AOC hasn't been repolished, it's been reinvented. It's like an entirely different game.
Let's not fall into the trap of fanboism.
What has really changed regarding AoC from the start 2 years ago:
- stability and bugs: a lot of the bugs and other stability issues that plagued AoC have been resolved, and AoC overall plays smoothly now. Not fully 100% bug and lag free, I'm guessing 1 in 10-15 persons still has stability problems 1 way or another, but the game can play solid on high settings on a medium PC. Mine is 2 years old, not the best CPU or graphics card even back then, but I can play smoothly on DX10 high settings.
- launch process improved: a LOT better than the launch 2 years ago, RotGS showed they have learnt from it. The most annoying launch bugs and crashes that were still present were resolved for the majority within the 1st 2 weeks.
- leveling content: no leveling gaps anymore, was resolved with adding 2 new zones during the last 2 years.
- Khitai changes: actually Khitai shows best how the world of AoC can be, with huge explorable and beautiful zones, no loading times, and inventive dungeons that are a breath of fresh air with the new gameplay mechanics involved in them. I'm hoping to see a evolution of that in TSW.
- AA: the alternate advancement instead of a level cap raise is I think a master stroke, and something other companies should implement too.
- PvP: a number of classes and skills have been revamped, the PvP has been restructured, but it is lagging behind the PvE changes. The changes to the new PvP grounds, Bori, are very much needed, as well as the Towers update.
So overall I wouldn't say it is a complete reinvention, but certainly a progression and a sign that they're on the right track, looking at the changes that have been made the last 2 years and especially with Khitai that showed a number of interesting changes.
SO I agree with you but if you go back farther the changes were pretty deep.
Itemization: Complete reworking of item powers, stats, and drops that redefined the item usefullness in the game.
Statistics/ characteristic change: Completely revised so that statistics have meaning and work as expected.
These were fairly big changes that were "game changers" and could be considered, when coupled witth what you have above, a reinvention of the game. It really is NOT the same game as when it launched at all other than visually and server (zone) structure.
I'll just say a few things and let you chew on it.
Characters can still swim up waterfalls. 2+ years into the game and this is still possible! Really. That is polish? That is just one of the many, many things that still exist since launch that eats at me. Instead of polishing and making the game better "over all", they instead focused on an expansion. Only now are they finally looking into the ranger class that has been borked since day one! PvP is still not balanced - it's a total joke.
OMG...why did someone have to start another "Why aren't people playing AoC?" thread. When FunCom goes back and cleans up and polishes and balances the game as it should have been - maybe then I'll go back. Until then - hell no.
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 play on a PVP server you'd be right, on a PVE server there is a different experience. As far as Darkfall goes, I tried it and immediately uninstalled it. Not my cup of tea.
I'll just say a few things and let you chew on it.
Characters can still swim up waterfalls. 2+ years into the game and this is still possible! Really. That is polish? That is just one of the many, many things that still exist since launch that eats at me. Instead of polishing and making the game better "over all", they instead focused on an expansion. Only now are they finally looking into the ranger class that has been borked since day one! PvP is still not balanced - it's a total joke.
OMG...why did someone have to start another "Why aren't people playing AoC?" thread. When FunCom goes back and cleans up and polishes and balances the game as it should have been - maybe then I'll go back. Until then - hell no.
Mad respect Teala, I like most of your posts but you are definately an AOC hater. To be honest, I never even TRIED to swim up a waterfall until a week or two ago when I saw a previous post of yours. I am not trying to break my games, just trying to enjoy them. So anyway, I tried to swim up one and uhm....couldn't. Maybe some you still can, no idea and I really don't care.
Played a Ranger through Tortage and couldn't really tell that it was borked in anyway. Seemed fun enough but I am not big on ranged classes.
I haven't played in many sieges but general PVP on on a PVE server seems fine to me. I do the mini-game PVPs with my 80 barb often enough and have a good time.
Maybe i am just not as critical of what I see as "background noise" but Conan is now one of the better MMOs available hands down. I have dropped most of the others I have played.
Just an example, there's lots more especially now with Khitai. Sure, the normal armor look very much the same, you have to work harder for the good gear and good looking gear than other MMO games, but there's variety enough.
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."
AOC is like DarkFall.... it's fun till you realize it's combat then combat followed by combat and more combat. A lot of ppl in my humble opinion are looking at MMOs as an online world to live in, but more and more we get "games" and not "worlds". AOC fits this profile, unfortunately.
Show me one mmo not named Second Life that isn't about combat? Every single mmo out there is all about the combat.
EVE online. Playing it as a trader & explorer, very rarely need to fight. When you do missions, you pick a mining/research/manufacturing agent and you get faction standing for items, once again with very little combat.
i returned to AOC awhile back was only lvl 6 (friend gave me a 30 day key). So i hope into game kick on a quest to find lvl 17-24 char's camping the isntanced areas and just mass killing all new players. Granted i love pvp n all but not being able to do a quest or grind to level up. Is just sad. How do you epect a player to do anything in a game if u cant even get any quests done or have a way to level up?. I'll admit i did give it a try and after 30 days i was able to reach lvl 15 but, however barley and the times i leveld was very late at night when the greifers slept. Personal AOC is fail in my book. but, meh thats just my opnion. I'll still to eve where even as a noob u still get a fightin chance.
AOC is like DarkFall.... it's fun till you realize it's combat then combat followed by combat and more combat. A lot of ppl in my humble opinion are looking at MMOs as an online world to live in, but more and more we get "games" and not "worlds". AOC fits this profile, unfortunately.
Show me one mmo not named Second Life that isn't about combat? Every single mmo out there is all about the combat.
MMO's should be primarily about combat, but they shouldn't be only about combat. I suspect that is the point _Sye_ was making, and it's a good one.
EQ2, for example, has crafting, housing, and collection quests. LoTRO has crafting and, to a degree, housing and hobbies. WoW has crafting. All three games have a thriving auction house.
By comparison, AoC has an apology for crafting, and a pretty quiet auction house. I like the game and have a year's subscription to it, yet I don't play it very much for the simple reason that there isn't anything beyond the combat to draw me into it. Funcom need to leave the combat side of the game alone for now and concentrate on filling out the rest of the game.
Just an example, there's lots more especially now with Khitai. Sure, the normal armor look very much the same, you have to work harder for the good gear and good looking gear than other MMO games, but there's variety enough.
Thanks for reminding me how FUGLY the character models are, and that the women look like man with tits.
A sure sign that you are in an old, dying paradigm/mindset, is when you are scared of new ideas and new technology. Don't feel bad. The world is moving on without you, and you are welcome to yell "Get Off My Lawn!" all you want while it happens. You cannot, however, stop an idea whose time has come.
AOC is like DarkFall.... it's fun till you realize it's combat then combat followed by combat and more combat. A lot of ppl in my humble opinion are looking at MMOs as an online world to live in, but more and more we get "games" and not "worlds". AOC fits this profile, unfortunately.
Show me one mmo not named Second Life that isn't about combat? Every single mmo out there is all about the combat.
MMO's should be primarily about combat, but they shouldn't be only about combat. I suspect that is the point _Sye_ was making, and it's a good one.
EQ2, for example, has crafting, housing, and collection quests. LoTRO has crafting and, to a degree, housing and hobbies. WoW has crafting. All three games have a thriving auction house.
By comparison, AoC has an apology for crafting, and a pretty quiet auction house. I like the game and have a year's subscription to it, yet I don't play it very much for the simple reason that there isn't anything beyond the combat to draw me into it. Funcom need to leave the combat side of the game alone for now and concentrate on filling out the rest of the game.
Some people just cannot grasp why some people don't want to play hero characters, and prefer support characters like crafters, politicians, entertainers, etc. It's the same reason why in real life we don't all go sign up for the military, or to be MMA fighters.
A sure sign that you are in an old, dying paradigm/mindset, is when you are scared of new ideas and new technology. Don't feel bad. The world is moving on without you, and you are welcome to yell "Get Off My Lawn!" all you want while it happens. You cannot, however, stop an idea whose time has come.
Thanks for reminding me how FUGLY the character models are, and that the women look like man with tits.
You're welcome
Those pics were for the armor, not gonna bother looking up examples of great looking character models; yeah, you can choose good looking characters, and also ugly or old looking characters, not only beauty models. It's called realism.
Or in your words: Some people just cannot grasp why some people don't need to play beauty model characters, and prefer their character models closer to realistic, like ugly, rugged, scarred or old etc.
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."
Originally posted by arenasb Originally posted by _Sye_ AOC is like DarkFall.... it's fun till you realize it's combat then combat followed by combat and more combat. A lot of ppl in my humble opinion are looking at MMOs as an online world to live in, but more and more we get "games" and not "worlds". AOC fits this profile, unfortunately.
Show me one mmo not named Second Life that isn't about combat? Every single mmo out there is all about the combat. It isn't about being solely combat, it's about having other things to break up the monotony. I agree with him, they're way too combat-centric anymore.
Thanks for reminding me how FUGLY the character models are, and that the women look like man with tits.
You're welcome
Those pics were for the armor, not gonna bother looking up examples of great looking character models; yeah, you can choose good looking characters, and also ugly or old looking characters, not only beauty models. It's called realism.
Did you look at the skeletal build of those "women"? The only thing missing was an adam's apple. Realism for whom?
A sure sign that you are in an old, dying paradigm/mindset, is when you are scared of new ideas and new technology. Don't feel bad. The world is moving on without you, and you are welcome to yell "Get Off My Lawn!" all you want while it happens. You cannot, however, stop an idea whose time has come.
Since you haven't played, I'll neglect your show of ignorance of the fact that you can customize all facial and physical features to your liking.
To repeat, and paraphrase your words: Some people just cannot grasp why some people don't need to play beauty model characters, and prefer their character models closer to realistic, like ugly, rugged, scarred or old etc.
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."
My point is AOC didn't miss it's shot. Word of mouth will increase the player base, I'm convinced of it.
Look at Eve Online.
i think the exact opposite. we have more people leaving the guild than ever because of the xpac grind. and we are already discussing as a guild on if there is another game we want to leave for. the xpac grind is freakin insane. about 220 rare trophies and like 1200 moa for one freakin weapon is joke. anybody with a job and any life outside of sitting in a basement and playing all day will never be able to get this within a year. and that is just for 1 epic for 1 toon. or lets say you do pillars every other day on godslayer mode then it will take you almost 400 days to get your chest or helm not both.
So you want epics handed out like candy (ie. WoW)
The following statement is false The previous statement is true
Originally posted by grunt187 Originally posted by flguy147
Originally posted by DrGreenbacks
My point is AOC didn't miss it's shot. Word of mouth will increase the player base, I'm convinced of it. Look at Eve Online.
i think the exact opposite. we have more people leaving the guild than ever because of the xpac grind. and we are already discussing as a guild on if there is another game we want to leave for. the xpac grind is freakin insane. about 220 rare trophies and like 1200 moa for one freakin weapon is joke. anybody with a job and any life outside of sitting in a basement and playing all day will never be able to get this within a year. and that is just for 1 epic for 1 toon. or lets say you do pillars every other day on godslayer mode then it will take you almost 400 days to get your chest or helm not both. So you want epics handed out like candy (ie. WoW) If what he says about 400 days is true, then that is just silly. There's a difference in requiring time to get equipment and just milking your playerbase.
More people aren't playing AoC because alot of people got burned by FC early on and simply refuse to support the game anymore, regardless of how far it's come in the last 2 years.
"If I'd asked my customers what they wanted, they'd have said a faster horse." - Henry Ford
Comments
SO I agree with you but if you go back farther the changes were pretty deep.
Itemization: Complete reworking of item powers, stats, and drops that redefined the item usefullness in the game.
Statistics/ characteristic change: Completely revised so that statistics have meaning and work as expected.
These were fairly big changes that were "game changers" and could be considered, when coupled witth what you have above, a reinvention of the game. It really is NOT the same game as when it launched at all other than visually and server (zone) structure.
I never played Anarchy Online, I'm sorry it's preventing you from trying AOC.
I can understand why you feel burned.
I'll just say a few things and let you chew on it.
Characters can still swim up waterfalls. 2+ years into the game and this is still possible! Really. That is polish? That is just one of the many, many things that still exist since launch that eats at me. Instead of polishing and making the game better "over all", they instead focused on an expansion. Only now are they finally looking into the ranger class that has been borked since day one! PvP is still not balanced - it's a total joke.
OMG...why did someone have to start another "Why aren't people playing AoC?" thread. When FunCom goes back and cleans up and polishes and balances the game as it should have been - maybe then I'll go back. Until then - hell no.
@dougmisticey: Ah yes, true, those changes had a significant impact too. I was summing up on the fly
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."
If you play on a PVP server you'd be right, on a PVE server there is a different experience. As far as Darkfall goes, I tried it and immediately uninstalled it. Not my cup of tea.
I'm sorry I offended you with my question. You are clearly not the target audience for my question.
That's some good advice for the devs. I didn't even notice that until you mentioned it. You're right. Not a game-breaker though.
A little bit of a drama queen aren't you?
Anyway, mmo PVP is a joke period, not just AoC.
Mad respect Teala, I like most of your posts but you are definately an AOC hater. To be honest, I never even TRIED to swim up a waterfall until a week or two ago when I saw a previous post of yours. I am not trying to break my games, just trying to enjoy them. So anyway, I tried to swim up one and uhm....couldn't. Maybe some you still can, no idea and I really don't care.
Played a Ranger through Tortage and couldn't really tell that it was borked in anyway. Seemed fun enough but I am not big on ranged classes.
I haven't played in many sieges but general PVP on on a PVE server seems fine to me. I do the mini-game PVPs with my 80 barb often enough and have a good time.
Maybe i am just not as critical of what I see as "background noise" but Conan is now one of the better MMOs available hands down. I have dropped most of the others I have played.
Maybe it's not a perfect example, but it's an example nevetheless
LOL.
http://img68.imageshack.us/f/99079116ft6.jpg/
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3271/2775727286_99f6c10d34_o.jpg
Just an example, there's lots more especially now with Khitai. Sure, the normal armor look very much the same, you have to work harder for the good gear and good looking gear than other MMO games, but there's variety enough.
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."
EVE online. Playing it as a trader & explorer, very rarely need to fight. When you do missions, you pick a mining/research/manufacturing agent and you get faction standing for items, once again with very little combat.
i returned to AOC awhile back was only lvl 6 (friend gave me a 30 day key). So i hope into game kick on a quest to find lvl 17-24 char's camping the isntanced areas and just mass killing all new players. Granted i love pvp n all but not being able to do a quest or grind to level up. Is just sad. How do you epect a player to do anything in a game if u cant even get any quests done or have a way to level up?. I'll admit i did give it a try and after 30 days i was able to reach lvl 15 but, however barley and the times i leveld was very late at night when the greifers slept. Personal AOC is fail in my book. but, meh thats just my opnion. I'll still to eve where even as a noob u still get a fightin chance.
MMO's should be primarily about combat, but they shouldn't be only about combat. I suspect that is the point _Sye_ was making, and it's a good one.
EQ2, for example, has crafting, housing, and collection quests. LoTRO has crafting and, to a degree, housing and hobbies. WoW has crafting. All three games have a thriving auction house.
By comparison, AoC has an apology for crafting, and a pretty quiet auction house. I like the game and have a year's subscription to it, yet I don't play it very much for the simple reason that there isn't anything beyond the combat to draw me into it. Funcom need to leave the combat side of the game alone for now and concentrate on filling out the rest of the game.
Thanks for reminding me how FUGLY the character models are, and that the women look like man with tits.
A sure sign that you are in an old, dying paradigm/mindset, is when you are scared of new ideas and new technology. Don't feel bad. The world is moving on without you, and you are welcome to yell "Get Off My Lawn!" all you want while it happens. You cannot, however, stop an idea whose time has come.
Some people just cannot grasp why some people don't want to play hero characters, and prefer support characters like crafters, politicians, entertainers, etc. It's the same reason why in real life we don't all go sign up for the military, or to be MMA fighters.
A sure sign that you are in an old, dying paradigm/mindset, is when you are scared of new ideas and new technology. Don't feel bad. The world is moving on without you, and you are welcome to yell "Get Off My Lawn!" all you want while it happens. You cannot, however, stop an idea whose time has come.
You're welcome
Those pics were for the armor, not gonna bother looking up examples of great looking character models; yeah, you can choose good looking characters, and also ugly or old looking characters, not only beauty models. It's called realism.
Or in your words: Some people just cannot grasp why some people don't need to play beauty model characters, and prefer their character models closer to realistic, like ugly, rugged, scarred or old etc.
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."
It isn't about being solely combat, it's about having other things to break up the monotony. I agree with him, they're way too combat-centric anymore.
Did you look at the skeletal build of those "women"? The only thing missing was an adam's apple. Realism for whom?
A sure sign that you are in an old, dying paradigm/mindset, is when you are scared of new ideas and new technology. Don't feel bad. The world is moving on without you, and you are welcome to yell "Get Off My Lawn!" all you want while it happens. You cannot, however, stop an idea whose time has come.
Since you haven't played, I'll neglect your show of ignorance of the fact that you can customize all facial and physical features to your liking.
To repeat, and paraphrase your words: Some people just cannot grasp why some people don't need to play beauty model characters, and prefer their character models closer to realistic, like ugly, rugged, scarred or old etc.
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."
So you want epics handed out like candy (ie. WoW)
The following statement is false
The previous statement is true
So you want epics handed out like candy (ie. WoW)
If what he says about 400 days is true, then that is just silly. There's a difference in requiring time to get equipment and just milking your playerbase.
More people aren't playing AoC because alot of people got burned by FC early on and simply refuse to support the game anymore, regardless of how far it's come in the last 2 years.
"If I'd asked my customers what they wanted, they'd have said a faster horse." - Henry Ford