Age of Conan

Here are some impressions from a guy who hasn't played the game and hasn't really followed the proceedings all that closely; I say this in the interests of full disclosure and all that goes along with that.   

Oh, and if it helps, pretend that Andy Rooney is reading this to you on 60 minutes:

One thing I've been doing on line these last couple of months is monitoring the release of a new MMO called The Age of Conan. It's not particularly important to me, as I'm most likely not going to play it due to lack of interest in the game, but as the game gets closer and closer to launch it has become quite interesting for a number of reasons.

First of all, these releases are good vantage points from which to view human psychology and character. They tend to bring out the best and the worst about people and about the online experience in general. It's always amusing to read the raw emotions on display.

It's also quite interesting to view how corporations interact with regular people. I often see things done by corporations that I can't fathom at all; they seemingly shoot themselves in the foot for no good reason, and I wonder if it's a lack on my part in understanding their motives, or if corporate entities really are that stupid, perhaps by nature.

AoC has been doing some really stupid things of late. Potentially, hundreds of millions of dollars are at stake here.

The first thing I didn't “get” about this game was its intention to appeal to all sorts of gamers. It seems to me that this is a very basic mistake – jack of all trades, master of none; trying to please everyone, and failing to please anyone is the basic danger that's been ignored here.

On the one hand, its a computer MMO, but on the other hand it's being made for the console crowd as well. So, the game has to work for a mouse and keyboard AND for a gamepad, and it has to work equally as well for each or the basic concept of fairness is lost. I suppose they could just isolate the two groups, but still, designing the game to work for both control sets seems like a mistake waiting to happen.

On the one hand, it's a PVP game, but on the other hand it's a PVE game. They claim to be focusing on both, but I'll bet they fall short in both respects.

Then there's the matter of group play versus solo play. Again, they seem to be catering to both crowds of players, but I can't imagine it could be balanced in this regard.

So, when the game is released next week, half their player base will be pissed off because console players have it too easy, or too hard. Of the remaining half, half of those will be pissed because the PVP sucks, or the PVE sucks. Of the 25% that are left, half of those will be pissed because the game isn't group friendly, or the game isn't solo-able.

But those aren't the only problems, the designers have purposefully discluded certain player bases that are generally core groups. For instance, it has nudity and graphic violence that garners the game an adult rating. OK, I'm all for that because I hate kids online, but is that a good corporate decision? Another thing that seems odd is the steep system requirements; that's going to scare quite a few people off. It seems to me it would cost a great deal more money to develop a game that has steep requirements to play, and will attract far fewer players. Doesn't make a whole lot of sense.

Another fault I see, is that they haven't tested the game on consoles. I can't imagine that's going to go smoothly on release.

So, they have all that going against them. That's a lot of crap – a lot of shortcomings to overcome. But that's not all.

Along with all that, there are a lot of red flags popping up. They had a small closed beta, and the NDA that went along with that was never really lifted. At the very least, they gave the impression that they had something to hide here.

Then there was the open beta which really wasn't open at all. You had to subscribe to FilePlanet in order to play. This isn't normal for MMOs, and it did a lot more than just raise some eyebrows.

Another thing that is very odd, is that they're allowing some people a head start in the game, roughly three days. That just doesn't seem fair, and games, at their core, are meant to be fair, are they not? But what was worse was the willy-nilly way they went about offering this head-start – you had to pre-order the game to have a CHANCE at a head start, but the only ones who actually got the head start were the ones who got their codes on time and acted very quickly; many didn't get their codes on time, and many didn't know they had to act quickly. This wasn't explained very well, and people are understandably furious.

With millions of dollars at stake, this whole thing doesn't have the appearance of being really well thought out.

Anyway, I'll be watching the release on this one (I wouldn't miss it for the world). And I'll be rooting for a train wreck with all my heart. LOL. A smooth release wouldn't be very interesting from my point of view, and I'd like my prediction of doom to come true, if only to assure me that I do indeed have some rudimentary understanding of this world.

I could of course be entirely wrong about all of this, which would irritate me to no end and force me to admit, if only to myself, that I just don't understand people (or things) all that well.

Originally posted by Dan256

Here are some impressions from a guy who hasn't played the game and hasn't really followed the proceedings all that closely; I say this in the interests of full disclosure and all that goes along with that.   

Oh, and if it helps, pretend that Andy Rooney is reading this to you on 60 minutes:

One thing I've been doing on line these last couple of months is monitoring the release of a new MMO called The Age of Conan. It's not particularly important to me, as I'm most likely not going to play it due to lack of interest in the game, but as the game gets closer and closer to launch it has become quite interesting for a number of reasons.

 

First of all, these releases are good vantage points from which to view human psychology and character. They tend to bring out the best and the worst about people and about the online experience in general. It's always amusing to read the raw emotions on display.

 Agree totally.  Even more interesting to see the chaos in game at the launch of new MMO's.

It's also quite interesting to view how corporations interact with regular people. I often see things done by corporations that I can't fathom at all; they seemingly shoot themselves in the foot for no good reason, and I wonder if it's a lack on my part in understanding their motives, or if corporate entities really are that stupid, perhaps by nature.

 Times have changed, and the mmo corporations have to now deal with the massive horde of young and immature players that WoW has brought to the table. 

AoC has been doing some really stupid things of late. Potentially, hundreds of millions of dollars are at stake here.

 From your point of view they may be stupid, but you don't have near the amount of details to judge this accurately.

The first thing I didn't “get” about this game was its intention to appeal to all sorts of gamers. It seems to me that this is a very basic mistake – jack of all trades, master of none; trying to please everyone, and failing to please anyone is the basic danger that's been ignored here.

 This is what WoW does.  AoC is anything but this considering the Mature rating, the nudity and blood, the extemely high system specs, and the harsh FFA PVP rules.

On the one hand, its a computer MMO, but on the other hand it's being made for the console crowd as well. So, the game has to work for a mouse and keyboard AND for a gamepad, and it has to work equally as well for each or the basic concept of fairness is lost. I suppose they could just isolate the two groups, but still, designing the game to work for both control sets seems like a mistake waiting to happen.

 Not necessarily.  When it boils down to it after the core concepts and engine tweaks the only thing you have to do is make sure the game is playable on a game pad which most MMO's can be with the use of macros.  

On the one hand, it's a PVP game, but on the other hand it's a PVE game. They claim to be focusing on both, but I'll bet they fall short in both respects.

 The same combat system is used for PVP and PVE.  The only issues that arise are the balance between Players vs. Monsters and Players vs. Players which I am sure will have to be tweaked.  They already have created numerous armor sets for PVE and PVP so that they are exclusive to their uses in a way.  PVP gear won't be as useful in PVE and PVE gear and vice versa.  If you are concerned about content, they have some arenas for PVP, end game battlekeeps, and free for all servers, with more arenas allowing different types of play to follow at launch.  They have PVP mini games accessible at any time to anyone.  They also have 12 end game raid dungeons in at launch for PVE.

Then there's the matter of group play versus solo play. Again, they seem to be catering to both crowds of players, but I can't imagine it could be balanced in this regard.

 Uh every MMO besides FFXI and maybe EQ cater to both.  You almost have to these days.  You can solo some stuff sure, but not as well as you can team up and take it down.

So, when the game is released next week, half their player base will be pissed off because console players have it too easy, or too hard. Of the remaining half, half of those will be pissed because the PVP sucks, or the PVE sucks. Of the 25% that are left, half of those will be pissed because the game isn't group friendly, or the game isn't solo-able.

 Haha Console version won't be out for like.. a really long time.  It is just PC coming out.  The PVP is pretty solid, and so is the PVE from many reviews.  It is both group friendly and soloable.

But those aren't the only problems, the designers have purposefully discluded certain player bases that are generally core groups. For instance, it has nudity and graphic violence that garners the game an adult rating. OK, I'm all for that because I hate kids online, but is that a good corporate decision? Another thing that seems odd is the steep system requirements; that's going to scare quite a few people off. It seems to me it would cost a great deal more money to develop a game that has steep requirements to play, and will attract far fewer players. Doesn't make a whole lot of sense.

 This is the Conan IP.  It is steeped in violence and sex and barbarism.  They are staying true to it as they should.  All of this contradicts your first statement by the way.

Another fault I see, is that they haven't tested the game on consoles. I can't imagine that's going to go smoothly on release.

 Again not coming out on consoles right now. 

So, they have all that going against them. That's a lot of crap – a lot of shortcomings to overcome. But that's not all.

 It's actually not that much against them if you really analyze it closely.  What they have against them is the need to develop more content quickly while polishing the game and fixing any bugs that arise from launch.

Along with all that, there are a lot of red flags popping up. They had a small closed beta, and the NDA that went along with that was never really lifted. At the very least, they gave the impression that they had something to hide here.

 Funcom is famous for never lifting the closed NDA's and keeping NDA's on test servers.  At the same time these days with the type of players MMO's have now attracted due to WoW it is wise for developers to never lift an NDA in my opinion.  If you knew the type of people that got into these betas you might agree.

Then there was the open beta which really wasn't open at all. You had to subscribe to FilePlanet in order to play. This isn't normal for MMOs, and it did a lot more than just raise some eyebrows.

 This wasn't really an open beta, and they admitted their mistake in not calling it a 'Limited Fileplanet Beta'.  They did open up the game for the last day, and they did fix many, many bugs from this stress test.

Another thing that is very odd, is that they're allowing some people a head start in the game, roughly three days. That just doesn't seem fair, and games, at their core, are meant to be fair, are they not? But what was worse was the willy-nilly way they went about offering this head-start – you had to pre-order the game to have a CHANCE at a head start, but the only ones who actually got the head start were the ones who got their codes on time and acted very quickly; many didn't get their codes on time, and many didn't know they had to act quickly. This wasn't explained very well, and people are understandably furious.

 Most mmo's offer pre order head starts these days, and many times it can go up to a whole week.  Even Warhammer online is having one.  It is fairly standard.  Also it has always been attached to the Early Access that it was limited.  If you waited until the last minute to sign up to a limited give away then what do you think should happen?  It was explained fine, but people don't read.

With millions of dollars at stake, this whole thing doesn't have the appearance of being really well thought out.

 A game like all other media must be judged on the final product.  No matter what abnormal, or weird, or strange decisions the developers make in your mind if the final product is better because of it then that is all that matters.  They fixed many bugs from having Tortage so slammed by the Open Beta and that will benefit us greatly at launch.

Anyway, I'll be watching the release on this one (I wouldn't miss it for the world). And I'll be rooting for a train wreck with all my heart. LOL. A smooth release wouldn't be very interesting from my point of view, and I'd like my prediction of doom to come true, if only to assure me that I do indeed have some rudimentary understanding of this world.

 I won't miss it either, but rooting for a train wreck in a market where we have so few choices is just stupid in my eyes.  It's like having only one brand of cereal and rooting for a new brands failure just because you think the process and marketing they used to get it to the store wasn't 'standard' in your eyes. 

I could of course be entirely wrong about all of this, which would irritate me to no end and force me to admit, if only to myself, that I just don't understand people (or things) all that well.

What people do you speak of?  The devs only say what they want us to hear so do you think you understand them well enough to pass this kind of judgment?  Have you met them or even listened to some of their radio interviews?  If you had you would realize that these are a really cool group of guys that are like us gamers, and want to bring a new exciting MMO into the market.  I think that maybe your views or your confidence in your own views border on ignorance and misinformation, but to each his own. 

Edited due to quoted post being deleted.

Originally posted by Dan256

The first thing I didn't “get” about this game was its intention to appeal to all sorts of gamers. It seems to me that this is a very basic mistake – jack of all trades, master of none; trying to please everyone, and failing to please anyone is the basic danger that's been ignored here.

There is only one thing about new games. Are they complete and with a full set of features ? Nothing else matters.

Edited due to quoted post being deleted... again.

Haggis

1 sheep stomach
1 sheep liver
1 sheep heart
1 sheep tongue
1/2 pound suet, minced
3 medium onions, minced
1/2 pound dry oats, toasted
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 teaspoon dried ground herbs

Rinse the stomach thoroughly and soak overnight in cold salted water.

Rinse the liver, heart, and tongue. In a large pot of boiling, salted water, cook these parts over medium heat for 2 hours. Remove and mince. Remove any gristle or skin and discard.

In a large bowl, combine the minced liver, heart, tongue, suet, onions, and toasted oats. Season with salt, pepper, and dried herbs. Moisten with some of the cooking water so the mixture binds. Remove the stomach from the cold salted water and fill 2/3 with the mixture. Sew or tie the stomach closed. Use a turning fork to pierce the stomach several times. This will prevent the haggis from bursting.

In a large pot of boiling water, gently place the filled stomach, being careful not to splash. Cook over high heat for 3 hours.

Serve with mashed potatoes, if you serve it at all.