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Why would anyone buy another game from FUNCOM?
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I agree only one that one point. They really have balls to try something new, but they fuck it up at release.
And the unwritten rule in MMORPG industry is : "There is no second chance".
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Why would I buy another Funcom game?
I loved the Longest Journey games and I loved Anarchy Online (even with its horrible launch). I didn't care for Age of Conan though, but thats one out of four.
Ragnar is another reason. He is (in my opinion) a very good story teller. I loved the story in TLJ as well as Prophet Without Honor (The AO book he wrote).
But my biggest reason to give them another shot: Gaute is GONE.
My dealings with him in AO and the AoC beta, his attitude toward player concerns on the AoC Beta forums just left a sour taste in my mouth. He was like the European version of D.Smart.
There are 3 types of people in the world.
1.) Those who make things happen
2.) Those who watch things happen
3.) And those who wonder "What the %#*& just happened?!"
Autsch. That was a tough comparing with D.smart ;-)
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Anarchy Online had some VERY innovative ideas:
Implants and progression system: Each level gave you points to put into stats. Increases in stats meant you could use better implants.
Teleport system: Although there were teleports, the size of the gameworld ensured that travel was still required across multiple zones if necessary.
Guild cities with PVE content that could be invoked by the guilds: The Alien Invasion system was rather cool (when it worked this is hehe). Guilds could start an "invasion" of their own city, whereby a HUGE mothership (think of Indepedance Day for the sheer size of it) would pass overhead and drop ships containing squads of Aliens and Mini-Bosses would land in the guild city. The point is that each wave got harder until eventually you got into the mother ship and kill the final boss for phat loo.
Mission generator system: A fantastic idea to allow players to select their appropriate mission type, quest reward type and difficulty level. Used in conjunction with a quest system, this helps to "smooth" over any possible gaps during leveling whilst offering a unique experience to the player. There were "doors" throughout the game world that were locked until you picked up a mission, then you could access them which granted you access to randomly generated instances.
A whole gameworld made up of adjacent zones you can see into: This helped create a "larger world" feeling. Unfortunately Funcom failed to implement this throughout AOC (although it was implemented in one place only) even though the Dreamworld engine used for AOC is an evolution of the one used in AO. Hopefully the TSW devs won't make this same mistake.
An 18 chapter background story: "Prophet Without Honor", written by Ragnar Tornquist (the guy in charge of TSW now). This helped create the history of the gameworld and thus assisted in enveloping the player in the virtual environement. In my opinion, Ragnar is very talented as a story writer.
The funny thing is, many of the above concepts COULD have worked in AOC. The implant system could have been used as a template for an items/stats system, the AOC guild cities could have had "invasions" (in fact this was suggested by more than one person on the forums). The mission generator could help provide additional content.
I just hope that Ragnar has been taking notes of the complaints regarding AOC and has sought ways to eliminate them. However, they could just end up making exactly the same mistakes.
Top 10 Most Misused Words in MMO's
I don't know what kind of deprived childhood you suffered, but as long as my parents were continuing to lie to me about the Tooth Fairy, Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, or God, they were also continuing to reinforce the illusion with cash, presents, chocolate, and platitudes.
Who believed in the Tooth Fairy before receiving that fortune under their pillow?
Funcom are by far the worst developer I have come across in many years of gaming. They focus totally on the wrong things - new content for example, when they should be fixing bugs. I normally take each game as it comes and judge the game and not the developer. But in this case Funcom have lost the plot. They are banking on The Secret World (TSW) but I think they will be probably two year late releasing it. So all in all by the time of release I think it will be pretty bland to be honest, gone are the days when these lot innovated in any way at all.
Age of Conan (AOC) is only hanging on due to a loyal user base and following but the community are far from happy with things like performance and stability. Bug fixing is an issue with every game but in AOC its virtually non existent, but new patches keep introducing lots of new bugs. There is a GD who prefers adding bizarre features like off-line leveling (leveling without playing) rather than features to encourage people to play. Admits to copying/ripping ideas for things like the expansion from Guild Wars (a five year old game). You get banned from the forum if you say anything they don't like, what they consider flaming or trolling would be viewed as 'discussion' on any other board. Like pleas for them to fix bugs equals a ban.
AOC they do next to nothing in-game, or if they do it they do it very badly. Like advertise an event minutes prior to it happening. You could probably forgive them a little if they took an active interest in their own game and the community, but they don't in the case of AOC so I doubt TSW will be any different. While other games are celebrating everything, giving away free stuff and finding any reason for you to play for an extra hour or two. AOC is like the polar opposite, almost like they don't want you to play because they know it causes lag spikes on the servers (another performance issue ongoing for years) if they get everybody together in one place. It will show the fragility of the game and their underlying proprietary game engine, an engine which is creaking and outdated. Have a multi-core cpu, well AOC can't make use of it. It suffers memory leaks and performance issues, meaning you can only run it with a super-rig at any decent speeds. Which is sort of strange considering the game is over two years old! If you plan on getting TSW I would start saving for your Cray Supercomputer now.
Funcom don't listen to their users, they make noises like they do and then go off on their own mad journey. The GD is in his own bubble and the expansion for Conan was done solely with a view to breaking into new markets like Korea, completely ignoring the existing user base that had been propping up the product. They would have preferred other areas to open up in the world, not a region that is covered by one or two references in the literature of Robert E Howard.
When you take all of this into consideration I think TSW is going to bomb. Let us not forget it is based on the same game engine that created Conan, Anarchy Online. That in itself is probably a death nail to the game. When I saw the trailers it looked alright to be releasing at that time. But where is it? I even purchased a year sub to AOC/Expansion because one of the reasons was a beta key - which has never materialized because it isn't even going to be on beta I find out after until next year some time, when my sub ends. Funcom totally misled me on that, you expect when they offer you beta access to something it would be reasonably soon, not over a year later. Now I think they are going to miss the boat again, I think other games are going to eclipse TSW.
This is by far a company that needs new direction and they appear to be banking on TSW as the next big thing. But as somebody mentioned their past history with launches doesn't bode well at all. So I don't hold out much hope of them pulling it off and my advice to anybody would be avoid Funcom and it's products like the plague. Other game companies deserve your money, these guys don't. It wouldn't surprise me if TSW never sees the light of day, at least not under the guise of the developer Funcom. They continually post loses and it's only a matter of time before their bubble bursts, and I personally think it's closer than they like to realise.
AO was wicked, but if any of you were in Alpha or Beta there were many many critical bugs that carried into Gold but they resolved them after a couple of months of Gold. Hence they hold the title for worst launch in history. But it was a great game for many years.
"Yea, I've been drinking again.."
Whilst I will agree that the AOC design team don't seem to be capable of doing enough to encourage people to return, one cannot say at this moment with any degree of certainty that TSW will bomb for the exact same reasons..
Firstly, the Game Director is completely different. Ragnar Tornquist prides himself on his story telling ability. Also remember that Ragnar is one of the original team from Anarchy Online, a game that although it had operation faults in the beginning, one cannot ignore its innovations. Also, if I recall, Ragnar had nothing to do with AOC.
Seconly, remember that the TSW team is separate to the AOC team. So there's a chance that TSW could succeed where AOC failed. However, there's every chance it could bomb in entirely different ways.
Also note that the AOC version of the Dreamworld engine is undergoing "backend" restructuring process over the summer in order to improve performance amoungst other things. You can bet your life that TSW's development (along with AO's migration to the newer version of the engine) is part of the reason why they are doing it in the first place. Which indicates the the two games maybe quite different in their concepts.
The point is, in the end TSW may turn out to be a VERY different beast both in how it is designed, how it functions, and how it is maintained / patched, compared to AOC. Right now its too early to tell just how successful the product will be. If you feel that you don't trust Funcom, no matter who is at the helm of the game, then so be it. Just remember that the design team are the ones who ultimately decide how an MMO turns out. The ones above them are just the holders of the purse. TSW and AOC have (in the most part) entirely separate teams designing / running them.
Top 10 Most Misused Words in MMO's
I largely agree with the OP. AoC is the worse game release I have experienced and even though it worked better than Vanguard at release I was really unimpressed with some of their blatant lies. It just wasn't the game i had bought.
I would certainly not buy The Secret World at release but if it turns out to be good then sure I'll give it a proper look.
On one hand you're pretty dumb if you get fooled twice into parting with your money too soon.
On the other hand you're even dumber if you stay away from a good game to try and 'punish' the company. All you're doing is missing out and punishing yourself.
Don't mind Fallenlords, he's one of the persistent flamers on the official AoC forums that likes to see everything about AoC and Funcom in a negative light. As you see some here too, people who've made it their mission or crusade to trash talk everything that is related to Funcom.
Apparently the AoC forums weren't enough anymore.
Personally, I don't mind people talking about the good and bad aspects of a game or whatever, but I despise the ones who are determined to put everything in a black, negative light: I just can't understand why people feel the urge to consistently post only in the most negative, hateful way they can, but that's my opinion. If they like their worldview or view of a company to be as dark as hell, that's their choice, I prefer mine to be more balanced.
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."
... and when I'm talking about balanced and sensible posts, then this is a good example.
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'm on boat with the guys saying Funcom is a great company who produces great games. The Longest Journey has always been a long time favorite of mine. Loved Anarchy Online and Age of Conan as well. AoC has always performed beautifully for me at max settings and in DX10.
Can't wait for the Secret World. But (as always) I will wait until the 3 month mark before joining in on the game - as I always do with any MMO release.
Oh I got banned from the boards until October for what? Telling the truth, challenging the Game Director to make more than vague statements of intent. AOC crashes with 'out of memory' errors - there is no emphasis from Funcom to address the problem, I am suppose to see the game and this company in a good balanced light. This company doesn't care about it's users, this company doesn't listen to it's users and if it wasn't for the fanboi's making out things are better than they are, perhaps things would change in AOC. AOC is bad, because the users allow it to be that way. They accept rubbish and that is what they are constantly fed. It's a great game and concept, but it's a bug-fest with a multitude of bugs being around since launch and no plans to resolve them. With each patch performance is getting worse, more bugs are introduced and general things are going down hill fast. Some users are even calling for a rollback to 1.4 while we are on 2.0.5.2. Me I have given up on AOC, when you try hard to get something to change and they don't what else can you do.
If you hadn't already realised AOC is also going to be the testing ground for The Secret World (TSW) . They are doing what shortly, introducing a retrofit of the game engine to AOC. In their words to improve the game - but people can't see beyond there noses. It's to test what they have done in TSW is going to work out in the real world. AOC will be part beta for the TSW game engine. Can you really imagine things are going to get better?
I can be balanced when it comes to most games but this company is beyond belief. They release updates to client software that stops existing clients working. They ignore the serious performance issues and focus on new content. AOC was crashing with 'Shadow Errors' prior to the expansion being released, they did nothing. The expansion was released it started to crash with 'Out of Memory' errors. People with decent rigs are having problems these days and the min spec Funcom publish to run the game is beyond a joke. If you don't have a 64bit OS with 4gb of memory or more you might as well not bother with the game. How do you expect to get subscribers when most people can't even run it?
TSW is going to have to be very special indeed to pull back a lot of users, because when Funcom burns somebody they do it well. So far TSW ain't looking that special and one thing I have learned from Funcom is there trailers are normally better than their games. They are reasonable at making trailers and that 's about all they are good at overall. Funcom are living off past glories and it's about time somebody shot this horse and put it out of it's misery. Imagine AOC being run by somebody like NCSoft imagine what they could do with it and then look and what what these muppets are doing. Grinding it into the ground, one of the best MMO's out there is the sick man of the MMO world because of their lack of understanding and focus onquality/performance.
Now TSW being developed by a different team may be it's saving grace, but to my mind the whole ethos of this company is just not right. What do they do in-game with AOC at the minute? Nothing. What have they started doing with a subscription based game, introducing micro transactions - 'Might of Crom' pack for example at ridiculous prices. Giving people paid advantage in a subscription based game normally the sort of things we only see in free to play. These guys are trying to squeeze every last penny out of AOC to probably fund TSW. But there is something wrong at the core - they may make games but they don't appear to play their own games and it shows. They keep posting loses year in year out - this is not a healthy company at all. The rot has set in and it doesn't look like it will change any time soon, I would be very wary of TSW unless some changes start to happen at Funcom.
Another reason not to trust Funcom - web announce AOC is going free to play in Korea. So in essence they are funding Korea free to play off the backs of Western subscription fee's isn't that nice. http://mmoculture.blogspot.com/2010/07/age-of-conan-goes-f2p-in-korea.html
Like I say whole ethos at Funcom is wrong.
keep it to a single thread, or go all the way and start making death threats.
Writer / Musician / Game Designer
Now Playing: Skyrim, Wurm Online, Tropico 4
Waiting On: GW2, TSW, Archeage, The Rapture
I think assuming any game company will inherently churn out nothing but flawed games is somewhat ignorant. Making a thousand shitty games and 1 amazing game, you still have an amazing game.
I love how the guy above you brought religion into it. Totally a refreshing change.
Writer / Musician / Game Designer
Now Playing: Skyrim, Wurm Online, Tropico 4
Waiting On: GW2, TSW, Archeage, The Rapture
All I have to say is Ragnar Tørnquist.
If that is not enough for you to get this game.... then you need to play The Longest Journey games.
It's something I wonder with a lot of new and upcoming games. Why do ppl rebuy from companies that let them down.
AoC sucks (according to you lot. I only played it for a little while)
SOE fail in a lot of respects. The main games that ppl want to play are badly upkept, and the players are let down again and again. Ppl are still looking forward to the release of DC universe online.
Blizzard sold out on thousands of ppl for money in the form of Real ID and the ultimate game socialising network. Ppl still play. They'll still buy Starcraft II and Catalysm
The EU version of TERA will be published by Frogster. A company which has let ppl down again and again. Ppl will still buy it.
Maybe we're a fickle bunch wanting to find a game that breaks away from the mould of WoW and give us something different. Maybe we want to be entertained. Maybe we want to find that one MMORPG that will suck us in and keep us. There are a lot of maybe's in there. Whatever ppl's reasons are, you can bet that they'll still buy from those companies. Ppl rarely 'speak with their wallets' no matter how badly they're let down.
*Please note* This contains nobody's opinion but my own. I am not trying to be a hater but contribute to the conversation as a whole. I am expecting to be flamed repeatedly for it.
tbh, i dont care shit from wich company my game comes. all this crying is like girls fighting over britney and Gaga or whatever. If its good (like AoC
) i play it, if its garbage i trash it. not like games cost millions, hm? you get trials too. stand to your decisions and stop the "meheee britney is a faaar better bitch than gagagaaa, woohhooo" shit.
We all know that Amy Winehouse is the bigger trainwreck, and therefore better.
Writer / Musician / Game Designer
Now Playing: Skyrim, Wurm Online, Tropico 4
Waiting On: GW2, TSW, Archeage, The Rapture
I agree in certain respects you judge a game on it's merits and not the company. But I think we can see in Age of Conan's (AOC) case the problems with the game are down to mis-management all the way along, from a bad release to present day. There is no reason to my mind why AOC can not be a huge commercial success if managed properly.
So taking into account the poor management of AOC, I wouldn't trust The Secret World with it coming from the same company. Because once the game moves past it's initial release it has to be managed well to survive. I don't think Funcom are capable of doing this at all, well they are certainly not leading by example with AOC.
December 09 I got an email with the AOC offer and a beta key to The Secret World - where is the beta? According to some people it won't be available until next year. By which time my sub for AOC ends. So will I see a beta key or not? How many companies offer you a beta key for a game that is twelve months away from beta? It doesn't make sense to me at all. I bought Medal of Honor with the promise of beta key and away I went - playing the beta.
What Funcom don't realise, which is their ultimate failing, is you have engage with the customers these day. It often isn't enough to just have a good game, you have to capture peoples imaginations. Can you really see Funcom doing this with The Secret World? The Rise of the Godslayer release was a spec on the gaming calendar to say the least. One of the worst launches (reboots) I have ever seen. They honestly just seem totally clueless on a grand scale.
Reporting my posts and getting them deleted is underhanded and dirty. I feel like i'm on the ao boards again. Its ironic some of you have resorted to tricks to shut someone up when failcom will do the same to you when you post issues to them in the future. Defend the devil and you end up in hell.
I just want to start by saying I am not a Funcom fanboy; that being said I thought The Longest Journey and DreamFall where some of the greatest adventure games ever. I also just purchased Age of Conan and I am thoroughly enjoying it and have yet to come across any major bugs.
Now I do hope that Funcom picks up the pace and does a better job at supporting AoC. I do not want to see it become vaporeware; I hope they are already working on a second expansion pack that will raise the level cap and bring more PvP content.
"Never pay more than 20 bucks for a computer game."-Guybrush Threepwood
"I hate to advocate drugs, alcohol, violence, or insanity to anyone, but they've always worked for me."-Hunter S. Thompson
AoC workss just fine and has been for a very long time. I am not playing it right now but I did try it again after the latest expansion, nothing but positive impressions imho.
With Funcom they might not have the funds to polish everything out proper riht at the door but they sure put their heart and soul into their games and ALWAYS innovate. That's what I love about their games. AoC combat is a good example.
Can't wait for their next game.
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