Age of Conan

This game was admittedly designed for gaming consoles and is therefore a watered down version of a true MMORPG.

AOC lead developer:

"we designed AoC to be a console game from the beginning"

"AoC's combat system has gone through nine iterations throughout Funcom's quest to make it appealing to console users."

link

It's worth as an "MMO" should not even be seriously debated considering this very clear truth.

Further, this game in my opinion has the potential to damage the overall genera, bringing the core of what an MMO is to new lows.

Please don't misunderstand me; I'm not trying to attack anyone personally. I'm trying to point out that the sole reason this corporation (Funcom) made this game is to try and tap into a bigger market. In other words they are exploiting our genera for financial gains and we as MMO gamers should consider the damage it has the potential to cause to it.

Again, I'm not attacking anyone personally but consider the damage World of Warcraft has caused. It was such a hit ($$$) that every other, more complex MMO tried to emulate it. In effect, dumbing down the genera.

I like to compare World of Warcraft to pop music because pop music is very shallow and easy to understand and (admittedly) fun to listen to, and it out sells all other styles of music (by a large margin).

Pop music has damaged other styles of music, like country music (which today is candyass pop-fluff w/ no soul), ditto pop punk rock and nu metal.

It is in this way that these watered down MMO's are going to damage our genera. You can say that it does not matter, that it's just another duck on the pond - but I respectfully disagree.

In fact, I've lost much hope for the genera. These corporations ruin everything. Music is milked ruthlessly and turned into shallow trends, punk fashion is sold in mass chain stores like Hot Topic, it never ends.

They destroy the essence of whatever it is they are trying to exploit-for-profit.

MMORPG's are no exception.

I'm out.

I don't think another choice for people who love to play mmo's is negative.  There will be people who dislike AOC, but there will be people who enjoy it too.  If someone enjoys it, that's great  and I don't think it hurts the genre at all.

In the future we will probably see more cross developing of games so they appear on pc and console.  Especially as moving forward, consoles become more and more like pc's.  I understand the reservations that many have regarding this, but in truth I don't think anyone knows how it will play out yet.  Ofcourse, everyone has their opinions

Yes you are right. And new MMOs witll make WOW look complex and rich. This is the sad state of things.

i dont think aoc is that bad of a game. it certainly doesnt seem to me that it is destroying the mmo genre. ive played everything out there that is an mmo and i hated pretty much all of them after wow since as you said games became wow clones.  to me aoc is actually really fun, besides the gore and nudity factor.  i think its a good idea to cross pc with consoles, the only thing that could harm is the graphics i would think and if you play a game simply based on what it looks like then there are plenty of other games suited for you.  

 plus id like to get to play aoc on a console so i could play in bed lol

Very interesting interpretation. Would explain at least some issues ppl have. It would indeed be bad if this was intentional watering down. I still feel it was their dumbness. Console players and PC gamers just overlap too little to make a Hybrid pay in the long run, but thats just my POV.

Originally posted by Nikoz78

Again, I'm not attacking anyone personally but consider the damage World of Warcraft has caused. It was such a hit ($$$) that every other, more complex MMO tried to emulate it. In effect, dumbing down the genera.

I'm sorry guys, but there is a reason why WoW was so popular. It was a great game. I tried playing Everquest long before WoW was even thought about, and I couldn't stand it. Friends tried getting me into other 2d ORPGs and I didn't like them, where later WoW had me immediately.  People like to say WoW was a fluke, they are wrong. It was the first decent MMORPG where everything else was just plain HORRIBLE.

Originally posted by Nikoz78

Is that this game was admittedly designed for gaming consoles and is therefore a watered down version of a true MMORPG.

It's worth as an "MMO" should not even be seriously debated considering this very clear truth.

Further, this game in my opinion has the potential to damage the overall genera, bringing the core of what an MMO is to new lows.

Please don't misunderstand me; I'm not trying to attack anyone personally. I'm trying to point out that the sole reason this corporation (Funcom) made this game is to try and tap into a bigger market. In other words they are exploiting our genera for financial gains and we as MMO gamers should consider the damage it has the potential to cause to it.

Again, I'm not attacking anyone personally but consider the damage World of Warcraft has caused. It was such a hit ($$$) that every other, more complex MMO tried to emulate it. In effect, dumbing down the genera.

I like to compare World of Warcraft to pop music because pop music is very shallow and easy to understand and (admittedly) fun to listen to, and it out sells all other styles of music (by a large margin).

Pop music has damaged other styles of music, like country music (which today is candyass pop-fluff w/ no soul), ditto pop punk rock and nu metal.

It is in this way that these watered down MMO's are going to damage our genera. You can say that it does not matter, that it's just another duck on the pond - but I respectfully disagree.

In fact, I've lost much hope for the genera. These corporations ruin everything. Music is milked ruthlessly and turned into shallow trends, punk fashion is sold in mass chain stores like Hot Topic, it never ends.

They destroy the essence of whatever it is they are trying to exploit-for-profit.

MMORPG's are no exception.

I'm out.

How is it destroying it?  What about this game is destroying MMO's?

This is a very broad statement, without much content to your argument.  Just because something is pop, doesn't always make it bad.  Sometimes things are popular for a reason. 

Kind of strange really, this is something along the same lines I was talking about with a girl I recently met.  I use to be totally anti-mainstream myself, so I understand where you are coming from.  It is kind of like rebelling against IPODs or anything similar because it is the cool thing.  Personally I will not buy an IPOD because I think they are a total waste of money.  You can buy something else that has more options and does the job as well or better.

Pretty much the way I think you should try to look at things is, do you get enjoyment out of it?  If so, then what is really the problem?

To be anti-pop culture, just to be different is really stupid.  If this is indeed what you are doing, wake up and reanalyze what is going on.   You are being just as much a sheep as the people who follow mainstream but not using your head to figure out what you enjoy in life and going with it.

If you like it, do it.  Otherwise, do not make judgements for other people.  Just because you don't like something or agree with it doesn't make what you are saying right or  true.

Welcome to the wonderful and exciting world of corporate capitalism.

Yes, it will turn everything to sh** if given enough time. From a song to a planet it is all the same story.

You need to constantly increase your profit because of interest rates. You can do it by either increasing the price or reducing the production value. Since consumers hate price increases you have to keep reducing the value of the product in a way that doesn't rub customers too much. It is a dirty world.

Originally posted by slippyC

To be anti-pop culture, just to be different is really stupid.  If this is indeed what you are doing, wake up and reanalyze what is going on.   You are being just as much a sheep as the people who follow mainstream but not using your head to figure out what you enjoy in life and going with it.

And I'm so sorry I don't accept the mass dumbing down of humans via TV, movies, video games, books, magazin