Age of Conan

Regarding AoC (as being a "next gen" title *cough* that will even remotely live up to their ridiculous self-made hype) there are not too many points in which i agree with FC.

But i agree with them that not lifting the NDA until release and not having an open beta is indeed a good decision...at least from their point of view.

I to am one who is wodering what's the hold up with dropping the Nda i wonder if they have something to hide?  I had my eyes  on this game for some time now i even started building a new rig for this game water cooled of course :). I also wonder if they do push it back well it really make a difference in the game really no mmo that i played to date every had a truely fawled launch NONE OF THEM including WOW. Will this game be the next best mmo out there or the next VG only time will tell for sure since the NDA is still up.

I don't see a compelling reason for them to drop the NDA before open beta.  FACT: people WILL fixate on negative aspects.  Hell, people will fixate on what the THINK are negative aspects.  So from their point of view wth would they drop the NDA before they are ready for everyone to see it AS IT WILL BE RELEASED?

For the hype?  I think they got all they want.  AoC is one of the most anticipated mmos out there.   They've shown us plenty of eye candy to wet our appetites.  Chances are they won't tell all until OB or release.  I'm okay with that.  Say what you want.  Chances are that if you're even slightly interested you'll pick it up at or around release.  for the rest they'll wait for the cheers of ZOMG!!11!!  or the howls of WTF!!!11!!! before they make the final call. 

I figure either AoC or WAR will be a ZOMG!!11!!

Originally posted by Pyrostasis

Ok first off just want to say that I am strongly looking forward to AOC release, however Im a bit concerned.

We are now a week into april, leaving only 7 weeks till AOC launch, and the NDA is still up and there is no open beta yet.

NDA's are usually dropped between 4 and 8 weeks from release, and the farther out the NDA is dropped can be used to determine the confidence the devs have in their game.

For instance, wow dropped their NDA 8 weeks prior to release, while not a fan of WoW, they did have a good product and werent afraid to let the beta testers speak.

On the other hand we have Tabula Rasa which bombed once its NDA was breeched, and was cited as one of the things leading to its failure (I disagree, think bad game design led to its failure but thats another topic).

Regardless, Im concerned that Funcom hasnt released the NDA yet, and Open beta doesnt seem to be around the corner.

I dont think AoC is going to be awful, but if these two things arent taken care of in the next week or so we are most likely looking at a push back sadly... and I really hope thats not the case.

Really, you can circumvent a lot of open beta's needs by load testing with bots.  If a company is confident in their product's ability to handle the user load, I would prefer them to keep open beta to a minimum and as short as possible.  There is no reason to let tons of people in early.  That's what Tabula Rasa did, and it led to the game's downfall.  I got bored with TR before it was ready for me to test.  Everything I bugged, they could have bugged themselves.  They let Beta testers in too early, then let even more open beta testers in too early.

Launching with the NDA up and the Open Beta down will only cause unhappy players to be even more irate.

It's a completely different age for MMOs than when AO launched and if Funcom does not adapt then they will fail and fail big.

One of the things that has changed since AO is the internet itself. Customers now have a place to vent their frustrations on a global scale rather than just local. Meaning that when AO launched people couldn't flood the message boards to warn others not to buy the game.

These days lots of hype is a bad thing, especially for MMOs. The more you build something up the farther it can fall.

Originally posted by Lobotomist

Today is 2008 , not 2003.

It is not acceptable to keep NDA just until or after the game launches. Especially after the Vanguard.

Also it is not acceptable not to have Open Beta , or at least Open Trial. 

is anyone else worried about the "click" to attack? you got 50 people in the same area all doing the same, wouldnt that cause for more lag?

Open betas and NDA drops dont kill games... bad games kill themselves. Tabula rasa died because it was a poor design that didnt appeal to many.

Funcom also has a rather shaky past, hanging on till the last second on the NDA will make many who are on the fence about buying the game think twice. If your game is good, show it, that way the word gets out and you have a huge launch.

Keep your nda, and people wait for word of mouth which takes a few weeks, granted you can still have a good launch, but if the game is good... wouldnt you want folks to see it and be chomping at the bit?

Open beta and NDA co-release, Im fine with, my only point is NDA is a barrier to hide behind, and you only need to hide... if you have something to hide. Its not my company, its not my game, Im just talking theory here.

Funcom is welcome to do as they wish, Im just giving my thoughts. Again... this isnt ANTI funcom or ANTI AoC.

Originally posted by Pyrostasis

Open betas and NDA drops dont kill games... bad games kill themselves. Tabula rasa died because it was a poor design that didnt appeal to many.

Funcom also has a rather shaky past, hanging on till the last second on the NDA will make many who are on the fence about buying the game think twice. If your game is good, show it, that way the word gets out and you have a huge launch.

Keep your nda, and people wait for word of mouth which takes a few weeks, granted you can still have a good launch, but if the game is good... wouldnt you want folks to see it and be chomping at the bit?

Open beta and NDA co-release, Im fine with, my only point is NDA is a barrier to hide behind, and you only need to hide... if you have something to hide. Its not my company, its not my game, Im just talking theory here.

Funcom is welcome to do as they wish, Im just giving my thoughts. Again... this isnt ANTI funcom or ANTI AoC.

I buy them even if there complete and utter trash.  I have a large MMO collection on my wall, many have been added to the shelf what's another. /shrug

guess it is my geek collection of crapware.