So I am very interested in playing this game - already tried the first 5 levels and it has a certain draw to it. Love the music, the atmosphere, and combat system looks interesting. Few questions though:

1) I'm very sick of EQ/WoW press 1, 2, 3 MMOs, grind till your eyes pop games. Would I be making a mistake in purchasing this game?

I basically won't have too much time over the next few months, but I want to be able to log in and chill in a world and meet somewhat laidback (but serious) players focused on immersion and the game. Fast paced gaming revolving solely around the acquisition of gear is boring to me because I have done it in games past and I've been good at it - gets old :P

Am I better off just avoiding this game?

2) What's the population like? Is the levelling world totally dead? Will I not see more than 10 people until I hit 80? Also, can subscribers communicate with F2Pers? Or are the communication lines blocked both ways?

3) I've heard the first 20-30 levels are great; would they be worth playing for? (I hear after that it gets a little grindy - doing repeatable quests, etc)

4) I really want to buy the game (perhaps without a sub at first to see if I like it) because I want to play either a Stygian HoX or a ToS. On that note, what are the playstyles? From my understanding (read guides and stuff) HoXes are melee-ers in cloth. They aren't casters at all right? (Because I don't enjoy mostly doing "cast, cast, cast, cast") ToSes sound very cool (can heal and DPS) and have powerful AoE spells... but are they tied to a casting playstyle?

Basically I want a world to explore, but not get totally bogged down in mundane details like numbers (which is what will happen if I resub on my WoW druid who I know inside and out). It would eb abonus if there are nice people to do the exploring and adventuring with. 

Or am I just better of starting EVE?

Thanks guys, I realise it's been kind of long, but I don't want to miss this game if it is a hidden gem.

I feel like my time with Age of Conan has been a constant eb and flow of good and bad times. I am a huge Conan fan so I bought into the game right from beta and have tried to stick with it ever since, however the game has done its best to try and keep me away. The free to play classes are a great way to test server populations and get a feel for the atmosphere. HoX is essentially a melee class that uses spells to augment his physical attacks. I wouldnt buy a class or subsciption until you find a server and community you like, you may end up not finding someplace that fits what you are looking for! I hope this helps.

Originally posted by empyros

So I am very interested in playing this game - already tried the first 5 levels and it has a certain draw to it. Love the music, the atmosphere, and combat system looks interesting. Few questions though:

1) I'm very sick of EQ/WoW press 1, 2, 3 MMOs, grind till your eyes pop games. Would I be making a mistake in purchasing this game?

I basically won't have too much time over the next few months, but I want to be able to log in and chill in a world and meet somewhat laidback (but serious) players focused on immersion and the game. Fast paced gaming revolving solely around the acquisition of gear is boring to me because I have done it in games past and I've been good at it - gets old :P

Am I better off just avoiding this game?

 

2) What's the population like? Is the levelling world totally dead? Will I not see more than 10 people until I hit 80? Also, can subscribers communicate with F2Pers? Or are the communication lines blocked both ways?

 

3) I've heard the first 20-30 levels are great; would they be worth playing for? (I hear after that it gets a little grindy - doing repeatable quests, etc)

 

4) I really want to buy the game (perhaps without a sub at first to see if I like it) because I want to play either a Stygian HoX or a ToS. On that note, what are the playstyles? From my understanding (read guides and stuff) HoXes are melee-ers in cloth. They aren't casters at all right? (Because I don't enjoy mostly doing "cast, cast, cast, cast") ToSes sound very cool (can heal and DPS) and have powerful AoE spells... but are they tied to a casting playstyle?

 

Basically I want a world to explore, but not get totally bogged down in mundane details like numbers (which is what will happen if I resub on my WoW druid who I know inside and out). It would eb abonus if there are nice people to do the exploring and adventuring with. 

 

Or am I just better of starting EVE?

 

Thanks guys, I realise it's been kind of long, but I don't want to miss this game if it is a hidden gem.

Question 1: My answer to this would be that your still going to press buttons thats just how MMO's work but it is VERY different in AoC with the combo system.  Things like preloading combos (swinging @ the air to time the most powerful part of a combo) to land in pvp add a whole new dimension to the game.  Casters play typically like any other mage class from any other game but melee characters definitly have rewarding and involved gameplay.

Like any MMO the point is to better your character with feats, alternate advancement, and also gear.  I hated this game when it first came out but now I love it.  The PvP is like no other game out right now and the PvE is challenging.  Funcom did a good job adding in small mechanics that you won't really find in other games.

Question 2: Worlds are alive and well, espcially the starter areas. F2P can talk to premium in chat.  F2P really only lack access to level 80 dungeons/raids (though there are f2p ones).

Queston 3:  The reason people say the first 20 levels are great is because the starting area tortage is COMPLETELY 100% voice acted and it ultimately makes the best starting area I have ever played in a game.  The story is very good and im the kind of guy that won't even read quests.  20+ its not voice acted really at all.  As for grindy not really in my opinion.  You certainly don't have to do repeatable quests but it is a quest based leveling system with low level dungeons for good mix also low level pvp and even open world pvp (if your on a pvp server). In fact if you talk to most people that play this gmae they have multiple level 80's because its so easy to level up.  (I have like 5)

Question 4: The f2p classes are pretty limited.  HoX is a VERY badass class to play.  Their damage is insane although they are very squishy since they are essentially a melee nuking mage.  Most of their skills are melee combo based which deal fire damage but they do have ranged spells and frontal cone aoe spells  to help finish off people running/out of range of melee.  In my personal opinion i love their armor as well its very cool looking.

I could never get into eve personally.  A lot of people like it but for me the start up time is very very long.  What i mean by this is it takes so long to do anything in that game that it will be a year (what i have been told) before your even powerful enough to do the cool stuff in the game.  For me thats to much of a grind.  The longest I could sub for was 2 months or so and I even had someone helping me that was super rich and they bought me a bunch of upgrades to let me get into stuff quicker.  The skills are time based learning (continues off line) but take hours/days/weeks/months to level up.

So my opinion is this you should try them both.  I personnally LOVE AoC but if you can get into EvE I bet its a lot of fun.  I remember seeing this EvE video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oq2oxt7Nrxo and was like WOW that is so cool but I could never reach that point or witnessed anything even remotely like that happening.

For me AoC has a lot of cool things to offer top notch graphics, guild vs guild sieging, fantastic PvE, fresh pvp, massive world, and cool classes.

Originally posted by UNH0LYEV1L
*snip*

For me AoC has a lot of cool things to offer top notch graphics, guild vs guild sieging, fantastic PvE, fresh pvp, massive world, and cool classes.

Thanks for the detailed reply!!

I decided to sub; and I am currently the owner of a level 17 HoX and a level 5 ToS. Loving every minute of it. Such a pity that this game sort of fell behind... hopefully, Funcom will still be dedicated to it when they're not super busy developping TSW.

I have another question I'd like to bother you with... I see you're playing Aion currently. How do you like it?

I played to ~11 on 2 characters (Glad and Templar) before my trial ran out. I also loved it - I have never played a Korean MMO before so stylistically, it was very new, exciting and beautiful. The world was amazing, the story interesting, and flying, while limited, was still cool.

I did find the quests a little repetive though :( Maybe it was the lack of abilities, but I found I got bored fast. maybe I should've subbed to Aion and levelled to 25 or something. I am definitely enjoying my HoX more than I enjoyed my 1-10 Glad+Templar. That said, what do you think of Aion? 

Is it worth a sub? Or is it an Asian version of, say, WoW?

Again, what a pity it faltered so bad in North America (I hear it's doing very well in Asia). It's a beautiful game, and one that I often think about.

Originally posted by empyros

Originally posted by UNH0LYEV1L
*snip*

For me AoC has a lot of cool things to offer top notch graphics, guild vs guild sieging, fantastic PvE, fresh pvp, massive world, and cool classes.

Thanks for the detailed reply!!

I decided to sub; and I am currently the owner of a level 17 HoX and a level 5 ToS. Loving every minute of it. Such a pity that this game sort of fell behind... hopefully, Funcom will still be dedicated to it when they're not super busy developping TSW.

 

I have another question I'd like to bother you with... I see you're playing Aion currently. How do you like it?

I played to ~11 on 2 characters (Glad and Templar) before my trial ran out. I also loved it - I have never played a Korean MMO before so stylistically, it was very new, exciting and beautiful. The world was amazing, the story interesting, and flying, while limited, was still cool.

 

I did find the quests a little repetive though :( Maybe it was the lack of abilities, but I found I got bored fast. maybe I should've subbed to Aion and levelled to 25 or something. I am definitely enjoying my HoX more than I enjoyed my 1-10 Glad+Templar. That said, what do you think of Aion? 

 

Is it worth a sub? Or is it an Asian version of, say, WoW?

 

Again, what a pity it faltered so bad in North America (I hear it's doing very well in Asia). It's a beautiful game, and one that I often think about.

 I agree with what UnholyEvil wrote. I would add a little as a fairly longterm player of EVE and AoC. (I can't comment much on Aion since I 1. overdosed eventually on the amount of purple in that game and 2. found out there were basically no builds, each class only had 1 viable setup).

AoC is a lot more linear than EVE. You have a few choices like leveling in area 1 2 or 3. But that's it.

EVE you can have any number of jobs, mining, planet mining, venturing into wormholes, missions, pvp, politics, hauling, etc. Your goals can be making money, mischief, political supremacy, and so on.

The sky is the limit - literally! your limit is that you can't reach the sky, you stay out in space. You can put planetary harvesters on it though. For me I always felt a bit detached from EVE, just the fact of being a spaceship not so much a person, though incarna did bring nice looking useless avatars. Combat is the same, it makes little difference 90% of the time what you do during combat, it is mostly how you are set up and who is fighting. Exception being if you fly a small ship, but still manuvering is not that important, I have only rarely beat people that auto orbit by flying trickier patterns other factors being equal.

AoC is very personal, you feel the thuds of your blunt weapon. You need to control your movement and timing very carefully. Not to say EVE combat is simple, it is very complicated, just not fast 1 v 1.  

Both games are beautiful. But I'd have to give the edge to AoC, any EVE complexes, planets, stations, start to merge into maybe 20 or 30 archetypes and beyond that they look the same to me. AoC has more shiny things, lanscapes, and monsters to see.

So its hard to say which you'd like better.

Wanted to add that I am also trying out AOC and I am having alot of fun. On the pvp server. I got tired of Rift.. I like how there are calendar's for pvp.

The community is very helpful for the most part.. I am just not sure now Ranger or Sin.. and the pve content keep sme very much entertained

It took a lttle bit to get used the ui feels kinda of clunky and the chat channel. Wish I could adjust the darkness and colors.. the great news is that many guilds are recruiting..

Waiting on TOR but AOC is truly a gem

Originally posted by Heartwork

It took a lttle bit to get used the ui feels kinda of clunky and the chat channel. Wish I could adjust the darkness and colors..

Ofc you can...there are some nice custom UIs with different chat colors - check aoc.curse.com or just copy textcolor.xml to the customized folder and modify it with the colors u prefer. For darkness of the chat background just use

/setoption <tab> (look for the correct option - don´t have it in mind yet ´cause I´m at work atm) in the chat

Originally posted by Mirasta

Originally posted by Heartwork

It took a lttle bit to get used the ui feels kinda of clunky and the chat channel. Wish I could adjust the darkness and colors..

 

Ofc you can...there are some nice custom UIs with different chat colors - check aoc.curse.com or just copy textcolor.xml to the customized folder and modify it with the colors u prefer. For darkness of the chat background just use

 

/setoption (look for the correct option - don´t have it in mind yet ´cause I´m at work atm) in the chat

I personally like fire ui for AoC. You should be able to see links for different UIs in the UI section of the forums. 

Originally posted by catlana

Originally posted by Mirasta

Originally posted by Heartwork

It took a lttle bit to get used the ui feels kinda of clunky and the chat channel. Wish I could adjust the darkness and colors..

 

Ofc you can...there are some nice custom UIs with different chat colors - check aoc.curse.com or just copy textcolor.xml to the customized folder and modify it with the colors u prefer. For darkness of the chat background just use

 

/setoption (look for the correct option - don´t have it in mind yet ´cause I´m at work atm) in the chat

I personally like fire ui for AoC. You should be able to see links for different UIs in the UI section of the forums. 

Thank you so much Mirasta for the heads up.. been using the new UI and wow big diff.. Community wise PVE servers have been great the PVP server mostly bragging lol ..