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Age of Conan Review as of 12/1/09 - Free 14 Day Trial
Sacrificiall
Member Posts: 118
To anyone looking for a new MMO or just an MMO to get into I want to post a non-biased review.
Let me begin by saying when I 1st heard of an MMO Based on Conan being made I thought to myself "Wtf? Has the industry run out of every IP left that someone actually thought a MMO based on some shit IP from some crap movie in the 80's is worth an MMO? Has the Industry hit an all time low?".
Since experiencing this "World" I had absolutely no interest in or any knowledge of I have been completely amazed by just how cool it is, and how cool the IP is and what a wonderful MMO it makes. It really is amazing and not just some shallow Conan The Barbarian kill monsters.
The game has made me a fan of Conan or Hyboria or whatever the hell you call it and whole new level of respect for the author who created it all.
1) Graphics: Age of Conan has the best graphics of any MMO, hell any PC game to date. Although a fantasy MMO, The graphics look incredibly realistic. Humans look like, well, real humans. The amount of Detail in every aspect of the game is breath taking.
*Now this being said, do not expect to run this game on a "Ok" PC. You better have a bad ass one that handle it. This aint WoW and it aint gonna run on your Commodore 64.
2) Performance: Game runs great although on occasion for some odd reason the entore "World" experiences a simultaneous RED line of lag. Maybe see this from not at all to 4 times in a 6 hour session.
3) RP Factor: High, in fact I would say this game has the highest RP Factor of any MMO to date. No other games gives you tools, character customization or /emote system to truly bring a character to life. There is one down side and that is the only labeled RP Server is Cimmeria and i also a FFA PVP Rule Set. The Un-Official RP Server is a PVE Server called Wiccanna. I have actually found 10 times the amount of RP on Wiccana then I ever did playing a year on Cimmeria. Go figure? Makes no sense....
4) Leveling: Is it too late to even bother starting now that the game has been out for a year and a half?
No, it is not. There are always new players most likely due to this is their 2nd or 3rd Free Trial Period but regardless of that almost everyone is constantly rolling Alts and this keeps the Low and Mid Levels full of players to group with. Mostly experienced players that actually make leveling up a much easier experince for New players.
5) Servers: Basically two kind of servers. FFA PVP (Free For All) and PVE. I spent a year on an FFA Server when I finally decided that my play time is more important to me than the Freedom to PVP where ever and when ever I wanted to. To each their own, but be forwarned. Their is absolutely no Fair fights on the FFA Server, My year + experience the only PVP I ever encountered was mass numbers vs small numbers, or High levels rolling lower levels. Never once did I ever have a "Fair" fight. Also, as a new low level player trying to enter the world you will have a very hard time since the Veteran players will farm you for PVP XP. I really do not reccomend anyone start a new toon on any of the PVP Servers. You can always switch to a PVP Server at anytime, regardless if you level on a PVE one.
6) End Game: It is awful, Well, it is as awful as the end game in any MMO. I mean once you hit the point of Raiding you are doing nothing but farming gear in Raid Instances once a week. I am not saying so much Conan's end game sucks but it is exactly the same as every other MMO out there. Rinse, wash, repeat. Maybe this is why so many players level Alts? Eithr way its a good thing for anyone new to the game.
8) Classes: I dig the classes and the animations of each one are very unique. Take for example if your into the Ranger Class, No other game has more detail, from the littlest things like pulling the arrow out of your quiver, drawing your bow. It is the attention to things like this that really make things shine. Some of the classes are very unique and others are the same ol same ol we are all used to. A Tempest of Set is an AOE Death machine, a glass cannon if you will. The Assasin is well, an Assasin. Tanks are Tanks or they have Hybrids like the Conq who can Tank, DPS or even Rez.
9) Game Play: Ok here is where we are going to run into some problems. You can't play with one hand and eat a sandwhich like most MMO's. It is very DDO Like, where real time skills are just as important as Gear and stuff. This is aweome but it is a serious issue right now on the PVP side of things. PVE wise the combat is unique, fluid, different, exciting. Again, no way your gonna be eating and raiding at the same time as a melee. Spell Casters are more traditional to the MMO mechanics everyone is used to. You can eat and raid with a spell caster : )
(The biggest issue right now is the balance of Spell Caster Vs Melee, The melee is very hands on almost like a action game (again like DDO) where spell casting is the same as it is in WOW).
10) What makes it differnt than the other 6 zillion MMO's?
What TRULY makes AOC unique and interesting is something no one ever seems to talk about or give them credit for but it is an absoluely monumental difference between AOC and every other MMO out there. COLLISION DETECTION. Yes, and unlike other games, this is the real deal. There is no walking through people, there is no jumping through people to break there like of sight. If a bridge is blocked, it is blocked. If a group of players on a PVP Server decide no one passes this bridge, then you cannot pass through them unless you kill them all of course. This is the number one thing that killed WOW, EQ2 and a bunch of other MMO's for me. After playing AOC with it's collision detection, going back to PVP in WOW made me want to barf when people would go through me to break line of sight. Or EQ 2 when I would run through the Mob I was tanking to turn its back to the rest of the group...It's just gay. I can;t help just snarling at every MMO that allows this and think to myself how cheap it is.
So to sum it all up, If you have a GOOD PC. Looking for an MMO where there are still plenty of people to group with and lower level content areas of the game. If you are a fan of Old School D&D like the TSR Stuff. Then I really think you will be pleasently suprised. I strongly reccomend rolling on a PVE Server 1st. Another cool feature is if you decide later that you want to be on a PVP Server, Funcom allows you to level on a PVE Server and then transfer to a PVP Server, vice versa.
Comments
Glad your enjoying AoC! I just resubbed and went with the 12 month deal myself. It is a great game that had a rough start, and doesn't get the credit it deserves.
Just want to point out though that the game is based off the books not the movies.
if only the game had a population
For you to say this game has a high level of roleplayability, you clearly haven't played some of the sandbox MMOs out there. Almost every game has emotes and a chat system, AoC is no different.
Until now I always held SWG as the highest RP Ability MMO ever released.
Between the character customization, The character models, The clothing (etc) and the emotes aren't just /wave, I mean many of these can really bring the characters to life. That and the enviroments and everything else, I just think it makes for the perfect Role Play'n world with great tools.
Agreed, like I said, right now I was just back in there on the 2 week trial so it was packed, well let me take that back. Wiccanna was jamming with people. 3 out of the 5 nights I grabbed major PUG Raids in the 1st 15 minutes just by using /global.
2 Other nights no luck for Raids but found some Group Content...didn;t really want to do it, but beats nothing.
On Cimmeria where I have another toon...I never did get into a single Raid. I don't know why, I saw people advertising but never got a response..Now that could be because of my class. Again thats a PVP Server and because of that you get alot of FOTM players.
So my Necro never got to raid.
While I agree with most of your points, I have to say, it's a bit of heresy to say the game is based on the films. Conan lore was written by Howard in 1930's and it's most probably one of the strongest IP fantasy license out there along with Middle Earth.
REALITY CHECK
Agreed, but it was not until after the game did I come to realise this.
Usually publishers use an IP to make you a fan of their game ala StarWars, LOTRO, with this it worked the opposite.
The game made me a fan of the IP.
Agreed, but it was not until after the game did I come to realise this.
Usually publishers use an IP to make you a fan of their game ala StarWars, LOTRO, with this it worked the opposite.
The game made me a fan of the IP.
OP, nice review. I appreciate your genuine point-of-view. I hope to hear more about your adventures in Hyboria in the coming months.
Sacrificiall, I am glad to hear of your appreciation of the Conan IP. There is a lot to discover. Like you, I was exposed to Howard's vision through Arnold's Conan. I actually read H.P. Lovecraft before I read the stories by Robert E. Howard. All were wonderful. Both have a very bizarre angle on their horror, which can chill a person right to the bone. Stephen King even refers to both writers as inspirations.
I bring this same passion for the IP, in all of its various facets, into all the articles that i have written for MMORPG and those I have yet to write. Please check out my articles for more on the IP and Lore? I also intend to include more of my research into each article in the corresponding General Forum Threads. Come take a look, and we can all share the revelations together. After all, we are the NEW Community of Age of Conan, and I expect it to develop into a very strong community.
I don't get this, is it a review after the free 14 day trial? If so that is the issue that most professional reviewers made, they didn't make it out of Tortage and gave it inflated scores.
I agree endgame is aweful, but all the good MMOs that defined the genre had the game start at endgame so players were entertained enough to not quit or reroll. Warcraft, Everquest, DoaC...and I hear Lotr. This game just doesn't have enough instances, raids, or PvP stuff to do. Sieges are broken and it seems that PvP minigames are not happening do to lack of players on most servers.
Gameplay is actually easier than most MMOs, it was dummed down for Contorlers as this was supposed to be X box port...also, casters are just like all other MMOs.
The population is down because this game isn't that great and has no real lasting apeal to keep players, such as endgame. Many players just did the free trial and stuff few months back and they agreed and voted by not subscribing.AoC has a nich but it is not Roleplay, as the playerbase knows this game fails at roleplay....the niche is casual MMO players as the game is very very easy to play and level in as it is linear and there are no penalties or anything. It is why the game director was able to say most ppl are not level capped a few months ago. Some players like easy games of no substance.
Funcom has reviewed all of its assets relevant for
impairment testing. This process has led to
recognition of an impairment loss of around
3,1 MUSD for Age of Conan due to a decrease in
numbers of subscribers for the game. Funcom Q4 10 report.
http://forums.ageofconan.com/showpost.php?p=2926123&postcount=7 500 mains/alts on Tyranny in past 30 days - instead of merge servers let's open a new PvP server, again! http://forums-eu.ageofconan.com/showthread.php?t=106427
Until now I always held SWG as the highest RP Ability MMO ever released.
Between the character customization, The character models, The clothing (etc) and the emotes aren't just /wave, I mean many of these can really bring the characters to life. That and the enviroments and everything else, I just think it makes for the perfect Role Play'n world with great tools.
Given the lack of real non-combat social clothing, a clunky communication system, lack of a free-form emote (has this changed? Last I saw you could do it, but you had to write your own script to get it done.) coupled with FC's refusal to grant an dedicated RP server for the US, I don't see how you can claim they've provided great tools.
I grant you the characters and environment lends themselves well to RP, but FC did nothing to encourage it.
Nice review. Agree with a lot you say apart from the endgame content. There are many games with fun endgame content...AoC is the worst ive ever played tbh. Was the reason our guild gave up after release. The raid dungeons were boring tank and spank encounters (those that wernt bugged) and still are boring. The sieges were lagfest, bugged and only slightly improved since release. One thing that annoyed me about sieges you could tell that the maps and keeps were originally designed for mass battles not 48v48....but the engine couldnt handle anymore and still cant. And dont get me started on the crafting and ecomomy....worst of any game I have played.
Leveling up a char is fun though. Currently leveling my BS to 80, to see all new content which is nice. Shame I will unsubscribe when I reach the woeful endgame.
Have to agree on the graphics and "end game" assesment, however roleplaying in AoC? The game must've changed drastically since I last played, as chat was little more than a childish competition in who could be the most vulgar. Also other players generally ignored me when I was trying to initiate roleplaying as everyone was doing their single player online game thing.
Classes are nice on paper but it's all very standard fair in practice. Gameplay is just a button mash fest from hell, the only difference with being melee is that you have to aim and do the button mash at the sametime! Also collision detection isn't unique to AoC, there are better MMORPGs with collision detection in my opinion.
AoC has great voice acting and graphics, but it ends there. The rest is no better than anything else out there, which is why when the lovely graphics and sound wears off everyone dropped their sub like a bad habit. But if you rate graphics and sound over gameplay and don't mind the heavy instancing or low pop then AoC is the game for you.
"Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It would be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience"
CS Lewis
Until now I always held SWG as the highest RP Ability MMO ever released.
Between the character customization, The character models, The clothing (etc) and the emotes aren't just /wave, I mean many of these can really bring the characters to life. That and the enviroments and everything else, I just think it makes for the perfect Role Play'n world with great tools.
Given the lack of real non-combat social clothing, a clunky communication system, lack of a free-form emote (has this changed? Last I saw you could do it, but you had to write your own script to get it done.) coupled with FC's refusal to grant an dedicated RP server for the US, I don't see how you can claim they've provided great tools.
I grant you the characters and environment lends themselves well to RP, but FC did nothing to encourage it.
LotRO >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> AoC for RPers.
Edit: The idea AoC has more RP tools than SWG is laughable.
AoC's strenght is really the engine, I dont really mean only graphics but the moving system, where you cannot move trough ppl, and the animations, better than every games. When I play AoC I really feel playing a quality game, not such a Comodore 64 animated MMO.
For sure, I stopped playing, but I really think coming back.