Age of Conan

Hi all,

I noticed several posters commenting that nobody was saying anything positive about AoC, so I figured I would. I'm not sure how much I'm allowed to reveal so I'll keep my experience as generic and basic as possible. Here goes.

My basic system specs are as follows:

Pent 4 3.4 processor, overclocked to 3.7.

4 gigs of ram

2 10,000 rpm hard drives in a raid zero config

NVidia 8800 GTX factory overclocked w/ 7?? megs of ram (it had 700something, can't remember the exact number off the top of my head anymore.

Running Windows XP Pro, Direct X 9

Not at all a bad system. It has been a while and it's definitely no longer the best by any means, but it's nicely configured and I still consider it above average.

At the moment, I can run the game smoothly on the default MEDIUM setting, at 1920 x 1200 resolution, with perhaps a few manual tweaks here and there as suit my tastes. On HIGH the game lags too much to be playable on my system, but I have not pinpointed which specific settings are responsible for it.

Keep in mind they're about to change the way the shaders and lighting and several other things perform, and I have not tested the game with the new upcoming patch.

Nevertheless, on Medium setting the game looks great, and from there It's very possible to turn other options down and still have the game look great.

As for loading times, they're currently egregiously long (i can easily go get a drink and make a sandwich at times) But I believe the Funcom rep already explained in the last interview why that was happening, and that it would be fixed with the upcoming patch.

Now, regarding the game:

I've only played through level 20 with any of my characters, but that encompasses the full newb experience, the tutorials, introduction to the basic storyline and my place in it as a player, and so on. My bottom line is this: I haven't had this much fun playing a game in years. When I played, I felt as if I was my character, running through the tumultuous streets of Tortage. And for the past several days, I've played it nonstop until about 5am each morning, until I'm delirious and no longer sure where I am :P

Visually, the game has a sense of grandeur and scale (and that includes vertical). When I look up, I can see huge trees and castles and other things towering over me, and I feel like I could walk miles through the wilderness hopelessly lost. Its not really the case of course, the newb experience is really quite linear and straight forward, but I've always believed that what's important is how a game makes you feel. After all, I've played games where I really could run miles in any direction, and there was a whole lot of nothing to be found - not fun. Still, I've only scratched the tiniest surface of this world, and from the glimpse I've gotten outside of Tortage, there will be plenty of places to roam and lots of elder horrors to destroy ;)

As for playability, the game is challenging. Expect to die. Now I don't think this is a bad thing at all. Only when something kicks my butt several times can I take pride in feeling like I've accomplished something. That being said, some classes have it harder than others at the start. (and I can only hope it's just at the start, since many classes in mmo's don't hit their stride until much later). From my experience, ranged players have a tougher time at first than up-close players have. Certain casters and rangers, which use bows, for example, will find it difficult engaging clumps of mobs at range, and will need to learn how to best use the combat system to fight up close when all those angry mobs come running. (I assume crowd control really comes into play here).

I didn't have the patience for that however, so I went for a melee class, which brings me to melee combat. A lot of people seem frightened by the new combat system that Funcom has conjured up, and believe me I was very dubious about it. My greatest fear was that I'd feel like I had to hold an XBox controller in my hands to enjoy it, or at least come up with a bunch of keyboard hotkeys to fight with. Now I'll admit, I'm a total slave to my mouse (terribly inefficient I know) and if there are rows of hotkeys arranged on my screen, then I like to click on them to use them. And combat works just fine like this. In fact, it was downright blood spatteringly gratifying! Getting the hang of using this system is instantaneous. Getting GOOD at using this system only takes a few hours of play, and really left me feeling like a total badass. (a good feeling to evoke in any game). Rather than requiring some unattainable pre-ordained playing skill (that I maintain, some people have and others just don't) the combat system makes the gamer feel skilled. And of course, we are rewarded for our l33t skills with some very fun and very gory fatalities.

Contrary to many fears, Funcom did not stop at pretty graphics with this game. The game works. Combat, quests, storyline, they really work, meaning it definitely feels like more than the sum of its parts. Throughout the experience it was very clear that the developers meant to bring Robert Howard's adventures to life (and if you don't know what I mean, go read a few of his Conan short stories before you play).

Now I know some people are wondering what PvP is like, or raiding, or how extensive instancing is, or perhaps a precise mathematical breakdown of the total dps output of a 2 hand weapon vs. 2 dual wielded 1 handers...  but suspend your disbelief and doubt for a week and a few days, and then see if the game strikes you as it struck me (it struck me as good). Anyway, my job is done. Peace out.

Good post. I agree with almost all of it. Regarding the combat system, I'm very impressed with the way the skill element plays into it. My lvl 13 beta character was able to solo 4 lvl 17 mobs (using 1 potion). That was only possible because I kept circling and lining up the targets for max hit coverage (and got a little lucky ;) ). No other MMORPG have I seen where the skill element plays into combat to this degree.

- May your sword strike true and your loot be stackable

Agreed

All button mashing MMO'ers beware...AoC requires attention spans..

I love it...

Thanks Funcom

Wow slay, 4 lvl 17's? Nicely done@! I'll have to take a few pointers from you.

Originally posted by SlaySteele

Good post. I agree with almost all of it. Regarding the combat system, I'm very impressed with the way the skill element plays into it. My lvl 13 beta character was able to solo 4 lvl 17 mobs (using 1 potion). That was only possible because I kept circling and lining up the targets for max hit coverage (and got a little lucky ;) ). No other MMORPG have I seen where the skill element plays into combat to this degree.

- May your sword strike true and your loot be stackable

I can't agree more. This is why AOC stand out different from other MMORPGs. And I'm pretty sure that after a year of tweaking the combat system will kick ass.

A positive post about AoC? You must work for Funcom or perhaps you're on drugs?

Good post.

Originally posted by Agricola1

A positive post about AoC? You must work for Funcom or perhaps you're on drugs?

 

Good post.

Just high on AoC atm!

And maybe Sudafed...

i am glad you're enjoying your Hyborian experience!

Originally posted by openedge1

Agreed

All button mashing MMO'ers beware...AoC requires attention spans..

I love it...

Thanks Funcom

.....with twice the amount of button mashing......ooooh.