I recently resubbed and honestly I have been very impressed and had a blast for the last month. I always enjoyed the combat but the lack of content at some areas made me leave eventually. I have had a ton of fun with new zones, and content, and I can't wait for the expansion. I plan to make a new Khitan char and also take my 80 HoX to the new lands and get through all the content they have created. I am a fan of the offline leveling already. Really loving this game for now to get me to FFXIV.
It depends on your playstyle really, keep in mind it's entirely possible AOC just isn't the game for you. I will probably never make a single alt, aside from my free 50 which I never play. I have fun doing guild related activities, running dungeons, PVPing etc.. Haven't felt the need to play another character yet.
As much as I wanted to love AoC I finally came to this conclusion. I'm one of those who also hated every minute I spent in Tortage and cursed the devs for only having one starting area. I was really hoping to see some improvements made to the midlevels, or maybe do something to encourage grouping while leveling. The addition of 9 more solo instances showed me the path FC wants us to take to the top so I won't be resubscribing. It really is a shame too because after playing around on the test server and running some of the lvl 80 dungeons I am really going to miss some aspects of the game and the expansion.
Keep fixing the core bugs and encourage grouping prior to lvl 75 and I will gladly give it another try.
Yeah grouping while unguilded is a pain in AOC at mid range levels, as most players tend to be guilded (atleast on PVP servers). Which means they're geared already (usually). I will correct you in that open grouping actually seems to start at the 50's range at least now anyway. As it's the toughest tier by far before you reach 80. Most likely due to the free lvl 50 everyone receives.
I spent 3 weeks in March playing three toons in the 50-65 range. Every night for those three weeks I was LFG trying to run group dungeons. I got four partially filled groups in those three weeks and the only way we were able to complete the dungeons is because we had someone bring a level 80 guild mate along. I advertised in game, here on this site as well as on the Set server forums. In each place I was told to solo grind to lvl 75 and then start running dungeons because people just dont waste their time on the mid level group content anymore.
I think you did your best to show what this game has for offer or how it has changed but in all honestly i am not convinced this is a good game yet. The main core problems, like PvP, Siege, Raiding etc not addressed yet even in this expansion and it has been long time since the release, Slow developing games are just not worth a 2nd look IMO.
I made Tempest of Set and Bear Shaman level cap both of them in under 10 days when game was initially lunched and every review i hear from you guys is that they added new content this or that for leveling but the thing is. leveling is easy in this game it dose not need that. what it needs is new Raids that are acctully challenging, a Seige System that works like it was promised before release. a PvP system that works or atleast gives an illusion of some sort of balance. Crafting system vs Item reward gaind from Raids needs to be adressed. I remember i made Evasion set for my ToS and no one could hit me while no gear from Raiding coul ever match that.
I dont remember which one it was but if you double tab forward or back you get added evasion and with right items you end up with like 75+% evasion. Then there is the problem of walking under the walls and floors the Siege walls are used as barrier but there is glitch that lets you walk under them; same can be used in some raids.
I mean i can go on forever but the thing is. it all comes down to this. The game has good and griping story and nice graphics but beauty is only skin deep as they say. it needs to find a soul and it lacks that for me.
Thats right keep trotting out the same tired, out of date and frankly wrong information about the game every opportunity you get. Much of what you say WAS true about the game two years ago (yes it's been two years since that cra pfest) but the game since then has changed beyond the recognition of the game back in those days.
You statement that raids are not challenging is wrong. Currently, for example, theres Tier 3 raiding patched in 3 months ago. Difficult enough that no guild has yet managed to master all 7 bosses (yes yes I know the 6th had a bug stopping progression which is now fixed) and so diffcult the primary PvE server in the EU only lists a handful of guilds who've managed to down even the first 5 bosses.
The sieging, while still not perfect by any means works very well on most servers. PVP is pretty well balanced at the moment (though the PVP mechanisms like minigames still clearly need work to stop "pre-made" guild teams dominating). The last two patches (1.06 and 1.07) sorted out a lot of the remaining PVP balace issues greatly re-balancing the "Age of Casters" imbalance that plagued the game.
Crafting is somewhat useful and some decent items can be made but I agree this IS one area that could still do with a lot of work. There are however items that can be crafted that are still better under certain conditions than anything else in the game (Ibis swords).
The whole "evasion" armour set issue you allude to was patched out of the game with patch 1.05 (or was it 1.04?) well over a year ago. That whole gem system was clearly broken and it disappeared completely with the armour overhaul. Problems like that simply don't exist any more (unless they're your run of the mill exploits which you get in every game) The exploits you mention are all (to my knoledge anyway) fixed. You can't "bump" through walls any more and the majority of raids are not currently exploitable (at least if they are it's not generally known and not how any of the top raiding guilds are doing it)
You could go on forever talking about things that were wrong with the game two years ago OR you could stop slating the game without any basis on CURRENT fact. Certainly the game is not in any way flawless, it would be ridiculous to claim ANY MMO is remotely near to flawless. But the game, as it stands, is a damn fine game with a LOT to offer both people who played at launch and people who've never tried it before PROVIDED they forget all the rhetoric and historic problems that no longer exist. I'm all for slagging off FC for the many things they've done wrong but continuing to bash them citing problems that haven't been in the game for 18 months is patently ridiculous.
There was no insult in my post so dont make things up that i didnt say. Also there are different ways of playing a game. yes for me it is all up rushing to end and doing end game content. if you think that is what makes a player "Jaded" as you say then you are wrong. one key point of any succesful design for game now days is the End-Game. i am sure MMORPG done few articles about it them self.
What i was trying to point out is that, AoC is not a grinding game. it takes very little effort to hit the level cap. so all this effort trying to improve the low level game is good but the main focuse needs to be else where. they need content where it matters the most and that is at End Game, Improving the system that dont work correctly those sort of things.
Look at it this way, how many days will you spend at low level range? And how many days will you spend at end game range? you cant stay low level for ever eventully you will move on and want more. I hate to compare it to WoW but that is one clear example of what i am talking about. they constantly add new content, new items new raids etc. that is the sort of thing AoC could use.
Otherwise the only way to enjoy AoC is to make loads of Alts and keep doing 1-30 range. which is ok fun 1st few times but then what?
This is what the expansion is focusing on. It is mainly end game content. All the new zones except the new starter zone are for level cap players. They are adding in a lot of more complete dungeon runs for groups and raids. But the main focus is a new grinding type of play from what I gather.
There will be 12 new factions to grind for gear. Five of opposite factions. So you will have to choose the factions you want to join. Two are secret and have the new mounts/pets to grind for and are also opposite. I believe there are 5 new outdoor areas, all for level 80 that are 4 times larger than any other zone so far. They will be connected this time. No more of the broken zones from the original game.
So the main focus is on the level cap. The leveling process has been left the same with many ways to speed up your leveling to get to the new part of the game for grinding gear and AA skills. So you would be fine with leveling in 10 days or less with all the new end game stuff. Is it enough? I have no clue, but it is a major step in the right direction IMO.
PS: I am not a fanboi for those who want to label me as such. I left the game early on because of the same problems many have. I just believe the game is now closer to what it should be with the expansion. It could flop, just throwing out some facts from the expansion info.
How many people long for that "past, simpler, and better world," I wonder, without ever recognizing the truth that perhaps it was they who were simpler and better, and not the world about them? R.A.Salvatore
It depends on your playstyle really, keep in mind it's entirely possible AOC just isn't the game for you. I will probably never make a single alt, aside from my free 50 which I never play. I have fun doing guild related activities, running dungeons, PVPing etc.. Haven't felt the need to play another character yet.
As much as I wanted to love AoC I finally came to this conclusion. I'm one of those who also hated every minute I spent in Tortage and cursed the devs for only having one starting area. I was really hoping to see some improvements made to the midlevels, or maybe do something to encourage grouping while leveling. The addition of 9 more solo instances showed me the path FC wants us to take to the top so I won't be resubscribing. It really is a shame too because after playing around on the test server and running some of the lvl 80 dungeons I am really going to miss some aspects of the game and the expansion.
Keep fixing the core bugs and encourage grouping prior to lvl 75 and I will gladly give it another try.
Yeah grouping while unguilded is a pain in AOC at mid range levels, as most players tend to be guilded (atleast on PVP servers). Which means they're geared already (usually). I will correct you in that open grouping actually seems to start at the 50's range at least now anyway. As it's the toughest tier by far before you reach 80. Most likely due to the free lvl 50 everyone receives.
I spent 3 weeks in March playing three toons in the 50-65 range. Every night for those three weeks I was LFG trying to run group dungeons. I got four partially filled groups in those three weeks and the only way we were able to complete the dungeons is because we had someone bring a level 80 guild mate along. I advertised in game, here on this site as well as on the Set server forums. In each place I was told to solo grind to lvl 75 and then start running dungeons because people just dont waste their time on the mid level group content anymore.
Maybe it's different on set, I couldn't tell ya I've never played there. I just completed those level ranges, and am fully geared now to reach 80, I turned down many invites from raids doing the Cistern, Amph and many other group dungeons simply because I was already geared at that point.
Now I'm exploring Kesh I get a lot of invites there as well.
I'm not exactly sure how life on PVE servers is, as as I explained in another post. On pvp servers there are twink guilds for most tiers from tort until level 80 most level ranges have them. It kind of makes group questing mandatory if you want to get anything done. Rather than running from rez pad to objective every few minutes.
Even as a group you're wiped by players quite often while trying to complete quests.
For every minute you are angry , you lose 60 seconds of happiness."-Emerson
The X-pack looks good however I wish they took the time to fix some major elements:
Key binding, especially mouse buttons
Improve trading and Auction house UI
Add UI scaling
Add mouse look toggle
Add 1st/3rd person view toggle
Add one button switch weapons and hotbars
Add XBox controller support (would need 1, 2, 4, 5, & 6)
On top of that a social clothing system would have made my day. It's really disappointing to be obliged to wear the tiered equipment the devs decided us to use to be efficient.
If memory serves me right the real levelling issues were in the 60 to 85 region? The siege and pvp issues were even more of a problem. Next year AoC will no doubt do something for 40 to 60, but I think they need to look at the middle to top end first.
But it is good to see one of my old favourites ironing out the flaws.
Someone really, really, reallyyyyyy .... needs to explain this rush to end-game phenomenon to me. It just sounds insane.
You lvl your toon to end lvl as soon as possible, missing out on the majority of content and then start complaining about lack of end-game content or whatever it is your missing.
It's like buying a book and only reading the last chapter ,after which you start complaining it sucked storywise, had no depth, character relations where flawed and was wayyyyyyyy to short.
You guys get slapped in the face often when trying to hook up with a girl, don't you?
I think you did your best to show what this game has for offer or how it has changed but in all honestly i am not convinced this is a good game yet. The main core problems, like PvP, Siege, Raiding etc not addressed yet even in this expansion and it has been long time since the release, Slow developing games are just not worth a 2nd look IMO.
I made Tempest of Set and Bear Shaman level cap both of them in under 10 days when game was initially lunched and every review i hear from you guys is that they added new content this or that for leveling but the thing is. leveling is easy in this game it dose not need that. what it needs is new Raids that are acctully challenging, a Seige System that works like it was promised before release. a PvP system that works or atleast gives an illusion of some sort of balance. Crafting system vs Item reward gaind from Raids needs to be adressed. I remember i made Evasion set for my ToS and no one could hit me while no gear from Raiding coul ever match that.
I dont remember which one it was but if you double tab forward or back you get added evasion and with right items you end up with like 75+% evasion. Then there is the problem of walking under the walls and floors the Siege walls are used as barrier but there is glitch that lets you walk under them; same can be used in some raids.
I mean i can go on forever but the thing is. it all comes down to this. The game has good and griping story and nice graphics but beauty is only skin deep as they say. it needs to find a soul and it lacks that for me.
Obviously a jaded MMO player who just wants to run through everything quickly just to toss it out, throw some insults and move on to the next thing. Seriously, who wnats to play through an MMO for the first time in 10 days? What a waste of time and money.
I think you're crazy. The post you've sited as jaded had legitimate concerns and a nice overview of then with relevance to the post at hand.
Can it fanboi, trolling good posts makes you look like an idiot.
Ozreth makes a real good point , If people want end game in 10 days just go play an Arena game, the new direction and content is a real step in teh right direction. A game to enjoy.
Each to their own, but people who are just out to beat the World are exactly the types that are currently ruining the MMO genre and communities, which is a real shame.
If he got to level 80 in 10 days played then he didnt rush, that is about average for most MMOs. My friend did Aion 1 - 50 in 10 days played he rushed a bit but your ment to rush Aion or youll go insane
Aion to L50 in 10 days is insane. How many hours a day has he been playing then?
People are treating MMO's like it's a race or so, being among the first to reach the end level content. So you've reached max level, and then what? The largest part of the offered content you've then left behind you, and you can start doing raids and dungeons over and over again and twiddling thumbs inbetween.
1 advantage: you can easily skip after the free month before subbing, since you've seen most of the content anyway.
Nope, i don't get the racing towards end level either.
The ease with which predictions are made on these forums: Fratman: "I'm saying Spring 2012 at the earliest [for TOR release]. Anyone still clinging to 2011 is deluding themself at this point."
Let's get something straight ... When you say 10 days, you mean 10 days as recorded by the game system or 10 days in rl where you also have to mix in going to school/work, eat, wash, doing the dishes when the gf/wife/ whatever fits your sexual preference partner asks?
10 days gaming record sounds ok ... 10 rl is Insane.
If memory serves me right the real levelling issues were in the 60 to 85 region? The siege and pvp issues were even more of a problem. Next year AoC will no doubt do something for 40 to 60, but I think they need to look at the middle to top end first.
But it is good to see one of my old favourites ironing out the flaws.
As I remember it was from 68+ with that old lap 50-60 also. With Ymirs pass, OT common and the new expansion it should be a lot more to do even if I have the feeling that this game is like EQ2, it will need 3-4 expansion to truly shine.
And there are still more things they should fix, particularly around player cities and sieges. I wouldn't actually mind a full expansion around that with the possibility to really design your own guildcity including homes for the members, skin choosing and placing of all buildings and adding of npcs and items you could place in there. Player shops with npc employees and a new and more advanced crafting system would also be great.
That would put the game apart from existing MMOs.
Still, Ill buy the expansion and give the new content a good run, it was a year since I last played.
I think you did your best to show what this game has for offer or how it has changed but in all honestly i am not convinced this is a good game yet. The main core problems, like PvP, Siege, Raiding etc not addressed yet even in this expansion and it has been long time since the release, Slow developing games are just not worth a 2nd look IMO. I agree with this to some extent, particularly with the rate of new releases. However, AOC is way ahead of many games in terms of graphics, etc (even newer ones) so I'd personally cut them some slack here.
I made Tempest of Set and Bear Shaman level cap both of them in under 10 days when game was initially lunched and every review i hear from you guys is that they added new content this or that for leveling but the thing is. leveling is easy in this game it dose not need that. what it needs is new Raids that are acctully challenging, a Seige System that works like it was promised before release. a PvP system that works or atleast gives an illusion of some sort of balance. Crafting system vs Item reward gaind from Raids needs to be adressed. I remember i made Evasion set for my ToS and no one could hit me while no gear from Raiding coul ever match that. This says a great deal about your playstyle, which I think the guy who got flamed a lot alluded to - albeit in a rather blunt fashion. I imagine you fall into the powergamer/hardcore category as even though I was totally in love with this game at release and played as much as I could, it took me several weeks to get as high as level 40. Everything is relative in this sense, but I think your statement has to be taken in perspective.
I dont remember which one it was but if you double tab forward or back you get added evasion and with right items you end up with like 75+% evasion. Then there is the problem of walking under the walls and floors the Siege walls are used as barrier but there is glitch that lets you walk under them; same can be used in some raids.
I mean i can go on forever but the thing is. it all comes down to this. The game has good and griping story and nice graphics but beauty is only skin deep as they say. it needs to find a soul and it lacks that for me. I agree. I've tried (very hard) to love this game for all it's positives. However, it does still feel like it has no soul although I can't really describe what I mean by that. Who knows, maybe that will change with this expansion.
Playing: Ableton Live 8 ~ ragequitcancelsubdeletegamesmashcomputerkillself ~
I think maybe the harsh, gritty, low fantasy theme can put players off. It isn't the colorful, rich high fantasy atmosphere of games like a LotrO or WoW.
You have to really dig into the world of Conan as described in Howard's stories. If you like the atmosphere those tales breathe, then chances are higher that you like AoC as well. I wasn't that overwhelmed by Howard's Conan books, so I felt a disconnect with the world of AoC as well. It didn't pull me in right away as some other MMO's did. Next to that, the zones themselves feel a lot smaller than in other MMO's (especially compared to the often vast panorama's of a LotrO). So maybe that counts too.
I liked the Cimmerian highlands like the Eigleiopean Mountains though very much, and the music when you travel the snowladen valleys there manages to touch your soul to the core (listen here and here, and you'll see what I mean).
I know when I played EQ and wandered through the Faydark forests or travelled from one end to the other of the continent (ca 1h real travel time) the first time, I was mesmerized by the beauty and feel of a wondrous, vast world that it gave me. But the Cimmerian higher level regions come close too.
The ease with which predictions are made on these forums: Fratman: "I'm saying Spring 2012 at the earliest [for TOR release]. Anyone still clinging to 2011 is deluding themself at this point."
I'm guessing you can level from 1 to 80 in AoC in something about 150 hrs (6 days).
Oh, here's two more AoC Cimmerian region soundtracks, really love them (memories of Cimmeria and Field of the Dead). AoC has some of the most atmospheric MMO game music around.
The ease with which predictions are made on these forums: Fratman: "I'm saying Spring 2012 at the earliest [for TOR release]. Anyone still clinging to 2011 is deluding themself at this point."
If you don't like it now, you'll never like it, and that isn't because anything is broken, it is purely down to what you like / dislike in an MMO.
QFT
Highlighted now, as people tend to forget that the game has changed over the course of 2 (two) years, but at its core it is still the same game. Good story, good graphics, combo combat, low fantasy, many loadingscreens, etc.
BUT it is not broken anymore!!!
Originally posted by BishopB:
Are a lot of the trolls just angry kids with old gaming hardware?
I think you did your best to show what this game has for offer or how it has changed but in all honestly i am not convinced this is a good game yet. The main core problems, like PvP, Siege, Raiding etc not addressed yet even in this expansion and it has been long time since the release, Slow developing games are just not worth a 2nd look IMO.
slow developing game? AoC won the tittle of “Most Improved Game of 2009″,
I made Tempest of Set and Bear Shaman level cap both of them in under 10 days when game was initially lunched and every review i hear from you guys is that they added new content this or that for leveling but the thing is. leveling is easy in this game it dose not need that. what it needs is new Raids that are acctully challenging, a Seige System that works like it was promised before release. a PvP system that works or atleast gives an illusion of some sort of balance. Crafting system vs Item reward gaind from Raids needs to be adressed. I remember i made Evasion set for my ToS and no one could hit me while no gear from Raiding coul ever match that.
yes, they added new content for lvling because the community asked for it. more places like Ymir’s Pass, Tarantia Commons and more places to level... and if you lvled 2 characters to lvl 80 in 10 days in the old days where the game had a lack of content to lvl then, my friend, you have no life.
about new raid instances, there is already T1, T2 and T3 raids full of bosses and challenge. T4 coming now in the expansion.
btw there is already toons of 6 man group dungeons like xibaluku and iron tower where you can run it in normal or hard mode for better rewards.
I dont remember which one it was but if you double tab forward or back you get added evasion and with right items you end up with like 75+% evasion. Then there is the problem of walking under the walls and floors the Siege walls are used as barrier but there is glitch that lets you walk under them; same can be used in some raids.
its all already fixed. the sets, the gems, the stats, the double tab back. all fixed.
Originally posted by William Murphy As near as I can tell from my early days spent with the expansion, the only down side of all the new content is that its intended more for lower level players and higher level players with little in the way of mid-game content. Trust me when I say that the quests and design of the early Khitan zone is far ahead of the game's release content, and will leave you wishing the mid-game had some love of its own. But alas, once you finish out the Gateway, it won't be until you reach your upper 70s before you see the beauty of Khitai again, again, at least from what I can tell so far.
but why should a player level their char from 20 to 80 in the same "area", Khitan players need to travel and explore conans world, like tarantia, stygia, and cimmeria.
the same with all races, you dont spend your whole lvling time in cimmeria, you just do some quests there and go explore the world.
I can't wait for the expansion, really want my wolf mount! I am sure there will be launch week issues (this is Funcom after all!!) but having seen a fair bit now, and with several guildees in the beta the word of mouth on this one is actually quite good, best I have heard for a beta!
I swore I'd never come back to AoC. I was so mad at the state of the game at release and the following couple of months, that I thought it would never recover. Saw the server merges and decided again, the game was a failure, barely making it in the market.
Well, a bunch of my MMO friends are trying it again. So, I put my pride aside and downloaded the unlimited trial. Feels the same for Tortage, but I honestly haven't done a lot there yet to find many differences or changes. BUT! There was this one spot, inside the city gate, on the wood planking that you would get stuck on... I litereally spent 15 minutes running over this very spot the other night, thrilled that you no longer got stuck there! I know, I'm pathetic... but what it comes down to is some of the simple things that drove me nuts appear to be potentially fixed. This gives me enough confidence to really check AoC out again.
Besides, the free, unlimited trial for Tortage... doesn't hurt, so why not?
I am looking forward to more information on the expansion due out very soon. I'm holding off on resubbing my main account until there are more concrete reviews.
Just my small contribution to the topic at hand....
Comments
I recently resubbed and honestly I have been very impressed and had a blast for the last month. I always enjoyed the combat but the lack of content at some areas made me leave eventually. I have had a ton of fun with new zones, and content, and I can't wait for the expansion. I plan to make a new Khitan char and also take my 80 HoX to the new lands and get through all the content they have created. I am a fan of the offline leveling already. Really loving this game for now to get me to FFXIV.
I spent 3 weeks in March playing three toons in the 50-65 range. Every night for those three weeks I was LFG trying to run group dungeons. I got four partially filled groups in those three weeks and the only way we were able to complete the dungeons is because we had someone bring a level 80 guild mate along. I advertised in game, here on this site as well as on the Set server forums. In each place I was told to solo grind to lvl 75 and then start running dungeons because people just dont waste their time on the mid level group content anymore.
Thats right keep trotting out the same tired, out of date and frankly wrong information about the game every opportunity you get. Much of what you say WAS true about the game two years ago (yes it's been two years since that cra pfest) but the game since then has changed beyond the recognition of the game back in those days.
You statement that raids are not challenging is wrong. Currently, for example, theres Tier 3 raiding patched in 3 months ago. Difficult enough that no guild has yet managed to master all 7 bosses (yes yes I know the 6th had a bug stopping progression which is now fixed) and so diffcult the primary PvE server in the EU only lists a handful of guilds who've managed to down even the first 5 bosses.
The sieging, while still not perfect by any means works very well on most servers. PVP is pretty well balanced at the moment (though the PVP mechanisms like minigames still clearly need work to stop "pre-made" guild teams dominating). The last two patches (1.06 and 1.07) sorted out a lot of the remaining PVP balace issues greatly re-balancing the "Age of Casters" imbalance that plagued the game.
Crafting is somewhat useful and some decent items can be made but I agree this IS one area that could still do with a lot of work. There are however items that can be crafted that are still better under certain conditions than anything else in the game (Ibis swords).
The whole "evasion" armour set issue you allude to was patched out of the game with patch 1.05 (or was it 1.04?) well over a year ago. That whole gem system was clearly broken and it disappeared completely with the armour overhaul. Problems like that simply don't exist any more (unless they're your run of the mill exploits which you get in every game) The exploits you mention are all (to my knoledge anyway) fixed. You can't "bump" through walls any more and the majority of raids are not currently exploitable (at least if they are it's not generally known and not how any of the top raiding guilds are doing it)
You could go on forever talking about things that were wrong with the game two years ago OR you could stop slating the game without any basis on CURRENT fact. Certainly the game is not in any way flawless, it would be ridiculous to claim ANY MMO is remotely near to flawless. But the game, as it stands, is a damn fine game with a LOT to offer both people who played at launch and people who've never tried it before PROVIDED they forget all the rhetoric and historic problems that no longer exist. I'm all for slagging off FC for the many things they've done wrong but continuing to bash them citing problems that haven't been in the game for 18 months is patently ridiculous.
GBH
This is what the expansion is focusing on. It is mainly end game content. All the new zones except the new starter zone are for level cap players. They are adding in a lot of more complete dungeon runs for groups and raids. But the main focus is a new grinding type of play from what I gather.
There will be 12 new factions to grind for gear. Five of opposite factions. So you will have to choose the factions you want to join. Two are secret and have the new mounts/pets to grind for and are also opposite. I believe there are 5 new outdoor areas, all for level 80 that are 4 times larger than any other zone so far. They will be connected this time. No more of the broken zones from the original game.
So the main focus is on the level cap. The leveling process has been left the same with many ways to speed up your leveling to get to the new part of the game for grinding gear and AA skills. So you would be fine with leveling in 10 days or less with all the new end game stuff. Is it enough? I have no clue, but it is a major step in the right direction IMO.
PS: I am not a fanboi for those who want to label me as such. I left the game early on because of the same problems many have. I just believe the game is now closer to what it should be with the expansion. It could flop, just throwing out some facts from the expansion info.
How many people long for that "past, simpler, and better world," I wonder, without ever recognizing the truth that perhaps it was they who were simpler and better, and not the world about them?
R.A.Salvatore
Maybe it's different on set, I couldn't tell ya I've never played there. I just completed those level ranges, and am fully geared now to reach 80, I turned down many invites from raids doing the Cistern, Amph and many other group dungeons simply because I was already geared at that point.
Now I'm exploring Kesh I get a lot of invites there as well.
I'm not exactly sure how life on PVE servers is, as as I explained in another post. On pvp servers there are twink guilds for most tiers from tort until level 80 most level ranges have them. It kind of makes group questing mandatory if you want to get anything done. Rather than running from rez pad to objective every few minutes.
Even as a group you're wiped by players quite often while trying to complete quests.
For every minute you are angry , you lose 60 seconds of happiness."-Emerson
The X-pack looks good however I wish they took the time to fix some major elements:
Key binding, especially mouse buttons
Improve trading and Auction house UI
Add UI scaling
Add mouse look toggle
Add 1st/3rd person view toggle
Add one button switch weapons and hotbars
Add XBox controller support (would need 1, 2, 4, 5, & 6)
On top of that a social clothing system would have made my day. It's really disappointing to be obliged to wear the tiered equipment the devs decided us to use to be efficient.
Can't wait! Although I'm still new to the game and have HUNDREDS of quests left to do!!
So did they fix the sieges and ridiculous crowd control?
If memory serves me right the real levelling issues were in the 60 to 85 region? The siege and pvp issues were even more of a problem. Next year AoC will no doubt do something for 40 to 60, but I think they need to look at the middle to top end first.
But it is good to see one of my old favourites ironing out the flaws.
Someone really, really, reallyyyyyy .... needs to explain this rush to end-game phenomenon to me. It just sounds insane.
You lvl your toon to end lvl as soon as possible, missing out on the majority of content and then start complaining about lack of end-game content or whatever it is your missing.
It's like buying a book and only reading the last chapter ,after which you start complaining it sucked storywise, had no depth, character relations where flawed and was wayyyyyyyy to short.
You guys get slapped in the face often when trying to hook up with a girl, don't you?
I.
That someone should be Craig Morrison Seffren ^
If he got to level 80 in 10 days played then he didnt rush, that is about average for most MMOs. My friend did Aion 1 - 50 in 10 days played he rushed a bit but your ment to rush Aion or youll go insane
Aion to L50 in 10 days is insane. How many hours a day has he been playing then?
People are treating MMO's like it's a race or so, being among the first to reach the end level content. So you've reached max level, and then what? The largest part of the offered content you've then left behind you, and you can start doing raids and dungeons over and over again and twiddling thumbs inbetween.
1 advantage: you can easily skip after the free month before subbing, since you've seen most of the content anyway.
Nope, i don't get the racing towards end level either.
The ACTUAL size of MMORPG worlds: a comparison list between MMO's
The ease with which predictions are made on these forums:
Fratman: "I'm saying Spring 2012 at the earliest [for TOR release]. Anyone still clinging to 2011 is deluding themself at this point."
Currently playing and enjoying it.
If you don't like it now, you'll never like it, and that isn't because anything is broken, it is purely down to what you like / dislike in an MMO.
Let's get something straight ... When you say 10 days, you mean 10 days as recorded by the game system or 10 days in rl where you also have to mix in going to school/work, eat, wash, doing the dishes when the gf/wife/ whatever fits your sexual preference partner asks?
10 days gaming record sounds ok ... 10 rl is Insane.
I.
As I remember it was from 68+ with that old lap 50-60 also. With Ymirs pass, OT common and the new expansion it should be a lot more to do even if I have the feeling that this game is like EQ2, it will need 3-4 expansion to truly shine.
And there are still more things they should fix, particularly around player cities and sieges. I wouldn't actually mind a full expansion around that with the possibility to really design your own guildcity including homes for the members, skin choosing and placing of all buildings and adding of npcs and items you could place in there. Player shops with npc employees and a new and more advanced crafting system would also be great.
That would put the game apart from existing MMOs.
Still, Ill buy the expansion and give the new content a good run, it was a year since I last played.
Playing: Ableton Live 8
~ ragequitcancelsubdeletegamesmashcomputerkillself ~
I think maybe the harsh, gritty, low fantasy theme can put players off. It isn't the colorful, rich high fantasy atmosphere of games like a LotrO or WoW.
You have to really dig into the world of Conan as described in Howard's stories. If you like the atmosphere those tales breathe, then chances are higher that you like AoC as well. I wasn't that overwhelmed by Howard's Conan books, so I felt a disconnect with the world of AoC as well. It didn't pull me in right away as some other MMO's did. Next to that, the zones themselves feel a lot smaller than in other MMO's (especially compared to the often vast panorama's of a LotrO). So maybe that counts too.
I liked the Cimmerian highlands like the Eigleiopean Mountains though very much, and the music when you travel the snowladen valleys there manages to touch your soul to the core (listen here and here, and you'll see what I mean).
I know when I played EQ and wandered through the Faydark forests or travelled from one end to the other of the continent (ca 1h real travel time) the first time, I was mesmerized by the beauty and feel of a wondrous, vast world that it gave me. But the Cimmerian higher level regions come close too.
The ACTUAL size of MMORPG worlds: a comparison list between MMO's
The ease with which predictions are made on these forums:
Fratman: "I'm saying Spring 2012 at the earliest [for TOR release]. Anyone still clinging to 2011 is deluding themself at this point."
lol, I would guess 24 hours? They did say played time.
Ah yes, that makes more sense
I'm guessing you can level from 1 to 80 in AoC in something about 150 hrs (6 days).
Oh, here's two more AoC Cimmerian region soundtracks, really love them (memories of Cimmeria and Field of the Dead). AoC has some of the most atmospheric MMO game music around.
The ACTUAL size of MMORPG worlds: a comparison list between MMO's
The ease with which predictions are made on these forums:
Fratman: "I'm saying Spring 2012 at the earliest [for TOR release]. Anyone still clinging to 2011 is deluding themself at this point."
QFT
Highlighted now, as people tend to forget that the game has changed over the course of 2 (two) years, but at its core it is still the same game. Good story, good graphics, combo combat, low fantasy, many loadingscreens, etc.
BUT it is not broken anymore!!!
Originally posted by BishopB:
Are a lot of the trolls just angry kids with old gaming hardware?
but why should a player level their char from 20 to 80 in the same "area", Khitan players need to travel and explore conans world, like tarantia, stygia, and cimmeria.
the same with all races, you dont spend your whole lvling time in cimmeria, you just do some quests there and go explore the world.
I can't wait for the expansion, really want my wolf mount! I am sure there will be launch week issues (this is Funcom after all!!) but having seen a fair bit now, and with several guildees in the beta the word of mouth on this one is actually quite good, best I have heard for a beta!
I swore I'd never come back to AoC. I was so mad at the state of the game at release and the following couple of months, that I thought it would never recover. Saw the server merges and decided again, the game was a failure, barely making it in the market.
Well, a bunch of my MMO friends are trying it again. So, I put my pride aside and downloaded the unlimited trial. Feels the same for Tortage, but I honestly haven't done a lot there yet to find many differences or changes. BUT! There was this one spot, inside the city gate, on the wood planking that you would get stuck on... I litereally spent 15 minutes running over this very spot the other night, thrilled that you no longer got stuck there! I know, I'm pathetic... but what it comes down to is some of the simple things that drove me nuts appear to be potentially fixed. This gives me enough confidence to really check AoC out again.
Besides, the free, unlimited trial for Tortage... doesn't hurt, so why not?
I am looking forward to more information on the expansion due out very soon. I'm holding off on resubbing my main account until there are more concrete reviews.
Just my small contribution to the topic at hand....