French Video Game Festival: Videos and Views Hand On with some Q&A >

AmazingAvery

Hi this was posted over on the official forums and thought I'd put here for an update:

http://forums.ageofconan.com/showthread.php?t=40118

By kikilkiki:

Just thought I d copy paste a bit of feedback posted on the French forums.



Opinions diverge significantly but some interesting stuff:



http://forums-fr.ageofconan.com/show...&postcount=131

http://forums-fr.ageofconan.com/show...5&postcount=84

http://forums-fr.ageofconan.com/show...6&postcount=76

http://forums-fr.ageofconan.com/show...&postcount=140

http://forums-fr.ageofconan.com/show...&postcount=145



In summary:

- major problem was the lag.

- Graphics stunned everyone (and that was DX9)

- Assassin stealth seemed difficult to handle

- HOX looked great, would be even more so if appearance was customizable

- Barbarian seemed very powerful and dealt a bunch of damage very quickly

- an interesting review ( http://forums-fr.ageofconan.com/show...&postcount=140 ) explains that once you lose the good old MMO habits ( running around and jumping above your target) and start focusing on combos and using a slower more tactical approach, gameplay quickly becomes very interesting. Facing your opponent as opposed to a target lock system actually seems to work well as long as you play it intelligently. Collision would give an additional angle to the fighting.

- Battle keep bonuses include: increased HP for guild members who own a keep (not limited to PvP zones), depending on the buildings in the player city certain classes will get bonuses, increased fame for the owners of the keeps considering there are only 9 per server.

If I look into those reviews it seems the gameplay is actually interesting as long as you change your approach to MMO PvP.

Looks like AoC will require more tactics and thought than the usual bunny hop/ run around your opponent in other games.



Only big caveat, the unknown lag factor.

 

felix77 wrote:

I went on Saturday and played both the Bear Shamen and Guardian. I'll post a review tomorow, a little tired from the trip at the moment. The lag was caused by connection problems from the Oslo server, it isn't a proper game server and bugs have yet to be worked out for it. I spoke with Tarib for quite a while, I don't know if he wants his real name posted. He is a pretty cool guy, Swiss with all most no acent in English. He answered a few of my questions, I'll post them later. For those wondering general beta has not started.



The connection problems did give us a peak at the female character creation though. When the server came back up people started logging on and making new characters, forgot to get a pic though. One of the young Dev's stopped them before they had them fully created.



G'night and talk to you all tomorrow.

 

Lifereaper wrote:

Here more details, maybe some things are not very useful but still good to know



- Loot: still bags on the demo (used by the funcom team), option "take all".

- About NPC: the quest givers have an yellow "!" if they have one to give you, or an yellow "?" to give you the reward.

- Quest : like AO, when you have done a part of the quest, you got the message that the quest is updated and finished. (maybe it's due to the demo)

- We saw a drunken npw to pee ^^   <----

- Items : it needs like 2s with the cursor on it to see the stats. To link an item in a chat box, it's like AO, you drag it in the chat box.

- Combos : when you execute successfully a combo there's a little chance to perform a fatality (i.e your sword throught your oppenent's head ^^).



We played with lvl 40 characters, the guardian had 3k hp, 1.2k for the barbarian. The barbarian had 1.7k stamina points.

Here you can see that on each loading screen there's a description of the zone and a trick (alt+z to toggle on/off UI, etc).



Here you can see the window for the pvp.



The Settings were medium, if you see a video you will not see the shadows because they disabled them, and they dropped some other texture quality, for the fluidity of pvp with those computers. But it was still awesome



The "chain-combos" remember me the "chain-skills" in GW, i.e one combo has a stun component and another combo is dealing more damage if the ennemy is stun.



There will be no bunny jumping, i tried () but you can't slash while you jump (jumping doesn't cost stamina). By pressing quickly 2x on forward or backward, your perform a "special jump" in that direction. Sometimes i was able to perform a "special slash" while doing this jump (only forward) but not in combat situation ^^



I tested just some minutes the demo, so i don't know how really the offensive magic works.



It seems we can't see the timer remaining on buffs. The potion we had worked like D2 ones : regen over time.



About armor dye, it seems that you can dye only via tradeskill. Melee can get some Soul Corruption by combos as i understood. Some items will give Soul Corruption by wearing them The Soul Corruption will drop over time, it seems that no spell will help to lose some, and maybe some quests will help for that.



It's very fun when your character is rooted and you are doing nothing : he grabs his legs and try to get them off the ground



What you got on the character sheet : life, mana, stamina, soul corruption, xp (actual and next), duelist ranking, crafter ranking, str, int, const, dex, wis, cha, defensive rating, AC, offensive rating, magic rating.

.........................

Lets see what else comes from this  

wizyy

Thank you very much for this info!

Lots of good stuff, how I wish I could be one of the lucky ones to try it!

AmazingAvery

Here is an update from a players translation from the French forum posters:

Here another report  : from Lifereaper:



GENERAL :



- Can you tell the difference between each server types ( blood money , loot d'item , RP , FF ) and will they will put in place progressively?

Mini-games PVP: capture the flag 2vs2, 4vs4, brawling combat (drunk).

PvP in the Border Kingdoms (Blood coin yes, but item loot still not decided)

Server PVE (PvP in the Border Kingdoms + mini-games PVP)

Server PVP (Full PVP, the guild cities can't be taken)

Server RP (Same as server PVE but with RP)

These three types will be present at launch for the french version. (EDIT: So i think it will be the same for other versions)

Server RP/PvP (Not expected at launch, will depend how many players want it, a poll?)



- Is it possible to plan the maximum of players in a public zone before to be overcrowded then to create another instance?

Tests are still running on this point, nothing to add.



- If there's a seizure of the server RP by PK and farmers, will it be possible to transfer our character to another server? Under which conditions? If no, why?

No transfer of character at AoC launch (later?), no games made it available at launch.



- Will there be an ingame help "SAV"? Localised?

Yes, by local GM.



INTERFACE



- The UI will : moddable? can be moved? Minimized? or can't be modified?

No Add-ons, bu the UI can be fully adjusted.



- Will actions, like sleeping or eating, give bonus?

Yes



SKILLS/SPELLS



- Which choice will we have to at each lvl (stat pts, skills, etc)?

Attributes increase at a fixed amount each lvl, we just choose our feats (common list with feats less or more adapted for a class).



- Can we expect any racial advantages? I.e : cimmerians who get more constitution and strength than another race?

No effect on attributes (cimmerian or aquilonian guardian no difference).



- Can we expect some racial spells for each class? Will a druid get a basic skill (active - passive) different from another class?

No.



GUILD



- The different groups and guilds will they be able to customize the position/constitution of buildings in the guild cities and keep?

Yes, the buildings will be set like in SWG (netting on the ground with buildings which take more or less space), indoor/outdoor walls (the area of construction is huge).



- Quels seront les avantages réels pour une guilde qui possède une forteresse ?

In addition of the prestige (only 9 guildes will have a keep by server), all guild members will get bonuses due to the buildings built, the bonuses will be added with the ones from guild city because the buildings are nearly the same (double bonuses).



- Guilds will be able to build some buildings which increase some guild member skills (fountain of mana, totem of strenght, etc)?

Yes.

Guild buildings can be upgraded (rank 1-3), can take few hours to few days to built one.

The buildings (keep/guild city) are (there should be more because on a screen i saw 23 buildings for 1 guild!) :

Barracks (melee bonus)

Alchemist tower (poison bonus, assassin)

University (bonus for mage)

Blacksmith (mounts are faster)

Temple (heal bonus)

Defensive tower (defence bonus)



(EDIT: More will come tomorow, i need to sleep )



This is from http://forums-fr.ageofconan.com/showthread.php?t=155

..............................

Enjoy! I like the diversity of building and the amount you can put down!

AmazingAvery

Infact there are some Videos of the Event from players here:

http://www.dailymotion.com/Malo_/vid...jv1_videogames



http://www.dailymotion.com/Malo_/vid...jv2_videogames



http://www.dailymotion.com/Malo_/vid...jv3_videogames



http://www.dailymotion.com/Malo_/vid...jv4_videogames



http://www.dailymotion.com/Malo_/vid...jv5_videogames



http://www.dailymotion.com/Malo_/vid...jv6_videogames

Quality and lack of tripod missing, but hey! its more footage!

AmazingAvery

Some more translation from the French posting / reports on the official forums:

 

This time from Koztah: http://forums.ageofconan.com/showthread.php?t=40138

I've translated "the good stuff", cos a bit was fluff or already known. I'm also lazy, so I just typed it up :P



There's no charter/EULA to sign for RP servers, but servers of different types have descriptions of what kind of behaviour is expected.



There will be no questionnaire directing players to which server they should choose.



There might be physical deformity due to magic-users' soul corruption. Spellweaving will increase soul corruption, and magic users will get debuffs/death if they go over.



There are two layers of clothing - so you'll be able to wear clothes over/under armour.



It will most likely not be possible to dye clothing/armour to avoid stupid colours (neon pink, bright yellow).



AoC will have skirts independent of tunics/leggings. Hurray, skirts.



There will be RP-themed clothing.



Guilds will be able to have emblems/standards/tabards, or something like it to differentiate themselves from other guilds.



AoC will have a full range of emotes (lying down, sitting, kneeling, etc)



Players will be able to flag themselves for RP.



Players will have a single name, no first name/last name.



There will be an autocomplete system when you send tells, in case you need to send messages to someone with a complex name.



You get buffs for eating/drinking.



Two handed weapons go on the back, in sheathes. One handed weapons on the sides, with sheathes.



Conan will be controllable by GMs for various events.



There will be no player-made quest system.



Characters will not get older/more muscular/change hair colour as they level or over playtime.



Eating/drinking will not be necessary.



Race will not affect stats.



No racial spells.



As you level, your stats will rise automatically, but you will be able to chose feats.



Building will be done on a grid, similarly to SWG



Some of the buildings that can be built are Barracks, Alchemist tower, University, smithy, Temple and defensive towers.



Selling items will be done through trading posts.



All players will have a personal bank.



You can tell who your enemies are by the colour of their name.



There will be no friendly fire.



PvP minigames will include CTF, bar brawling. Also, there will be Blood Money looting and possibly item looting in PvP.



A method of dealing with abusive PKers is under development.



There will be 24-man raids from levels 60-80, before that all dungeons will be 6-man.



There will be no coded guild alliance system.



Mercenaries will be paid depending on level/rank, and there will be a limited number that can be recruited (through the coded merc system). Mercs will not be able to change sides until the fight is over.



Siege weapons can do AoEs or attack certain buildings.



Interface will not be moddable, but will be customizable.



No server transfer at launch.



There will be GM-run holidays.



Recorded dialog will not be censored.



There will be no lip-synching for recorded dialog.

m1rko

Thanks Avery!! Good info!

AmazingAvery

Oh I believe RP-PvP servers will be in at launch its just the French version where they aren'tsure yet - apparently.

 

"If I look into those reviews it seems the gameplay is actually interesting as long as you change your approach to MMO PvP.

Looks like AoC will require more tactics and thought than the usual bunny hop/ run around your opponent in other games"

"There will be no bunny jumping, i tried () but you can't slash while you jump (jumping doesn't cost stamina). By pressing quickly 2x on forward or backward, your perform a "special jump" in that direction. Sometimes i was able to perform a "special slash" while doing this jump (only forward) but not in combat situation "

loving the above thoughts...^