Just started playing AoC again... and I love it!

Aryas

I love it so much, I rush home from work early just to play it for hours like a pixel-addicted freak.

First of all, I make no reservations about the fact that I'm posting this comment to attract new/old players to the game. I'm doing this simply because all MMOs rely heavily on a decent player-base and because I'm enjoying AoC immensely, I want it to succeed. Not only that, but I genuinely believe many people would really enjoy the game if they gave it a chance.

Secondly, there are far too many people on these forums who are massively hung-up on the fact that the game was not as good as promised at release. These people typically seem to be either very immature or overly vindictive. Such people relish taking things extremely personally when they do not get what they want. I assume many of them belong to the 'Entitlement Generation' of sub-25 year olds. Eitherway, I don't recall being obliged to play a game at any point. And surely only a fool would reject a fantastic opportunity simply because of past performance. The phrase "cutting your nose off to spite your face" springs to mind.

Thirdly, regardless of what anyone - myself included - may say, it's not difficult to get hold of a buddy key to try AoC for yourself. And yes, you may want to try a few classes and definitely get past the Tortage level 20 zone before you form an opinion. But I do recommend taking the time to give it a go.

So finally, after that huge disclaimer, here in bullet points is what I like about Age of Conan and why I'm enjoying it so much:

- Visually it's quite simply beautiful and never becomes tiring to look at (even my wife likes watching me play, occassionally!). This makes the game very immersive. I know other people may feel differently, but I can't get engrossed in any game that looks like an episode of Tom & Jerry (yes, I'm referring to WOW).

- The combat system is different, involving and works well. It is also slightly different from class to class, which adds to the variety. It can take a while to get to grips with but at least your braincells are doing more than simply repeating 'press button X' over and over again.

- The classes are different to the usual fare and there is a wide range to suit all play types. Sure class balance isn't perfect but that something that is extremely difficult to achieve in a game allowing complex builds. All-in-all, the variety is excellent not like the cloned classes I found in WAR.

- The whole game has a mature feel in every way, from the music and sounds effects to the storyline and racial options. This could put off very young players but really sold it to me. And the music... wow! This game has on of the best scores I've heard, ever, to anything. It fits incredibly well with the game but stands alone equally well.

- The game feels huge, the areas are varied and very well designed and you don't feel like you are 'running-on-rails'. I played WAR after I first left AoC and by comparison it felt so restrictive in terms of the map and the terrain. AoC has zoning, but I fail to understand how anyone can be critical of this when most of the zones are pretty huge.

- I haven't reached end-game yet but there appear to be a mass of dungeons available at level 80, as well as throughout the game.

- It's very subjective to say this, but all the players I have grouped with and are in my guild are very nice people. I'm sure there is a collection of ripe old a-holes out there somewhere but Crom [EU] is a nice place to be.

- I suffer from no performance issues whatsoever, with the exception of occassional/temporary freezes in cities. I have everything on max, but my PC is quite new and handles it well.

- Finally, one of the best things about the game is that Funcom seem to be genuinely trying to make AoC a great experience for the players. Sure, they initially released a turkey and got a lot of people to part with a life-threatening 60 bucks/30 quid (I pay more than this for a haircut, so how this can aggravate some people so much, I don't know). But it's almost certainly on the mend. It's still far from perfect but it's getting there and dumps from a significant height on a lot of the other 'WOW-killers' out there. In hindsight, they should've released the game a year later, not lied, not tried to turn a profit, saved the rainforest, declared world peace, etc, etc but everything looks better in retrospect. I'm not going to dwell on a bad past so heavily that I sacrifice a good future. It's a game, not a marriage. The game was crap, it's now good - move on and enjoy it!

VultureSkull

Originally posted by Aryas


Secondly, there are far too many people on these forums who are massively hung-up on the fact that the game was not as good as promised at release. These people typically seem to be either very immature or overly vindictive. Such people relish taking things extremely personally when they do not get what they want. I assume many of them belong to the 'Entitlement Generation' of sub-25 year olds. Eitherway, I don't recall being obliged to play a game at any point. And surely only a fool would reject a fantastic opportunity simply because of past performance. The phrase "cutting your nose off to spite your face" springs to mind.freezes in cities. I have everything on max, but my PC is quite new and handles it well.

 

That would be the "have it now and have it all" generation, in another thread there was someone still angry at funcom 6 months on!

Well with the current down turn, which is the first in the last 20 years or so, their attitude may well change, as most of these kids have not experienced a time of not-so-plenty.

Good to hear that you are enjoying the game!

Senan

Originally posted by Aryas


I love it so much, I rush home from work early just to play it for hours like a pixel-addicted freak.
First of all, I make no reservations about the fact that I'm posting this comment to attract new/old players to the game. I'm doing this simply because all MMOs rely heavily on a decent player-base and because I'm enjoying AoC immensely, I want it to succeed. Not only that, but I genuinely believe many people would really enjoy the game if they gave it a chance.
Secondly, there are far too many people on these forums who are massively hung-up on the fact that the game was not as good as promised at release. These people typically seem to be either very immature or overly vindictive. Such people relish taking things extremely personally when they do not get what they want. I assume many of them belong to the 'Entitlement Generation' of sub-25 year olds. Eitherway, I don't recall being obliged to play a game at any point. And surely only a fool would reject a fantastic opportunity simply because of past performance. The phrase "cutting your nose off to spite your face" springs to mind.
Thirdly, regardless of what anyone - myself included - may say, it's not difficult to get hold of a buddy key to try AoC for yourself. And yes, you may want to try a few classes and definitely get past the Tortage level 20 zone before you form an opinion. But I do recommend taking the time to give it a go.
So finally, after that huge disclaimer, here in bullet points is what I like about Age of Conan and why I'm enjoying it so much:
- Visually it's quite simply beautiful and never becomes tiring to look at (even my wife likes watching me play, occassionally!). This makes the game very immersive. I know other people may feel differently, but I can't get engrossed in any game that looks like an episode of Tom & Jerry (yes, I'm referring to WOW).
- The combat system is different, involving and works well. It is also slightly different from class to class, which adds to the variety. It can take a while to get to grips with but at least your braincells are doing more than simply repeating 'press button X' over and over again.
- The classes are different to the usual fare and there is a wide range to suit all play types. Sure class balance isn't perfect but that something that is extremely difficult to achieve in a game allowing complex builds. All-in-all, the variety is excellent not like the cloned classes I found in WAR.
- The whole game has a mature feel in every way, from the music and sounds effects to the storyline and racial options. This could put off very young players but really sold it to me. And the music... wow! This game has on of the best scores I've heard, ever, to anything. It fits incredibly well with the game but stands alone equally well.
- The game feels huge, the areas are varied and very well designed and you don't feel like you are 'running-on-rails'. I played WAR after I first left AoC and by comparison it felt so restrictive in terms of the map and the terrain. AoC has zoning, but I fail to understand how anyone can be critical of this when most of the zones are pretty huge.
- I haven't reached end-game yet but there appear to be a mass of dungeons available at level 80, as well as throughout the game.
- It's very subjective to say this, but all the players I have grouped with and are in my guild are very nice people. I'm sure there is a collection of ripe old a-holes out there somewhere but Crom [EU] is a nice place to be.
- I suffer from no performance issues whatsoever, with the exception of occassional/temporary freezes in cities. I have everything on max, but my PC is quite new and handles it well.
- Finally, one of the best things about the game is that Funcom seem to be genuinely trying to make AoC a great experience for the players. Sure, they initially released a turkey and got a lot of people to part with a life-threatening 60 bucks/30 quid (I pay more than this for a haircut, so how this can aggravate some people so much, I don't know). But it's almost certainly on the mend. It's still far from perfect but it's getting there and dumps from a significant height on a lot of the other 'WOW-killers' out there. In hindsight, they should've released the game a year later, not lied, not tried to turn a profit, saved the rainforest, declared world peace, etc, etc but everything looks better in retrospect. I'm not going to dwell on a bad past so heavily that I sacrifice a good future. It's a game, not a marriage. The game was crap, it's now good - move on and enjoy it!

I've been thinking long and hard about trying this game, and after reading your review, as well as quite a few other returning players, I'd really like to give it a shot.

 

One question though: you said that finding a buddy key was relatively easy? Do you know of the best place to find one? I'm using a computer that I'd say falls in the lines of mid-range, and I'd like to try the game first to see how it runs. I ran the system requirements tool earlier, and apparently my computer meets the recommended standards, but I'd still like to give it a whirl before I spend any money on it.

Anyway, if any of you know where I can find a key, I'd really appreciate the info .

 

Halandir

Originally posted by Aryas


I love it so much, I rush home from work early just to play it for hours like a pixel-addicted freak.
First of all, I make no reservations about the fact that I'm posting this comment to attract new/old players to the game.

 

Great that you love the game and both fresh and absolutely commendable that you are honest about why you post your view.

Personally (as an ex-AOC player) I feel you cloud your own message a bit with what (to me) appears as a very condescending tone of voice towards those who quit and got angry with Funcom due to the multiple lies/mistakes. (I am referring to your "rainforest", "world peace" and "life-threatening 60 bucks/30 quid")

I do not think that I fit your "These people typically..." demographic but I was definately angry with Funcom when I left AoC the first time (two weeks after launch).

I came back (two times) because I would actually like AoC to be all that Funcom told us it would be. The funny thing is that I have seen people (even on these forums) telling us to "come back - everything is great now" since august. For now I will not return to AoC before Funcom feels their game is ready and so far it seems that the game need at least 2 large patches before Funcom think its safe to try and win some of us "leavers" back.

 

SpyridonZ

Originally posted by Aryas

 Sure, they initially released a turkey and got a lot of people to part with a life-threatening 60 bucks/30 quid (I pay more than this for a haircut, so how this can aggravate some people so much, I don't know).

Geez. Where do you get your hair cut?

AmazingAvery

Thats some really great feedback OP. Especially for those interested in taking a second look and / or another view to clarify things to those that left some finer points that particular crowd still insist on saying or clinging to 

Remember to pick up your pay cheque from FC, while your there can you get mine?

 

JK!! (it's Friday! )

Jackdog

Originally posted by VultureSkull

Originally posted by Aryas


Secondly, there are far too many people on these forums who are massively hung-up on the fact that the game was not as good as promised at release. These people typically seem to be either very immature or overly vindictive. Such people relish taking things extremely personally when they do not get what they want. I assume many of them belong to the 'Entitlement Generation' of sub-25 year olds. Eitherway, I don't recall being obliged to play a game at any point. And surely only a fool would reject a fantastic opportunity simply because of past performance. The phrase "cutting your nose off to spite your face" springs to mind.freezes in cities. I have everything on max, but my PC is quite new and handles it well.

 

That would be the "have it now and have it all" generation, in another thread there was someone still angry at funcom 6 months on!

Well with the current down turn, which is the first in the last 20 years or so, their attitude may well change, as most of these kids have not experienced a time of not-so-plenty.

Good to hear that you are enjoying the game!

 

Actually that would be the I expect to get what you told me I would get when I hand you my money crowd.

back to topic, nice to see someone enjoying the game. As long as one can be satisfied by satisfied withnothing more than doing quests and pretty graphics it is quite the enjoyable game. Or FFA  PvP if you are intoi that.

Slaynn

Wow, I would not pay more than $60 for a haircut... hell, I complain about the $10.25.

 

Thanks for your post though.  I will probably resub and break out my 55 HoX to burn faces with again.  I can't find an MMO worth playing... might as well go back and retry old flames.  I could be reaching tracer burnout with MMO's in general too.  /shrug