me is how many people rabidly defend this game, as if they know that it's going to be good. Not all of us who question the missing features are "trolls", we just look at things objectively because we have been through many games that fail to deliver.  I really hope AoC is a great game because I'm soooo bored with all the games out there that I've tried. But I have to say, if they make the release date I will be shocked and happy at the same time.

Much better explanation of the combos.  Seems really skill-based, and probably very difficult to do well.

I like the yellow buttons much better than having to memorize the combos.  REally wish there was a playable demo at this year's E3 though.

It's a shame that they didn't show any PvP content.  It's really starting to make a lot of people question the aims of this game.  So far we've seen the single player section and a 25-man raid. 

Not exactly what you'd expect from a game that is slated to be a PvP game.

They have been letting people PVP in WAR at game conventions for months already.  I find the lack of information from Funcom disturbing. Mythic has provided their fanbase with a crap load of info on a monthly basis. Based on the info that it out there i'd rather play WAR.  Mythic has a few revolutionary things they have not released and for good reason, but that has not stopped them from giving info and showing video's.  They even released horrible ALPHA footage 7 months ago or so.

I would be totally surprised if AOC is released on time.  I'm pulling for AOC but i just don't see it. 

WAR has gone an unusual route by letting so many people play the game this far from release. I mean, not that it's anything spectacular to play. 'tab' 'auto-attack' 'attack 1, attack 2, dead, repeat.' Perhaps Funcom doesn't let just anyone play because you cant just sit down and know what your doing. You gotta learn a whole new combat system. I can imagine it takes that 5-10 minutes just to figure out how to pull off your first combo every time you want to, let alone actually PvPing.

A point to consider for those mentioning WAR showing pvp earlier: WAR is a game almost entirely based on pvp. Of course it's going to be shown sooner. AoC looks to be just as much a PvE game as pvp.

They both look like good games, for that matter, but they offer different things, have a different focus, and are handled differently, not surprisingly. Simply saying: "But WAR showed us pvp sooner!" is not a fair comparison.

Originally posted by GobboKnight

A point to consider for those mentioning WAR showing pvp earlier: WAR is a game almost entirely based on pvp. Of course it's going to be shown sooner. AoC looks to be just as much a PvE game as pvp.

 

They both look like good games, for that matter, but they offer different things, have a different focus, and are handled differently, not surprisingly. Simply saying: "But WAR showed us pvp sooner!" is not a fair comparison.

They've let people play their Public Quests, which is their innovation on questing.  They've let people go through their kill-counter quests, and check out the story-lines in some quests.  And they've let people go into RvR and hack on eachother.

They've handed people the game and said "here, go play it."

Funcom has said that the focus of their game was PvP.  They've raved about the blood money system, and talked about how awesome their PvP combat is going to be.  They've also talked about how great their quests are, and how fun they're going to be, and how good the AI is.

But do you know anyone that's played through AoC's quests?  or played their PvP?  Heck it's been 3 years and we haven't even seen 2 Funcom Devs go at it in PvP.

The comparison isn't WAR showed us PvP "first."  It's WAR showed us PvP "at all."  Heck the comparison could even be "Fans have been playing WAR at conventions for a year, and fans have yet to play AoC."

It's great that Mythic has been so forthcoming, yes. I agree on that score, it's cool of them, and not every developer is going to come even close to that level of open-ness with the community. It's up to them.

I'm curious as to where and when Funcom said that AoC was a pvp-focused game, though? I know it has a strong pvp element, but I never got the sense that it was the [i]primary[/i] focus of the game. If it is, that's news to me. I'm more interested in AoC's pve game, whereas my interest in WAR is more about the pvp/rvr play.

I'm just glad that Funcom is finally releasing some gameplay reviews and more info about this game.   They really were being tight-lipped about it for quite some time.   Now we can finally see more of the game and more will be coming in the following months.

Originally posted by Baikal

 For the vast majority of games, they did not have as much info available to the general public at this time, unless you were involved in the beta process. Are there going to be exceptions? Yeah, because I might be wrong about one or two, but like I said earlier, go visit sites with Q4 type releases, and honestly see if there is as much info out there as AoC. CoS, nope, TR, nope, Huxley, nope.

Dont get me wrong, I want more info too, and I'm not saying that Funcom is sharing exceptional amounts of info, but if you look at the body of games out there, FC is probably right in the middle, or even a bit ahead of the curve.

It is a shame that development companies are so close-mouthed about their games, but given the lengthy development times one could imagine they're being paranoid about people stealing their ideas.

But we have seen more recent games where they do share more information with the community during their development.  I hope that becomes more typical and that the standard practice of not sharing much information becomes a thing of the past.

There was another Gamespot review:

http://www.gamespot.com/pc/rpg/ageofconanhyborianadventures/news.html?page=1&sid=6174754&par

which had something that really stood out:

 "Funcom estimates that about 90% of Age of Conan players will eventually join a guild, so the studio is not only building additional non-combat activities into the game, it's also creating challenging group encounters that may involve new enemies spawning from the remains of old ones. "

That makes me a sad camper  It's way too close of an echo to Blizzard's comments at the first Blizzcon where they were saying they expected everyone to join a large guild (when they were focusing on the now-defunct 40 man raid content).    

We always knew the game would be very Guild-centric but now it seems Funcom is coming out and saying that they expect you to join a guild to play the game.   At least they're being honest about how they expect players to play their game.