MMORPG.com Age of Conan Correspondent Ben Avery recently spoke with members of two Age of Conan Guilds, one in North America and one in Europe, to get their opinions on a number of issues relevant to the game as it is now and since launch. In Part Two, Ben talks to Mental Block, from the North American guild Awakening.

Age of Conan is fast approaching the 5 months old mark. It released amidst a huge wave of hype. Is the game currently living up to the hype from the minds of its current player base? Did that wave of hype crash down and drown everyone? Is the game the same as it was at release? Has it gotten worse or better?

These are some of the questions that I hope to bring answers to in today's Age of Conan state of the game Guild Q&A. One of the main reasons for doing this is to get some perspective from the current player base that has been in since launch. I thought 'what better way to do this than to ask directly'! It's also important to ask the right questions to get a clearer perspective for those interested. I have chosen two guilds to start - one from the European servers and one from the North American continent servers. These guilds are active in game, are known on their servers and have some good insight. I hope this comes across as adequate and unbiased enough for the critics and a decent enough read for the casual browser. As the questions asked are to the leaders and guild members alike, it should portray a good representation of where we are up to today with Age of Conan. We have one large guild and one average sized, both from a PvP and PvE perspective. As time goes on I might be doing more of these to getter a better feel of the truer state of the game.

Read the Age of Conan Interview.

Stradden is there a link i don't see it.

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Read teh Ageof Conan Interview.

Cheers,
Jon Wood
Managing Editor
MMORPG.com

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Originally posted by Mrbloodworth

 

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Read teh Ageof Conan Interview.

 

Cheers,
Jon Wood
Managing Editor
MMORPG.com

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Nice!

 

best advice: don't roll out of bed and post. It's a mistake. Have coffee first.

Nice job again -- highly informative but all of these opinions by current guild leaders and players basically confirmed my thoughts on the status of Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures as it is today.

So, while FunCom has made huge strides by making sweeping changes -- all positive -- from replacing the game director to huge revisions in management style, community support, focused game improvements, increasing content, etc., everyone seems to agree that FunCom. today, still  has a long way to go to bring Age of Conan to release quality.

Thus, in the opinion of many, including myself, it's actually too early for FunCom to focus on trying to bring former players back.  And, since AoC is still a closed beta product, it also follows that FunCom should focus on improving the game further before trying to "sell" AoC to new players, because today the "hype" does not work for Age of Conan and virtually all players have a pretty accurate knowledge of where the game stands to date. 

One suggestion in the interview, "To those [new] players I would offer the entire game as a free download with a one week trial thrown in. After that point if they liked it they could subscribe. I believe once you have tried it Conan is a game that you will want to keep playing," is a great idea, but really not necessary.  First of all, due to contracts and agreements with the MMO's production and distribution company, it usually violates that agreement to allow a "free" client -- someone has to pay for it.  However, it is now a fact that anyone can purchase the "Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures" at large game shops and on eBay for next to nothing (99 cents to many at under $5US).

I had orginally predicted Age of Conan to reach release quality by December 2008.  That, however, will not happen.  At this rate, Age of Conan might be ready to attract old former and new players by May/June 2009. 

Of course, some players won't ever return, no matter how great the FunCom's Age of Conan is when it reaches release quality.

Originally posted by Lizante

Nice job again -- highly informative but all of these opinions by current guild leaders and players basically confirmed my thoughts on the status of Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures as it is today.

So, while FunCom has made huge strides by making sweeping changes -- all positive -- from replacing the game director to huge revisions in management style, community support, focused game improvements, increasing content, etc., everyone seems to agree that FunCom. today, still  has a long way to go to bring Age of Conan to release quality.

Thus, in the opinion of many, including myself, it's actually too early for FunCom to focus on trying to bring former players back. 

I can see what your saying and agree on many points. Yes they are not quite there yet, but that doesn't mean to say what is there is not worthy of a look-in. I really believe they are on the right road and it's gaining momentum all the time each month. After the article was wrote we have a November update from the Director which he specifies DX 10 client should be on test server before end of year, and more recently another update regarding server merges still on schedule before Christmas. The game is not perfect and it never will be as with any game, it's an ever increasing challenge. FC have the right people on the job, talents in quest design, artists et all. What I do have an eye on is forthcoming itemization changes and to see what the new crafting guy has up his sleeves.

Oh there is no doubt AoC has great potential and I, too, am pleased with Craig Morrison and his AoC  team  @ FunCom.

I was in the early closed beta for Age of Conan and stuck with it until the end, often pounding my head against the wall when I wasn't pounding on the QA team leader -- but when QA closed the beta servers and the beta forum about a month after the May 08 release, QA thanked us for the help with the game and said we could continue to test AoC on the TestLive server but we would need to establish and open a customer subscription to do so. 

I -- like most closed beta testers -- said no thanks.  We were not about to pay FunCom $15/month to continue to beta test their closed beta product on the Test:ive Server.

So, again -- as soon as FunCom provides a release quality game, I'm there.  I already have my retail box I got for cheap  

We still have at least a few months to go, however.

Hi Jon, the link is broken from the article page:  "Comments: 0 comments in our forms, be the first! "

Thanks.