Age of Conan

Alright, I preordered this game at GS( Mammoth mount!) and have a few questions now...

Is this game instanced like GW or free roam like WoW?

I heard mounts are only useable in pvp... is that true?

Whats that I been hearing about the single player before you actually enter the MMO world?

I heard there are no race specific starting zones? Is that true?

Is there an estimated time on how long it will take you hit the maximum level?

Thanks a lot everyone!

Free roam

Probably not

There is a single player tutorial (Tortage) before the actual game. You have a choice to skip it.

Not sure on this.

Slightly longer than WoW, if I remember correctly.

You could find a lot of this on the official AoC forums, I just don't care enough to look it up.

il try to help.

The game is mostly free roam like WoW. There are instances but not ones like GW.

I dont know about mounts. Though,I do not think they are just for PvP. In fact, im pretty sure.

The game is single player for the 1st 20 levels, which doesnt last very long. I believe i read once you complete it with 1 character you have the option to skip the single player part(not the lvls). However,  its the only area to level and do quests at those levels. Its done for immersion, quest, tutorial, storyline etc reasons.

There are no race specific starting zones. Race has little to do with anything in this game except for immersion and looks purposes. There are no racial bonuses.

I do remember the devs commenting that leveling is not intended to be a huge grind. I think it is in line with WoW.

actually, the n00b zone (5-20) is only single player at night.

Originally posted by Ragana

Alright, I preordered this game at GS( Mammoth mount!) and have a few questions now...

Is this game instanced like GW or free roam like WoW?

The world is not seamless it has Zones of varying size some up to several kilometres squared. Very similar to EQ2.  Many people can populate a Zone. In guild wars its just you and your party and the monsters etc. In Aoc people can come and go from these zones and join other players in them already present. The zones are needed for the graphic quality of the game and to keep the lag down for example. So you know in GW you cant change your skills and stuff once out of a town - well in AoC you can change anything anytime - Skills / combos / feats etc

I heard mounts are only useable in pvp... is that true?

No you can get mounts that are Horse, Mammoth and Rhino that can be used outside of PvP - if your on a PvE server. The in game mount you get is a War Mammoth specifically for the Sieges, other version of the mammoth will be available in game. Horses for example at the moment can be got at lvl 40 and comes in a variety of types. Aztels Approach in the game offers mammoths there are some vids out on the official site with this info.

Whats that I been hearing about the single player before you actually enter the MMO world?

When you start the game on Noob Island - Tortage - you can switch between day and night cycle by visiting an NPC. During the Night extra quests and special quests called Destiny Quests are available to advance your character. You do these on your own, but can switch back to day time and the normal mmo experience. When in night you are free to talk to other people in game, just not group with them - this is to help get you used to the game at your own speed and to also personalize your story more. Plus world changing events happen that are only possible in this scenario because you havent got everyone else around. The single player experience is only till lvl 20 - which is relatively easy to attain.

I heard there are no race specific starting zones? Is that true?

No for launch everyone starts off on Tortage Island - in the future there will be race specific starting area's add with more content.

Is there an estimated time on how long it will take you hit the maximum level?

Maybe a few weeks - its pretty fast - but also not a race really. At max level for example Raid Dungeons open up, special crafting abilites etc etc. But its typically set out in more of a quest orientated story telling way, where you progress at your own speed and enjoy your time doing so. People will tell you of people in beta doing it in a few days, thats because not all content was in a the time. It is fast leveling though.

 

Thanks a lot everyone!

 Hope it helps!

Originally posted by Ragana

Alright, I preordered this game at GS( Mammoth mount!) and have a few questions now...

Is this game instanced like GW or free roam like WoW?

I heard mounts are only useable in pvp... is that true?

Whats that I been hearing about the single player before you actually enter the MMO world?

I heard there are no race specific starting zones? Is that true?

Is there an estimated time on how long it will take you hit the maximum level?

 

Thanks a lot everyone!

1.  The game is nowhere near as instanced as Guildwars, think more along the lines of EQ2, zones are pretty big from what I hear.

2.  The Mammoth and Rhino are siege mounts and as such are only usable during sieges.  Horses are for general travelling.

3.  The Tortage starting area consists of a night singleplayer campaign and a day multiplayer campaign.  You can switch between the 2 at will.  This takes you up to Level 20 and is to get you used to the combat system and give you a good grounding in your characters storyline.

4.  There is only one starting zone afaik and that is Tortage.

5.  The developers have stated that 1-80 should take the average player 10 days in /played time.

Hope this helps.

Originally posted by Consequence

The game is single player for the 1st 20 levels, which doesnt last very long. I believe i read once you complete it with 1 character you have the option to skip the single player part(not the lvls). However,  its the only area to level and do quests at those levels. Its done for immersion, quest, tutorial, storyline etc reasons.

This is not accurate anymore.  The first 20 levels ARE on the island of Tartage, BUT not totally single player.  During the day, you are with others in the city and can group with them to go out and fight.  At night, the story progresses and you are single player through it.  Once you hit 20, you leaver the island and enter the fully MMO world.

Originally posted by Ragana

1. Alright, I preordered this game at GS( Mammoth mount!) and have a few questions now...

2. Is this game instanced like GW or free roam like WoW?

3. I heard mounts are only useable in pvp... is that true?

4. Whats that I been hearing about the single player before you actually enter the MMO world?

5. I heard there are no race specific starting zones? Is that true?

6. Is there an estimated time on how long it will take you hit the maximum level?

 

Thanks a lot everyone!

1. Good; the preorder items are nice!

2. It is not like GW and not really like WOW either. The best comparison is EQ or EQ2. Outdoor zones are copied when they get full; however they do have zones lines and you do zone from one to another.

3. Yes its true. Mounts are usable and I can't wait.

4. The first 20 levels are single player if you so wish. You can actually "Camp" and change that to multiplayer if you want. Supposedly the first 20 levels don't take that long.

5. Correct because everyone begins with the single player experience on their own. It is really cool and turns everything into a really well-done experience.

6. Too hard to answer. I have heard a lot of things but it will be based entirely on your playstyle. Probably not as long as EQ2 or LOTRO but not as fast as WOW would be my guess.

Originally posted by Ragana

Alright, I preordered this game at GS( Mammoth mount!) and have a few questions now...

Is this game instanced like GW or free roam like WoW?

There are instances, like WoW. Mostly for dungeons, etc. It's not instanced like GW in that every zone but the 'town' is an instance.

Note however that the game is split up into Zones. You cant run from one part of the world to another strait on. Theres zones. This makes the game world seem a bit more 'split up' but the upside is that each zone can have far greater detail and hand crafted design with more unique textures, etc. :)

I heard mounts are only useable in pvp... is that true?

There are two mounts used mostly for PvP. The pre-order mounts. Mammoth and Rhino are mostly useful for bashing down walls and such. They aren't meant for getting around and you cant attack from atop them like you can a horse.

Whats that I been hearing about the single player before you actually enter the MMO world?

Level 1-5 tutorial area is single player only. They are quick so don't worry about it. After that, up to lvl 19 there is some 'solo content' that basically you go into the city of Tortage and sleep until night and you are in your own instance of the city and can work on personal Destiny Quests. You can then sleep till Day and do stuff with other players and your no longer in a solo instance. After you leave Tortage (lvl 20 or so) the game no longer has this 'night time solo instance' but is like a normal MMOG.

I heard there are no race specific starting zones? Is that true?

Yes. The races are less important to the game then WoW. It's not an RvR game so theres no need. Devs have said they want to add more starting zones after launch. I'd espect them to come in perhaps it's first expansion.

Is there an estimated time on how long it will take you hit the maximum level?

 About the same time as WoW. But the end game PvP 'begins' at near maximum lvl. Theres also 20 PvP lvls to work towards as well. These aren't like 'ranks' in old WoW. They are actual levels that grant you new PvP focused items and abilities and unlike regular xp, you can loose PvP xp by dying in combat. So it'll take real practice and skill to get to a high PvP lvl. :)

Theres also lots of good end game content for PvE players. Theres supposed to be 8 'tiered' end game Raids at launch. Also theres city building, detailed crafting that will be important to the game (especially PvP.) Unlike WoW where most the crafting is only useful to the crafter so much that the top crafted items are BoP.

That reminds me, AoC doesn't use a BoP/BoE system. It's free trading of almost everything!

Thanks a lot everyone!

np :D AoC is gonna rock and it's just weeks away!