I've never looked into AoC to be honest, i knew WAR was coming and set my heart on it. Months ago it was known that both AoC and WAR will be released close together and the community here at mmorpg.com were 50/50 on which to go and play as their main mmo. Now, all i see is threads and posts about this game saying how bad it is, how it has failed and that even some people want their money back??? Is it really that bad? or did most people just expect to much from the game? A friend of mine plays the game and he says its not bad, but will continue with Lineage II. I'd just like some more reasons why not to try this game out encase WAR doesn't deliver.
Yes Age of Conan is that bad. It had such little content and provided nothing new to the table especially with all the promises Failcom said we were going to have and that was printed on the box. The game is a complete failure due to not listening to the community, not taking things into account, lieing and everything else with it. You know its pretty bad when you quit within the first 4 weeks of release, that is sad, very sad. Plus it had no content after 35ish to me it was a complete grind and very boring. I will never go back to this piece of shit game, I had high hopes but those were crushed completely. FYI and IMO I wouldn't waste your money on this game you will be sorrowfully disappointed.
mmorpg's flop faster then mcdonalds cheese burgers these days.
AOC's quality is just lacking in every way that counts. Sure the graphics are great, but you get used to them and after the first 2 weeks, you've basically seen almost every model and texture.
Gameplay is where it counts and it's a tangled mess of haphazzard hacks. Take daggers for example. They all attack more slowly and have a lower dps rating than 1HE, 1HB and some polearms. What is even more funny is that Famine, a Funcom employee states in a post that daggers can be heavy and more sluggish than 3 ft swords, clubs, etc. so people's assumptions are wrong. You can read that one here: http://forums.ageofconan.com/showpost.php?p=1772774&postcount=10
There are plenty more examples, such as an arbitrary change to the Ambush skill to remove its damage buff to the next attack. Seeing as how you must be in stealth and you give up the ability to sneak attack when you use ambush, it's just another example of Funcom's buffoonery.
The game is actually worse now than at launch. Many of the more devoted fans are starting to walk away not because of the game's potential but because of the continual downward spiral of the game's core mechanics, introduction of new bugs and continued lack of end game content.
AOC is an ok game, it just isn't a very good MMORPG. It plays like a console single player game with others online at the same time. The overly simplistic combat mechanics make it feel like a beer and pretzel game rather than a real MMORPG and it has just enough content to be fun leveling up one time to max level.
It is fun in the same way that say The Witcher is fun, not in the same way as WoW.
Thank God, you understood it too!
Most of the players still don't see that AoC isn't an MMORPG.
Maybe the awareness will raise eventually, when FunCom has finished their modifications for the game to suit minors and be playable on console.
people expected too much from the game. People are crybabies and need to get over it. Conan is a decent mmo.
Actually, FC is the one that built up the hype about the game, promising many things that they just couldn't deliver. Of course, it's always up to the consumer to make wise choices, but they were sold on what FC promised. Looks like a lot of pepole are voting with their wallets after the fact.
AoC is a shallow and poor MMO, one with very limited long-term appeal.
I am not coming at this like a fanboi but Qmire must have played in a different World of Warcraft then me. I was in beta and played at launch and I thought WOW was great. HOWEVER, I don't believe the non-existant PVP that took in the area of a year to fix was a luxury item or sever issues from massive popularity. It was virtually non existant and it was not initially implemented well. I also HATED waiting in queues for Raid events for hours and that was well after the first year of WOW launch. There was plenty wrong with WOW when it launched, some zones were broken, there were broken quest lines and tweaks happening constantly to fix things plus what I mentioned above.
WoW was never advertised as a PvP game so I don't see why Blizzard was obligated to have a PvP system implemented at launch.
Waited in queues for Raid events? wtf are you talking about?
If I recall PVP was advertised as part of the game, it was just not the central focus of the game as it was PVE centric. When implemented it did not start off well.
If you have to ask the second then you were not around when Raids and PVP were implemented. I remember waiting for 2 hours waiting in a virtual lune (queue) in order to get into a Raid zone. it was the only reason I quit playing for a while as there was not enough to do at the time for my high level characters.
Anyway, the real point of this is that even WOW did not start off perfect. In better shape than AOC, yes, in better shape at Launch than LOTRO, no. AOC did launch in better shape than some MMOs that are still running after years.
Forget big things like sieges etc. - what amazes me the most is how they managed to screw up the little things that people don't even notice when they work good, but makes the game way more tedious and unenjoyable if they don't. In any case, people expect it, just like they expect 1,2,3 etc to switch weapons in a FPS, you can build up on it and everyone will be happy, but downgrade it, and you are making a very stupid mistake.
Chat interface - how in the world can a company with a supposed AA project manage to not do this right? - just make it work like WoW ... or just copy/paste it from AO, since it was one of the better chat interfaces arround. Just about the whole MMO world uses /emote for the emote - deciding to use something else is not an innovative feature, it is stupid. Maybe they fixed it after I stopped playing, but still - how the hell can you screw up chat interface in this day.
Same goes for group, raid interface etc. All those little invisible things people expect are not there. Not even to touch things like calendars, guilg organising features etc.
How the hell do you manage to make grouping a tedious thing in a MMO. Forget questing in a group being tedious (which it is), they managed to make the actuall process of grouping up and maintaining the group tedious - how the hell do you do that.
Just some things I can remember out of my head - they might changed some since, but I doubt it. Shows that FC didn't learn from the competition at all. Probably decided to ignore it and go with the fammiliar "we know best" attitude, because I just refuse to believe they didnt do any market research and they didn't play other games from the competition.
to answer the OPs question: Is AoC really that bad?
My answer would be: It cannot be that bad because the whole group of our small guild moved over to AoC. Even the wives of two of our guildies made the jump and they are the most critical members of our small group. If they do not like something they will let you know quite bluntly. At first they were quite sceptical about AoC because they rather liked it in the old MMO we played for 3 years. But after about two weeks everybody migrated over to AoC and the subs of the former MMO were put to rest.
I can only speak for myself and for the people I play with every evening. But AoC is a very nice game for those that do not intend to race to the top, and we are certainly such players. We have demanding jobs, some of us have children and/or a house, and only 2-3 hours per day to actually sit together, start up our voice chat and have some fun in AoC. So time is limited and if we wouldn't have fun then we would have left the game quite some time ago. Because if you are not able to enjoy those few hours a day then it is not worth the money you are paying for each month.
We all play on a PvE server and a small group has secondary characters on a PvP server to get our adrenalin fix every now and then. But our primary occupation is PvE questing, the guild city and alot of socializing.
I can see that AoC, at least at the moment, is perhaps not meant for those that like to power through to the end game and a meaningful PvP is only being implemented at the moment. But for us the game is good enough. At least it is good enough to log in every other day and have some premium fun with the guildies. And for me that is what counts.
So take my words and do with them as you like. It's just my personal opinion and perhaps it helps in deciding if the game is worth a try for you or not. I wont comment on the features AoC has because everyone has different tastes and some people hate features that others really like. You just have to experience it for yourself and then decide.
*************************** Remember, remember the 5th of November ***************************
The problem isn't even how bad it is now.. its the fact that it isn't going to get any better. I really laugh at those people that say " give it 6 months".
1. I'm not going to pay for 6 months to play a bugged game
2. Do you not think Funcom is really cutting back on their workforce. They see the cancalations.. they know they won't have the money to support a full staff. Add to that the fact that they have staff working on an expansion rather than fixing bugs or adding promised content. The game is not going to get better.. who is going to do it? Do you really think they are going to fire that guy doing the lying interview? No, they are going to fire the coders and QA people.. and probably customer service people.
The problem with games that wallow in the 50-100k sub range is that they don't have a development team any more. They have a team working on the next content and that's about it. The only thing 'waiting 6 months' will do is cost you $90 and get you to the point where you have a bugged game and now you are expected to buy an expansion.
It depends on what you want out of an mmo. The PvP people are really upset, I can imagine you would be when sieging doesn't work properly and all. However if you are a casual - average PvE (mostly) player its really fun! My husband and I play together and are having a blast. We've been playing since it released and sure there were some bugs and stuff but it was nothing compared to some of the previous launches of MMO's. We are not rushing to the end (we are at lvl 65 currently). No the game isn't perfect....there hasn't been an mmo that was just a few months post launch but people seem to forget that.
Yes I understand people are upset that things that were suppose to be in at launch weren't (Dx10) and feel cheated and lied to by funcom, its understandable. It is beginning to seem that mmo players have become a bit thin skinned (NOT EVERYONE - before you go off on a tangent about that) a game doesn't have everything we want right out of the box, has bugs in launch, and so forth is downright condemned and if they could they would round up every copy to burn it. Its a bit overdramatic for my taste.
I can't speak for those who feel betrayed by funcom, or those who are PvP'ers, I can only speak for me and bottom line: It's not perfect but depending on the type of player you are it can be fun!
Currently Playing: FFXIV:ARR Looking Forward to: Wildstar
No offense, but you strike me as the kind of ultra-casual that will either never see endgame or will get there in 1 year's time after playing once a week on a saturday for 2 hours with your hubby. You would likely be as satisfied playing any free-to-play MMO out there, unless your hubby is a bit more into gaming than you are.
A large portion of MMO players are not so casual and demand a better gaming experience than this steaming pile of garbage that AOC is once you get past the ultra-casual stage.
People are more likely to post complaints and flames than praise. Don't get me wrong, there are still issues with AoC, but overall I believe it is a fun game. I've been playing since launch and have been enjoying the combat system very much. There is a lot of instancing, more than I like, but it hasn't killed the game for me.
I suggest finding a nearby friend who plays AoC and sit down and play for yourself for a bit. If that's not an option, I might suggest waiting until a free trial comes out. It's really a like-it or hate-it type of game and I'd hate for you to spend your hard earned money to find out that you hate the game.
I make spreadsheets at work - I don't want to make them for the games I play.
To previous poster: No offense, but you strike me as the kind of ultra-casual that will either never see endgame or will get there in 1 year's time after playing once a week on a saturday for 2 hours with your hubby. You would likely be as satisfied playing any free-to-play MMO out there, unless your hubby is a bit more into gaming than you are. A large portion of MMO players are not so casual and demand a better gaming experience than this steaming pile of garbage that AOC is once you get past the ultra-casual stage.
No we are not "ulta-casual" and if you must know I'm the gamer of the two of us...but both of us hate the F2P mmo's. We have both been in end game guilds in the mmo's we have played and been highly involved with it. We just take it slow with new games.
Trust me I know that there are people who play a lot more than us, but we aren't once a week players. It was a slightly ignorant comment for you to make.
I didn't say people were wrong for being angry at funcom...I was just pointing out that to SOME people....the game is fine and in fact fun. Yes I do happen to think that players now a days demand stuff from a brand new mmo that they shouldn't expect...but who am I to argue. I have a game I enjoy playing added to several others, yay for me, and good luck to those who are still searching.
Currently Playing: FFXIV:ARR Looking Forward to: Wildstar
No we are not "ulta-casual" and if you must know I'm the gamer of the two of us...but both of us hate the F2P mmo's. We have both been in end game guilds in the mmo's we have played and been highly involved with it. We just take it slow with new games. Trust me I know that there are people who play a lot more than us, but we aren't once a week players. It was a slightly ignorant comment for you to make. I didn't say people were wrong for being angry at funcom...I was just pointing out that to SOME people....the game is fine and in fact fun. Yes I do happen to think that players now a days demand stuff from a brand new mmo that they shouldn't expect...but who am I to argue. I have a game I enjoy playing added to several others, yay for me, and good luck to those who are still searching.
The levelling experience is a jolly one up to a point (when the quests dry up and it becomes a pedestrian plod) but then you get near the level cap. I fear you haven't experienced that stage of the game. I was like you, I enjoyed the early parts of AOC and didn't understand why that "first wave" of level 80s expressed such discontent
I was probably part of the 3rd wave, the semi-casual crowd that hit 80 a month after release and realised that quite simply, when you take the aggregate of the broken stats, non-existent features and faulty engine and game design (things you don't notice while levelling), the game is utter garbage and might well be beyond fixing
The levelling experience is a jolly one up to a point (when the quests dry up and it becomes a pedestrian plod) but then you get near the level cap. I fear you haven't experienced that stage of the game. I was like you, I enjoyed the early parts of AOC and didn't understand why that "first wave" of level 80s expressed such discontent I was probably part of the 3rd wave, the semi-casual crowd that hit 80 a month after release and realised that quite simply, when you take the aggregate of the broken stats, non-existent features and faulty engine and game design (things you don't notice while levelling), the game is utter garbage and might well be beyond fixing
Perhaps you are right, I am not here to argue, was only trying to say to the OP that the answer to AoC being bad or not is dependant on what type of player you are. Some of the level 80's in my current guild are having a good time and taking on dungeons and stuff that are in the game. *shrug* I can't tell you anymore than my experience.
If you say it might not be able to be repaired you may be right, I don't know much about that, I just know that for me, a casual gamer, its still fun. This was all I was trying to say. I am not argueing that there are things that need to be fixed, both large and small....just trying to say it depends on the type of gamer if you will enjoy it. Not trying to say anyone is wrong about what is wrong with the game or anything like that, trust me I understand that they are there.
Currently Playing: FFXIV:ARR Looking Forward to: Wildstar
The levelling experience is a jolly one up to a point (when the quests dry up and it becomes a pedestrian plod) but then you get near the level cap. I fear you haven't experienced that stage of the game. I was like you, I enjoyed the early parts of AOC and didn't understand why that "first wave" of level 80s expressed such discontent I was probably part of the 3rd wave, the semi-casual crowd that hit 80 a month after release and realised that quite simply, when you take the aggregate of the broken stats, non-existent features and faulty engine and game design (things you don't notice while levelling), the game is utter garbage and might well be beyond fixing
You say you are semi-casual and hit the level cap within 1 month. Let us take that just as an experiment: You play every other day, being a semi-casual gamer, and then some longer hours on the weekend. That is 2-3 hours in the week and perhaps 5 hours on the weekend. Makes 14 hours a week on the game. Multiplied by 4 gives 56 hours to get to level 80. Thats two days and 8 hours to level cap.
Now me: I play every day for 2-3 hours with my guild and about 6-8 hours on the weekend. I play now since release, beta time not included in this calculation, which makes it now 10 weeks, yes? That's about 200 hours. Makes 8 days and I am now.....Level 60.
With two days played to level 80 you are certainly not semi-casual. Your goal was probably not to play the game 1-80 but to reach 80 as fast as you can to get to the end game, realizing that there was no endgame there when you reached the top of the mountain.
But you are right in your statement that there is not much to do in AoC when you are level 80 at the moment. AoC is too new for that and the content up there is lacking. So your best bet is to go to a game which is already running for quite some time where there is already an established amount of content for players in the level cap. And AoC is certainly not the game here that has that implemented, I give you that.
But given all those other games on the market I havent seen one that was able to provide sufficient endgame content within 2 months after release. And exactly that is why I never even tried to get to the top as fast as possible. Because it makes you realize that there is just thin air on the top of the mountain. The restaurant will get built quite some time later to make you feel comfy up there.
Just as a thought
Cheers
*************************** Remember, remember the 5th of November ***************************
I qualify as "first wave" the most hardcore powerplayers, who race to 80 within the first week (and I have no idea how they do it). These guys do it to have the advantages when it comes to controlling resources and market prices, and getting a foothold into a young game at its earliest point.
"Second wave" are those quite semi-hardcore people who are experienced at MMO gaming and took a few days holiday and are actively pushing to get to endgame to get an early start on it, but who aren't poopsocking it. They get there in 2-3 weeks and then want to get started on endgame PVP and PVE.
"Third wave" are the semi-casuals like me, gaming is pretty much our main hobby, we didn't take time off or play all night, but we're experienced MMO players who are efficient and spend our time levelling and questing methodically. We want to get to endgame, we just won't skip dinner and sleep to get there. We get there in 3-5 weeks.
The "Game Experience" casuals are the third wave, they play a decent amount but they want to experience the quests and are in no hurry to reach endgame at all, they're there for all the levelling content also, but they'd quite like there to be an endgame when they hit the level cap. These guys take 5-8 weeks to get there, and then they end up as bored as the first 3 waves.
Then we get the super-casuals, those guys who play a multitude of alts, play with their partners, friends or siblings and who basically are quite likely not at level cap with a single char even after 2 months of gaming. Those guys are the -only- ones who might be happy with AOC as it is currently.
Getting to 80 is insanely easy in AOC, it goes by before you know it, especially if you know your way around MMOs. Most of my friends were second wave, I was in third and some were fourth. ALL have quit or are about to quit, because this game, in the end, is a steaming pile of garbage that has no content and doesn't even have the framework for decent content to be added on.
AoC doesn't feel like an MMO, it feels like a single player RPG. I was really looking forward to AoC when I started reading the development talk years ago. It was different and it appealed to a much more hard-core crowd of players.
The problem is that during development so much of the hard-core was lost and it will probably never recover.
I played AoC for a month, go to level 44, had some fun. I think all developers learned a big lesson from Tortage. Having a major beginning zone like that with such a linear progression simply keeps a lot of players bored with their toons from re-rolling a new one. I know that there is no way in heck I would go through the Tortage questing again.
This game is WAY too linear. There is no openness, there is no real decision to be made, there is so little freedom and it is so simple that it only kept me for a month. This game is actually more restrictive than WoW. Sad as that it, it's true.
AoC was a great idea, Funcom really messed up the implementation. I don't think this game will ever see better days again.
AoC doesn't feel like an MMO, it feels like a single player RPG. I was really looking forward to AoC when I started reading the development talk years ago. It was different and it appealed to a much more hard-core crowd of players. The problem is that during development so much of the hard-core was lost and it will probably never recover. I played AoC for a month, go to level 44, had some fun. I think all developers learned a big lesson from Tortage. Having a major beginning zone like that with such a linear progression simply keeps a lot of players bored with their toons from re-rolling a new one. I know that there is no way in heck I would go through the Tortage questing again. This game is WAY too linear. There is no openness, there is no real decision to be made, there is so little freedom and it is so simple that it only kept me for a month. This game is actually more restrictive than WoW. Sad as that it, it's true. AoC was a great idea, Funcom really messed up the implementation. I don't think this game will ever see better days again.
The days of Sanbox games are dead but AOC is a lot more open after Tortage. I am doing all of the MMO stuff that is normal. Grouping, farming, questing, etc. It feels as much if not more of an MMO than Guild Wars. Some of the Zones are absolutely huge too. different strokes I guess but it feels just like an MMO to me.
The fundamental flaw with AoC is that it was specifically designed to level you to 80 as quickly as possible (as stated by Ellingson in one of his recent video interviews), but then provides you with very little that's not broken once you get there.
Crafting was never beta tested, and has huge problems with the design itself. It'll never sustain any kind of an economy without major overhauling.
Guild cities are an achievement to build, for sure. But that's done through mind-numbing hours of harvesting. Then once your guild has finished the tier 3 city, what's left? It's built and will never have to be built again.
Raiding is badly bugged, and most of it wasn't beta tested. On top of that, it doesn't require a whole lot of strategy. Most raid bosses are variations of the "tank and spank" style.
Massive PvP is anything but massive. Again, it's a feature that wasn't beta tested. For performance reasons they cut the size of the "armies" by about 7/8. Your guild's battle keep can only be attacked for a 1 1/2 hour window. Once that's over, you have 15 minutes to set a new time frame if you want. Whether you set a new time or not, the game randomly picks one of the next three days for your next battle. There are bugs galore, and little real motivation for guilds to even bother.
Anyway, people are rocketing to max level because that's how the game was designed, then justifiably unhappy when they get bored due to the lack of functional content at that point. So many people are leaving. In fact, the exodus is so dramatic that Funcom is hiding the true populations of the servers. They ALL say "medium" load no matter what time of day or day of week you log in. Once logged in, the in-game search feature is disabled so that you can't get a count of who's on. Many guilds have dissolved due to their memberships leaving the game, and the ones that are thriving at this point are doing so by absorbing holdovers from disbanded guilds in order to make up for their own lost numbers.
For the game to survive at this point, Funcom needs to finally release the long overdue PvP system. They need to fix the many nasty bugs that cripple their high end content. They need to introduce a lot more content. And they need to merge servers so that players actually have enough people to compete with. Frankly, there's no way that this can happen before Warhammer, which is going to pull even more subscribers away. Then there's Wrath of the Lich King, which is guaranteed to suck even more away. Followed by the likes of Aion, Stargate Worlds, Champions Online, Chronicles of Spellborn, and others that are due just in the first quarter of next year.
The bottom line is that you only get one chance to make a first impresssion, and Funcom has flubbed their golden opportunity. Honestly, they're now in Vanguard territory. They appear to be putting all of their hopes now into the upcoming paid expansion, which I anticipate that they'll advertise as a big "come back to AoC" event and a "grand re-launch" of the game.
AoC doesn't feel like an MMO, it feels like a single player RPG. I was really looking forward to AoC when I started reading the development talk years ago. It was different and it appealed to a much more hard-core crowd of players. The problem is that during development so much of the hard-core was lost and it will probably never recover. I played AoC for a month, go to level 44, had some fun. I think all developers learned a big lesson from Tortage. Having a major beginning zone like that with such a linear progression simply keeps a lot of players bored with their toons from re-rolling a new one. I know that there is no way in heck I would go through the Tortage questing again. This game is WAY too linear. There is no openness, there is no real decision to be made, there is so little freedom and it is so simple that it only kept me for a month. This game is actually more restrictive than WoW. Sad as that it, it's true. AoC was a great idea, Funcom really messed up the implementation. I don't think this game will ever see better days again.
The days of Sanbox games are dead but AOC is a lot more open after Tortage. I am doing all of the MMO stuff that is normal. Grouping, farming, questing, etc. It feels as much if not more of an MMO than Guild Wars. Some of the Zones are absolutely huge too. different strokes I guess but it feels just like an MMO to me.
I would say that AoC is a little more open after Tortage. You now get three zones to explore instead of one. The catch, though, is that you really have to do all the content in all three of those zones if you want to avoid massive grind later on. (Instead, you get moderate grind.)
The farther you progress in the game, the more linear it becomes. After those first three zones, the order then goes: Fields of the Dead, Noble District, E. Mountains, Atzel's Approach, Kheshatta. There's a little bouncing around between them, but not much.
Compare that to something like Vanguard where there are about a dozen starting areas, each filled with quests. I believe that it's actually possible to level a half dozen characters at least halfway through the game without ever repeating a quest. You can solo, play with a couple friends, or play with full groups -- there's ample content for all three play styles. The world is vast and open, with intriguing things on the horizon in just about all directions -- things that you can actually get to. In short, Vanguard does provide much more of a sandbox experience than most of the other games on the market while still providing quests to help make sure that you encounter content that's appropriate to your level.
If a game were to provide the best of AoC (combat system, massive PvP (assuming they get it working), etc.) with the best of Vanguard, it would be virtually unstoppable.
Wow, he said that AoC is wide open after Tortage??? I assume it's a joke. It gets a little more open, and a little less restrictive, but it is far from open.
I don't need AoC to be Pre-CU SWG or the original UO, but give us SOME decision, give us SOME freedom. Everything is so linear that it makes the game seem scripted and predetermined before you even log on. Do the quests, get the XP, level up, and then what?
To say that Sandbox games are dead is quite narrowminded as well, Fallen Earth is coming out fairly soon, and many more are under development at this time.
Comments
Yes Age of Conan is that bad. It had such little content and provided nothing new to the table especially with all the promises Failcom said we were going to have and that was printed on the box. The game is a complete failure due to not listening to the community, not taking things into account, lieing and everything else with it. You know its pretty bad when you quit within the first 4 weeks of release, that is sad, very sad. Plus it had no content after 35ish to me it was a complete grind and very boring. I will never go back to this piece of shit game, I had high hopes but those were crushed completely. FYI and IMO I wouldn't waste your money on this game you will be sorrowfully disappointed.
mmorpg's flop faster then mcdonalds cheese burgers these days.
Lelob has nailed it.
AOC's quality is just lacking in every way that counts. Sure the graphics are great, but you get used to them and after the first 2 weeks, you've basically seen almost every model and texture.
Gameplay is where it counts and it's a tangled mess of haphazzard hacks. Take daggers for example. They all attack more slowly and have a lower dps rating than 1HE, 1HB and some polearms. What is even more funny is that Famine, a Funcom employee states in a post that daggers can be heavy and more sluggish than 3 ft swords, clubs, etc. so people's assumptions are wrong. You can read that one here: http://forums.ageofconan.com/showpost.php?p=1772774&postcount=10
There are plenty more examples, such as an arbitrary change to the Ambush skill to remove its damage buff to the next attack. Seeing as how you must be in stealth and you give up the ability to sneak attack when you use ambush, it's just another example of Funcom's buffoonery.
The game is actually worse now than at launch. Many of the more devoted fans are starting to walk away not because of the game's potential but because of the continual downward spiral of the game's core mechanics, introduction of new bugs and continued lack of end game content.
Thank God, you understood it too!
Most of the players still don't see that AoC isn't an MMORPG.
Maybe the awareness will raise eventually, when FunCom has finished their modifications for the game to suit minors and be playable on console.
people expected too much from the game. People are crybabies and need to get over it. Conan is a decent mmo.
Actually, FC is the one that built up the hype about the game, promising many things that they just couldn't deliver. Of course, it's always up to the consumer to make wise choices, but they were sold on what FC promised. Looks like a lot of pepole are voting with their wallets after the fact.
AoC is a shallow and poor MMO, one with very limited long-term appeal.
Hell hath no fury like an MMORPG player scorned.
WoW was never advertised as a PvP game so I don't see why Blizzard was obligated to have a PvP system implemented at launch.
Waited in queues for Raid events? wtf are you talking about?
If I recall PVP was advertised as part of the game, it was just not the central focus of the game as it was PVE centric. When implemented it did not start off well.
If you have to ask the second then you were not around when Raids and PVP were implemented. I remember waiting for 2 hours waiting in a virtual lune (queue) in order to get into a Raid zone. it was the only reason I quit playing for a while as there was not enough to do at the time for my high level characters.
Anyway, the real point of this is that even WOW did not start off perfect. In better shape than AOC, yes, in better shape at Launch than LOTRO, no. AOC did launch in better shape than some MMOs that are still running after years.
Yeah, people expected little things like item stats too. Which Funcom couldn't even get right.
Gamer Plus+
Forget big things like sieges etc. - what amazes me the most is how they managed to screw up the little things that people don't even notice when they work good, but makes the game way more tedious and unenjoyable if they don't. In any case, people expect it, just like they expect 1,2,3 etc to switch weapons in a FPS, you can build up on it and everyone will be happy, but downgrade it, and you are making a very stupid mistake.
Chat interface - how in the world can a company with a supposed AA project manage to not do this right? - just make it work like WoW ... or just copy/paste it from AO, since it was one of the better chat interfaces arround. Just about the whole MMO world uses /emote for the emote - deciding to use something else is not an innovative feature, it is stupid. Maybe they fixed it after I stopped playing, but still - how the hell can you screw up chat interface in this day.
Same goes for group, raid interface etc. All those little invisible things people expect are not there. Not even to touch things like calendars, guilg organising features etc.
How the hell do you manage to make grouping a tedious thing in a MMO. Forget questing in a group being tedious (which it is), they managed to make the actuall process of grouping up and maintaining the group tedious - how the hell do you do that.
Just some things I can remember out of my head - they might changed some since, but I doubt it. Shows that FC didn't learn from the competition at all. Probably decided to ignore it and go with the fammiliar "we know best" attitude, because I just refuse to believe they didnt do any market research and they didn't play other games from the competition.
forums.ageofconan.com/showthread.php
That's how good MMORPG AoC is.
Funcom knows how to fool PC gamers.
EDIT: If it wasn't clear to everyone, IMO MMORPG's are not played with gaming pad.
to answer the OPs question: Is AoC really that bad?
My answer would be: It cannot be that bad because the whole group of our small guild moved over to AoC. Even the wives of two of our guildies made the jump and they are the most critical members of our small group. If they do not like something they will let you know quite bluntly. At first they were quite sceptical about AoC because they rather liked it in the old MMO we played for 3 years. But after about two weeks everybody migrated over to AoC and the subs of the former MMO were put to rest.
I can only speak for myself and for the people I play with every evening. But AoC is a very nice game for those that do not intend to race to the top, and we are certainly such players. We have demanding jobs, some of us have children and/or a house, and only 2-3 hours per day to actually sit together, start up our voice chat and have some fun in AoC. So time is limited and if we wouldn't have fun then we would have left the game quite some time ago. Because if you are not able to enjoy those few hours a day then it is not worth the money you are paying for each month.
We all play on a PvE server and a small group has secondary characters on a PvP server to get our adrenalin fix every now and then. But our primary occupation is PvE questing, the guild city and alot of socializing.
I can see that AoC, at least at the moment, is perhaps not meant for those that like to power through to the end game and a meaningful PvP is only being implemented at the moment. But for us the game is good enough. At least it is good enough to log in every other day and have some premium fun with the guildies. And for me that is what counts.
So take my words and do with them as you like. It's just my personal opinion and perhaps it helps in deciding if the game is worth a try for you or not. I wont comment on the features AoC has because everyone has different tastes and some people hate features that others really like. You just have to experience it for yourself and then decide.
***************************
Remember, remember the 5th of November
***************************
It's bad, real bad. Some free grind fest mmo's are better.
The problem isn't even how bad it is now.. its the fact that it isn't going to get any better. I really laugh at those people that say " give it 6 months".
1. I'm not going to pay for 6 months to play a bugged game
2. Do you not think Funcom is really cutting back on their workforce. They see the cancalations.. they know they won't have the money to support a full staff. Add to that the fact that they have staff working on an expansion rather than fixing bugs or adding promised content. The game is not going to get better.. who is going to do it? Do you really think they are going to fire that guy doing the lying interview? No, they are going to fire the coders and QA people.. and probably customer service people.
The problem with games that wallow in the 50-100k sub range is that they don't have a development team any more. They have a team working on the next content and that's about it. The only thing 'waiting 6 months' will do is cost you $90 and get you to the point where you have a bugged game and now you are expected to buy an expansion.
It depends on what you want out of an mmo. The PvP people are really upset, I can imagine you would be when sieging doesn't work properly and all. However if you are a casual - average PvE (mostly) player its really fun! My husband and I play together and are having a blast. We've been playing since it released and sure there were some bugs and stuff but it was nothing compared to some of the previous launches of MMO's. We are not rushing to the end (we are at lvl 65 currently). No the game isn't perfect....there hasn't been an mmo that was just a few months post launch but people seem to forget that.
Yes I understand people are upset that things that were suppose to be in at launch weren't (Dx10) and feel cheated and lied to by funcom, its understandable. It is beginning to seem that mmo players have become a bit thin skinned (NOT EVERYONE - before you go off on a tangent about that) a game doesn't have everything we want right out of the box, has bugs in launch, and so forth is downright condemned and if they could they would round up every copy to burn it. Its a bit overdramatic for my taste.
I can't speak for those who feel betrayed by funcom, or those who are PvP'ers, I can only speak for me and bottom line: It's not perfect but depending on the type of player you are it can be fun!
Currently Playing: FFXIV:ARR
Looking Forward to: Wildstar
To previous poster:
No offense, but you strike me as the kind of ultra-casual that will either never see endgame or will get there in 1 year's time after playing once a week on a saturday for 2 hours with your hubby. You would likely be as satisfied playing any free-to-play MMO out there, unless your hubby is a bit more into gaming than you are.
A large portion of MMO players are not so casual and demand a better gaming experience than this steaming pile of garbage that AOC is once you get past the ultra-casual stage.
People are more likely to post complaints and flames than praise. Don't get me wrong, there are still issues with AoC, but overall I believe it is a fun game. I've been playing since launch and have been enjoying the combat system very much. There is a lot of instancing, more than I like, but it hasn't killed the game for me.
I suggest finding a nearby friend who plays AoC and sit down and play for yourself for a bit. If that's not an option, I might suggest waiting until a free trial comes out. It's really a like-it or hate-it type of game and I'd hate for you to spend your hard earned money to find out that you hate the game.
I make spreadsheets at work - I don't want to make them for the games I play.
No we are not "ulta-casual" and if you must know I'm the gamer of the two of us...but both of us hate the F2P mmo's. We have both been in end game guilds in the mmo's we have played and been highly involved with it. We just take it slow with new games.
Trust me I know that there are people who play a lot more than us, but we aren't once a week players. It was a slightly ignorant comment for you to make.
I didn't say people were wrong for being angry at funcom...I was just pointing out that to SOME people....the game is fine and in fact fun. Yes I do happen to think that players now a days demand stuff from a brand new mmo that they shouldn't expect...but who am I to argue. I have a game I enjoy playing added to several others, yay for me, and good luck to those who are still searching.
Currently Playing: FFXIV:ARR
Looking Forward to: Wildstar
The levelling experience is a jolly one up to a point (when the quests dry up and it becomes a pedestrian plod) but then you get near the level cap. I fear you haven't experienced that stage of the game. I was like you, I enjoyed the early parts of AOC and didn't understand why that "first wave" of level 80s expressed such discontent
I was probably part of the 3rd wave, the semi-casual crowd that hit 80 a month after release and realised that quite simply, when you take the aggregate of the broken stats, non-existent features and faulty engine and game design (things you don't notice while levelling), the game is utter garbage and might well be beyond fixing
Perhaps you are right, I am not here to argue, was only trying to say to the OP that the answer to AoC being bad or not is dependant on what type of player you are. Some of the level 80's in my current guild are having a good time and taking on dungeons and stuff that are in the game. *shrug* I can't tell you anymore than my experience.
If you say it might not be able to be repaired you may be right, I don't know much about that, I just know that for me, a casual gamer, its still fun. This was all I was trying to say. I am not argueing that there are things that need to be fixed, both large and small....just trying to say it depends on the type of gamer if you will enjoy it. Not trying to say anyone is wrong about what is wrong with the game or anything like that, trust me I understand that they are there.
Currently Playing: FFXIV:ARR
Looking Forward to: Wildstar
You say you are semi-casual and hit the level cap within 1 month. Let us take that just as an experiment: You play every other day, being a semi-casual gamer, and then some longer hours on the weekend. That is 2-3 hours in the week and perhaps 5 hours on the weekend. Makes 14 hours a week on the game. Multiplied by 4 gives 56 hours to get to level 80. Thats two days and 8 hours to level cap.
Now me: I play every day for 2-3 hours with my guild and about 6-8 hours on the weekend. I play now since release, beta time not included in this calculation, which makes it now 10 weeks, yes? That's about 200 hours. Makes 8 days and I am now.....Level 60.
With two days played to level 80 you are certainly not semi-casual. Your goal was probably not to play the game 1-80 but to reach 80 as fast as you can to get to the end game, realizing that there was no endgame there when you reached the top of the mountain.
But you are right in your statement that there is not much to do in AoC when you are level 80 at the moment. AoC is too new for that and the content up there is lacking. So your best bet is to go to a game which is already running for quite some time where there is already an established amount of content for players in the level cap. And AoC is certainly not the game here that has that implemented, I give you that.
But given all those other games on the market I havent seen one that was able to provide sufficient endgame content within 2 months after release. And exactly that is why I never even tried to get to the top as fast as possible. Because it makes you realize that there is just thin air on the top of the mountain. The restaurant will get built quite some time later to make you feel comfy up there.
Just as a thought
Cheers
***************************
Remember, remember the 5th of November
***************************
I qualify as "first wave" the most hardcore powerplayers, who race to 80 within the first week (and I have no idea how they do it). These guys do it to have the advantages when it comes to controlling resources and market prices, and getting a foothold into a young game at its earliest point.
"Second wave" are those quite semi-hardcore people who are experienced at MMO gaming and took a few days holiday and are actively pushing to get to endgame to get an early start on it, but who aren't poopsocking it. They get there in 2-3 weeks and then want to get started on endgame PVP and PVE.
"Third wave" are the semi-casuals like me, gaming is pretty much our main hobby, we didn't take time off or play all night, but we're experienced MMO players who are efficient and spend our time levelling and questing methodically. We want to get to endgame, we just won't skip dinner and sleep to get there. We get there in 3-5 weeks.
The "Game Experience" casuals are the third wave, they play a decent amount but they want to experience the quests and are in no hurry to reach endgame at all, they're there for all the levelling content also, but they'd quite like there to be an endgame when they hit the level cap. These guys take 5-8 weeks to get there, and then they end up as bored as the first 3 waves.
Then we get the super-casuals, those guys who play a multitude of alts, play with their partners, friends or siblings and who basically are quite likely not at level cap with a single char even after 2 months of gaming. Those guys are the -only- ones who might be happy with AOC as it is currently.
Getting to 80 is insanely easy in AOC, it goes by before you know it, especially if you know your way around MMOs. Most of my friends were second wave, I was in third and some were fourth. ALL have quit or are about to quit, because this game, in the end, is a steaming pile of garbage that has no content and doesn't even have the framework for decent content to be added on.
AoC doesn't feel like an MMO, it feels like a single player RPG. I was really looking forward to AoC when I started reading the development talk years ago. It was different and it appealed to a much more hard-core crowd of players.
The problem is that during development so much of the hard-core was lost and it will probably never recover.
I played AoC for a month, go to level 44, had some fun. I think all developers learned a big lesson from Tortage. Having a major beginning zone like that with such a linear progression simply keeps a lot of players bored with their toons from re-rolling a new one. I know that there is no way in heck I would go through the Tortage questing again.
This game is WAY too linear. There is no openness, there is no real decision to be made, there is so little freedom and it is so simple that it only kept me for a month. This game is actually more restrictive than WoW. Sad as that it, it's true.
AoC was a great idea, Funcom really messed up the implementation. I don't think this game will ever see better days again.
Tecmo Bowl.
The days of Sanbox games are dead but AOC is a lot more open after Tortage. I am doing all of the MMO stuff that is normal. Grouping, farming, questing, etc. It feels as much if not more of an MMO than Guild Wars. Some of the Zones are absolutely huge too. different strokes I guess but it feels just like an MMO to me.
The fundamental flaw with AoC is that it was specifically designed to level you to 80 as quickly as possible (as stated by Ellingson in one of his recent video interviews), but then provides you with very little that's not broken once you get there.
Crafting was never beta tested, and has huge problems with the design itself. It'll never sustain any kind of an economy without major overhauling.
Guild cities are an achievement to build, for sure. But that's done through mind-numbing hours of harvesting. Then once your guild has finished the tier 3 city, what's left? It's built and will never have to be built again.
Raiding is badly bugged, and most of it wasn't beta tested. On top of that, it doesn't require a whole lot of strategy. Most raid bosses are variations of the "tank and spank" style.
Massive PvP is anything but massive. Again, it's a feature that wasn't beta tested. For performance reasons they cut the size of the "armies" by about 7/8. Your guild's battle keep can only be attacked for a 1 1/2 hour window. Once that's over, you have 15 minutes to set a new time frame if you want. Whether you set a new time or not, the game randomly picks one of the next three days for your next battle. There are bugs galore, and little real motivation for guilds to even bother.
Anyway, people are rocketing to max level because that's how the game was designed, then justifiably unhappy when they get bored due to the lack of functional content at that point. So many people are leaving. In fact, the exodus is so dramatic that Funcom is hiding the true populations of the servers. They ALL say "medium" load no matter what time of day or day of week you log in. Once logged in, the in-game search feature is disabled so that you can't get a count of who's on. Many guilds have dissolved due to their memberships leaving the game, and the ones that are thriving at this point are doing so by absorbing holdovers from disbanded guilds in order to make up for their own lost numbers.
For the game to survive at this point, Funcom needs to finally release the long overdue PvP system. They need to fix the many nasty bugs that cripple their high end content. They need to introduce a lot more content. And they need to merge servers so that players actually have enough people to compete with. Frankly, there's no way that this can happen before Warhammer, which is going to pull even more subscribers away. Then there's Wrath of the Lich King, which is guaranteed to suck even more away. Followed by the likes of Aion, Stargate Worlds, Champions Online, Chronicles of Spellborn, and others that are due just in the first quarter of next year.
The bottom line is that you only get one chance to make a first impresssion, and Funcom has flubbed their golden opportunity. Honestly, they're now in Vanguard territory. They appear to be putting all of their hopes now into the upcoming paid expansion, which I anticipate that they'll advertise as a big "come back to AoC" event and a "grand re-launch" of the game.
The days of Sanbox games are dead but AOC is a lot more open after Tortage. I am doing all of the MMO stuff that is normal. Grouping, farming, questing, etc. It feels as much if not more of an MMO than Guild Wars. Some of the Zones are absolutely huge too. different strokes I guess but it feels just like an MMO to me.
I would say that AoC is a little more open after Tortage. You now get three zones to explore instead of one. The catch, though, is that you really have to do all the content in all three of those zones if you want to avoid massive grind later on. (Instead, you get moderate grind.)
The farther you progress in the game, the more linear it becomes. After those first three zones, the order then goes: Fields of the Dead, Noble District, E. Mountains, Atzel's Approach, Kheshatta. There's a little bouncing around between them, but not much.
Compare that to something like Vanguard where there are about a dozen starting areas, each filled with quests. I believe that it's actually possible to level a half dozen characters at least halfway through the game without ever repeating a quest. You can solo, play with a couple friends, or play with full groups -- there's ample content for all three play styles. The world is vast and open, with intriguing things on the horizon in just about all directions -- things that you can actually get to. In short, Vanguard does provide much more of a sandbox experience than most of the other games on the market while still providing quests to help make sure that you encounter content that's appropriate to your level.
If a game were to provide the best of AoC (combat system, massive PvP (assuming they get it working), etc.) with the best of Vanguard, it would be virtually unstoppable.
Wow, he said that AoC is wide open after Tortage??? I assume it's a joke. It gets a little more open, and a little less restrictive, but it is far from open.
I don't need AoC to be Pre-CU SWG or the original UO, but give us SOME decision, give us SOME freedom. Everything is so linear that it makes the game seem scripted and predetermined before you even log on. Do the quests, get the XP, level up, and then what?
To say that Sandbox games are dead is quite narrowminded as well, Fallen Earth is coming out fairly soon, and many more are under development at this time.
Tecmo Bowl.