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Question for community - will AOC have much to offer casual gamers?
BattleFelon
Member UncommonPosts: 483
Hi all,
I hadn't been paying much attention to AOC because I wasn't sure I was much into the whole setting. Seeing the coverage coming out of Leipzig I will say that this game looks impressive both for its massive battle features and its interesting setting - gotta love riding into battle on a mammoth!
The battle keep seige looks extremely cool but also made me realize how much time/effort will be required to get involved in the high-end PVP. Does anyone know if somebody like me who plays 10-20 hours a week, sometimes more depending on work and family, will get anything out of this game? While it looks revolutionary now it also looks to me as the kind of game that requires a huge time commitment where only hardcores should realistically apply.
Once again, this is not meant as a flame post to harp on the "hardcore vs casual" debate. AOC seems to have some awesome features that will finally give my hardcore friends a chance to build the empires they've always dreamed of. I'm honestly curious if there will be compelling reasons for me to play or not. I've heard something about similar siege warfare where you're fighting NPCS instead of top players, so I still might pick up the game if I can get involved on my limited schedule.
Comments
Something else you can do casually is crafting, along with owning your own player house. Even raids in AoC are not supposed to take too much time.
Another thing I would like to add is this, find a nice guild if you want to play. While you may be a casual player you may find a guild that accepts you and they have players that can stay on longer and help you out with your skills, maybe craft you gear, and if they are an end game guild, they will allow you to help end game pvp. In the Border Kingdoms, every guild that owns a Battle Keep will need all the help they can get defending it.
There will be stuff to do for both casuals and hardcores. Hope this helped a bit.
I think it's going to really depend on how you are defining "casual".
The folks at Funcom have offered up that they feel that they want the initial release to have about 900 hours of content, and that they feel that most folks stick with a game for around 10 months. The ballpark figure then would be around 20ish hours per week.
Now, being realistic about it, it'll depend on how much time you have, or would contribute to certain things, like the 24 man raids, and the siege style PvP. I know they want raids to be faster than WoW, but they could still run up to 4 hours while a guild is learning, so could you contribute that time? Would you have enough to get a guild set-up for a siege, which the Funcom team has said could take just 2 hours?
I'd like to think that AoC will be a casual friendly game, but in all honesty, I think you'll get out of it what you put into it, and there might be other games that cater more towards a casual playstyle. Not that I'm saying AoC is going to be time demanding, but I'm sure it'd be difficult to play and do certain things if your time is extremely limited.
Another great feature that will be good for casual players is that unlike WoW, you won't need to spend hours and hours for months on end getting gear in a boring dungeon just so that you can PvP and hope not to get creamed. Player made gear is nearly just as good as Raid gear, and is more flexible. Also, the best way to get PvP gear is through crafting. Gear will have PvP and PvE stats, so what you find in a dungeon will be good PvE gear, but not necessarily good PvP gear. Were as you can get a crafted weapon designed and 'socketed' specifically for PvP.
Yep player made items that have an actual bearing on the game. I've missed that. It seams so many MMOGs crafting is 1/2 useless cause you can get getter gear questing or running dungeons. But at least for PvP, that won't be true in AoC. 
Yeah, I have missed games that crafted actually was good for the crafter. In most games nowadays, the materials used in crafting cost much more than the item you make from them. I have always hated this idea.
Imo, it's not as much a question of casul vs hardcore for aoc, but rather what guild you are in (and you will be in a guild or there is little point to even play) If you are in a large zerg/hardcore guild, you get to enjoy a lot of things. If you are in a less powerful guild, you won't enjoy some of the things (like holding a battle keep which will be held by the power guilds on your server) but can still enjoy other things. If you are in an even smaller guild you will be missing out on soem more things. And if it's just you and some friends that are in a guild, you will be missing out on all but the most basic pvp, maybe you'll get lucky and even hold a resource node one day.
This is all for pvp on normal none ffa servers. pve you just need to join a guild that has enaugh numbers to do raids (same as wow though number of people needed will be less) So, join a zerg guild and you should be fine as far as experiencing all the game has to offer even if you are a csual player.
PVE servers will still have all the pvp mini games and border kingdoms, so you can still own a battle keep. It is just on FFA servers there are less safe zones for players to rest in. So in the end it is still a good idea to get into a good guild who wants to PvP at least as much as PVE.
I'm surprised no one has mentioned the 'Mercenary' option referenced in the recent PvP interview at Liepzig.
Guilds can evidently send out a call for freelance mercenaries to fight during their Border Keep clashes and have them teleported instantly to the battle.
It sounds like this mechanic could allow a cycling of casuals throughout the fight depending on how long it would take. At the very least it will be a way for a solo or casual player to participate in the larger GvG battles.
More mechanics like this are needed in MMORPGs in my opinion. There is nothing wrong with guild mechanics and guild support but creating content that can ONLY be accessed by guilds is something that needs changing for the future of MMORPGs IMO.
Yep your a casual gamer, you love to fight, your lifestyle doesn't allow you to put a huge amount of time per week in, maybe a little bit more at the weekends. You log on see there are several guilds inviting players to fight under them as a merc, you agree a fee and away you go, right from the get go.
I'll play AoC if for nothing else but this feature. It does not get any better then gettin paid to cleave some people in half. It will make it even sweater when you know that on the other team there might be someone you may not get along with or were hoping to KEEL just that much more.
No required quests! And if I decide I want to be an assassin-cartographer-dancer-pastry chef who lives only to stalk and kill interior decorators, then that's who I want to be, even if it takes me four years to max all the skills and everyone else thinks I'm freaking nuts. -Madimorga-
I'll play AoC if for nothing else but this feature. It does not get any better then gettin paid to cleave some people in half. It will make it even sweater when you know that on the other team there might be someone you may not get along with or were hoping to KEEL just that much more.
Oh yea! and 5 levels in Mercenery now as well as 20 lvls in PvP to compliment the 80 in PvE and crafting one. But to be known as the best Merc, the most trusted, the most feared, even playing part time you could command a high price for battle.
I'll play AoC if for nothing else but this feature. It does not get any better then gettin paid to cleave some people in half. It will make it even sweater when you know that on the other team there might be someone you may not get along with or were hoping to KEEL just that much more.
Oh yea! and 5 levels in Mercenery now as well as 20 lvls in PvP to compliment the 80 in PvE and crafting one. But to be known as the best Merc, the most trusted, the most feared, even playing part time you could command a high price for battle.
YES!! How COOL would it be, to be the Most VALUEABLE Merc EVER?!?!?! Imagine the gratification when a guild offers you a premium price for your services, because you are simply the best, at what you do. I am Psymon, shall we play a game? Perhaps their rival guild as a competitor whos skills are unrivaled by thei own guild, but their teamwork and numbers are far better, but to sway the tides of battle in their favor, they employ the most skilled Merc in all of the world! (Insert Sinister Laugh) Muah hah hah hah
That is exactly what I think of when I think Conan. He was never particularly allied with anybody. He worked for whoever would give him the most rubies, or gold or both and then go blow it all on ale and whores.
That's more or less how I plan to spend my time in Age of Conan. I log on, and spawn in the tavern where I logged off face down in a puddle consisting of a mixture of ale and my own drool where a serving wench approaches me and asks me what I'll have and I'll give the appropriate response of "more ale.... and whores!" Then when I'm done "buffing" I go out to the battlefield and proceed to earn money that will pay for the services of the next tavern I come upon and further my reputation of being able to kill just by looking in the general direction of my intended target.
Conan is your ultimate anti-hero. He kills indisciminatly and without mercy, and sometimes with extreme prejudice. For all I know my next kill might be all that stands in the way of the next drink and some drunken bar brawling. That alone to me would be a serious enough offense right there. Worth killing over? You damned right! Do I need a better reason? Absolutely not.
I'm very glad the developers have the balls to actually stick to the way the world was written up. If this game ends up as what I just described above I will play it till I'm old and gray, or unless they make a AoC 2 where the killing, drinking and whores! are more plentiful then of course I'd have to switch but then would grow even more grayer and older but none the wiser and die a happy man.
No required quests! And if I decide I want to be an assassin-cartographer-dancer-pastry chef who lives only to stalk and kill interior decorators, then that's who I want to be, even if it takes me four years to max all the skills and everyone else thinks I'm freaking nuts. -Madimorga-
There goes Illius the Merc with the reputation bigger than his buff! Fights only for what he wants and believes in, in a land where everything is uncertain. Good on you mate! Ale's on me in the Thirsty Dog Tavern!
Nothing will exceed the size of my "buff". I hope someone decides to run a bar in the name of the one in the Korgoth episode.... The Whore's Nipple... or just make another by the name of Bloody Blades and Muddy Boots...(that one's from a Salvatore book) because I can definitely seem myself in either of those.
No required quests! And if I decide I want to be an assassin-cartographer-dancer-pastry chef who lives only to stalk and kill interior decorators, then that's who I want to be, even if it takes me four years to max all the skills and everyone else thinks I'm freaking nuts. -Madimorga-
Have you actually read any of Robert E Howards books regarding Conan? Because Conan certainly is not a mindless beast that kills anyone, he has his own set of values and moralities that do conflict with traditional hero values but he certainly did not kill people indiscriminetely and he sure did show mercy at times.
There is no honor among thieves they say but Conan was a thief and bandit but he also had honor.
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Have you actually read any of Robert E Howards books regarding Conan? Because Conan certainly is not a mindless beast that kills anyone, he has his own set of values and moralities that do conflict with traditional hero values but he certainly did not kill people indiscriminetely and he sure did show mercy at times.
There is no honor among thieves they say but Conan was a thief and bandit but he also had honor.
Yes but these things happened in the fictional land of Hyboria, the great thing about AoC is that there are features in the game allowing you to progress your character upon near limitations as your the person playing desires. So one thing you cant be is Conan, but can be a bad ass Stygian if you want to be. Conan wasn't mindless, but he did act "on the spur" of the moment quite alot.
Good guy. Actually kind of reminds me of myself a bit.
Fine... he may have not killed with extreme prejudice but that's how I'd play my character. I think Yamota just feels like pissing on my parade
Regardless of Yamota being my personal killjoy I'm still gonna stick to what I said in my previous posts and if I happen to see him in game I'll just have to go over and say hi with a knuckle to the eyeball
No required quests! And if I decide I want to be an assassin-cartographer-dancer-pastry chef who lives only to stalk and kill interior decorators, then that's who I want to be, even if it takes me four years to max all the skills and everyone else thinks I'm freaking nuts. -Madimorga-
Im not "pissing one anyones parade". I just wanted to question the missconception that many people seem to have about Conan being a mindless beast without the notion of right and wrong. Conan had a strong sense of what he thought was right and wrong and he did on many occasions fight for what he conceived as injustice.
Now that doesnt meant that he didnt sleep with hookers, got mindlessly drunk and robbed rich merchants but he also had a set of values. Like he seldomly killed women and he often spared the lives of said rich merchants that he robbed and he also, on many occasions, save people who was under opression by some despot or evil wizard. If you dont believe me just pick up some Conan books and read for yourself.
Also how you play your character is completely your choice but going around and saying that you will mindlessly kill people because thats what Conan did is simply not true, if you go by Robert E. Howards creation anyway.
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And here I hoped Yamota would say something fun to fuel my posting but I guess that won't happen.
No required quests! And if I decide I want to be an assassin-cartographer-dancer-pastry chef who lives only to stalk and kill interior decorators, then that's who I want to be, even if it takes me four years to max all the skills and everyone else thinks I'm freaking nuts. -Madimorga-
Disappointing. That means it will go head-to-head with Warhammer and I suspect Warhammer will crush it. What concerns me are the rumors that Conan's developers have a long way to go in their production cycle. I haven't checked in the past few days, but I know that they had released only snippets of game footage.
Meanwhile, I have started reading the Robert Howard books. Yes, they are brutal and dark, but they also are eminently entertaining. The guy was quite a storyteller. I was surprised to see him referred to by one Internet writer as an "early feminist," but after reading him I can see why it's not such a stretch. Amidst the prostitutes and slaves there are some strong female characters. The "Queen of the Black Coast," for example, features to a female pirate who takes him as a lover. He is the brawn and she is the brains as they cut a bloody swath through coastal towns. LOL, whether the strong female prototypes translate to a video game will be quite another question. The material should make a compelling game, though.
This Warhammer Boi trolls AoC forums entirely too much.
How adept are you with the information reguarding Funcoms Production Cycle??? Give us details, and where you got these details. The fact of the matter is, you've got no information. You've just spat out more of your total ficticious bias slander. Please of wise Battlekruse prove me wrong, and give us an insight into what you've been told, (as the amazing industry insider you are.... Arn't you a flooring installer?)
Over 2 hours in the last 2 weeks alone of ingame footage. Well thats what I've assimilated so far.
BattleKruse again eh? So these "rumours" are just made up in your head right? I would be more concerned with the lack of time that warhammer has been on production if I were you
You have already stated you have no interest in AoC a few times now.
There is relatively limited information available as to how notable features like the server-based single-player, squad combat and PvP will work. I know that Just like websites provide previews of Age of Conan based on fragments of the game and limited play time. While I do believe some of the predictions made within could come true based on the previews. It's still rather early to offer more than a preliminary assessment of how well it may fare when it launches next year, but the current indications are definitely bad atm.
DIDN'T THINK SO!!
Yep its still rather early but your preliminary assessment is an indication from where? or just your opinion? What reasons?
I think that there is quite a bit of information to be found on the three points you point out in the first line.