lolish note no one destroyed this game but funcom, aoc was an epic fail before it was released, funcom knew it, and we didnt, lets see what was the game before, and after the release, from a point of view of a fan who followed the game for years. -->before the release : 1- 100% pvp oriented MMORPG 2- new combat system dynamic, 100% skill based, which means free combat choose when to dodge attack where to place attack, when you are skilled you win 3- amazing graphics, first mmorpg using directx 10 4- mature content, violent content 5- epic mass pvp with keeps and other stuff this was what i was waiting for from the game infos i had.
-->after release : 1- no pvp system, just FFA, i dont know if you actualy understand the gravity of this, but few weeks before the release, they decided that their pvp system sucked ass, so they had to remove and work on a complete new system, knowing the game is sold to be a pvp game will be released without it. 2- combat system, isnt dynamic at all, you slide while you are fighting, ppl instead of jumping like on a fps they run around you, your combo hit target 20feet from you as long as you land the first part of the combo(they maybe changed this after a patch i heard), skill based become macro keyboard based, if you have G15 or nostromo you will win most of the time,+ one shot ppl isnt what i call skill based, the shield system just suck ass you just put 1 on top and 2on the left, is the best set you can make making this feature useless. 3- graphic are good, if we forget the 3-5 secondes of the ugly texture forming every port or respawn, no directx10 yet, graphic engine is so fucked up it's impossible to make it run correctly on massive fights, youcant custumize the graphic for better fps, you just put max and play, who give a shit about fps when you are pvping, and using combo that you miss becuz of lags, instead of enjoying the ffa it became frustrating between lags, freezes, and yea instance crash like 10 a day + memory leak crash another 10 4- mature content, censorship? no nipple no real nudity, no bitches no sex we are way far from "the witcher" , violent ok , fatality arnt new, i already played an aborted mmo a year before aoc and it had fatality called Gods and Heroes 5- epic keeps, are fully buged, then they are way too far from epic, 24v24, or 48v48 not that many ppl, plus it's so damn boring, you spend 50% of the time hiting buildings, 30% of the time running back from rez or camps, and 20% pvp, and i found it really really boring, minigames....battle ground i did 5 and i was done even more boring than keeps, even if you wanna do it for your guild.
this was my anticipation and my finding, then the game was just way too much buged, i did mny mmo releases, i know the games arnt always ready, but there is a limit, some bugs hit the gameplay way too hard, that ruins the fun, and those bugs shouldnt be at the release and most importantly not after 2 months of the release, patch fix crap bugs and creat bigest bugs, not once not twice, i think every single patch made the crap more crapier. i dont hate the game, i was just disapointed, i was looking for something and i had something else i didnt want, age of conan have a great univers, need alot of fixe to be fun, probleme is funcom, they new what the game was like before the release, they new it wasnt ready, they decided to release it anyway without open beta, to limit the impact on sells, it worked the game was well sold, now it's dead not becuz of the forum but becuz the game is crap and need one more year of work from funcom if they can keep it up for a year, or sell it to another company, more talented or with more resources to finish the job. anyway in my opinion, funcom wil not be able to pull it off with aoc, it needs investment in long term doubt they have the money for it, for a long term, and doubt they can find someone who will put money on it, cuz it's too risky.
100% opinion. Its posts like these that scare players away. Let them try it out for themselves, there are many people out there that like it.
Forums had a part in the downfall of AOC. Not because they are flaming AOC atm. More because ppl were NOT informed and are NOT informed about the true status of the game.
OFC ppl will go beserk when they find out that a gaming company is created just to scam money out of ppl. And Funcom is trying their very best to make sure ppl dont find out before they buy the game.
Now... Game of the year ? Expansion of the year... lol - dream on. Its gonna go down as the best example on how to NOT launch a new MMO game.
lolish note no one destroyed this game but funcom, aoc was an epic fail before it was released, funcom knew it, and we didnt, lets see what was the game before, and after the release, from a point of view of a fan who followed the game for years. -->before the release : 1- 100% pvp oriented MMORPG 2- new combat system dynamic, 100% skill based, which means free combat choose when to dodge attack where to place attack, when you are skilled you win 3- amazing graphics, first mmorpg using directx 10 4- mature content, violent content 5- epic mass pvp with keeps and other stuff this was what i was waiting for from the game infos i had.
-->after release : 1- no pvp system, just FFA, i dont know if you actualy understand the gravity of this, but few weeks before the release, they decided that their pvp system sucked ass, so they had to remove and work on a complete new system, knowing the game is sold to be a pvp game will be released without it. 2- combat system, isnt dynamic at all, you slide while you are fighting, ppl instead of jumping like on a fps they run around you, your combo hit target 20feet from you as long as you land the first part of the combo(they maybe changed this after a patch i heard), skill based become macro keyboard based, if you have G15 or nostromo you will win most of the time,+ one shot ppl isnt what i call skill based, the shield system just suck ass you just put 1 on top and 2on the left, is the best set you can make making this feature useless. 3- graphic are good, if we forget the 3-5 secondes of the ugly texture forming every port or respawn, no directx10 yet, graphic engine is so fucked up it's impossible to make it run correctly on massive fights, youcant custumize the graphic for better fps, you just put max and play, who give a shit about fps when you are pvping, and using combo that you miss becuz of lags, instead of enjoying the ffa it became frustrating between lags, freezes, and yea instance crash like 10 a day + memory leak crash another 10 4- mature content, censorship? no nipple no real nudity, no bitches no sex we are way far from "the witcher" , violent ok , fatality arnt new, i already played an aborted mmo a year before aoc and it had fatality called Gods and Heroes 5- epic keeps, are fully buged, then they are way too far from epic, 24v24, or 48v48 not that many ppl, plus it's so damn boring, you spend 50% of the time hiting buildings, 30% of the time running back from rez or camps, and 20% pvp, and i found it really really boring, minigames....battle ground i did 5 and i was done even more boring than keeps, even if you wanna do it for your guild.
this was my anticipation and my finding, then the game was just way too much buged, i did mny mmo releases, i know the games arnt always ready, but there is a limit, some bugs hit the gameplay way too hard, that ruins the fun, and those bugs shouldnt be at the release and most importantly not after 2 months of the release, patch fix crap bugs and creat bigest bugs, not once not twice, i think every single patch made the crap more crapier. i dont hate the game, i was just disapointed, i was looking for something and i had something else i didnt want, age of conan have a great univers, need alot of fixe to be fun, probleme is funcom, they new what the game was like before the release, they new it wasnt ready, they decided to release it anyway without open beta, to limit the impact on sells, it worked the game was well sold, now it's dead not becuz of the forum but becuz the game is crap and need one more year of work from funcom if they can keep it up for a year, or sell it to another company, more talented or with more resources to finish the job. anyway in my opinion, funcom wil not be able to pull it off with aoc, it needs investment in long term doubt they have the money for it, for a long term, and doubt they can find someone who will put money on it, cuz it's too risky.
100% opinion. Its posts like these that scare players away. Let them try it out for themselves, there are many people out there that like it.
Umm... 100% opinion? I don't think so.
He provided a bullet-list of things discussed/promised for some time prior to release, then followed with what actually shipped.
There's no "opinion" in that. They either delivered on those points, or they didn't. As it turns out, they didn't in several cases.
His feelings on what happened, of course, is opinion. It just so happens that many people share that opinion, and the reaction the game is getting, here and elsewhere show that loud and clear. It's not like it's a random handful of people limited to these forums. The outrage is being displayed all over the place.
Stop trying to pass the buck. It's FC's actions that have led to people leaving the game and making posts like those you see here. It's called "cause and effect".
If the game had a solid, stable launch with what was promised actually implemented, and if FC wasn't conducting themself as abysmally as they are, you'd see a much different tone in these threads.
If you don't believe it, go look at the LoTRO forums here for example. Even with its detractors, several of whom are quite strong in their views, that game is acknowledged as having had a solid, stable launch and most people credit Turbine for handling its PR/Communications very well for the most part.
The result is a game with a much more positive reputation overall, here and elsewhere.
Now, had that game launched the way AoC did, and was followed-up the way FC has so far, you better believe it would be receiving the same lashing AoC is getting. Don't believe it, see Asheron's Call 2.. a game from Turbine that was a trainwreck in its own right - and the players were *very* vocal about that at the time. Some still are.
Point is... Stop trying to play the victim card on FC's behalf. Stop putting the cart before the horse. Stop blaming the players/posters for FC's failures. The players are reacting to the game that FC made and to their behavior since.
"If you just step away for a sec you will clearly see all the pot holes in the road, and the cash shop selling asphalt..." - Mimzel on F2P/Cash Shops
i remember when DnD online was released. turbine took some lashing for that game as well. instead of spinning things with lie after lie, they went ahead and fine tuned their game accordingly and what we have now may not be the best in terms of mmorpg's but it is still a nice game with solid content. i think turbine learned a few lessons from their previous releases and built their next game (LOTR) much better. Funcom should have learned at least a lesson or two from AO, but it doesnt show what so ever.
just wait till they are really strapped for cash and sell all our info to an ad agency...which they can do so if they want since its already in their TOS....
i remember when DnD online was released. turbine took some lashing for that game as well. instead of spinning things with lie after lie, they went ahead and fine tuned their game accordingly and what we have now may not be the best in terms of mmorpg's but it is still a nice game with solid content. i think turbine learned a few lessons from their previous releases and built their next game (LOTR) much better. Funcom should have learned at least a lesson or two from AO, but it doesnt show what so ever.
Another good point.
FC's been through this before with AO. A horrible launch, a shaky follow-up... many decisions players were not very happy with (to say the least).
They've had years to learn from those mistakes and do things right with AoC. They failed.
The OP is trying portray it as "If only people weren't so negative on the forums, AoC would be doing better".
That's a wonderful fantasy to cling to.
Unfortunately the reality is more like this:
If Funcom had shipped the game in a state more representative of the hype leading up to its release and had conducted themselves better in the follow-up, there wouldn't be so much to be negative about"
"If you just step away for a sec you will clearly see all the pot holes in the road, and the cash shop selling asphalt..." - Mimzel on F2P/Cash Shops
i remember when DnD online was released. turbine took some lashing for that game as well. instead of spinning things with lie after lie, they went ahead and fine tuned their game accordingly and what we have now may not be the best in terms of mmorpg's but it is still a nice game with solid content. i think turbine learned a few lessons from their previous releases and built their next game (LOTR) much better. Funcom should have learned at least a lesson or two from AO, but it doesnt show what so ever.
Another good point.
FC's been through this before with AO. A horrible launch, a shaky follow-up... many decisions players were not very happy with (to say the least).
They've had years to learn from those mistakes and do things right with AoC. They failed.
The OP is trying to twist this into "If only people weren't so negative on the forums, AoC would be doing better".
That's a wonderful fantasy to cling to.
Unfortunately the reality is more like this:
If Funcom had shipped the game in a state more representative of the hype leading up to its release and had conducted themselves better in the follow-up, the response wouldn't be so negative".
no, funcom wasn't through this before, with age of conan it's different, why ? they put alot of money to make the game, with AO they had the possibility even if the games fails to stay in play as a company, now if aoc fails, funcom just shut down
i remember when DnD online was released. turbine took some lashing for that game as well. instead of spinning things with lie after lie, they went ahead and fine tuned their game accordingly and what we have now may not be the best in terms of mmorpg's but it is still a nice game with solid content. i think turbine learned a few lessons from their previous releases and built their next game (LOTR) much better. Funcom should have learned at least a lesson or two from AO, but it doesnt show what so ever.
Another good point.
FC's been through this before with AO. A horrible launch, a shaky follow-up... many decisions players were not very happy with (to say the least).
They've had years to learn from those mistakes and do things right with AoC. They failed.
The OP is trying to twist this into "If only people weren't so negative on the forums, AoC would be doing better".
That's a wonderful fantasy to cling to.
Unfortunately the reality is more like this:
If Funcom had shipped the game in a state more representative of the hype leading up to its release and had conducted themselves better in the follow-up, the response wouldn't be so negative".
no, funcom wasn't through this before, with age of conan it's different, why ? they put alot of money to make the game, with AO they had the possibility even if the games fails to stay in play as a company, now if aoc fails, funcom just shut down
the futur on aoc = funcom's futur
Well that's a different discussion. I'm not talking about how well prepared they are to deal with the fall-out as a company. Time will tell on that.
I'm talking about how they had years of experience from developing, launching and maintaining a previous MMO to learn from, and apparently learned nothing.
They'd even put out a post-mortem discussing the mistakes made and what could have been done better in AO after it was released. So it's not like they were clueless to what problems could arise going into AoC.
In other words - by all rights, AoC should have had a better, more complete and more stable release.
"If you just step away for a sec you will clearly see all the pot holes in the road, and the cash shop selling asphalt..." - Mimzel on F2P/Cash Shops
lol this forum is a riot ! i come here every now and then to get a look at the train wreck we call AOC .
anyway , the forums didn't ruin AOC , Funcom did .
if funcom didn't lie to it's customers then no one would complain then lying . if AOC wasn't riddled with bugs then no one would complain about the bugs . if AOC had good content from 50 - 80 then no one would complain about level 50 - 80 content . if AOC didn't CTD every 8 seconds for the vast majority of people then no one would complain about CTD's . if AOC had good PvP then no one would complain about about PvP . i could go on for an hour ...
i know some people like AOC and thats cool if you do ! most people do not and it has nothing to do with the forums .
i remember when DnD online was released. turbine took some lashing for that game as well. instead of spinning things with lie after lie, they went ahead and fine tuned their game accordingly and what we have now may not be the best in terms of mmorpg's but it is still a nice game with solid content. i think turbine learned a few lessons from their previous releases and built their next game (LOTR) much better. Funcom should have learned at least a lesson or two from AO, but it doesnt show what so ever.
Another good point.
FC's been through this before with AO. A horrible launch, a shaky follow-up... many decisions players were not very happy with (to say the least).
They've had years to learn from those mistakes and do things right with AoC. They failed.
The OP is trying to twist this into "If only people weren't so negative on the forums, AoC would be doing better".
That's a wonderful fantasy to cling to.
Unfortunately the reality is more like this:
If Funcom had shipped the game in a state more representative of the hype leading up to its release and had conducted themselves better in the follow-up, the response wouldn't be so negative".
no, funcom wasn't through this before, with age of conan it's different, why ? they put alot of money to make the game, with AO they had the possibility even if the games fails to stay in play as a company, now if aoc fails, funcom just shut down
the futur on aoc = funcom's futur
AOC will be deserted once WAR comes out . i may be a WAR fanboi but it's not specifically WAR that will kill off AOC for good . if any MMO with good content , no major game breaking bugs and is fun to play were to come out before WAR , i would say that is that game that will put the nail in the coffin for AOC .
To the mention of DDO.. truth be told, it maynot have been an MMO in the traditional sense but the dungeons were the best PVE content of any game, IMO.
There were real tactical decisions to be made. Mana conservation was a constant issue - none of this constant regen.
It was a very good pve game.
But what the market is crying out for is a good world pvp game.
AoC promised this, and it turned out to be a total lie. Shame on Funcom.
WAR is the next game to promise this, and seems to be offering a far more entertaining world pvp experience than AoC - albeit with more old fashioned gameplay and less compelling graphics.
We'll see.
But Funcom missed the boat by spending too much time on pve, switching to pvp content too late, and was forced to make up big fat lies about pvp content. Not only that, but it has continued to make up lies to this day, including Comical Ali-level claims of moving from strength to strength.
Forums did not kill this game.
Bad perfomance, a lack of world pvp content, completely messed up stats and gear, as well as a procession of never ending lies killed this game.
Seriously, the only solution at this point for people who see potential in AoC is to cancel and come back later. Maybe they will fix it. I hope so. But for now it's all about WAR.
In a way i agree with the OP. I've seen the game change in accordance to people crying on the forums.
I liked the way the game played at first (On the pvp servers) but things started changing soon after when people started crying for less travel time and cheaper mounts and so on.
Now we have people crying about ganking on pvp servers but to be honest without the challenge of trying to stay alive because of player-kills and spawn killing the game would be WAY too easy.
Funcom is taking a bad situation and making it worse
In a way i agree with the OP. I've seen the game change in accordance to people crying on the forums. I liked the way the game played at first (On the pvp servers) but things started changing soon after when people started crying for less travel time and cheaper mounts and so on. Now we have people crying about ganking on pvp servers but to be honest without the challenge of trying to stay alive because of player-kills and spawn killing the game would be WAY too easy. Funcom is taking a bad situation and making it worse
I'd say they're shooting themselves in the collective foot... repeatedly...
"If you just step away for a sec you will clearly see all the pot holes in the road, and the cash shop selling asphalt..." - Mimzel on F2P/Cash Shops
i remember when DnD online was released. turbine took some lashing for that game as well. instead of spinning things with lie after lie, they went ahead and fine tuned their game accordingly and what we have now may not be the best in terms of mmorpg's but it is still a nice game with solid content. i think turbine learned a few lessons from their previous releases and built their next game (LOTR) much better. Funcom should have learned at least a lesson or two from AO, but it doesnt show what so ever.
Another good point.
FC's been through this before with AO. A horrible launch, a shaky follow-up... many decisions players were not very happy with (to say the least).
They've had years to learn from those mistakes and do things right with AoC. They failed.
The OP is trying to twist this into "If only people weren't so negative on the forums, AoC would be doing better".
That's a wonderful fantasy to cling to.
Unfortunately the reality is more like this:
If Funcom had shipped the game in a state more representative of the hype leading up to its release and had conducted themselves better in the follow-up, the response wouldn't be so negative".
no, funcom wasn't through this before, with age of conan it's different, why ? they put alot of money to make the game, with AO they had the possibility even if the games fails to stay in play as a company, now if aoc fails, funcom just shut down
the futur on aoc = funcom's futur
Well that's a different discussion. I'm not talking about how well prepared they are to deal with the fall-out as a company. Time will tell on that.
I'm talking about how they had years of experience from developing, launching and maintaining a previous MMO to learn from, and apparently learned nothing.
They'd even put out a post-mortem discussing the mistakes made and what could have been done better in AO after it was released. So it's not like they were clueless to what problems could arise going into AoC.
In other words - by all rights, AoC should have had a better, more complete and more stable release.
what experience????????????
did you know that funcom lost most of his talented developing team working on aoc, during 2006/2007 , why did you think the game was delayed 4 time for more than 2 years, do the 2 and a half months of patch tell you how talented are their team ?
If people haven't figured it out by now, ANY developer that doesn't drop its NDA until release obviously is not confident they have a product they want people knowing about. Everything else all leads back to that. Blizzard dropped their NDA months before release. They had a wide open beta for a few weeks. Did they care at all what people said? No. Because they knew they had a good game. FC knew they had a problem and if they dropped the NDA earlier those BIG initial sales numbers would be 1/4 of what they were. They knew it. Its all biting them in the a$$ now and they deserve every bit of it. They did with AO and pulled it again with AOC.
If forums destroy a game, WOW would be in the toilet, because no game gets needlessly bashed and lied about as much. Not even close. Blizzard is the floor matt for angry, basement dwelling nerd kind that spend more time bashing MMOs than playing them.
Over time, AoC will improve, just like AO did. It'll become a niche MMO as well. Thats fine for those willing to stick it out. I'm sure FC had much higher goals though.
In a way i agree with the OP. I've seen the game change in accordance to people crying on the forums. I liked the way the game played at first (On the pvp servers) but things started changing soon after when people started crying for less travel time and cheaper mounts and so on. Now we have people crying about ganking on pvp servers but to be honest without the challenge of trying to stay alive because of player-kills and spawn killing the game would be WAY too easy. Funcom is taking a bad situation and making it worse
The game was fun when we all started out on Day 1.
Then the incompetently handled patches came on. You know, breaking stuff that wasn't broken before with every patch...
Then the "Nerf everything but not fix any of the classes and gear" mentality came on.
Then big issues were not being fixed.
Then Sieges, something alot of people looked forward to, were found not to be working, and STILL don't work after 2 months of release... oh wow, don't those Pre-Release Screenshots of sieges looks so fun? I bet it would rock to be a part of that...
Now, I ask for an honest answer:
Is Age of Conan better NOW or at it's RELEASE?
"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 don't think forums destroyed the game, but forum moderators certainly destroyed the goodwill of many players. You have all heard at least one rant against the moderators on the official forums, and I tell you, those are all understatements. The one calling itself "Tahitoa" is the worst by far, and reading his/hers replies/lockdowns makes me want to grab a chainsaw and catch the next train to Oslo. They contain NO substance whatsoever, just far-fetched applications of "forum guidelines" and better-than-thou mentality. A company employing such a person in customer relations (or anywhere really, except as crash test dummy) won't get any of my money ever, ever again.
Fortunately, the game is broken enough to be a cancellation reason in itself. Even if it was good, I would seriously consider cancelling over the lack of customer care Funcom exhibits. The people complaining on the forums often criticize Funcoms lack of valid replies even more than the actual game. And we HAVE reasons. The game won't fix itself, Funcom won't fix it - what are we supposed to do, thank them for lying?
Forums haven't destroyed this game. Funcom didn't need any help with that.
For the OP, Forum Posters aren't THE cause for destroying any game due to ONE major reason: The run-of-the-mill forum posters are not the ones working on the game, i.e. the monkeys at Failcom mashing on the keys and pushing out patches. Now, think of it like this: Have you **ever** considered **why** there are a bunch of angry paying / formerly-paying posters for AoC? **Especially** when they point out cold, hard facts? There's no denying there are malcontents anywhere you go. However, when you have alot of angry customers (or former customers) ranting about the same things... IS there a cause of concern?
Whats the majority of malcontent? It was that there was no endgame within a week of playing. I don't want to hear about game crashes, I've had 4 game crashes with AoC, and i still get game crashes from any game i play. Thats just the way PC gaming is. People rushed as fast as they could, exploiting to level 80, (and then bitched when they got banned which is yet another negative post towards funcom and the game) only to find there was very limited content at 80. I don't know what people expected. Maybe some people just assumed it would be like mmorpgs with years already under their belt.
You are trying your hardest to look at this in the brightest light since you have not had enough problems with the game it is pure conjectire on your part that "most" of the complaints about this game was no end game content look at any forum and I doubt you will see that this was the biggest complaint and another point just to shoot down any notion that this makes any sense at all didn't FUNCOM in an interview say that the game was designed to get to the highest levels more quickly? Something along the lines of not believeing in making people grind through low level content to get to the meat of the game, so my point once again is why would you release when they did if you already knew you had no end game content and people would discover that much sooner than later? I can't think of anything other than bad management.
but yeah, to call this game Fantastic is like calling Twilight the Godfather of vampire movies....
Originally posted by WSIMike I'm talking about how they had years of experience from developing, launching and maintaining a previous MMO to learn from, and apparently learned nothing. They'd even put out a post-mortem discussing the mistakes made and what could have been done better in AO after it was released. So it's not like they were clueless to what problems could arise going into AoC. In other words - by all rights, AoC should have had a better, more complete and more stable release.
what experience????????????
did you know that funcom lost most of his talented developing team working on aoc, during 2006/2007 , why did you think the game was delayed 4 time for more than 2 years, do the 2 and a half months of patch tell you how talented are their team ?
What are you arguing exactly? You're taking what I said totally out of context.
It has nothing to do with whether they lost team members. You think Funcom are the only company to have lost team members part way through a game's production? They're not. Far from it.
Should losing developers result in a delay? Sure... that makes sense.
But, if their ducks were in a row, if they had a solid plan in place that they were executing accordingly, it should not have resulted in the rolling train-wreck AoC's launch has proven to be.
Once again, you'd think they'd have learned from their mistakes with AO and applied that knowledge to AoC.
They didn't.
Aside from that, a loss of team members has absolutely nothing to do with with FC's behavior and PR antics in the months since its release.
"If you just step away for a sec you will clearly see all the pot holes in the road, and the cash shop selling asphalt..." - Mimzel on F2P/Cash Shops
Anyone want to buy a slightly used game called Age of Conan? It has a real pretty box that it came in. But after opening the box the experience was a bummer.
Blaming Funcom's state on forums is like blaming the press and free speech for watergate or any other failed political agenda. Anyone who would espouse increased information control and censorship as a solution to anything is just ... scary. (note: I'm not saying OP is doing this, just that if bitching about the press is step 1, it's step 1 to what? In other words, the only thing you can do about free speech and/or the press is to bitch about it, live with it, or try to kill it ).
Forums are just a form of press... press done by individuals, (and not just by traditional journalists who made an occupation out of it). It's just another area where the internet is turning the world on it's head.
The only thing worth bitching about is the readers... it places more responsibility on the readers to read and think about what they are reading. Could be a 5 year old just joking around, could be a funcom employee, could be a pissed off customer, etc. Also, you never really know who is writing anything you read. So you have to take it all with a grain of salt, just listen to the points, check out statements for evidence etc. A little more work required from readers... but all in all, i like it.
WOW this forum is still going, did anyone read the OP LOL. OMG he just broke the :O /10char with it.
Sevensodd is probablly right and is it anything we should be alarmed about? What? The general community is in uproar about something and bring down something that isnt what we consider above board?
mmorpg must be looking in amazement at the AOC forums, it really is a sign of the times.
Time to let this thread die guys and keep up with the most recent events.
For or against make your voice heard, this thread was started with three words move on you noobs.
Time to let this thread die guys and keep up with the most recent events.
For or against make your voice heard, this thread was started with three words move on you noobs.
Thanks for the instruction mate. I usually just see if there is anything interesting on the first page.... but will PM you from now on to make sure it's something I should comment on.
Time to let this thread die guys and keep up with the most recent events.
For or against make your voice heard, this thread was started with three words move on you noobs.
Thanks for the instruction mate. I usually just see if there is anything interesting on the first page.... but will PM you from now on to make sure it's something I should comment on.
Man the OP had three words to say, what is going on here?
Comments
100% opinion. Its posts like these that scare players away. Let them try it out for themselves, there are many people out there that like it.
Forums had a part in the downfall of AOC. Not because they are flaming AOC atm. More because ppl were NOT informed and are NOT informed about the true status of the game.
OFC ppl will go beserk when they find out that a gaming company is created just to scam money out of ppl. And Funcom is trying their very best to make sure ppl dont find out before they buy the game.
Now... Game of the year ? Expansion of the year... lol - dream on. Its gonna go down as the best example on how to NOT launch a new MMO game.
100% opinion. Its posts like these that scare players away. Let them try it out for themselves, there are many people out there that like it.
Umm... 100% opinion? I don't think so.
He provided a bullet-list of things discussed/promised for some time prior to release, then followed with what actually shipped.
There's no "opinion" in that. They either delivered on those points, or they didn't. As it turns out, they didn't in several cases.
His feelings on what happened, of course, is opinion. It just so happens that many people share that opinion, and the reaction the game is getting, here and elsewhere show that loud and clear. It's not like it's a random handful of people limited to these forums. The outrage is being displayed all over the place.
Stop trying to pass the buck. It's FC's actions that have led to people leaving the game and making posts like those you see here. It's called "cause and effect".
If the game had a solid, stable launch with what was promised actually implemented, and if FC wasn't conducting themself as abysmally as they are, you'd see a much different tone in these threads.
If you don't believe it, go look at the LoTRO forums here for example. Even with its detractors, several of whom are quite strong in their views, that game is acknowledged as having had a solid, stable launch and most people credit Turbine for handling its PR/Communications very well for the most part.
The result is a game with a much more positive reputation overall, here and elsewhere.
Now, had that game launched the way AoC did, and was followed-up the way FC has so far, you better believe it would be receiving the same lashing AoC is getting. Don't believe it, see Asheron's Call 2.. a game from Turbine that was a trainwreck in its own right - and the players were *very* vocal about that at the time. Some still are.
Point is... Stop trying to play the victim card on FC's behalf. Stop putting the cart before the horse. Stop blaming the players/posters for FC's failures. The players are reacting to the game that FC made and to their behavior since.
and the cash shop selling asphalt..." - Mimzel on F2P/Cash Shops
i remember when DnD online was released. turbine took some lashing for that game as well. instead of spinning things with lie after lie, they went ahead and fine tuned their game accordingly and what we have now may not be the best in terms of mmorpg's but it is still a nice game with solid content. i think turbine learned a few lessons from their previous releases and built their next game (LOTR) much better. Funcom should have learned at least a lesson or two from AO, but it doesnt show what so ever.
just wait till they are really strapped for cash and sell all our info to an ad agency...which they can do so if they want since its already in their TOS....
Head Joint SoundCloud Page
https://soundcloud.com/headjointambient1
Another good point.
FC's been through this before with AO. A horrible launch, a shaky follow-up... many decisions players were not very happy with (to say the least).
They've had years to learn from those mistakes and do things right with AoC. They failed.
The OP is trying portray it as "If only people weren't so negative on the forums, AoC would be doing better".
That's a wonderful fantasy to cling to.
Unfortunately the reality is more like this:
If Funcom had shipped the game in a state more representative of the hype leading up to its release and had conducted themselves better in the follow-up, there wouldn't be so much to be negative about"
and the cash shop selling asphalt..." - Mimzel on F2P/Cash Shops
yeah forums destroyeed the reputation of this game ..... because funcom wouldn't dare promote it's own game
I still can't get over the whole "WoW is like McDonald's" campaign.
Finwe on microphones in MMOs: "it'd eliminate l33t speak....But it would bring in ebonics."
Another good point.
FC's been through this before with AO. A horrible launch, a shaky follow-up... many decisions players were not very happy with (to say the least).
They've had years to learn from those mistakes and do things right with AoC. They failed.
The OP is trying to twist this into "If only people weren't so negative on the forums, AoC would be doing better".
That's a wonderful fantasy to cling to.
Unfortunately the reality is more like this:
If Funcom had shipped the game in a state more representative of the hype leading up to its release and had conducted themselves better in the follow-up, the response wouldn't be so negative".
no, funcom wasn't through this before, with age of conan it's different, why ? they put alot of money to make the game, with AO they had the possibility even if the games fails to stay in play as a company, now if aoc fails, funcom just shut down
the futur on aoc = funcom's futur
The exchange of information and ideas on a message board will never destroy a game. If the game sucks it will kill itself.
Another good point.
FC's been through this before with AO. A horrible launch, a shaky follow-up... many decisions players were not very happy with (to say the least).
They've had years to learn from those mistakes and do things right with AoC. They failed.
The OP is trying to twist this into "If only people weren't so negative on the forums, AoC would be doing better".
That's a wonderful fantasy to cling to.
Unfortunately the reality is more like this:
If Funcom had shipped the game in a state more representative of the hype leading up to its release and had conducted themselves better in the follow-up, the response wouldn't be so negative".
no, funcom wasn't through this before, with age of conan it's different, why ? they put alot of money to make the game, with AO they had the possibility even if the games fails to stay in play as a company, now if aoc fails, funcom just shut down
the futur on aoc = funcom's futur
Well that's a different discussion. I'm not talking about how well prepared they are to deal with the fall-out as a company. Time will tell on that.
I'm talking about how they had years of experience from developing, launching and maintaining a previous MMO to learn from, and apparently learned nothing.
They'd even put out a post-mortem discussing the mistakes made and what could have been done better in AO after it was released. So it's not like they were clueless to what problems could arise going into AoC.
In other words - by all rights, AoC should have had a better, more complete and more stable release.
and the cash shop selling asphalt..." - Mimzel on F2P/Cash Shops
lol this forum is a riot ! i come here every now and then to get a look at the train wreck we call AOC .
anyway , the forums didn't ruin AOC , Funcom did .
if funcom didn't lie to it's customers then no one would complain then lying . if AOC wasn't riddled with bugs then no one would complain about the bugs . if AOC had good content from 50 - 80 then no one would complain about level 50 - 80 content . if AOC didn't CTD every 8 seconds for the vast majority of people then no one would complain about CTD's . if AOC had good PvP then no one would complain about about PvP . i could go on for an hour ...
i know some people like AOC and thats cool if you do ! most people do not and it has nothing to do with the forums .
Another good point.
FC's been through this before with AO. A horrible launch, a shaky follow-up... many decisions players were not very happy with (to say the least).
They've had years to learn from those mistakes and do things right with AoC. They failed.
The OP is trying to twist this into "If only people weren't so negative on the forums, AoC would be doing better".
That's a wonderful fantasy to cling to.
Unfortunately the reality is more like this:
If Funcom had shipped the game in a state more representative of the hype leading up to its release and had conducted themselves better in the follow-up, the response wouldn't be so negative".
no, funcom wasn't through this before, with age of conan it's different, why ? they put alot of money to make the game, with AO they had the possibility even if the games fails to stay in play as a company, now if aoc fails, funcom just shut down
the futur on aoc = funcom's futur
AOC will be deserted once WAR comes out . i may be a WAR fanboi but it's not specifically WAR that will kill off AOC for good . if any MMO with good content , no major game breaking bugs and is fun to play were to come out before WAR , i would say that is that game that will put the nail in the coffin for AOC .
To the mention of DDO.. truth be told, it maynot have been an MMO in the traditional sense but the dungeons were the best PVE content of any game, IMO.
There were real tactical decisions to be made. Mana conservation was a constant issue - none of this constant regen.
It was a very good pve game.
But what the market is crying out for is a good world pvp game.
AoC promised this, and it turned out to be a total lie. Shame on Funcom.
WAR is the next game to promise this, and seems to be offering a far more entertaining world pvp experience than AoC - albeit with more old fashioned gameplay and less compelling graphics.
We'll see.
But Funcom missed the boat by spending too much time on pve, switching to pvp content too late, and was forced to make up big fat lies about pvp content. Not only that, but it has continued to make up lies to this day, including Comical Ali-level claims of moving from strength to strength.
Forums did not kill this game.
Bad perfomance, a lack of world pvp content, completely messed up stats and gear, as well as a procession of never ending lies killed this game.
Seriously, the only solution at this point for people who see potential in AoC is to cancel and come back later. Maybe they will fix it. I hope so. But for now it's all about WAR.
In a way i agree with the OP. I've seen the game change in accordance to people crying on the forums.
I liked the way the game played at first (On the pvp servers) but things started changing soon after when people started crying for less travel time and cheaper mounts and so on.
Now we have people crying about ganking on pvp servers but to be honest without the challenge of trying to stay alive because of player-kills and spawn killing the game would be WAY too easy.
Funcom is taking a bad situation and making it worse
I'd say they're shooting themselves in the collective foot... repeatedly...
and the cash shop selling asphalt..." - Mimzel on F2P/Cash Shops
Another good point.
FC's been through this before with AO. A horrible launch, a shaky follow-up... many decisions players were not very happy with (to say the least).
They've had years to learn from those mistakes and do things right with AoC. They failed.
The OP is trying to twist this into "If only people weren't so negative on the forums, AoC would be doing better".
That's a wonderful fantasy to cling to.
Unfortunately the reality is more like this:
If Funcom had shipped the game in a state more representative of the hype leading up to its release and had conducted themselves better in the follow-up, the response wouldn't be so negative".
no, funcom wasn't through this before, with age of conan it's different, why ? they put alot of money to make the game, with AO they had the possibility even if the games fails to stay in play as a company, now if aoc fails, funcom just shut down
the futur on aoc = funcom's futur
Well that's a different discussion. I'm not talking about how well prepared they are to deal with the fall-out as a company. Time will tell on that.
I'm talking about how they had years of experience from developing, launching and maintaining a previous MMO to learn from, and apparently learned nothing.
They'd even put out a post-mortem discussing the mistakes made and what could have been done better in AO after it was released. So it's not like they were clueless to what problems could arise going into AoC.
In other words - by all rights, AoC should have had a better, more complete and more stable release.
what experience????????????
did you know that funcom lost most of his talented developing team working on aoc, during 2006/2007 , why did you think the game was delayed 4 time for more than 2 years, do the 2 and a half months of patch tell you how talented are their team ?
If people haven't figured it out by now, ANY developer that doesn't drop its NDA until release obviously is not confident they have a product they want people knowing about. Everything else all leads back to that. Blizzard dropped their NDA months before release. They had a wide open beta for a few weeks. Did they care at all what people said? No. Because they knew they had a good game. FC knew they had a problem and if they dropped the NDA earlier those BIG initial sales numbers would be 1/4 of what they were. They knew it. Its all biting them in the a$$ now and they deserve every bit of it. They did with AO and pulled it again with AOC.
If forums destroy a game, WOW would be in the toilet, because no game gets needlessly bashed and lied about as much. Not even close. Blizzard is the floor matt for angry, basement dwelling nerd kind that spend more time bashing MMOs than playing them.
Over time, AoC will improve, just like AO did. It'll become a niche MMO as well. Thats fine for those willing to stick it out. I'm sure FC had much higher goals though.
The game was fun when we all started out on Day 1.
Then the incompetently handled patches came on. You know, breaking stuff that wasn't broken before with every patch...
Then the "Nerf everything but not fix any of the classes and gear" mentality came on.
Then big issues were not being fixed.
Then Sieges, something alot of people looked forward to, were found not to be working, and STILL don't work after 2 months of release... oh wow, don't those Pre-Release Screenshots of sieges looks so fun? I bet it would rock to be a part of that...
Now, I ask for an honest answer:
Is Age of Conan better NOW or at it's RELEASE?
"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 don't think forums destroyed the game, but forum moderators certainly destroyed the goodwill of many players. You have all heard at least one rant against the moderators on the official forums, and I tell you, those are all understatements. The one calling itself "Tahitoa" is the worst by far, and reading his/hers replies/lockdowns makes me want to grab a chainsaw and catch the next train to Oslo. They contain NO substance whatsoever, just far-fetched applications of "forum guidelines" and better-than-thou mentality. A company employing such a person in customer relations (or anywhere really, except as crash test dummy) won't get any of my money ever, ever again.
Fortunately, the game is broken enough to be a cancellation reason in itself. Even if it was good, I would seriously consider cancelling over the lack of customer care Funcom exhibits. The people complaining on the forums often criticize Funcoms lack of valid replies even more than the actual game. And we HAVE reasons. The game won't fix itself, Funcom won't fix it - what are we supposed to do, thank them for lying?
Forums haven't destroyed this game. Funcom didn't need any help with that.
Whats the majority of malcontent? It was that there was no endgame within a week of playing. I don't want to hear about game crashes, I've had 4 game crashes with AoC, and i still get game crashes from any game i play. Thats just the way PC gaming is. People rushed as fast as they could, exploiting to level 80, (and then bitched when they got banned which is yet another negative post towards funcom and the game) only to find there was very limited content at 80. I don't know what people expected. Maybe some people just assumed it would be like mmorpgs with years already under their belt.
You are trying your hardest to look at this in the brightest light since you have not had enough problems with the game it is pure conjectire on your part that "most" of the complaints about this game was no end game content look at any forum and I doubt you will see that this was the biggest complaint and another point just to shoot down any notion that this makes any sense at all didn't FUNCOM in an interview say that the game was designed to get to the highest levels more quickly? Something along the lines of not believeing in making people grind through low level content to get to the meat of the game, so my point once again is why would you release when they did if you already knew you had no end game content and people would discover that much sooner than later? I can't think of anything other than bad management.
but yeah, to call this game Fantastic is like calling Twilight the Godfather of vampire movies....
what experience????????????
did you know that funcom lost most of his talented developing team working on aoc, during 2006/2007 , why did you think the game was delayed 4 time for more than 2 years, do the 2 and a half months of patch tell you how talented are their team ?
What are you arguing exactly? You're taking what I said totally out of context.
It has nothing to do with whether they lost team members. You think Funcom are the only company to have lost team members part way through a game's production? They're not. Far from it.
Should losing developers result in a delay? Sure... that makes sense.
But, if their ducks were in a row, if they had a solid plan in place that they were executing accordingly, it should not have resulted in the rolling train-wreck AoC's launch has proven to be.
Once again, you'd think they'd have learned from their mistakes with AO and applied that knowledge to AoC.
They didn't.
Aside from that, a loss of team members has absolutely nothing to do with with FC's behavior and PR antics in the months since its release.
and the cash shop selling asphalt..." - Mimzel on F2P/Cash Shops
Anyone want to buy a slightly used game called Age of Conan? It has a real pretty box that it came in. But after opening the box the experience was a bummer.
Blaming Funcom's state on forums is like blaming the press and free speech for watergate or any other failed political agenda. Anyone who would espouse increased information control and censorship as a solution to anything is just ... scary. (note: I'm not saying OP is doing this, just that if bitching about the press is step 1, it's step 1 to what? In other words, the only thing you can do about free speech and/or the press is to bitch about it, live with it, or try to kill it ).
Forums are just a form of press... press done by individuals, (and not just by traditional journalists who made an occupation out of it). It's just another area where the internet is turning the world on it's head.
The only thing worth bitching about is the readers... it places more responsibility on the readers to read and think about what they are reading. Could be a 5 year old just joking around, could be a funcom employee, could be a pissed off customer, etc. Also, you never really know who is writing anything you read. So you have to take it all with a grain of salt, just listen to the points, check out statements for evidence etc. A little more work required from readers... but all in all, i like it.
WOW this forum is still going, did anyone read the OP LOL. OMG he just broke the :O /10char with it.
Sevensodd is probablly right and is it anything we should be alarmed about? What? The general community is in uproar about something and bring down something that isnt what we consider above board?
mmorpg must be looking in amazement at the AOC forums, it really is a sign of the times.
Time to let this thread die guys and keep up with the most recent events.
For or against make your voice heard, this thread was started with three words move on you noobs.
WOW this forum is still going,
...Time to let this thread die guys and keep up with the most recent events.
For or against make your voice heard, this thread was started with three words move on you noobs.
Thanks for the instruction mate. I usually just see if there is anything interesting on the first page.... but will PM you from now on to make sure it's something I should comment on.
WOW this forum is still going,
...Time to let this thread die guys and keep up with the most recent events.
For or against make your voice heard, this thread was started with three words move on you noobs.
Thanks for the instruction mate. I usually just see if there is anything interesting on the first page.... but will PM you from now on to make sure it's something I should comment on.
Man the OP had three words to say, what is going on here?