Funcom has announced the return of their seven day free trial program! Gamers who haven't yet given the game a spin, or those who've not been back in some time are encouraged to check out the update notes section of the website and see what they've done with the game since they launched it in 2008.

Go here for the free trial.

 In before the usual hate squad.. I bet a few gamers would be pleasant surprised by the game now. Runs like a charm, and the  FFA PvP is great!

I know this is the so called return of the free trial but... it is still to little to late.

A free trial MUST start at the same time as initial release if it is to work. The whole point is to give them a taste of what your new product has to offer, to prove your concept, to give them a chance to play your NEW product hopefully pulling them away from their current game. And thats not going to happen months after the initial rush of players have come and left...

Too double the dumb they released their new trial just after a huge title like Aion just came out...they think they are going to steal people away from a new huge game that just started?

To little to late...waaaaay to late, sorry.

One more thing: a 7 day trial? Try 14 maybe more... 7 days is hardly enough to get anywhere in the game (and really that is why it is so short). CO is such a small game that 14 days would be nearing end game.

I'll stop bitching when they give my 60 bucks back. And that goes solid for CO and all these other half @ss3d attempts at MMORPG's that keep coming out. Cheap hacks! For me I wont play a game anymore until I have played a demo. And I wont play a demo half a year after the game has gone silent. These weak and cheap gaming companies are single handedly ruining the MMORPG industry by creating an atmosphere of mistrust between companies and gamers. Do us all a favor and liquidate.

Man, you just did beat the hate squad in didn't you? They make me laugh.

Originally posted by Finbar

I know this is the so called return of the free trial but... it is still to little to late.

A free trial MUST start at the same time as initial release if it is to work. The whole point is to give them a taste of what your new product has to offer, to prove your concept, to give them a chance to play your NEW product hopefully pulling them away from their current game. And thats not going to happen months after the initial rush of players have come and left...

Too double the dumb they released their new trial just after a huge title like Aion just came out...they think they are going to steal people away from a new huge game that just started?

To little to late...waaaaay to late, sorry.

 

One more thing: a 7 day trial? Try 14 maybe more... 7 days is hardly enough to get anywhere in the game (and really that is why it is so short). CO is such a small game that 14 days would be nearing end game.

I'll stop bitching when they give my 60 bucks back. And that goes solid for CO and all these other half @ss3d attempts at MMORPG's that keep coming out. Cheap hacks! For me I wont play a game anymore until I have played a demo. And I wont play a demo half a year after the game has gone silent. These weak and cheap gaming companies are single handedly ruining the MMORPG industry by creating an atmosphere of mistrust between companies and gamers. Do us all a favor and liquidate.

You must not be happy with any mmo if in 14days you are nearing the endgame of AOC.  You could do WoW to lvl cap in alot less time same with EQII or COH/COV to name a few.  In 7 days  in AOC you have gotten out of the starter area of tortage and have started to see the world outside.  The idea is not for you to get close to lvl cap during a trial but to give you a taste of the game.  I too was a person who bought the game just before launch.  I just started playing it again a few weeks ago and I can tell you it has changed.  For one thing  it is alot more stable for people to play  it seems gone are the days of FPS of 15  most people that i see ingame get atleast 40-42 fps. Thats with a basic set up.  Myself i get 82-115 with a 2 year old rig and thats with everything pushed to MAX.  DX10 is alive and well ingame.  

As for Aion now is about when somepeople's subscriptions are close to expiring  so a free trial now is perfect timing.  Yes they who are excited and enjoying Aion will not leave it  but that does not mean others will not.

Oh and why does a free trial have to start at launch if the intent of it is to show how a game has improved :)
 

Finbar needs some coffee and a nice warm blanket.  I tried the first round of free trial on AOC and thought, ye gods, what a mess!  But having left Warhammer for complete lack of other players I thought I would give it another try and guess what?  It was like playing a completely different game!  You have to give the game credit for it's unique view on MMO's and for the massive improvements that have been made.  I have been playin MMO's since the third day of the original EQ's launch.  EQ was no perfect picnic at the outset, mind you that is in retrospect as at the time it was one of the first of it's kind, but it slowly got better and STILL has people playing it.  People are a bit spoiled when it comes to MMO's and expect instant perfection.  There have been rocky launches to be sure, but those that have lasted have been improved over time.  AOC will be one of these.  It is also important to have more then one be successful or all you are going to end up with is the Mega Corp Chain MMO that is McWarcraft.  AOC deserves another try by new people and also returners!

Can you leave tortage with the trial? If you can, then it is no wonder why they have a 7 day trial. As soon as you leave Tortage you won't be returning to the game haha

Originally posted by GPrestige

Can you leave tortage with the trial? If you can, then it is no wonder why they have a 7 day trial. As soon as you leave Tortage you won't be returning to the game haha

Was looking for that answer too .... i levelled a ToS to 76ish in the first month after release  ... want to see what he can do now :)

Originally posted by Finbar

I know this is the so called return of the free trial but... it is still to little to late.

A free trial MUST start at the same time as initial release if it is to work. The whole point is to give them a taste of what your new product has to offer, to prove your concept, to give them a chance to play your NEW product hopefully pulling them away from their current game. And thats not going to happen months after the initial rush of players have come and left...

Too double the dumb they released their new trial just after a huge title like Aion just came out...they think they are going to steal people away from a new huge game that just started?

To little to late...waaaaay to late, sorry.

 

One more thing: a 7 day trial? Try 14 maybe more... 7 days is hardly enough to get anywhere in the game (and really that is why it is so short). CO is such a small game that 14 days would be nearing end game.

I'll stop bitching when they give my 60 bucks back. And that goes solid for CO and all these other half @ss3d attempts at MMORPG's that keep coming out. Cheap hacks! For me I wont play a game anymore until I have played a demo. And I wont play a demo half a year after the game has gone silent. These weak and cheap gaming companies are single handedly ruining the MMORPG industry by creating an atmosphere of mistrust between companies and gamers. Do us all a favor and liquidate.

I don't see how you think a free trial needs to be offered at release and that's the only time it will work, I don't know of any AAA title that offered you a free trial at release, buddy keys yes free trials though?  Look I have no love for AOC or FC but what else are they supposed to do other than release an expansion (which they don't have one ready yet) most games do this offer something of value around the release of a similar game if they have the ability to so I just don't think you can beat them up for that.

  Most trials I've done have been fourteen days and by the end of that time I'm fully aware of if I want to play a game or not, I've played a few games that never got a look back after the first day but maybe that's just me, maybe most are like you and need an entire fourteen days to see wether they want to bbuy a game *shrugs*.

  100% I agree that some of these mmo companies FC being no exception are playing fast and lose and creating an atmosphere of mistrust with gamers, I've stated many times over I won't sub to FC games for atleast a few releases and it has nothing to do with what I've done but them as a company.  Now with CO it seems to me the game by design is not relative to the same time standards as most mmo's it's supposed to follow more of an arcade feel so maybe that is why you got through it so soon but I wonder once you reach max level is a game over for you?  Because if I can play a game to max level I'd have to see that as a game I had "fun" playing again I will not spend hours playing a game I don't enjoy now maybe it has no replay value but I'm not sure if this is the case with you or not.

As for the article, I don't think I've ever had less interest in playing a free trial for such a widely advertised game.

A free trial is kind of a joke when you look at the size of the download.  I don't think many of us want to tie up a computer with a 24 hour plus download.

If I were you, I'd wait some more.

1. Next pvp patch (towers) might fail terribly or be a success.

2. Also expansion promises to bring people back to AoC.

In both cases, I'm wiling to bet they'll be giving out free trials again.

P.S. this is from a pvp point of view.

Finally, I am a member of a hate squad, I love AoC so much that ironically, I hate Funcom for messing it up so bad.

I'll chime in with the usual. I'll re join when  Erling Erlingson is fired. After all his lying, there is no way I will ever pay a dime to a company that employs that horses ass.

who's he and what did he lie about?