Age of Conan

i think this might be a lot of sour grapes because some people hav nt got into the beta . i am .i ve seen it so i know its not a vanguard or a tabuala rasa . it does run on 1 gb ram and on a mid range video card ( although i d personally suggest you d upgrade the ram as i m about to do )  . nuff said

Im glad your in beta and have seen the game is a success, I havent had a good game to play since DAOC launch... so you will forgive me if Im a bit skeptical about a new game.

I desperately want it to be a success but I also dont want another horrible game.

Tabula Rasa was made by Richard Garriot, the same man who made UO, a game I loved. Sadly TR was horrible. Thankfully I was able to get into the beta and see that it was awful.

With AOC, keeping a NDA up till launch is a bad idea in my opinion, folks have been burned many times, and spending 50 bucks on a product (especially with a company thats had issues in the past) is more risk than many are willing to take.

I have my games pre-ordered, signed up for beta and the pvp weekend, we will see if I can get into any of em.

I still believe the only reason to keep an NDA in tact till launch day is if you have little if any confidence in your game. I wasnt comparing WOW to this game, I was comparing their launch, I also compared TR's release.

I hate wow, but they obviously had a lot of confidence in their game, Funcom seems to not have as much. IMO.

Originally posted by Pyrostasis
...

I still believe the only reason to keep an NDA in tact till launch day is if you have little if any confidence in your game. I wasnt comparing WOW to this game, I was comparing their launch, I also compared TR's release.

...

Of course, it's their business decisions in terms of how to disseminate information about their game just like any other marketing decision is theirs to make.  In the end, I'll wait for the game to be released, wait for reviews to come out, speak to friends about the game, and wait for the inevitable patches or updates.

If the NDA is going to be up through launch, it just means I won't be interested in the game for now, which I don't see as being a bad thing.

A: The Beta is for the developer, not for you. Just because developers have been using them as a marketing tool of late doesn't mean that it is a good or bad way of doing things, it's just a way.

B: Any assumption about a companies motives behind their NDA policy is just an assumption. Actually based on everything I've read on these boards about this issue, personally I think the best stratagy would be to set a corporate policy that your NEVER going to have a Open Beta, and NEVER going to lift NDA. Then there's no question. But as many of you I'm sure will point out, I don't work for Funcom. So who knows? Really who knows? Not me... but not you either.

C: Even if they do lift NDA... it doesn't matter. There is one thing that every computer game released since the dawn of internet, good bad or otherwise has had in common: Stupid people write stupid things about it on the internet. You know why my post count is so low? Because I can't stand gushers OR bashers, or Fanbois or Flamers, or whatever terminology you kids use to describe your average forum lurker.

Conan might suck, it might rock, it might be ok. Who knows? None of this Open Beta, NDA, etc. whatever proves one way or the other, it might mean they have no confidence in their product, or it might just be the way they decided to handle things.

You have three choices: Preorder, Wait for release and reviews, write AoC off entirely. No choice is wrong, no choice is right. You don't know anything, I don't know anything. We're all stupid and I have a headache.

Originally posted by NotNiceDino

A: The Beta is for the developer, not for you. Just because developers have been using them as a marketing tool of late doesn't mean that it is a good or bad way of doing things, it's just a way.

B: Any assumption about a companies motives behind their NDA policy is just an assumption. Actually based on everything I've read on these boards about this issue, personally I think the best stratagy would be to set a corporate policy that your NEVER going to have a Open Beta, and NEVER going to lift NDA. Then there's no question. But as many of you I'm sure will point out, I don't work for Funcom. So who knows? Really who knows? Not me... but not you either.

C: Even if they do lift NDA... it doesn't matter. There is one thing that every computer game released since the dawn of internet, good bad or otherwise has had in common: Stupid people write stupid things about it on the internet. You know why my post count is so low? Because I can't stand gushers OR bashers, or Fanbois or Flamers, or whatever terminology you kids use to describe your average forum lurker.

Conan might suck, it might rock, it might be ok. Who knows? None of this Open Beta, NDA, etc. whatever proves one way or the other, it might mean they have no confidence in their product, or it might just be the way they decided to handle things.

You have three choices: Preorder, Wait for release and reviews, write AoC off entirely. No choice is wrong, no choice is right. You don't know anything, I don't know anything. We're all stupid and I have a headache.

 

Ok this was some funny stuff - especially the headache bit I just wan to point out that some people posting here actually are in either technical beta or the closed beta. Most of these people wont say much other than the politically correct - "this game has great potential" or "it will change a lot before the release" without breaking the NDA.

I test online applications for living - I am going to wait to buy the game in the store.

Originally posted by Battlekruse

If it were going to be "ready" then they would not still be hiding behind an NDA.

It will have a lot of problems but they will likely fix them after retail, only when everyone is screaming in their face.

Otherwise, there would be no NDA now

I can't believe someone hasn't said this yet, but Funcom doesn't release its NDAs. The one for Anarchy online is still in effect.

Funcom isn't hiding behind anything. It's just their company policy that's been in effect long before Age of Conan.

What would lifting the NDA do for Funcom anyway? It would only allow beta testers to comment on a build of an MMO that might not reflect the final game version, thus biasing people one way or another.

Originally posted by Mahni

 

Hearing that a game is keeping alpha / beta testers under a NDA up through launch makes me hesitant as well.  I don't require (detailed) information about a game prior to launch, but information prior to a product release influences my expectations and desire to purchase.

 

Refer to my post above. Releasing the NDA does nothing for Funcom but a disservice.

I swear, people look for any excuse to put down a game and its developer before launch.

Funcom did not release the NDA for Anarchy Online, and it turned out to be very incomplete and incredibly buggy at release. Some might say they did not release the NDA specifically because of this. Its a shame so many people think this is a good direction for the genre to go and refuse to learn from the past. Can't wait to see SoE and EA adopting this same policy once they see it works for Funcom, so the release state of everything ever released from now on becomes completely hidden until we've paid for it. Thanks for helping the cause, Daedalus.

I swear, some people get so caught up in their personal flavor of the month desires they just can't see the big picture.

Originally posted by Grunties

Funcom did not release the NDA for Anarchy Online, and it turned out to be very incomplete and incredibly buggy at release. Some might say they did not release the NDA specifically because of this. Its a shame so many people think this is a good direction for the genre to go and refuse to learn from the past. Can't wait to see SoE and EA adopting this same policy once they see it works for Funcom, so the release state of everything ever released from now on becomes completely hidden until we've paid for it. Thanks for helping the cause, Daedalus.

I swear, some people get so caught up in their personal flavor of the month desires they just can't see the big picture.

Frankly, that "waiting for Darkfall" comment just says it all. How can you criticise Funcom for not releasing information but be content to "wait" for a game that's never coming out? *sigh*

Why would Funcom release the NDA of a game that is still being tested and completed? The only result would be to give people an incomplete picture and contradictory reports from various beta testers who should be spending time helping to remove the remaining bugs than reporting to the community about their impressions of the game.

The fact of the matter is, we've known that the NDA would never be released. I don't understand why only now this is an issue.

Speculating on the status of the game based on an NDA policy that had been in effect for almost 9 years now just doesn't make any sense. Furthermore, speculating that other companies will adopt the same policy is useless as well. Funcom has had this policy for 9 years or more and it doesn't seem to be catching on.

If you want to deny yourself the next big MMO, an MMO that at least tries to do something unique, that's your call, and you can vote with your wallet.

Originally posted by Daedalus732

 

Originally posted by Grunties