Funcom in my opinion and the opinion of many others used deceptive marketing practices in hyping this game. The early access issue might not seem like a big deal to some but it is a huge problem. You can not market something online and in gamestores telling people that if they put down a 5 dollar deposit they will get ingame items and early access to game play and then tell them to go screw themselves see you tuesday and I hope you like your mammoth. I think the whole issue of them not having server space is bullshit I think that this is part of their marketing  plan. to have certain people have access (the fanboys who were going to their website every 5 mins.) and keep out the people who would have more of an unbias opinion on the game. Of course that may not be the case it may be that they are actually just so stupid that they sold more preorders then they could handle and actually put out more EA codes then they could support.

  In either case the biggest problem to me is how Funcom has handled this problem. I have never delt with a more unprofessional customer service team in my life. After being flooded with complaints they decided to just remove negative threads from their forums and then kick people out of the forums who poisted negative comments. If you told me that Funcom hired its employees by going to Mcdonalds and finding the biggest idiot in the place and hiring him on the spot I would believe that.

  Way to f&^k up what could have been a great EA program

kinda agree, altho EA seems more like a hit then a disaster

having played (and paid) for AO for 3 years i seen many patches to fix patches with long downtime, and many other problems

but when u get used to it, life aint that bad, i loved AO enough to keep coming back

Originally posted by Deadm0ney4u

  Funcom in my opinion and the opinion of many others used deceptive marketing practices in hyping this game. The early access issue might not seem like a big deal to some but it is a huge problem. You can not market something online and in gamestores telling people that if they put down a 5 dollar deposit they will get ingame items and early access to game play and then tell them to go screw themselves see you tuesday and I hope you like your mammoth. I think the whole issue of them not having server space is bullshit I think that this is part of their marketing  plan. to have certain people have access (the fanboys who were going to their website every 5 mins.) and keep out the people who would have more of an unbias opinion on the game. Of course that may not be the case it may be that they are actually just so stupid that they sold more preorders then they could handle and actually put out more EA codes then they could support.

  In either case the biggest problem to me is how Funcom has handled this problem. I have never delt with a more unprofessional customer service team in my life. After being flooded with complaints they decided to just remove negative threads from their forums and then kick people out of the forums who poisted negative comments. If you told me that Funcom hired its employees by going to Mcdonalds and finding the biggest idiot in the place and hiring him on the spot I would believe that.

 

  Way to f&^k up what could have been a great EA program

I have spoken with Funcom's CS multiple times both in game and out of game and they are the most helpful CS reps I have dealt with. Other gaming companies could learn from them.

Blame EDIOS.

People should have been more aware of waht to expect from Funcom based on their release of Anarchy Online. Their customer service has always been abysmal. I hope people learn from this.

Might I add that Funcom has not changed one bit.  They did the same things years ago.  They are deceptive.  They will start saying milliions are playing their game when only thousands are playing, just to trick more people into playing their product, and in turn make them more money. 

Whatever

The EA is the most successful launch of an MMO ever, you guys can go on hating but we will keep on gaming and enjoying what is the be one of the best MMOs to date.

Originally posted by -Zeno-

Might I add that Funcom has not changed one bit.  They did the same things years ago.  They are deceptive.  They will start saying milliions are playing their game when only thousands are playing, just to trick more people into playing their product, and in turn make them more money. 

im really curious how u can back these "facts" up

You cant be more wrong unless you didnt get into the EA.  The EA has been nothing but smooth sailing and FUN!  lvl 26 and loving it! only reason im reading this junk is because the servers are down for an hour patch. If you had gotten in to the EA you would know that...

Funcom is no different than most of the other MMO devs, they spend more time on hype than the actual product.  So what is new, almost everyone in the Industry does it.

I will agree, customer service is NOT Funcom's forte.  All those playing AoC in the next week with problems are going to find that out to their misfortune.

The only one I can think of that really listens and puts out what they say they are is CCP and they still have unresolved issues, like large fleet combat.

Have you guys heard about Funcom's New MMO "Secret Online"?  Its gonna be the best cause its made by Funcom.  It will have cutting edge graphics and everything you want in an mmo.  Don't forget to pre-order a collecter edition now so you can have early access and a special Zombie Horse Mount.  Its also going to have "revolutionary" combat and great PVP.

Aside from the 2 hour delay the EA launch has been super smooth. The game is running like champ.

The game is fantastic so far. I didnt even log out so that my DX10 could take affect for 5 hours i was having that much fun.  If you paid $5 at your local store, that was for your preorder at the store, not for EA. if you went home, put the code in and Funcom charged you $5, that was for EA. if that happened and you still didnt get in to EA, then its a billing mishap and i do feel genuinely sorry for the very few this happened to. Im sure you can get that large sum of money back.

There are many trolls blasting the game saying it sucks, for those i cant really offer any advice. For those of you who are just mad about the EA but were really looking forward to the game, stick it out, the game rocks.

I don't think the OP mentioned that the game was not running smooth. I think the complaint was that they were selling their product on the basis that if you pre-purchased you could access it sooner. However, they kept it quiet that the intention was to only let a limited number of pre-orders into the early access. In essence they staggered the player base so that their servers wouldn't be bogged down by an influx of players on the first day of official release. It's sort of messed up for a company to do that to people who put down money early to get this game. I gladly reframed from falling into their bull shit tactics. I did manage to play in beta and I'm not really impressed with the game as much as I hoped especially due to the fact many of the features that were advertised early on did not make the release... Spell Weaving anyone?

Yep.  EA was a dissaster.  That being said, the game completely rocks and it is worth checking out, at least in my opinion from the first 16 levels.  Take my opinion for what it's worth.

Originally posted by -Zeno-

Might I add that Funcom has not changed one bit.  They did the same things years ago.  They are deceptive.  They will start saying milliions are playing their game when only thousands are playing, just to trick more people into playing their product, and in turn make them more money. 

QFT,,,deceptive is the best word to describe funcom..but sadly only a small handfull of people realise that...

Most complaints are from people that preorder and payed 5$ for the goodies.

What they didnt know that you had to pay a aditionel 5$ at funcom site to get the early acces that was a limited offer only.

To many people think by just preordering and paying 5$ for the goodies would grant them early acces...WRONG...

I know, how dare they do that? Especially when games like Guild Wars did give pre-order players access to their game early without charging them an extra fee. Stupid buyers!

HAHA, cry, whine, complain all you want....the game rocks!  You people make me laugh.  Keep trying to dig for crap, but face it.  The game is insane.  So if you people read these QQ doomsayers and believe them, you are missing out on an excellant game.

Thank you for pre-ordering the Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures.

To get your In-Game Exclusive, go to http://register.ageofconan.com and enter your unique key.

Your Unique Code is: XXXXXXX

This key has certain benefits:

Fulfillment of your in-game item.

Early Access Program.

Go to http://register.ageofconan.com and enter your key. You may begin downloading the game client software and installing as early as May 14. Then you may create a character and begin playing on May 17, 3 days before commercial release on May 20, 2008. Your character and all his/her progress will be preserved into commercial release. This key also unlocks your in-game item. Note: There is a nominal fee of $5 that covers the cost of the download and includes 10 days of additional game time. Some restrictions apply, see registration page for details.

Thank you,

GameStop Customer Service

That is the letter I got for the pre-order. I didn't pay anyone else but FC for the download. I am thinking if you paid earlier to a game retailer...then it is the retailer that screwed you...not FC.