Age of Conan

People said the game was great, and got explained that sure the game is good up to lvl 20, then it sucks.

Well I've had fun past 20 as well, there's been enough questing to do, and although PvP xp hasn't been enabled, it's still fun to PvP.

Then didn't someone say: - just wait till you get past lvl 40 and see how shallow the game is.

Well, I'm now lvl 47, - I don't level fast, I'm more the casual player that can be offline for a day or 2 or 3 - and at this point I'm now really starting to feel that I'm playing an mmorpg:  

- the levels doesn't come as fast anymore, naturally since it's higher lvl. I still haven't run out of quests, like I got the impression from others that I would. It hasn't been necessary to grind at all yet. It will be interesting to see if this continues past lvl 50 and up.

I trust less and less what other people tell me about the game, and more and more what I actually experience in it myself.

As for the bugs they have been very few, I've so far had 3-4 quest related bugs. One of them was serious in that I got stuck in a single player mode, but I contactd customer support, and that seemed to help. The other quests, I've been told can be done by entering epic mode when you enter the area.

There have been some bugs with grouping/guild windows, but it usually gets fixed after staying online for a certain amount of time.

As for the the customer service, I guess they are a little short handed, but my actual experience is this:

I petitioned a quest problem, about 1-2 hours later a GM appeared, - this isn't too unusual time compared to WoW, that I've also played and they took about the same time more or less -

the GM was friendly and helpful, and solved my problem in a few minutes, and that was that.

Since I started playing back at 17. may, I've only experienced serious disconnecting problems on 2 days, fearly recent. One of them they had to take the server down, the other they managed to have it online. A little annoying ofc, but only 2 days of 1,5 month of playing after release. Nothing game breaking for me anyway.

There are still occasional lagspikes, I have no idea what causes it, but I think it has to do with the server/gameclient, cause many are experiencing them, they only last for a couple seconds normally. So the important thing is that they don't interupt gameplay significantly. I'm not sure of the exact intervalls, but maybe every 30 min or so, maybe more rare. I hardly notice them most of the time.

So all in all I'm really starting to enjoy AoC, and this just goes to prove, - for me anyways - that if you want to find out wether a game is gonna be fun for you or not, you have to try it yourself. You can't have other people doing it for you.

So if you want to try AoC I would recommend it, - if you don't want to risk wasting money, wait for the buddy keys to be enabled, but realise that that might take a long time. I preordered the game, and I still see no signs of buddy keys I can share.

I get the feeling that this game might suit the casual player more, since it is faster leveling.

And although people have said that it's PvE focused, I still get the feeling it's more of a PvP game, with the more hands-on combat and fast leveling.

Well I'll stop here before this turns into another review

But remember, don't let anyone else but you make up your mind about a game you haven't tried yourself yet

What? Didn't they pull the plug already? But but but.....I wanted it to fail so much....

I didn't like the game but I agree with you that the casual fanbase will probably stick with it.  Part of WoWs success is they dumbed down the mmorpg genre some to make it more appealing to a large fanbase.  AOC has dumbed it down even more and made it play like a console game and the niche market that enjoys that type of thing will be large enough to support the game until it gets ported to the xbox.

More are leaving then resubscribing and Funcom's still banning folks from there forums for complaining.

I am still playing AoC simply because it is not so bad that it's unplayable and because there is nothing more interesting available at the moment that I am aware of.

AoC is most definitely lacking in alot of areas, but at its core it is entertaining enough.  The blatant bait & switch by Funcom really bothers me, but they are still getting my business and playtime by default.

AoC seems to be one of those games ppl either love or hate. I supported this game, still think it is a decent game, but have since cancelled my account. Just simply not my type of game at the moment. I am sure I will return in a few months or so.

I agree with the OP, ppl do need to decide on their own. Haters simply have been beating the same old points where FC failed over n over....n over again. Ppl need to try out the game for themselves. Not having the buddy keys available yet is kinda bad for FC I think tho.

While i agree AoC is a bit on the easy side, where are the games that arent? or how do we compare what is easy or not? i still havent came acroos any game that is hard when it comes to mmo's. the only game that has deep enough content is EQ for me. at higher levels you need help and then theres faction and death penaltys etc.

Originally posted by shukes33

While i agree AoC is a bit on the easy side, where are the games that arent? or how do we compare what is easy or not? i still havent came acroos any game that is hard when it comes to mmo's. the only game that has deep enough content is EQ for me. at higher levels you need help and then theres faction and death penaltys etc.

Ultimately it comes down to the PvE grouping for me and how much skill comes through in PvP.

In EQ joining some random pickup group was a nightmare because a moron would mess things up pretty quickly.   WoW was more hit or miss, there was a little less involved as there were fewer pulling issues, trains etc and you could handle more mobs beating on you.  I still sometimes had nightmare groups in WoW though.

In AoC I join a random pickup group and we blow through all the content without any problems other than a few deaths here and there.  It is just a very easy game.  The healing system doesn't leave a lot of room for skill and you AE most things down so CC doesn't play as large a role.  The potions are so powerful mana/stamina control isn't a concern like in most games etc.  It is just a easier version of WoW when it comes to dungeons.

Why no buddy keys?

Because nobody would pay for the game after experiencing it.  Funcom have gambled on getting people to actually buy the game to get some money in the bank.

Thanks to crap 'reviews' by folk like you, many are falling for it.

I can give you a contrasting report on my experiences with the game.  I actually played a character to 80, and another to 45, before just throwing it in the bin.

I gave it a good shot, and wanted to like it, but I'm not throwing good money after bad, after seeing NO improvements in a month of patches.  They are paying lip service to their customers, and half of the features promised before launch aren't in, or don't work - qu'elle surprise.

Btw, customer service?  I don't believe your example.  I had 3 issues which each took over 2 days to be replied to.  I had other issues that were deleted because I wasn't online at the time my turn in the queue arrived - this is their new policy.

Come back when you have sampled more of the game, and have a qualified opinion.  Until then, keep picking up your cheque from Funcom.