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I finally tried this game
bound4hades
Member UncommonPosts: 83
I have played a lot of mmos over the years and come to the conclusion that new games are not the games I want to play. After my latest new mmo experience, I’ve found that new games are almost always incomplete and suffer from lack of content or other problems that only newly launched games can offer. That brings me to AOC, which I was told to stay away from at the start because the game was broken. Never played this game till 2 months ago when I finally decided to give it a shot and wow was I blown away.
Now this is my opinion. The graphics look sweet for a 2 year old game, a ton of content and the game is challenge not easy mode like so many other games. I've read older posts about the problems this game has; grind, nothing to do and pvp is crap and other then the pvp aspect, I just don't see it. Now pvp is gear based, just like so many other mmos, it sucks unless you are in the most powerful guild in the server. If you get lucky and get with people that balance the teams in the mini games, its a great time. The pve is fun, instances are sweet and the raids are the most fun I’ve had in a while. Bosses in the raids are far from tank and spank and the classes all have there special rolls in the game. Now there are some bugs this game has, but none that have been a deal breaker, more just bothersome at times is all. For me, its just part of any massive game I’ve ever played. They fix this and now that is broken, eh, it happens.
The reason I’m writing this is for the few who are lost and need a home for a long while, but don't want to invest in a new game just to be disappointed. There is no real flashy or glowy armor and weapons, but there are cool finishers when you kill stuff. The attention to the graphical detail in towns and terrain is just awesome, just the faces on char look ugly. But for me, it’s the game play where it’s all at and it's almost all there, just need to fix pvp. If it sounds good to you, try it out for free for 7 days or drop the 10 bucks for the game and try it. I did and I don't regret it!
Comments
They've been trying to fix the PvP since launch, and now they are concentrating on the new game engine, PvP won't see any improvements if any until later this year i'm talking about Quarter 4, if you like PvE this is a decent game, PvP wise though this game has little to offer.
Yea I have a pretty good time with AoC. I don't PvP much so I can't complain about that part of it. I am looking forward to the game engine upgrades or improvements coming this fall or late summer. I do experience some stuff that a more optimized game engine might clear up.
The new expansion area runs like dogmeat on my computer. The rest of the game runs fine, butter smooth, 40- 70 FPS, but the expansion has horrific lag spikes whenever I try and play it. DX10 compatibility could use some help too. I am glad Funcom's current project is working under the hood of this game engine. I am only at 48 on my first ever character so the current vanilla game content is plenty for me. I will be happy to see performance issues addressed, especially regarding the expansion.
"The Pen Is Mightier Than The Demo"
PVP is no fun in AOC.
Seems like the op has played like 1 month or so. In term of loadin screens - thats about 10 hours. I got better things to do in my free time. Like acutally play a game.
I have never had an issue with load times. My game loads pretty fast, I am talking seconds not minutes. But if the engine upgrade knocks off 30% or 40% off load times, so much the better!
"The Pen Is Mightier Than The Demo"
I agree, and the graphics really are sweet and realistic if you have your graphics turned all the way up, even go to the advanced menu and turn them up some more. I have never seen such beautiful landscapes and buildings. Makes me feel like I am in ancient egypt or somewhere , it is awesome.
TBH I think the graphics in this game are better than AION graphics. Just make sure you got them up to their fullest capabilities. The lands are huge and vast. I run into players just pvping in the desert. Usually I get my butt kicked but it's fun none the less. Right now I am lvl 20-21 ish on the trial. I think today is my last day, but I cannot believe I wasted all this money on these other games when the jewel in the MMO world was right there all along.
I am at a loss right now, I am a big fan of ancient cultures and especially that of the egyptians, sumerians, babylonians and so on, so I love this game. But Final Fantasy is coming out, too ya know. I want to be there on launch , so I am having a tough time deciding what to spend money on, but when it is all said and done I am sure I will leave Final Fantasy and make my home at AoC, just the time frame and realism of the game, it is epic, and breath taking. One of the best MMO's out there , and I understand it has a bad rap, but is it really deserved? I am new , so not sure what they did in the past and how it may be broken.
It is nice to see some positive posting about AoC. I come on these forums and also the Funcom forums and find this constant drum beat of negativity in many threads. It is really not deserving because the game has a lot going for it. Overall I find the game to be enjoyable. I always look forward to my game time in Hyboria! The game is pretty fun, that is the bottom line. I will put it this way, the game is every bit as good as Howard's Conan stories, lol! I think they compliment one another very well. If you like the world of Hyboria and Conan, AoC delivers an entertaining rendering of all that, and does it very well.
"The Pen Is Mightier Than The Demo"
Yes, all negativity considering AoC is totally unfounded. Especially the fact how PvP is now in worse shape than it was at release? The gap between PvP'ers has been growing ever since the rock-fest of Bori was added. New players are totally screwed by the fact that gaining even PVP 5 rank takes a month or more without being able to farm rocks, while the old timers who were blessed with a large guild, could hold on to Bori and just grinded rocks to get up to PVP 7-10. Now Minigames are influenced by premades of these guilds, they just roll over every single pug that chooses to queue for a minigame. If you're like me and bought Aoc for some hot PvP action with a "so-called" innovative combat system, that still isn't even the same for every class, then you're just screwed of competing.
Look now, most of the critics here have even agreed that PvE side of AoC is in good shape, if you don't count some small snags like content throttling. The other issue is how grindy it is to get The Marks of Acclaims. I just really wish adjustions to these would come sooner than later, but seeing how FC usually acts, it's most likely going to take months until anything worth while is made. In before some fanboi attacks that point, addition of 25% to gains means jack when you're still looking at around 150 days per an item.
That's just what I think, I guess I drum quite negatively and apparently AoC doesn't deserve any of this. If so, then just counter the stuff I said.
AoC does deserve the drum of negativity it gets, the fact that so many people speak badly of the game should raise red flags. The game has changed alot since launch, or even it first fews months of exsistance, it's not the game many vets signed up to play in the beginning though they have tried to make their voices heard most of it is ignored by the Dev's, when sometimes is implemented like PvP content aka Shrines of Bori it's done so poorly it breaks the whole PvP system, there is a reason why there are so many sour people out there.
It doesn't deserve the drum of negativity it gets.
The people who tend to beat that drum are old jaded QQ'ers qho can't get over the launch 2.5 years ago. There are still some problems but they aren't that bad. PVP needs attention and is getting it in the coming months.
Far too many whiny QQ'ers in AoC.
.. and you keep QQ.ing, I am sure you will, over and over continuesly on this forum...
You could try to find another game, one you like? Just a thought, plenty out there.
Just logged off after having a good time grouping with my guild mates. We cleared out Conall valley of Yeimer (sp?). There was like 6 of us. One was an 80 HoX. Funny watching him fry everybody, they would scream in pain as they burn lol! Got my first horse tonight and a guildie gave me 2 gold for some silk I had in my inventory. I had no gold before that. Only joined the guild last night. Being part of a guild is the way to go imo.
"The Pen Is Mightier Than The Demo"
About that horse I got ; this is the best horse and rider animation I have ever seen in a video game. Instead of the rider being stiff in the saddle like an action figure he actually rides! His legs flop up and down when you gallop, he rocks back and forth in the saddle. You can buck the horse like a rodeo rider or rear him up on his hind legs like the Lone Ranger. When you reign him into a stop he slows to a walk first instead of coming to a dead stop. When I back him up my guy will turn in the saddle and look back to see where he is going. Every motion from horse and rider is fluid and animated. Turn the horse and his head will follow the reigns. Even the reigns themselves are loose and animated!
I can draw my ax or swords and attack from horse back, my guy leans over the side of the horse and swings the weapon. If I hit front attack instead of drawing my weapon the horse rears back on his hind legs and attacks with his front hooves.
This is the most fluid and detailed horse and rider animations I have ever seen in any video game, bar none. Whoever was responsible for putting this all together did a fantastic job, best in the industry. Congrats dude!
"The Pen Is Mightier Than The Demo"
Oh i do play others I enjoy thank you, i'm waiting for SWTOR, yes I will continue to post my opinion thanks
I have been on these forums since before AoC was launched and the tone is pretty positive these days. When I read the MMORPG forums on AoC I am quite pleased. The game is doing well and lots of positive feedback from a lot of people. I have the impression that the playerbase is slowly growing.
Personally i really like the game now. Note that I am a casual player and AoC suits my playstyle very nicely
Originally posted by BishopB:
Are a lot of the trolls just angry kids with old gaming hardware?
AoC is doing so well these days simply 'couse it is finally what it should have been at launch - a truly great ggame.
Sinister Savant MMORPG Community
I like the game. I don't like the starting area. Tortage wasn't a fun area to play in at all, and I know a lot of people complain that once you do it once, it shouldn't be required again. I agree with that statement. After Tortage the game really picks up and becomes a lot of fun. The expansion area was amazing feeling and all of the questing wasn't boring at all for some reason. The pvp is kind of broken sure, but that doesn't mean it isn't fun.
I guess no one is going to counter any of my points. That's sad, I had some more in my sleeve like AA's and so on.
I agree, this is as they should have released the game at launch. A shame they didn't.
I hope they've learnt their lesson for TSW; I do have more confidence in Tornquist, the man behind The Longest Journey and Dreamfall, and his vision than in Gaute.
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."
I agree with this as well, however Gaute hasn't been the one in charge for a long time. PvP part of AoC was actually in better state when he still held the crown.
I'm gonna take at least 6 months before deciding whether to buy Secret World or not myself.
Gaute had good idea's when it came to PvP and yes the PvP in the game was much better when he was in charge. I don't fault Gaute for what happened, but a rushed product and Dev's that have no talent. Just like a Didek the PvP dev, the guy is a complete joke, how long have sieges been broken? What about that great Bori system he designed?
I'm not surprised at all that you see no flaw at all with Gaute, considering the warped argumenting you've been doing in this section: I'm sure 500,000+ people agree with you that there was nothing wrong with how AoC was launched under Gaute's watch, they had no reason at all to blame Gaute for the AOC launch - or the AO launch for that matter - or for the fact that half of his visionary ideas that he was talking about before AoC launch wasn't implemented in AoC at launch and he didn't feel inclined to tell that to his customer base.
That was all not Gaute's fault, after all he was merely the game director or project manager responsible for the product and the directions and choices with it made, right?
To give Gaute credit where it's due and to show that I've a more balanced viewpoint than some other posters: Gaute had some very good ideas with PvP, and if could have realized it as intended it would've been great. Only as I said elsewhere, the difference I've seen between good and bad project managers in the years of my experience with them is that good project managers know how to work successfully with timescales and the resources available to them, they know how to set realistic goals and to overcome obstacles to deliver a product as intended and reach their goals within the time agreed upon.
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."
I am not a great fan (as my post history will show) of AoC at launch or Gautes behaviour. But Gaute was a visionary, unfotunately severely lacking skills in project management.
Funcom's 'PR' department did not help him: Outright 'lies' (check the box for details) and Erlings pathetic 'succesful launch' youtube vids.
Craig Morrison looks like quite a talented project manager. You may not like everything he does, and he is NOT going to make AoC a mainstream success, but he DID manage to project an overall outline and stick with (and follow up) on his plan. Not much help from the PR dept. - Maybe because he is actually handling his community a lot better than Funcom PR was.
Now imagine this:
Instead of the typical gaming monolith dev structure AoC was lead by a board with:
Director: Craig Morrison
Gameplay/Content manager: Gaute Godager
Technical/development manager: 'In team dev with the most holistic view' appointed by Carig Morrison.
PR/Community manager: 'Famine' - Yeah, I would take this guy before Erling and his (imo) 'less than average intelligence' boss anyday.
Oh man - This (imo) would have been sweet and I am sure that Funcom stockholders would have been happier. On the other hand: Probably way too much 'EGO' involved in that kind of structure.
Hmm - and adding Thornquist would be great but It would probably inflate the ego-problem.
We dont need casuals in our games!!! Errm... Well we DO need casuals to fund and populate our games - But the games should be all about "hardcore" because: We dont need casuals in our games!!!
(repeat ad infinitum)
And with this post, you have also betrayed your skewed vision of reality. Do you actually believe that is was his decision alone to launch AoC in the state it was? Knowing that a lot of the promised features were either not implemented or not working? Seriously?
He knew it was not ready to go but was powerless to stop the launch because the other option would have been the end of Funcom.
FC launched the game when because the development had run late and they needed more cash to continue development and claw back some of the cost outlay. From then it was damage control and PR spin to keep everything afloat.
Gaute had some good ideas in regards to the direction of the game, but after the disaster of a launch and the subsequent loss of around 90% of the original subscribers, someone had to fall on their sword to appease the shareholders and the rapidly dwindling subscriber base. Since he was the game director, it fell to him to do so.
Of course it wasn't Gaute's decision alone to launch AoC in the state it was. Not one game developer or game director desires to launch an unfinished product.
And of course you will always have the pressure of investors, or the board or whoever gave you the big order, and often they'll have unrealistic ideas and demands, asking for the sky for the price of a penny. There'll always be a conflict between supply and demand: a project manager or game director will often be in the eye of the storm, having to match his available resources and the timescale with the demands of the client(s).
But that's where the good, skilled project managers differ from the mediocre or bad ones: they know better to match the resources they have with the expectations and demands of the client, have a better instinct to set realistic goals and are flexible enough to overcome unforeseen obstacles to reach the project goals and deadlines in the end. Those are all things that fall under the responsibility and capabilities of the project manager.
I've also seen bad project managers in action who couldn't or wouldn't say 'no' to the client when things could still be discussed, that promised the client(s) golden mountains but had no idea what were realistic and attainable goals, and had no feel how to effectively manage their teams in order to reach the project goals or to see in time that a correction or readjustment of resources is needed.
I find a good example Bioware and ArenaNet: where Gaute was talking about grand visions and possibilities, those 2 companies are more tightlipped and prefer to only discuss features that actually already made it into the game in a workable state.
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."