For me, May 2008 stands as a moment of epiphany. A loss of innocence. Several key revelations came to the front that moment:
Erling Ellingsen is a liar.
MMOs are released unapologetically unfinished.
Draconian forum moderation is a viable public relations tactic.
Ethical business practices are completely ignored at Funcom.
History tends to repeat itself when bad management is involved.
Beta tests have shifted to being a marketing tool rather than a sincere effort to polish.
“What could have been” is something I often think about when it comes to Age of Conan.
Its source material was interesting in the sense that it was a fantasy setting with a good mix of harsh reality and subtle sorcery. One thing the Conan books and movies emphasised above all was that a person’s worth was based purely on their actions.
The potential to craft a mature online experience with this concept was an exciting prospect. Coupled with a truly unique, visceral, battle system the likes no other MMO had seen before raised my anticipation even higher.
Then the game released. Broken. Formless. Unpolished. What was I to make of this?
This was not the experience they paraded in their countless marketing trailers. I was supposed to be able to coordinate formations with my guild mates. Strike our enemies from hiding deep within their territory and collect their blood money. Besiege rival cities and fortresses with an epic march of destruction amongst mammoths and catapults. Fear the mounted warrior who could duel me with their many attacks from horseback. Run from the law with the risk of being captured and put into prison. After all that carnage, retire to a pub and partake in a drunken brawl with my brethren.
A laughable pipe dream looking back at it now. I outlived that launch, forever changed. These wounds I had on May 2008. Old men forget; yet all shall be forgot, but I’ll remember, with advantages, what feats of disillusion Gaut and Erling fed us. “May” shall never go by from this day to the ending of the world without me remembering that atrocity.
They stole from us. They lied to us. I shall never forget. I shall never forgive.
According to Jef Reahard, the launch was more than acceptable:
Well I went back to AoC just for grins. Not so much has changed.
The quest lines still drop in quality post Tortage. Just think about all the Tortage quests both day and night that referred back to the Strom as tyrant theme. Think about the fact that the evil spirit that was purged when you almost drowned became the Bat Demon. How cool was that? Not much afterwards compares.
You still can't ride a horse until level 40. Now how hard would it be to lower the level requirement to 30?
You still can't craft until level 40. How hard would it be to lower the level requirement to 20?
You still can't set guild permissions for different ranks. They are what they are and guild leaders can't change them. How hard would it be to fix that?
The above disappointments were present day one and they are still there four years later. Seems to me all but the quest line problems would be an easy fix. Kinda makes you wonder if AoC is on autopilot.
Despite the haters in your thread, know that there are those of us who are with you on this. They need to fix many a thing that should have been fixed on the first day. I on my new machine. STILL had hiccups while mounting, still had client crashes and graphic anomolies that were there when i tried playing on my original lower scale machine. I mean seriously, the engine should have been streamlined by now. The same bugs on two different machines the second one with much higher specs then the first and a totally different OS should be a sign there's something wrong with what they are doing.
Someone definitely needs to fire the team that handles bugs and get someone in there that eats sleeps and drinks code so they can finally get this engine to run properly.
And yes i agree with OP on those class skill and mount issues, they needed to lower the requirements for those so one can start earlier.
I have a sub for Tera, WoW, and I bought D3, but I find myself playing AoC more then anything.
(The sad part is I am doing the free 2 play, first time I have ever enjoyed a F2P game other then LoL)
I think I may cancel my sub's, and play D3 on the side, and sub to AoC.
I do want to say there are some bugs and more loading screens then youll like, but if you can play the game on high settings it looks AWESOME, and its an adult theme, so it lacks the childs game feel that most MMO's are doing. (Atleast that's how I feel)
This would also be my 3rd time back, The first 2 times I just couldn't stick to it- This time, I just cant get enough.
I started a new account 4 days ago and im already at level 50, ugh I need to stop playing 8 hours or more a day........
EDIT* I forgot to say- This is the ONLY game I dont turn off the music, the music is really good for this game, It just goes with the area's.
It sounds like when I tried the game for the first time. I tried making a barbarian and it never really gave me the right feel. I started up again, but with a Bear Shaman. They kill pretty slowly at first, but around level 40-50 they picked up speed, the heals were starting to work and I was hitting harder. When I got to 60 I got rampage which stacks a dps and a hot buff. That was so much fun, cleaving through stuff - or smashing that is. Crushing heads with the hammer.
After the initial leveling process which I loved I started raiding, which as it turns out, was really really hard. I got into a pretty hardcore guild after the first 5-6 months and they have just been cleaning up the tier 4 bosses. Checked out their webpage, they are still raiding 4 days a week. http://taintedsouls.eu/
I got bored of the raiding after a while and I never could get into the PvP, I tihnk you need to be a squid with 8 arms and human hands to play the game.
Anyway, I don't think you can get a better F2P experience than what you get in AoC with the original game and I believe two complete zones from level 1-80 free. (The only exception being one or two instances and the raids if I remember correctly).
As noted above, the graphics in the game were top notch in 2008 and they finally added the promised dx10 engine in 2009 and the music is just beautiful. Con's Valley is a place where you can just take a break, admire the view and listen to the music. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1sUtMGxQCPY
A laughable article with little in terms of "facts" despite his assurances.
It comes back to this flawed way of thinking that a game should be excused its incomplete nature simply for being an MMO. The only way to combat this is to make your disapproval known.
A couple of others have mentioned this already, but really AoC is a pretty important part of MMO history.......SO much was expected of it and Warhammer that we thought the genre was going to be turned on its ear by these two games...... Alot of people pre ordered this and when AoC and Warhammer failed (for hte most part) it opened alot of our eyes......I think quite a few of us lost trust in the industry at this point, and I'm not sure we ever got it back.
A laughable article with little in terms of "facts" despite his assurances.
It comes back to this flawed way of thinking that a game should be excused its incomplete nature simply for being an MMO. The only way to combat this is to make your disapproval known.
They lied. They stole. Don't be OK with this.
Not antagonizing here, so don't freak out on me....
What did they lie about and what did they steal again?
Originally posted by jtcgs Originally posted by WaldoCornI dunno, Funcom sent me an e-mail, talking about it being their birthday, and I get free stuff, so I go to my acount download the game, and gee cant play my account, unless I re sub.Typical, from my recollections, of all things Funcom.
Actually you need to go into your account on their site and reactivate it as a free account.
The game still isnt that great...it suffers from being a Funcom game...they still havent learned how to create new content and fix bugs in a decent amount of time....took almost 4 years to re-do crafting.
I think the amount of things they have improved is pretty good for 4 years considering the circumstances. They havent exactly been riding the wave of a smash hit mmo with tons of resources at their disposal. Youre talking about an mmo with a low revenue, being worked on by a small team that wasnt in charge when it launched. Theyve added a grip of content and completely overhauling the crafting system from the ground up is nothing to sneeze at. Yeah, Funcom is infamous for its launches. But one things for sure, they continue to support and develop their titles no matter how thin. Id rather have a trickle of steady improvements than stagnant maintenance mode like what EA and SOE are known to do.
I sit on a man's back, choking him and making him carry me, and yet assure myself and others that I am very sorry for him and wish to ease his lot by all possible means - except by getting off his back.
Originally posted by Erow Well I went back to AoC just for grins. Not so much has changed. The quest lines still drop in quality post Tortage. Just think about all the Tortage quests both day and night that referred back to the Strom as tyrant theme. Think about the fact that the evil spirit that was purged when you almost drowned became the Bat Demon. How cool was that? Not much afterwards compares. You still can't ride a horse until level 40. Now how hard would it be to lower the level requirement to 30? You still can't craft until level 40. How hard would it be to lower the level requirement to 20? You still can't set guild permissions for different ranks. They are what they are and guild leaders can't change them. How hard would it be to fix that? The above disappointments were present day one and they are still there four years later. Seems to me all but the quest line problems would be an easy fix. Kinda makes you wonder if AoC is on autopilot.
I played about 2 years ago, levelled an assassin to 80.it was one of the best gaming experiences ive had. So don't exactly know what your on about..
Tortarge? It's a tutorial zone? have you never played a game where a tutorial zone is full of cinematics and fluff? I mean play the game because its an mmmorpg not because you want an epic solo player experience.
Why lower the requirements on anything? accept that this game has such rules. mounts at 40? sounds about right, world of warcraft used to have mounts at 40 as im sure alot of games.
Sounds like you just didnt like the concept.
TSW - AoC - Aion - WOW - EVE - Fallen Earth - Co - Rift - || XNA C# Java Development
The above disappointments were present day one and they are still there four years later. Seems to me all but the quest line problems would be an easy fix. Kinda makes you wonder if AoC is on autopilot.
Not antagonizing here, so don't freak out on me....
What did they lie about and what did they steal again?
Just curious.
The short list:
1. Blood money
2. Unit formations
3. Mounted combat
4. Siege warfare mechanics and player counts
5. Barroom brawling
6. DX10
7. Xbox 360 version
8. Hunting and Crafting
The culmination of these lies and the proverbial carrot on the stick that was "magical patches" (direct quote from Erling) served to steal our money, time, and most importantly our trust.
Not antagonizing here, so don't freak out on me....
What did they lie about and what did they steal again?
Just curious.
The short list:
1. Blood money
2. Unit formations
3. Mounted combat
4. Siege warfare mechanics and player counts
5. Barroom brawling
6. DX10
7. Xbox 360 version
8. Hunting and Crafting
The culmination of these lies and the proverbial carrot on the stick that was "magical patches" (direct quote from Erling) served to steal our money, time, and most importantly our trust.
Well most of those aren't "lies" they talked openly how they werent going to be included for varying reasons. Not to defend Funcom. They did release the game without creating alternatives or fixing issues that they had with these ideas.
The culmination of these lies and the proverbial carrot on the stick that was "magical patches" (direct quote from Erling) served to steal our money, time, and most importantly our trust.
Well most of those aren't "lies" they talked openly how they werent going to be included for varying reasons. Not to defend Funcom. They did release the game without creating alternatives or fixing issues that they had with these ideas.
Not sure what you are trying to pull here; if you've simply forgotten or if you have some agenda. All the items I've mentioned except for maybe DX10 (if you want to call what they stated as a "reason") were teased in official marketing material months and weeks up to the launch. Many times, eventual explanation for the lack of these items were buried in the official forums from various members of the company.
Comments
According to Jef Reahard, the launch was more than acceptable:
http://massively.joystiq.com/2012/06/18/the-anvil-of-crom-on-age-of-conans-bad-launch/
Hell hath no fury like an MMORPG player scorned.
Despite the haters in your thread, know that there are those of us who are with you on this. They need to fix many a thing that should have been fixed on the first day. I on my new machine. STILL had hiccups while mounting, still had client crashes and graphic anomolies that were there when i tried playing on my original lower scale machine. I mean seriously, the engine should have been streamlined by now. The same bugs on two different machines the second one with much higher specs then the first and a totally different OS should be a sign there's something wrong with what they are doing.
Someone definitely needs to fire the team that handles bugs and get someone in there that eats sleeps and drinks code so they can finally get this engine to run properly.
And yes i agree with OP on those class skill and mount issues, they needed to lower the requirements for those so one can start earlier.
It sounds like when I tried the game for the first time. I tried making a barbarian and it never really gave me the right feel. I started up again, but with a Bear Shaman. They kill pretty slowly at first, but around level 40-50 they picked up speed, the heals were starting to work and I was hitting harder. When I got to 60 I got rampage which stacks a dps and a hot buff. That was so much fun, cleaving through stuff - or smashing that is. Crushing heads with the hammer.
After the initial leveling process which I loved I started raiding, which as it turns out, was really really hard. I got into a pretty hardcore guild after the first 5-6 months and they have just been cleaning up the tier 4 bosses. Checked out their webpage, they are still raiding 4 days a week. http://taintedsouls.eu/
I got bored of the raiding after a while and I never could get into the PvP, I tihnk you need to be a squid with 8 arms and human hands to play the game.
Anyway, I don't think you can get a better F2P experience than what you get in AoC with the original game and I believe two complete zones from level 1-80 free. (The only exception being one or two instances and the raids if I remember correctly).
As noted above, the graphics in the game were top notch in 2008 and they finally added the promised dx10 engine in 2009 and the music is just beautiful. Con's Valley is a place where you can just take a break, admire the view and listen to the music. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1sUtMGxQCPY
Or you can play a barbarian and rip people heads clean off (at 0:58) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T2X_SbZCHpc
A laughable article with little in terms of "facts" despite his assurances.
It comes back to this flawed way of thinking that a game should be excused its incomplete nature simply for being an MMO. The only way to combat this is to make your disapproval known.
They lied. They stole. Don't be OK with this.
A couple of others have mentioned this already, but really AoC is a pretty important part of MMO history.......SO much was expected of it and Warhammer that we thought the genre was going to be turned on its ear by these two games...... Alot of people pre ordered this and when AoC and Warhammer failed (for hte most part) it opened alot of our eyes......I think quite a few of us lost trust in the industry at this point, and I'm not sure we ever got it back.
Not antagonizing here, so don't freak out on me....
What did they lie about and what did they steal again?
Just curious.
The game still isnt that great...it suffers from being a Funcom game...they still havent learned how to create new content and fix bugs in a decent amount of time....took almost 4 years to re-do crafting.
I think the amount of things they have improved is pretty good for 4 years considering the circumstances. They havent exactly been riding the wave of a smash hit mmo with tons of resources at their disposal. Youre talking about an mmo with a low revenue, being worked on by a small team that wasnt in charge when it launched. Theyve added a grip of content and completely overhauling the crafting system from the ground up is nothing to sneeze at. Yeah, Funcom is infamous for its launches. But one things for sure, they continue to support and develop their titles no matter how thin. Id rather have a trickle of steady improvements than stagnant maintenance mode like what EA and SOE are known to do.
I sit on a man's back, choking him and making him carry me, and yet assure myself and others that I am very sorry for him and wish to ease his lot by all possible means - except by getting off his back.
I played about 2 years ago, levelled an assassin to 80.it was one of the best gaming experiences ive had. So don't exactly know what your on about..
Tortarge? It's a tutorial zone? have you never played a game where a tutorial zone is full of cinematics and fluff? I mean play the game because its an mmmorpg not because you want an epic solo player experience.
Why lower the requirements on anything? accept that this game has such rules. mounts at 40? sounds about right, world of warcraft used to have mounts at 40 as im sure alot of games.
Sounds like you just didnt like the concept.
TSW - AoC - Aion - WOW - EVE - Fallen Earth - Co - Rift - || XNA C# Java Development
Makes you wonder about TSW . . . . .
The short list:
1. Blood money
2. Unit formations
3. Mounted combat
4. Siege warfare mechanics and player counts
5. Barroom brawling
6. DX10
7. Xbox 360 version
8. Hunting and Crafting
The culmination of these lies and the proverbial carrot on the stick that was "magical patches" (direct quote from Erling) served to steal our money, time, and most importantly our trust.
Well most of those aren't "lies" they talked openly how they werent going to be included for varying reasons. Not to defend Funcom. They did release the game without creating alternatives or fixing issues that they had with these ideas.
Not sure what you are trying to pull here; if you've simply forgotten or if you have some agenda. All the items I've mentioned except for maybe DX10 (if you want to call what they stated as a "reason") were teased in official marketing material months and weeks up to the launch. Many times, eventual explanation for the lack of these items were buried in the official forums from various members of the company.
For further insight, the archive of marketing videos at Gametrailers is a good start: http://www.gametrailers.com/game/age-of-conan-hyborian-adventures/1905
so bad anyone play AoC yet....