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First Impressions of the Early Access
singsofdeath
Member UncommonPosts: 1,812
No, I won't call this a review, simply because it isn't. Having played one day and having reached Level 18 hardly enables me to write a review, so I'll just mention a few things to all of you, now that I am in one of the brief "no-AoC" and "no University" phases.
First things first. I have played a female Aquilonian Dark Templar up to Level 18 now and I am playing on the Cimmeria Server. One of the things that FunCom DID fail to do, was actually -LABEL- the PvP RP server in the server select window. I'm certain they will change that eventually, but it was very confusing at first.
Anyway, on to the juicy bits.
1. Technical / Stability / Lag
One of the most talked about subjects of Age of Conan is it's (in)ability to run smoothly on Systems where it should. Well, I cannot speak much to that, since I myself have a System that -should- and -does- run Age of Conan beautifully. For reference, I've been using:
- C2D E6600, 2.4GHz
- Gainward Bliss GeForce 8800GTGS 1GB
- 4GB Kingston DDR2-800 Memory
- Windows Vista Home Premium 64-Bit
Anyway, my technical issues in the EA Client are close to Zero. The only bug I have come accross so far was at one point, when my Sound-System decided to just screech at me like crazy until I restarted the game. That happened once in overall 8 hours Playtime on the first day though, so I would not call that gamebreaking, even if it was highly annoying (for my ears!) at the time. Apart from that, the game ran smooth as butter for the entire time I played this first day. The Pings ranged from 100ms to 200ms, which is acceptable, considering I am playing on US Servers from Europe (the things you do for your GF ^^).
FPS ranged from 20 in Tortage when the flood of players was worst to 40 and higher in Instances and when I was working by myself or just with my GF's character. This was with 1600x1200, Everything on High, DX10 albeit SM 3.0, Bloom Enabled, 16xAA (1600x1200 because my 10 year old Monitor does not support more. XD). From what I gathered in the chat, there are still some problems (albeit less and less) with other systems, but since this is a First Impression from my side, I cannot say anything negative towards the game in that respect. Particularly knowing what huge leaps the game took in the last few weeks, days even before EA, I have to give FunCom props for this.
2. Gameplay
It seems to be a common belief that AoC promised to reinvent the wheel with their Combat- and Gameplay-Mechanics. I myself never saw it that way. But I did see -EVOlution- to the current things out in the market. The Directional Attack system forces you, for one, to stay with the fight and to make decisions based on the enemy, but it does not go into the full twitch-based combat such as Oblivion or such as DF promises. For me, that is a good thing and a step in the right direction. I enjoy the system. After a while, you get used to not just clicking buttons, but to actually follow-up with attacks and to choose your skills according to how your enemy is defending himself at the time.
PvP is another thing I have not been able to test extensively, for surprisingly, I was not ganked more than once the entire time I played. Well, twice, though the second was only a try and fell short when we decimated him for trying. 
However the little I got to play it, it seems to be fun and more or less along the line and up to par with the rest of the combat, if a little more tricky since you can't see the shields of enemy players and thus have to be a bit more in the dark about where to hit them.
3. Quests/World
I put these two into one category because for me they are closely linked. The world itself and the Quests presented in it create an atmosphere for me (or fail to in some games). Anyway, the First part, Level 1-20 is, Quest-wise, brilliant. The Destiny-Quest gives me a warm, fuzzy feeling, but then again, I'm a sucker for such storylines. Otherwise, the Quests in Daytime Tortage are basically standrad, if fitted into the Conan-world nicely, but nothing you haven't seen before. The quests are well told, which makes this OK.
The world is, as many are never tiring of pointing out, Zoned, particularly in the first 20 levels. You get quite a few Loading-Screens when you're making your way through Tortage. This is...not a problem for me, but I can see how some people might be annoyed. In my case, the longest wait-time on a loading screen was 10 seconds and that was when loading into the game for the first time. Most of the zones inside Tortage load within a second or less, so it's basically more a click, wait briefly, and just continue on.
The negative thing was obviously that the starting area was totally overloaded. And even with Zoning, the Daytime-quests were sometimes hard to complete, simply because others were farming/killing the same mobs as you or waiting for the same boss to spawn. As time passes, I am guessing this will ease up a little, though I will be glad to be out of Tortage once full retail hits. 
4. Community
Well, it is hard to tell about a community after only so much time, but what I've seen so far has given me reason to be overally positive. For one, I did not see one topless female running around or dancing in the streets (BLASPHEMY!), the chat was -NOT- spammed closed with Nipples and such things, but rather with questions about gameplay, the unavoidable E-Peen contest between Computer Systems/FPS, and, starting a bit later, with reports on Corpse-Campers or elimination thereof. Otherwise, it seemed like a pretty normal OOC Chat to me. As the hour grew later, I noticed a steady decline in the OOC Chat, not in quality but in quantity. I am guessing this was either because of the late hour, -OR- because many people had, by then, managed to find their guilds and have switched to Guild-Chat instead.
Names were varied and quite a few were not really good for immersion. It remains to be seen how FC will enforce their Server policies. I am sure there has been plenty of reporting going on already for naming violations, so we will have to see that in the coming days.
5. Summary
I would like to note again, that this is a personal report of my -own- first impressions. These are not supposed to give an accurate review on the game itself and on the possible and likely problems it still has, but simply to tell you how I experienced the world of Hyboria for the first 8 hours. That being said, I had a blast. It was fun to play, it was back to the time when I played and played and suddenly realized 5 hours had gone by.
I am pleasantly surprised by the amount of polish FC managed to get into the game within the past few weeks alone, and that in itself makes me look forward with optimism. Sure, there are still issues, when will there not be any? Smaller bugs I encountered include vanishing of hair for a brief moment when diving under the water, Occasional sliding with the loot-animation after picking something up (easily remedied), a few AI oddities, so far only one Quest-bug, which was instantly fixed by a GM after petitioning it with a wait time of maybe 2 minutes or so total.
While yes, these bugs are there, they are, at least to me, -NOT- gamebreaking and I was able to enjoy the night of AoC completely and fully.
I wish all of you, who join me in Hyboria at some point, or who already are fighting alongside, or against me, the best of fun, sharp blades and trusted allies for the days, weeks and months to come!
See ya there!
Comments
<Mod edit>
I got to level 13 and I'm having a blast with the game. That's what its all about...surprise that i could get consistent 30 with my rig.
Thanks in advance.
Which Final Fantasy Character Are You?
Final Fantasy 7
Will the person who registered on MMORPG yesterday and only made three posts so far please leave the room. Thank you.
I'm sad when I see so many people with high end rigs giving reviews. It was a solid 'review' in a sense, but I honestly want to hear a review from a low end system since that's what I'll be running on, if I'm running it at all.
Go and play with your Dolly!!!. Unless you have something constructive to say relevant to the thread.
Having a great time, myself. Its gone very smoothly
been playing alittel and i find this game very innovative
also the story questing was a blast!
Always do the right thing
The melee combat system seems impresive and im positive about this game, altrough its still prety buggy and has now maintenance at 8 pm here in europe so it can forget about the smoothes mmo lanch ever, but still if things work out well , i think funcom will roll high eyes, also becouse a lot of people have been waiting for a realy good pvp mmo, but only time will tell.
Playing: World of Warcraft.
Played: Lord of the Rings Online, Starwars Galaxies.
Tried: Starwars the Old Republic, Everquest 2, Guild Wars, Vanguard, Age of Conan, Aion.
Good starting review. I was in Early Access as well as OB and I hated the OB but am not have any more technical issues in the real client. Having a good time playing.
I like the game but I have to say the quests have been pretty uninspired through lvl 13 and I think the newbie area is as much of a curse as anything. I'm sort of an altaholic and I'm already not looking forward to playing through it a second time. I prefer the WoW style approach where each race has its own newbie areas which promotes replayability.
I agree that technically the game has been pretty solid and the game plays a bit different than other mmorpg which is a good thing.
AMD64 3200 single core
2gb DDR 400 (Kingston)
ATI x1650 512mb AGP
XP Pro
Settings: Medium, with 1k view range, no bloom, no shadows. Shader model 3.0, high texture quality, 3x AF, 2x AA
20fps Tortage Day, 30-ish FPS everywhere else.
Load times average 2-3 seconds.
No hitching or stuttering.
Smooth as silk.....granted, I have a very well tuned machine, with minimal background apps running.
I remember back in 1999, folks kept asking me if I was stockpiling food. I always answered, "No, I'm stockpiling ammo and making a list of people who are stockpiling food"
I have to say that from alot of mmos I have played over the past 8 years this is one of the smoothest unofficial launches i have seen. I played the open beta had s and the game ran ok I had lag issues, fps issues etc but I gave Funcom the benefit of the doubt after a few friends said the closed beta client was way more stable.
After the initial "oh crap another cock up" when they delayed the launch of the servers, I got in game and I was shocked at how nice the game looked how smooth it ran on my rig and that they managed to get SLI to work in this game I get an average of 70 to 120fps running at 1900x1200 every thing set on high minus the bloom, shadows set to my character only (these are fps killers) and 2x AA. The servers from what I gather had no stability issues where they went down however there were the occasional high latency issues when certain zone instances went down, nothing major however.
I'm level 21 and I am about to finish my destiny quests and from the first 21 levels I have to say this game destroys WOW and alot of other MMO's interms of enjoyment, the questing is actually fun and not a grind. From what my friends have told me this game will really open up from levels 20+ onwards so I can't wait ! This is the first game since pre-cu SWG where I actually think "damn this has some serious potential".
This game does look like it will be a huge success from an intial impression Funcom have done a great job with this so all those people who bash the game without playing it, seriously give it ago before you say anything you will be in for a wake up call.
Water cooled Intel Corei7 920 D0 Stepping OC'd 4.3GHz - 6GB Corsair Dominator GT RAM 2000Mhz - ASUS RAGE II EXTREME X58 Mobo - 2x HD 5870 in Crossfire X, OC'd 0.9Ghz core 1.3Ghz RAM - Dell 2407WFP Flat Panel LCD 24" 1920x1200
Age of Conan runs rather smooth on a low end comp as well. The game is very smooth and runs just like you would want it to. The only thing you don't get out of it is quick load times and a lot of clipping of graphics once you move into a new zone. Other then that, its perfect.
From what I understand, once you get past the first 20 levels with any character (the introduction stuff) then you can skip that entire part of the game with any of your other characters. So... having a lot of alts might not be out of the question for you still
Well lvl 17 atm.... I was very nervous about the stuttering in beta, and even more nervous when they said it wouldnt be like that in the actual game. We are so used to being lied to by companies.
But, omg FUNCOM did it. They launched a game that runs extremely well. Thank you so much.
Btw its a blast to play.
I got it and im suprised at a few things.
1. It really runs smoother then I expected, the level of detail is great, and the characters look very nice, I would have expected more lag and slower loading times.
2 The community does seem to be pretty grown up, I did not see any topless people doing the " U GIV ME GOLD " and there was very little trash talk, but a lot of helpfull people.
3 How much i like the solo player story sprinkled with " come back when your X level " things. Its nice to be able to go back and forth depending on your mood.
4 How the chat windows and UI isnt very user friendly. It's not horrible but after 5 years of being spoon fed everything I admit im a little "errr what?" on some of it. Im sure after a few days ill give it under control.
I really think they did a good job with the look feel and play of the game. My only worry is what I havent seen yet, everything I have seen I like, or accept as a bug they will fix.
heheh 3 days are not enough time to give a negative review, but plenty of time for a positive review?
I ran the game at around 10fps and not a crash in nearly 8 hour or so of gameplay. I'm running on what could easily be considered a rig that only meet the minimum reqs, if not slightly under them.
3100 Sempron, 1.5gb ddr 400 ram, x1300pro 256 (agp to boot)
I have no illusions that this will work on the mainland however as I know the video card is too weak. I'll have some new parts soon however, so that will be less of an issue.
I have to agree with the OP on most things except the community, I found it rather immature and annoying, especially in regards to the intent of a RP-PvP server and the arguments that this justified ganking and corpse camping... But that is my view of that
I ran the game at around 10fps and not a crash in nearly 8 hour or so of gameplay. I'm running on what could easily be considered a rig that only meet the minimum reqs, if not slightly under them.
3100 Sempron, 1.5gb ddr 400 ram, x1300pro 256 (agp to boot)
I have no illusions that this will work on the mainland however as I know the video card is too weak. I'll have some new parts soon however, so that will be less of an issue.
I have to agree with the OP on most things except the community, I found it rather immature and annoying, especially in regards to the intent of a RP-PvP server and the arguments that this justified ganking and corpse camping... But that is my view of that
Aheh. I have to admit that I didn't monitor the OOC chat too closely, so I might have missed some of the more hilarious and childish arguments that might have cropped up.I would also like to, once again emphasize that my Original Post is a VERY subjective view of the whole thing. In essence, all I am saying is "I HAD LOADS OF FUN!", which does not, in any way, mean that everyone else is having fun. Still though, from what I am hearing and reading, there is more fun to be had.
Cheers!
Which Final Fantasy Character Are You?
Final Fantasy 7
there are already some nice UI mods out there. I'd drop a link, but I don't remember where I saw it posted..you might be able to google some though.
I remember back in 1999, folks kept asking me if I was stockpiling food. I always answered, "No, I'm stockpiling ammo and making a list of people who are stockpiling food"
Please take the words written in the spirit intended. Thank you.
Which Final Fantasy Character Are You?
Final Fantasy 7
To Tyrone0706 I have a HP that is 6 years old. Minor upgrades. 1.6ghz 750mb of ram and a 256 gforce 6200 agp. I get a very large smile when Im at 9 fps but average is about 5. I found just using the Low setting is the best, when I tweek things to make it "faster" it gets alot slower. Dont turn off shadows or water reflex, nagitive impact. I have to say even on low the game is beautiful. The game is still playable but dont get more then 2 mobs at once! I'll be playing on this rig for the next week before my new comp gets here. Its playable, its still fun (I love the ToS). Paitence will be your friend. The game is very solid I just have an old comp, so as long as you understand that its ok. I wouldnt recomend a comp this bad for the long run thou. Hope this helps
I ran the game at around 10fps and not a crash in nearly 8 hour or so of gameplay. I'm running on what could easily be considered a rig that only meet the minimum reqs, if not slightly under them.
3100 Sempron, 1.5gb ddr 400 ram, x1300pro 256 (agp to boot)
I have no illusions that this will work on the mainland however as I know the video card is too weak. I'll have some new parts soon however, so that will be less of an issue.
I have to agree with the OP on most things except the community, I found it rather immature and annoying, especially in regards to the intent of a RP-PvP server and the arguments that this justified ganking and corpse camping... But that is my view of that
Aheh. I have to admit that I didn't monitor the OOC chat too closely, so I might have missed some of the more hilarious and childish arguments that might have cropped up.I would also like to, once again emphasize that my Original Post is a VERY subjective view of the whole thing. In essence, all I am saying is "I HAD LOADS OF FUN!", which does not, in any way, mean that everyone else is having fun. Still though, from what I am hearing and reading, there is more fun to be had.
Cheers!
I'm sure we'll run into each other eventually