Deathwhisper is losing guilds...

Cymdai

First came the announcement that the "Combine" guild is leaving, and I just received word that "Darkhand" is abandoning the game as well.

I think that's a really, really bad sign for Age of Conan. When your hardcore guilds are peacing out, you're losing some of your most loyal clients.

Also, it's not like when a few friends quit the game; when a guild calls it off, you're losing anywhere from 30-100 customers at once.

Has anyone else on the server heard word of any of the other guilds walking away from the game?

Arcken

One of the top guilds on bloodspire are friends of mine from shadowbane, theyre all coming back to shadowbane if that tells you anything.

Cymdai

I personally applaud the notion. Power to the players for sure!

Funcom may not read the forums, or listen to their players, or even assist their customers. What better way to send a message than a mass walk-out/cancellation?

At the same time... I can't help but feel pity for Conan.  I really loved the setting, the lore, and the ideas that went into the game. I just think it's sad that mis-management strikes again, and destroys what could have been a great franchise.

celdridge

I agree with the above poster. More power to the players. Hopefully developers will learn they can not release a crappy product and get away with it.

Kabbax

Well, if their goal was to release and make enough money to finish development for the Xbox, then i think they succeeded.

 

And there will still be a group of PC customers who will continue to pay the monthly fees.

 

Think of some MMO companies like Phillip Morris, They know they are dealing with an addictive substance, and they also know what additives to give the community to ease the money out of their wallets when the game releases.

 

They marketed it very well, and continue to lube up the information enough to keep new addicts coming.

 

An addict will look at all the negative hype and hold off buying it, but with just a little spinning by their PR group with community updates, and paid conan forum staff (does exist), they can get that addict to make the plunge.

 

But they did open the CE buddy keys a week later then they said but they did do it. So we'll see how many people commit after the trial. Or if new floods of forum woes ensue.

celdridge

I know that is what they are banking on, but Auto Assault was hoping for the same thing and they did not survive. My guess is the expansion will not get released and by next Christmas AOC is gone.

At work there are about 10 guys who played it, and they have quit. Not only have they quit but they also discourage people from playing the game when asked about it.

 

I was at Gamestop this weekend and someone was had the game in thier hand and the guy behind me said not to buy the game because it was garbage so the customer put it back on the shelf. Those are the kinds of things that will hurt AOC. I am not saying there are mass instances like this happening in stores. Who knows I saw this happen and it may never happen again anywhere.

I also heard that G4tv did a parody of AOC tonight on X-play. I guess it is re-airing here on the east coast in about 10 minutes. I guess the meat of this post is the game is bad and all the negative publicity is not going to help it.

Arcken

Heck Id do the same thing, saving someone from wasting money on AoC is a good deed, Im pretty sure it would be good for your karma.

celdridge

Originally posted by Arcken


Heck Id do the same thing, saving someone from wasting money on AoC is a good deed, Im pretty sure it would be good for your karma.

 

Well said.

Unfinished

Fee for the 'Open Beta'

Fee for the Early Access

Fee to DL the Client to use a 'Buddy Key'

 

FunCom aren't fools, they are trying to squeeze out every cent they can out of each customer,  they know they won't be getting many long term subscribers.  The only upside could be that Gaute Godager never helms another MMO development.

celdridge

Well they did not completely trash the game. But it was still funny. If I can find a link to it I will post it.

Bigdavo

I'm actually thinking of cancelling my sub atm, but I'm really torn, some parts of the game I absolutely love, yet a lot of it I hate or is missing. It's just such a crying shame, so much potential wasted on poor management and shortsighted investors pushing for release.

celdridge

Here is the site for the guy who did the review for AOC. It does not have the review up yet, but man are these videos hilarious.

 

www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/zero-punctuation

courtsdad

Originally posted by Cymdai


I personally applaud the notion. Power to the players for sure!
Funcom may not read the forums, or listen to their players, or even assist their customers. What better way to send a message than a mass walk-out/cancellation?
At the same time... I can't help but feel pity for Conan.  I really loved the setting, the lore, and the ideas that went into the game. I just think it's sad that mis-management strikes again, and destroys what could have been a great franchise.

 

Couldn't agree more. I want(ed) the game to succeed but now I am content to watch it burn like Rome. My tolerance for mismanagement is very low and  they just keep topping themselves

alakram

So hardcore players/guilds are leaving the game. As of now I dont understand very well why people leave. Well, My max level is a guardian level 28. So Im still in the low level range, the one with polished content. I think Im a casual players becouse I dont have too much time to play. With Age Of Conan Im not rushing because I like the game and I dont like rushing the stuff I like, so Im still not having as much troubles to make me leave the game. Im starting to think, actually hardcore players/guild leave everygame released lately. Maybe the problem is, games are released to cater casual players, with content enought for casual players not for hardcore ones?. Im not trying to flame anyone here. And why to do that?. Because you can rush in 2 or 3 months content you needed 1 year to develop. So, it's imposible to cater the hardcore players anymore. Content need a lot of time to be developed, and little time to be rushed. No, is not hardcore players fault, is just a matter of developing time, vs money spent vs playing time.

Anyway, it's really a pity buying a game wanting to have fun and finding your self quiting after 3 months. Well, or not. You can finish some games in a weekend, Call of duty 4, for example. And is not a bad game isn't it?

alakram

Originally posted by celdridge


Here is the site for the guy who did the review for AOC. It does not have the review up yet, but man are these videos hilarious.
 
www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/zero-punctuation

 

Funny thing, this website is full of Age of Conan Adds right now.

FischerBlack

Originally posted by Unfinished


Fee for the 'Open Beta'
Fee for the Early Access
Fee to DL the Client to use a 'Buddy Key'
 
FunCom aren't fools, they are trying to squeeze out every cent they can out of each customer,  they know they won't be getting many long term subscribers.  The only upside could be that Gaute Godager never helms another MMO development.

 

Agreed. One thing I can give to Brad McQuaid is that in the end he was apologetic for the outcome of VG. Guatte's smugness about his awesome launch and the 700,000 boxes sold, while the player base screams bloody murder on the forums really pisses me off.

RexNebular

Originally posted by FischerBlack

Originally posted by Unfinished


Fee for the 'Open Beta'
Fee for the Early Access
Fee to DL the Client to use a 'Buddy Key'
 
FunCom aren't fools, they are trying to squeeze out every cent they can out of each customer,  they know they won't be getting many long term subscribers.  The only upside could be that Gaute Godager never helms another MMO development.

 

Agreed. One thing I can give to Brad McQuaid is that in the end he was apologetic for the outcome of VG. Guatte's smugness about his awesome launch and the 700,000 boxes sold, while the player base screams bloody murder on the forums really pisses me off.

 

We'll see what he's going to say now.  AOC disappeared from the US top 10 sales:

http://www.shacknews.com/tag.x/NPD

Thillian

Originally posted by FischerBlack

Originally posted by Unfinished


Fee for the 'Open Beta'
Fee for the Early Access
Fee to DL the Client to use a 'Buddy Key'
 
FunCom aren't fools, they are trying to squeeze out every cent they can out of each customer,  they know they won't be getting many long term subscribers.  The only upside could be that Gaute Godager never helms another MMO development.

 

Agreed. One thing I can give to Brad McQuaid is that in the end he was apologetic for the outcome of VG. Guatte's smugness about his awesome launch and the 700,000 boxes sold, while the player base screams bloody murder on the forums really pisses me off.

 

Brad had very low budget for VG in compare to AoC. VG was suddently cut off from money, which is obviously a different reason why it was released early. In addition Funcom pretends everything is fine with AoC.

Sharkypal

Originally posted by Thillian

Originally posted by FischerBlack

Originally posted by Unfinished


Fee for the 'Open Beta'
Fee for the Early Access
Fee to DL the Client to use a 'Buddy Key'
 
FunCom aren't fools, they are trying to squeeze out every cent they can out of each customer,  they know they won't be getting many long term subscribers.  The only upside could be that Gaute Godager never helms another MMO development.

 

Agreed. One thing I can give to Brad McQuaid is that in the end he was apologetic for the outcome of VG. Guatte's smugness about his awesome launch and the 700,000 boxes sold, while the player base screams bloody murder on the forums really pisses me off.

 

Brad had very low budget for VG in compare to AoC. VG was suddently cut off from money, which is obviously a different reason why it was released early. In addition Funcom pretends everything is fine with AoC.

 

If Im not very much mistaken, the VG budget was into 30 milion US, which is anything but low.

S

Hrothmund

I can't help but smile at the players leaving the game now, who so arduously defended their 'love-child' when the game was released instead of heeding the word of beta testers about the quality of the game.

 

Of course the game is losing players, its a bad game!

celdridge

What I do not get though, is this game was in development for something like 4 years and was still released unfinished.

Not to sound like a fan boy, but WOW changed the face of the MMO industry forever. They released a game with a lot of content and took what was already successful with other MMOs and improoved upon them. The main reason you release an MMOO is because you want people to pay a subscription fee and then bags of gold will fall from the sky and you can be weathy beyond your dreams. So why screw something like that up?

I think this is why Warhammer is taking as much time as possible to get things right because they know who they are competing against. You can not release a MMO today without competing against WOW and Mythic is well aware of this. Apparently Funcom was not which only goes to speak of the ideocy of Gaute Godager when he said this in an interview "If you've been to McDonalds for four or five years, and had your burger and your coke, sometimes it's great to just have a great steak and a glass of good wine. I think that's what we're trying to do. It's more expensive, it's not for everyone and perhaps it's not as easily accessible as WOW is. But it could be more meaty. [laughs]"

So AOC is the steak we have been waiting for?

nakuma

AEGIS is packing up shop from AOC and moving back to WOW. we have around 60-70 people all leaving at once or have already left. I myself wont be renewing. my sub cancles on the 27th ive already went back to gorefiend, and even started a horde on magtheridon for shits and giggles to join my guildies.

 

its a shame cause the game in of itself was good, but the fumbling antics of funcom messing up patches, not having features at launch while nerfing the hell out of the wrong classes all spells slow disaster for AOC.

Hrothmund

Originally posted by celdridge


What I do not get though, is this game was in development for something like 4 years and was still released unfinished.
Not to sound like a fan boy, but WOW changed the face of the MMO industry forever. They released a game with a lot of content and took what was already successful with other MMOs and improoved upon them. The main reason you release an MMOO is because you want people to pay a subscription fee and then bags of gold will fall from the sky and you can be weathy beyond your dreams. So why screw something like that up?
I think this is why Warhammer is taking as much time as possible to get things right because they know who they are competing against. You can not release a MMO today without competing against WOW and Mythic is well aware of this. Apparently Funcom was not which only goes to speak of the ideocy of Gaute Godager when he said this in an interview "If you've been to McDonalds for four or five years, and had your burger and your coke, sometimes it's great to just have a great steak and a glass of good wine. I think that's what we're trying to do. It's more expensive, it's not for everyone and perhaps it's not as easily accessible as WOW is. But it could be more meaty. [laughs]"
So AOC is the steak we have been waiting for?

 

WoW was in no way a polished game when it launched. However, it was very playable and enjoyable, unlike AoC.

nakuma

Originally posted by Hrothmund

Originally posted by celdridge


What I do not get though, is this game was in development for something like 4 years and was still released unfinished.
Not to sound like a fan boy, but WOW changed the face of the MMO industry forever. They released a game with a lot of content and took what was already successful with other MMOs and improoved upon them. The main reason you release an MMOO is because you want people to pay a subscription fee and then bags of gold will fall from the sky and you can be weathy beyond your dreams. So why screw something like that up?
I think this is why Warhammer is taking as much time as possible to get things right because they know who they are competing against. You can not release a MMO today without competing against WOW and Mythic is well aware of this. Apparently Funcom was not which only goes to speak of the ideocy of Gaute Godager when he said this in an interview "If you've been to McDonalds for four or five years, and had your burger and your coke, sometimes it's great to just have a great steak and a glass of good wine. I think that's what we're trying to do. It's more expensive, it's not for everyone and perhaps it's not as easily accessible as WOW is. But it could be more meaty. [laughs]"
So AOC is the steak we have been waiting for?

 

WoW was in no way a polished game when it launched. However, it was very playaböe and enjoyable, unlike AoC.

 

was about to say that same thing hroth. good call on bringing that to people's attention.

celdridge

Where did I say it was polished?

sh4dowst4lkr

Originally posted by Unfinished


Fee for the 'Open Beta'
Fee for the Early Access
Fee to DL the Client to use a 'Buddy Key'
 
FunCom aren't fools, they are trying to squeeze out every cent they can out of each customer,  they know they won't be getting many long term subscribers.  The only upside could be that Gaute Godager never helms another MMO development.

 

Yeah agreed, they aren't fools, but they are asses.I still think some vets will stay in hope the game  somehow meets up to its hype.