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ok fan speaking....dont mind me if you dont like it :D
Drakenora
Member Posts: 89
So I just coulnt control myself, being a fan of this game and all, and this post might just as well be barried in the masses here 
In short, YES AoC has alot of bugs and shortcommings, and feels a bit too much like a single player game before reaching lvl 40 (join a guild is a must to have fun later on everyone(.
HOWEVER, remember when WoW launched, when Eq2 launched, when SWG launched....and guess what: THY WERE ALL extremely BUGGED FOR SEVERAL MONTHS.
And if you take in account the complexity of the new combat system and graphics with no equal on the mmo market (exept Eq2 maxed out), I say give them a break.
Now as for the missing content...true that pisses me off 
And you know what I did? I became a social person and play with friends and guildmates 
Ok promise this is the last thing on my chest:
for all those comparing the AoC launch to LoTRO, just remember its only because the programmers in LoTRO used old and stable design techniques much simpler and faster to create. And the graphics may seem nice to you, but I had single player RPGs looking as good or better then that years ago.
ATM the only thing that makes LoTRO look a bit better then some free mmorpgs (now not even in all fields) is because of dx10, but even that cant hide the fact that they used way to much shortcuts that looks like good graphics but actually isnt.
(what is the difference: good graphics hold their ground in close-ups and objective criteria, shortcuts dont)
Comments
You are correct about new mmos always having some trouble in the startup. However, I have stayed clear from AoC since I played the gameplanet open beta. It really turned me off. It promised so much but delivered no new experiences. It's true, the graphics are nice. But in the long run, what does that really matter if the actual gameplay isn't fun?
btw, how do you know so much about the development of lotro anyway? Did you use to work for turbine or something?
nah, just opened the gamefiles on my comp (installed and tried LoTO).
For me its easy to see just by looking at the graphics in game though, for me its so ovious they just played safe, which resulted in low-effort quality graphics.
(ok so I am a programmer but not working for turbine no
)
Which Final Fantasy Character Are You?
Final Fantasy 7
lol same, cept for me it was that Fileplanet general beta two weeks before release, unless that is the one that you are talking about lol
I was suffering from so many BSODs and memory leaks it wasnt funny, and seriously, my laptop died not even a day or so after i uninstalled the game, motherboard and everything had to be replaced.
I aint risking my baby playing that game again until its fixxed completely lol
Your point would be valid if the graphics were the most important thing in an MMORPG. They aren't.
Oh yea, WoW at release didn't have even close to the amount of bugs and missing content that AoC has 2+ months after release. Also, while LOTRO might not look as good as AoC, it had an amazing launch. Something that you can't say about AoC.
I can't speak for EQ2 and SWG, as I didn't play them at launch but I don't think that it's valid to excuse Funcom's blunder just because other games did it in the past. Other games have launched in a relatively finished state so it's not out of the realm of possibility. AoC's state at launch can only be compared to AO's horrible launch. The funny thing is that both games were created by Funcom.
Well there is without question new content that will be added, but good graphics determine largely how long a game could survive, as in when will it become completely outdated.
Considering the way conan is programmed, it can be graphicly updated quite easily, even though it wont have to before a few years.
Ok now sorry to mention LoTRO again, but that game in a perfect exemple witch which everything would have to be practicly redone to improve old the graphics, which will be outdated very soon.
Which Final Fantasy Character Are You?
Final Fantasy 7
Ok, I do think they have developed their game engine in house though, which is no small feat. They seem to be using the same engine for both lotro and do. I really don't think you can judge the amount of programming work that has gone into something by just looking at the graphics. And I doubt they have bought ready art content from some 3rd party vendor. It might have been outsourced, but I don't think so either. It is most likely done in house as well. So I don't really see what short cuts your are talking about?
Grad you like the game, enjoy beta testing and paying Failcom to "fix" the game.
For you point that every mmo got a sh** launch, those are so 5+ years ago. EQ2 launch is fine with all the quests and end games, Wow Launch got crash issues because Blizzard dont know how popular the game is and the problem is mostly server issues.
So back to AoC launch, thats 5 years after WoW launch, we cant even compare AoC to WoW.
AoC got no content after lv50 ( come on, if the game makes you level slow like EQ1, they might pull it off. But you can get to lv50 in couple weeks from casual play)
AoC crafting system is a joke and is broken. EQ1 or even WoW crafting is implemented and worked @ launch.
New combat system? It just button smash, I am curious of what level you are now. I got bored of the system after i got the 5 buttons melee smash.
So in conclusion, I think it is a nice game if Failcom didnt screw it up. They pissed off too many people from forum control, patches causeing more bugs, empty promises, they patch minor things first before the game breaking things, ban people for jumping to break aggro (check their forum, now they have things to do / things cannot do rules, come on is an mmo, if you dont want me to jump off the mountain, then dont implement it ).
Those are only some examples, there are much more.
Grad you like the game, enjoy beta testing and paying Failcom to "fix" the game.
For you point that every mmo got a sh** launch, those are so 5+ years ago. EQ2 launch is fine with all the quests and end games, Wow Launch got crash issues because Blizzard dont know how popular the game is and the problem is mostly server issues.
So back to AoC launch, thats 5 years after WoW launch, we cant even compare AoC to WoW.
AoC got no content after lv50 ( come on, if the game makes you level slow like EQ1, they might pull it off. But you can get to lv50 in couple weeks from casual play)
AoC crafting system is a joke and is broken. EQ1 or even WoW crafting is implemented and worked @ launch.
New combat system? It just button smash, I am curious of what level you are now. I got bored of the system after i got the 5 buttons melee smash.
So in conclusion, I think it is a nice game if Failcom didnt screw it up. They pissed off too many people from forum control, patches causeing more bugs, empty promises, they patch minor things first before the game breaking things, ban people for jumping to break aggro (check their forum, now they have things to do / things cannot do rules, come on is an mmo, if you dont want me to jump off the mountain, then dont implement it ).
Those are only some examples, there are much more.
You do realize EQ2 was so bad at launch , SOE basically had to rebuild the game?
For every minute you are angry , you lose 60 seconds of happiness."-Emerson
Dude you're talking as if better graphics dont take effort...
The reason for the bad startup of Conan is because they rammed through to get the graphics right.
The better the graphics, the more complicated the programming is. And since this is the FIRST mmo that launched with this quality of graphics, its not really fair to compare but hey, even I did that
Which Final Fantasy Character Are You?
Final Fantasy 7
sorry maybe I wasnt clear enough.
I wasnt referring to weither or not they made the designs themselves, I'm saying they used cheap tricks that *fools* the eyes and horrible textures.
Which Final Fantasy Character Are You?
Final Fantasy 7
I played EQ2 at start and it wasnt close as bugged as AoC, stop spreading this. The only game I know which was as bugged (even worse) as AoC was VG at launch.
Youre one of the customers Funcom loves to have. Easy to please with some eye candy.A good mmorpg is a packet of a lot of things. Graphics is an important part, but only one of it. You know... This argument I saw at EQ2 launch and at VG launch.
In 1 at max 2 years there is another mmorpg coming out claiming to have better graphics and be the next generation yadayadayada...
Here take a look of another contenter of the "best graphics of a mmorpg"
http://www.starvault.se/now/1280-1024/index.php
If they come out 2009 (I doubt) AoC will look damn old.
And if you read their advertisment "skill matters", doesnt it sound strangely familiar to you?
sorry maybe I wasnt clear enough.
I wasnt referring to weither or not they made the designs themselves, I'm saying they used cheap tricks that *fools* the eyes and horrible textures.
Everyone uses cheap tricks in computer graphics.
If you can cheat and it looks good, go for it is the general rule of thumb. That's what i've learned at least.
But I see what your saying. Can't say i've seen any obvious cheap effects in lotro, but I haven't played it very much either.
well maybe I-m biased because I appreciated the effort the conan team did with the graphics, knowing how hard it is.
(and for the same reason not liking LoTRO(
Which Final Fantasy Character Are You?
Final Fantasy 7
o man your so right... the amazing graphics make up for extreme amount of bugs, the massive lack of content, and the lies funcom used to sell the game.
Yup... graphics make everything right.
Im a Everquest 2 player for years and I really think EQ2 is one of the best MMOs today, but what you said is not true.
Age of Conan is in better shape than Everquest 2 at the release, and I can tell for sure, both games are/were at the same level content wise at the release.
-Initial content- They are/were at the same level.
-Performance- Performance in EQ2 were worse than AoC performance at the release.
Well, and we know, SOE is as bad as Funcom when we talk about support.
It seems you have a personal issue against Funcom, but please, dont delude yourself.
...
You are biased.
After 4 (5?) years of development there should be simply more than some nice graphics. At least thats my opinion.
If you compare AoC initial content with Everquest2, Lineage 2, Vanguard and Lotro initial content you will realise they are all at the same level.
About bugs, some of them had more, some less bugs, but really, I dont think it is fair to point only AoC when we talk about these tipical fresh release issues.
...
Dream on.
Dude you're talking as if better graphics dont take effort...
The reason for the bad startup of Conan is because they rammed through to get the graphics right.
The better the graphics, the more complicated the programming is. And since this is the FIRST mmo that launched with this quality of graphics, its not really fair to compare but hey, even I did that
Usually, on projects of this magnitude, graphic artists have nothing to with item stats, quest lines and PvP levels. Just like a database developer does not design the animation for a sword swing. Basically, what I'm trying to say is that Funcom has different people working on different things. Including software developers who are responsible for implementing graphics and animations in the game.
The reason for AoC's horrible launch is the simple fact that they missed the deadline and instead of postponing the launch, they decided to fix up Tortage and leave every thing else for later.
BTW, the Dreamworld Engine, used to develop AoC has been around since 2000 and was used in development of AO.
Dream on.
If EQ2 was so good at launch why did they have to rebuild the game for it to be seen as even decent ? SO yeah you definitely played a different game.
For every minute you are angry , you lose 60 seconds of happiness."-Emerson
"And the graphics may seem nice to you, but I had single player RPGs looking as good or better then that years ago."
Which games? I love single player RPGs.
That Guild Wars 2 login screen knocked up my wife. Must be the second coming!
dude thats not my point, I personnaly played Eq2 since the start, and I was thrilled at all the promises.
Ok so things didnt turn out that well in the beginning, but I stuck with the game and I dont regret it.
like I said, content will most certainly be added continuously, untill then I find more then enough other stuff to do in the game.
of course, for true hardcore gamers thats a bit harder, but for everyone that doesnt exeed a monthly average of 3 hours a day an easy thing to do and enjoy for at least four or five months.
...of course if you-re the grinding game type, its a bit different.
Which Final Fantasy Character Are You?
Final Fantasy 7
People still play this game?
What is this madness.
Dream on.
Dream on? Ok, lets talk about it rude fellow...
Do you remember memory leaks, shadow issues ( even today this issue is there) and the fact NO ONE was able to play beyond balanced, to tell the truth, even today the game doesnt performe well on High settings?
Do you remember the game ended at Lavastorm?
Do you remember the game was crushed by WoW for many reasons?
Do you remember the pre release videos showing really good looking armors and models and then a MAJOR downgrade at the release?
Do you remember no AAs and no PvP?
... now Everquest 2 is a pretty good game, but at the relase, well, it was at the same level AoC was in the first week
...