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Age Of Conan. A new look.
Foreverdream
Member UncommonPosts: 141
I had tried it at launch, and while having a good time, I was just too busy at that point in my life to really sit down and play.
So i gave it a whirl, after the dust had settled , The game was not F2P at the time and a subscription was needed. I got out my card and subbed to see just how the game had evolved.
These are subject words that i will elaborate on with my experiance (and on going) with Age of Conan.
Story: Enough said here folks, This is top notch story telling, The characters do have voice overs up until you leave Tortage (The starting zone 1-20) This is great for me, I do like getting that quick immersion grasp, being a fan of Howards books i can safely say Funcom did excellent here. The reading doesn't bother me after tortage, In fact, i really like it. 90% of the time i read faster than any voice-over can speak! I did try starwars, Although they claim to be "innovative" with having every npc with a voice. I personally get dull of it. Who cares? Reading is good for you.
Community: The community in AoC is one of, if not the best! Sure they're are a few taints but its very uncommon. Infact people will take time out of their play just to help newer players. I've seen in Global channels where people are offering free blue gear to people leveling whom might need it. I joined a guild during my extensive review/play and i must say, that these people and I have really grown fond of one another. Not only do we ask game related questions, these people care about your day, your life, and your dog! Really though, It's what EQ offered that WoW didn't , a great community! Even if you're not in the same guild you can meet a lot of very nice people out there.
Raiding: Upon reaching level 80 you can start raiding! The raids in AoC offer greater gear (duh!) One key element that i have seen in mmo's today that conan offers is body blocking/surroundment. Some key fights require the raid force to circle the boss/mob so that it cannot escape the circle. AoC doesnt let you "Magically" pass through people, this in itself adds a whole new element in raiding and tactics which must be followed. So lets say you're playing Rift, or WoW and you've gotta run to get out of the green shit, Well its possible to just ghost through people as long as your safe, but in conan if a "teammate" isnt thinking about his "team" and doesnt move for John it may cause extra damage to that player or the entire raid! (Can cause a raid wipe in T3). The raiding is fun, exciting and downright a blast to do! It keeps your brain and YOU! on your toes!
Roleplaying: AoC handles RP very well, With a list emotions that can make your headspin due to its sheer amount, and the Vanity tab (allows you equip a gearset which you favor over the current and still retain the stats!) I'm going to keep this subject light but all in all, Roleplayers are in a safe haven here in Age of Conan. With weelky RP meets you'll get your dose of RP happily.
Combat: The combat is simply amazing, I love the fatlities! Combo's make everything more "Skillfull" Every keystroke can matter here, Conan's combat is nothing like anything out there at the moment, Any melee character you choose offers cone damage with said weapon. For example, If i have 3 enemies right up on me, and I'm using a polearm swinging left to right it's going to hit every single one. Not just your selected target. Certain weapons offer a distance in which they can attack. Daggers being the shortest range require you being very close to the mob. After playing conan then trying out starwars, i simply felt cheated of money because TOR felt cheap, it's a simple warhammer/wow single target/single damage type thing where everyskill is on a global cooldown.
Graphics: I saved this one for last, simply becasue AoC outshines the others in this department. I can only think of ONE mmo which has better graphics overall and thats FFXIV (lol...) TOR's are Fitting, but without a in-game option for AA and having to post-inject it is simply just bad an worse for performance. Hero engine isn't good. sorry.... The dreamworld engine still to this day from its 08' release is mind blowing! It offers an insane amount of options to fully immerse a person. The shadows/godrays/water accoustics simply show how much funcom prides in their engine and using it for The Secret World. Nothing out there offers this type of exploration with this level of detail. NONE! Small shurbs will actually move when walking through instead of you "Magically" passing through it.
I could go more in-depth, but i wanted to leave it at that. I'm sure many Anti-funcom haters will chime in and thats fine. Really, your only helping 
The launch was rough but most MMO's experiance that, many vets will know this aswell too. The game has changed and only for the better. I highly recommend this game for anyone who is currently bored or just tired of the extensive end game TOR has to offer (lol...) It has some bugs but nothing game-breaking at the moment, in-fact i have experianced only very minor things which would hardly fault as a bug and also seen commonly in many other mmo's.
If you do decide to play, I suggest wiccanna, I currently play there and love it. If you have any help feel to send me a tell if you join in ! IGN: Etzul
Comments
THIS.
You pretty much sumed up, how awesome this games community has been, as a former AoC player for 3 years i gotta say i spit on WoW, even GW, comparing my AoC guild and the external guild friends and people i knew on the path was just too awesome, really rewarding community
, damn nostalgy 
Funcom didn't pay me a dime, I'm just expressing my feelings towards the game in hopes that new "like minded" players will join in on something they've been missing. Sorry you feel that way bud.
^^ This.
I play AoC to this day. Like it, and I have my friends there.
The Ultimate Breakdown
You know where the door is dont ya
I guess I am payed as well then.
And no, from a person that have played the game 3 years soon, this game has much more to offer than graphics.
The Ultimate Breakdown
Like seriously i hate people that think they know everything about a game just becuase they've played it for a few days, months, nor even a year.
We, the people that have been here for 3 years knows what has been going on, within the epicness and failing, so seriously if you are gonna bash the game becuase it turns down as soon as you get out of tortage, you got 0 idea of what the real game is.
Said.
I think your view of AoC is about as far from reality as humanly possible. Funcom took Howard's creation and did a fabulous job capturing the grit and atmosphere of the original stories. In fact I think the artists and designers have elevated the Conan IP as much as anyone since Frank Frazetta and Arnold Schwarzenegger. The main reason I enjoy the game as much as I do is because of the beautifully rendered Conan universe.
Come on, I can see knocking AoC for gameplay short comings, or some technology glitches, but to say it is a poor / pathetic adaptation of the Conan IP is ludicrous.
"The Pen Is Mightier Than The Demo"
^^This. No doubt that the IP have grown with the art added to the Hyborian world by Funcom.
The Ultimate Breakdown
Thought this forum was about the MMO age of conan. That one is subpar to everything aside from graphics but best of luck with TSW.
i honestly feel like people are not giving this game a proper chance. the game is simply great. the bugs suck (no doubt) but they are not game breaking. i really dont care much for its graphics, but i do like the gameplay.
I think much of the negativity comes from disgruntled PvPers, or players from a long ago launch who can't let go of a grudge.
"The Pen Is Mightier Than The Demo"
How exactly does the game instantly become crap after tortage? Simply because minor quest/npc characters dont have a voice? That is whats keeping you from going further?
Please....Elaborate on how this game goes to "crap" after tortage. Anyone thats leveled to 80, and gave the game a full chance will relise that this game offers something unique which others dont.
Have a nice day
I agree with some of your points and dis agree with others. GRAPHICS- Excellent, the best of any mmo. STORY- Very good, although after awhile it becomes a bit repetitive but over all quite good. It is clear they put all their marbles into Tortage, which may have seemed like a good strategy at the time, turned off alot of people who wanted the voice overs to continue. The voice overs and story line are not as good as TOR and of course after Tortage you get your WOW wall of text, that being said the story line is much better than WOW. COMMUNITY- This is where Conan takes a big hit, I played on a PvP server and this may have had something to do with it, but I have never seen more wacked out teen agers on a server before, the global chat was gibberish and the community was really bad. RAIDING- Did not do enough to really comment on it buy why do you have to wait til lvl 80 to do it. CRAFTING---- The fact that the op does not even mention it says it all. Poorly implemented an after thought at best and they refuse to make it better. COMBAT----- Great if you are a melee character, the best combat of any mmo, not very good if your are not a melee character, one of the weekest of any mmo for PvE. However if you are a Melee character you will be seriousely gimped vs a non melee in PvP, although the combos are great fun in PvE they take to long to implement in PvP.
This being said Conan is a very good game, I dont like it as much as TOR but that is my opinion, I think the developers have made alot of bad decisions and that is a shame. After Tortage, Crafting , Meleee vs Non Melee-this is what they should have been working on, if they did it would be the best mmo out there
Which is true - I am one of them, but I am proud to tell you this: Age of Conan PvP was too intense for me, too realistic in terms of playing an RPG and "living / being" your character. It felt so "real" to get harassed in this game like in no other I have played in my MMO career since Meridian 59. And the bad part of those feelings were the major point. I had nice times in this game, but there were more bad ones than the goodies. Including the non-excisting endgame at launch. Of course this is just me.
And this comes from a PvP LOVER! who rather likes X vs 1 fights, rather than team-fights. So speaking from a more than fair perspective.
But from what I can recall from AoC is a pure unfairness in which your getting thrown in. Getting ganked was so uber-mean in this game, like no where else. And from the words of my friends, they had all the same experience^^ so maybe, just maybe here in this forum there might be some fellas aswell, who know what it mean to get ganked and harassed in AoC.
I tried the game after the swtor beta weekend and still enjoy it. Especially the mini dungeons (only take 20 minutes to clear) are well made.
And no I'm not getting paid for saying I like this game. (Though I wish I was..)
One other thing the F2P model is very bad and not nearly as good as Lotro or Fe about on a par with eq2 F2P which is to say bad LOL
"The Pen Is Mightier Than The Demo"
Just because someone writes something positive, they have to be on the payroll... you pessimistic brat. I happen to fully agree with the OP, troll.
*this is the cleaned up version of my reply... as clean as I could get it.*
BOYCOTTING EA / ORIGIN going forward.
I'm thinking about rerolling on Age of Conan. I've played it for a while back at release but due to limited time i had to quite. I'm going to roll on Fury server since i'm from the EU. Any idea on how the population and if there are any casual PvE guilds around there?
Thanks for the shining example of the "community" in this game. I'm sorry, OP but the community in this game is among the worst I have ever experienced. I see nothing but crass, rude statements in that horrid grey chat. I never see helpful comments, or positive comments. I only ever see the kind of conversations you would hear on a back alley streetcorner in the worst places of the world(real life that is).
Thanks for the shining example of the "community" in this game. I'm sorry, OP but the community in this game is among the worst I have ever experienced. I see nothing but crass, rude statements in that horrid grey chat. I never see helpful comments, or positive comments. I only ever see the kind of conversations you would hear on a back alley streetcorner in the worst places of the world(real life that is).
^^ this
I've been playing online games since the release of Ultima Online and I have yet to encounter a game with a worst community than AoC. What's sad is I'm talking about PVE servers such as Set. I can only imagine that the PVP servers are like.
AOC is probally the best PVE MMORPG on the market at the moment.
Sadly because of the bad launch people will never take another look at it, and actually its their loss as they will miss out on quite a bit of fun..
The game only becomes good after Tortage btw, once youve played through Tortage a few times you will realise..
After playing AOC for a few years I am really looking forward to TSW, hopefull it will have a lot of the magic that AOC does
I didn't get rude answers so far. In fact when I was level 10 people on the NPH chan helped me.
What greatly disgusts me though are the pvpers.
You are fighting a boss and finish him off - someone comes from behind and kills you.
You are in a dialogue with an npc - someone abuses that and kills you.
You are level 40 and a level 80 walks bye - he kills you.
You semi afk in front of a dungeon while answering a friend on msn - someone will find you standing there idle and kill you.
You finish a group of npcs that spotted you and you are left with 10% hp - someone will have watched you and kill you before you can rest.
Lastly, even in a fair 1:1 pvp situation I consider assassins completely imba. Their backstabbing deals 80% damage to me and then I'm stunned for 5 seconds - enough time to finish me off with another blow.
I'm sticking with the game because I enjoy the dungeons and the plot a lot though.
I think it's more the channel you listen to. I'm on Set and hang on the trial / help channel and all I ever see is questions asked and answered in the nicest manner possible.
There are those that don't play by the standard Global Chat rules that seem to apply in all games. That's always the first thing I disable in every game I play.
SWG (pre-cu) - AoC (pre-f2p) - PotBS (pre-boarder) - DDO - LotRO (pre-f2p) - STO (pre-f2p) - GnH (beta tester) - SWTOR - Neverwinter
I've been trying to get into AoC for a few years now, but just can't get over the feeling that it doesn't really feel like an MMO
It's the same problem I have with EQ2 and more recently, SWTOR:
1 - the game is made up of areas that have to be loaded individually
2 - a lot of the progress is linear and you find yourself walking down a path a lot (instead of going where you please)
3 - too many single player instances, at least earlier on. Never got past lvl 30, so I don't know how it goes from there
Also, combat is fun at first, but after a few days playing barbarian, it felt like a more tidious version of WoW, with extreme button mashing. So this time around, instead of pressing 1 button to execute an ability, I had to press 3-4 because of the combo system.
The blood/fatalities/nudity gets old fast too
most importantly, I really didn't feel like I cared about either my character, my character's skill points or the equipment he was wearing. It all felt kind of trivial.
I heard most people found PVP servers a lot more enjoyable, but somehow being ganked every 5 mins especially knowing how I like to take long coffee breaks everywhere, would not be much fun
but that's just my opinion...
I review lots of indie games and MMORPGs