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Well...Surprise, surprise
Thamoris
Member UncommonPosts: 686
Having bored of the carrot chasing end game of Rift and not having fun on myt alts, I decided to give AoC a try. To my surprise...I'm having a really good experience.
The graphics are great. Their is blood, gore, tits and ass....it's edgy like Conan should be. Combat feels fun and the animations are smooth. The quests are pretty typical, but occasionaly they do something new. The world is big, with lots to explore. I'm sure the end game will be meh....as all end game's are, hence the name " end game"...but their seems to be plenty of opportunity for some fun Alt action.
The free to play offers ALOT, but I subed up anyways....mostly for the expanded inventory space. I expect to be playing AoC until Rift comes out with some radically new content ( ie...housing, new zones and/or raised level cap) or GW2 comes out.
Call me.....
Pleasantly surprised !
Comments
You named it, AoC is still an industry leader in graphics, animations and combat.
Don't be pessimistic about the end-game, actually it's quite fun. Khitai questing is fabulous (at least for the first run for each faction -- there's 12 factions all together), dungeons are hard and varied, and there's the AA system. PvP on the other hand, is probably something to avoid.
REALITY CHECK
Yea, it is a great Conan game. As far as a video game that brings Howard's Conan stories and the world of Hyboria to life, AoC does an excellent job. I don't think any game studio has handled an IP better than Funcom has done with Conan. The beauty, the gore, the combat, it is a blend that is presented in a way unique to the MMO genre. When you appreciate what the game offers, it is a blast to play!
"The Pen Is Mightier Than The Demo"
funcom and this game does not deserve the amount of hate they get...
I'm playing and loving it, gonna play till GW2 or TSW is out, if I don't like them, I'm going back to this game.
Yeah I'm downloading the client now to give it a fair shake, just a bit irritated that when I started to download fresh from the server the download filesize was ~18GB and when I installed off my disks the download filesize was...~18GB.
Downloading AoC is a chore! I started in the evening and let it go all night. I think in the morning it was done, can't remember for sure, may have taken longer.
"The Pen Is Mightier Than The Demo"
AoC will probably expand to a folder of a size of 35GB plus future content increasing it further.
Dont wonder when you first visit a region or instance, it may start to download it that time and your first experience will appear underperforming - that should change after a while when everything has been downloaded and computed.
Have Fun!
"Torquemada... do not implore him for compassion. Torquemada... do not beg him for forgiveness. Torquemada... do not ask him for mercy. Let's face it, you can't Torquemada anything!"
MWO Music Video - What does the Mech say: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FF6HYNqCDLI
Johnny Cash - The Man Comes Around: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y0x2iwK0BKM
I'm going to give it another try. I can't find a damn thing else to play, and I remember enjoying the starter area in the game very much when it first released. Since I am giving Funcom the benefit of the doubt when TSW comes out, I might as well go have another look at this game too.
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.
There are to few players to do the end game raids or PvP and no server mergers expected, so not sure why anyone would play this when they can play Skyrim and get a better single player experience. Age of Conan may be the industry leader of graphics, not so much animations but it is the industry lagger when it comes to gameplay. There are plenty of MMOs people are playing now days, this just isn't one of them. Glad you like it though.
OP is probably stil in Tortage. Tortage is very well done with voice over. However once you leave that area, all that stop, no more voice over. At first you might find the combo combat fun, but once you level up and endup having to press 4-5 directional keys to do 1 attack, you'll find that feature becomes more like a huge chore.
One of the few MMOs i never tried due to it being slaughtered at launch and people saying you can't explore.
For me, i want an open world with a feeling it is living, and amazing atmospheric graphics help create that.
So i am seriously considering trying this out, but i do fear it is a) empty and b)you can't explore.
I've got several characters from 20-80 and a lot of the new content from Godslayer to present really has made the game a lot more engaging. If you haven't played in a while, it's worth revisiting.
There isn't a "right" or "wrong" way to play, if you want to use a screwdriver to put nails into wood, have at it, simply don't complain when the guy next to you with the hammer is doing it much better and easier. - Allein
"Graphics are often supplied by Engines that (some) MMORPG's are built in" - Spuffyre
There is voice acting in all the main story quests through the game and and in a few other spots.
Combat is great fun an stays that way even in PVP as you need to have skill to be able to pull off the combos at the right time.
I think AOC is probally my favorite themepark MMO out there at the moment, not currently playing it tho but played it for well over a year and have a few different lvl 80 characters.
People overlook AOC mainly because of the launch it had, once a game gets a bad rep like that its very hard for it to bring new people in. Its true its not an open world game but there are soem really big zones to explore esp in the enw exp pack so dont think they are all tiny maps the size of a counter strike map or somthing
last time i checked it was pretty well populated since going f2p
But would tell anyone here give it a try now thats its free and you can see how good it is for yourself..
Op is a lv 38 Guardian.
Tortage was actually my least favorite part. I couldn't wait to get out of there.
It is true there are not a lot of players leveling characters. Most of the population on Set are at max level and doing end game stuff. When I play I usually solo because there aren't enough people around to group up with, although I do see group requests for lower level quests in chat. There are quests that you cannot take on alone, so if you can't find a group you will have to pass on those.
Exploring is another matter. This is one aspect of the game I can really get into. It is true the game is divided into zones that you enter via a loading screen. However these zones are not small, they are pretty big. Not only that, they are full of content both on the surface and in dungeons like ancient ruins. The detail of the environment and art work of the world makes it fun to explore. There are a lot of beautiful locations in AoC, and they are all rendered in DX10. If your rig can max this game out at a decent resolution the game is visually head and shoulders above any other MMO out. Presentation, art style, motion quality, lighting, are all top tier. Music and combat are excellent as well.
"The Pen Is Mightier Than The Demo"
Not many are doing end game stuff either http://forums.ageofconan.com/showpost.php?p=3027480&postcount=12
like I said, Skyrim is a better single player game and beats doing the same few raids that everyone has been doing for three years now.
How sad is the new PvP server with only 4 max level players or other servers where no guild is progressing or even able to raid two-year-old content.
+1
Ive been tryin to tell people for that last 6 months. The game still has the best graphics and is tons of fun. Even if you get bored fast you fot a few month of fun out of it. Khitai is tuff and the 6 man raids are pretty challenging. Some great improvements have been made and it it would have launched in the state its in now it would be one of the top mmo's.
Civilized men are more discourteous than savages because they know they can
be impolite without having their skulls split, as a general thing.
-Robert E. Howard
On Crom (EU) I see calls for end game content all the time and every area I visited has players in it. The game has changed massively since launch, the combo system got streamlined so gone are the days of four step combos, if you play a caster that doesn't matter. I rate it highly now as my 2nd favourite online game, plenty of content to keep you engaged until level cap, a great and gritty storyline and beautifully realised.
Well, we have all played Skyrim. Whether or not you like it more than AoC is really a subjective matter of opinion. I would say Skyrim would be a better choice over raiding the same dungeons in AoC, but for a new comer to AoC, or a long time returning player I think AoC is a better game as far as having fun playing the leveling content. I also think the art style and character animations are much better in AoC. Bethesda still haven't gotten the 3rd person view down very well. The horse and rider are better done in AoC, as well as the combat fatalities. Plus AoC is multiplayer, even though it is not as populated as we all would like, still there are other people to play with. I also prefer the Conan IP to Elder Scrolls.
"The Pen Is Mightier Than The Demo"
From what i have seen/read, although not a sanbox as such, this seems to be a game i would love. Mainly due to i like a living world atmosphere, lots of great scenery, areas to explore and the feeling of not knowing whats around corner.
However, the one thing holding me back is the population. I am done and dusted playing MMOs in solitude and i won't do it even if the game is actually perfect for what i want. I want to play alongside or at least encounter others in an MMO.
Which is a shame and by the looks of it , AoC is being kept alive purely as a guinea pig for The Secret World, which is out April. Although that looks new, different, etc, to me it looks just like a puzzle game, i can see it being lifeless, the videos suggest so.
Age of Conan killed itself.
1. progression is a grind that will take someone with a job Months upon Months to even slightly catch up.
2. With the expansion they added a new progression that requires you be max level and each point is time based IE 72 Hours. ect. ect. So thats more time that you're far behind and can't rush.
3. I rejoined for the launch of the hardcore rules server and although I did have some open world PvP fun most people just queue mini games.
4. Cash shop sells power. People spend 100 bucks buying their first tier and weapons of PvP gear so if you try to do it legit you'll be at a great disadvantage.
I can't support a game that sells power so I left after achieving PvP 5 legitly.
Everything I say is my opinion or personal preference. You may or may not find it useful to your cause but regardless I am entitled to it.
only thing that let this game down was that it was released to early..they did a vanguard i think..memory leeks and tortage was the best bit of the game..after that it was just like every other mmo..go kill xxx ,you know wot i mean.but it is great combat and i have been subbed for 3yrs and love it..sub runs out next month..not sure if i'll renew yet or not..dont play it that much anymore ..i got 6xlvl 80.each to their own i think..not sure how many subs it has but i heard something around 75-100k which is plenty of peeps to game with..if vanguard can do it with 3k subs then conan can with 100k
I have learned to not give 2nd cances when it comes to my money.
When i bought the CE in the 1st day of launch it costed me almost 65 euros if i remember it correctly, and i went from being enloved with the game in the early levels to angry due to the fact the game was rushed to an early early launch, full of bugs, faulty game design implementations and severe lack of content, as eventually all players in AoC would find out.
As far as i can remember the game wasnt even playable untill after 4 months of consecutives patches. Sure you could do some questing and go around in your mammoth looking at the cool graphs, but i remember being stuck at lvl 40/50 something with my conqueror doing some dungeon quests FC had implemented just so we could tag along the game while the game was geting nuked by patches. PvP was broken, crafting was broken, sieges non existent and instancing i could solo all of them because the foes were frozen...i could just get to them, including the boss, hit them untill they die and colect the goods....i mean....
Now, did i got an e-mail from FunCom offering a refund? 120 days game time? Nope!
So, i hope your enjoy it and i dont have any reason to not believe that AoC is now a good game...."now"!
AoC is far from dead. I stopped playing a few months back due to lack of new content (just after the game went F2P, although that in itself didnt bother me), but there were plenty of people online and in PvP.
The dungeons and raids are great and require thought, coordination and strategy... but doing them for the 100th time with no new ones just got old.
I would recommend that you give it a try. Maybe take some friends with you to do lower level dungeons (although you can somtimes find some other people leveling up alts to go with you). At the very least it will keep you busy for a few months, especially once you hit the Khitai grind.
AoC is more than a guinea pig for Secret World, or a test for the Dreamworld engine. It has a solid, devoted fan base. People who do like it, like it a lot. It is making Funcom money in the sense that it is profitable to keep the servers on line. I have been playing on and off since Godslayer expansion and have seen a ton of content and improvements to the game. The DX10 graphics have gone through a big overhaul and the game has never looked better. Then FtP hit and that brought in a lot of looky loos. For about 2 months after FtP launched the population on Set boomed. I couldn't believe how many low level players were running around! The best part about FtP to me was the introduction of the vanity tab that allowed the player to equip their character in the clothing and armor of their choosing. You can have all the stats of full armor but run around in a loincloth and barefoot if you want. That was a huge RP boost to the game, being able to have your character appear as you like. Then the new PVP server launched, but that hasn't kept the PvP crowd happy
There has been new content rolled out pretty regular. Solo dungeons that can be done in an hour or two to large playfields like Coast of Turan that will take days to play through. Just recently a new dungeon House of Crom was launched. I haven't seen it but I have read good reports about it on the boards. A complete overhaul, as opposed to a quick fix of the weak stick crafting system is in the works, due out around summertime. All this is a lot of effort to put into a game that isn't healthy or making Funcom money.
"The Pen Is Mightier Than The Demo"