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has the window of opportunity slammed shut ?
Jackdog
Member UncommonPosts: 6,321
Did Funcom mess up their window of opportunity? 700K + boxes sold or at least shipped but seems as if the retention rate is terrible. August will be the critical month in my opinion. 3 month game cards will be running out. Sept thru December you have WAR, the WoW expansion, the LoTRO expansion, single player games such as Fallout 3, and Spore and Farcry 2 releasing. Starcraft II is also slated for release during that time period I think.
Poor old AoC is in for one rough row to hoe in my opinion. If they are going to have a miracle patch it better be real soon in my opinion.
I miss DAoC
Comments
Totally agree...
People have finally gotten to see the new TRUE nature of Funcon.
Is going to be a interesting winter. Thats i all care, because Conan adds nothing, is a rehash of existing ideas.
A rehash of ideas that don't even function. We're supposed to wait 4-5 years for a game that is nearly an exact copy of a prior MMO, yet most of those copied features are either useless, broken, or exploitable. These developers simply fail at copying - what a fantastic genre this is.
I'm just getting the popcorn and some Dew ready for when the PvP patch drops.
Hard to come back from such a bad release. Word of mouth on the game is not going well either.
Whoa whoa whoa...
What you're saying sounds like 90% of all the other companies and MMORPGs. Some games have been out years and STILL haven't fixed issues.
Can't just go waving the ugly stick at Funcom. They did the same thing all the other compaines did. Shinny mirrors, colored smoke and promisses that 700,000 people got suckered in to.
Why should they be any different then the countless other companies?
Whoa whoa whoa...
What you're saying sounds like 90% of all the other companies and MMORPGs. Some games have been out years and STILL haven't fixed issues.
Can't just go waving the ugly stick at Funcom. They did the same thing all the other compaines did. Shinny mirrors, colored smoke and promisses that 700,000 people got suckered in to.
Why should they be any different then the countless other companies?
because players are getting fed up and no longer hanging in there despite the bugs. Vanguard: Saga of Heroes was an excellant example of players tired of Developer's inability to deliver a playable game.
You will continue to see a trend of players not giving companies the benefit of the doubt anymore. Players have seen MMOs released with few issues and they aren't buying the excuses anymore
People who have to create conspiracy and hate threads to further a cause lacks in intellectual comprehension of diversity.
I think AoC may have a second chance if the 360 is successful, but I doubt that will happen because the current mmo games that are on the 360 have failed. I'm waiting to see how WAR turns out to be like. The only chance AoC has left would be to have a MAJOR patch of a release of it with lower system requirements to have an appeal to more people with mid-range computer (I know I say this alot
but it may work).
Can anyone say Everquest 2? No no no, I'm not talking about SOE. I'm just stating a fact that when EQ2 did come out it needed a super computer to play it.
Finally after a few years my PC can play the game smooth as glass on the maximum settings.
The high end system specs did hurt the game, but I think the flood over under 17 year olds probably made up the difference of the people whos computer were too slow. 
I don't see the Xbox version doing very well, since (guessing here) most xbox owners also have a PC and are probably aware of the problems FC are having with the game. I'm far more accepting of buggy games on PC because that's the nature of MMOs sadly. But I would never buy a game for my PS3 if I saw said game on the PC in this state.
Console games generally must be in excellent condition when released. This is changing, since next-gen consoles are more and more like a gaming PC with internet connections and the ability for the devs to patch them. I hope quality doesn't suffer on console games because of this.
I don't see the Xbox version doing very well, since (guessing here) most xbox owners also have a PC and are probably aware of the problems FC are having with the game. I'm far more accepting of buggy games on PC because that's the nature of MMOs sadly. But I would never buy a game for my PS3 if I saw said game on the PC in this state.
Console games generally must be in excellent condition when released. This is changing, since next-gen consoles are more and more like a gaming PC with internet connections and the ability for the devs to patch them. I hope quality doesn't suffer on console games because of this.
They aren't expecting to release the xbox version until winter 09 now . Either (A) they are in serious trouble , Or (B) They plan to release a finished version of the game for 360 , It's a matter of wait and see at this point.
For every minute you are angry , you lose 60 seconds of happiness."-Emerson
I'm a vehement basher of Funcom and Age of Failure.
However, the *product* (if you think it deserves that title) is still early enough in its development that with some miraculously great patches, can regain that hype and glory from when it was first released.
Failcom really, really has to put out spectacular patches to fix the stuff that players have complained loudly about.
Class Issues - Broken feats, broken trees, broken skills, etc. And for the love of the Gods of Video Gaming, please fix classes instead of nerfing them to hell.
Technical Issues - There are a ton of widespread technical problems with AoC. Take a look at their official Technical Support and Solutions forum. The Out of Memory issue is my favorite for bashing Failcom over the head with, and it's been there since day 1 with lots of players experiencing it.
Sieges - Jeez, PvPers have been wanting this since the game came out. This was a hyped about aspect of AoC. The fact that it's still broken at month 2 is idiotic.
If FC actually *somehow* puts patches out real soon to take care of these core issues, they can easily save face and regather lost reputation and lost subscriptions. Those 3 core issues I listed you will notice are the ones that people frequently rip into FC the most. There are more that I think should be listed, but these 3 are the biggies. Remove these big problems, and SOON, then AoC can easily recover the fun it once had on opening day.
For those that will say, "Well, FC will do all that. Give them time!"
I say: "We have. We've given them 2 months already and they've done little with it, and in some aspects, made the game worse."
"I have only two out of my company and 20 out of some other company. We need support, but it is almost suicide to try to get it here as we are swept by machine gun fire and a constant barrage is on us. I have no one on my left and only a few on my right. I will hold." (First Lieutenant Clifton B. Cates, US Marine Corps, Soissons, 19 July 1918)
I feel there is some truth to the theory that the PC gamers are in a way beta testing AoC for the xbox release. The game world and systems, at least.
If the game is actually fixed right up before it releases on Xbox, they would make a ton of money selling on consoles, though Xbox live users already pay for that service, will they pay monthly on top of that? I wouldn't personally. Which makes a stable bug free game all the more important for it to be worth it.
So the big question remains, can FC turn this thing around? It would be best for all concerned if they do, their decisions and untested patches so far don't give me confidence. Have to wait and see, but by 2009, AoC will be long forgotten by me.
They still have a good 3/4 months before more competition comes.
Need to remember FC and Mythic are making different appealing games for different crowds on the whole. WoW is WoW in a sales league of its own.
So many times people say AoC is a Niche game, which will only appeal to a small portion of the overall mmo playerbase - if it lost half of what it had at launch, it would still be twice as many people as originally predicted by many.
War is made and will be marketed at going straight for the WoW market, M.J. says he wants as much of that pie as poss, so there will be a lot of familiarity there in the released product. There is nothing wrong in going after the WoW pie, how good it will taste you will have to put your money where your mouth is to find out. If its good its going to beneficial to the genre, if WoWLK can improve WoW then thats great too.
PvP leveling for AoC will be in next week or in the next few weeks, we already have the exp bar patched in ready. Players are all hyped in game for it and can't wait, thats the truth (well on my server at least and from what I've read in game)
PvP gear is coming, Class & Race specific, rank required and it looks good too. (should this been in at launch, ultimately, you have to say yes it should. What if it was supposed to be, but it wasn't going to work at the time? Did they make the right choice? who knows. But it is coming, and by all indications it will improve the game and that is a good thing.
We have the intriguing fugitive system coming in too, punishing unfair PK'ing (alot of people complained about) thats why they waited for PvP Lvls to come in same time. Dueling coming in better too. What would of been the point to add PVP levels in at the start, with all the muderous ganking and spawn camping going on, in a system without the Fugitive System in place, it would just make the unfair stronger. Things make a little more sense here, again, should it all have been in at the start? Well they only really talked about it at length near release as an improvement for the future, Athlean touched on some similar area's of it during development. So it looked to me like FC stuck with their plan, I think that was to release " as is " and to see what happens - as they didn't really relate to the community on this important aspect (remember when I went to their HQ, I asked all about PK'ing / gear and consequences. I got alot of semi mute answers back. So will this improve the game - it sounds like it to me.
Voice overs on alot of quests higher up in the game (something never promised all over at launch) was specifically stated just Tortage and destiny questing will see voice overs. However, for those that didn't know this is a nice introduction.
New Thunder River area dungeon, lvl 60 + area (not that early quitters saw this area). Its also an improvement to the game. This zone I think is one of the more eye opener zones. Should hopefully be similar to when Guild Wars released in April and by fall they had patched in Sorrows Furnace dungeon.
Loot drops in terms of quality and variety should pick up over the next few months too. ( A big point for many)
Lastly they have a good few months to properly fix the Sieging. They have made quite a few small improvements since release, however, anyone can tell you more is needed in this area to stop it becomming frustrating at times. They have also mentioned game enchancements to give more people on the siege battlefield.
So I think they have a good roadmap, they have identified from feedback where issues lay, what people want to see and how pissed people are at not having some of this in the first place. ( yes i agree they could be a bit more forthcoming in doing a personal / human touch to the fans and intrigued no subbed ppl here )
There is at least 30 AoC jobs going at the moment, not including quite a few Customer Service ones. By their own admission the interest caught them by surprise, and they hope to rectify this asap. Better planning maybe? yes forsure it was needed.
This all sounds like a good plan to me, the proof will be in what they do before year is out, what they decide is a priority and how its implemented.
Has opportunity gone? I don't think so. If they can improve on things and it makes the game better im all for it. It enchances a popular game for its target market share and is better for the genre. Remembering many, many people predicted a lot lower amount of inital subs, and now we are back at square one.
Yes there will be people whom for them its too little too late, thats a particular crowd though, and small in numbers. A lot of people who don't sub anymore had fun in the game but were pissed off by either the bugs or powered thru content and got bored. Doesn't mean to say some of those wont come back if the game offered something not only working but in extra substance too.
Everything is dependant on two things for the majority of people that have left now.
1. Is the content and improvements F.C. adding in over the next few months going appeal to them? will it re-ignite that inital interest in the game? Will those videos and things looking better when it happens in game appeal to those that left or on the fence?
2. Will it be working as intended and be worth a second look and monthly sub? Or has the damage been done already? How forgiving will those people be who left? Something must of been interesting to begin with right?
Lets see what happens.
I personally think with the way they turned AO around, and the interesting updates coming, the extra staff etc. I'm going to take a slightly optimistic route ( yerrr fanboy.. ) I hope they come close to pulling it off, because the game is fun in many places, it could be so much more better with some more T.L.C.
So many things about this game make people quit. I can't even begin to describe how completely imbalanced the pvp is by value of classes. Some of the things in this game are so blundered that you have to wonder, were the class designers even there?. For example, Curse of Gwahlar ( Dark Templar PASSIVE feat) gives you a chance to get a damage over time proc on an enemy when they hit you. Sure, it sounds fine right?. However, if you try to run from an enemy, they continually chase because they have a damage over time on them, that keeps resetting the aggro, which keeps proccing because they keep hitting you... ROFL.. theres no way to turn this off.
HOW did that go unchanged? among other things. They were allowed to slack off for Anarchy Online, not this game. I honestly, as much as a huge funcom fanboi I used to be... I hope this game bombs. I really do, I hope that it closes doors in about 6 months.
As much as i agree and wait and see, the biggest problem with FC is everything they add and fix the more things get screwed up. Personally i think the game can be decent at best but it s the core of th e code etc thats borked. I don t think they really know why things happen and what to do in general. We ll have to see but i think theres enough people turned off to never come back. I know alot that feel this way, so yes to them and many others they did miss their window of oppurtunity.
As much as i agree and wait and see, the biggest problem with FC is everything they add and fix the more things get screwed up. Personally i think the game can be decent at best but it s the core of th e code etc thats borked. I don t think they really know why things happen and what to do in general. We ll have to see but i think theres enough people turned off to never come back. I know alot that feel this way, so yes to them and many others they did miss their window of oppurtunity.
I still think the game is too new and in its infancy. Keeping in perspective there will be hundreds of thousands of buddy keys soon, yes the whole pay to DL saga aside, will new people coming into the game from this ( and there will be ) come at the right time to not see what errors, were or were not fixed?
Of course this " fresh summer blood " approach, does depend on how well it al comes together leading up into the Fall period.
I still think its an area to consider that could play out in a good way...... or bad way.