Age of Conan

Just to state something up front.  I pre-ordered AoC about a week ago and the game has been on my radar for several months now.  Have to say WAR is my first choice but with the latest push back AoC went to the front of the queue.

I am a regular player of MMO's and recently I have spoken to a fair few AoC beta testers who are being less than complimentary of the game.  I log on here and I see a lot of the same issues being raised, which are:

* community is mostly 14 year olds getting off on the gore and nudity

* combat is average

* way too buggy and not ready to launch

I take a lot of this with a pinch of salt because 3 MMO's I play now and really enjoy were slammed at this stage also.  However I have yet to speak to one person who really swears by this game...not a good sign imo.

I did worry about a game that was pushing for 'unbelievable' graghics and tailored combat.  I don't think the average PC or ISP can handle it tbh.  Vanguard looked great on my pc but bombed out because 6/10 gamers couldn't play the damn thing.  I wonder if AoC needs another 6 months and maybe wise to push back just like War...

Be glad to hear from anyone why this game is so great and how they had some good experiences with the community because I am losing faith fast!

I havent been following Conan too close but I have now tried the open beta.

Unfortunately my only positive experience is the graphics. Other than that I really dont see why this game is so over hyped which is the only reason I tried the open beta.

1. The gore and blood and all the adult thing is just too much and nothing realistic. I think they should have toned it down. Now it only looks silly.

2. The combat system didnt feel that revolutionary too me. But this is probably because of wrong expectations from my side. I thought the combat would feel more "FPS" style, but having some directions in the game where you choose one doesnt seem so "free movement" to me at least.

3. The game is not ready for release. I felt playing closed beta. Too many bugs that I got tired fast.

Although I can see how a "good" conan would pay like:

1. Fast paced combat, now it feels clunky.

2. Tone down the blood. It's not realistic, it's silly.

3. Fix a lot of clipping and graphic bugs.

But like I said, Im hardly an expert on Conan and have more or less only followed the game last couple of months because of hype and only played the open beta.

But for someone that hasnt played the game in closed beta and just picked it up, the "pick up and play factor" is just lousy, You really need to be a fan of this game to play it or have the patience to learn it, neither which I have.

Well, I can tell you this.  I haven't followed the game at all, I simply read a preview along time ago and decided to sign up for the beta and didn't look at the game again untill I got the email saying I was in. 

90% of the "beta reviews" I have seen on this site and many others are posted by frustrated people who don't go to forums to find fixes to issues they are having.  The client that I played before the one now was HORRIBLE I couldn't even make a damn character it was that bad.  Now (with fixes for the hitching found on forums) I am able to play on my medicore system on med-high settings and run at 30-45 FPS.  But yes before I actually SEARCHED for answers to my problems AoC really frustrated me on preformence and I wanted to post a troll post myself but decided not to and I'm glad I didn't because I'm really enjoying the game now.

Honestly, I can just hope that if there is this "magical build" it is as big of an improvement jump as the last build to the current one was for me and AoC will be a A+ game.  If not I can tell you right now AoC will "survive" but it won't be as great as it could be if the release build is as unstable as it is now.

So really what I'm saying is the game has issues anyone who tells you otherwise is full of it, but they are issues that can and probably will be fixed within 3-4 months of release I will personally probably wait about 2-3 weeks for the initial patches and read some hopfully unbias reviews before I buy the retail copy on if they are fixing what needs to be fixed.  Hope this helps.

Originally posted by chryses

Be glad to hear from anyone why this game is so great and how they had some good experiences with the community because I am losing faith fast!

However, you can only find out by yourself if the gameplay is fun for you.
 

That's helped a lot thanks!  I always have a rule (which I break way too often!) about joining a game at launch.  Basically don't.  3 months is when I decide to play a game because as you say by that time they have brought out 2 gig of patches and a lot of the annoying stuff is gone.  Plus if you are into project management as a profession like me you can always see the life cycle. 

Launch - Excitement, enthusiasm and 1000's of players screaming how great it is...

mid term - trolls come out and the haters leave on mass...

end term - (3 months) the game has a core fan base and people start to realise that its not so bad and their expectations come into line with what is actually realistic.

Pretty much is make or break between 3-6 months.  Vanguard improved massively but lost way too many people early on and focused way too much on the world, graghics and not enough storyline imo.  Just thinking AoC may be the same...

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Originally posted by eugam

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Originally posted by chryses

Be glad to hear from anyone why this game is so great and how they had some good experiences with the community because I am losing faith fast!

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We are 2 weeks from release. This is peak of the mudfight ;) It wont get better till 1st subscription is due to pay 30 days after release. Trust me, there are nerds out there who bash a game just because they have the most expensive hardware and the game doesnt run at 100 fps on max. settings.
However, you can only find out by yourself if the gameplay is fun for you.

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Indeed. Make up your own mind about things. Don't wait for people to tell you if it's good or not good. Other peoples POV counts for crap. Only one that does is your own.

Originally posted by chryses

That's helped a lot thanks!  I always have a rule (which I break way too often!) about joining a game at launch.  Basically don't.  3 months is when I decide to play a game because as you say by that time they have brought out 2 gig of patches and a lot of the annoying stuff is gone.  Plus if you are into project management as a profession like me you can always see the life cycle. 

Launch - Excitement, enthusiasm and 1000's of players screaming how great it is...

mid term - trolls come out and the haters leave on mass...

end term - (3 months) the game has a core fan base and people start to realise that its not so bad and their expectations come into line with what is actually realistic.

Pretty much is make or break between 3-6 months.  Vanguard improved massively but lost way too many people early on and focused way too much on the world, graghics and not enough storyline imo.  Just thinking AoC may be the same...

 

Sigil or more McQuaid did too many things wrong and spread too many lies for VG to be forgiven of its faults. Too many bitter gamers for it to make a comeback based on it's own merits now, with too nasty a reputation despite the changes.

Even as a fanbois myself I accept this game will suck in areas and will run like crap at launch, but I don't think Funcom has dug a grave for itself anywhere close to Sigil, Farlan or SOE. Remember on launch day SWG was a steaming pile of bugs lag and unfinished content and survived until SOE commited hari kiri. I'm willing to bet $80 that Funcom can turn alot of bad points into positives in 3 months, and if not I'll just have to wait for WAR or Stargate Online.

As for nudity and gore, I'm 33 this month and can't wait to get into some drunken, violent, sex in AoC. I say wait for launch and scrounge a buddy key in these forums if you don't want to risk the cash. Also it'll help you get a buddy key by not calling fanbois like me immature 14 year olds, even though I probably am ;)

10$ on release being postponed.

If they don't then 20$ on game failing after 3 months due to not being playable.

Tip: 30 minutes loading times make me never subsribe to it.

I am not very happy with what i seen in AOC open beta.

But I wouldnt regret buying the game (if my rig can run it , that is)

It is far far far away from being what it was promised. But it is nice game. Not for MMO , but rather as single player RPG