I played like 2 years ago. I got to level 40 and then for some reason or another I stopped playing. It was probably because my friends left me hanging in the world by myself like they always do after trying a new mmo. So is this game fun enough and changed enough for me by myself with no friends to come in and play. Is it worth the $15 a month and am I gonna have a lot of pain or a lot of frustration and grinding????

 I think the pain (read technical problems) and grinding is pretty much gone now.  You can try it out for free and see how much you like it after a weeks playtime.  The most common critizism you hear now adays is that the sieges are broken. 

 true I wont be seiging at lower levels any way and really im more interested in the pve and stuff... anyone else have anything to say about it??

Originally posted by Kullision

 true I wont be seiging at lower levels any way and really im more interested in the pve and stuff... anyone else have anything to say about it??

Now is ther perfect time to get into AoC.  You will be able to play and get into the original for a bit then the xpac is on it's way and I promise it will blow you away.  Can say no more than that! :)

Take it from a guy that also played at launch, the game is actually tons of fun now, thus deeming it a great MMO... I would even venture to say that it is one of the few worthwhile MMO's to play currently.

I would suggest to join the conflict on Cimmeria server :) lots of fun and future for this server.

Originally posted by bluefunk

Originally posted by Kullision

 true I wont be seiging at lower levels any way and really im more interested in the pve and stuff... anyone else have anything to say about it??

 

Now is ther perfect time to get into AoC.  You will be able to play and get into the original for a bit then the xpac is on it's way and I promise it will blow you away.  Can say no more than that! :)

 

 

listen to these words of wisdom ;) the man speaks truth.

Originally posted by bluefunk

Originally posted by bluefunk

I promise it will blow you away. Can say no more than that! :)

 

 

So we're supposed to take your word for it?

Originally posted by waterbug69
I am in the same boat as OP, mostly into PvE, but I am also a Graphix junky. Just curious to know if DX10 is implemented by now? and is there enough people for a pick up group.

DX is still in test but has worked for myself flawlessly since release.  I would also point out that although it is in test it has many more effects than Crysis/LOTRO and any other game I can think of which uses DX10 "in full".  God ray's are amazing!

 thanks so far. but enough fighting. hit me with some facts.

Originally posted by dolphin666

Originally posted by bluefunk

Originally posted by bluefunk

I promise it will blow you away. Can say no more than that! :)

 

 

 

So we're supposed to take your word for it?

Nope.

Wait until its release (the xpac), I can't how, or why I know but if you are a fan of mmo's it will blow you away.  Also there are several PVP additions coming soon.:

Shrines of Bori, PVP Towers (a bit later), PVP arenas and guild renown with over 100 rewards items/quests to be earnt.

Originally posted by Frobner

Like always I would stick to what your principles tell you.  Are you willing to support games that are released with missing features, lack of content, with huge technical problems - all this held back by the devs and publishers to make more Pre-orders.  Or are you just thinking here and now if you actually might like the game.

There is just one warning I will give to you.  Do not build your opnion on what the Fanboys are saying here (and MMORPG.COM discussion is controled by 2-3 of them).  Those ppl are desperate for the game to succseed - no matter what.  NOt nessiserily because its  a good or bad game.  But more f cause those guys are on a personal quest to say "I told you so" when everyone knows how really dire things are.

Game is holding its own atm in 50-80k subs.  They are reducing number of servers.  And hype of the expansion is rising - long before any serious tests have been done.  It all sounds like buisness as usual tbh.

Same old clique crap opinion. Since we know you havent played since launch let me clue you in........... The game is much improved. I left at launch due to bugs and i came back last july and have been playing since! Do everyone a favor and stop posting on the AOC forums as no one takes you seriously.

(AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH fires soiled plunger at Frobner's nuts)

being a launch vet from this game, and playing up until recently 1.05+  i muyst say it has improved alot such as performance, class balances, and other wonky retarded issues that make you wonder what the devs were smoking. but over all I still think its not really worth it. You are essentially paying for features that should of been in at launch or soon after launch that are either arent there yet, or are there and are buggy as hell and not working as intended. the dx 10 client is a total joke frankly so technically they arent a DX 10 game if the game doesnt run at a reasonable performance during pve or pvp. Given they had the dx 10 client "ready" printed on the box borders on fraudlent marketng practices which are liable in court if a person chooses to persue it.

PvP can fun, but PVP can be atrociously unbalanced at times as well, as well as buggy, given people cheat and farm pvp points to the point that Funcom was forced to rollback people's characters lol.

i have a pretty high end PC now, and i found it pretty unimpressive and disappointng to find the DX 10 version wasnt getting the net return for what you had enabled. In the end itll be up to you, but be prepared to pay for unfinished game. rather than fix the existing game and expand its existing content they are doing a new expansion and charging you for   features, and fixes that should been applied to the existing game. its improved from the dismal pile of crap it once was but its a given if your willing to trollop through this game in search of redeeming qualities. its a shame really, beautiful game at its core, just poorly executed.

As I have posted on a few other threads, I am a newcomer to the game, so I am not a fanboi.. I am someone who played WoW for easily 2-3 Years and loved it, and I am here to tell you AoC is a great game. I don't know what it was like at launch, but what I can tell is that it's fun to me and I am currently enjoying it, playing every single day for almost 5-6 hours a day. The facts are the PvE side is fun in my opinion, because it is challenging and isn't just a faceroll. Even the lower level dungeons I have come across like Black Castle which is basically the first 6-man dungeon you get to. The dynamics of this dungeon in some cases are better than some LvL 80 raids in WoW, there is traps, boss fights that require more than just tank this guy here and you guys spank his arse. This dungeon alone even with a good group can take you like 2 hours! Oh and also it looks great! I don't even play maxxed out just because I know I don't have a beast computer and like my game to run very very smooth rather than the grass sway or some crap.

My 2cents

Edit - Sorry I didn't answer the OP's questions directly. Here I will do so... Will you be able to play the game without friends : Yes, any MMO isn't AS fun as it is with other people, but I started this game when all my friends were still playing WoW and I enjoy this game with every bit. I have already met new people that I group up with regularly and already have a nice guild that helps me with just about anything. As for your question if it feels grindy... not to me, no where have I yet come across where I had to grind out a level. Yes all you do is quest and this may seem like a grind to some, but coming from WoW where the leveling process is quite fast. I would say this game is even faster and even more interesting. Some of the quest's I have come across in AoC are awesome and I actually really enjoy reading the quest's sometimes as they are quite funny. I remember having to kill someone because he slept with his wife oh it was to funny.

I think it depends on what you want out of an MMO.

At its core, AoC is the same game as it was at launch.  Its a lot cleaner, a lot more smooth, more polished, and content gaps have been pretty much squashed since then.  They have added free content upgrades, revamped the gem system, and other various improvements that truely has made the game a more enjoyable experience since when it first came out back in May '08...

...provided you enjoy the style of gameplay that Conan provides...

I'm new to AoC, never played it before a month ago.  I did the trial, had a lot of fun, picked-up the game for $10 at the store (they also had game cards with 60 days for $12), and as I'm leveling further, it's still a lot of fun.  I can't speak for end-game, but right now I'm really enjoying it.  The quests so far are some of the best I've seen in a game (especially seeing the starting area storyline from different perspectives playing different alts).  I know there's bad blood out there tied to the launch of AoC, honestly I usually ignore the history of most MMOs, I wait for a trial, and I decide if I like it or not.  Most of the time, I don't get past the trial, I've only gone on to buy the MMO a handful of times, this is one of those times.  The fact that it was only $10 I can honestly say helped to make it an easy decision.  I'm playing on the PvP/RP server (there's only one), I've seen next to no RP (which is common in most MMOs, RP usually seems to be more with-in guilds), and becuase it's PvP, lots of getting ganked, but that goes with the territory.

Originally posted by RavingRabbid

Originally posted by Frobner

Like always I would stick to what your principles tell you.  Are you willing to support games that are released with missing features, lack of content, with huge technical problems - all this held back by the devs and publishers to make more Pre-orders.  Or are you just thinking here and now if you actually might like the game.

There is just one warning I will give to you.  Do not build your opnion on what the Fanboys are saying here (and MMORPG.COM discussion is controled by 2-3 of them).  Those ppl are desperate for the game to succseed - no matter what.  NOt nessiserily because its  a good or bad game.  But more f cause those guys are on a personal quest to say "I told you so" when everyone knows how really dire things are.

Game is holding its own atm in 50-80k subs.  They are reducing number of servers.  And hype of the expansion is rising - long before any serious tests have been done.  It all sounds like buisness as usual tbh.

 

Same old clique crap opinion. Since we know you havent played since launch let me clue you in........... The game is much improved. I left at launch due to bugs and i came back last july and have been playing since! Do everyone a favor and stop posting on the AOC forums as no one takes you seriously.

(AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH fires soiled plunger at Frobner's nuts)

Read the post after you made this comment and see a perspective from a player who has played since launch.  Your comments are pretty much exactly what to expect from fanbois.  No comment on the game.  Only focus on talking down the posters.  Thats what AA did for the first year.  Now he is actually leaving his own opinions about other posters out of it.  You should maybe learn something from that.

Im not a hater of anything.  I was not particualarily hurt by AOC launch since I knew what was coming.  The main reason why Im still around is because Funcom tried everything possible to prevent both beta testers and early players to report the true state of the game.  DX10 for example was never in the beta test.  Everyone in beta knew it would never be in at launch.  Still Funcom kept it a secret to last minute.  And websites like MMORPG.COM did their bits in closing posts and banning ppl that tried to tell the true state of the game - while positive posts providing false statements were allowed to stand (posts stating DX10 was in for example).

Its only fair that ppl know what they are dealing with.  When it comes to Funcom - there is actually not much diffrence between AO and AOC (AO still considered the most bugged game ever to actually survife (by going free to play)).  AOC is following the exact same pattern.  At this point the game is barely in the state it should have been in at launch - And next true update is a paid for expansion.  That is actually more of the content that Funcom should have devliverd for free (no new lvls -No new classes - no new abilites - no new starting zones in the expansion).  But the truth is that  they were fixing all the huge problems ingame  - and adding content (new zones and dungeons) that were supposed to be in from the start but wasn't ready..

I will continue to remind ppl about the past and the most likely future.  I do not have to bring out false statements (like reporter from MMORPG.COM did about DX 10 in new article) - and I dont need to talk crap to other posters to make my point. 

I tried the 7 day trial and really liked the game so I bought it. Found it gamestop.com for $9.99 which is not bad at all. I have a couple questions though about classes and servers. I am intrested in Bear Shaman, Dark Templar, Guardian and Templar. Right now I am playing a Dark Templar and enjoying it but I keep wondering about those other classes. How are these classes at PVP and PVE? What roles do they play in groups?

I made my toon on Set which is PVE server but would like to know how do the PVP servers work and which do you think is best to get the most enjoyment out of the game. I dont want to play on a PVP server where I am getting ganked over and over. I watched a video about the murder system and it seemed really cool but I would like to hear from some actual players. Thanks in advance!!!!!!
 

Originally posted by Mannish

I tried the 7 day trial and really liked the game so I bought it. Found it gamestop.com for $9.99 which is not bad at all. I have a couple questions though about classes and servers. I am intrested in Bear Shaman, Dark Templar, Guardian and Templar. Right now I am playing a Dark Templar and enjoying it but I keep wondering about those other classes. How are these classes at PVP and PVE? What roles do they play in groups?

I made my toon on Set which is PVE server but would like to know how do the PVP servers work and which do you think is best to get the most enjoyment out of the game. I dont want to play on a PVP server where I am getting ganked over and over. I watched a video about the murder system and it seemed really cool but I would like to hear from some actual players. Thanks in advance!!!!!!
 

The following post is out of date, but it's still useful in my opinon, the section about PvP for each class isn't current but I thought it at least gives you a flavor for each class:

http://forums.ageofconan.com/showthread.php?t=71780

Originally posted by Kullision

 I played like 2 years ago. I got to level 40 and then for some reason or another I stopped playing. It was probably because my friends left me hanging in the world by myself like they always do after trying a new mmo. So is this game fun enough and changed enough for me by myself with no friends to come in and play. Is it worth the $15 a month and am I gonna have a lot of pain or a lot of frustration and grinding????

In my opinion it all hinges on whether or not the stuff they have in the expansion is any good.

If it is, then you should level to 80
If it isn't, then you shouldn't.

Its a risk.

If you choose to - the best advice I've heard from an AoC player is "1.  Turn off global chat.  2. Find a good/friendly/social guild"

For me I got to 80 from the start and have been waiting for that content :)
Gonna probably wait for reviews/videos before deciding