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Age of Conan: Letter from the Director

StraddenStradden Managing EditorMember CommonPosts: 6,696

The Age of Conan website has been updated with this letter from Age of Conan Game Director Gaute Godager. In the letter, Godager lays out plans for the game in the near future.

Fellow Hyborians!

As you may have noticed we have had frequent patches the last two weeks. We hope this will soon start to quiet down, but as long as there are major issues – and there have been – we will dedicate the Conan team to fixing them and giving you these fixes as soon as possible! We have a plan on how to move this game forward because as you know, what you have today is but the platform – the dawn of this world. I hope you enjoy the game as is, but I can ensure you, this is but the beginning!

Our focus from now on can be summarized by these points:

  1. We will add content, specifically in mid-late thirties and mid-late fifties and make the leveling speed smoother in those areas, reducing the need to grind.
  2. We will have an overhaul of the PvP system – adding consequence and a host of small things.
  3. We are fixing bugs you reported through all channels we can get information from.
  4. We will add a new large outdoor region in the 55-60 range this summer!
  5. This is only a small taster! More information about the exciting summer and fall Roadmap will come the end of the next week!
  6. We are staffing up Customer Service, Quality Assurance and Community departments!

Read the whole thing here.

Cheers,
Jon Wood
Managing Editor
MMORPG.com

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Comments

  • LeucentLeucent Member Posts: 2,371

    In otherwords, we thank you for paying for beta because we simply weren t ready for release.

  • streeastreea Member UncommonPosts: 654

    Originally posted by Leucent


    In otherwords, we thank you for paying for beta because we simply weren t ready for release.
    Oh just stop it already. WoW still has bug fixes and updates, and EVERY MMO will too. And you know how buggy SWG was the first few months? Yet people still loved to play it.

    If you have a problem with playing a game that will continuously have fixes and patches, go play a boardgame. Otherwise, stop moaning.

  • LeucentLeucent Member Posts: 2,371
    Originally posted by streea


     
    Originally posted by Leucent


    In otherwords, we thank you for paying for beta because we simply weren t ready for release.
    Oh just stop it already. WoW still has bug fixes and updates, and EVERY MMO will too. And you know how buggy SWG was the first few months? Yet people still loved to play it.

     

    If you have a problem with playing a game that will continuously have fixes and patches, go play a boardgame. Otherwise, stop moaning.

    Should have been more clear i was commenting on the content missing and parts of the game no one got to see to realize it s NOT IN GAME YET.

  • lordtwistedlordtwisted Member UncommonPosts: 570

    I can't beleive they are having complaints from people who don't like the grinding at lvl 50? Lvl50? WTF the game just came out! If I wanted a game I am going to be done with in two weeks I will buy a single player game, I want my MMO's to last me atleast the summer.

    Not so nice guy!

  • Shadow786Shadow786 Member UncommonPosts: 210

    Guys seriously read www.wowwiki.com/Patch_1.1. Youll be surprised theyre still fleshing out classes, and areas. I mean Maruaden horrible dungeon it may be, wasnt added until 3-4 months from US release. Remember Captain Placeholder? Come on cut AOC some slack

  • mindmeldmindmeld Member UncommonPosts: 229

    Regardless of the issues in hand trust me its nothing comparing to the anarchy online launch.

     

    anyway i got hooked i said i wouldnt but heck why not

    -Semper ubi sub ubi!
    always wear underwear

  • SpellshaperSpellshaper Member UncommonPosts: 419

    Done here.

    _____________________________
    Mundus vult decipi, ergo decipiatur.

  • summitussummitus Member UncommonPosts: 1,414
    Originally posted by streea


     
    Originally posted by Leucent


    In otherwords, we thank you for paying for beta because we simply weren t ready for release.
    Oh just stop it already. WoW still has bug fixes and updates, and EVERY MMO will too. And you know how buggy SWG was the first few months? Yet people still loved to play it.

     

    If you have a problem with playing a game that will continuously have fixes and patches, go play a boardgame. Otherwise, stop moaning.



    Yeah got to agree so so sick of the Whiners on this site, they are starting to spoil what should be a great Forum.

  • MindTriggerMindTrigger Member Posts: 2,596

    Too little, too late for me. Uninstalled AoC and I'm back playing Lotro until Warhammer or Stargate releases.  Keeping an eye on JGE too.

    Normal launch bugs aside, maybe next time they will release a completed game, and think twice about instancing it down into a single player game with a (quiet) chat window. Maybe they won't over look HUGE bugs and missing features in order to meet a launch date they weren't ready for.

    I'm at the point in my life where I am sick of getting burned by companies.  Talk is cheap, so instead, I stop giving them my money.

    A sure sign that you are in an old, dying paradigm/mindset, is when you are scared of new ideas and new technology. Don't feel bad. The world is moving on without you, and you are welcome to yell "Get Off My Lawn!" all you want while it happens. You cannot, however, stop an idea whose time has come.

  • Facil01Facil01 Member Posts: 60
    Originally posted by summitus

    Originally posted by streea


     
    Originally posted by Leucent


    In otherwords, we thank you for paying for beta because we simply weren t ready for release.
    Oh just stop it already. WoW still has bug fixes and updates, and EVERY MMO will too. And you know how buggy SWG was the first few months? Yet people still loved to play it.

     

    If you have a problem with playing a game that will continuously have fixes and patches, go play a boardgame. Otherwise, stop moaning.



    Yeah got to agree so so sick of the Whiners on this site, they are starting to spoil what should be a great Forum.

      Be careful what you say on these forums friend.  Someone who says other ppl are whiners get called trolls or hater haters which in turn just makes you a hater.  this is, of course, the opinions of other ppl.  not mine, these were just a couple of things thrown in my face when i stated something very similar.

  • ThomasN7ThomasN7 87.18.7.148Member CommonPosts: 6,690

    All good things headed for AOC and thats a good thing. This is my first time dealing ith Funcom and I think they are doing a pretty good job of cleaning up alot of stuff. I think they tried to be too ambitious with the game, trying to perfect everything. They clearly have good intentions of improving and making the game even better despite some issues at the moment.  

    30
  • MindTriggerMindTrigger Member Posts: 2,596

    Originally posted by SaintViktor


    All good things headed for AOC and thats a good thing. This is my first time dealing ith Funcom and I think they are doing a pretty good job of cleaning up alot of stuff. I think they tried to be too ambitious with the game, trying to perfect everything. They clearly have good intentions of improving and making the game even better despite some issues at the moment.  
    AoC is anything but ambitous.  The original design of Star Wars Galaxies, now that was ambitious and one of the reasons they never could balance the game or keep up with it's problems.  If anything AoC suffers from a lack of vision.  Too much time and effort was wasted on making it a pretty game, instead of a fun game with tons of content.

    They simply released the game in an unfinished state, and now they are paying the price.  I understand some people like this game, but it's hardly an MMO the way it was designed.  It plays like a single player game with online elements, including the fact that you can level to 80 very quickly without ever having to group.

    A sure sign that you are in an old, dying paradigm/mindset, is when you are scared of new ideas and new technology. Don't feel bad. The world is moving on without you, and you are welcome to yell "Get Off My Lawn!" all you want while it happens. You cannot, however, stop an idea whose time has come.

  • jedibeck16jedibeck16 Member UncommonPosts: 10

    Originally posted by summitus

    Originally posted by streea


     
    Originally posted by Leucent


    In otherwords, we thank you for paying for beta because we simply weren t ready for release.
    Oh just stop it already. WoW still has bug fixes and updates, and EVERY MMO will too. And you know how buggy SWG was the first few months? Yet people still loved to play it.

     

    If you have a problem with playing a game that will continuously have fixes and patches, go play a boardgame. Otherwise, stop moaning.



    Yeah got to agree so so sick of the Whiners on this site, they are starting to spoil what should be a great Forum.

    Trust me.  These forums are NOTHING compared to the user forums on the AoC web site.  I also wish people would stop complaining.  While people are certainly entitled to their own opinion, one has to wonder how many posts that complain about the same things are necessary...

    Jon

  • nightbird305nightbird305 Member UncommonPosts: 272

    Originally posted by Spellshaper


    Age of Conan: Letter from customer


    Funcom mistake was, that they didnt count, that players level so fast and need new content so fast. Something caused by exploits, something by no sleepers, but even casual players haveing quite high levels.


    But everyone with basic knowledge of MMOs already knows, that there would be content coming in first few weeks, question only was how much of it will be. I also dont think that announced content is something made these days (it tooks weeks to make something noticable), but only hidden content for first BIG patch after release (to look good).
    Problem is, that these things are hidden even from closed testers, so there are a lot of issues with them and take a while to solve it on live servers. But I dont think thats so bad eitehr, it dont come out with major bugs often. What is sad is, that Funcom sometimes brings back already solved bugs with new patch (this really shouldnt happen, but I

    can imagine how this can be easily done).


    Launch of AoC was pretty smooth. No lags, enough servers, no waiting (it differs from server, but there was allways some that you can choose from). No major bugs until lvl lets say 30-40 at least. Enough quest and contetnt for levels mentioned above.


    Only real dissapointment I have with Funcom so far are Sieges, PVE NPC cities and attackers and crafted items arent as good as non crafted items (as promised) and PvP system (mybe DX10 can count here, but I think its so useless that I cant count it). Sieges arent in yet, PVE NPC cities and attacks either arent in and the same is true for PvP system. These are major things that bring people to game, announced for release and they are not in!


    I beleive they will be implemented, sooner or later, but I think Funcom have to apologise for this and tell us, when these things will be in.
    ------------

    About me: I am casual player, so I didnt reach high lvl content yet. I love the game, the lore, the system, all of it. So my only problem on higher lvls can be content (including sieges and everything mentioned above). And if you ask me if you should by this game, still answer is YES because I still beleive in Funcom (at least for now).
    Thank you for stating the obvious. I don't care if you're 12 or if english isn't your native language, atleast make the effort of reading through your post! The spelling mistakes really turned me off from reading through your entire "letter". Also Funcom shouldn't have to apologise for anything. If you were serious about buying this game, then you would have known enough about the game to realise that certain things like Directx10 wouldn't be in the game at launch. HOWEVER! It would have been a lot worse had they said that Directx10 would be in the game, but then decide to never add it. Then my friend, they should apologise.

    Give them some slack, they are a small team and they are doing what they can.

  • TrashcantoyTrashcantoy Member Posts: 827
    Originally posted by Leucent


    In otherwords, we thank you for paying for beta because we simply weren t ready for release.

    yawn

    MMOs currently playing: -
    About to play: Lord of the Rings Online
    Played: Anarchy Online (alltime favorite) and lots of f2p titles (honorable mentions: 9Dragons, Martial Heroes, Dekaron, Atlantica Online)

  • jedibeck16jedibeck16 Member UncommonPosts: 10

    Originally posted by MindTrigger


     
    Originally posted by SaintViktor


    All good things headed for AOC and thats a good thing. This is my first time dealing ith Funcom and I think they are doing a pretty good job of cleaning up alot of stuff. I think they tried to be too ambitious with the game, trying to perfect everything. They clearly have good intentions of improving and making the game even better despite some issues at the moment.  
    AoC is anything but ambitous.  The original design of Star Wars Galaxies, now that was ambitious and one of the reasons they never could balance the game or keep up with it's problems.  If anything AoC suffers from a lack of vision.  Too much time and effort was wasted on making it a pretty game, instead of a fun game with tons of content.

     

    They simply released the game in an unfinished state, and now they are paying the price.  I understand some people like this game, but it's hardly an MMO the way it was designed.  It plays like a single player game with online elements, including the fact that you can level to 80 very quickly without ever having to group.

    That all depends on what level you are when you decide to do the group quests (yes, they are there).  I for one was heavily challenged by the group quests and needed a couple people to come along with me.

    I am also tired of the "unfinished" comments.  By nature, ALL MMO's are unfinished, constantly being changed, tweaked and updated.  I've beta tested LOTRO, Warcraft, and MxO, and all of these were buggier than this MMO was at launch (though I think LOTRO, possibly, was slightly smoother).

    The "unfinished" argument really doesn't hold water for this reason.  A better way to phrase it, perhaps, would be "incomplete content promised upon launch" which, in its own right, is a worthy complaint.

    Jon

  • ThomasN7ThomasN7 87.18.7.148Member CommonPosts: 6,690

    Originally posted by MindTrigger


     
    Originally posted by SaintViktor


    All good things headed for AOC and thats a good thing. This is my first time dealing ith Funcom and I think they are doing a pretty good job of cleaning up alot of stuff. I think they tried to be too ambitious with the game, trying to perfect everything. They clearly have good intentions of improving and making the game even better despite some issues at the moment.  
    AoC is anything but ambitous.  The original design of Star Wars Galaxies, now that was ambitious and one of the reasons they never could balance the game or keep up with it's problems.  If anything AoC suffers from a lack of vision.  Too much time and effort was wasted on making it a pretty game, instead of a fun game with tons of content.

     

    They simply released the game in an unfinished state, and now they are paying the price.  I understand some people like this game, but it's hardly an MMO the way it was designed.  It plays like a single player game with online elements, including the fact that you can level to 80 very quickly without ever having to group.

    I don't know about paying the price really, everyday I log into the game there are tons of people having a great time and despite some issues they really had a pretty decent launch compared to other mmo games.

    Nighttime quests are single player only daytime quests you can either solo or group. Though the higher level you are the more grouping is needed such as Sanctum of the Burning Souls dungeon and many other dungeons that are 50+.

    Too much time and effort was wasted on making it a pretty game, instead of a fun game with tons of content.

    There is plenty to do in AOC. Problem is that some just glue themselves 24/7 to the pc and rush to level 80, then we have to hear their complaints about not enough content on the forums.

    30
  • dsebutchrdsebutchr Member Posts: 245

    I would like to suggest that all the whiners do EXACTLY what they say and leave the game.  All of you who are threatening to leave...please do so.

    The rest of us are having a really good time and I'm all for not having to listen to you any more.

    Thanks for playing. 

  • deguildevingdeguildeving Member Posts: 12

    In LOTRO beta we were balancing classes far before release.  We were polishing up the completed crafting sytem.  Even finalizing the initial higher level areas months before it went live.  AoC seems to have just hit beta from alpha...  That's the feel anyway.  And I played beta (err alpha)...

  • mxmissilemxmissile Member UncommonPosts: 275

    damn!  still no fix for the instanced *outside* world and immersion killing loading screens... oh well at least some people like playing technology from 2002...

  • ElikalElikal Member UncommonPosts: 7,912

    Well, I take it as with Vanguard, I will see how it is in 6-12 months. Maybe its really good then, maybe not. At least they admit their probs earlier than Sigil did, which speaks for them.

    People don't ask questions to get answers - they ask questions to show how smart they are. - Dogbert

  • GreenChaosGreenChaos Member Posts: 2,268
    Originally posted by Leucent


    In otherwords, we thank you for paying for beta because we simply weren t ready for release.

    Just like every other MMO other than LOTRO, would you like a cookie?

  • MindTriggerMindTrigger Member Posts: 2,596

     

    Originally posted by jedibeck16


     
    Originally posted by MindTrigger


     
    Originally posted by SaintViktor


    All good things headed for AOC and thats a good thing. This is my first time dealing ith Funcom and I think they are doing a pretty good job of cleaning up alot of stuff. I think they tried to be too ambitious with the game, trying to perfect everything. They clearly have good intentions of improving and making the game even better despite some issues at the moment.  
    AoC is anything but ambitous.  The original design of Star Wars Galaxies, now that was ambitious and one of the reasons they never could balance the game or keep up with it's problems.  If anything AoC suffers from a lack of vision.  Too much time and effort was wasted on making it a pretty game, instead of a fun game with tons of content.

     

    They simply released the game in an unfinished state, and now they are paying the price.  I understand some people like this game, but it's hardly an MMO the way it was designed.  It plays like a single player game with online elements, including the fact that you can level to 80 very quickly without ever having to group.

    That all depends on what level you are when you decide to do the group quests (yes, they are there).  I for one was heavily challenged by the group quests and needed a couple people to come along with me.

     

    I am also tired of the "unfinished" comments.  By nature, ALL MMO's are unfinished, constantly being changed, tweaked and updated.  I've beta tested LOTRO, Warcraft, and MxO, and all of these were buggier than this MMO was at launch (though I think LOTRO, possibly, was slightly smoother).

    The "unfinished" argument really doesn't hold water for this reason.  A better way to phrase it, perhaps, would be "incomplete content promised upon launch" which, in its own right, is a worthy complaint.

    Jon

     

    When I say AoC was unfinished, I am not talking about normal launch bugs, and 'normal' missing content. (which, by the way, is only normal because people continue to pay these game companies to release unfinished games.) I am talking about glaring bugs that could only have been completely overlooked in order to get this game launched on time, and never should have made it past the beta stage.  I'm talking about barely implemented key features such as the chat and emote systems, quest log, grouping features, etc.  I'm talking about the feats system not working, and the stats on armor not working and/or making little or no impact on a player's stats.  Hell, there are stats on items that no one even know what they do because funcom won't release the information.

     

    When I am talking about missing content, I am referring to giant gaps in quests for certain levels.  This game was purposely designed so that players could reach the cap (solo) in only 250 hours.  Some people have done it in 200.  You can't design a game like that, and then use the excuse that you didn't expect players to level fast, so you didn't have the middle and endgame content completed. Also, let's not forget that player cities are bugged to death, and siege warfare is MIA.

     

    What about crafting?  Crafting is usually a great side project for people to do while they level.  It effectively slows down leveling for many people, because crafting is supposed to be a fun activity that can get you away from grinding and combat. The whole system seems like it was thrown in the game 3 months ago.  Static spawning resource nodes that people can mark on their map?  In Stygia I played for several days and only came across one node that had one item in it.   Crafting itself is not working, including the game breaking gemcrafting system.  How did any of this make it past beta?

     

    I'll tell you how.  The issues were completely ignored.  There are countless beta testers out there who tried to get Funcom to hold the game because it was no where near ready for launch.  In my opinion,  someone in management at Funcom must have decided it was time to push the game out, so they did.  They put all their time into making Tortage nearly flawless, pushed mounts and crafting to level 40 so few people would notice that none of it worked right, and rushed the game out,.  Ask yourself how, after FIVE (5) years of development, this game finds itself in such an imcomplete state?  You would think it would be the most polished MMO ever released considering how long it's been in dev.  This tells me that the team is either too small, or too unorganized to handle this project correctly.

     

    The things I stated above are aside from 'normal' launch problems and missing content. These are key aspects of the game that should have been in the game and completely functioning.  Did Funcom do no research of other MMOs to figure out what players consider normal MMO features these days?  Any half wit gamer knows that MMO launches can be a rocky ride, but there is a huge difference between launch bugs, and launching a game that is missing a large portion of working standard MMO game features.

    A sure sign that you are in an old, dying paradigm/mindset, is when you are scared of new ideas and new technology. Don't feel bad. The world is moving on without you, and you are welcome to yell "Get Off My Lawn!" all you want while it happens. You cannot, however, stop an idea whose time has come.

  • SinkaelSinkael Member UncommonPosts: 68

    First of all let me say that I already did speak with my wallet and am not playing AoC, second, the previous fact does in no way invalidate my opinion of the game.

     

    I find it amusing that the game is less then a month old and we are looking as a revamp of the PvP system already. Wasn't this one of the big pointswith AoC, all the PvPers were gonna go there?

    I guess it wasn't so great. . .

  • GuintuGuintu Member UncommonPosts: 320
    Originally posted by Leucent

    Originally posted by streea


     
    Originally posted by Leucent


    In otherwords, we thank you for paying for beta because we simply weren t ready for release.
    Oh just stop it already. WoW still has bug fixes and updates, and EVERY MMO will too. And you know how buggy SWG was the first few months? Yet people still loved to play it.

     

    If you have a problem with playing a game that will continuously have fixes and patches, go play a boardgame. Otherwise, stop moaning.

    Should have been more clear i was commenting on the content missing and parts of the game no one got to see to realize it s NOT IN GAME YET.



    I like the game and had fun playing in the beta but even I think they should have waited.  They even said in the letter that their are major issues that need to be fixed, this shouldn't have happened.  I won't pay for the for another few months because I know their are issues from playing in the beta and from what I read.  I have no doubt that Funcom will fix them and part of me doesn't blame them for brining it out when they did, it costs money every day they would have delayed the game.  BUT its a double edged sword and they took a chance.  Bring out the game with major issues and take a chance that people are going to get angry and leave and have a bitter taste in their mouth or delay the game, loose money and still have people pissed off because they didn't bring the game out on time.  A dev is damned if they do and damned if they don't...but with issues that AoC has and as major as they are maybe it would have been best to wait.  When the game has most of its kinks worked out (no game has no kinks), this game will be a lot of fun and worth the money.  Right now...for me anyways...its not worth a monthly fee.  I'll give it time and then I'll pay.

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