Thanks for taking the time to type all of that, it was very informative and exactly what I needed to know to make a decision regarding AoC. I typically avoid jumping on a new MMO until the first month or so has passed, there's always that 'open beta' element that expierence has taught me to just let it run its course and then lurk in a forum like this one for a while, I can then find enough info to make a decision. Your post was very comprehensive and touched upon all the areas I was wondering about.
I'm not the type to search for a "e-job", but I have little tolerance for games not being fully functional on what I consider basics (i.e. classes, skills, etc). It looks like AoC will take a year or so to be fully realized, maybe less, which is too bad, I had hoped Funcom would've been more thorough as I was rather looking forward to it. Guess what a friend of mine speculatd about AoC is bearing truth "Any MMO that tries to also be a console MMO is going to be a waste of everyone's time until the Devs have at least a year's worth of live play under their belts to figure out wtf they're doing."
Even peace may be purchased at too high a price, and the only time you are completely safe is when you lie in the grave.
I think all the zones are different and varied, not sure at what your getting there. As for falling down cliffs and the points you brought up about two classes... not game breaking for me. You never said what level you got to? still 26 quest at lvl 54 to do here on one character, never ever ran out of quests.
the world looks very good and the nature is very well done, but the trees and plants, textures and overall zone design is way too similar.
I accept this for a few weeks, but I have seen most of the zones in game, and if I compare that to what other, much cheaper looking games do with their more limited options graphic wise, AoC looks like one giant EQ2 or WoW area.
I see what they could have done, with this engine and what other games do with theirs.
hell, even guild wars look 10 times more diverse.
and if you don'T do quests a lot, you wont run out soon, sure.... basically everyone in my guild over level 55 has never had anything but few grey quests and tons of grind. and they still leveled quickly. but then what?
where to go? what to do? it's all the same.
and I mean, look at your sig. you are a fanboi. what on earth would be gamebreaking for you?
I was serious when I said that some classes have almost all feats broken or designed to have no effect.
attributes like strength and dexterity have no effect. this has been proven without a doubt.
skills like skulking, endurance and one or 2 others have zero effect as well. you sneak as fast with skulking 0 as you do with skulking 300.
this has been proven as well.
nothing would be gamebreaking for you.
LOL someone got ROLLED!
I agree
That was indeed a verbal smack down. Avery knows its true though..........I could have told you a year before the game came out that he would love it and have no problems with it lol.
Edit* I agree almost 100% with the OP, so much potential, yet such a empty game.
he's 100% right about it being a beta game. some people are happy to pay FC for a beta game while they spend the next 6 months fixing it, i'm not.
AmazingAveryAge of Conan AdvocateMemberUncommonPosts: 7,188
No offence I'll put my review in when I've experienced everything not on alot of issues that were with beta and not with the game now, not to mention a review on half a game is not a review. As for size of zones, imo Age of conans biggest are bigger than guild wars biggest by quite a margin. Im sorry but a desert zone to somewhere like conalls valley to wild lands to FOTD are pretty different from each other.
Thanks for taking the time to type all of that, it was very informative and exactly what I needed to know to make a decision regarding AoC. I typically avoid jumping on a new MMO until the first month or so has passed, there's always that 'open beta' element that expierence has taught me to just let it run its course and then lurk in a forum like this one for a while, I can then find enough info to make a decision. Your post was very comprehensive and touched upon all the areas I was wondering about. I'm not the type to search for a "e-job", but I have little tolerance for games not being fully functional on what I consider basics (i.e. classes, skills, etc). It looks like AoC will take a year or so to be fully realized, maybe less, which is too bad, I had hoped Funcom would've been more thorough as I was rather looking forward to it. Guess what a friend of mine speculatd about AoC is bearing truth "Any MMO that tries to also be a console MMO is going to be a waste of everyone's time until the Devs have at least a year's worth of live play under their belts to figure out wtf they're doing."
thanks!
I am always happy if I could help someone.
I also hope that AoC will, at some point be what they promised it to be...
however, they want to release it on consoles as well, and they are famous for button combos and shallow gameplay, so I think it will never be fixed, because it is no mistake it is so dumbed down.
thanks! I am always happy if I could help someone. I also hope that AoC will, at some point be what they promised it to be... however, they want to release it on consoles as well, and they are famous for button combos and shallow gameplay, so I think it will never be fixed, because it is no mistake it is so dumbed down. it is part of the design...
I have to agree with you there, I had managed to overlook that detail until just earlier this week when a friend of mine mentioned it in our IM conversation. Not to disrespect console players in this, but it has been my expierence that when a PC game is designed around the limitations of a console game's controller, the game suffers for it on the PC. I too hope that AoC will mature rapidly to where all the flaws you mentioned are addressed quickly and decisively, but trying to make the game tap the console market as well is going to be a downside for me.
Even peace may be purchased at too high a price, and the only time you are completely safe is when you lie in the grave.
I think all the zones are different and varied, not sure at what your getting there. As for falling down cliffs and the points you brought up about two classes... not game breaking for me. You never said what level you got to? still 26 quest at lvl 54 to do here on one character, never ever ran out of quests.
the world looks very good and the nature is very well done, but the trees and plants, textures and overall zone design is way too similar.
I accept this for a few weeks, but I have seen most of the zones in game, and if I compare that to what other, much cheaper looking games do with their more limited options graphic wise, AoC looks like one giant EQ2 or WoW area.
I see what they could have done, with this engine and what other games do with theirs.
hell, even guild wars look 10 times more diverse.
and if you don'T do quests a lot, you wont run out soon, sure.... basically everyone in my guild over level 55 has never had anything but few grey quests and tons of grind. and they still leveled quickly. but then what?
where to go? what to do? it's all the same.
and I mean, look at your sig. you are a fanboi. what on earth would be gamebreaking for you?
I was serious when I said that some classes have almost all feats broken or designed to have no effect.
attributes like strength and dexterity have no effect. this has been proven without a doubt.
skills like skulking, endurance and one or 2 others have zero effect as well. you sneak as fast with skulking 0 as you do with skulking 300.
this has been proven as well.
nothing would be gamebreaking for you.
Was the chastising response truly necessary to to Avery's 5 line reply? Probably not. Same goes for the response to elf's. He didn't say a single line that contradicted the OP's review but yet you jumped him for stating your was your view of the game? And in the end that is exactly what it is. Your view. If others are enjoying the game and see something different in the game than you then that is their opinion like you have your own. Not everything you state is fact. In example you state skulk and endurance don't work and it has been proven. Two posts linked below show the complete opposite. A player personally tested both abilities. The returns for these skill is small but they do work. Others have tasted such abilities while also grabbing the feat in the rogue tree for added speed in stealth and found they move as quickly as someone out of stealth. So yes...that fact would be incorrect. And comparing a release game to EQ 2 and WoW is a bit of a stretch. They have been out for nearly four years and have received patches and expansions (1 in WoW's case) to update much of the content, armor, etc.
In the end this game does need a lot of work. As i have said in the past after release it's not about what is present in the game as it is what the developer does following the release. The customer service/communication has been horrid by Funcom. I give them credit for patching twice a week and seeming to be focused on improving the game but their communication needs to be improve big time. I can also feel the console part of the game. The combat is fun but obviously will be easy to incoporate into a console controller and I have found a few "invisible walls" in my travels. I am enjoying the game to this point but unfortunately it has yet to give me the taste that I won't be looking at WAR or TCoS upon their release. Funcom has time and seems committed to improving it but we'll see.
In regards to the questing after 50, armor and classes the OP is correct. I don't see how any can deny it as Funcom has stated as much. It is a reason some should probably want for the buddy keys to open up or give it a month or two. Funcom did state this month they will add more content and quests for levels 30+ and of course with every game armor/weapons are added as well with patching. Funcom has also been fixing classes with their patches and did a deep overhaul to Demologist this past Monday and many suspect the Necromancer will be tomorrow or the following Monday. In other words while the classes/feats and balancing need work (a lot) let's not act like Funcom is sitting on their rears and not doing anything in regards to those issues. That is something they can take some credit for.
In conclusion I have to agree it is an incomplete game at this point. I will not judge Funcom on its release because compared to a lot of releases we have dealt with these past years it was still moderately successful and honestly none of us know why they had to release the game because this is still a business at the end of the day and investors won't settle for being in the red for too long. The question just now lies on Funcom to straighten everything out. Give it a month or two and see how it goes from there if you aren't already in the game. If you just need that head start then by all means leap in. I'll still be around myself *smiles*
Was the chastising response truly necessary to to Avery's 5 line reply? Probably not. Same goes for the response to elf's. He didn't say a single line that contradicted the OP's review but yet you jumped him for stating your was your view of the game?
I do not discriminate between bad arguments, I just call them out.
And comparing a release game to EQ 2 and WoW is a bit of a stretch. They have been out for nearly four years and have received patches and expansions (1 in WoW's case) to update much of the content, armor, etc.
In the end this game does need a lot of work. As i have said in the past after release it's not about what is present in the game as it is what the developer does following the release. AO was horrible after launch, but it was not because of design flaws, it was because of the top notch technology. The content was there and the design very very good. EVE was pretty barren after launch, but the world, space was vast and the fundamental skill system worked perfectly, PvP worked and you had something to do for years. EQ2 was "bad" at launch, but there was a pleathora of quests and it was fun to explore the world. AoC has many design flaws that can not be fixed, because they are features. They can not remove the invisible walls, because they do not have a seamless world design, but an EVE like "stargate-system", unfit for a fantasy game. the button combinations are idiotic and only explainable if you remove the keyboard. then it makes sense. voila, you have a console game. and at least 60% of all feats and 80% in some classes are designed to be useless, because their effects in real gameplay are too neglectable. this is design instrinsic. The customer service/communication has been horrid by Funcom. true Funcom has time and seems committed to improving it but we'll see. almost all the issues people are complaining about have been well known often for months before release in beta. and most concerns are in fact game design "features" that can not be fixed In regards to the questing after 50, armor and classes the OP is correct. I don't see how any can deny it as Funcom has stated as much. It is a reason some should probably want for the buddy keys to open up or give it a month or two. Funcom did state this month they will add more content and quests for levels 30+ and of course with every game armor/weapons are added as well with patching. Funcom has also been fixing classes with their patches and did a deep overhaul to Demologist this past Monday and many suspect the Necromancer will be tomorrow or the following Monday. In other words while the classes/feats and balancing need work (a lot) let's not act like Funcom is sitting on their rears and not doing anything in regards to those issues. That is something they can take some credit for. they do not deserve any credit, because these issues have been known for months mostly. The assassin for example is in this stage of complete uselessness since its late introduction into the fold of classes. they had, and I repeat, months to fix this and they repeatedly stated in beta that the class is fine. In conclusion I have to agree it is an incomplete game at this point. I will not judge Funcom on its release because compared to a lot of releases we have dealt with these past years it was still moderately successful in other words, you do not judge them BECAUSE they are making money with their unfinished product. very strange argument. and honestly none of us know why they had to release the game because this is still a business at the end of the day and investors won't settle for being in the red for too long. I know and most people in my guild know. Because it sucks. And because all AoC has going for it is graphics. If they would wait longer, other games might look just as great and then everyone would see the glaring flaws in their design catastrophe. They had to release now, BECAUSE AoC can not be fixed for PC gamers and is aimed at console players and this is a giant beta test for their console launch and we are paying for it. The question just now lies on Funcom to straighten everything out. Give it a month or two and see how it goes from there if you aren't already in the game. If you just need that head start then by all means leap in. I'll still be around myself *smiles* http://forums.ageofconan.com/showthread.php?t=75655 http://forums.ageofconan.com/showthread.php?t=52121 these threads are weird. firstly, because I have tested them both and so have many others. 1% gain is, in my humble opinion untestable, irrelevant and impossible to profit from, because the measurement error margin is higher than 1%. That skulking post is from yesterday. maybe they've patched it. but I know from my own experience that it did not work before. and both are from the same guy. So maybe someone there really loves Funcom.... the fact remains, that even the cheapest level 10 gear can give you 5% out of combat movement speed. That is more than you get for putting 250(!!) points in skulking. and more than 500(!!) points in the running speed thingy. the return is so small, that it has no effect. so it does only "work", if you think like a fanboi. in other words, it is designed to have zero effect in real (game) life. simply because no one puts all their points in these skills as you have to keep hiding and perception max, plus bandaging for health and the other one for stamina. and do not mix one of the few working feats here with skills, like this guy in this thread did. that is dishonest. feats are feats, not skills.
Beta and release player also. Agree 100% with the op. Great job on your post.
I got to the point about a week ago where I just could not log in. No reason too. Nothing to motivate me to want to play. Tired of grinding. Tired of crappy worthless loot. Tired of bugs. Tired of having to cross 5-6 zones to get to a leveling area. Tired of 12 year old hop & gank pvp.
Thats my biggest complaint... I got bored really fast with AOC. Most other mmorpgs at least gave me a reason to play beyond character leveling. Loved pet collecting in early swg and wow rare pet hunting. Loved farming and hard solo stuff in my old eq necro. Liked the crafting in lotro. liked the char diversity in vanguard and it was fun playing around with diff classes. Eve had great politics and pvp.
With aoc all the melee classes feel the same with the combo system. Casters are weak. There does not seem to be distinct enough differences between the classes and play styles. It just gets plain boring really fast.
I really think at this point the game is intended for the 12-16 crowd. Boobs and gore seeming to be the main attaction here. I see all the fanboi's in here defending the game and its kind of like a 6 year old defending barney. But you know if I was that young and got to play an adult game with boobs and gore I would think it was pretty good too.
So let me get this right ... you don't want your buddy passes?
Honestly, I can't remember a flawless MMORPG launch. Bugs are bugs, get that, as long as you can log in and play it's just part of the experience. Personally I have taken to just waiting 3 months until after launch then considering buying - by then a game's either clearly doomed, or taking off with the most annoying bugs all carefully polished out of the game.
For AoC I ahve adopted the simplest strategy - my friend bought it, I'll wait a bit then get a first hand review from someone I know and trust. Or I'll just wait for him to rave about it - I'm sure he will, one way or the other
So let me get this right ... you don't want your buddy passes? Honestly, I can't remember a flawless MMORPG launch. Bugs are bugs, get that, as long as you can log in and play it's just part of the experience. Personally I have taken to just waiting 3 months until after launch then considering buying - by then a game's either clearly doomed, or taking off with the most annoying bugs all carefully polished out of the game. For AoC I ahve adopted the simplest strategy - my friend bought it, I'll wait a bit then get a first hand review from someone I know and trust. Or I'll just wait for him to rave about it - I'm sure he will, one way or the other
The thing with AoC is, bugs aren't the issue. People understand the bugs. The problem with AoC is the content as the OP points out several times.
If it were just bugs we wouldn't be seeing such an uproar from the community that has played past level 20. It's the fact that content is missing that was promised and the features get old after a short time.
--------------------------------------------- I live to fight, and fight to live.
Is *anyone* really that surprised that the game hasn't come up to the promises made? That has been a bit of an ongoing theme for the last couple of years ... just think Vanguard et al, or for a really good 'not what they promised' remember the last expansion for SW:G with the toys for tamers, right before they removed the tamer class entirely with the NGE?
Seriously, the days of believing the promises are long dead. It's just optomism that makes us believe they might some day come true... I wish they would.
Is *anyone* really that surprised that the game hasn't come up to the promises made? That has been a bit of an ongoing theme for the last couple of years ... just think Vanguard et al, or for a really good 'not what they promised' remember the last expansion for SW:G with the toys for tamers, right before they removed the tamer class entirely with the NGE? Seriously, the days of believing the promises are long dead. It's just optomism that makes us believe they might some day come true... I wish they would.
I think Vanguard tries to do too much and that's why it failed at start. that's why it was not ready for release, because it was too bold an approach.
same with the old anarchy online and even EVE suffered from that some time after launch.
but AoC suffers from complaints because people see, that they did NOT try to do too much, they tried to do little beyond eye candy and the PvE noob island Tortage. they knew very well they could sell enough copies with just that.
Simply put I disagree with about 90% of the OP. In fact there are numerous mistatements of facts in the post. Just because a post is long does not mean it is correct. Since I do not have a lot of time this morning I will not point out the numerouse mistatements believe me there are many by the OP. I have gotten 2 characters past 50 and the game is way better after the starting area. The game is also not small. It may feel small due to zoning in and out but the many zones are very large. The OP is another person who did not like AoC because it was not what they wanted. Some are looking for that magic mmo that suits all their desires and if a game does not it is crap. So many do not even comment on the game for what it is but what they want. The original post is not a review it is a bias misleading collection of poor opinion presented as fact. Because someone was in beta and now plays live does not give them anymore credibility. I was in beta and am a release player and AoC is a great game. Do not take the opinion from power levelers. If someone has gotten to 70 or 80 already, they missed out on so much of what the game has to offer. They are not reading the quests and following the storyline. They are not engaging in pvp guild battles. They are not crafting and gathering. They are not being part of the community. They are simply grinding to high levels. They miss the whole point of playing mmos. It is funny the people who dislike AoC all seem to be at max or close to max level. They have not played AoC they simply power leveled. The game has only been out 2 weeks. Power levelers are the worst players to take game advice from. They play the game like a single player console game so of course they know nothing about the real fun in the game. AoC has lots of real fun.
I am in absolute total agreement with you on this, what baffles me is the title of the thread is "game review by beta and release player" if he played the beta and it had all these issues likes and dislikes then why did he buy the game, thats where im confused at. Something just doesn't add up, not saying he isnt entitled to his opinion, thats fine I respect that, just seen enough of these posts to see right through all the negative smoke.
No offence I'll put my review in when I've experienced everything not on alot of issues that were with beta and not with the game now, not to mention a review on half a game is not a review. As for size of zones, imo Age of conans biggest are bigger than guild wars biggest by quite a margin. Im sorry but a desert zone to somewhere like conalls valley to wild lands to FOTD are pretty different from each other.
I agree Avery, good point., I have a question, you prob have an answer. How come game reviews aren't done on a site where the game is being sold? you know that section where it says customer reviews. how come it is done in the forums? Im even more confused when I see posts that people don't like the game and they said they cancelled their accounts, but 3 weeks later you find them posting in another thread the same exact comments, I would think people would say their peace, people respect their opinions and everyone moves on, but it just seems like there are hundreds of negative posts under hundreds of different names, saying the same thing.
Anyways ive read most of your posts thanx for all the info it is greatly appreciated.
No offence I'll put my review in when I've experienced everything not on alot of issues that were with beta and not with the game now, not to mention a review on half a game is not a review. As for size of zones, imo Age of conans biggest are bigger than guild wars biggest by quite a margin. Im sorry but a desert zone to somewhere like conalls valley to wild lands to FOTD are pretty different from each other.
I agree Avery, good point., I have a question, you prob have an answer. How come game reviews aren't done on a site where the game is being sold? you know that section where it says customer reviews. how come it is done in the forums? Im even more confused when I see posts that people don't like the game and they said they cancelled their accounts, but 3 weeks later you find them posting in another thread the same exact comments, I would think people would say their peace, people respect their opinions and everyone moves on, but it just seems like there are hundreds of negative posts under hundreds of different names, saying the same thing.
Anyways ive read most of your posts thanx for all the info it is greatly appreciated.
just in case you are not a sock puppet, which is, unfortunately very likely....
BECAUSE THEY GET DELETED
the more negative the review, the higher the chance, funcom will delete it, you clown.
and I know, all you relativists out there do not get this and will never get it, but opinion and fact are 2 different things.
what I told you here is not: "I believe the world is small and AoC has invisible walls everywhere and quests after 50 are basically not existant"
no, I told it like a fact, because it is a fact.
that I am very disappointed is also a fact.
I did not say: "this is my review: this game sucks!" <------- that would be opinion
get it into your heads
Avery is pure opinion. he has been pushing this game for almost a year without ever telling anyone the true extent of the divergence between funcom's promises and the reality of AoC.
I am in absolute total agreement with you on this, what baffles me is the title of the thread is "game review by beta and release player" if he played the beta and it had all these issues likes and dislikes then why did he buy the game, thats where im confused at. Something just doesn't add up, not saying he isnt entitled to his opinion, thats fine I respect that, just seen enough of these posts to see right through all the negative smoke.
because they told us, they would fix a lot of things for release and that we had only a limited version of the game to test.
and I am so many others were stupid enough to believe this lie
they only seems to be ... : you won't need a horse in this game.
Khemi ? invisible walls everywhere, same for OT, 1/2/3 streets, nothing to discover. Don't even think about Connall's Valley
Tortage is one of the best places of the game.
------------------
The thing with AoC is, bugs aren't the issue. People understand the bugs. The problem with AoC is the content as the OP points out several times.
/Agree. FC can fix all the bugs, but can't change the game.
Now i m sure the fanboys are going to bash the OP but who cares ? People can buy the game and discover.. the truth = OP's review.
OP = facts
fanboys = opinion.
----------------------
Imo AOC = the opposite of Anarchy Online.
AO is a great game with old design but great and huge world, something interesting in this game. (I mean mature content = politics etc - think about Omni tek-, a real RPG.
Cities etc. Really interesting: a GREAT GAME.
AOC ? Is the opposite of AO: 100% graphics, no more no less + sex + gore + action (XBOX) = attractive for young players. 18+ means nothing.
If you 're looking for a pure and great MMORPG, try AO not AOC, or wait for rewamp of AO. Gonna be GREAT for sure.
I agree with the OP....I brough Mass Effect at the same time as AOC, and yesterday I played that instead of even bothering to log on AOC.... Nothing grabs me...Nothing says....'This is why you need to keep playing!!!' At all....
did they change the game for the PC version? or is it a 100% identical?
after playing Oblivion for a very long time, I am looking for a new solo game....
I agree with the OP....I brough Mass Effect at the same time as AOC, and yesterday I played that instead of even bothering to log on AOC.... Nothing grabs me...Nothing says....'This is why you need to keep playing!!!' At all....
did they change the game for the PC version? or is it a 100% identical?
after playing Oblivion for a very long time, I am looking for a new solo game....
and how is mass effect anyway ?
I think Mass Effect is freakin awesome. Funny though, I find myself playing Mass Effect instead of AoC as well.
Ok while it is possible that sooo many people have the wrong idea about the game (eh hmmm mass suicides anyone?!). I myself (did play the game btw and yes more than a handful of days i even uninstalled and put back on to make myself try it further) found that they are exactly right. This game to be honest would have been better served if they had stuck tot he Tortage night formula and release a single player RPG with like a multiplayer co-op thing if they really wanted that in there. Its bitterly clear (which i enjoyed the 1-20 leveling) that the game after 20 is only partly completed. Its not even opinion its fact. The voiceovers disapear, the number of quality quests disapear, enviornements are buggy buggy buggy (which i forgive because you cant know everyting until thousands of peopel are trudging along in it and they are fixing the bugs at a good rate. And another thing 3 days to get a ticket answered!! THREE. Then the sticky bit about classes needing alot of work and the combo system being just plain annoying.
Comments
Askatan-
Thanks for taking the time to type all of that, it was very informative and exactly what I needed to know to make a decision regarding AoC. I typically avoid jumping on a new MMO until the first month or so has passed, there's always that 'open beta' element that expierence has taught me to just let it run its course and then lurk in a forum like this one for a while, I can then find enough info to make a decision. Your post was very comprehensive and touched upon all the areas I was wondering about.
I'm not the type to search for a "e-job", but I have little tolerance for games not being fully functional on what I consider basics (i.e. classes, skills, etc). It looks like AoC will take a year or so to be fully realized, maybe less, which is too bad, I had hoped Funcom would've been more thorough as I was rather looking forward to it. Guess what a friend of mine speculatd about AoC is bearing truth "Any MMO that tries to also be a console MMO is going to be a waste of everyone's time until the Devs have at least a year's worth of live play under their belts to figure out wtf they're doing."
Even peace may be purchased at too high a price, and the only time you are completely safe is when you lie in the grave.
I accept this for a few weeks, but I have seen most of the zones in game, and if I compare that to what other, much cheaper looking games do with their more limited options graphic wise, AoC looks like one giant EQ2 or WoW area.
I see what they could have done, with this engine and what other games do with theirs.
hell, even guild wars look 10 times more diverse.
and if you don'T do quests a lot, you wont run out soon, sure.... basically everyone in my guild over level 55 has never had anything but few grey quests and tons of grind. and they still leveled quickly. but then what?
where to go? what to do? it's all the same.
and I mean, look at your sig. you are a fanboi. what on earth would be gamebreaking for you?
I was serious when I said that some classes have almost all feats broken or designed to have no effect.
attributes like strength and dexterity have no effect. this has been proven without a doubt.
skills like skulking, endurance and one or 2 others have zero effect as well. you sneak as fast with skulking 0 as you do with skulking 300.
this has been proven as well.
nothing would be gamebreaking for you.
LOL someone got ROLLED!
I agree
That was indeed a verbal smack down. Avery knows its true though..........I could have told you a year before the game came out that he would love it and have no problems with it lol.
Edit* I agree almost 100% with the OP, so much potential, yet such a empty game.
AoC = Antithesis of Content
he's 100% right about it being a beta game. some people are happy to pay FC for a beta game while they spend the next 6 months fixing it, i'm not.
No offence I'll put my review in when I've experienced everything not on alot of issues that were with beta and not with the game now, not to mention a review on half a game is not a review. As for size of zones, imo Age of conans biggest are bigger than guild wars biggest by quite a margin. Im sorry but a desert zone to somewhere like conalls valley to wild lands to FOTD are pretty different from each other.
thanks!
I am always happy if I could help someone.
I also hope that AoC will, at some point be what they promised it to be...
however, they want to release it on consoles as well, and they are famous for button combos and shallow gameplay, so I think it will never be fixed, because it is no mistake it is so dumbed down.
it is part of the design...
lol nice one
I have to agree with you there, I had managed to overlook that detail until just earlier this week when a friend of mine mentioned it in our IM conversation. Not to disrespect console players in this, but it has been my expierence that when a PC game is designed around the limitations of a console game's controller, the game suffers for it on the PC. I too hope that AoC will mature rapidly to where all the flaws you mentioned are addressed quickly and decisively, but trying to make the game tap the console market as well is going to be a downside for me.
Even peace may be purchased at too high a price, and the only time you are completely safe is when you lie in the grave.
I accept this for a few weeks, but I have seen most of the zones in game, and if I compare that to what other, much cheaper looking games do with their more limited options graphic wise, AoC looks like one giant EQ2 or WoW area.
I see what they could have done, with this engine and what other games do with theirs.
hell, even guild wars look 10 times more diverse.
and if you don'T do quests a lot, you wont run out soon, sure.... basically everyone in my guild over level 55 has never had anything but few grey quests and tons of grind. and they still leveled quickly. but then what?
where to go? what to do? it's all the same.
and I mean, look at your sig. you are a fanboi. what on earth would be gamebreaking for you?
I was serious when I said that some classes have almost all feats broken or designed to have no effect.
attributes like strength and dexterity have no effect. this has been proven without a doubt.
skills like skulking, endurance and one or 2 others have zero effect as well. you sneak as fast with skulking 0 as you do with skulking 300.
this has been proven as well.
nothing would be gamebreaking for you.
Was the chastising response truly necessary to to Avery's 5 line reply? Probably not. Same goes for the response to elf's. He didn't say a single line that contradicted the OP's review but yet you jumped him for stating your was your view of the game? And in the end that is exactly what it is. Your view. If others are enjoying the game and see something different in the game than you then that is their opinion like you have your own. Not everything you state is fact. In example you state skulk and endurance don't work and it has been proven. Two posts linked below show the complete opposite. A player personally tested both abilities. The returns for these skill is small but they do work. Others have tasted such abilities while also grabbing the feat in the rogue tree for added speed in stealth and found they move as quickly as someone out of stealth. So yes...that fact would be incorrect. And comparing a release game to EQ 2 and WoW is a bit of a stretch. They have been out for nearly four years and have received patches and expansions (1 in WoW's case) to update much of the content, armor, etc.In the end this game does need a lot of work. As i have said in the past after release it's not about what is present in the game as it is what the developer does following the release. The customer service/communication has been horrid by Funcom. I give them credit for patching twice a week and seeming to be focused on improving the game but their communication needs to be improve big time. I can also feel the console part of the game. The combat is fun but obviously will be easy to incoporate into a console controller and I have found a few "invisible walls" in my travels. I am enjoying the game to this point but unfortunately it has yet to give me the taste that I won't be looking at WAR or TCoS upon their release. Funcom has time and seems committed to improving it but we'll see.
In regards to the questing after 50, armor and classes the OP is correct. I don't see how any can deny it as Funcom has stated as much. It is a reason some should probably want for the buddy keys to open up or give it a month or two. Funcom did state this month they will add more content and quests for levels 30+ and of course with every game armor/weapons are added as well with patching. Funcom has also been fixing classes with their patches and did a deep overhaul to Demologist this past Monday and many suspect the Necromancer will be tomorrow or the following Monday. In other words while the classes/feats and balancing need work (a lot) let's not act like Funcom is sitting on their rears and not doing anything in regards to those issues. That is something they can take some credit for.
In conclusion I have to agree it is an incomplete game at this point. I will not judge Funcom on its release because compared to a lot of releases we have dealt with these past years it was still moderately successful and honestly none of us know why they had to release the game because this is still a business at the end of the day and investors won't settle for being in the red for too long. The question just now lies on Funcom to straighten everything out. Give it a month or two and see how it goes from there if you aren't already in the game. If you just need that head start then by all means leap in. I'll still be around myself *smiles*
http://forums.ageofconan.com/showthread.php?t=75655
http://forums.ageofconan.com/showthread.php?t=52121
Beta and release player also. Agree 100% with the op. Great job on your post.
I got to the point about a week ago where I just could not log in. No reason too. Nothing to motivate me to want to play. Tired of grinding. Tired of crappy worthless loot. Tired of bugs. Tired of having to cross 5-6 zones to get to a leveling area. Tired of 12 year old hop & gank pvp.
Thats my biggest complaint... I got bored really fast with AOC. Most other mmorpgs at least gave me a reason to play beyond character leveling. Loved pet collecting in early swg and wow rare pet hunting. Loved farming and hard solo stuff in my old eq necro. Liked the crafting in lotro. liked the char diversity in vanguard and it was fun playing around with diff classes. Eve had great politics and pvp.
With aoc all the melee classes feel the same with the combo system. Casters are weak. There does not seem to be distinct enough differences between the classes and play styles. It just gets plain boring really fast.
I really think at this point the game is intended for the 12-16 crowd. Boobs and gore seeming to be the main attaction here. I see all the fanboi's in here defending the game and its kind of like a 6 year old defending barney. But you know if I was that young and got to play an adult game with boobs and gore I would think it was pretty good too.
reanim
So let me get this right ... you don't want your buddy passes?
Honestly, I can't remember a flawless MMORPG launch. Bugs are bugs, get that, as long as you can log in and play it's just part of the experience. Personally I have taken to just waiting 3 months until after launch then considering buying - by then a game's either clearly doomed, or taking off with the most annoying bugs all carefully polished out of the game.
For AoC I ahve adopted the simplest strategy - my friend bought it, I'll wait a bit then get a first hand review from someone I know and trust. Or I'll just wait for him to rave about it - I'm sure he will, one way or the other
If it were just bugs we wouldn't be seeing such an uproar from the community that has played past level 20. It's the fact that content is missing that was promised and the features get old after a short time.
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I live to fight, and fight to live.
Is *anyone* really that surprised that the game hasn't come up to the promises made? That has been a bit of an ongoing theme for the last couple of years ... just think Vanguard et al, or for a really good 'not what they promised' remember the last expansion for SW:G with the toys for tamers, right before they removed the tamer class entirely with the NGE?
Seriously, the days of believing the promises are long dead. It's just optomism that makes us believe they might some day come true... I wish they would.
I think Vanguard tries to do too much and that's why it failed at start. that's why it was not ready for release, because it was too bold an approach.
same with the old anarchy online and even EVE suffered from that some time after launch.
but AoC suffers from complaints because people see, that they did NOT try to do too much, they tried to do little beyond eye candy and the PvE noob island Tortage. they knew very well they could sell enough copies with just that.
now people feel cheated. and rightly so
I agree with the OP....I brough Mass Effect at the same time as AOC, and yesterday I played that instead of even bothering to log on AOC....
Nothing grabs me...Nothing says....'This is why you need to keep playing!!!' At all....
I am in absolute total agreement with you on this, what baffles me is the title of the thread is "game review by beta and release player" if he played the beta and it had all these issues likes and dislikes then why did he buy the game, thats where im confused at. Something just doesn't add up, not saying he isnt entitled to his opinion, thats fine I respect that, just seen enough of these posts to see right through all the negative smoke.
I agree Avery, good point., I have a question, you prob have an answer. How come game reviews aren't done on a site where the game is being sold? you know that section where it says customer reviews. how come it is done in the forums? Im even more confused when I see posts that people don't like the game and they said they cancelled their accounts, but 3 weeks later you find them posting in another thread the same exact comments, I would think people would say their peace, people respect their opinions and everyone moves on, but it just seems like there are hundreds of negative posts under hundreds of different names, saying the same thing.
Anyways ive read most of your posts thanx for all the info it is greatly appreciated.
I agree Avery, good point., I have a question, you prob have an answer. How come game reviews aren't done on a site where the game is being sold? you know that section where it says customer reviews. how come it is done in the forums? Im even more confused when I see posts that people don't like the game and they said they cancelled their accounts, but 3 weeks later you find them posting in another thread the same exact comments, I would think people would say their peace, people respect their opinions and everyone moves on, but it just seems like there are hundreds of negative posts under hundreds of different names, saying the same thing.
Anyways ive read most of your posts thanx for all the info it is greatly appreciated.
just in case you are not a sock puppet, which is, unfortunately very likely....
BECAUSE THEY GET DELETED
the more negative the review, the higher the chance, funcom will delete it, you clown.
and I know, all you relativists out there do not get this and will never get it, but opinion and fact are 2 different things.
what I told you here is not: "I believe the world is small and AoC has invisible walls everywhere and quests after 50 are basically not existant"
no, I told it like a fact, because it is a fact.
that I am very disappointed is also a fact.
I did not say: "this is my review: this game sucks!" <------- that would be opinion
get it into your heads
Avery is pure opinion. he has been pushing this game for almost a year without ever telling anyone the true extent of the divergence between funcom's promises and the reality of AoC.
because they told us, they would fix a lot of things for release and that we had only a limited version of the game to test.
and I am so many others were stupid enough to believe this lie
Agree with the op
Perfect review. People should read this review and mark his words ... before buying this game.
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"But Warhammer sounds nice
They all sound nice pre release.. dont they?"
Yeah take care !
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For ex;Wild Lands aren't huge
they only seems to be ... : you won't need a horse in this game.
Khemi ? invisible walls everywhere, same for OT, 1/2/3 streets, nothing to discover. Don't even think about Connall's Valley
Tortage is one of the best places of the game.
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The thing with AoC is, bugs aren't the issue. People understand the bugs. The problem with AoC is the content as the OP points out several times.
/Agree. FC can fix all the bugs, but can't change the game.
Now i m sure the fanboys are going to bash the OP but who cares ? People can buy the game and discover.. the truth = OP's review.
OP = facts
fanboys = opinion.
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Imo AOC = the opposite of Anarchy Online.
AO is a great game with old design but great and huge world, something interesting in this game. (I mean mature content = politics etc - think about Omni tek-, a real RPG.
Cities etc. Really interesting: a GREAT GAME.
AOC ? Is the opposite of AO: 100% graphics, no more no less + sex + gore + action (XBOX) = attractive for young players. 18+ means nothing.
If you 're looking for a pure and great MMORPG, try AO not AOC, or wait for rewamp of AO. Gonna be GREAT for sure.
indeed!! AO2 with same concept would be so great!!! if they added a touch of sandbox to it, I would buy 10 copies, just for the heck of it
did they change the game for the PC version? or is it a 100% identical?
after playing Oblivion for a very long time, I am looking for a new solo game....
and how is mass effect anyway
?
did they change the game for the PC version? or is it a 100% identical?
after playing Oblivion for a very long time, I am looking for a new solo game....
and how is mass effect anyway
?
I think Mass Effect is freakin awesome. Funny though, I find myself playing Mass Effect instead of AoC as well.
Anyway, go get it!
Ok while it is possible that sooo many people have the wrong idea about the game (eh hmmm mass suicides anyone?!). I myself (did play the game btw and yes more than a handful of days i even uninstalled and put back on to make myself try it further) found that they are exactly right. This game to be honest would have been better served if they had stuck tot he Tortage night formula and release a single player RPG with like a multiplayer co-op thing if they really wanted that in there. Its bitterly clear (which i enjoyed the 1-20 leveling) that the game after 20 is only partly completed. Its not even opinion its fact. The voiceovers disapear, the number of quality quests disapear, enviornements are buggy buggy buggy (which i forgive because you cant know everyting until thousands of peopel are trudging along in it and they are fixing the bugs at a good rate. And another thing 3 days to get a ticket answered!! THREE. Then the sticky bit about classes needing alot of work and the combo system being just plain annoying.