General Discussion

Note to mods: this concerns Funcom as a developer of multiple games, Anarchy Online, Age of Conan, and the supposedly upcoming The Secret World. Therefore, I ask that it remain in The Pub for discussion rather than placing it in one or the other games' forums.

Now then, I'm not going to bash or praise Funcom here, as I want honest opinions. For those of you that have played and/or are familiar with both of Funcoms' current 2 mmorpgs, have they earned your attention and/or loyalty for their next mmorpg or have they completely destroyed any interest you may have had?

The obligatory poll:

Well, the game they are working on is currently set in present times, and that does interest me a great deal--unfortunately I have lost a great amount of respect and faith in funcom after Age of Conan so I don't have any desire to give them any more of my money. Of course, if the Secret World turns out to be an amazing MMORPG, then that could change (third times a charm right?), but I really don't think it'll be anything special.

I have played both of the Dreamfall games and liked them alot, even for an adventure game they did some really great dialogue and story plots, it's a shame they don't continue that series instead of MMOs.

Anyway, I have little interest or hopes in the Secret World. I'll probably try it with a trial key before giving them 50$ for the box if it earns some praise, but again... I think it'll turn out to be a very mediocre game.

Originally posted by Narshe

Well, the game they are working on is currently set in present times, and that does interest me a great deal--unfortunately I have lost a great amount of respect and faith in funcom after Age of Conan so I don't have any desire to give them any more of my money. Of course, if the Secret World turns out to be an amazing MMORPG, then that could change (third times a charm right?), but I really don't think it'll be anything special.

I have played both of the Dreamfall games and liked them alot, even for an adventure game they did some really great dialogue and story plots, it's a shame they don't continue that series instead of MMOs.

Anyway, I have little interest or hopes in the Secret World. I'll probably try it with a trial key before giving them 50$ for the box if it earns some praise, but again... I think it'll turn out to be a very mediocre game.

I agree with you about their singleplayer games, such as The Longest Journey series. Those games owe their success to the creative genius and storytelling ability of Ragnar Tornquist more than Funcom, though. That's why I made the poll strictly regarding their mmorpgs, and not the singleplayer games.

Gotta say, the poll looks interesting so far. Keep the votes coming in, guys. We've had about 50 people view so far, but only 11 votes.

First game was a fiasco at launch... but it's turned into something of a gem over the years. Second game some people say was a fiasco, worked fine for me, but whatever. Launch is one just one aspect of a game. You have to look at the long term as well. Funcom's first game ended up fine. I've seen nothing to indicate the second one won't either. I'll buy the next one if it appeals to me.

After how they raped AO, and now with the AoC fiasco, there is no way in hell I'd give them any more of my money.

its a hard question.

I loved Anarchy Online. I have many FOND memories of that game and is very in-depth.

On the other hand you have Age of Conan, which is probably one of the worse AAA MMO to have graced us in 2008 (and certainly in the top 5 for AAA MMOs in the last 4 years). Anarchy Online = Very indepth, increadible game system, UI, Lore, etc. Age of Conan = Simplistic, moronic, and immature.

So, maybe the third game will even itself ok and be "ok."

Who knows. I am dissapointed in Funcom's handling of community concerns, the handling of their GMs and Mods, and their general elitist attitude. Funcom is above that but apprently not anymore.

Honestly, those who put down Anarchy Online most likely have a limited connection to it and probably started playing at launch.  I'll be the first to admit that it had a horrible launch, and even has graphical glitches (some of which haven't been fixed to this day).  But overall it's not a bad game.  It gives players a unique opportunity to shape their own future and game.  Those who take advantage of the unique opportunity to make history are the ones who enjoyed it the most.

I can't defend Age of Conan so much though because I know it had an equally rough launch (maybe even worse), but from what I hear it's not a bad game.  I don't mind the gameplay issues though because I've seen far worse... LOTRO had a similar problem at launch in the beginning.  I most likely won't be buying the game anytime soon though since I recently got back into FFXI.

Something I have noticed about Funcom is that they tend to create games that are a bit more complex than other games.  They truly cater to a niche audience.

There's no option for 'Will buy their next adventure game' . I loved Dreamfall!

Originally posted by Enigma

its a hard question.

I loved Anarchy Online. I have many FOND memories of that game and is very in-depth.

On the other hand you have Age of Conan, which is probably one of the worse AAA MMO to have graced us in 2008 (and certainly in the top 5 for AAA MMOs in the last 4 years). Anarchy Online = Very indepth, increadible game system, UI, Lore, etc. Age of Conan = Simplistic, moronic, and immature.

So, maybe the third game will even itself ok and be "ok."

Who knows. I am dissapointed in Funcom's handling of community concerns, the handling of their GMs and Mods, and their general elitist attitude. Funcom is above that but apprently not anymore.

You pretty much summed up my feelings on the subject.

I love AO the game. However, Funcom as the developer has totally waysided AO in order to focus on the shipwreck that is AoC. As you said, the elitism, total lack of customer support ( including dozens of billing issues in AO ).

I have always been a fan ( even fanboi ) of AO as a game. And up