I am currently subscribed to WAR and LOTRO. I'm starting to get bored with both, and am looking for something fresh to play.   I am in the process of downloading the trial now (last file is around 8 Gigs!)  and was wondering a few things.

In LOTRO you had wonderful PvE but horrid PvP. The Devs really seemd to listen to their customer base up until Book 7, then the bottom fell out. Almost daily server down times,  anti exploit bug (if a npc could not figure out the pathing to target you, you cant attack it) getting larger, and the major nerf to hunters (which my main character was).  It seems that everything in the new update is a rep grind.  Which is ok if you want to grind the same quests over and over again, but not for me.   The game is incredibly stable though, and IMO has beautiful enviornments. The player models are ok but I have seen better. 

In Warhammer, the graphics are  a step above WoW, but not by much.  I love that you can do public quests, scenarios, or some PvE(very light PvE in this game). The problem is that in order to have any fun or do anything there has to be other people on , to que scenarios, to do keep raids, etc.    And usually when I play (7AM-3PM CST) not that many people are on. That causes me sometimes to wait 4-5 hours before a scenario pops. Which can become tedious.   I have been known to fall asleep at the keyboard waiting for something to happen.

So what does AoC have that these don't? What do they share in common  and what sets AoC apart? Are the Devs here heavy with the nerf bat?  Is the game segregated into little instances?  Which server do you think might fit my playstyle?

I prefer some replies from people who may have or are playing these  3 games presently.  Ty for any input.

 well aoc has the best fantasy game graphics period right now (you need a 3 ghz of better multi core cpu 4-8 gigs of ram and at least an 8800 gt 512 card to max textures and turn on shadows and anti alias and get your fps over 30 at the same time).  the pve is fun, the fatality move animations are awesome, you cut off heads/char to burn corpses/impale people with large swords, the list goes on and on, fatalities arent a constant thing but you notice them when you land one hehe.  the game is gorey, its not kid friendly like lotro or war at all, and yes it has bewbs, used to have snatch too but the esrb slapped a thong on it, theres a thong removal mod though.  the pve is great, the pvp can be ok (DO NOT ROLL ON A PVP SERVER, hehe youve been warned).  anyway try the trial, if your pc can handle it youll have a blast.

I'm not gonna give you a wall of text, but  I'm sure you will like AoC. It's veeeeeeeeeeeeeeeery different from Lotro and WAR.  I couldn't stand lotro because it was, well, simply boring. The stiff and ugly animations..urgh. And WAR? Well, I LOVED RvR but again, ugly and stiff characters. You're also pretty much doomed if your server is low.

Hope you'll enjoy AoC. Great game. Pick PvE, you will die of frustration in PvP servers unless you're a rogue

Umm my computer specs roughly:

Core 2 Duo E6600 @  2.4 Ghz

4 GB RAM

Soundblaster X-Fi

EVGA 9800 GT(512 MB)

Windows XP Home Ed.

All drivers up to date.

What kind of visuals can I expect to see with that setup? Will it run it ok or no?  And you said roll on a PvE server? Is the griefing that bad on PvP?  And does the game seems segmented or do the zones flow together pretty easily?

AoC will run well on high settings on your computer, just dont try and max everything out ;)

ok well that is good to know. I almost considered giving EQ2 another try ,  but that was only as a last resort.  

So I should be able to run it on high without any issues?

I have just finished the AoC trial (tried it at launch) and had a pretty good expereince. Im a LotrO player and  have also played WAR...

I rolled on a RP-PvP server and I agree with the above that PvP servers are pretty harsh, people will gank you all the time. Didnt see much of a community in my first 22 lvls except the gankers. AoC feels alot like a single-player RPG for good and bad.

I played a Conquerer and from my expereince the game didnt seem very different from other MMOs. Sure it looks different but the combat wasnt that fast but maybe tanks are alot slower to play than others and I had much trouble fighting 3 mobs at the same level. Its alot of fun in the beginning but gets repetetive when you are going to kill 20 boars and stuff and the combat just feels like button mashing. Tortage was really nice with some good questlines. After getting out in the real world it just didnt seem like much fun anymore and I cant see myself "grind" all the way to lvl 80 (why 80 levels??)

Graphics are ofcourse very nice but I hate the way trees/bushes/flowers (it all seems to be made in 2D) look in the game and it ruins the overall look for me.

Apparently the game is going to be changed alot with the next patch so its hard to say what its going to be like then. AoC is a solid game now and I recomend you to try it.. I wont subscribe thou as a PvP game it seems pretty fun but I think the PvE gets boring fast.

Originally posted by Logi

ok well that is good to know. I almost considered giving EQ2 another try ,  but that was only as a last resort.  

 

So I should be able to run it on high without any issues?

You're just going to have to do some trial and error checking to see what you can do. You might get some hiccups when you are in Old T at the auction house due to a lot of people there.

If you plan on trying DX10 you will for sure have to just play with the settings to get it to something you can run since DX10 is a test live version.

Do you have the latest Direct X redist? They show last updated 3/23/09.

 the 2d plants thing is from shader 2 in dx9 with low ground quality, max it or run in dx10 and the plants look better then real life.  and yes roll pve, the pvp servers suck hard, the pve servers like wicanna and set have nice big communities of non asshats.  they still have asshats but they have guilds with good folk too, just dont join goonsquad or ascendant, theyre zerg festers that dont know how to raid.

Played the trial for AoC. Thought it looked greaT!

That is till I tried Vanguard.

Puts AoC to shame actually. No PVP though....

Vanguard's graphics beats AoC hands down if you have the machine to run it!

But if you can run AoC decent then you can run Vanguard as well.

But don't take my word for it ....Try it!

http://vanguard.station.sony.com/isleofdawn/ 

www.youtube.com/watch?v=GE3MZf6q7Bk 

Enjoy!

Thanks for all the replies, please keep them coming if you have anything constructive to add.

Originally posted by Logi

 I am currently subscribed to WAR and LOTRO. I'm starting to get bored with both, and am looking for something fresh to play.   I am in the process of downloading the trial now (last file is around 8 Gigs!)  and was wondering a few things.

 

In LOTRO you had wonderful PvE but horrid PvP. The Devs really seemd to listen to their customer base up until Book 7, then the bottom fell out. Almost daily server down times,  anti exploit bug (if a npc could not figure out the pathing to target you, you cant attack it) getting larger, and the major nerf to hunters (which my main character was).  It seems that everything in the new update is a rep grind.  Which is ok if you want to grind the same quests over and over again, but not for me.   The game is incredibly stable though, and IMO has beautiful enviornments. The player models are ok but I have seen better. 

 

In Warhammer, the graphics are  a step above WoW, but not by much.  I love that you can do public quests, scenarios, or some PvE(very light PvE in this game). The problem is that in order to have any fun or do anything there has to be other people on , to que scenarios, to do keep raids, etc.    And usually when I play (7AM-3PM CST) not that many people are on. That causes me sometimes to wait 4-5 hours before a scenario pops. Which can become tedious.   I have been known to fall asleep at the keyboard waiting for something to happen.

 

So what does AoC have that these don't? What do they share in common  and what sets AoC apart? Are the Devs here heavy with the nerf bat?  Is the game segregated into little instances?  Which server do you think might fit my playstyle?

 

I prefer some replies from people who may have or are playing these  3 games presently.  Ty for any input.

There is a trial version - try it.

Originally posted by Wrender

Played the trial for AoC. Thought it looked greaT!

That is till I tried Vanguard.

Puts AoC to shame actually. No PVP though....

Vanguard's graphics beats AoC hands down if you have the machine to run it!

But if you can run AoC decent then you can run Vanguard as well.

But don't take my word for it ....Try it!

http://vanguard.station.sony.com/isleofdawn/ 

www.youtube.com/watch?v=GE3MZf6q7Bk 

Enjoy!

Are you serious?  Vanguard isn't in the same league, nevermind the same division as AoC graphics.

Originally posted by Wrender

Vanguard's graphics beats AoC hands down if you have the machine to run it!

You did not just say that. No way.

I underestimated Vanguard fanbois.

From a former hater to now a lover I have to say the game is definately on the upswing. Sure it took 10-12 months to do so, but I always saw the potential. I m really enjoying this game I play it along side DAOC, and I honestly can t get enough of both :) That said whats comin down the pipe for this game looks great and I actually might have found a new home. Now to get a good guild on Set and i ll be happy.

Originally posted by Spaceweed10

Originally posted by Wrender

Played the trial for AoC. Thought it looked greaT!

That is till I tried Vanguard.

Puts AoC to shame actually. No PVP though....

Vanguard's graphics beats AoC hands down if you have the machine to run it!

But if you can run AoC decent then you can run Vanguard as well.

But don't take my word for it ....Try it!

http://vanguard.station.sony.com/isleofdawn/ 

www.youtube.com/watch?v=GE3MZf6q7Bk 

Enjoy!

 

Are you serious?  Vanguard isn't in the same league, nevermind the same division as AoC graphics.

I agree... looking at Wrenders video just make me more relaixe how ugly Vangruard is. AoC is overlal the best looking MMO around.  To bad the gameplay isnt that great,

Originally posted by Papadam

Originally posted by Spaceweed10

Originally posted by Wrender

Played the trial for AoC. Thought it looked greaT!

That is till I tried Vanguard.

Puts AoC to shame actually. No PVP though....

Vanguard's graphics beats AoC hands down if you have the machine to run it!

But if you can run AoC decent then you can run Vanguard as well.

But don't take my word for it ....Try it!

http://vanguard.station.sony.com/isleofdawn/ 

www.youtube.com/watch?v=GE3MZf6q7Bk 

Enjoy!

 

Are you serious?  Vanguard isn't in the same league, nevermind the same division as AoC graphics.

 

I agree... looking at Wrenders video just make me more relaixe how ugly Vangruard is. AoC is overlal the best looking MMO around.  To bad the gameplay isnt that great,

Calling Vanguard ugly is taking it a bit far. It's looking quite good actually. Then again claiming Vanguard's better looking than AoC is just madnessTM. Vanguard, LoTRO and AoC are all very good looking MMO's. IMO AoC is currently the best looking MMO out there. It's also got a very distinct art direction where you can clearly see what region you're in by looking at the different houses and objects. There's not many generic objects lying around like you see in many other games.

Well I begin day 1 of the trial tomorrow, I downloaded it last night(>8GB). Looking forward to takin this game for a spin!

You will quickly get bored of Age of Conan too. There's nothing new in this game. One pathetic MMO.

Only read your first post.. I quitted the game on 2month ago.

I have been playing AOC since the launched. In the first couple of months there is tons of bugs & glictch but i still like the gameplay. So i didnt give up the game. But Aoc is getting boring after i make my third alt. First toon is Conqueror, Hox,  Sin. Should  i make a fourth one? fifth? etc........

Aoc have been released about 1yr and most of bugs ahve been fixed. But the game still so boring after you reach lv80. Usually take around 6-7day (140-160hour) get that lv80. If you are mage or priest probably 4-5day. Also some1 have make to lv80 with 39hr (with guild's help. Of course i ddint say everyone can get lv80 with 39hr. But that is an idea how easy to get lv80.

What you can do after lv80?

* go Raid with your guild (to get purple gear, usually these gear is good for PVE, so most ppl wear PVP gear.

*go for Epic dungeon( for getting some blue gear) who need this gear if PVP gear is better?

* go pvp to get pass PVP LV2 so you can wear Feets, Shoulder, Belt., then PVP 3.. , Max is PVP lv5. By PVP lv5 you can wear  the whole set of pvp gear.

*go harvest... the materials is use for castle.

* join these pvp game match.. you probably might wait for half hour in these game in weekday, usually is 6 VS 6. Or in the weekend probably more ppl playing so the wait time might be shorten.  BUt it never happen to me since it take forever to get into the pvp game.