Originally posted by Rohn

Originally posted by ironhelix

The combat in AoC is stupid. If you are a melee character, you have to enter a password every time you want to use an ability. I get what they were going for, but when there are no chains or branching ablilities, why include the requirement to press multiple keys to use one attack. It's beyond frustrating.

 

Indeed, password-protected abilities was more than slightly annoying, without adding a great deal to the game.

Another failure of the system is that it ONLY applied to melee combat - ranged combat was the stock standard MMO system.  The differences between the two don't mesh well.

Actually, the entire combat system in AoC was a gutted shell of what they originally promised, because they were technically unable to pull off what they initially envisioned.

Personally, I believe Vindictus, DCUO, TERA, Dragon Nest, Mortal Online, and Darkfall all have superior, more consistent combat systems.

You guys could never have been very good in PvP, because if you look on the combo system as password you are probably doing something wrong. You are probably standing right up and down firing off the most efficient attacks in rapid succession. That is not how it works. With the combos you have to time your attacks and land each and every strike (and particularly the last one, it has penalty though if other parts of the combo are a miss). In other words the AoC combat is not about spamming attacks as fast as the cooldown is done.. AoC combat is about strategic movement and timing of combinations. Defensive AoC combat  is also about strategic use of cc and combo effects.

Look I can not explain all this now in a forum post. But seeing you describing a combo as a password says more than anything else really. You'll get you ass handed to you if you try to play AoC like WoW. No wonder you don't like AOC combat then.

The combo system is a waste of 6 buttons, and the reason more people dont play this game then play it.

I am curious what the OP thinks is the cause of AOC´s abandonment by most players.  They sold 1M boxes.. had less than half of that 2 months later.  The game is now free2play and still only has 3 servers with decent population..  That game isn´t even a blip on the radar of most gamers..

So really..  Combat is the majority of most gameplay..  and boss fights are the ultimate endgame...  why is it if AOC ´dominates´  other games in those two important areas that it is now a free2play game that has substantially lower players than other f2p games like Lotro, DDO etc.

Because, and I'm sure this argument has been used many times by others defending the game they like. McDonalds may sell/serve millions and millions daily but it doesn't make it the best food. I think the best food you'll find is at some hole-in-the-wall place.

Just my opinion.

I'm really glad we have AoC. I know it isn't very popular, but I got over 2 years enjoyment out of it. Every time I logged on I had a great time with it. In many ways it is a typical theme park MMO, but in just as many other ways it is a unique gaming experience. This game would never be made today. It would be way too much effort and money involved for investing in a niche IP like Conan. Especially with these high production values like the music and graphics. I think those of us who like it are lucky to have it.

The combat system is what I disliked most, it felt like an elaborated simon says. If an mmo wants 'action combat' the devs should take a look at games like assassins creed, two worlds 2 and batman in my opinion.

Originally posted by Azrile

I am curious what the OP thinks is the cause of AOC´s abandonment by most players.  They sold 1M boxes.. had less than half of that 2 months later.  The game is now free2play and still only has 3 servers with decent population..  That game isn´t even a blip on the radar of most gamers..

So really..  Combat is the majority of most gameplay..  and boss fights are the ultimate endgame...  why is it if AOC ´dominates´  other games in those two important areas that it is now a free2play game that has substantially lower players than other f2p games like Lotro, DDO etc.

Azrile, you take every thread in a forum of a game you do not play, again and again back to the same topic. "WoW has more subs, it is better than your MMO." How do you manage to stay unmoderated? I believe they call it topic hijacking.

But hey, I'll be good to you and answer your question again (but please take notice of the answer this time).

I think AoC lost many subs at launch because AoC demand a lot from hardware and broadband. Back in 2008, this was a huge issue for many of the players with just regular hardware. I guess your next question is, well why have not people reinvaded this magnificent looking game now that hardware can cope? The answer would be, due to taste and people like yourself. Everyone know that pop music (lady gaga, Jenifer Lopez, Pitbull,,, and most other junk music you can think of) sell much better than jazz. Does than mean jazz is bad? NO, it just means pop music is a more easy to digest music... Jazz is complex and can be a real challenge to wrap your mind around. But for those people that enjoy jazz, they would not replace it with Lady Gaga for anything else in the world. Same stuff goes for AoC. AoC has a complex combat system (which you obviously did not get since you think of it as a password) and other mechanics too that is not mainstream. It's not generic and perhaps not for the hordes since it represents a challenge. Nevertheless, the people that understand the game and play it would never change it to WoW for anything in the world. The other thing that does not help is that haters run about spouting how bad this game was at launch while it is nothing like this now.

This game rocks. It's free. I my wellmeaning suggestion to you and everyone else in mmorpg.com is, test it and see for your self. You might like Jazz;)

Btw, here is a vid that might convice you :P http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T2X_SbZCHpc&feature=youtu.be&hd=1

Well, as a player of AoC, I really enjoy the combat system, and find it by far preferable to other MMOs I've tried e.g. Rift (though I did like the interrupt-based gameplay of some classes/setups in GW1).  IMO the casting system could do with some added complexity (would love to see spellweaving made harder).  The lack of global cooldown is also something I like.

Graphics/animations - yeah, I think it's great, although it still demands a good PC to play it, and although Funcom have made great progress in reducing system load, there are IMO still some issues such as memory leaks (but much milder now) to deal with.

As far as why people left at the beginning, it's tough to recall exactly (yeah, I was there), but the game was pretty buggy back then.  Many also felt that Funcom had made promises but failed to keep them (the poor implementation of city sieges was a big let down for some of my friends).

Some poor decisions re balance didn't help (the gems era, for example, re PvP).  Many people had a good 1st impression of Tortage, as I recall, but the world after Tortage was thinner on voiceovers and content, and that put some peoples' backs up.

Funcom have sorted out some of these issues (to varying degrees), but I suspect that it's not even on some peoples' radar as their memory of it from near release is of a buggy mess.

I enjoyed the graphics, music, combat system; but yeah I fell in with the crowd that liked Tortage. It's not that it was a bad game, IMO. Tortage spoiled me. After that, yes I wanted a bit more of the same.

Out of curiousity, do you still have to pay to unlock certain classes? I had wanted to try the Hearld of Xotli or Necromancer at the time, but couldn't with out paying to unlock.

My computer is much better now. Maybe I'll come back to see how my new rig handles it.

Well, combat was the main reason i tried playing AOC, it was almost as good as some single-player games out there.

After playing it for almost 2 years i remember the frustration i felt when i tried other MMOs like Warhammer and seeing combat videos from almost every other mmo out there. AOC's combat was simplified and unperfect already, but i could never understand how people can play all those "clickers" as i call em since then.

Too bad there's still no other decent mmos with good real time combat system

Originally posted by AlexanderTD

i could never understand how people can play all those "clickers" as i call em since then.

 

I am not sure there is a "clicker" MMO on the market.   In most MMOs you get tons of skills and you need to use them in the right order or right time.   If you have 20 abilities that need to be used in 1 minute the easiest way to do that is to key bind 20 abilities, for PvP is is even more of a must so you can use abilities while moving.

If you play a melee class you must be BOTH in range and facing your target so all MMOs are the same, even AoC.  The only thing AoC does is instead of letting you bind 5 abilities you must use 5 arrow keys in those binds and instead of a bassic attack or something on a short cooldown you press the arrows it tells you to press. If anything it is dumbed down combat but since you claim to be a "clicker" It is probably the only game out there that you can compete with non clickers as there is no competition.

Some other tips:   You never need to use Q and E to turn or S to backpeddle so you can bind those to abilities.  I would avoid PvP altogether if I were you if there is any type of ranking system players in the top half of any game would destroy you if you play how you claim. 

Oh! Get out of the habit of turning with the arrow keys on your keyboard as you can use the mouse to turn and A or D to strafe.  Hope my tips help you play MMOs.

Originally posted by tares

I am not sure there is a "clicker" MMO on the market. In most MMOs you get tons of skills and you need to use them in the right order or right time. If you have 20 abilities that need to be used in 1 minute the easiest way to do that is to key bind 20 abilities, for PvP is is even more of a must so you can use abilities while moving.

If you play a melee class you must be BOTH in range and facing your target so all MMOs are the same, even AoC. The only thing AoC does is instead of letting you bind 5 abilities you must use 5 arrow keys in those binds and instead of a bassic attack or something on a short cooldown you press the arrows it tells you to press. If anything it is dumbed down combat but since you claim to be a "clicker" It is probably the only game out there that you can compete with non clickers as there is no competition.

Some other tips: You never need to use Q and E to turn or S to backpeddle so you can bind those to abilities. I would avoid PvP altogether if I were you if there is any type of ranking system players in the top half of any game would destroy you if you play how you claim.

By "clickers" i mean all those MMOs where you mouse click buttons that represent some kind of attack or magic etc. and click for movement (sometimes). Compared to intense action AOC was giving me those MMOs felt like chess.

I played AOC almost since beta for a few years and all of my time was spent in PVP so i know a thing or two about AOC's combat.

For example let's assume we play Conqueror: first you need to constantly move (in all directions) using AWSD keys and perform combos while moving and controlling the range to the target in order to hit it with each attack and avoid being hit when possible. You also want to add a knockback ability to the current combo you're performing when necessey (+1 key), then there are Defensive and Frenzy stances  which you change while doing everything mentioned above in order to unleash your completed combo in Frenzy (to get extra damage) and quickly switch back to defensive after that. And if that's not enough - you also want to use your cunning deflection ability to block/reflect damage just in time.  Then there's charge (which can be combined with combo+knockback+stance as well). And there's double-taping of WASD to strafe of course...At least it's the basic stuff i remember, there's more.

Although none of individual aspects mentioned make AOC's combat unique, the combination and variation does.

Originally posted by DaSpack

What other MMO is even remotely close to this graphic quality? Tell me and link in an example ;)

Yeah AoC has amazing visuals, which is pretty much all it has going for it.

The rest of the game is incredibly lackluster, hence why they converted to a F2P model to try and increase revenue.

Originally posted by Mari2k

Nope... in combat WOW still dominates.

The problem in AoC is that you can makro the chains very easy. Its a huge disadvantegen if you dont do it... and beeing depend on 3rd party tools in a game is crap.

^

Exactly this, autohotkey and g series logitech keyboard users maybe good scripters but calling themselves good pvp is insulting.  So you 1-2 loosers standing around your little pond pretending your the big fish waiting for someone try and use the path finder in borderkingdoms and rezz pad camping please turn off the lights since you'll be the last ones to leave.  But I'm glad there is AoC, gives the asshats someplace to grief and keeps them way from the world of social people.  Sorry but your full AA stack and lvl 10 pvp sets are going to rot cause the population of uniformed idiots is drying up for you.

Yes, macros, hacks and other c__p killed fair PVP of the game. Too bad there's so many idiots who ruin the game just to have a month of fun.

It's 4 yers and there's still no decent replacement for AOC on the scope...

(somebody tell me how to turn off this stupid quoting - messagins sux here)

Originally posted by AlexanderTD

Yes, macros, hacks and other c__p killed fair PVP of the game. Too bad there's so many idiots who ruin the game just to have a month of fun.

It's 4 yers and there's still no decent replacement for AOC on the scope...

 

Tera's combat blows age of conan's away. After all those hax, macros, bots, etc does anyone still play this game?

Too bad Tera looks like another Korean pos, and reaviews do not mention anything good beside attempt to make tab-less combat... otherwise i'd probably try it

I liked a LOT AoC, definetlly worth a try

the endgame raids where awesome.

AoC's animations and feel felt wonderful - the combo system was irritating at best.

Pressing four buttons for one action isn't interesting or complex, it's tedious - shame about the really great animations going to waste...

Originally posted by Cinatrot

AoC's animations and feel felt wonderful - the combo system was irritating at best.

 

Pressing four buttons for one action isn't interesting or complex, it's tedious - shame about the really great animations going to waste...

 

You probably never truly understood the idea behind combo.It was great because as combos became more and more powerfull  the time and number of hits you needed to execute it increased requiring more skill. Its is important to remember that you need to actually hit opponent with every attack of the combo, otherwise you'll loose like 15% of final damage per each one you missed. To do so you had to time your movement, attacks etc. You opponent knew that too so it was all of timing, distance etc. and it's the reason why the good PVP duel felt like a dance.