I used to think AC was great, but in the end it just got stale and forgotten by it's creators.
They negelected AC for AC2 and negelected both for D&D Online and LotR. Out of those 2 it looks like LotR is gonna get pushed to the side. The pre-order for it has been on a few sites for 2 years now. (EBgames - trust me, I did the pre-order when it was origianally to be released in Feb 2004, and I did that pre-order in Dec 2003) I have an old "Computer Gaming" magazine from 2 years ago (I think Feb of 2003) with a 5 page article and screenshots from LotR. I also have a trailer movie on a demo disk thats over a year and a half old. In fact, I wonder if anyone is still waiting for this game to release.
The monthly updates in AC are little more then bones thrown to the exsisting subscribers but no real work to improve the overall quality of the game is done. Adding the savenger hunt of the month and then declaring "look at all the free quality content you get with AC" Compare the improvements (by improvements I mean graphics, interface and features) in any game over the last 2 years to AC's. DAoC has had no less then 2 graphic updates and massive amount of change including interface and features. Sony (as much as I do NOT like them) has had many updates and upgrades. EQ is still holding ground dispite all the competition out there.
Turbine clearly has no focus on what they are doing. Evidence - AC is by and large dead, AC2 is shutting down, LotR is flowndering all over the place. D&DO is about all they have that is not in any trouble at the moment.
That would all make sense Torak, if it weren't for the fact that there have always been seperate teams working on each game. AC2 had it's own team, and AC had it's own team. The only problem is that most of the original members of the team are no longer working for the company, or are now in different positions. Most of the current AC team wasn't around for the 'good ol' days', so don't know jack about the game or what the players want. That can be assumed by the stupid live events they've been doing, which were nowhere near as good as the previous ones with Asheron/BZ/Martine and such.
AC is by and large dead, AC2 is shutting down, LotR is flowndering all over the place. D&DO is about all they have that is not in any trouble at the moment.
AC is not dead. It has less players, but it has enough.
Lord of the Rings Online was pushed back, way back, about two years back. If you go to the homepage for Lotro, then you will see lots of activity, news, and developer diaries. They just want to take their time so they don't end up with another AC2 at launch. They want a killer launch title, so they are willing to put whatever time they need in order for a great game at launch.
AC2s problem was that it took two years to start getting good, and people weren't willing to give it another shot.
Yes Turbine kept 2 teams (1 for each game) BUT the focus clearly came off of AC. Turbine / AC managed to loose roughly 100K players from its subscription base. EQ, at the same time, going through the same scenerio did not suffer near as much of a player lose.
Reason, poor unfocused vison of what Turbine was doing. (actually they had even more teams because they have been working on LotR and D&D for awhile)
Its called poor management. They ran the 2 live games they had into the ground while chasing 2 other carrots on a stick. If you ask me Turbine has a very POOR track record when it comes to MMORPG management.
I'm sure D&D and LotR will be good products, its what Turbine does with them after release that will make or break them. Based on the companies past performance, I would have to say they will not do well.
I know Falcon is a supporter of AC but the game is, by and large dead compared to what it use to be. What are there, 20 - 30K subscribers now? From the days of 120k?
And what does Turbine do? Pump 2 more Fantasy games (we need more fantasy games like we need more........well, fantasy games) Thats 4 different fantasy games. One shutting down even.
They got their hands on 2 juicy licenses and got greedy.
I played AC for 4 years, made great friends and had a blast. At the end it got too easy for me so I quit . I tried EQ, Horizons, Shadowbane, CoH, WoW and EQ2. CoH was the only one of those I kept playing. WoW was a great game but way to easy to max out in and the quests got repetitive fast. Between AC and WoW I'd say WoW was better graphically but that's about it. AC has the best skill system by far! I used to love the talks about toon development but like so many games today there is very little individualization opportunities. Her is your mage, here are your spells. AC offered much more spell-wise and the chance to specialize in you magery more. All in all, had AC tried to advertise like EQ I think it would have blown by it. Hmmm, perhaps I should try AC again after all, lol.
I don't understand this "no population." The posters who say this don't say what server they were on. There is POPULATION on Thistledown, and I assume other servers. How many people do you need?
When I was a Fisthand, there were 10,000 Fisthands. Sounds amazing, aye? Well, not even 1/3 of them were on at one time. I'm in a monarchy now where 500+ are on at once from time to time. that's plenty. There is not one quest that 7 people can't complete. I don't need toons running in from all sides trying to kill the monster I just vuled. Since housing people can't follow you out of town and steal what you put down to mule. There are people who will try to kill what you've vuled, running in with their shield flapping! I don't need that. Wether you like to hunt alone, or with a fellow, its there. Its all there.
Worth leaving WoW for? That's easy -- yes. Then again, most games are worth leaving WoW for.
What AC1 does that WoW doesn't:
1) item differentiation -- not just dyeing, but the sheer and enormous variety of equipment. Thousands of different types of swords, maces, armor pieces, etc. Yes, the graphics, even after the ToD upgrade, are blocky-ish, but the fact that there is as much differentiation in this game as there is means that you'll almost NEVER find anyone else who looks like you do. 2) weapon enchantments -- frost, flame, electricity (oh yes, electricity), etc. These are all visually wrapped about each weapon. Can't miss the flaming sword -- there's actual fire wreathing the blade. Electricity is great -- the dance of electrical arcs around your blade, ah.... 3) more focus on "roleplaying" in the design of dungeons, mansions, etc. Each time I go into a dungeon, mansion, etc, it "feels" more like the design in a single-player RPG -- which is how it should be. I'm not talking about the number of people in it -- the design, the layout, the puzzles, etc. I hated WoW's cookie-cutter floorplans, by which I mean, since they only have something like three total inn floorplans, once you've been in one human inn, you've been in them all (for instance). I have yet to encounter the same mind-numbing repetitiveness in AC1 (even after all these years, admittedly with some on, some off) that I did in WoW. 4) engaging combat -- WoW is essentially just mash buttons, you don't have to control yourself in combat. You don't have to "move". Just hit the buttons -- line up, hit attack, hit buttons for specials, move on to the next. AC1 is more interactive -- if you want your shield to count as "blocking", you have to keep moving your shield in the way of the attacking creatures. (so, no, your shield won't protect your rear-end!) By scaling your attack to heights (low attack, torso, head) and the power behind the attack (sliding scale), you are FAR more involved in combat than in WoW. I also prefer the "feel" of ranged combat in AC1. 5) Fewer predefined roles -- in WoW, you are what you are, period. Enjoy your Hunter. That's it. Want a mage who's also good with a bow? Aint' gonna happen. AC1 is totally at your disposal for creating a character -- mix and match magical ability with other skills and produce what YOU want to create, not the limited, pre-defined class-set of WoW (and most others). 6) World environment -- drop a sword in AC1, and you see it lying on the ground and can pick it up again. Drop a sword in WoW, and you destroy it. Since each and every item is fully realised in the gameworld in AC1 -- well, 'nuff said. 7) Questing -- much prefer the feel and variety of quests in AC1. 8) weather systems -- and I didn't say "random weather effects". AC1's system of seasons and weather effects is great, and predates games that lack anything like it by years (WoW, I'm looking straight at you).
What WoW does better: 1) banks -- for the love of God, I have never understood the absence of a banking system in AC1. 2) storage -- ditto again, love the loot system in AC1, hate the fact that, until you get a house, you're carrying around tons of items and millions of gold coins. 3) tradeskills -- this is a bit of a 50-50 issue. I prefer the way AC1 does the tradeskills it does do -- but it lacks armor-making and weapon-making, two big ones for me. I loathe the overly-simplified way WoW deos tradeskills, but at least there's a resource/creation process there. (Horizons, for instance, pegs crafting -- fails in almost every other respect, but pegs crafting). 4) Quest journal -- once again, I just don't understand the absence of something as simple as a quest log in AC1. 5) scaleable map -- the maps in the game itself in AC1 are, um, not the most useful things in the world. WoW for the win here.
Originally posted by spydermr2 Worth leaving WoW for? That's easy -- yes. Then again, most games are worth leaving WoW for.
Woohoo, I find myself comparing WoW to AC all the time and how AC is so much more fun!
My #1 thing I hate about WoW is that all the items in the game are not unique! The sword I have on my guy right now, there are so many other people that have that same weapon and same attributes. This is where AC shines - every weapon is unique, very rarely you'll see a weapon like yours. At least thats the way it was back in early yrs 2000-2004. I've already cancelled my WoW account... now I'm just wondering whats my next mmorpg. I'll have to sign up with AC for a month and see how it is and what all the changes are. Anyone know a great allegiance I can join?
"2) storage -- ditto again, love the loot system in AC1, hate the fact that, until you get a house, you're carrying around tons of items and millions of gold coins."
Well, I don't completely agree with that. It's -easy- to get a house, or even an apartment. There are hundreds of each available on every server. They both have the same storage, and an apartment is the easiest to get.. get a writ, and a C note. WOOO, there's your house.
Carrying cash... well, what's the problem in carring around -stacks- of -trade notes- around?
You don't have to carry cash... you just carry notes, which stack on top of eachother. You must not have played back when money had burden. Haha, those were crappy times. You would cash one D note (50k) and you were instantly fully burdened. Nobody had even heard of M notes. If you had that much, you'd better get 2 D notes, cause there was no way you could ever cash an M note.
Then they took away money burden, and now they have 250k notes. Pretty easy if you ask me. I had one big stack of 42 MMD notes (250k)
Comments
The one thing is can agree with is.........
I used to think AC was great, but in the end it just got stale and forgotten by it's creators.
They negelected AC for AC2 and negelected both for D&D Online and LotR. Out of those 2 it looks like LotR is gonna get pushed to the side. The pre-order for it has been on a few sites for 2 years now. (EBgames - trust me, I did the pre-order when it was origianally to be released in Feb 2004, and I did that pre-order in Dec 2003) I have an old "Computer Gaming" magazine from 2 years ago (I think Feb of 2003) with a 5 page article and screenshots from LotR. I also have a trailer movie on a demo disk thats over a year and a half old. In fact, I wonder if anyone is still waiting for this game to release.
The monthly updates in AC are little more then bones thrown to the exsisting subscribers but no real work to improve the overall quality of the game is done. Adding the savenger hunt of the month and then declaring "look at all the free quality content you get with AC" Compare the improvements (by improvements I mean graphics, interface and features) in any game over the last 2 years to AC's. DAoC has had no less then 2 graphic updates and massive amount of change including interface and features. Sony (as much as I do NOT like them) has had many updates and upgrades. EQ is still holding ground dispite all the competition out there.
Turbine clearly has no focus on what they are doing. Evidence - AC is by and large dead, AC2 is shutting down, LotR is flowndering all over the place. D&DO is about all they have that is not in any trouble at the moment.
That would all make sense Torak, if it weren't for the fact that there have always been seperate teams working on each game. AC2 had it's own team, and AC had it's own team. The only problem is that most of the original members of the team are no longer working for the company, or are now in different positions. Most of the current AC team wasn't around for the 'good ol' days', so don't know jack about the game or what the players want. That can be assumed by the stupid live events they've been doing, which were nowhere near as good as the previous ones with Asheron/BZ/Martine and such.
AC is not dead. It has less players, but it has enough.
Lord of the Rings Online was pushed back, way back, about two years back. If you go to the homepage for Lotro, then you will see lots of activity, news, and developer diaries. They just want to take their time so they don't end up with another AC2 at launch. They want a killer launch title, so they are willing to put whatever time they need in order for a great game at launch.
AC2s problem was that it took two years to start getting good, and people weren't willing to give it another shot.
Yes Turbine kept 2 teams (1 for each game) BUT the focus clearly came off of AC. Turbine / AC managed to loose roughly 100K players from its subscription base. EQ, at the same time, going through the same scenerio did not suffer near as much of a player lose.
Reason, poor unfocused vison of what Turbine was doing. (actually they had even more teams because they have been working on LotR and D&D for awhile)
Its called poor management. They ran the 2 live games they had into the ground while chasing 2 other carrots on a stick. If you ask me Turbine has a very POOR track record when it comes to MMORPG management.
I'm sure D&D and LotR will be good products, its what Turbine does with them after release that will make or break them. Based on the companies past performance, I would have to say they will not do well.
I know Falcon is a supporter of AC but the game is, by and large dead compared to what it use to be. What are there, 20 - 30K subscribers now? From the days of 120k?
And what does Turbine do? Pump 2 more Fantasy games (we need more fantasy games like we need more........well, fantasy games) Thats 4 different fantasy games. One shutting down even.
They got their hands on 2 juicy licenses and got greedy.
I don't understand this "no population." The posters who say this don't say what server they were on. There is POPULATION on Thistledown, and I assume other servers. How many people do you need?
When I was a Fisthand, there were 10,000 Fisthands. Sounds amazing, aye? Well, not even 1/3 of them were on at one time. I'm in a monarchy now where 500+ are on at once from time to time. that's plenty. There is not one quest that 7 people can't complete. I don't need toons running in from all sides trying to kill the monster I just vuled. Since housing people can't follow you out of town and steal what you put down to mule. There are people who will try to kill what you've vuled, running in with their shield flapping! I don't need that. Wether you like to hunt alone, or with a fellow, its there. Its all there.
Worth leaving WoW for? That's easy -- yes. Then again, most games are worth leaving WoW for.
What AC1 does that WoW doesn't:
1) item differentiation -- not just dyeing, but the sheer and enormous variety of equipment. Thousands of different types of swords, maces, armor pieces, etc. Yes, the graphics, even after the ToD upgrade, are blocky-ish, but the fact that there is as much differentiation in this game as there is means that you'll almost NEVER find anyone else who looks like you do.
2) weapon enchantments -- frost, flame, electricity (oh yes, electricity), etc. These are all visually wrapped about each weapon. Can't miss the flaming sword -- there's actual fire wreathing the blade. Electricity is great -- the dance of electrical arcs around your blade, ah....
3) more focus on "roleplaying" in the design of dungeons, mansions, etc. Each time I go into a dungeon, mansion, etc, it "feels" more like the design in a single-player RPG -- which is how it should be. I'm not talking about the number of people in it -- the design, the layout, the puzzles, etc. I hated WoW's cookie-cutter floorplans, by which I mean, since they only have something like three total inn floorplans, once you've been in one human inn, you've been in them all (for instance). I have yet to encounter the same mind-numbing repetitiveness in AC1 (even after all these years, admittedly with some on, some off) that I did in WoW.
4) engaging combat -- WoW is essentially just mash buttons, you don't have to control yourself in combat. You don't have to "move". Just hit the buttons -- line up, hit attack, hit buttons for specials, move on to the next. AC1 is more interactive -- if you want your shield to count as "blocking", you have to keep moving your shield in the way of the attacking creatures. (so, no, your shield won't protect your rear-end!) By scaling your attack to heights (low attack, torso, head) and the power behind the attack (sliding scale), you are FAR more involved in combat than in WoW. I also prefer the "feel" of ranged combat in AC1.
5) Fewer predefined roles -- in WoW, you are what you are, period. Enjoy your Hunter. That's it. Want a mage who's also good with a bow? Aint' gonna happen. AC1 is totally at your disposal for creating a character -- mix and match magical ability with other skills and produce what YOU want to create, not the limited, pre-defined class-set of WoW (and most others).
6) World environment -- drop a sword in AC1, and you see it lying on the ground and can pick it up again. Drop a sword in WoW, and you destroy it. Since each and every item is fully realised in the gameworld in AC1 -- well, 'nuff said.
7) Questing -- much prefer the feel and variety of quests in AC1.
8) weather systems -- and I didn't say "random weather effects". AC1's system of seasons and weather effects is great, and predates games that lack anything like it by years (WoW, I'm looking straight at you).
What WoW does better:
1) banks -- for the love of God, I have never understood the absence of a banking system in AC1.
2) storage -- ditto again, love the loot system in AC1, hate the fact that, until you get a house, you're carrying around tons of items and millions of gold coins.
3) tradeskills -- this is a bit of a 50-50 issue. I prefer the way AC1 does the tradeskills it does do -- but it lacks armor-making and weapon-making, two big ones for me. I loathe the overly-simplified way WoW deos tradeskills, but at least there's a resource/creation process there. (Horizons, for instance, pegs crafting -- fails in almost every other respect, but pegs crafting).
4) Quest journal -- once again, I just don't understand the absence of something as simple as a quest log in AC1.
5) scaleable map -- the maps in the game itself in AC1 are, um, not the most useful things in the world. WoW for the win here.
Meh. That's enough. Enjoy.
Woohoo, I find myself comparing WoW to AC all the time and how AC is so much more fun!
My #1 thing I hate about WoW is that all the items in the game are not unique! The sword I have on my guy right now, there are so many other people that have that same weapon and same attributes. This is where AC shines - every weapon is unique, very rarely you'll see a weapon like yours. At least thats the way it was back in early yrs 2000-2004. I've already cancelled my WoW account... now I'm just wondering whats my next mmorpg. I'll have to sign up with AC for a month and see how it is and what all the changes are. Anyone know a great allegiance I can join?
"2) storage -- ditto again, love the loot system in AC1, hate the fact that, until you get a house, you're carrying around tons of items and millions of gold coins."
Well, I don't completely agree with that. It's -easy- to get a house, or even an apartment. There are hundreds of each available on every server. They both have the same storage, and an apartment is the easiest to get.. get a writ, and a C note. WOOO, there's your house.
Carrying cash... well, what's the problem in carring around -stacks- of -trade notes- around?
You don't have to carry cash... you just carry notes, which stack on top of eachother. You must not have played back when money had burden. Haha, those were crappy times. You would cash one D note (50k) and you were instantly fully burdened. Nobody had even heard of M notes. If you had that much, you'd better get 2 D notes, cause there was no way you could ever cash an M note.
Then they took away money burden, and now they have 250k notes. Pretty easy if you ask me. I had one big stack of 42 MMD notes (250k)