That is a question from the big survey.  Could you possibly list the results of entire survey as I'm not a member and can't get info from them?

Thanks

Originally posted by Shannia

And that is why I love you working on AoC.  YOU care about the project you are working on and the fans.  It shouldn't be just you and Jayde working on Q&As.  You guys code.  I'm sure there is someone in PR that can consolidate this stuff for you or better yet, get Funcom to give myself or Avery (who I recommend by the way, he rocks with finding info) permissions and I'm sure we'd be glad to do that for you.

Sorry if I snapped, I just hate using search tools on forums.

For the record, I love your work.

 

 

I've met loads of developers who even tho they might not post, they do hate players. They spend so much time making content and then see it exploited by players they start to feel like the players are their nemesis, or just a bunch of whiny brats. You have seen the occasional meltdown of various community reps over the years working for various games.

Jayde and I might be very blunt, but we do care about the game, and about the fans. We just don't like to play nice and kiss babies for the heck of it. As hardcore gamers ourselves we just don't feel its necessary to sit on our thumbs.

As far as Survey results I dont know if they are public anywhere or where they are posted. So I dont want to paste them all out if I am not supposed too.

Originally posted by AmazingAvery

 

Originally posted by Phos

I registered with the AOC website and saw their FAQ thread over about 100 pages of posts (probably over 1000 posts). The forums there are pretty inactive and I'm not getting answers. I can't spend the next 4 hours researching, so I hope to get a few answers by posting my questions about the game here:

1) Is it FFA PVP? (can I kill people on my own team if I wanted to?)

On a PvP server or RP-PvP server its been said it will be OPEN PvP everywhere except towns/hubs, so there are a few safe spots. Not sure about killing people on your own team yet.

2) Is there corpse looting (is it 100% corpse looting, or just one random item?)

Loot still has to be detirmined, one thing is they want it in, the game has been designed that way. It could be One Item it could be items just from backpack or everything, we dont know yet.

3) Are there boats I can own/control?

In the lore Conan was often involved in travelling by boat, the starting place, 'Tortage' is actually a harbour/port town. They wont be in at launch but might make an appearance at a later date.

4) Is there housing (can the house be decorated and I can invite friends inside and kill people running past it, like in UO... in other words: NOT instanced?)

Same thing with housing, won't be in at launch but there is a really good chance it will come later.

5) Are there instances? If so, what parts of the game are instanced?

Dungeon's, Some PvP 'mini' games as far as we know.

6) Can I swim? Or do I just stop walking or die when I hit water?

Yes you can swim and climb, this has been confirmed by developers.

7) Is there a radar/coords for every character, or is it navigation by landmarks?

Undetirmined, we shall have to wait and see still

8) Are there vendors and player-run economy? (Can I own my own vendor and place him in front of my house/store-front?)

There are regular vendors around Hyboria, even in PvP area's. Placement and such like is still unknown at this point in time.

9) Are there character classes or can I learn any skill I put my time into? ie-can I change my mind about how I want to play my character in 6 months and start learning other skills, or do I just have to start all over again?

When everyone starts the game they are all the same, at LvL 5 you currently make the decision on whether being a Mage, Priest, Rogue or Soldier (your Archetype's), and then at LvL 20 you choose your class from withn the specified Archetype you chose at LvL 5. The feat system is flexible enough for you to be able to follow different paths. Every character has '3' different feat trees there is One general one for your Archetype and Two for your Class. This allows for some good diversity in this area. You can re-spec though. If you picked say a Priest and 6 months later wanted to be a Soldier you will have to re-roll as they say. Every Class and Archetype has specifics for 'Weapons' for eg. Like Stygians can't be Soldiers, and some priests cant use Polearm Weapons as effectively.

10) Is it level-based, or skill-based? (Will I be cannon-fodder for all the PVP Griefers for the first 2 months I play?)

Level Based. During your play time you can aquire, 80 levels in general PvE game, 20 additional Level for PvP, 5 levels come from being a 'Merc'. Because the game lends itself more to a 'twitch' style play and also offfers NO typical 'Auto Attack' you will find yourself directing your attacks. Many believe this to be more skillfull then spam your keys type play often found in 'Regular' Auto Attack type games.

11) Is this a follow-the-quest grind-fest where I have to find 20 sewer rats and kill them, then find 20 bats and kill them, then 20 dogs, etc?

You wont fint any rat killing in the game or that type of quest. Everyone has a path, and we are expecting more information to be released about the 'Destiny Quest' system, which culmilates in you meeting King Conan. In quests you can do, the NPC's are prone to your behaviour towards them, so if your nasty, they will remember that next time.

12) Do creatures spawn and remain in the same location repeatedly? Or do they roam with any kind of AI?

There is apparently decent A.I for mobs in the game. They are responsive to the surrounding situations and react with mimicing thought and such like we're told. Will have to wait and see, maybe they will do an interview with someone from that area? (Step up Adus!)

13) Is this game gear-dependant, or can a new player compete? If it's gear-dependant, do I have to group up with 20 random strangers (who are probably drunk, high, adolescents with poor parenting) for pHat l3Wtz?

PvP specific gear if different from PvE specifc gear. The uber sword you got from a raid drop will probably be awesome in PvE but not so much in PvP. Crafting is not Exp based, so you dont feel like its a full time job. You advance in crafting by doing specific quests to get to the next tier, letting you make the next set of stuff say, for example. Anyone  can do they so it does differ from other games where a lvl 80 crafter can only make certain things. In this game you just have to open up the next part done via quests. So gear can be made for PvP or PvE, Weapons, again, can be fitted with gems (socketed) gained from PvE or cut specific (gemcutter path Craft). So it really depends on what type of gear your after at the end of the day, but it has been said if you don't like raiding, you don't have to do it and be gimped for PvP gear.. say.

14) What will be done to stop the farmers, spammers, and Ebayers trying to get you to buy things online everywhere?

If you look at Anarchy Online - Funcoms other mmo, you will notice very little of what you mentioned above, even at the games peak. Also Funcom employ people with knowledge of such activites (botters) who are able to counter attack bad activites - as the company say. Spammers - im sure there will be rules in place there, punishments are unknown yet. Ebayers again will have to wait and see. Overall, the way the company has handled things in their other game should make you at ease in relation to the fact they don't expect it to be a huge problem in this game. They don't deny it wont happen, but they do have good preventative measures in place.

Thanks for any answers!

- Phos

 

 

Hey thought i'd add some more in for you ;) but BlueAlien1 is definately hotter than I am.

As for the guy above, it just shows you how far out of touch with the community really is. Nice attempt at answering his questions though Draccan. I find plenty of stimulating conversations on the official forums. And to act like beta is the final game is just immature. Its only your own illusion you think that developement is in a mess, gained from what 3 people's outdated murmur's?

HAHAHAHAHAHA

"said it will be open pvp"

"Loot still has to be determined"

"[Boats] won't be in at launch"

"[housing] won't be in at launch"

"minigames as far as we know"

"yes you can swim"

"[radar/coords] undetermined"

"regular vendors" - not replying to the question about player vendors

"levelbased" --> not replying to the question about being cannon fodder

"there is apparantly decent AI" -- Contrary to recent rumours as well as pretty much EVERY aoc video. In fact the AI seem to be a disaster or not implemented yet

"gear" -- the reply is completely off the wall, the dude asked if he could still compete without uber gear as a new player or not. He didn't ask about crafting

"spammers" --> well it remains to be seen, but pretty much every succesful mmo (and even if it isnt succesful) allows for spammers, simply because they allow free trials and dont want to throw out people and allow it as part of economy.. greed always win over good customer service if companies can get away with it

SORRY DUDE your replies are not very accurate. Not your fault though. The game (contrary to Athelans strong claims) lacks info!

'nuff said

[edited for pagebreak errors]

Not sure about the coordinates, they exist in game but I am not positive about player access to seeing them. Navigations for me is usually visual.

No player vendors, player towns have their own tradepost/auction houses tho which allows for player economy.

Housing is something we want to do but will be post launch so we can do it well like UO style.

Border Kingdoms is open PvP on every server

PvP servers are open everywhere except hubs. You cannot attack someone in your guild or while they are grouped with you in open PvP, but you can of course use mini games to duel or skirmish your guild mates.

There are areas with dynamic mob generation, areas with static mob placement, areas with patrolling mobs, areas with ambushes etc. As stated we have very advanced AI systems but its been so advanced its been causing a lot of stupid behavior that we are actually dumbing it down to streamline it.

Spammers wont be a big issue as long as trial accounts are only allowed on Tortage, and they dont have access to global channels.

The game is gear dependant but not in the context of forcing you into 20 man raids or raiding at all in order to get gear a larger part of your budget for stats comes from your own feats and skills.

I don't really quite understand what your goal is Draccan.

Originally posted by Athelan

There are some videos from Leipzig and Dragoncon showing CTF PvP Gameplay. But some of the people who were recorded are just random fans walking up to play so are not very skilled. Although, someone may have recorded me for ultimate pwnage :)

 

I tend to disagree about the lack of information, the biggest issue is peoples laziness or inability to find information. The reason that now discussion seems to be less productive is so many things are rehash.

 

Dig up my introduction thread on these forums, or read the "Athelan the Oracle of Oslo" thread which is stickied on the official forums and still receiving frequent replies of thanks.

 

Anyone who thinks we dont share information as much as we can is either so jaded or self centered that they just want their own personal certain tidbits of info or just a scrooge.

I am sorry to be a voice of dissent here. But I think this is arrogant.

I have followed the game only since the spring but quite vigorously since then. And I have found the lack of proper info disturbing. And saying that I have to make the disclaimer: No I dont want every little feature revealed or spoiled. Not even by a yardstick.

What I would love is professional updates. AOC is a MMORPG. Not a fiction book. Not even a comic book. Neither is it photo book. So why on earth give your faithful audience Friday updates like you have been giving since the spring?

You have been giving textual updates about Tarantulas?!?! The "Crom's balls" cartoon. Text updates of classes, sometimes without any real screenshots. An update about the game delay. One where the main point was to flash that harpy and her boobs (a harpy we already saw in a dev video months before).. The summer vacation, all right I can understand but without announcing the game delay BEFORE your long vacation. 

I cried foul on that last thing, knowing from sheer logic the game wouldn't meet its deadline.

Can you even promise now (without REAL unforeseen things happening) that you can meet the next deadline? And can you reply to whether or not you will finish in December (early) and not "really needing" to plan the game for march? Will it release early? Or will it, as I suspect, be postponed again?

You guys went in the right direction with your dev videos. Those are good. Interesting. But a MMO deserves VIDEOS, not text updates. And I personally feel I wasted the minutes of my life going to the forum every Friday since April, to only watch updates about NOTHING.

I find your response an insult to your alledgedly mature player base. There is still a lot of basic gameplay questions unanswered. Nothing that would reveal all the fun (all the monsters, dungeons, quests and whatnots) .. no just plain gameplay questions..

I have seen the Leipzig and other videos... and even there I wasn't impressed. I remember for example a COOL dev video talking about creating UNIQUE sounds for EVERYTHING. Yet I heard so many repetitive sounds... It was horrible..

I could go on...

Have a nice evening anyways !

Originally posted by Athelan

Not sure about the coordinates, they exist in game but I am not positive about player access to seeing them. Navigations for me is usually visual.

 

No player vendors, player towns have their own tradepost/auction houses tho which allows for player economy.

 

Housing is something we want to do but will be post launch so we can do it well like UO style.

 

Border Kingdoms is open PvP on every server

PvP servers are open everywhere except hubs. You cannot attack someone in your guild or while they are grouped with you in open PvP, but you can of course use mini games to duel or skirmish your guild mates.

 

There are areas with dynamic mob generation, areas with static mob placement, areas with patrolling mobs, areas with ambushes etc. As stated we have very advanced AI systems but its been so advanced its been causing a lot of stupid behavior that we are actually dumbing it down to streamline it.

 

Spammers wont be a big issue as long as trial accounts are only allowed on Tortage, and they dont have access to global channels.

 

The game is gear dependant but not in the context of forcing you into 20 man raids or raiding at all in order to get gear a larger part of your budget for stats comes from your own feats and skills.

 

I don't really quite understand what your goal is Draccan.

My goal?

Just to voice my opinion like everyone else.

I think it would have served FC better to reply to the OPs questions rather than attack people for laziness.

You guys are in desperate need of PR management.

Did you just choose to ignore the other posts in this thread where I explained that I was not "attacking people about laziness"? And while not 100% spot on how long did it take Bluealien and Avery to post replies that still answered most of his questions?

You obviously had a chip on your shoulder when you made your first post in this thread, which was in no way helping the OP, but I guess that was just the opinion you wanted to express, certainly was not informative or constructive but that is your perogative.

Seems to me your problem is with a frustration at not being able to access the information you want which is something I already addressed in this thread, and really has little to do with me.

Originally posted by Athelan

Did you just choose to ignore the other posts in this thread where I explained that I was not "attacking people about laziness"? And while not 100% spot on how long did it take Bluealien and Avery to post replies that still answered most of his questions?

 

You obviously had a chip on your shoulder when you made your first post in this thread, which was in no way helping the OP, but I guess that was just the opinion you wanted to express, certainly was not informative or constructive but that is your perogative.

 

Seems to me your problem is with a frustration at not being able to access the information you want which is something I already addressed in this thread, and really has little to do with me.

Yes you did attack people about laziness.

Bluealien didn't have the replies to those questions.

Your first post in this thread wasn't helpful.

Personally I saw the original post to be hidden irony. That combined with the fact I didn't have the replies either to the questions, was what made my reply seem unhelpful.

Dear Athelan. It has everything to do with you..

A lot of "new gen" MMO players are used to Devs kissing their little diapered butts, and handing them everything on a gilded platter, on demand.

Surprise...not every company does that.

If AoC is anywhere near as good as Old AO was, I'll be playing for years. I have faith that FC will deliver a great game, not because I'm some kind of FC fanboi, but because I know that they are a good company, and I've seen what kind of games they make.

Originally posted by Draccan

 

Originally posted by Athelan

Did you just choose to ignore the other posts in this thread where I explained that I was not "attacking people about laziness"? And while not 100% spot on how long did it take Bluealien and Avery to post replies that still answered most of his questions?

 

You obviously had a chip on your shoulder when you made your first post in this thread, which was in no way helping the OP, but I guess that was just the opinion you wanted to express, certainly was not informative or constructive but that is your perogative.

 

Seems to me your problem is with a frustration at not being able to access the information you want which is something I already addressed in this thread, and really has little to do with me.

 

Yes you did attack people about laziness.

Bluealien didn't have the replies to those questions.

Your first post in this thread wasn't helpful.

Personally I saw the original post to be hidden irony. That combined with the fact I didn't have the replies either to the questions, was what made my reply seem unhelpful.

Dear Athelan. It has everything to do with you..

 

Well, Ive explained myself as best I can. You complain yet, when was the last time you think an actual dev read your post, let alone bothered to reply to you at all? Maybe if i type all my posts out like the Elcor in Mass effect youll get my meaning.

Originally posted by Draccan

 You have been giving textual updates about Tarantulas?!?! The "Crom's balls" cartoon. Text updates of classes, sometimes without any real screenshots.

You guys went in the right drection with your dev videos. Those are good. Interesting.  But a MMO deserves VIDEOS, not text updates. And I personally feel I wasted the minutes of my life going to the forum every Friday since April, to only watch updates about NOTHING.

I'm afraid I have to agree with this assessment on the updates.  I have seldom found the text updates to be useful or that infomative.   Perhaps instead of weekly updates Funcom can have monthly ones where they can save up things and reveal more juicy and interesting tidbits like screenshots and videos rather than just text?   

Also Athelan says they have been providing information but then admits there are problems with making the information readily available.   This nearly as bad as not providing the information at all.    Information is about communcation, and communication should be clear and accessible.    You can't claim you're providing information when you're whispering in a crowded, noisy room.

This may not be Athelan's responsibility but it certainly is *someone's* responsibilty at Funcom (and if not then it needs to be) and that person needs to start doing their job. 

The issue is much of the information exists in past forum threads, its dredging that into a cohesive, encyclopedia if you will that is difficult. Like if we could some how wikify it all onto the AOC wiki or do something like that.

Then again I am not aware of any MMO past or present that had the communication from the Devs to the extent to make such a knowledge base let alone took the time and energy to put it together.

I think the real question that needs to be answered is if you are going by registration date on the official forums in regards to the latest round of alpha invites, how close are you to #8787?

Problem here is that the information is out there, if you havent got the time to do it / look for it all at once, then do parts at a time. Some people also have to understand that its up to marketing at FC as and when information gets released. Just like it is every game. 'Tarib' gave a big long interview with the summary posted here on the front page still it answers or adds to answer of alot of questions that were asked here.

There is so many repetitive questions being asked on the official forum, basically due to the continual attraction this game has. There are over 1 million posts there, and yes it takes some time to find the relevant information.

I good way to get straight to developer quotes is at www.bymitra.com link was also in the sticky at the top of this forum, In the want to know more section.

To be honest you can't expect to have all answers to a really diverse mmorpg answered 4 months from launch. The main website gives a shit load of information, www.bymitra.com with its search gives 6k dev posts. I personally have around 8-9GB of videos to do with AoC sitting on my hard drive, I know thats more than most games out there similar. There are countless interviews out there (some recent ones even relate to the questions asked here).

I mean alot of what was asked is out there, similar questions have been asked before, hence why I made the sticky at the top of the page including some of the places Athelan suggested to look. Your notice alot of media links in there too. Furthermore the reason why I collated things like I did was to help new people get some answers to some questions they wanted asking. However, I never for one second expected to 'cover all bases'.

You know developers like Athelan and Jayde post in their own time to help the community, they don't  have to but they do. They are interested just as much as someone with a passing interest in the game to make sure information within the guidelines of marketing say can be said and found. When Athelan (or Jayde) says the info is out there, its out there, I don't think its neccessary for them to answer the same questions some dozen times in a month. You can kinda see hows it a bit frustrating, thats why there are community guys like Tarib ~ German and Pharamond, Plus Project guys like Erling and Jorgen.

The information that is out there, like the front official website, and stickies in the official forum, does a good job to a point. Yea some of it is outdated a little, but that just goes hand in hand with a 'work in progress'

All we can really do is get a 'scope' for how the game is going to be at the moment. Its also unfair to judge an unfinished product with unfinshed answers as the final word.

The OP asked some questions, obviously it took some time for him to write them out, then you get Draccan just out 'slating'. The point is the questions were answered as best as could be by people who have more than a passing interest in the game. Sorry if that wasn't good enough for you, personally I tried to take the time and do some research to help get those to you. Would love to give clear cut answers for all, but its just not possible right now. Im also sorry that you perceived Ahelan's response as negative, I think you took his comments out of proportion. We aren't talking about some scam company here, or some 3rd rate developer pushing bullshit on people.

If Athelan gave straight up answers to them all right now, and some were to change a little bit as things do in beta, you find out the changes next month, people would say he is a liar.

The truth is, they are still testing parts, implementing finishing touches, they are proud of what they are doing, and the fact is its not the companies fault if you haven't got time to look for detailed responses to some specific questions relating to a game in beta. Doesn't change the fact that alot of the info is accessible in easy to find places, and for more specific's not so much.

Athelan didn't call anyone lazy, jaded or whatever, he said people are either 'lazy' or lack the inability to find information. The fact the OP said  the thread "Athelan Orcacle of Oslo'  was in 'a sea of threads' is quite silly or it proves the point about inability. The thread is stickied near the very top of the first page. The OP asked very specific questions and the thread was very long justly so, the game has evolved since then.

In my opinion this comment is soooo true "Anyone who thinks we dont share information as much as we can is either so jaded or self centered that they just want their own personal certain tidbits of info or just a scrooge. " how many times on the official forums you see people jaded or with their own agenda? Hence he didn't call anyone that because no one was accused of it. He implied that for people who 'think that the company doesn't share information' no one previous said otherwise.. But as usual people take things out of context...

Hey guys, please lay off Athelan.  He is coming here answering questions on his own time.  He made it perfectly clear that the Funcom Q&As are total crap and said him and Jayde have been pushing hard to get that corrected.  We've got to remember, he is the combat developer.  PR is responsible for the Q&A.  Our anger should be directed at Gaute (LordOrion if I'm not mistaken).  He is the one with the power to get the Q&A fixed, not Athelan.

Be thankful, at least Athelan has the balls to show up here and answer our posts.  Rick from FLS and PoTBS and Brad from Sigil were the only other ones I've seen giving us the kind of access that Athelan gives us.  Do I get frustrated with him?  Hell ya.  He can be very cocky but look at his audience, ME.  I can be a pain in the butt and I know it.

Originally posted by Athelan

I tend to agree with you about the boobs thing. Most the mature gamers, like its presence there in addition to everything else but don't look to it as a defining feature. Most people who would, might tend to be younger. But based on our recent survey most people seem to be over 18 anyway and should have ready access to other forms of boobage.

 

I am ..  â€¢ Male 2442  â€¢ Female 77 Total: 2519	(View Chart)

 

I am..

• Under 18 years of age 170

• 18-25 years of age 1171

• 26-30 years of age 515

• 30-35 years of age 385

• 36-40 years of age 178

• 40 plus 127

Total: 2546

Wow, I'm somewhat surprised by those statistics. Even given the lore (tends to attract more men than women), I'm surprised that only 3% of respondents are female.

So my demographic is going to make up ~0.3264% of the game. Lord. Are they any more numbers correlating age and gender?

And guys, please, lay off of Athelan. Most of the information is quite readily available, and he could have been much, much more tart.

(go check out Dan Gray's posts on the Fury board, then come here and complain!)

<3

(and yay, boobage!)

I got nothin!!

Originally posted by Shannia

Hey guys, please lay off Athelan.  He is coming here answering questions on his own time.  He made it perfectly clear that the Funcom Q&As are total crap and said him and Jayde have been pushing hard to get that corrected. 

Then here's to encouraging them that they keep pushing.

Just because previous generations MMORPG developers have been lax about communicating with their community doesn't mean that we have to keep accepting it as the status quo.

If that were the case then none of us would be expect ing Age of Conan (or any upcoming MMORPG) to be anything but a timesink grindfest rather than something that seeks to push the genre forward. 

MMORPGs are evolving and that is something that is long overdue IMO.  That includes the areas that have been previous ignored like developer communication.   

Some claim developers have no real resposibility to communicate clearly with the community.  This is true.  But if the developers want the hype that results from open and clear communication with the community then they have to be prepared for the work that goes along with it.  In the end, I think they'll find it's well worth it. 

Gaute is just Gaute

LordOrion Is Erling one of our Project Directors in Marketing.

Famine, Pharamond,myself, and the other community guys are looking to address the issue but we need to find a solution and the web developer time.

Well remember. star.buck that more women gamers may come to conan when it is released. Women gamers dont seem to be has hardcore beta droolers as us guys. (Thats a compliment, but if you want to be a hardcore beta drooler too i wont hold it against you)

Originally posted by Athelan

Gaute is just Gaute

 

LordOrion Is Erling one of our Project Directors in Marketing.

 

Famine, Pharamond,myself, and the other community guys are looking to address the issue but we need to find a solution and the web developer time.

 

Well remember. star.buck that more women gamers may come to conan when it is released. Women gamers dont seem to be has hardcore beta droolers as us guys. (Thats a compliment, but if you want to be a hardcore beta drooler too i wont hold it against you)

Oh come on.  What would you do without us hardcore beta droolers?