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Amazing Sounding Premise... But Funcom?
umcorian
Member UncommonPosts: 519
Don't get me wrong. I've seen the trailers. I've never seen a game that's neo-modern urban fantasy... that alone is enough to make me very curious. However, the fact it was designed by Funcom, who has had 2 MMO flops (one, AoC, a catastrophic flop)... makes me very leary. Maybe some will disagree about AO or AoC, but it's safe to say these games had serious issues and those issues played a big part in keeping these games from ever truly becoming MMO house hold names.
I'm sure AoC is decent now, but when it was released, I had never seen a game that was more buggy and flat out unfinished. I can list plenty of reasons, but this probably isn't the right place.
Anyway, the point of this thread: Does anyone else feel the name "Funcom" is a splash of cold water in the face of this Secret World dream, or do you feel Funcom has learned and grown with each MMO it has released? And if you feel so, why?
Comments
Not a single drop of cold water here, in fact, I`m pleased that its Funcom, due to their nature of trying something new, and challenging the old styles and evercoming "wowclones"
Why you say? Hard to explain, but listen to the info. The Alpha version of TSW rode trough the demo @ 50 Fps and zero crashes during presentation on GDC....does that sound like a game with tech issues incoming?
AoC works GREAT now, and this benefits TSW in more ways then you can imagine. Also space between AO --> AoC 7 years - Huge tech jump in both graphics and systems. AoC --> TSW 3-4 years - Very much the same tech. Less risks.
No, I don't. All of the Funcom games I have played, I have enjoyed for at least some time. Of their games the least fun one is Anarchy Online and that is because it has no real story to it. Just a bunch of machines the hand out random 'quests' that take you half way across the world and can be completed in about half the time it took to travel to and from the quest site. Or dungeons you do over and over and over until you can run through them blindfolded.
There are some news reports out there, especially in Norwiagian news about Edos pushing funcom to release AOC early. Apparently it was not suppose to be released for a few years prior.
With tsw however they have the tons of money they made off AOC boxs sales (which were huge) so funcom is not pushed to release the game earlier because they control most of the money.
I trust that Ragnar Tornquist would not have signed on to lead the game if he wasn't confident about it's success.
That said, I'm sure Funcom could be like "Yeah... we said you have 12 months to finish... what we actually meant was 4, sorry. <the sound of whips cracking>". Now I'm sure Ragnar is familiar with the AOC debacle, and probably put it into his contract to avoid such things with his game. That said... money is money, and this is a lot of money, so anything can still happen, since ultimately it's the guys with the money who are in charge.
Best bet: Don't be one of those retards who buys a game 6 months before it's out. Wait for it to come out, and let the reviews speak for themselves.
That said, I'm very excited and optimistic about this game. Funcom can't afford a screwup at this point, and I think they know that as well.
Simply knowing that Ragnar is heavily involved with the project quells any reservations I may have had about Funcom producing this game.
Funcom AND EA......
My theme song.
The only thing that is associated with Funcom is fail at releasers.
Free to play means pay to win.
It doesn't bother me that Funcom is the developer. I'm just happy they are making the game the way they are as opposed to another clone of the exact same average MMO.
Honestly if the game is good at all I will likely play it for a while just because its not the same game I just played with different textures.
Random comment from a reply in the thread. I would say on release Anarchy Online was far "buggier" than Age of Conan. My biggest issue with AoC was after you left tortage. The first 20 levels of AoC were very well done (in my opinion). Tho to be honest when AO came out the technical issues many had, did not seem to affect me.
BS. AOC was and still is one of the best games out there. Played from the start and always had fun, never had any serious problems except minor troubles with balance/gameplay/PVP stuff which actually was more about tastes, cuz half people liked the change and half actually wanted initial experience back.
Personally - had most of the fun in the beginning actually, when PVP was the most brutal and required skill before all the WOW's chieldren moved in and demanded reward for their 24/7 grind, more PVE and other crap. Killed 1/3 of PVP so now it's not as fun as it was, with empty servers as a proof
Hoping SW will actually be much like AOC but evoled. Don't care about minor gliches as long as they make it game with good PVP, skill oriented
I wouldn't get my hopes up. But then again, I never do anymore. I usually end up back with WoW shortly after I try a new MMO anyway. Since nothing even comes close and I am simply too invested in WoW to pick up something new unless it's at least as good as WoW is, but also offers something more.
TSW is interesting though. I love the theme, story and setting. I will definately give it a try, but I doubt it will replace WoW for me. I've never been a fan of sandbox games and PvP is not my cup of tea.
But to get back on topic. Dispite the fact that AOC was a real fail, that won't deter me from trying TSW.
Wait for beta and the first impressions before we make any statements about the game.
Then, wait for the first 2 weeks after release and read reviews.
If the complaints are only the usual kind of stuff you hear about every MMO being released but nothing overly dramatic (some bugs are nothing to worry about), then simply buy the game and try it for yourself.
Well waiting for beta and seeing how it goes. If anybody remembers aoc, how that beta went, and how many of the bugs made it to live.
So waiting to see how this pans out. Sounds good on paper, so did aoc.
These were pretty much my feeling as well. I really like the premise of the game and the art style and storytelling look pretty cool. But, I was very unimpressed with the AoC release and how Funcom handled that game and their customers. That said, this game is certainly on my radar and I will keep up with its development even though I promised myself back in '07 I would never buy a Funcom game ever again.
I will give Funcom the benefit of the doubt. I don't like to cry DOOOOM without trying something first.
Yup, pretty good reason to doubt Funcom. AoChad so much false advertising and mud tossing it was sickening. One of the worst launches in history. Their first game had a horrible launch too. It could be forgiven if AoC tried anything new, but it didn't. It was a WoW clone with half its features missing.
While funcom is well known for their terrible launches, its the gaming company that has brought me more total years of enjoyable gaming than any other. Mostly through Anarchy Online, but i did spend about a year and a half in AoC and enjoyed just about every minuet of it.
The thing i like about funcom, if they always bring something diffrent to the table, Anarchy Online was groundbreaking in its day, and its complexity has yet to be matched still, along with its uniqueness. AoC had one of the most entertaining and enjoyable combat systems for both melee and magic (i loved spellweaving ability to kill everyone in the area and yourself if not properly managed)
But yes, they seem to bite off more than they can chew in terms of launch. Lets not jump into this game at launch then spend the next 3 years lurking the forums hating everything funcom like so many did with AoC.
Also, i should note, they seem to not be taking the AoC super-over-hype route with this game, which might be a good sign.
Personally im sick of classes, playing Rift for a month sealed the deal. I hope this game delivers, even if it takes them a year after launch, because for me, they usually end up delivering a unique and fun game eventually, rather than the stale standard issue games that grows old after a month after its remerkably polished and stable launch.
If Funcom made a mistake with AoC's release it was not realising that the majority of WoW players, who they were trying to attract to AoC, had computers that, whilst capable of running WoW perfectly well, were one step up from a pocket calculator. These couldn't handle AoC. Thus on day of release they had loads of people moaning. They should have just marketed AoC to rich people like me with big computers and ignored the great unwashed who played WoW because they are peasents with no money. And no, I'm not being serious.
You have to remember this is a different dev team. Ragnar has put out console quality games which undergo rigorous testing and must be polished.
I do like that everyone has low expectations for this game though. It gives it a chance to come out of nowhere and build up steam.
Looking at what we get these days as "games", with new graphics, more polish and some of today's features (like an auction house etc), something like Anarchy Online would be considered groundbreaking even now
I trust Funcom, i think they will deliver. It might not be the perfect launch but in the end they will deliver.
The problem is I don't want a console game I want a pc game. PC games that are built like console games usually are trash.
Sorry that even worries me more.
All I was referencing is his ability to lead a project and complete a game of console release quality. Of course this game won't be tailored to a console.
Just to streamline everything and prevent multiple threads from now until post-release about Funcom, their track record, company info, gripes, questions, etc, I've created this thread: http://www.mmorpg.com/discussion2.cfm/thread/314860/AllPurpose-Funcom-Discussion-Thread.html Please discuss the company and the above topics in there if you'd like. Thanks.
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