Age of Conan beta signups

[Kunikos]

http://beta1.ageofconan.com/beta_application/

tis the season, apparently

[syllogism]

I recall filling out this application sometime in April

[Gladguy]

Can't.
Too busy.
Grinding Scholar Nodes.
Call Later.

[Kunikos]

I recall filling out this application sometime in April

Apparently I did as well, since it just told me I already filled it out. I posted this since it appeared in the new newsletter that I received this morning.

[nordhus]

Paid up members of Fileplanet (http://www.fileplanet.com/promotions/ageofconan/beta/) can now get their AoC beta keys and get started on the 12 GB download. Actual play will not start until May 1st, presumably with a rousing performance of Opp, alle jordens bundne treller. (http://folk.ntnu.no/makarov/temporary_url_20070929kldcg/internationale-no.mp3)

[stusser]

If you applied at any point in the past, you're guaranteed to get in the open beta. Don't sign up for fileplanet unless you're concerned about the download.

[Ben Sones]

I'm in (well, as of May 1), and downloading now. We should choose a server for Qt3 folks to congregate on (for the launch, too).

[CastOutDevil]

Did anyone have the opportunity to try out the limited PvP beta last weekend? Seems to be getting positive feedback. I don't recall seeing a thread on it yet.

[Ben Sones]

What I've heard is that the PvP mini games need work, and the classes probably need some balancing, but the PvE stuff (at least what people saw in that limited weekend) is fantastic. I gotta admit, I'm really looking forward to this game. I've been wanting a change of pace from WoW for a while now, and LotRO just never quite clicked with me.

As an added bonus, my new computer should arrive before the launch. So I should be able to play the game in all its DX10 glory.

[Don Quixote]

I've watched a few videos of the combat for this recently, and it does look like a lot of fun. I'm really hoping they actually get the 360 release out the door sometime in the next year. On that note, is there gamepad support in the game now? If so how does the combat map to it?

[TheWombat]

What I've heard is that the PvP mini games need work, and the classes probably need some balancing, but the PvE stuff (at least what people saw in that limited weekend) is fantastic. I gotta admit, I'm really looking forward to this game. I've been wanting a change of pace from WoW for a while now, and LotRO just never quite clicked with me.

As an added bonus, my new computer should arrive before the launch. So I should be able to play the game in all its DX10 glory.

Will there be world PvP on any of the servers? I understand there will be at least one FFA PvP server, or at least, some guilds leaving EQ2 for this one say so.

[Ben Sones]

I've watched a few videos of the combat for this recently, and it does look like a lot of fun. I'm really hoping they actually get the 360 release out the door sometime in the next year. On that note, is there gamepad support in the game now? If so how does the combat map to it?

I'm not sure, but given the attack direction element, I wouldn't be surprised if they mapped attacks to the D-pad or an analog stick.

This is a fairly informative look at the combat basics:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dAzH5gmlJF4

Gamespy (http://www.gamespy.com/video/av.html?dlURL=pcmovies.ign.com/pc/video/article/849/849107/aoc_hybadv_borderranges_013108_flvhighwide.flv&object_ID=743392)also has some good videos, including a few older ones of combat (with interface), and some more recent ones looking at some of the various regions in the game. It's drop-dead gorgeous, though my understanding is that you need a high-end system to turn on all the bells and whistles.

Still, I think it's smart to be a bit forward-looking when designing graphics for this sort of game, so long as they made sure that they can be scaled down for the people that don't have a DX10-capable system.

Will there be world PvP on any of the servers? I understand there will be at least one FFA PvP server, or at least, some guilds leaving EQ2 for this one say so.

From what I understand, yes. There will be voluntary PvP even on the PvE servers (in the Borderlands, and in minigames), and there will also be full PvP servers, and then something they call "PvP Roleplaying," which they have not fully explained.

[barstein]

New link for the signup page: http://beta.ageofconan.com/beta_application

I'm undecided on this one which, as usual for MMOs I'm interested in, means I'll probably cave on at least an initial subscription..

[GuildBoss]

New link for the signup page: http://beta.ageofconan.com/beta_application

I'm undecided on this one which, as usual for MMOs I'm interested in, means I'll probably cave on at least an initial subscription..

Word.

The coming of Spring makes me itch for a new MMO, ever since EQ.

[Don Quixote]

I'm not sure, but given the attack direction element, I wouldn't be surprised if they mapped attacks to the D-pad or an analog stick.

This is a fairly informative look at the combat basics:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dAzH5gmlJF4

Gamespy (http://www.gamespy.com/video/av.html?dlURL=pcmovies.ign.com/pc/video/article/849/849107/aoc_hybadv_borderranges_013108_flvhighwide.flv&object_ID=743392)


.. . yeah- that's one of the vids I saw earlier.

Seems like a lot to map to the D-pad, which is why I asked whether there is controller support in the game now. I'd hate for them to be trying to bolt it on after release to the PC population. I read that NDAs were lifted, and was hoping to get comment...

I'm not one of those that thinks that more buttons (a keyboard is a must!11!) automatically makes for a more complex game.

[Igor Muravyev]

Paid up members of Fileplanet (http://www.fileplanet.com/promotions/ageofconan/beta/) can now get their AoC beta keys and get started on the 12 GB download. Actual play will not start until May 1st, presumably with a rousing performance of Opp, alle jordens bundne treller. (http://folk.ntnu.no/makarov/temporary_url_20070929kldcg/internationale-no.mp3)

Argh. I actually have a FilePlanet account and I'm disappointed they already distributed all the keys..What is the deal with having 2 batches on the same day anyways?

[Kunikos]

After years of playing betas I can say that I would much rather avoid playing an even crummier pre-release product. I don't even want to buy an online game at all before reading all the reviews, since inevitably the launch is a huge clusterfuck anyway.

(Although damn the WoW open betas were fantastic)

[Lokust]

Evidently you played in a different WoW open beta than I did then, because I don't recall that being at all a fun experience.

[Harkonis]

I had a lot of fun in the WoW Betas

[Ben Sones]

Yeah, I thought the WoW beta was fun, too. But a Blizzard product in beta is pretty much the equivalent of other game six months after launch. I don't expect AoC to be that polished when it launches (or before). More polished that Anarchy Online would be nice, though.

[Lokust]

Well, the big thing I remember from the WoW beta was lag - loot lag, casting lag, etc.

[Lee Johnson]

since inevitably the launch is a huge clusterfuck anyway.
Hardly inevitably. Yes, there have been some disasters of cosmic proportions, but LotRO's launch, for example, was remarkably smooth.

[stusser]

I think he was referring to their previous performance with anarchy online. The name appropriately described the launch. One of the worst MMO launches of all time. It was infamously bad. Or to paraphrase lum (I think) it was derek smart bad.

[Athryn]

I got in the technical beta, but the limited time they wanted you to test (like only 2 hours a week or something like that) combined with the enormous file download made me give it a pass.

[idrisz]

I got in the technical beta, but the limited time they wanted you to test (like only 2 hours a week or something like that) combined with the enormous file download made me give it a pass.

you are lucky you didn't! I did the tech beta, it's a 15gig download + 13gig of patching. so far you get to play for around 2 and half hours and basically you get to play 5 minutes and server is then proceed to lag you other for like 20.

Best part is Tech tester get shafted on everything, they don't get in the pvp weekend, they don't get into the open beta.

[stusser]

Everybody gets into the open beta.

[idrisz]

Everybody gets into the open beta.

the one that fileplanet is giving out key for??

[stusser]

Yep. No need for fileplanet unless you want to download early.

[JZigish]

I'm confused by the huge file size. Are they actually going to ship a game that requires 20 gigs of data?

[GuildBoss]

I'm confused by the huge file size. Are they actually going to ship a game that requires 20 gigs of data?

I think it's more like 30gb...

[hyduK]

I think it's more like 30gb...That's insane. WoW's less than a third of that fully patched and with an expansion.

[Aeon221]

I think it's more like 30gb...

Those boob jpegs are certainly taking up a lot of space.

[skyride]

Those boob jpegs are certainly taking up a lot of space.

When they add nipples it's probably going to take 60 gigs.

[Hanacker]

That's insane. WoW's less than a third of that fully patched and with an expansion.

It also has relatively primitive graphics. Still a lot, though.

[Coca Cola Zero]

Yeah, WoW's graphics were fairly low polygon even by 2004 standards and anyone who has played the game for any amount of time will realize how often they reuse the same textures and geometry all over the place. Not that I'm complaining, because the game still looks great, IMO, but it isn't hard to imagine a more modern title requiring more storage.

However, even though disk space is ridiculously cheap these days, 30+ gigs is really pushing it pretty far for one game.

[Tankero]

Considering AO, the promise that that massive file representes massive amounts of content is somewhat illusory...

[Royal Fool]

Yep. No need for fileplanet unless you want to download early.

I'm on the tech beta (2-3 hours on weekends every two weeks, yay) and I haven't received any mail from Funcom regarding the open beta.

[Calistas]

30 gig install? Ok, I'm not going to be able to play it then. My laptop is a little light on built-in hard drive space.

Not sure I'm missing much. Hack, bash, hack, bash. Maybe I'm just getting old!

[idrisz]

I'm on the tech beta (2-3 hours on weekends every two weeks, yay) and I haven't received any mail from Funcom regarding the open beta.

the tech-tester forum is always good for a laugh!

I loled at the donkey page.

[Banzai]

The fileplanet beta has started. They still had keys available as of last night.

I've enjoyed playing with Qt3 groups before, mostly in LotR, so I figured I'd extend an offer to any Qt3 members to join the Wanderers and GT on server 4. The Wanderers are a guild of (mostly) mature mmorpg players who frequented the GG forums in the earlier years of GG. We formed for the release of DAoC and have played together ever since. We have a very active WoW raiding guild on Whisperwind.

One of the biggest problems I've seen in MMORPGs in the past is that interest is high at release, and then tapers off, and a guild that started with 30 people ends up with 8 regulars, who find that they aren't on at the same time and eventually stop playing or switch to a more active guild. This is an attempt get quality players from Qt3, GT, OO, and the Wanderers all playing on the same server (or even better, in the same guild) for AoC. The hope is that when things taper off, we can still field a reasonably large guild or alliance of guilds. An added benefit is that, if things go to hell and we all end up hating each other, then at least in AoC we can duke it out if we're on the same server ;)

Rittchard is the GM for the Wanderers, and is using the same name in the fileplanet beta. Hope to see you on server 4 and at release.

[zengonzo]

I know I signed up for the beta long, long ago, possibly in some other galaxy.

Is there some way to check on the status?

[triggercut]

Closed again. Fuck it, I'll pay to play LOTRO instead.

[Stewpot]

For those thinking of trying the beta, my humble suggestion is to make sure your PC is far, far better than the minimum specs.

Looks like there's some really fun, good-looking game in there. I'll just need a lot more pooter to enjoy it.

[zengonzo]

So where does one get the client?

[stusser]

If you got into the technical or stress test betas (which should be pretty much everybody that applied) you should receive an email invite to the closed beta today. It'll include the download location.

If you're in the IGN open beta, download it from fileplanet.

[Thomas Wilde]

I have a beta key and I'm downloading it now.

I can't guarantee a high interest level with as many other games as I'm playing, but I may have to check out the Wanderers.

[zengonzo]

Thanks much!

[Thomas Wilde]

Maybe I spoke too soon. This thing isn't downloading.

[Fozzle]

Erm.. apparently there is some question as to whether there is an actual NDA or not for this open beta so edit edit edit...(Seen here) (http://forums.ageofconan.com/showthread.php?p=1826343) But interested parties may find the IGN forums entertaining.... http://vnboards.ign.com/age_of_conan_general_board/b22995/p1

[JPR]

Am I the only one who submitted an application several months ago but hasn't gotten an invite yet?

[Fozzle]

I got in through a fileplanet subscription. I never got an answer from my beta app either.

[skyride]

We will hold the Closed Beta NDA for everyone but journalists until launch, but you are allowed to openly communicate about your experiences up to level 13.

I don't know if that applies to Closed Beta testers only. I am in closed beta.

[NuclearWinter]

The email from Funcom says:

Since there is no NDA on the Open Beta you are completely free to speak about your experiences in public, and you can also take screenshots and videos should you wish to.

[Fozzle]

Yeah, I just saw the same on the IGN forums...
So... I can tell you in open beta, that there seems to be three groups of people. The ones where the game runs smoothly, The ones where they shouldn't be trying to run the game on their 8 year old machine, and the ones who have a decent machine, but are getting some awful kind of memory/load lag. Unfortunately I fall into the later group. Some say it is just people in a Vista/NVidia combo, but nothing official yet. Apparently open beta and closed beta are running on two different versions, and open beta is apparently an older one, so the strange 10 minute load times issue that you have heard about this morning may already be addressed over there, I have no idea.


The interesting bit is pretty much all conversation right now has to do with performance, and hardly any having to do with "this game sux" mechanic wise, so I suppose that is actually a good thing? Those that are running smoothly tend to agree its a pretty game, and the combat mechanics are nifty. Also, as to the performance, either the game is running just fine for you, or its a pig, there is no middle ground. The talk seems to suggest the issue isn't as much engine design related as it is glitch related.. also a good thing....

I'm running at 1440x900 with a 9600gt on "HIGH" settings and its running along at a decent 30fps clip in town, when it isn't stuttering.

[nordhus]

I don't know if that applies to Closed Beta testers only. I am in closed beta.

There is a stickied post in the forum Fozzle linked to that states:

Their is no NDA for the Open Beta, so you are all free to discuss everything you experience in the Open Beta starting today.

However, the General Beta/Closed Beta content is still under an NDA, though you can discuss content up to level 13.

[Darkstep]

I pwn people with my Ranger. 'nuff said.

[NuclearWinter]

So... I can tell you in open beta, that there seems to be three groups of people. The ones where the game runs smoothly, The ones where they shouldn't be trying to run the game on their 8 year old machine, and the ones who have a decent machine, but are getting some awful kind of memory/load lag.

I guess I fit the second group as I tried the beta on an old machine, though it does meet min requirements (P4 3ghz/6800). The game is just about playable in the jungle area with sudden drops in framerate that cause it to freeze at 1024x768 and everything turned off/low. I wasn't expecting much from this machine, but thought it would run better than it does at settings which make the game look far worse than LOTRO (which runs great on this machine with a bunch of the settings on High and higher res).

It becomes completely unplayable once I enter the city, with constant, long freezes every couple of steps.

Unfortunately it doesn't give me any idea how the game will run on this min spec machine come release, when the debug stuff is removed. For what it's worth the combat seemed fun from the little I was able to play.

[Darkstep]

If the min spec is very close to your machine I would recommend not playing the game. Unless you are really patient any MMO that includes large scenes of characters, as in cities or raids, is not going to run acceptably on a min spec system. I'm talking sub 10 or even 5 fps.

So IMO, upgrade or pass on the game.

[Fozzle]

NW, you may be in the bottom group...I would think you could run on that..

I'm fairly new here, and I'm not sure if the proper QT3 etiquette is to paste the link to important info, or post the important info... so I'll do both:

Important Link (http://vnboards.ign.com/age_of_conan_general_board/b22995/107196173/p1)

First off! Thank you very much for your great input and terrific feedback so far, it really helps us to identify issues and make the game much better for launch. Due to the incredible push we have seen the last hours I wanted to inform you about the biggest annoyances some of you have experienced so far – and what we are doing about them.

I want to say that it seems to me that most people are really enjoying the gameplay despite some technical issues. This is great news to me, but this is not the focus for this update, rather I just want to say “We see, we learn, we hear and we are fixing issues!”


Stalling

Some people call it “lagging”. Some people call it “hanging”. We have named it “stalling” internally, so that is what I am going to call it. This is the experience where the client hangs for some fraction of a second up to some seconds. This is, almost without exception, run-time compilation of shaders (a shader is “slang” for code running on the graphics card). This is a known issue, we have identified where we need to fix things, and we are working on a solution.

The best way to minimize these stalls is to set the rendering options to one of the “presets” (low, medium or high). Tweaking the rendering settings manually, increase the chance of stalls. Our recommended low, medium and high have some more previously compiled shaders, so it should be better. It won’t be stall-free though, not until the final version is out! If you have a worse experience in Tortage Day, than Tortage Night – this is most likely the case.

If you struggle with performance generally, turn on LOW settings. This includes Shader model 2 shaders, disabling “bloom” and has a short viewdistance. This helps a lot. Turn the viewdistance up again in the settings if you want to see more of the world after you do this…

If you experience stalls remember that you are testing beta-code. Getting data from you is our way to make the launch experience so much better for everyone.


Zoning or loading times

Differently from the stalls, this issue does not happening to everyone. This issue is actually new to Open beta. It does not happen on the closed beta. We are patching closed beta with the exact same code / data as we speak, so we can try to find the reason. Be patient and we shall prevail here too wink


Memory leaks

Your client running out of memory happens gradually, especially from zoning. By restarting the client, you should be fine for some time depending on your system. We have a host of fixes for this on its way to you, and we aim to update this in a day or two. Every time the client crashes, we get a message that helps us better understand the issue. What you are doing is terrific work that will enable us to fix this!

And then again, some are not experiencing any of this at all.

On behalf of the whole Funcom Conan Development team working around the clock,
And now this is an official hijack.. sorry...

[zengonzo]

OK, apparently I signed up for the stupid FilePlanet, though I could swear I signed up directly as well.

So I'm apparently out of luck for now.

[BacteriaEP]

I can't even get into the game...

First it back screened me from even seeing the menu of the game. Took about an hour to work around that. Then after I created my character it black screened again and I can't for the life of me fix the issue...

ARGH! I just want to play!! :(

[Creole Ned]

This has been the sum of my Age of Conan experience thus far:

Authentication Failure

[Gendal]

I haven't had any problems on vista 64 with an 8800U but I can't run DX10 for some reason. DX9 works fine but doesn't particularly impress.

The tutorial was boring me to tears with an innumerable amount of easy battles. I understand them being easy; nigh infinite not so much. Is this an indication of the rest of the game?

[Coca Cola Zero]

Even though the title is in beta it is kind of ridiculous they are having big problems with memory leaks and such. Have they never heard of Purify, BoundsChecker, etc?

I remember back like 10 years ago when memory leaks were actually difficult to track down....

[TheWombat]

Some classes have a ridiculously easy time with the tutorial; others merely have a terrifically easy time with it. One priest class can one-shot pretty much everything but the bosses early on. Obviously some balance work left :)

The closed beta works about 100% better than the open beta client, for some reason, in terms of machine performance though.

[GuildBoss]

This has been the sum of my Age of Conan experience thus far:

Authentication Failure

Crom!

I got to level 5 with my Conan look-alike.

I like the "mature" content.

[Phydeaux]

I take it it's too late to join this open beta, right? I've looked around, but found nothing.

[barstein]

I don't know. I signed up right when everyone else did and haven't heard anything.

[Miramon]

This all sounds oddly reminiscent of AO around launch time....

[RobotPants]

And every other beta test for an MMO.

[Mordrak]

I'm surprised they don't have a pre-order and get beta access option.

[Kunikos]

Crom!

I got to level 5 with my Conan look-alike.

I like the "mature" content.

By "mature" content do you mean heads being cut off or boobs? (Or both)

[Shadari]

By "mature" content do you mean heads being cut off or boobs? (Or both)
I think he means boobs being cut off.

[Kunikos]

I think he means boobs being cut off.

Oh, Amazonian rites of passage?

[Ben Sones]

This all sounds oddly reminiscent of AO around launch time....

AoC definitely has some bugs and rough edges, but it is orders of magnitude more stable than AO was around launch time.

BTW, what servers are people on? Is everyone making characters on server 4 for the beta?

[Tyjenks]

Hmmm, maybe by the time all the fuss settles down after release and Qt3 has branded AoC with its official passing grade "Not the Worst MMORPG Out There", I will be able to afford an upgrade and be able to properly play. I fear I fall into the Not with those specs you don't category.

[GuildBoss]

By "mature" content do you mean heads being cut off or boobs? (Or both)

I was referring to dialog. B00bs are nothing new to MMOs.

[skyride]

I was referring to dialog. B00bs are nothing new to MMOs.

Nipples are new unless you've been playing some XXX MMO we are not aware of.

I'm hoping they turn on blood squirting though. I am not a fan of blood splatter on screen effect. Decapitations are not very satisfying without some blood gushing out.

[Rywill]

Decapitations are not very satisfying without some blood gushing out.
I am glad we have people like you playing games so that non-gamers will be reassured that we're not all freaks.

[Aeon221]

I am glad we have people like you playing games so that non-gamers will be reassured that we're not all freaks.

Whuuuuut? Are you kidding? What normal male doesn't think blood gushing is awesome? It's right up there with things blowing up!

[RobotPants]

I think I should be able to decapitate someone and then throw the head like a grenade to blow up the women NPCs' clothes.

[Igor Muravyev]

At least you guys are playing the beta! Every time I checked out the FilePlanet site the beta keys were out, and they never said what the next date when they have more would be.

[Johan O]

Whuuuuut? Are you kidding? What normal male doesn't think blood gushing is awesome? It's right up there with things blowing up!
I am glad we have people like you being men so that non-men will be reassured that we're not all freaks.

[Tankero]

There's no hiding our true nature, Johan. All this quip proves is that you've yet to see the Girls Gone Wild video that you'd actually consider ordering.

[Johan O]

Are they decapitated gushing fountains of blood in the ones I am missing?

[Sol Invictus]

What's the verdict on Conan? Should I just wait for Warhammer?

[Sebmojo]

What's the verdict on Conan? Should I just wait for Warhammer?

Tobold's not too impressed. (http://tobolds.blogspot.com/2008/05/age-of-conan-first-impressions.html#links)

[Fozzle]

At least you guys are playing the beta! Every time I checked out the FilePlanet site the beta keys were out, and they never said what the next date when they have more would be.

I cheated: I had my secretary keep refreshing all day until the keys came up again... =)

So, over the weekend I got 2 13's and a 5, just to test out the different classes and it is fun. I am not sure how willing I am to pick up another subscription from what I've seen so far, but it was good. The engine problems seem to be stemming from shaders, so switching the shader model seems to make much of my stuttering go away. I've seen some other bugs that might not be as easy to fix. For instance, In several cut scenes, I've seen the NPCs in the classic "snow angel" pose fluttering back and forth. Also, I've seen one NPC holding a knife to another's throat, but the victim was 5 feet away and facing the other direction. Bugs like that worry me 3 weeks before launch =)

There was another patch this weekend that did seem to make the engine play nicer...

[TheWombat]

Tobold's not too impressed. (http://tobolds.blogspot.com/2008/05/age-of-conan-first-impressions.html#links)

Leaving aside the discussion of using WoW as the one true benchmark, his observations are generally accurate, but the reason everyone I know who is going to try out Conan is doing so is simply PvP. Unlike WoW, AoC will have FFA PvP servers. If Blizzard simply carved out a few true PvP, or even true RvR style faction based PvP servers sans BGs and Arenas, I suspect you'd see far, far fewer people jonesing for Conan.

[Rywill]

If Blizzard simply carved out a few true PvP, or even true RvR style faction based PvP servers sans BGs and Arenas,
What do you mean? WoW already has true RvR servers. It's not full-on PvP because you can't attack people of your own faction, but aside from the pre-20 safe zones the WoW PvP servers are full-on RvR with no restrictions (no level windows, etc.). Do you mean there are no RvR goals (like DAOC's relics)? Even that is not really true anymore with WoW's world PvP, although that stuff is more tacked-on than the goals in RvR-centric games.

[zengonzo]

I think I'm just not interested in the tone or gameplay style of WoW. I can fully appreciate how others are.

I was pretty sure that I wouldn't be interested in a mumorpuhguh until I saw some demo footage from APB. I'm much less certain about Conan, but I sure would like to give it a try, if they'd send me a darned demo invitation.

[Tankero]

There's no true rewards for RvR combat in WoW. In fact, it was discouraged even when it just happened spontaneously (Tarren Mill/Southshore in the early days). There have been a few shifts in game design over the years; it started to be full-on PvE with PvP prisons (BGs), to then shift into e-Sports (Arenas) as of late.

[Jasper]

What are the classes like? In particular, is there a stock healer/cleric class?

[Ben Sones]

I disagree with a few things that he says, there. Combat IS twitchy--very twitchy, if you are playing a melee class (and the majority of the classes are melee classes, really). It's more like Diablo than WoW--you are often fighting multiple opponents, juggling a lot of attack and move controls, and stuff dies pretty quickly.

His comment on spellcasting is sort of weird, since I'm not sure what sort of change he was expecting. Melee combat has always been the thing that MMOs need to work on, and that's clearly where AoC focused their efforts. I'm not sure what sort of changes one would make to spellcasting, or why you'd want them. Spellcasters in MMOs work basically the same as spellcasters in regular RPGs, and there's nothing really wrong with that formula.

But mostly I just disagree with his conclusion, because I am liking AoC a whole lot. And not just for the PvP (which I actually haven't even tried yet); I think AoC is the first game I've played that has PvE that is as good or better than WoW's. I think Tobold and I may have different tastes in MMOs, because IIRC, he thought that LotRO was the coolest thing since sliced bread, and I just thought it was sort of okay.

[Ben Sones]

What are the classes like? In particular, is there a stock healer/cleric class?

There are three, each worshiping a different god. The Priests of Mitra are probably closest to what you might consider to be a "stock" healer class. Tempests of Set and Bear Shaman are more combat-oriented (though actually, even the priests of Mitra have more opportunities to deal damage than healers in other games typically do).

There are also two straight mage classes--the Demonologist and the Necromancer--both of which are summoning-oriented. The rest of the classes are focused on melee combat in one way or another (with the exception of the Ranger, which specializes in ranged attacks). You can find detailed descriptions of all the classes here (http://community.ageofconan.com/wsp/conan/frontend.cgi?func=publish.show&func_id=1084&table=PUBLISH&template=news_features_game&selected=1084).

[TheWombat]

What do you mean? WoW already has true RvR servers. It's not full-on PvP because you can't attack people of your own faction, but aside from the pre-20 safe zones the WoW PvP servers are full-on RvR with no restrictions (no level windows, etc.). Do you mean there are no RvR goals (like DAOC's relics)? Even that is not really true anymore with WoW's world PvP, although that stuff is more tacked-on than the goals in RvR-centric games.

No, I mean that as long as you have Battlegrounds and Arenas, the rewards for what passes for PvP there far outstrip the rewards for world PvP; in effect, there are no rewards for generalized RvR fighting. You can't get enough honor or equivalent just fighting outside of arenas and battlegrounds to acquire any gear, and you are encouraged to play in arenas and battlegrounds with the consequent devaluation of world PvP. In effect, Blizzard has said they don't like PvP mixed in with PvE on a large scale, and prefer it instanced off so its truly 100% 24/7 consensual. Apparently most folks like it that way.

What I'm saying, and this is after several years of play on a PvP server (my 70 Mage is sitting idle on Tichondrius, along with my other characters, all leveled on the same PvP server), is that the only PvP that matters to anyone is instanced and heavily controlled. There is a real appeal to PvP in the wild, and if you are going to have rewards for PvP some folks also want penalties. They also want world PvP to be the main form of PvP activity, and not an afterthought. Anyone who was there for the epic PvP battles in Hillsbrad and around whatever that town is where people used to gather for Molten Core raids, back before battlegrounds and arenas, can tell you how much more world PvP there was. Instanced, purely consensual, sporting event-style PvP with massive rewards killed what a lot of PvP fans felt was the draw of PvP in WoW. Clearly, it was a very popular shift, I'm not denying that. But it left a lot of PvP fans disappointed.

What Conan purports to offer--whether it does or not remains to be seen--is a full-on PvE MMORPG with free for all PvP, no level or side restrictions. Most importantly, and here is where it really is unclear how FunCom will proceed, the expectation of many is that AoC will focus PvP in the world, and the available PvP "minigames" (read: BGs) will not eclipse it. As FunCom has not yet really discussed how they will eventually offer rewards/penalties for world PvP, it's hard to say if this will come to pass. They will also have siege-style PvP battles but again it's hard to say how those will play out.

I am pretty skeptical myself--FFA PvP works ok if performance of the game is good and no one is getting ganked constantly due to lag and system stuttering, but is sucky as hell if the game runs like a pig (see early Vanguard PvP for an example). And a lot more people SAY they want FFA than really have the stones to stick it out for 80 levels.

Which is why I say that if Blizzard offered PvP servers with no other way to gain PvP rewards than world PvP--mixing questing and fighting, even if you kept the faction-based combat--I'd be back in a heartbeat. The game is smooth and polished; I jut find its current PvP focus horrifically dull.

[Athryn]

Tobold's not too impressed. (http://tobolds.blogspot.com/2008/05/age-of-conan-first-impressions.html#links)

Just because Tobold does or doesn't like something should have zero bearing on whether anyone else does. Anyone who does advertising for gold selling masked as an "interview" shouldn't be taken seriously.

[Johan O]

There are three, each worshiping a different god. The Priests of Mitra are probably closest to what you might consider to be a "stock" healer class. Tempests of Set and Bear Shaman are more combat-oriented (though actually, even the priests of Mitra have more opportunities to deal damage than healers in other games typically do).

There are also two straight mage classes--the Demonologist and the Necromancer--both of which are summoning-oriented. The rest of the classes are focused on melee combat in one way or another (with the exception of the Ranger, which specializes in ranged attacks). You can find detailed descriptions of all the classes here (http://community.ageofconan.com/wsp/conan/frontend.cgi?func=publish.show&func_id=1084&table=PUBLISH&template=news_features_game&selected=1084).
The demonologist is more of a nuker. The pets he gets, at least up to mid level, are more windowdressing than anything else. They give a very slight boost to hp or mana, and do a bit of additional damage dealing. But for the most part you will deal damage yourself. If you are soloing the demon might even become a detriment since he messes up your crowd control.

The PVP for me has mostly been an annoyance, it mostly involves people ambushing you while you are selling loot or shopping for potions. If you don't bother with the PVP the penalty of being ganked is minimal though.

[AndrewM]

Just because Tobold does or doesn't like something should have zero bearing on whether anyone else does. Anyone who does advertising for gold selling masked as an "interview" shouldn't be taken seriously.

Also, he is also very pro-WoW. A month or so ago he had a post about how he was really bored with WoW and wasn't sure what to do. Keep in mind he has a lifetime subscription to LoTRO, and doesn't appear to have gotten any characters past around 30. So what did he do? That's right, played more WoW.

His core argument about AoC was "Why should I play AoC when I can play WoW?" which is reasonable, I think. Given how time-based these MMOs are, if you are happy with WoW, you should play WoW.

[Ben Sones]

Yeah, I haven't tried the Demonologist yet, though I do see them running around with their imps all the time.

[idrisz]

Yeah, I haven't tried the Demonologist yet, though I do see them running around with their imps all the time.

I got into the closed beta, after playing around with the classes.

Demonologist by far is the most overpowered class in regarding in PVE. I got one to 24 in a day, it's the combination of Protection of Set that let them absorb damage per hit + Massive AOE nuke, it's so easy to solo 2-3 mobs higher level than you, you can 1 shot minion level mobs with one AOE.

NDA suppose to be lifted for level 1-13 contents, so I can say so far itemization sucks at lower level, everyone looks exactly the same.

[Jafisob]

This has been the sum of my Age of Conan experience thus far:

Authentication Failure

Create a new account and attach your open beta key to that.

or.

Download and play the closed beta if you can get into that with your old account.

My experience: Buggy as heck with massive graphics hitches (freeze for 2-10 seconds). ymmv depending on your machine and how low you are willing to set your graphics. Many people have to fiddle around a lot with a lot of settings, drivers, setting the game to only run one one cpu, etc. to get the thing to run in a half way decent way.

I am not impressed. This game is not ready to be released. Before anyone says 'it is a stress test, they are in debug mode, this is not the latest client' I would like to point them to every other mmorpg trainwreck launch that has said the exact same thing (AO being one of them). This is not to say that I would not love to be wrong on this.

[skyride]

I am running at 55fps average in the closed beta at High detail. It took some tweaking to get rid of the stalling issue (disable indexing and use shader model 2.0). Game is quiet playable for me as it is currently. The biggest annoyance right now are the load times. WAR is still a long way away so AoC will serve the purpose of scratching that MMO itch. I know, that is not the greatest endorsement but that is the main reason I'll be playing it. Also it seems that AoC PvP is not as gear dependent as games like WoW. That is very important to me as I hate grinding for loot to stay competitive. This may change when AoC is itemized properly so we'll have to wait and see.

[idrisz]

oh yeah, Currently one of the Destiny Quest(storyline quest) is bugged, so you can't proceed pass tortage without asking a GM to skip that dialog for you. basically mean you are stuck in a lvl 20 zone until it's fixed.

[Mark Asher]

What Conan purports to offer--whether it does or not remains to be seen--is a full-on PvE MMORPG with free for all PvP, no level or side restrictions. Most importantly, and here is where it really is unclear how FunCom will proceed, the expectation of many is that AoC will focus PvP in the world, and the available PvP "minigames" (read: BGs) will not eclipse it. As FunCom has not yet really discussed how they will eventually offer rewards/penalties for world PvP, it's hard to say if this will come to pass. They will also have siege-style PvP battles but again it's hard to say how those will play out.

I am pretty skeptical myself--FFA PvP works ok if performance of the game is good and no one is getting ganked constantly due to lag and system stuttering, but is sucky as hell if the game runs like a pig (see early Vanguard PvP for an example). And a lot more people SAY they want FFA than really have the stones to stick it out for 80 levels.

Which is why I say that if Blizzard offered PvP servers with no other way to gain PvP rewards than world PvP--mixing questing and fighting, even if you kept the faction-based combat--I'd be back in a heartbeat. The game is smooth and polished; I jut find its current PvP focus horrifically dull.

Yeah, I'd love to see a FFA server in WoW with XP for ganks and looting, even if it's auto-generated coin that gets looted.

I too am skeptical about PvP in an MMO where the player can opt to play in instanced mini-games or be a victim of numbers in a larger world. I am not going to get repeatedly ganked in the FFA zone in any game if there's an option to play in a battleground where the sides are balanced. I will flee to the battleground. I am interested in seeing how both Funcom and EA Mythic manage to keep FFA balanced and attractive since both games offer instanced PvP too.

[Banzai]

Fileplanet apparently has/had keys available to non-subscribers earlier today, so move fast and good luck.

[zengonzo]

Keeps timing out for me .. Thanks for the info.

[Charlatan]

Don't give up - I was lucky and got a key, though the verification image didn't load the first time for me, so I had to massage my browser to get it. Now it's just a matter of waiting out the fileplanet queue and the download itself.

[nordhus]

I was one of the people who experienced terrible performance on the first day of the Open beta. Load times lasted for ever and a zone finally loaded the game would stall for up to several seconds even at 1024x768 and Low settings. Before trying again i defragged my hard disk and installed KB896256 (http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=C2AB5A48-8240-4934-BBD8-34FB8A0FCE3B&displaylang=en).

One of those must have done the trick. Afterwards load times were much more reasonable and the game ran smoothly at 1280x960 and Medium settings*. Looked quite pretty that way too.





*Thats on my somewhat anemic GeForce 8600 GTS 256MB.

[zengonzo]

Don't give up - I was lucky and got a key

Thanks. Fortunately Firefox is keeping the data in my browser, so I only have to click Back and Submit repeatedly ..

[zengonzo]

And what the hell is Comrade, and why would I ever want to install more FilePlanet crap on my computer than was absolutely necessary?

[Sebmojo]

Just because Tobold does or doesn't like something should have zero bearing on whether anyone else does. Anyone who does advertising for gold selling masked as an "interview" shouldn't be taken seriously.

No, but it might be "informative". In my culture, this is what we call it when we receive information, whether opinion or fact, that we did not previously possess.

[Jakub]

I got into the closed beta, after playing around with the classes.

Demonologist by far is the most overpowered class in regarding in PVE. I got one to 24 in a day, it's the combination of Protection of Set that let them absorb damage per hit + Massive AOE nuke, it's so easy to solo 2-3 mobs higher level than you, you can 1 shot minion level mobs with one AOE.

NDA suppose to be lifted for level 1-13 contents, so I can say so far itemization sucks at lower level, everyone looks exactly the same.
A pet class overpowered in an MMO? Really? I'm shocked!

[idrisz]

A pet class overpowered in an MMO? Really? I'm shocked!


demonologist isn't a pet class, it's like like the mage class from wow.. their pet hit for 4 damages primary used for Buffing.

Necromancer is the pet class, except they suck.

[Thrag]

I think there's still an NDA, but if I were in the beta I bet my thoughts would be exactly the same as for just about every other half decent MMORPG beta:

"Shame, this might have made a killer single player RPG".

I realize that the potential payback for an MMO is orders of power higher than for a regular RPG game, but what are the chances of actually realizing that potential? The costs of trying to do so are also orders of magnitude higher, and right now the MMORPG market is super competitive, with one 800lb gorilla dominating. Where as the market for regular RPGs is dry as dry can be. I can't help but wonder if a lot of these companies would in the end make more money just producing a quality RPG instead of just an "also ran" MMORPG.

[idrisz]

"Shame, this might have made a killer single player RPG that people can just pirate for free".



fixed.

[Adam B]

fixed.

Oh jeebus. Can't we have a single thread without this (the piracy discussion)?

[barstein]

Well, I spent some time on FilePlanet back-arrowing and resubmitting and finally got to their captcha verification, only to get taken to a page informing me that the open beta is closed and I can install "Comrade" to "be notified immediately when FilePlanet has other huge promotional events". So I guess that was a dead end.

[Aeon221]

No, but it might be "informative". In my culture, this is what we call it when we receive information, whether opinion or fact, that we did not previously possess.

This is the internet, so you keep your cultural mumbo jumbo to yourself, ya hear?!

I think there's still an NDA, but if I were in the beta I bet my thoughts would be exactly the same as for just about every other half decent MMORPG beta:

"Shame, this might have made a killer single player RPG".

I realize that the potential payback for an MMO is orders of power higher than for a regular RPG game, but what are the chances of actually realizing that potential? The costs of trying to do so are also orders of magnitude higher, and right now the MMORPG market is super competitive, with one 800lb gorilla dominating. Where as the market for regular RPGs is dry as dry can be. I can't help but wonder if a lot of these companies would in the end make more money just producing a quality RPG instead of just an "also ran" MMORPG.

Seriously. Conan has so many stories that would be absolutely AWESOME in an RPG, but instead it'll be yet another MMO. I hate MMOs! There, I said it.

[Jafisob]

I am running at 55fps average in the closed beta at High detail. It took some tweaking to get rid of the stalling issue (disable indexing and use shader model 2.0). Game is quiet playable for me as it is currently. The biggest annoyance right now are the load times. WAR is still a long way away so AoC will serve the purpose of scratching that MMO itch. I know, that is not the greatest endorsement but that is the main reason I'll be playing it. Also it seems that AoC PvP is not as gear dependent as games like WoW. That is very important to me as I hate grinding for loot to stay competitive. This may change when AoC is itemized properly so we'll have to wait and see.

Shader 2.0 does in fact make the game run much better however of all the compromises to make to improve performance this is one that decreases the look of the game the most. When I did move the shader from 3.0 to 2.0 I lost tattoos and other skin markings. The textures on the models also had a very visible line down the middle of them.

"Shame, this might have made a killer single player RPG".
The first time you played through the starting zones in AOC with your first character you will probably find the experience more compelling than other mmorpgs(assuming the bugs don't kill it for you). The #th time you are playing through the exact same zones, killing the exact same mobs, and completing the exact same quests** it might not be so compelling. The 1-20 zones are all the same for all characters with no option to skip main questlines or jump ahead to other zones.

**There is a slight variance between the 4 character archetypes on some quests.

After the first newbie zone the game can be difficult depending on your character type. For example trying to kill the pirates behind the bearded clam can be fatal if other characters are not there to help you. Imagine a game where you should solo right after the first zone if you don't want to die over and over again. Imagine this game is being release in 2008. Supposedly there is a death penalty after 10th level. If this penalty is hard enough (and you are not a demonologist) this might be a significant issue.

The combat is relatively innovative for a mmorpg and the game is gritty in a good way. I would prefer a little more sex to go along with the violence but this is the USA (no fault of Funcom's). The game does look damn nice with the settings on medium to high.

[zengonzo]

Yea, and it ends pretty soon anyways.

I really wouldn't even touch this without a decent demo, so hopefully that's available.

[idrisz]

at least the games reward players when come to violences. when someone's head explodes, I get a mini buff for like 10 seconds. Now if only I can have Bloody Mess feat from Fallout.

[Ben Sones]

No, but it might be "informative".

Yeah, except that it really isn't. He doesn't really articulate what he doesn't like about it very well, aside from mentioning a few bugs and then issuing a vague proclamation that it's "not different enough from WoW." Personally, I think that's pretty inaccurate, but it's an especially thing to say considering that he goes on to recommend LotRO as a better alternative. There are games that diverge more widely from WoW than AoC does (Eve Online, Planetside, City of Heroes), but you'd be hard-pressed to find a game that clones WoW's formula more closely than LotRO.

Given the lack of specific criticism in his lengthy description of the game, his "meh" at the end makes it sound more like he's burnt out on MMOs, more than anything else.

The 1-20 zones are all the same for all characters with no option to skip main questlines or jump ahead to other zones.

Actually, I leveled a character to 13 without doing any of the storyline quests. It's not that hard. There are more than enough world quests to do; if you skip the "night" missions and just do day questing, then the 1-13 experience is much the same as WoW, quest-wise.

Now, I don't know if the game is going to require that you finish the story quest to leave Tortage. That would be sort of a bummer (though not really a game-killer, since you can power through the story stuff pretty quickly if you want to).

[idrisz]

It's hard to give an impression when there is a NDA.

Comat: switching Shield is absolutely useless, because you can never switch fast enough to be effectively block an incoming attack.

Stat on item: I get a staff that like +458 to spell damage, it never shown up anywhere in my stat page when I equiped, and is that +458 flat damage or is there some kind of calculation I have to go through? Same goes for other stats, there should be more information.

Respawn: Extremely slow respawn on certain quest mobs, 10 minutes+, this can be fixed easily though.

[Jasper]

There are three, each worshiping a different god. The Priests of Mitra are probably closest to what you might consider to be a "stock" healer class. Tempests of Set and Bear Shaman are more combat-oriented (though actually, even the priests of Mitra have more opportunities to deal damage than healers in other games typically do).

There are also two straight mage classes--the Demonologist and the Necromancer--both of which are summoning-oriented. The rest of the classes are focused on melee combat in one way or another (with the exception of the Ranger, which specializes in ranged attacks). You can find detailed descriptions of all the classes here (http://community.ageofconan.com/wsp/conan/frontend.cgi?func=publish.show&func_id=1084&table=PUBLISH&template=news_features_game&selected=1084).
Ug. The game will have to be completely amazing to overcome that nod to generic fantasy. I was hoping they'd cater to the setting, rather than the "need" for healers, buffers, and nukers. They could have at least made an effort in presenting it differently, like LotR.

When I first read about AoC I got the impression they'd avoided such D&D-isms, but I guess that changed during development. :-( It doesn't help that the classes seem horribly narrow and type cast.

[stusser]

It's hard to give an impression when there is a NDA.
There is no NDA before level 14 for closed testers, and no NDA at all for open beta.

[idrisz]

There is no NDA before level 14 for closed testers, and no NDA at all for open beta.

except some of the really bad parts about the games in post level 13..

[Rywill]

No, I mean that as long as you have Battlegrounds and Arenas, the rewards for what passes for PvP there far outstrip the rewards for world PvP; in effect, there are no rewards for generalized RvR fighting.
Ah. That makes sense, but you're right that you and Mark (who plays a Rogue!) are like the only ones who find that fun. I brought my first character to 60 on a PvP server before the BGs and Arenas (and before honor, for the most part). I brought a second character to 60 mostly on a PvP server with the same conditions (eventually we all consolidated on a PvE server to play with other Qt3 members, when they introduced paid realm transfers -- I think I was like 55 at the time). So I remember the days of Tarren Mill, and fighting to get to Blackrock, very well. For the most part, that stuff sounded a lot better in theory than it really was in practice, IMO at least. 95% of PvP encounters were ones where the outcome was in no doubt: one side was either hideously outnumbered, outleveled, or both. It was almost all ganking and very little "RvR combat" or anything similar to that. Granted, some people like that -- they either enjoy ganking other people (if you're one of those, you're pathetic and inexplicable to me), or enjoy the tension of having to worry about being ganked, or both. But like you said, it's very clear that among people who have tried it, the vast, overwhelming majority don't like it. I doubt you will ever really see a game like that.

[skyride]

except some of the really bad parts about the games in post level 13..

Since he just broke the NDA let me also say that I didn't think post 13 was bad ;)

I just bought 4 gigs RAM tonight and the game has been running really smooth (64fps) and load times are fast. Before I saw this for myself, I was thinking some of the fanboys were exaggerating about their great performance. To be fair, I do have a pretty decent rig, it was only lacking in RAM department.

[idrisz]

Since he just broke the NDA let me also say that I didn't think post 13 was bad ;)

I just bought 4 gigs RAM tonight and the game has been running really smooth (64fps) and load times are fast. Before I saw this for myself, I was thinking some of the fanboys were exaggerating about their great performance. To be fair, I do have a pretty decent rig, it was only lacking in RAM department.

yeah maybe I just need level some more, at 24 so far it is really boring.

[SteveS]

There is no NDA before level 14 for closed testers, and no NDA at all for open beta.

And the open beta is capped at level 13ish. I am playing the closed beta now think it's a bit sleazy the way Funcom is dealing with the release of information. Remember the PC RPG Lion Heart from a few years back?

[idrisz]

And the open beta is capped at level 13ish. I am playing the closed beta now think it's a bit sleazy the way Funcom is dealing with the release of information. Remember the PC RPG Lion Heart from a few years back?

yeah like how they didn't tell all the pre-order people that the 3 day headstart cap at lvl 20. you can get to lvl 20 in about 3 hours.

[Cal]

So far the game definitely gets a resounding "meh" from me.

I was expecting somthing more revolutionary, but its the same old healer class, melee DPS, Ranged DPS, Healer/DPS classes.

Even the Melee isn't as fun as i had hoped. It's a step up from auto attack, but it still comes down to just bashing a few buttons when the prompts come up. From what i have seen, the game is very easy, seems that most things are one shotted, meaning it gets boring FAST. Maybe it picks up later on, but its amazing how fast you bored of one shotting things, where is the challenge?

Anyways maybe things will change in the release version, they keep saying we have an old old old build we are playing, so hopefully thats true.

I personally think this game will to a lesser effect suffer from Vanguard syndrome, the speccs are way too high for a MMOG, even with my high end system i regularly got 2-3 second hitches and freezes, and my wifes medium/high spec Pc couldn't get a good enough frame rate on the lowest settings, this is a killer as we play these games as a duo. You at least need to do as LOTRO and WOW did and make the game technically accessible to people.

[Miramon]

And the open beta is capped at level 13ish. I am playing the closed beta now think it's a bit sleazy the way Funcom is dealing with the release of information. Remember the PC RPG Lion Heart from a few years back?

Unfortunately, yes, worst RPG I remember playing, offhand.

But what does that crappy game have to do with Funcom and AoC? Something to do with communication? Whatever that lousy studio was, their requirements for communications with customers are hugely different from that of a MMO developer who has a live game to administer.

[Chaplin]

It looks like the Pre-Order sign-ups are now live. You don't get to download the client or play or anything, you just get to sign up for the "early access" and your pre-order bonus (Rhino for Best Buy or Mammoth for Game Stop). The main scare tactic is the early access is first come first serve, so just saying...

Also, notice that you pay 5 extra bucks for the "early access". I guess the idea is this equates to the 10 days you get (note the early access is only 3 days, but they give you 10 days on your account).

I have no idea when the client can be downloaded. I hope they give you some time because I am reading that it is between 15 and 30gigs. Yikes.

[Jafisob]

Unfortunately, yes, worst RPG I remember playing, offhand.

But what does that crappy game have to do with Funcom and AoC? Something to do with communication? Whatever that lousy studio was, their requirements for communications with customers are hugely different from that of a MMO developer who has a live game to administer.

Lionhart had a good and fleshed out early game and a crappy completely rushed mid-end game.

[skyride]

yeah like how they didn't tell all the pre-order people that the 3 day headstart cap at lvl 20. you can get to lvl 20 in about 3 hours.

Actually, they changed that:

The originally planned level capping of the Early Access has been removed.

That's pretty impressive that you can do it in 3 hrs though. With PL help?

[Jafisob]

So far the game definitely gets a resounding "meh" from me.

I was expecting somthing more revolutionary, but its the same old healer class, melee DPS, Ranged DPS, Healer/DPS classes.

Even the Melee isn't as fun as i had hoped. It's a step up from auto attack, but it still comes down to just bashing a few buttons when the prompts come up. From what i have seen, the game is very easy, seems that most things are one shotted, meaning it gets boring FAST. Maybe it picks up later on, but its amazing how fast you bored of one shotting things, where is the challenge?

Anyways maybe things will change in the release version, they keep saying we have an old old old build we are playing, so hopefully thats true.

I personally think this game will to a lesser effect suffer from Vanguard syndrome, the speccs are way too high for a MMOG, even with my high end system i regularly got 2-3 second hitches and freezes, and my wifes medium/high spec Pc couldn't get a good enough frame rate on the lowest settings, this is a killer as we play these games as a duo. You at least need to do as LOTRO and WOW did and make the game technically accessible to people.

Setting your graphics down elleviates the stalls that you are experiencing for the most part but not entirely. These stalls are what I experienced as well. Turn off bloom, lower shadows, and set the resolution down a few pegs. If you really need to you can turn on shaders 2.0 but this takes one of the best looking games in recent memory(when you are not stalled) and makes it meh.

You can essentially try AoC before you pay full price for the game. My understanding is that for 15 bucks you can play AOC for 10 days starting on the 17th.

http://forums.ageofconan.com/showthread.php?t=81756 (http://forums.ageofconan.com/showthread.php?t=81756)

1. Registration for customers with pre-order keys has now opened on http://register.ageofconan.com (http://register.ageofconan.com/).

2. Early Access will cost 5€/5$ for digital download which also includes 10 days of play time. The preorder costs 10 bucks for a total of 15 bucks.

3. After the 10 days of play time you must put in your Retail Key to continue playing.

4. Early Access is "While Supplies Last", so you need to enter your pre-order key ASAP!

5. Pre-order items such as the Rhino and Mammoth is not available on Early Access accounts until you have entered your Retail Key.

6. There will be no set lvl cap for Early Access (Head Start).

7. You will be able to download the client starting on May 14th.

8. Both the US and EU servers open on the 17th of May (5pm GMT) or 12pm EST / 11am CST / 9am PST

9. You will be able to add multiple Retail Keys. eg: One key from Gamestop/EB Games for Mammoth and one key from Bestbuy for Rhino.

[Gendal]

Yep, meh about sums up my experiences too. Was hoping somebody would come in and contradict everybody because xxx is awesome once you get yyy. Ah well.

[zengonzo]

I still can't get over paying full price for a client in addition to monthly fees. I'd prefer it be one or the other.

[TheWombat]

I admit the audience for the PvP I like is limited. I find MMOs where questing is entirely without the threat of being ganked by other players extremely boring, though. Admittedly, it took a while for PvP to grow on me. In the UO days I didn't "get" it, much, and spent a lot of time angry at gankers (though more often angry at the abysmal performance of the game and my dial-up connection). In WoW beta, back when Mages could pyro you from invis with impunity, my Gnome rogue spent a lot of time face down in Stranglethorn Vale, and I often got irritated. By the time WoW release rolled around, though, I as convinced that a PvP server was the way to go, and I got less and less irritated by being killed while questing and more and more interested in "going offense," and using questing as a good way to find PvP. I switched to EQ2 PvP when that launched because of its world PvP system and rewards/penalties (losing money and items, etc.), and had great fun there despite leveling a clothie on an outnumbered side. But that scene is dead now too.

DAOC's RvR was fun but I hated the PvE, especially as PvP was separated from it. I know how difficult it is to balance PvE/PvP in the same sphere, but there's something about the combination that is exciting. Yes, FFA PvP gets on your nerves. The twelfth time you get ganked by someone twice your level before you can get ten yards into the dungeon you need to quest in, yeah, you get ticked. That's why you have alts, or you move to another area, or you get friends, or join a guild, etc. But I freely agree it's an acquired taste.

As for "ganking," well, in a FFA PvP game I find that often (outside of betas or other temporary things) you can develop relationships that, while they won't keep you from getting killed sometimes, will keep you from being perma-ganked. This is especially true if you have consequences for dying and if the combat system allows for some uncertainty in matchups. But really, if you play on a PvP server you should expect to fight every single time you find an enemy. You may not attack, he may not attack, but you have to expect that you will be attacked--and it's perfectly ok for you to attack, even if you just feel ornery.

Ah. That makes sense, but you're right that you and Mark (who plays a Rogue!) are like the only ones who find that fun. I brought my first character to 60 on a PvP server before the BGs and Arenas (and before honor, for the most part). I brought a second character to 60 mostly on a PvP server with the same conditions (eventually we all consolidated on a PvE server to play with other Qt3 members, when they introduced paid realm transfers -- I think I was like 55 at the time). So I remember the days of Tarren Mill, and fighting to get to Blackrock, very well. For the most part, that stuff sounded a lot better in theory than it really was in practice, IMO at least. 95% of PvP encounters were ones where the outcome was in no doubt: one side was either hideously outnumbered, outleveled, or both. It was almost all ganking and very little "RvR combat" or anything similar to that. Granted, some people like that -- they either enjoy ganking other people (if you're one of those, you're pathetic and inexplicable to me), or enjoy the tension of having to worry about being ganked, or both. But like you said, it's very clear that among people who have tried it, the vast, overwhelming majority don't like it. I doubt you will ever really see a game like that.

[JPR]

I've actually been "in line" to download the client from Fileplanet since about 7:30 PM last night and have less than 100 people in front of me now (down from the original 2500). Since I had to go to work, it's going to time out and I'm going to have to do it again.

[Cal]

Setting your graphics down elleviates the stalls that you are experiencing for the most part but not entirely. These stalls are what I experienced as well. Turn off bloom, lower shadows, and set the resolution down a few pegs. If you really need to you can turn on shaders 2.0 but this takes one of the best looking games in recent memory(when you are not stalled) and makes it meh.

You can essentially try AoC before you pay full price for the game. My understanding is that for 15 bucks you can play AOC for 10 days starting on the 17th.

...snip (http://forums.ageofconan.com/showthread.php?t=81756)



Thanks, i know. The prooblem is, on the settings that make the game look decent, performance ranges from excellent when solo, to choppy in groups, to constant 2-3 second hitches when fighting. I have a Dual Core 2.8Gz 2Gb Ram and an 8800GTS, i expected it to run better, and on my wife's "average" PC of Athlon 3.0ghz 1gb ram and 7900GT it was unplayable except at 800x600 and the lowest settings.

Anyways, my prediction stands that these unusually high requirements, and rather flacke(y) performance will not help the game at all. In my humble opinion the game itself is merely mediocre, but im baffled that after the whole Vanguard thing, companies dont realise that you HAVE to make your game accessible.

That said, im failing to see all the hype about AoC, to me it plays as all the other MMOG's do, the only interesting part will be how they handle the conan universe. There certainly seems to be nothing new here, and it's obviously not raising any bars, except of course for a nipple count higher than the body count in Rambo

It may appeal to the Hardcore gamers with uber PC's, however the irony is that those people are using those PC's to play WoW 24/7, and i doubt AoC will be the game to knock the monkey of their back's.

Maybe im just being stupid, but if i were to be making this game, Hell or ANY MMOG. My number one priority would be to make the engine work on any old pile of crap, or at least make it scale. so your potential customer base is as large as possible.

Maybe im just pissed that my Wife's 18 month old PC cannot handle it, but if it wont play on her PC, then it will just get a resounding Fuck you from me, and a more polite, "oh dear, nevermind" from the wife!

[TheWombat]

FWIW, I installed Vista SP1 last night and it seemed to help AoC performance--but that could be coincidence, as performance tends to be uneven anyhow.

As for the game itself, I'm enjoying it but I do wonder if we've reached the point where everyone doing an MMO feels constrained to follow the same path as all who have gone before. Or, perhaps, even worse, maybe there isn't another way to reliably suck in subscription dollars?

I'm still gonna play Conan until Warhammer comes out. Unless that one is a colossal failure I think that's where I'll end up for a bit.

[Ben Sones]

Yep, meh about sums up my experiences too. Was hoping somebody would come in and contradict everybody because xxx is awesome once you get yyy. Ah well.

Well, I'll contradict you, if you like. My experiences are pretty much the opposite of "meh," though I haven't played beyond level 13, so I can't tell you what happens when you get to yyy. Aside from some technical issues (the big ones being that the game sometimes crashes out on load screens, and the map sometimes disappears, and I get some slight pausing, although switching to one of the default graphics settings via the "high, medium, low" buttons seems to have minimized it), I've been having a great time with the beta. My impressions so far:

The setting: I'm a longtime fan of the Conan stories, and I think they are great fodder for an RPG (MMO or otherwise). I've been wanting someone to do a "low fantasy" setting in an MMO for a while now, and this definitely fits the bill. I also like the departure from the typical Tolkien fantasy that you usually see in games. The Hyboria setting is more of a fantasy analog of the ancient world (Aquilonia is equal parts Greece and Rome, Cimmeria is either the Celts or the Germanic tribes, Stygia is Egypt and the Middle East), and they nail that quite well in the game.

Visuals: Wonderful. Even the relatively linear/path-like newbie regions at the shipwreck and around Tortage are fantastic, with an enormous amount of environmental detail. The characters and equipment all look great, and the animations are superb. This is the first MMO I've played that I'd put on par with WoW in terms of art direction. It requires a pretty beefy machine to run all the bells and whistles (my new machine gets around 40 fps with the settings on high), but it actually scales pretty well, and still looks very good even at the lowest settings. I actually had it running on my old machine (which was literally a minimum spec machine), just before my new computer arrived last Friday. I had to set everything to low and knock the resolution down from my monitor's native setting, but it was playable, and still looked good. As good as anything else that machine was able to run, at any rate.

Classes & character creation: The character creation options are among the best I've seen in an MMO to date, with the possible exception of City of Heroes. Lots of sliders to customize your character's face and build, and lots of face and body paint options to further make your character distinctive. As an experiment, I've been playing with floating character names turned off for both players and NPCs (I have names and health bars set to toggle on when I target or mouse over them, though). I don't think I'll be turning them back on. I also really like the array of classes, too, both in terms of how they play and how well they fit the setting. I've tried a bunch of them at this point, and have enjoyed every one.

The combat: Definitely a big improvement on typical MMO melee combat. I usually hate playing front-line fighters in MMOs, which is a bummer since I like playing them in regular RPGs. But I find the melee combat in AoC to be a lot more engaging. Which is good, considering that the majority of classes in the game are melee-focused. Even the magic classes have decent melee fighters (the Bear Shaman, Tempests of Set, Heralds of Xotli). The combat is definitely more twitchy and faster-paced, with a lot more emphasis on fighting multiple opponents. It's more Diablo-like than WoW-like, in that respect, although I'd say that the game that it most closely resembles is Mount & Blade. Aside from the combos, the combat moves and actions are nearly identical. The attack direction mechanic is just complex enough to be fun but not overwhelming. I enjoy trying to time combos to take advantage of openings in an enemy's defense, or beating on enemies from one direction to get them to allocate their defense there, so that I can then launch a combo from a now unguarded direction. The fatality moves are pretty cool, though I'm happy to see that they are nowhere near as frequent as the promo videos suggested. I also like the physics of combat, and how the environment can play a role. I like that you can duck behind a tree to avoid enemy arrows, or retreat to a narrow spot (if one is around) to avoid being swarmed. And I once used a knockback attack to hurl an enemy off a 100-foot cliff and into a river of molten lava. That is pretty much the definition of awesome. I didn't even mind losing his loot. ("If you ever drop your car keys into a river of molten lava, let them go. Because man, they're gone." -Jack Handy).

One criticism that I'd make of the combat, however, is that I think the controls are more complex than they need to be. I mentioned Mount & Blade, and the two games are very similar in terms of what sort of combat moves they let you do, but Mount & Blade's mouse-contextual controls are considerably more elegant. I can understand why AoC went with the setup they did; certainly, they are selling to an audience that is very familiar with keeping their left hand on WASD and reaching for the number keys to launch attacks. But in a game like AoC, where you need to move fast and keep your eyes on the fight, it's a less than ideal arrangement. You get used to it, though, and you can remap the keys to make things easier on yourself. I'm currently using the number pad for attacks, and that actually works quite well. Melee fighters don't really need the mouse in combat (your view follows your character when you turn), so using your left hand to maneuver and your right hand to fight is actually quite effective. I really wish they consider adding a M&B-style "mouse combat" control configuration to the game, though, even just as an option.

The interface: Aside from the combat controls, I think that the interface is generally excellent. It's clean and easy to use, and actually better than WoW's interface in a number of respects. I like that they made bag management less of an issue; you start with a fairly large inventory, with separate tabs for quest items and crafting resources, so that those things don't eat into your regular bag space. The quest journal is a lot easier to browse than WoW's. Two windows pop in from either side of the screen; the left window shows a threaded list of quests that you have, along with a map detailing locations for whichever quest you have selected. The right window lists the quest description and details. As with WoW, there is also an on-screen quest tracker, and if a quest wants you to go to a specific location, it will appear on your maps and minimap. You can even change your active quest by clicking on map/minimap icons, which is pretty slick.

The quests: Quite impressive, so far. The quantity and quality of content, at least in the Tortage area, is easily on par with WoW. The world quests tend to be fairly similar to the sort of stuff you find in WoW, and like WoW, there are many more quests than you will be able to complete before you outlevel them. Where it differs from WoW is in the single-player quest lines. Basically, you can talk to a woman at the inn to jump into a solo-only nighttime instance of the entire Tortage region, and follow a series of quests there in which you aid the resistance movement against the tyrant who rules Tortage. The missions here are actually a lot more like single-player RPG missions, with a greater variety of objectives and scripted sequences. The missions also vary depending on your class, which is great for replayability. The solo missions also seem to let you chew through levels pretty quickly, and I think they'll be a very useful tool for quickly leveling up alts.

To be honest, I'm not sure why people in this thread are bitching about that. It's like I've stepped into a Bizzaro world where players don't regularly trash on games for having slow and grindy advancement. AoC, at least in the early game, is definitely not slow and grindy. It's at least as fast as WoW advancement, and maybe even a little faster, if you are replaying missions for a second time. That's a good thing, right?

It is to me, at least. I'll definitely be picking up the full game. Hopefully we can get a Qt3 guild going, because I'd love to check out some of that high-level guild PvP stuff.

[Banzai]

I have no idea what the game will be like at level 80, but I do know that trying to extrapolate the fun factor of WoW at level 60 when I was level 13 was pretty much impossible. I'm enjoying the combat and graphics (when I'm not stuttering) so far in AoC, but I haven't got the slightest idea how the higher level skills will alter grouping and gameplay at higher levels. What I do know is that I'm interested enough to give it a solid try.

[Jafisob]

...snip lots of stuff about the game....
To be honest, I'm not sure why people in this thread are bitching about that. It's like I've stepped into a Bizzaro world where players don't regularly trash on games for having slow and grindy advancement. AoC, at least in the early game, is definitely not slow and grindy. It's at least as fast as WoW advancement, and maybe even a little faster, if you are replaying missions for a second time. That's a good thing, right?

It is to me, at least. I'll definitely be picking up the full game. Hopefully we can get a Qt3 guild going, because I'd love to check out some of that high-level guild PvP stuff.

Thanks for posting a nice detailed write up on the game.

Many people are complaining about the bugs in AoC particularly the client stalls and crashes which prevent them from enjoying all the aspects of the game you write about above. The devs have posted on the forums about the 'stalling' and how it is because of the beta client and the compiling of shaders. As with many computer issues some people manage to avoid them because their particular computer is chipsetX which is not effected by them. This can lead to: "My shoes aren't tight so your feet can't hurt." syndrome from those enjoying the game.

I too enjoy certain aspects of the game when I am not crashing. The graphics are good and the combat interesting. I enjoy the psuedo single player rpg questlines but I have to question whether or not the linear non-skippable initial areas/quests will get old after a couple characters. The quests don't vary that much between character types.

To be fair: I think the AoC developers have tried to vary some of the traditional mmorpg archetypes enough to be different and innovative but not so much as to try and re-invent the wheel. e.g., Healers don't have to be heal beyotches and can fight, nuke, or cc depending on their class. Casters and most other classes have group friendly buffs(so no specific buff classes). The so called pet classes are not really traditional pet classes as the pets don't do that much.

One hint if you are having problems: If your client locks, log in to a character, and log all the way out the traditional way, quit the client, and restart-login. If you start experiencing 'stalls' log all the way out, quit the client and restart-login.

[Ben Sones]

Many people are complaining about the bugs in AoC particularly the client stalls and crashes which prevent them from enjoying all the aspects of the game you write about above. The devs have posted on the forums about the 'stalling' and how it is because of the beta client and the compiling of shaders. As with many computer issues some people manage to avoid them because their particular computer is chipsetX which is not effected by them. This can lead to: "My shoes aren't tight so your feet can't hurt." syndrome from those enjoying the game.

Oh, I'm not denying the technical problems. As I said, I'm experiencing at least some of them myself. The grayed-out map and crash at load issues are the worst, at least for me. I generally can't play more than an hour without having to restart, which is sort of a pain. Hopefully they get this stuff sorted out; I take heart from the fact that closed beta folks seem to be having a lot fewer problems than the open beta folks, so I'm hoping that when we get the final client, things will be better.

Even the open beta client is a lot more playable than Anarchy Online was at launch, though.

To be fair: I think the AoC developers have tried to vary some of the traditional mmorpg archetypes enough to be different and innovative but not so much as to try and re-invent the wheel. e.g., Healers don't have to be heal beyotches and can fight, nuke, or cc depending on their class.

I actually like that change a whole lot. I hate playing healers in most MMOs. Being a walking first aid kit is really just not that much fun to me. But I could see myself totally getting into any of the healer classes in AoC.

One hint if you are having problems: If your client locks, log in to a character, and log all the way out the traditional way, quit the client, and restart-login. If you start experiencing 'stalls' log all the way out, quit the client and restart-login.

Another thing that helps the stalling a lot, according to the devs, is selecting one of the default graphics settings (i.e. the low, medium, or high buttons in the Video options). Select one of these in the character select screen (before entering the game), and then do not tweak any of the advanced options. Apparently this forces the game to use a precompiled set of shaders, or something like that. It did reduce the amount of pausing I had, though it was never too bad on my machine to begin with. Slight hiccups every now and then, but nothing like the five-second pauses that some people are experiencing.

Additionally, turning off bloom will give you a huge performance boost. My framerate jumped by nearly 50%.

[Thrag]

In my recent play using a hunter character things are severely bugged. If I enter combat in the starting city the character animations freeze. The animations for all but one of my combat moves don't work. I can just pound on the 1-2-3 keys and even though my character just stands there, somehow I'm hitting the enemy for 2-4 points of damage each time. It is as if the length of the swing has something to do with combat, but since all the animations are bugged my swings are instant, invisible and hit for minimal damage. Outside the city combat seems to work normal. This seemed dependent on the weapon I was wielding as well.

I also have occasional client crashes, and massive stuttering in the city.

Perhaps I choose the wrong class to try, but from my limited experience they aren't anywhere near done with testing.

[SteveS]

Lionhart had a good and fleshed out early game and a crappy completely rushed mid-end game.

Yes, that was what I was hinting at. Although in retrospect, the comparison to LH is a bit extreme in that "crappy" isn't a good descriptor of the AoC mid-end game. A bit empty is a better description. Simply open the map as a level 13 and you can see that the number of locations available at the higher levels is somewhat limited. Although the way the game is structured, adding new zones/instances should be easy enough.

On a different topic, one detail you can see from the <13 level content is that this will not be a gear dependent game. For example, the stat boost from items is actually the listed value divided by ten. The result is that the stat boost stuff has no effect on your characters performance. Vendor gear will work as well as the best stuff that drops. Although this is a valid design choice, the loot hunt aspect of games like WoW are a big plus for me and will be missed in AoC.

When all is said and done, even though the game really needs more development time, I'll be picking up a copy. As someone else has mentioned, the game isn't a half-bad single player rpg. So even if I don't continue the subscription past the first month, the game is worth the cost of the box.

[SteveS]

Classes & character creation: The character creation options are among the best I've seen in an MMO to date, with the possible exception of City of Heroes. Lots of sliders to customize your character's face and build, and lots of face and body paint options to further make your character distinctive.


Hmm, that's interesting. The character creation is completely broken with the closed beta client. None of the selections have an effect. When you pop onto the beach you end up with a random looking guy. Which is a big problem in that the luck of the draw has so far given me toons that look like complete tools. I would have had to work hard to make them look as crappy as they do. The PoM character I've played the most looks like a Village People reject.

[skyride]

On a different topic, one detail you can see from the <13 level content is that this will not be a gear dependent game. For example, the stat boost from items is actually the listed value divided by ten. The result is that the stat boost stuff has no effect on your characters performance. Vendor gear will work as well as the best stuff that drops. Although this is a valid design choice, the loot hunt aspect of games like WoW are a big plus for me and will be missed in AoC.

That is a huge assumption since we've been told the game hasn't been properly itemized yet. I got a ring that increased damage by almost 1. My current weapon is at 20 so that's almost 5% increase? Loot will play a factor, I just hope it's not as significant as games like WoW.

[Soapyfrog]

Are there hard set factions, or is it freewheeling? I have read that high end PvP is "Guild vs Guild", and that you can be a "mercenary" for example, so I am very much hoping its free for all ;)

[idrisz]

Item system is like Wow, white-Green-Blue->etc etc..

So far, Boss doesn't seem to drop any blue items, only blue item drop either from Quest or Destiny quest reward.

most of the dungeons I explored void of content, just had some filler mobs in there.

[Fargull]

So far my gaming experiences have been on par with Ben's regarding AoC. I really like the fact that the character classes do not feel pegged into the holy trinity. Some are way over powered at least at the early levels compared to others in terms of survivability. The talent trees are different and I don't know how they will impact the game fully. I think gear will matter, but no where near the level that it does in WOW. I am getting good framerates on my 7900 on XP Pro. To be honest, the two things I find painful over WOW are the loading between zones and the damn skill point allocation crap which only seems to affect casters currently as I have more skill points on both the soldier and rogue classes...

[Phydeaux]

When Fileplanet started offering keys again, I started coming at them from two different computers at the same time. I thought this would double my chances of getting a key. What it actually did was double the number of keys I received. I can send out a key to the first person who PMs me, but you're on your own for getting the client. ;)

[zengonzo]

If I can get the client downloaded by the tenth, I'll be set!

[Phydeaux]

K. Nevermind. Out of keys!

[idrisz]

I actually have a free open beta key if anyone want. but it's already register an account I created.

[zengonzo]

OK, having a bit more trouble downloading the client than I had expected.

That is, FilePlanet isn't even including a link for it anymore.

[Lorini]

I'm looking for a key if anyone has an extra one (this way I won't bug people unnecessarily).

[idrisz]

alright found the key, I think it's possible to create another account and play with this key.

if anyone want this OB key, pm me, first come first serve.

[Phydeaux]

There is apparently a torrent link to the fileplanet client on (of all places) The Pirate Bay.

[Joe M.]

Having fun with Conan atm. It's very similar to WoW, but the graphics are amazing at medium quality (afraid to set it to high, even with a 8800). If the game doesn't change at all except to be a vast improvement on WoW PvP, I'm totally sold. I haven't even had to farm 10 bear asses yet for world peace, though I'm sure that will come eventually.

[RobotPants]

"even with a 9800"?

[Ben Sones]

I have it set on high, with 4xAA, on an 8800GT. I get about 30-40 fps.

[idrisz]

The quest plays out just like a typical MMO, last night I had to collect hyena testicle...


Yes Hyena Testicle..

Luckily I only need one.

[Joe M.]

"even with a 9800"?

edited for correctness. i used to have a 9800 pro. now using a nvidia 8800gt

[RobotPants]

That's more believable. :)

When the game's not crashing or "stalling", it's actually pretty smooth for me at high settings. The load times are really horrible, though.

[Cal]

The quest plays out just like a typical MMO, last night I had to collect hyena testicle...


Yes Hyena Testicle..

Luckily I only need one.

Just wait until your out and about asking where to farm leopard penis' and the obligitory 20mins of gay jokes following..

[Cal]

Well i have to hold my hands up and say the 600mb patch the other day in the closed beta really did fix all my performance issues. Normally im sceptical when mmog companies say there will be some miracle patch in a build no testers have seen yet, but weirdly that patch wasnt far off. I cant play on high settings still, but im getting a good 40fps at 1600x1080 now.

[Thomas Wilde]

I finally managed to get the beta client downloaded and patched, but now when I run it I get a black screen, the mouse cursor, and stuttering music. Got any ideas on how to actually run the game?

[Joe M.]

Well i have to hold my hands up and say the 600mb patch the other day in the closed beta really did fix all my performance issues. Normally im sceptical when mmog companies say there will be some miracle patch in a build no testers have seen yet, but weirdly that patch wasnt far off. I cant play on high settings still, but im getting a good 40fps at 1600x1080 now.

Really good news, but one question: did the patch decrease load times? This is really the only nagging problem I've experienced I'm hoping to see fixed.

I finally managed to get the beta client downloaded and patched, but now when I run it I get a black screen, the mouse cursor, and stuttering music. Got any ideas on how to actually run the game?

I don't have any problems similiar to yours, but a quick google resulted in this thread: http://forums.ageofconan.com/showthread.php?p=1949980 hopefully you can find some help there.

They boosted existing characters to 20 today, and I'm enjoying what I've seen so far, especially the variety of quests. I won't go too much into it because people should see for themselves, but some of them are cool and different from WoW and I hope they continue on like this till the level cap.

There are definitely "bear ass" type quests, though. I suppose it was inevitable. I slogged through a handful of them before the character boost, mildly reassured by the fact there was a credible, immersive storyline to keep me interested.

I've made quite a number of WoW vids for my guilds, PvP teams and the like, so I thought I'd record a short run through (http://myhostedfiles.org/aoc/oldtarantia.wmv) part of Old Tarantia because -- and I realize it's a subjective thing -- I'm really impressed with how it feels like there's a real world here. You can walk down to the docks, and I suspect you'll eventually be able to venture past those huge gates into what looks like a fairly large city. If I were to turn around I could have wandered through temples, merchant squares, back alleys and other buildings.

I hope that at some point I'm defending these gates, or city gates like them, from other players. With real consequences if I lose. Not really having to give a crap about any territory in WoW has had me wondering why it's called warcraft.

[Cal]

Really good news, but one question: did the patch decrease load times? This is really the only nagging problem I've experienced I'm hoping to see fixed.

Yeah, they still aren't short, but not the 30secs i was getting, i would say the load times have cut in half, still not really fast enough, but acceptable. I have read it has caused a few CTD issues for some people with ATI cards, but it seems on the whole Loading times are cut massively, and FPS has become more stable, still some hitches, but nothing like Vanguard is/was.

[Jonah]

I was really looking forward to this and planned to get it at launch, but the Load times for me were unbearable. Coupled with the fact Crafting starts at Level 40 (I Love my Crafting) then its definately become a wait and see.

[Fozzle]

My big problem with beta now is dingbats...

Open PvP + PvP spawn + no res immunity timer.. and add to that no res timer, and well.. after about 5 minutes of dying over and over again on the respawn point, I ended up alt-F4ing... only way I could break the cycle. So, my level 20 content wasn't as exciting as Joe's. I'm not sure if the whole game is supposed to be unbridled PvP everywhere, but if it is, I hope they do something about the camped spawn pads.

My load times and stuttering are better now. I was able to play the game with a decent framerate in the 20's at 1440x900 on the High setting with bloom, shadows and shader 3 turned on. So, whatever they did, it helped tremendously. (I have a 9600GT, so you 8800's should be in great shape) My problem right now is that it smacks very much of the same old thing. More question mark garbed NPCs, more fetch me 7 pieces of animal skin, and more take this package for me to the next quest hub is what I've run across. I'm not sure when the PvP starts, but if its in the 80's, and crafting is in the 40's and so on, I'm not really in the mood to slug through 80 levels of the same stuff again, in a prettier interface... If I wanted that, I'd have played more LOTR, which had those very addictive achievment pages at least!

[McBain]

Well i have to hold my hands up and say the 600mb patch the other day in the closed beta really did fix all my performance issues. Normally im sceptical when mmog companies say there will be some miracle patch in a build no testers have seen yet, but weirdly that patch wasnt far off. I cant play on high settings still, but im getting a good 40fps at 1600x1080 now.

This jives with what a friend was telling me. He said that the patch fixed the "terrible" memory leak he was constantly bitching about.

Me? Just glad I'm not playing another MMO. :)

[Ben Sones]

My load times and stuttering are better now. I was able to play the game with a decent framerate in the 20's at 1440x900 on the High setting with bloom, shadows and shader 3 turned on.

I don't know if you've experimented with this, but bloom is an enormous framerate hog in AoC. I turned it off and my framerate immediately increased by almost 50%. If you shut yours off, you could probably play at a higher res and still get better framerates.

[Diana Baba]

So what is distinguishing this game from WoW? Boobs and blood? (Is it still A.O.?) Load times and technical issues? Better graphics? So far it seems similar. That's disappointing. Ive been waiting for this, and now it looks like something that I might enjoy for a month and then cancel, unless the pvp is significantly better than whats out there already.

[gordonrumble]

I really, really wish that PC developers worked harder for the lowest common denominator. I do believe that the more people can play your game, the more people will buy your game. IF it can't be played on an integrated chipset, there's often something wrong. Age of Conan gives me that vibe full force.

I just think it'd be more profitable for PC devs overall, though I guess it does depend on the type of game.

[Tankero]

Touchy subject, there. Integrated graphics are barely able to keep up with minesweeper as it is.

[Joe M.]

unless the pvp is significantly better than whats out there already.

PvP is why Conan exists honestly. It'll have raiding but if you don't like hardcore PvP then there's really no reason to switch (unless you enjoy boobs and blood in great detail).

[idrisz]

The quest plays out just like a typical MMO, last night I had to collect hyena testicle...


Yes Hyena Testicle..

Luckily I only need one.

update:

Today, I was send to collect 10 plants that shaped like vagina to order to please some women..

[Cal]

I really, really wish that PC developers worked harder for the lowest common denominator. I do believe that the more people can play your game, the more people will buy your game. IF it can't be played on an integrated chipset, there's often something wrong. Age of Conan gives me that vibe full force.

I just think it'd be more profitable for PC devs overall, though I guess it does depend on the type of game.

Not really, integrated graphics shouldn't exist in my book, they have virtually no features and a £30 graphics card performs 5 times better. They are solely for business PC's really. Some of the better laptop ones can play games, but they are expensive and only usually available in mobile form.

If your willing to buy a $500 - $2500 PC, at least pay the extra $50 to get even a cheap card, its such a massive performance upgrade for little cash

[Jafisob]

PvP is why Conan exists honestly. It'll have raiding but if you don't like hardcore PvP then there's really no reason to switch (unless you enjoy boobs and blood in great detail).

Most Conan servers will have PvE zones with no PvP and a set of RvR'esq zones where it is your guild versus the world. FFA PvP with small narrow zones that exist in Conan is going to be less than ideal for most gamers.

[Fozzle]

Most Conan servers will have PvE zones with no PvP and a set of RvR'esq zones where it is your guild versus the world. FFA PvP with small narrow zones that exist in Conan is going to be less than ideal for most gamers.


This is a must, because the open world PvP as it existed on May 10 was le suq.

[jg93]

I finally managed to get the beta client downloaded and patched, but now when I run it I get a black screen, the mouse cursor, and stuttering music. Got any ideas on how to actually run the game?

You need to run the game in windowed mode, which you can set in the launcher.

MMO devs need to realize that Open Beta = Game is Gold. By this I mean: When I play your 'beta' I'm really judging whether or not to buy your game. And if your game is buggy and unpolished, calling it a 'beta' won't get me to buy it. Not saying this is true for Conan, but close...

[Fozzle]

You need to run the game in windowed mode, which you can set in the launcher.

MMO devs need to realize that Open Beta = Game Gold. By this I mean: When I play your 'beta' I'm really judging whether or not to buy your game. And if you game is buggy and unpolished, calling it a 'beta' won't get me to buy it. Not saying this is true for Conan, but close...


I'd add to that that gamers are human, and first impressions stick. And many folks' first impression was 'this is damn buggy.' It would have been better had they put up the closed beta client that was a bit more solid at least for the first few days, then swapped to the newer test code after this large voicestrous crowd got a few days into it.

[skyride]

Well maybe you can expect a "Gold" version for open beta in non-MMO games. I don't think it's realistic to expect the same for a MMO. Reality is that most MMOs experience significant problems even on launch day.

[idrisz]

if anyone have early access for age of conan and doesn't have the link to the Early Access client.

It's out already.

US Version:http://funcom.cachefly.net/AoC-US-EarlyAccess.exe
Euro Version : http://funcom.cachefly.net/AoC-EU-EarlyAccess.exe

[Cal]

if anyone have early access for age of conan and doesn't have the link to the Early Access client.

It's out already.

US Version:http://funcom.cachefly.net/AoC-US-EarlyAccess.exe
Euro Version : http://funcom.cachefly.net/AoC-EU-EarlyAccess.exe

Worth pointing out it comes at nearly a 19GB download including client and patches, i think i'll pick up the retail version personally especially as thats just a torrent downloader like the WOW patcher, so download 19gb, and probably upload 5gb + Whoa thats a lot of bandwith

[Charlatan]

It's a 13 GB download (torrent), you're saying they patch in 6 GB more data? That sounds out of whack. And of course, you only need to do this if you're interested in (and have purchased) the 3 day head start. If you're not planning on playing until the game launches on the 20th of May, then you don't need to worry about it.

[Cal]

It's a 13 GB download (torrent), you're saying they patch in 6 GB more data? That sounds out of whack. And of course, you only need to do this if you're interested in (and have purchased) the 3 day head start. If you're not planning on playing until the game launches on the 20th of May, then you don't need to worry about it.

Not really the last CB patch alone was 682Mb, before that 1gb. They dont seem to offer all in one patches, so yes you have a fair whack of patches to install, unless of course they listened to us in CB and stopped the patch madness and just learnt to integrate into the client, but i suspect this is jst the closed beta client and may need allt he patches. Installed it takes around 19-22gb of HDD space depending on how many cache files you accumulate.

I only mentioned it as some people might be disapointed in the sheer size, especially as you have to pay to play before the servers open. Most ISP's in the UK at least have useage restrictions on how much you can upload in a month, and this thing utilizes 100% of your upstream connection to seed.

And yeah, it wont stop the truely eager from downloading :-)

[wisefool]

I've played maybe 20 hours total. The melee combat is interesting as Ben Sones points out. Client/server is more stable than Anarchy Online.

I'm a bit worried about PVP. The most pure form of PVP is an RTS or FPS. When you add grinding, level unlocking, etc, it really makes it unbalanced. Course, with no grind, no reason to log in, form friendships, and continue to pay a monthly fee.

There's also meta problems like in Global wars (the risk bbs door game) where you could log in at 11:58 pm, then 12:02 AM to get two consecutive turns.

[gordonrumble]

Not really, integrated graphics shouldn't exist in my book, they have virtually no features and a £30 graphics card performs 5 times better. They are solely for business PC's really. Some of the better laptop ones can play games, but they are expensive and only usually available in mobile form.

If your willing to buy a $500 - $2500 PC, at least pay the extra $50 to get even a cheap card, its such a massive performance upgrade for little cash

That is true. In a what-if world where everyone thought that way, it would not be an issue. However, many, possibly most people with a PC have an integrated graphics card, and a significant portion of them could be convinced to play a computer game if they had the guarantee of running it no problem. I firmly believe that a reason WoW has been so successful is because it has very low requirements; while maybe not integrated, it's close enough that the potential userbase in HUGE.

Again, not saying every game should be like this, but there is no question that high requirements are a MASSIVE barrier to entry and often reduce the userbase, and MMOs which depend so much on critical mass should keep that more in mind. Not to mention the fact that they make more money.

Maybe just have an engine that focuses on scaling more than anything else? I don't know.

This game does look pretty though.

[Jab2565]

For the people playing it right now, how much of the combat is more reliant on player skill, rather then uber loot?

[stusser]

Nobody's playing it now as the beta is over. But no, it doesn't require more player skill than other dikuclones.

[Mark Asher]

I've played maybe 20 hours total. The melee combat is interesting as Ben Sones points out. Client/server is more stable than Anarchy Online.

I'm a bit worried about PVP. The most pure form of PVP is an RTS or FPS. When you add grinding, level unlocking, etc, it really makes it unbalanced. Course, with no grind, no reason to log in, form friendships, and continue to pay a monthly fee.

There's also meta problems like in Global wars (the risk bbs door game) where you could log in at 11:58 pm, then 12:02 AM to get two consecutive turns.

At some point, the PvP will be mostly between level-capped players. There are also PvE-only areas, I believe. I don't think the grinding or level unlocking should be a big problem.

I am just curious how it will play out? World PvP is great if you aren’t getting ganked all the time. You need to feel like you are winning as much as you are losing. Once you feel like you are losing most of the time, why play? Or why play world PvP when you can play instanced PvP where sides are better balanced? It’s a question WoW hasn’t answered very well, so I’m curious to see if AoC and Warhammer handle this better.

[idrisz]

open beta is over, closed beta runs til 14 I think, maybe I hit 40 and try that mount..


for demonologist, spam my aoe if there are more than 1 targets and hit my single DD if there is only 1.

Re-apply my buffs when it's running out. fatality is still missing for spells, mobs play the screaming in pain animation but lacking particle effect.

melee combat is basically target enemies's weakest shield location, and just spam that until enemy switch their shield.

[TheWombat]

You play world PvP because it's closer to many people's vision of a fantasy world, with some dynamic content (other players) that can't be delivered by the Groundhog Day style gameplay of the PvE MMO paradigm. FFA PvP blows in betas usually because people have no incentive to develop reputations, the game is glitchy, the tech is not stable, and the rules are not really in place (rewards/penalties). It could still be horrible when all of these things are in place, true, but it's kinda hard to tell right now.

Again, there are those who define PvP solely by who the adversary is; in this case, RTS, FPS, or battlegrounds are all fine, and yeah, FPS and RTS games get the balance part down much better. If, however, you look at MMO PvP as a different kettle of fish, and look at it as PvP in a context of a living world (as strong or as weak as that may be depending on the game), then instanced PvP of any sort becomes anathema. Personally, I think leveling up a character in a MMO where you are not at risk most if not all of the time of getting ganked is extremely boring. It's one reason why my highest LOTRO character is only 33; it's a good PvE game, really, but there's no thrill to it. OTOH, my WoW and EQ2 PvP characters are a the cap and I enjoyed getting there, in that when I leveled it was through a constant wave of gankers.

At some point, the PvP will be mostly between level-capped players. There are also PvE-only areas, I believe. I don't think the grinding or level unlocking should be a big problem.

I am just curious how it will play out? World PvP is great if you aren’t getting ganked all the time. You need to feel like you are winning as much as you are losing. Once you feel like you are losing most of the time, why play? Or why play world PvP when you can play instanced PvP where sides are better balanced? It’s a question WoW hasn’t answered very well, so I’m curious to see if AoC and Warhammer handle this better.

[skyride]

Personally, I think leveling up a character in a MMO where you are not at risk most if not all of the time of getting ganked is extremely boring.

I like the idea of risk if you are given some tools to counter it. Instead what you get is a stealther waiting until your health is low and then 1-shotting you. Or a level 80 runs by and 1-shots you. Not sure how this makes the game more exciting. If you want to simulate random death, why not have someone come by at random intervals and pull the plug on your computer?

[Lorini]

if anyone have early access for age of conan and doesn't have the link to the Early Access client.

It's out already.

US Version:http://funcom.cachefly.net/AoC-US-EarlyAccess.exe
Euro Version : http://funcom.cachefly.net/AoC-EU-EarlyAccess.exe

Are you saying that people who bought the pre-order can play now? Sorry, just a little confused.

[idrisz]

Are you saying that people who bought the pre-order can play now? Sorry, just a little confused.

you can start download the client now, but early access don't start til 17th though.

it just saving time because the client is huge, if you wait til 17th to start download you might as well just wait for the game disc.

[zengonzo]

I like the idea of risk if you are given some tools to counter it. Instead what you get is a stealther waiting until your health is low and then 1-shotting you. Or a level 80 runs by and 1-shots you. Not sure how this makes the game more exciting. If you want to simulate random death, why not have someone come by at random intervals and pull the plug on your computer?

It'd be nice if there were natural disincentives for attacks from grossly higher-level players.

Though the idea of ambushing a weakened character makes a good bit of sense.

In terms of the Conan world, it makes a bit of sense. It creates even more incentive to band together, I imagine.

[Hanacker]

I like the idea of risk if you are given some tools to counter it. Instead what you get is a stealther waiting until your health is low and then 1-shotting you. Or a level 80 runs by and 1-shots you. Not sure how this makes the game more exciting. If you want to simulate random death, why not have someone come by at random intervals and pull the plug on your computer?

Yeah, I loved Eve Online and disliked PvP servers in WoW because of this. In Eve, if you're doing PvE and you get ganked, 99% of the time there was a way to prevent it that wouldn't have drastically cut into your grinding efficiency. And if you do get ganked, there's still a chance to get into a better PvP ship and get some revenge.

In WoW there's just nothing you can do if you're in combat with a monster and someone 30 levels higher rolls up on you. And no matter how many of your level 40 friends you get together, you aren't going to touch that level 70 guy. You can avoid getting ganked to some degree by avoiding heavily populated areas while grinding, but then why are you on a PvP server in the first place?

[Lorini]

you can start download the client now, but early access don't start til 17th though.

it just saving time because the client is huge, if you wait til 17th to start download you might as well just wait for the game disc.

Thanks idrisz, I'll start downloading it now.

[stusser]

Are you saying that people who bought the pre-order can play now? Sorry, just a little confused.
No, you can download the early access client umm, early, but not play. Early access launches noon ET 5/17.

[Hanacker]

It'd be nice if there were natural disincentives for attacks from grossly higher-level players.

Though the idea of ambushing a weakened character makes a good bit of sense.

In terms of the Conan world, it makes a bit of sense. It creates even more incentive to band together, I imagine.

It would be nice if 10 level 20 guys were able to take down a level 50 guy (like the equivalent is possible in Eve Online). Imho, World PvP is stupid if PvP power scales with level so that you're untouchable to any sized group of people 10 or more levels below you.

[Soapyfrog]

In WoW there's just nothing you can do if you're in combat with a monster and someone 30 levels higher rolls up on you. And no matter how many of your level 40 friends you get together, you aren't going to touch that level 70 guy. You can avoid getting ganked to some degree by avoiding heavily populated areas while grinding, but then why are you on a PvP server in the first place?
Aww man, I thought they were going to do that whole "normalized PvP" stats thing, with a different type of progression for PvP... I guess that went out the window a long time ago?

[Mark Asher]

It would be nice if 10 level 20 guys were able to take down a level 50 guy (like the equivalent is possible in Eve Online). Imho, World PvP is stupid if PvP power scales with level so that you're untouchable to any sized group of people 10 or more levels below you.

This is how it should be.

I guess one of the issues is how that affects PvE? You sort of want the level 20s to fight the level 20 mobs instead of ganging up to take on the level 50 mobs.

Honestly, Shadowbane did a lot of this stuff right. The level curve was very fast and the emphasis was always on world PvP. And I know the technical issues with Shadowbane drove away a lot of players, but that can't explain all of its lack of success. I really think the cutthroat nature of that game limited the audience. AoC is trying to offer more so maybe it will have broader appeal.

[Kunikos]

I guess one of the issues is how that affects PvE? You sort of want the level 20s to fight the level 20 mobs instead of ganging up to take on the level 50 mobs.

Why not? The risk of wiping the entire raid due to healers getting smushed very easily seems like the reward should be worth it if they succeed. Maybe that's just me, though.

[Hanacker]

This is how it should be.

I guess one of the issues is how that affects PvE? You sort of want the level 20s to fight the level 20 mobs instead of ganging up to take on the level 50 mobs.

In a WoW-type game, it would just require treating PvP combat separately from PvE (or something like the "normalized PvP" stats that Soapyfrog mentioned and I hadn't heard about. I assume that would mean making PvP more like Guild Wars.). It's ok if a level 20 character only has a 5% chance of hitting a level 70 monster, but maybe give him a 50% chance (or whatever) of hitting a level 70 player. Crowd control could really give a team of lower level guys a chance to beat a higher level guy. If a group of 5 or 10 guys could consistently keep a higher level character stunlocked, you wouldn't even need to rebalance the damage so that the higher level character can't one-shot everbody. There just needs to be some sense of risk for running around in a newbie zone, randomly ganking people, without requiring the noobs to have a team of max-level guys on call to defend them.

[skyride]

The Wanderers will be playing on a Standard server (i.e. not FFA). Our QT3 friends are of course welcome to join or even ally with us. As Banzai mentioned earlier in the thread, it would be good to at least play on the same server so we have the opportunity to combine our efforts.

Cross posted from GT, here is Rittchard post:

After careful consideration of the server polls, and virtually unanimous concurrence with the game officers, The Wanderers will play on a Standard server for AoC.

This decision will ensure we have the maximum number of players for the guild at the outset and give us a strong chance to pursue the endgame City Building and Battlekeep content. I would like to see us work together as a guild and push toward being one of the elite guilds on our server.

As mentioned before, GG/GT/OOers are more than welcome to join us on our quest. If you have not been to our guild forums before, please sign up at www.thewanderers.us and look for announcements, planning, discussion, etc in our dedicated AoC forum. (I'm not sure if you get immediate access to the AoC forum, but I'll work with Gedd and make sure we get that all squared away.)

Thanks, and look forward to seeing you all in Hyboria!!!

[Banzai]

It would be nice if 10 level 20 guys were able to take down a level 50 guy (like the equivalent is possible in Eve Online). Imho, World PvP is stupid if PvP power scales with level so that you're untouchable to any sized group of people 10 or more levels below you.

I've heard that a group of level 40 folks can take down a level 80 in AoC, but naturally haven't experienced that personally yet. I hope it is the case, as I don't have the same kind of time I did in college and would still like to eventually get to a level where I can contribute to world PvP.

As an FYI, the Wanderers, GT, and OO have pretty much decided on a PvE ruleset server. A lot of us were in favor of the FFA-RP ruleset, but we decided in the end that numbers were more important than FFA PvP. We very much plan to take part in the world PvP and city building, but there just weren't enough people interested for us to think we'd survive the first mointh of attrition on FFA PvP. Funcom hasn't released server names yet, but when they do, I'll definitely post our choice here for anyone who is interested in a large guild of generally mature folks.

[idrisz]

I've heard that a group of level 40 folks can take down a level 80 in AoC, but naturally haven't experienced that personally yet. I hope it is the case, as I don't have the same kind of time I did in college and would still like to eventually get to a level where I can contribute to world PvP.

As an FYI, the Wanderers, GT, and OO have pretty much decided on a PvE ruleset server. A lot of us were in favor of the FFA-RP ruleset, but we decided in the end that numbers were more important than FFA PvP. We very much plan to take part in the world PvP and city building, but there just weren't enough people interested for us to think we'd survive the first mointh of attrition on FFA PvP. Funcom hasn't released server names yet, but when they do, I'll definitely post our choice here for anyone who is interested in a large guild of generally mature folks.

I don't know how pvp damage is scaled since I don't kill low levels, but as nuker, I can aoe 800+ on mobs 10 levels lower than me, at lvl 80 I can probably 1 shot myself at lvl 40 with one Aoe.

[TheWombat]

Goes with the territory. I mean, yeah, I've been ganked by every conceivable combination of people--solo folks many levels higher, groups of people, stealthers, you name it. I can't determine what's fun for you, nor would I try to. For me, though, the excitement of avoiding getting killed when you can, and the thrill of both accomplishing tasks in the face of opposition (face it, most PvE tasks can be accomplished by trial and error, sheer dogged stubborness, or out-leveling the mobs) and turning around and doing to others what they have done to you.

Yes, I admit it--I LOVE to deny areas to the enemy. I love to block other raids from contested content. I love to chase people out of my farming areas. Now, my preferred PvP style is RvR or faction based, where you have a full context for killing "them" wherever you find them, and have some security from "us," but in FFA PvP you can do pretty much the same, with the added benefit of being able to kill those annoying smacktards on your own team who cause you trouble.

It's a very different style of play, but one I find interesting. There are always tools to counter ganking, though sometimes those tools include leaving, playing an alt, or finding a group; not every encounter should or can be balanced. No, I don't like being ganked by someone impossibly more powerful than I am, but in my experience that really isn't anywhere near a constant issue. Besides, I can always go gank someone lower than me!

I like the idea of risk if you are given some tools to counter it. Instead what you get is a stealther waiting until your health is low and then 1-shotting you. Or a level 80 runs by and 1-shots you. Not sure how this makes the game more exciting. If you want to simulate random death, why not have someone come by at random intervals and pull the plug on your computer?

[TheWombat]

It would be nice if 10 level 20 guys were able to take down a level 50 guy (like the equivalent is possible in Eve Online). Imho, World PvP is stupid if PvP power scales with level so that you're untouchable to any sized group of people 10 or more levels below you.

This is a good point, and a hard one to pin down. Because it's a MMO, people feel they should be rewarded for leveling. Because it's PvP, you need to have some balancing mechanism as well. EQ2, while far, far, from perfect in this regard, actually did allow for groups of gray conning players to kill red cons; the problem there was that there was no penalty for swarming a higher level player and dying multiple times.

[Mark Asher]

This is a good point, and a hard one to pin down. Because it's a MMO, people feel they should be rewarded for leveling. Because it's PvP, you need to have some balancing mechanism as well. EQ2, while far, far, from perfect in this regard, actually did allow for groups of gray conning players to kill red cons; the problem there was that there was no penalty for swarming a higher level player and dying multiple times.

Yeah, that's the problem, isn't it? Those pesky grays need to risk something too.

I remember DAoC was originally set up so that a high level was nigh invulnerable to gray players. You could have had 100 of them swatting at the high level and he would just laugh. At some point that changed, maybe only on the FFA PvP servers, and then grays could take down a high level. That was a kick. That was a really fun server until the players started not playing and it got harder and harder to find players to kill who were worth XP.

My experience with hardcore world PvP in two games, Shadowbane and DAoC, is that the numbers just dwindled over time. You can argue technical issues in SB, but DAoC simply lost players on their PvP servers because they tired of it.

[Lurb]

The pinnacle of my MMO experience is the start of DAoC Mordred. Everything was a challenge, yet you always found a way. Being in a guild actually meant something and you got so used to be in constant danger that regular servers were plain unplayable after that. Hell, PvE MMOs have been unplayable for me since then.

I remember when Mythic introduced some silly statless RP hats, and placed the merchants in the towns next to the capital cities. Boring fluff stuff in RvR servers, but in Mordred for many days those hats were a symbol of PvP prowess, as surviving the transaction required either cunning or a full guild raid controlling the village.

So FFA PvP=good!

ToA was the main thing that killed Mordred. It was bad on regular servers, but plain unplayable with a FFA ruleset, because it required endless grinding at completely predictable places. You could level by roaming around, or raid some remote dungeon for loot without much trouble. But camping those godforsaken mermaids for days turned from a chore on normal servers to a fools' errand in Mordred.

[Mark Asher]

The pinnacle of my MMO experience is the start of DAoC Mordred. Everything was a challenge, yet you always found a way. Being in a guild actually meant something and you got so used to be in constant danger that regular servers were plain unplayable after that. Hell, PvE MMOs have been unplayable for me since then.

I remember when Mythic introduced some silly statless RP hats, and placed the merchants in the towns next to the capital cities. Boring fluff stuff in RvR servers, but in Mordred for many days those hats were a symbol of PvP prowess, as surviving the transaction required either cunning or a full guild raid controlling the village.

So FFA PvP=good!

So what happened? I played on Mordred or Andred, can't remember which now, and loved it, but the players disappeared and two servers became one and then even one server wasn't populated enough. Why did the players leave?

[Lurb]

So what happened? I played on Mordred or Andred, can't remember which now, and loved it, but the players disappeared and two servers became one and then even one server wasn't populated enough. Why did the players leave?

I don't remember my dates that well, but I must have played in Mordred for almost two years, summer 2002-summer 2004. Andred died after a few months because Mythic panicked too soon when lots of people wanted to have a look and then left. But I recall healthy populations until WoW finished what ToA had started.

[Thoro]

if anyone have early access for age of conan and doesn't have the link to the Early Access client.

It's out already.

US Version:http://funcom.cachefly.net/AoC-US-EarlyAccess.exe
Euro Version : http://funcom.cachefly.net/AoC-EU-EarlyAccess.exe

Well, shit.

Why do developers keep doing this? Why separate US and European servers? The trans-Atlantic lag is negligible(Tabula Rasa played just FINE on a west-coast US server, from Norway), and I can't think of a single other reasonable explanation for it.

[HRose]

Why do developers keep doing this? Why separate US and European servers? The trans-Atlantic lag is negligible(Tabula Rasa played just FINE on a west-coast US server, from Norway), and I can't think of a single other reasonable explanation for it.
Publishers and distribution rights counterproductive to the health of the game.

[Joe M.]

Yes, I admit it--I LOVE to deny areas to the enemy. I love to block other raids from contested content.

Being a complete bastard is one of the few things I still enjoy in WoW. I've camped lowbie (60-69) warlocks literally for hours until they log off, because I despise their class and they are usually blood elves. I only wish that I weren't one of just 3 or 4 people on my server who actually seek out and engage PvP, and occasionally stir up an enjoyable world pvp skirmish between 10 or more people. Everyone else spends their time idling in Shattrath, queueing into their bg's or arenas where they don't have to actually deal with people on terms other than their own. It's depressing.

I would love to see Blizzard disable the sanctuary and green zones if only for a few hours. Serious war might take place. Who am I kidding, everyone would go hide somewhere 'safe', or log out.

[Beefeater1980]

I'd always assumed it was Americans trying to keep down-at-heel Brits like myself from joining English speaking servers.

If it's not this, then why? Are there additional maintenance/setup costs? Bureacratic obstacles? Competition (Antitrust) law problems?

It's puzzling, and annoying.

[HRose]

If it's not this, then why? Are there additional maintenance/setup costs? Bureacratic obstacles? Competition (Antitrust) law problems?

It's puzzling, and annoying.
Again, it's about distribution right.

Often the american publisher isn't the same of the euro publisher. American prices are usually lower and in-house support is usually much better than localized one.

So we got restrictions so that the local publisher doesn't have that competition and has its sales protected.

Every other reason is an excuse to prevent players to have a choice.

[Hanacker]

World PvP in WoW on the new island with all the Shattered Sun dailies isn't bad. Most of the time people focus on the PvE but there are the occasionaly solo gankers or parties of gankers and things can escalate from there with people forming up to fight back.

[Lorini]

Could be export laws, software is subject to US export laws. I used to license software overseas and this was always a problem. I'm not saying that I know that this is the reason for sure, however, you'd have to ask the companies involved.

[Thoro]

Could be export laws, software is subject to US export laws. I used to license software overseas and this was always a problem. I'm not saying that I know that this is the reason for sure, however, you'd have to ask the companies involved.

In the case of AoC, though, Funcom is a Norwegian company.

[Lorini]

In the case of AoC, though, Funcom is a Norwegian company.

That wouldn't change anything. They would still need to get permission to export the software if they are using US servers assuming that the game is in fact subject to US export laws.

[NuclearWinter]

Funcom are giving the old "we want you to have the most lag free experience" excuse, which is nonsense really. It's amusing when I usually get better ping times playing on US servers (from the UK) than Canadian friends do. I've played every MMORPG on US servers and I'm not about to change, never had a problem.

[Lorini]

From an article regarding Funcom and AoC from Gamespot:

"According to the report, over one million people have signed up for the Age of Conan beta, which has now gone gold in anticipation of its launch on May 20 in the US and May 23 in Europe.

Weighing up what could go wrong with the launch of Age of Conan, Funcom identified that a "key risk" would be the stability of servers, and it has to make sure servers are stable at launch and able to cope with the "unprecedented demand" likely when the game is finally released."

The report they are referring to is Funcom's quarterly report. Sure hope they know what they are talking about when they mention "unprecedented demand". I'm skeptical but we'll see. Also note that they carefully don't tell you how many pre-orders they have; beta testers aren't pre-orders, but a stupid investor may not realize that.

[Jakub]

Being a complete bastard is one of the few things I still enjoy in WoW. I've camped lowbie (60-69) warlocks literally for hours until they log off, because I despise their class and they are usually blood elves. I only wish that I weren't one of just 3 or 4 people on my server who actually seek out and engage PvP, and occasionally stir up an enjoyable world pvp skirmish between 10 or more people. Everyone else spends their time idling in Shattrath, queueing into their bg's or arenas where they don't have to actually deal with people on terms other than their own. It's depressing.

I would love to see Blizzard disable the sanctuary and green zones if only for a few hours. Serious war might take place. Who am I kidding, everyone would go hide somewhere 'safe', or log out.
So you like beating up on lowbies. Nice.

See, when someone like you comes along and ganks one of my alts two or three times, I log my main, and I proceed to camp you until you refuse to log back in or bring friends. Then I call my friends until you quit. I have a lot of friends, because I help a lot of people against gankers.

And you say you like world PvP because you don't have to deal with people on other terms than their own, yet here you are beating up on characters at least a level lower (and with vastly inferior gear), most likely getting the opener as they're already fighting a mob or having just respawned from your previous killing? Oddly enough, you ganker types rarely come back for a third or fourth beatdown after my main is done with you.

[skyride]

See, when someone like you comes along and ganks one of my alts two or three times, I log my main, and I proceed to camp you until you refuse to log back in or bring friends. Then I call my friends until you quit. I have a lot of friends, because I help a lot of people against gankers.


I think it's perfectly fine what he's doing if he wants to be an evil bastard. What I dislike is the kind of behaviour you are exhibiting, i.e. spawn camping. It's basically abusing a design flaw in the game and has nothing to do with rolepaying or realism.

[Jakub]

I think it's perfectly fine what he's doing if he wants to be an evil bastard. What I dislike is the kind of behaviour you are exhibiting, i.e. spawn camping. It's basically abusing a design flaw in the game and has nothing to do with rolepaying or realism.
I suggest you re-read what he wrote and what I wrote.

Slowly.

[zengonzo]

Heheh.

Organized response is definitely the proper reaction to evil.

[skyride]

I suggest you re-read what he wrote and what I wrote.

Slowly.

Ok, I took "camping" as "spawn camping" which is what happens in AoC. I guess in WoW it's not literally waiting for the guy to respawn and killing him while he is still loading. Still don't understand why PvP fans would play WoW but that's another discussion, heh.

[stusser]

Organized response is definitely the proper reaction to evil.
<sarcasm>Ahhh yes, player justice, a concept that proved its merit in UO so many years ago.</sarcasm>

[zengonzo]

What are you talking about? In the case of a higher-level character thwomping lower-levels, what makes more sense than uniting for a common defense?

That just seems fitting in the world of Conan.

[Thoro]

Funcom are giving the old "we want you to have the most lag free experience" excuse, (...)

That's, not to put too fine a point on it, bollocks. Ping times across the Atlantic are better than ever, especially for a non-twitch game like an MMO will invariably be.

My cynical(and uninformed, of course; I don't work in Funcom) suspicion is that they want the added revenue of some US hosting wossname paying licensing fees. I seem to recall some discussion about DAoC's Atlantic divide ending with a conclusion that it was 'more profitable' that way. I may be pulling that out of my arse, though -- my memory is spotty at best.

[TheWombat]

While I wouldn't camp someone for hours just because I didn't like them or their class, on a PvP server, this sort of thing isn't unexpected. Is it undesirable? Depends on who you ask I guess; your response is a perfectly viable and rather good one. I like servers where this stuff can happen, because the dynamics are much more entertaining than on non-PvP servers.

As for killing lower leveled or lesser geared people, I don't have a problem with it, though really it should be coupled with the ability of lower leveled/geared players in groups to kill their betters as well. If you're going to have non-instanced PvP it will, by its very nature, be unbalanced in many individual instances. It has to be balanced overall, which is tough enough, but it's the very imbalance in its particulars that makes it fun. You look for a tactical advantage, and be prepared for others looking to do the same to you.

In WoW, I rarely killed people who were much, much lower than me, unless they were being really annoying, and then only once. There's no real consequence anyhow. I would kill people who were within five levels or so of me, or in the zones intended for 70s I'd kill lowbies who had the trepidation to try to get some big XP by fighting mobs way to powerful for them. But only if I actually ran across them while farming or something. Not worth the effort to seek them out.

So you like beating up on lowbies. Nice.

See, when someone like you comes along and ganks one of my alts two or three times, I log my main, and I proceed to camp you until you refuse to log back in or bring friends. Then I call my friends until you quit. I have a lot of friends, because I help a lot of people against gankers.

And you say you like world PvP because you don't have to deal with people on other terms than their own, yet here you are beating up on characters at least a level lower (and with vastly inferior gear), most likely getting the opener as they're already fighting a mob or having just respawned from your previous killing? Oddly enough, you ganker types rarely come back for a third or fourth beatdown after my main is done with you.

[Matt Perkins]

As a person who hasn't played in the beta, what are the differences between the two servers?

PvE == like DAOC
PvP == like Wow PVP servers?

I'm just trying to get an idea of what the different servers are like and if they really support PvP or it's kinda of an addon like in WoW.

[skyride]

PvP = Free for All. Kill anyone in any non-city area.

PvE = PvP only in Borderlands (probably like DAOC but since no one has seen it yet, who knows)

Both servers have PvP mini games sort of like Guild Wars
Both servers have Siege battle in Borderlands

[Lorini]

I don't know if anyone has mentioned this, but they want $89 fucking dollars for the Collector's edition. Geezus.

Collector's Edition content:


In game items:

Ring of Acheron gives the player higher XP points
Drinking Cape gives free drinks in all of Hyboria’s taverns

Leatherette map of Hyboria
124 page Art book
Game on two DVD’s
72 page manual
Exclusive DVD with bonus material, trailers, interview and “making of”
Exclusive soundtrack CD
Buddy card (for five friends)
30 days free play

Is this really worth $89??

[zengonzo]

Well, 30 days free play is worth $15 alone, I guess .. Though don't most MMOs give you that anyways?

What does a Buddy Card do? Allow you to serve as a marketing machine for the company? How thoughtful!

[Lee Johnson]

Yeah, but that's the same 30 days you'll get from the regular edition.

[Lorini]

Can someone tell me what the significance of the end game items is? Free drinks? Are they like WoW drinks you can buy from a WoW tavern (who cares) or something more serious? I'm getting ready to go buy the pre-order from BB, and I was going to get the CE edition until I saw the price. Now, I'm not very sure at all. I'm wondering if they think that their CE edition will be like the WoW CE and be worth $300 two years later and that's why they want so much for it??

[idrisz]

Can someone tell me what the significance of the end game items is? Free drinks? Are they like WoW drinks you can buy from a WoW tavern (who cares) or something more serious? I'm getting ready to go buy the pre-order from BB, and I was going to get the CE edition until I saw the price. Now, I'm not very sure at all. I'm wondering if they think that their CE edition will be like the WoW CE and be worth $300 two years later and that's why they want so much for it??

right now, drink and eating give player an buff that last through-out death, add like small amount of mana/stam(10% or so) for an hour, also increase your out of combat stamina/mana regen.

I assume free drink at tavern = automatically gets a free food buff???

[CastOutDevil]

I'm not getting the CE, doesn't look worth it to me. I did pre-order for the rhino mount. Cloth maps, coins, figurines and other assorted tchotchkes don't do it for me anymore. They were cool in the Ultima days, but those days have long since passed me by. I do wish I had a LotRO music CD, some damn fine music in that game.

[malphigian]

Both servers have PvP mini games sort of like Guild Wars
Both servers have Siege battle in Borderlands


I thought the whole siege battle thing doesn't actually exist yet?