It's been awhile since MMORPG.com's Phil James has visited Age of Conan. In Part 1, Phil detailed his adventures on Tortage. In Part 2 of his Return to Hyboria series, Phil has left the lushness of Tortuga behind and has set out in the larger and more dangerous world. Get the details on what Phil has found and then leave us a couple of comments.

The secret of comedy is timing. The other secret of comedy is recording a loved one falling off a trampoline. I don’t think you can condense the magic of mmos down to one secret, but I’m betting if you could, it wouldn’t be trampolines – except for the one in World of Warcraft. However, timing is still pretty important.

Read more of Phil James' Return to Hyboria Part 2.

FYI. For anyone semi hardcore you can level to 80 within 3 days and getting rank 4 with two factions within 5 days. You will by then also have about 30 Mastery points and 10 expertice points to spend. This dude is just being very very very casual about it all, so don't let the "this is a grind" talk scare ya.

Oh, and of course he is also trying to experience as much of the content as possible so he has something to write about clearly, which makes sense :)

Its Tortage ... not Tortuga :P

Too much Jack Sparrow. =))

Well written EXCEPT for the fact that the AA is for level 80s. Yes you still get a few mastery points even before - 12k at level 30 as you said, but that is pretty much irrelevant. The speed of getting those mastery points increase dramatically when you hit level 80. You should not expect to get any AA points before you hit the cap level.

I dunno. At first, I was excited for F2P. I was subbing, and I would have continued subbing, if there were more people to do things with. But the game is empty. Even joining a guild, no one wants to do anything except end-game instances. Got all the way from 1-70 solo because no one could be bothered to do anything that didn't contribute to end-game loot/faction. Not enough low-level people around to make their own groups and the people who are around, don't know enough about the game to know where to start. Guild and server-hopping showed me it wasn't just that guild or that server, it's the same on all of them.

That's what ruined the game for me. And while F2P could help, I SINCERELY doubt it. Have you guys looked at the FAQ? It's so ridiculously restrictive. Only certain classes, only 2 character slots, only only only. I suppose I was expecting something more akin to DDO/Champions Online/LOTRO, which have much more freedom. AoC's F2P will make F2P'ers feel second-class, and a lot of people aren't going to be happy with that long-term. It's going to scare more people off than it's going to convince to sub, which leaves us right back to where we started; empty servers, with no one around except the few die-hard fans that are high level and care only about the grind.

Unless they ease up on their F2P restrictions, I doubt this is going to breathe much life into an already dying game. If anything, it will make things worse. People will start assuming there's something that horrible about the game that even goin F2P couldn't save it, and it'll be a hell of a downward spiral. Perception is a very powerful thing.

You really think the f2p model is ridiculously restricive ? I totally disagree with you. While there are some restrictions in place nothing restricts players from playing through most of the content (1-80) completely for free. No one will be ever required to pay anything to level up to 80 while enjoying a lot of content in the process. Games like DDO/LOTRO require you to start buying stuff early in the game to fully enjoy the content unless you want to grind for days to get the points needed to buy the stuff without real money.

Also there's still a good reason to keep a sub because with a sub you still get access to offline leveling, vet rewards, and AAs among other things. People complaining about the lack of these and other things in the f2p model are the people who don't like to spend any money in MMOs anyway, f2p or not.

Another thing, the game has a very small player base atm, that is true. But I have to say it's a very dedicated community. My main character is only level 31, but the guild I'm in is full of people always willing to help lowbies despite the fact  a good number of them are 80s and they're obviously focused in level 80 stuff. I can't really think of a game where max level people are focused in helping lowbies level up.

My conclusion is that the upcoming f2p model in AoC has a lot of potential to help the game grow because it offers people the chance to play through most of the game completely for free. Even a couple of raids are thrown in for free. After that, people should have a good idea about what the game has to offer, and decide if the game is worth a monetary investment through a subscription or item shop. Even if they decide not to spend any money in the game they will still be able to log in and play their characters whenever they want. I don't see how any of that can be a bad deal.

But some people still won't be happy no matter what they get, and that's a fact.

Originally posted by rastorg

You really think the f2p model is ridiculously restricive ? I totally disagree with you. While there are some restrictions in place nothing restricts players from playing through most of the content (1-80) completely for free. No one will be ever required to pay anything to level up to 80 while enjoying a lot of content in the process. Games like DDO/LOTRO require you to start buying stuff early in the game to fully enjoy the content unless you want to grind for days to get the points needed to buy the stuff without real money.

Also there's still a good reason to keep a sub because with a sub you still get access to offline leveling, vet rewards, and AAs among other things. People complaining about the lack of these and other things in the f2p model are the people who don't like to spend any money in MMOs anyway, f2p or not.

Another thing, the game has a very small player base atm, that is true. But I have to say it's a very dedicated community. My main character is only level 31, but the guild I'm in is full of people always willing to help lowbies despite the fact  a good number of them are 80s and they're obviously focused in level 80 stuff. I can't really think of a game where max level people are focused in helping lowbies level up.

My conclusion is that the upcoming f2p model in AoC has a lot of potential to help the game grow because it offers people the chance to play through most of the game completely for free. Even a couple of raids are thrown in for free. After that, people should have a good idea about what the game has to offer, and decide if the game is worth a monetary investment through a subscription or item shop. Even if they decide not to spend any money in the game they will still be able to log in and play their characters whenever they want. I don't see how any of that can be a bad deal.

But some people still won't be happy no matter what they get, and that's a fact.

 Can't wait for the Bar-Room Brawling to added.

Originally posted by Elsabolts

Originally posted by rastorg

You really think the f2p model is ridiculously restricive ? I totally disagree with you. While there are some restrictions in place nothing restricts players from playing through most of the content (1-80) completely for free. No one will be ever required to pay anything to level up to 80 while enjoying a lot of content in the process. Games like DDO/LOTRO require you to start buying stuff early in the game to fully enjoy the content unless you want to grind for days to get the points needed to buy the stuff without real money.

Also there's still a good reason to keep a sub because with a sub you still get access to offline leveling, vet rewards, and AAs among other things. People complaining about the lack of these and other things in the f2p model are the people who don't like to spend any money in MMOs anyway, f2p or not.

Another thing, the game has a very small player base atm, that is true. But I have to say it's a very dedicated community. My main character is only level 31, but the guild I'm in is full of people always willing to help lowbies despite the fact  a good number of them are 80s and they're obviously focused in level 80 stuff. I can't really think of a game where max level people are focused in helping lowbies level up.

My conclusion is that the upcoming f2p model in AoC has a lot of potential to help the game grow because it offers people the chance to play through most of the game completely for free. Even a couple of raids are thrown in for free. After that, people should have a good idea about what the game has to offer, and decide if the game is worth a monetary investment through a subscription or item shop. Even if they decide not to spend any money in the game they will still be able to log in and play their characters whenever they want. I don't see how any of that can be a bad deal.

But some people still won't be happy no matter what they get, and that's a fact.

 Can't wait for the Bar-Room Brawling to added.

 

Lol, yes my sentiments exactly. I still have that oh so important drinking cape from the Special Edition box........ lol

I love Age of Conan ! why cant it be f2p now!..DO IT NOW FUNCOM!

AH he/she "the writer" is so sweet, level 30 and all is well, could say alot but im not going to, to much fun reading these well writen play-reviews.

the crafting system however, Just for fun try it out once your lvl 40 but after seeing how it works, take this good advice, go back to questing and never look again.

thier list of atm priority's is about this..

Finish new expansion

New player income

Server restructure (the merge aint the end of thier work,read it on Oficial conan forum)

Engine updates (regulair non critical to AoC stuff mostly)

PvE Combat/ballance

Bugs

PvP combat/ballance

Crafting.

You won't get many AA points while levelling up, I think you'll get enough XP for maybe 2.  However, in the gateway to Khitai there are some potions you can get off two of the final quests there that give you a free AA point.

Originally posted by fallonfallon

I love Age of Conan ! why cant it be f2p now!..DO IT NOW FUNCOM!

 

 It might just be me, but I'm allowed to play f2p right now without any restrictions :)  My account says it's "Frozen" but I can still log in and play like normal.

before i try AoC again with F2P just one question:

is it correct, that the persistent tank-pets in AoC are not able to hold aggo, even if you know, how aggo-managment works?

if this statement is wrong, which class and which pets, please.

Pets cant hold agro forever.. There are skills you can use with the necro that will allow your pet to take the agro for a bit, then spells that root the enemy to the ground so your pet can bash on it ... Rotating these skills and spells can allow you to keep the mobs away from u..

The game will die BECAUSE sige in AOC will not be free so is usless . NO SIGE = Game DEAD

Originally posted by MegasStar

The game will die BECAUSE sige in AOC will not be free so is usless . NO SIGE = Game DEAD

Siege is dead for reasons that have nothing to do with free to play and will continue being so until fixed. Free to play will not only bring in a lot more players to fill in the unpopulated parts of the game but it will also bring in more subscribers with access to sieges, raids etc.

No matter how you look at it F2P can only improve the player side of the game, it will certainly not detract from it and free to play players would have no impact on sieges whatsoever other than for the first few months.. until they realise the same things the subscribers have for a very long time now.

I'm giving the f2p a try. Few friends tried to get me to try this, so now seemed like a good time. I am on Tortage running silly quests to increase my level. I don't know if the 4 classes are too restrictive b/c I haven't done any PvP. I am playing a demonologist b/c I usually play melee class..so why not.

Game looks great..I got everything almost maxed out and getting good fps, so that's a positive. Lots of people on Tortage, it seems to me. It kinda reminds me of LOTRO, but less feminine. Lots of questing..PvE until max level..then PvP. Don't know how long I'll last, but the game is visually pleasing, and fun to play so far.

Bah, used 7 days free just to discover is virtually the same at first glance as year before. Actually have lost wish to play after about 15 mins, lag was just terrible in Tarantia, but also overall. After playing lately Rift which have ultrabetter graphics have been used to playing all on max completely fluid, no matter how many players around. Do not have top computer but is very good. Year ago Aoc was my 2nd preffered game. For such games f2p is actually only way to make money. But not for me as I have decided long ago i will never again play f2p trash. Anyway ... any game that have this "mixed" model ... have discovered that have spent more money per month for crippled game then with regular sub. Rift, wow, ... gives me all I need for regular sub. And, funny thing, so many that object so much about they do not want to pay 15$ for monthly enjoyment, they spent few times more for smoking and drinking. Sic.

Its really nice to see MMORPG.com revisit games that have been out and have added content with some new features.  I came back in April of 2010  and have have been playing AoC since. The faction revamp is extremely easy now and it ws needed. I would suggest doing the insurrection quest for the Dagon repeatable quest that rewards AA points for anyone playing in Pai King. Also, work your way into the YAG circuit.