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Is this game in some kind of limbo?
Thestrain
Member CommonPosts: 390
Forums here and as well on official website feel so dead. Anyone who still plays AOC can update on how the population is currently? and what is happening with crafting update announced in 2009? i googled it and the articles related to it are 2 years old with no new info.
TSW in comparison seems to be doing great. i wonder why Funcom isn't turning AOC F2P into B2P . AOC F2P model isn't good and maybe that is why they are not getting new players.
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I don't know how is the population right now but they changed the f2p system. It is a lot more "free" right now. Actually AoC got one of the best f2p models for now I think.
The sad thing is probably Funcom gave up on this game like they did on Anarchy. I hate Funcom for this. When you look at Soe, they are still releasing new contents for all their games including EQ1 even they did a lot of bad things in the past. Same goes for the Square Enix too. They are still pumping new contents for the FFXI. Funcom gave up both Anarchy Online and Aoc way too early...
Funcom has had some financial problems over the last couple of years. One reason is that their games have under-performed.
AoC has been basically in maintenance mode ever since those problems came to light.
As this point, I wonder when the Conan IP license runs out for Funcom, because I can't believe the game is making enough to justify the cost.
Hell hath no fury like an MMORPG player scorned.
The games community is tiny, But what community there is pretty tight eg: There are regular casual "newb" runs of all teir 1/2 raids. However there is next to no low level dungeon runs outside of 'sanctum'.
Haven't said anything really, not suprising as there is no real incentive for funcom to rush it through. B2p is f2p with a box.Funcoms model is pretty good now, teir 1/2 raids are available, all dungeons are available, pvp is available.
The only thing not open is Khitai. and if they opened that up then they would basically giving the game away free. No one would ever spend.
TSW - AoC - Aion - WOW - EVE - Fallen Earth - Co - Rift - || XNA C# Java Development
Pretty much what Nitth said. (/me is also a regular, though I wasn't in there in the last month...)
Last update on the crafting revamp was months ago, and it was mostly just "yeah, still working on it, it's coming soon".
F2p to B2p switch would be pointless, the game is downloadable for free, why would they change it for a mandatory box price? Not to mention the model is pretty good, you barely have restrictions on the base game (gold cap and less trader slots mainly). Expansions are up for purchasing, not included in the free game.
One of the expansions, Khitai is sub-only, or needs a temporary pass for f2p players even if they've purchased the expansion itself which is a pretty dumb (or at least odd) restriction, but Khitai is mostly just a massive grindfest anyways
You did say it right here Po_gg, I didn't read it first time properly. But I will let my text how it was, lazy to change
I dont know if something changed, but there isn't another expansion then Khitai and you cant go there if you are free player. So the game isn't free to play, only half of game is free to play. What I was told some time ago by their support (it could change), you have to buy Khitai expansion and then still pay for it subscription to be able to go there. I did buy it on release and is locked for me. I totally hate their "rent area for some time" system. It's stupid system and personally I think that if they would use system like lotro "buy once have forever" they would have more player. Another thing is, that you can buy in store things which shouldn't be there.
Funcome is great on graphic and atmosphere, but they have problem with items system, craft system and how to run game to have player. They have good chances, but cant find the right way.
Yep, never understood that part of the model either. To their defense, they're trying at least
and listening to the feedback, for some extent, like the changes in the f2p, or the additional text in the store at Godslayer warning the f2p folks that they need a sub too (which wasn't there at first, and caused quite some heat), or adding the Khitai pass, which is not a great solution, but at least some kinda solution...
I really like them since the '90s (heck, just played through The Longest Journey to get myself into shape for Chapters
), but this restriction is not right imo. Maybe at the switch it wasn't this much "out of the line" with only a few other f2p games on the market, but today, when the market is full with f2p games, and all have the "you've bought something, you can use it" approach, it's very apparent.
Not to forget, not only Khitai is locked, but the AA mechanic as well, which makes it even more "wrong". Basically they say, after you reach 80 and you don't sub, every bit of xp you would earn is going down the drain instead of going to the AA panel. Which is somewhat questioning the whole point of f2p... (not that I care, I used to sub when going back for some fun)
it´s still awesome and there are enough people playing it, just reinstall they´re just running a really cool Halloween event
I think it´s doing fine, just not many people talking about it, just playing.
We don´t have 99% threads about WoW here either
I've been playing since launch, and the game isn't dead. Maintenance? Not exactly.
There are less people, yes, and Funcom are slow to update. Although, the new Dev seems very active and involved on the Test Live forums - quite a lot of interaction.
T5 has just launched (and T6 on the way), and their is always plenty of pugs going in Global for the other raid tiers and dungeons. The crafting system is being worked on, albeit slowly (but you never know - they dropped T5 with little warning). The combo system is still one of my favourite combat systems around.
It is what it is. Funcom have made clear they XY resources and allocate accordingly. Plenty of content to try free, and if you wanna raid the end game stuff, subbing is necessary in my opinion. You'll want to join a good guild too.
They should also be having a sub offer in November (Game Director mentioned that the other month), so maybe watch for that and jump back in for a look.
I'm not under any delusions about the game. I know it's not going to get massive expansions all over the shop - but if they keep adding stuff as they have recently it's worth playing.
I think their F2P model is very starter friendly, it never feels totally gimped or something, of course if you are into serious end game then a sub makes sense. Buying some cosmetic stuff or inventory slots from their shop every now and then to support the game.
It also looks amazing on current gen hardware, cranked up to ultra and highest resolution.
They're planning megaserver since years now, there's only 3 servers left after the merges during the process. Crom has the most folks obviously (PvE), there's a PvP (Fury) one with fewer people and a BG PvP (with tougher ruleset) with the least people I think.
Godslayer will give you almost no benefits until you're not subscribing back. I think you can create a khitan character as free player too, but that's all you get from the expansion without a sub.
To get new players? i wasn't just talking about the base game. They should sell khitai and future content in same way the sell content updates for TSW. Keep an option for subscription like they did with TSW.
But with AOC the cap on gold and inability to play Khitai without subscription is a very big hurdle which in my opinion turn away potential new players.
So even though right now sub might seem optional it is not. I really want this game to have more players so that they can spend more resources on this game. Don't you? imo it is a very underrated game and lifting up gold cap and opening khitai for everyone would do wonders for the population.
Why?.
It's a rep grind area which reward gear is now surpassed by Teir 3 and 4.
TSW - AoC - Aion - WOW - EVE - Fallen Earth - Co - Rift - || XNA C# Java Development
What Nitth said above. Don't get me wrong, the Godslayer restriction is dumb, I agree. But an f2p -> b2p conversion wouldn't solve anything, especially not in the case of new players... Presently they can enter for free, play the whole game to the cap for free (10gold limit is not that big restriction until higher levels and Trader slots are enough too, but also can be purchased when needed), there they can check Khitai with a f2p pass to see how horrid grind it is, so never touch that again (
).
Switching that into a mandatory entry fee (the box price), I don't think it would help at all. See, I don't agree with "cap on gold and inability to play Khitai without subscription ... turn away potential new players." Dumb restriction, yes. But not for new players, they won't even bump into it until the level cap. And nowadays you are not catching new players with the whole model and endgame... with this many f2p games on the market the "new player experience" is what matters. No, not gw2
(which is a lame game imo) I mean just the term.
True, you see LFG threads here all the time, but forum users are just a minority of the gamers in a whole. Most of them don't even check the actual model until they don't fell into love with the game. They just download it because it's f2p (that's why a box price would be harmful, especially with an "older" game which is free since years), start to play it, and see if they like it or not. If they do, they will start to ask around, or checking the model, or simply subscribe. If not, they just uninstall and go for the next game.
(on a sidenote, that's why I told several times to FC -yep, used to send them mails when I'm in the mood
- that the starter inventory bag should be increased a bit, new players have their inventory filled even before reaching Tortage... which is not a nice first expression. But beyond that the current model is great for newcomers.)
edit: wow, my post is a hectic mess, sorry... In short, f2p -> b2p switch? nope. Do something with the Godslayer restriction? It'd be nice, even if it's just a big boring grindfest
Because it makes no sense to hide that area behind subscription when everything else is open for free. They could atleast make it more lucrative and worth the sub. I came across many players when i was playing last year who would quit once they realise they have to sub to get AA and play in khitai. Our guild leader also shared similar concerns that it is just next to impossible to keep the new players in guild because they quit once they realise sub is going to come into play. Although these players had no qualms in spending money on cash shop but they were generally allergic to subscription. nd since you say its gear is surpassed by Tier 3 and tier 4 it makes it even more silly.
In the end its FC's loss not the player. I am playing TSW right now and i would like to see AOC on the same level in terms of population and over all content. In my opinion AOC is a better game than TWS but reason i am sticking to TSW is because it has lot more players and more regular content updates.
Been playing for a few years myself, nad I can say that its very much alive. But the main population is veterans, but there are still many new chars every day traveling trough Tortage (and that is on Fury server)
How many make it to lvl 80 is another case, as the midlvls seems very emty to MMO players coming from newer and more populated games. This game is over 6,5 years old now, and still hanging in there. New content is arriving still, but its no secret that TSW is more profitable to FC, so they devote more resources there. Also a important point: Both games does not get more updates/polish then the income they get represents!
As TSW has more players, and therefore more likely more income, they get more dev hours.
AoC is from a different time then TSW, and the games design are different. For AoC, its Khitai and other premium content that is keeping the game alive to this day, and just opening it up would most likely not result in more income, just more "freeloaders" that want to enjoy and not leave a dime behind. Maybe some would, but not enough I`m sure...
Crafting update is still underway, but it was more complicated (surprise?) then they thought it would, and requires some bughunting for sure. Its also quite deep with gathring also being changed, so its not something one does with a restricted manpower situation.
If you have more questions, feel freee to ask them, Maybe some has answers.
there was a huge patch that happened back in June 2009 - that included tradeskill enhancements
http://forums.ageofconan.com/showthread.php?124848-Update-Notes-1-05-24th-June
another tradeskill revamp was discussed last year October 2013 but i dont follow AOC
http://www.tentonhammer.com/aoc/news/aoc-game-director-updates-on-tradeskill-revamp
EQ2 fan sites
Here's what's going on with the crafting revamp. It was announced by Craig Morrison, the long gone former game director for Age of Conan. He announced the crafting revamp as fact before they had even done any research on how to implement such a change.
Since Joel Bylos has taken over as the game director, it has since been stated repeatedly in different "letters from the game director" that it turns out the crafting revamp was much more difficult to implement than they first realized. This is due to crafting being an integral part of the overall game engine, and that they are essentially having to rewrite the game engine, and then recreate every single item in the game by hand.
This is not OPINION. It's fact. It's been stated by Joel on numerous occasions that it turned out to be a lot harder than they thought and that's why we don't have it yet.
There is only ONE. ONE full time developer working on Age of Conan and the crafting revamp is essentially his side project since they also have to keep adding "new content" to the game. Of course this "new content" has been almost entirely creating Unchained versions of old dungeons. Take an existing dungeon and boss, rewrite the encounters to be more difficult, and call it new content.
I mean, that's exactly what T5 raids are. They took the T1 raids and redesigned the encounters to be difficult for people with T4 gear and called it T5. The T5 raids which were promised nearly four years ago, the T5 raids which were supposed to be an entirely new dungeon with entirely new content, are also just as much vaporware as the crafting revamp.
AoC has been stringing us along for years now on broken promises and lies, while at the same time they manage to keep producing timely content for The Secret World with Age of Conan subscription dollars.
Now do we get to decide where the money goes after we pay for it? No, not really, and I get that, but at the same time we're paying for a game and banking on those promises which never materialize all the while our dollars get spent on new "Issues" for TSW. I don't care if all the money isn't spent on AoC, but at least use our sub dollars to pay for what they've promised before using what's left to keep propping up their most recent launch disaster.
There's a special offer on the subscription right now!:
http://forums.ageofconan.com/showthread.php?190827-Membership-Offers-and-Instant-Level-80-Characters!&p=2117638#post2117638
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