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AoC mixed emotions.. HELP!!
SmellyNanner
Member Posts: 152
I'm currently downloading AoC as well as EQ2. They are both BRAND NEW SPANKING MMORPG's to me. I feel like they are the only 2 left that I haven't played. I hear a lot of mixed emotions and reviews about AoC.. Mostly about it's lack of population. But then I see some people saying they have never had problems with the "lack of population" and get things done just fine even with the lack of players..
Of course, both of these games are F2P so i'll decide for myself, but can I get some insite on AoC as a first time player? Basically what i'm looking for are some tips and hints on how to not get bored with the game very quickly.
Thanks as always,
SmellyNanner
Comments
Population depends on your preferences, there are 3 type of servers in AoC, by decreasing order: pve, pvp, b&g pvp (hardcore ruleset). At least for now, FC is planning to merge them into a huge megaserver, after that population won't be an issue.
Pve srevers are pretty crowded since the latest changes. And for how not to get bored, start a melee for the combo system
For starters, AoC looks leaps and bounds better than EQ2 on max settings. While that is to be fully expected, one HUGE thing to point out is that my PC can run AoC on max settings at 70+ FPS....where as I actually have to lower EQ2 down to just above its lowest settings to get a consistant 60 FPS...what the F**K...
As for population, I have toons on Freeport in EQ2 and Set in AoC, the population appears healthy on both, even at low levels.
EQ2 settings aren't designed to be put all on max. It's one of those strange things. Would have to look it up to give an example of what not to put to max as I don't have EQ2 installed on this computer. So even if you have a command center set up there is going to be some problem running it smoothly 100% on all settings maxed.
AoC looks better graphically and lvl 1-20 are worth looking at just for fun.
This isn't a signature, you just think it is.
I played AoC when it first came out, and still do occasionally (prob do a month every 4-6months) and still VERY much enjoy the game
yes the population is low compared to other mmo, but not to point of hearing echo's when you talk
EQ cannot comment
But AoC does have some issues the crafting has been a problem from day 1... be glad then this fixed...
the starter zones alone are some of the best mmo areas in ANY GAME past/present or Future imo..
The fact as previous poster said graphically its still one of hte best games around, but also the blood thirsty in you when you do the crit moves.. (very much like the old Mortol Combat moves on console from 90s)
Still i very much enjoy the game, I think i will head back once the crafting sorted again, and also server merge will be interesting
In terms of the cash shop, The only things i have ever used for are the expansion,
This post is all my opinion, but I welcome debate on anything i have put, however, personal slander / name calling belongs in game
where of course you're welcome to call me names im often found lounging about in EvE online.
Use this code for 21days trial in eve online https://secure.eveonline.com/trial/?invc=d385aff2-794a-44a4-96f1-3967ccf6d720&action=buddy
I must agree with this.
I had a LOT of fun playing AoC. Bought the collectors edition back in the day and played for a couple months hard. There wasn't a whole lot to do at the time so I quit, came back around a year later and leveled up a new character and had fun again for a good while. No reason not to try with F2P.
I never got into EQ2, and from looking at most of the posts about EQ Next the community seems to be elitist asshats so I'm not sure that one will be getting any of my money. Maybe I'll try out EQ2 eventually
twitch.tv/boonmackle
EQ2 had the misfortune of its developers making a bad call on the future of computer technology. The assumption was that single-core processors would keep getting faster and faster, and a few years down the road they would be able to run EQ2 at max settings. The design relies more on the CPU than the graphics processor. Instead, CPUs hit a thermal wall fairly quickly and designers turned to a lower-clocked multi-core approach. EQ2 can take only very limited advantage of multiple cores.
Just to popint out, im not even tlaking about trying to run EQ2 smooth on max settings. There are like 7-8 preset setting levels ranging from extreemly poor quality, all the way to extreem high quality. The only way I can get the game running as a consistant 60 FPS is to put it 1 setting higher than the extreemly poor quality. Even at medium I get maybe 30 FPS, with frequent dips in open areas. Literally the only way I can get EQ2 running above 60FPS is to lower its settings to the point that it looks worse than EQ1
Comparing it to AoC, which looks generations better (as it should), runs 70+ FPS on max settings with the same PC specs.
AOC has a customer service chat capability.Solved the same problem for me....fast.
Thanks, going to live chat them tomorrow during operating hours. I never received it trying multiple times. Oddly the rest was sent to my other e-mail but it is set to my other e-mail as primary so yea.. need support :P
Glad to hear it! And since no one else has mentioned it, to give the graphics in AoC a nice extra shot in the arm (and increase your FPS a bit as well), check out SweetFX. There is a thread about it in the UI and Mod discussion section of the forum. Welcome to AoC!
I keep coming back to AoC every few months. I'll play for about six months, get bored, then come back six months later and pick up where I left off.
Honestly, it's a great game and every time I come back I'm happy that I did. In fact, every time I come back the game is in better and better shape.
The population on the US SET server is not bad at all, and you can find people doing just about any end game content all week. Finding people to do the pre-80 dungeons, on the other hand, isn't very likely as most players just skip them these days.
If you want really smoking hot graphics in AoC, then go find sweetfx and the sweetfx configurator, then search the AoC forums for sweetfx settings. It takes about 10 minutes to type in all the settings, but it makes AoC look amazing. Just be sure to play the game on DX9 if you do this, sweetfx doesn't work on DX10+ yet.
EQ2 uses their in house forgelight game engine, which is notoriously cpu bottlenecked. EQ2 was plagued with poor performance since its start. I believe they offloaded some processes onto a secondary CPU some time down the road and that helped a little.
You will always have poor performance played EQ2 no matter how good of a rig you have, even today.
AOC on the otherhand has a somewhat brilliant game engine and runs really well on even modest system.
Aside from this, I think that the combat and gameplay of AOC is hands down better. EQ2 has better crafting though and a more open world feel to it, despite it not being open world. EQ2 also seems to have more depth to a lot of its game mechanics.
I honestly believe that if it wasn't for the AOC launch, this game would have been very popular. Sad it got so good about a year and a half after launch, kept getting better afterwards...problem is the haters who got mad at launch waged a pretty relentless campaign to keep people away, and by the time they gave up (or moved on to trolling TSW) this game was sort of left in the dust.
Actually this game had some of the best thempark pvp I ever experienced. Sieges, though buggy, were fun, and the raids were pretty good too.
Couldnt agree more. Though I feel WvW in GW2 to be slightly better than AoC keep seiges from a gameplay and performance perspective, the actual keeps in AoC are guild owned and built over periods of time, thus making the experiance that much more personal/exciting.
I had mixed feelings as well about AoC. I played AoC I'm guessing two years ago now. I played for about 3 months. I rolled a demonologist and enjoyed the character creation, Tortage and just about everything. Didn't like the bag limit thingy, but I was a f2p/bottomfeeder...so no worries.
Got to Stygia(I was Stygian) so set about wandering around. Enjoyed myself for another week or so. Traveled to Cimmeria, more of the same. Started looking around for peeps to play with. Looked on the forums, asked in game. Not too many responses.
Disliked just about everything about the crafting system. Enjoyed the differences in the zones and overall it was a joy to just walk around and look at how beautiful the world was. Then a funny thing happened. I remembered I was playing a MMO and wanted to engage that social aspect of it.
I know this may sound like a weird comparison, but I had the same feeling after playing LOTRO for about 2 weeks. It seemed everyone was soloing through all of it. Coming from EvE and Darkfall...all the pretty shiny things couldn't replace the concept of working together with like minded peeps.
I will say that the Isle of Tortage is well worth the free install of the game. Not sure about the rest of the game. I hope you fare better than I did. I don't regret my time there though.
Oh, one other aggravating thing. Free players (at the time, not sure now) could only play four classes, Demon, Conq's? and two others. After looking through all of them...I absolutely wanted to play the HoX. I have never begrudged paying for my entertainment, but as I couldn't find anyone to play with....I couldn't justify playing a class solo in a MMORPG.
Good luck.
Playing: BF4/BF:Hardline, Subnautica 7 days to die
Hiatus: EvE
Waiting on: World of Darkness(sigh)
Interested in: better games in general
As of this spring, Funcom upgraded the F2P model, so its now all classes (12) up to lvl 80 and all classic instances and some newer instances after lanch, and a few raids for free! PvP gameing is open for all! Thats alot of gameplay without opening your wallet today imo
Gold limit increased from 2 to 10 also. Bags, as you can only have one, have to be upgraded either by buying with ingame money, or having some progress to get better bag, or get veteran points (by subbing) and get a bag from there. Last option is ingame store. I have used all options in my years of playing.