Age of Conan Beta

[Nesssie]

I believe in the future you'll be able to gain exp killing people.

There is no trial yet and no one has gotten the Guest Pass Codes to give away.

[MisterBob]

This game really needs PvP consequences. Maybe a criminal red/blue name system with possible bag looting would be good. The PvP is just pointless ganking now, there's nothing to risk or gain.

If there's alot of high levels I bet they're raping the newbie country sides

It's not about that. There's just not much excitement in the PvP.

There's some kind of penalty involving bounty hunter NPCs attacking you periodically. The problem is that the level range is too high, as long as you fight within 19 levels you're safe.

There's no super high levels ganking newbies though, as Tortage (the newbie land) is restricted to people 20 and below.


Still can't decide if I like this game or not. It feels waaaay too linear to be an MMO. Originally this was supposed to change after level 20, but apparently it doesn't. I almost feel like I'm playing Guild Wars, but with a subscription fee...

[Babyorphan]

There's no super high levels ganking newbies though, as Tortage (the newbie land) is restricted to people 20 and below.

Not entirely true actually, I haven't been playing much, don't have time and see Conan as a secondary game next to FFXI anyways..
But! (hehe) I have at least gotten to Lv.27 and revisited Tortage at that level.
So a person could potentially revisit to gank, if they feel like being lame I guess ^_^



PS: First post in quite some years of being inactive on these forums, hehe.

[Katlan]

Would you say the game is worth it, as in picking it up and giving it a try, or are there too many glitches and you just don't see it going anywhere? Oh yeah... is it as linear (past 20) as some are saying? (I trust BG's opinion more than random ppl on other forums).

[Hellboy]

This game really needs PvP consequences. Maybe a criminal red/blue name system with possible bag looting would be good. The PvP is just pointless ganking now, there's nothing to risk or gain.

fuck that, getting ganked means a free port.

i'd also like to note that i picked the worst server to start on ever. average log-on queue time of 3 minute and it also happens to be the server the goons decide to make a guild. anyone know if (paid?) server transfers are available/will be made available?

[Plow]

This game really needs PvP consequences. Maybe a criminal red/blue name system with possible bag looting would be good. The PvP is just pointless ganking now, there's nothing to risk or gain.

fuck that, getting ganked means a free port.

i'd also like to note that i picked the worst server to start on ever. average log-on queue time of 3 minute and it also happens to be the server the goons decide to make a guild. anyone know if (paid?) server transfers are available/will be made available?

If you really have to be looking at paid transfers because you can't deal with a week's difference, I have no idea how you managed to end up on an ffxi endgame forum


In other words don't worry about it either stick with it if you're happy enough or start somewhere else now, because the farther in you get the more you're going to feel stuck.

[MisterBob]

One of my biggest concerns about this game is the lack of progression and itemization. It almost feels like Guild Wars, except that it costs money per month. Hopefully this changes at higher levels, but right now quests are just "Fetch this and kill 50 of this", and the rewards are just XP and money that is largely useless. You never see "cool" gear on anyone, and leveling up isn't exciting.

I remember when playing FFXI, I'd always be looking forward to a few levels down the road when I could buy or wear that new cool item. I'm just not getting this from Age of Conan at all, and it's pretty disappointing.

Also, so far there's no reason at all to group (level 21 currently), and it doesn't look like there will be for a decent time to come.

Honestly right now this game almost makes me want to go back to EQ2, which is pretty sad, considering EQ2 is not that good.

[Kurp]

One of my biggest concerns about this game is the lack of progression and itemization. It almost feels like Guild Wars, except that it costs money per month. Hopefully this changes at higher levels, but right now quests are just "Fetch this and kill 50 of this", and the rewards are just XP and money that is largely useless. You never see "cool" gear on anyone, and leveling up isn't exciting.

I remember when playing FFXI, I'd always be looking forward to a few levels down the road when I could buy or wear that new cool item. I'm just not getting this from Age of Conan at all, and it's pretty disappointing.

Also, so far there's no reason at all to group (level 21 currently), and it doesn't look like there will be for a decent time to come.

Honestly right now this game almost makes me want to go back to EQ2, which is pretty sad, considering EQ2 is not that good.

It's almost impossible to get same feeling of waiting a couple of levels to get a certain special piece of gear because it's all unknown now. There are no websites to look up gear and you can't inspect people to see if they're wearing something badass. There are some pretty sweet blue quest rewards that I've recieved, mostly weapons though.

I've heard there are quests starting in the 30s that are impossible to solo that yield some really nice items. So, it sounds like grouping will become a much bigger thing. I still haven't run a group dungeon though, I don't even know where any are or their level ranges.

One gripe I have now is the terrible interface and search system. It's almost as bad as FFXI's and that's like 5 years old. I'm sure it will get a lot better as more people release mods though.

PvP balance is pretty bad. There's too many facerolling classes right now. Tempest of Set for one. And I'm definitely getting tired of Rangers getting off a ranged mez and then almost one shotting me with Salvo. It's to be expected with a new game though, I guess. But, I would think it would be better than this after beta.

[MisterBob]

One of my biggest concerns about this game is the lack of progression and itemization. It almost feels like Guild Wars, except that it costs money per month. Hopefully this changes at higher levels, but right now quests are just "Fetch this and kill 50 of this", and the rewards are just XP and money that is largely useless. You never see "cool" gear on anyone, and leveling up isn't exciting.

I remember when playing FFXI, I'd always be looking forward to a few levels down the road when I could buy or wear that new cool item. I'm just not getting this from Age of Conan at all, and it's pretty disappointing.

Also, so far there's no reason at all to group (level 21 currently), and it doesn't look like there will be for a decent time to come.

Honestly right now this game almost makes me want to go back to EQ2, which is pretty sad, considering EQ2 is not that good.

It's almost impossible to get same feeling of waiting a couple of levels to get a certain special piece of gear because it's all unknown now. There are no websites to look up gear and you can't inspect people to see if they're wearing something badass. There are some pretty sweet blue quest rewards that I've recieved, mostly weapons though.

I've heard there are quests starting in the 30s that are impossible to solo that yield some really nice items. So, it sounds like grouping will become a much bigger thing. I still haven't run a group dungeon though, I don't even know where any are or their level ranges.

One gripe I have now is the terrible interface and search system. It's almost as bad as FFXI's and that's like 5 years old. I'm sure it will get a lot better as more people release mods though.

PvP balance is pretty bad. There's too many facerolling classes right now. Tempest of Set for one. And I'm definitely getting tired of Rangers getting off a ranged mez and then almost one shotting me with Salvo. It's to be expected with a new game though, I guess. But, I would think it would be better than this after beta.

According to people who have reached 50-80, the gear never gets that interesting. There's also very few major dungeons. I really feel like this game needed another 6 months in development before it was released. It really offered none of what it promised, from the minor things like bonuses from sex to more major things like PVP that actually has a purpose. The UI for the real PVP stuff exists, but currently everyone is stuck on level 1. Also the banker not working with only 20 bag spaces is incredibly obnoxious.

I get the feeling this MMO is likely going to wane in popularity in a few months unless Funcom figures out what's wrong with it. MMO veterans are leaving in droves already. I'm going to give it a shot until the free month wears off, but after that if it doesn't look like it's going anywhere, then that's that. My guess is it's just going to remain a casual-ish Guild Wars style game forever. If I wanted that, I would have played Guild Wars.

[Kurp]

I agree with you when you say that the game needed more development. It feels like we're playing a late stage beta. I'm not sure if I'll make it past the 'free' month either. It's wait and see, I guess.

[Kitsumi]

I agree with you when you say that the game needed more development. It feels like we're playing a late stage beta. I'm not sure if I'll make it past the 'free' month either. It's wait and see, I guess.

QFTMFT

[guartz]

This is why Warhammer is gonna kill everything when it comes out.

[Katlan]

Game sounds like a Lemon & not worth the time of trying out. How the fuck can you release a MMO and not have the bank and/or AH working.

[MisterBob]

This is why Warhammer is gonna kill everything when it comes out.

Everyone said the same thing about this game. It seems like everything gets overhyped these days

[Krandor]

Seriously, people were talking about this game prior to release like it was the 2nd coming of Jesus, and now that it's out the vast majority of the player base that I've talked to seems to be overwhelmingly disappointed it.

If the first beta test was any indication, Warhammer would need alot (and I mean ALOT) of work to be an even halfway acceptable game. The only thing Warhammer will likely have going for it is a strong PvP base (because let's face it, Arena in WoW is horribly flawed and horrendously balanced), the proposed changes Blizzard is making for WotLK to their PvE content is going to leave them well ahead of the field in that area for awhile.

[Plow]

Sooo the people that were real good at WoW pvp seem to be extremely happy with the game so far...


Sounding like pretty much what I expected, AoC is shooting for just the pvp crowd where Warhammer is going to be the "everything in one game" attempt that actually has a chance to threaten WoW if it's done well enough.

[MisterBob]

Sooo the people that were real good at WoW pvp seem to be extremely happy with the game so far...


Sounding like pretty much what I expected, AoC is shooting for just the pvp crowd where Warhammer is going to be the "everything in one game" attempt that actually has a chance to threaten WoW if it's done well enough.

PVP in this game is broken and hideously unbalanced. Not to mention none of the PVP features are even half-implemented yet. Then again, that sounds a lot like WoW's PVP, so it makes sense that they'd feel at home.

[Plow]

Sooo the people that were real good at WoW pvp seem to be extremely happy with the game so far...


Sounding like pretty much what I expected, AoC is shooting for just the pvp crowd where Warhammer is going to be the "everything in one game" attempt that actually has a chance to threaten WoW if it's done well enough.

PVP in this game is broken and hideously unbalanced. Not to mention none of the PVP features are even half-implemented yet. Then again, that sounds a lot like WoW's PVP, so it makes sense that they'd feel at home.

This from my old 2's partner, one of the best players in WoW, period, who was also very good in Guild Wars:

flavor/genre
AoC is like a cross of several games: action of oblivion (old school 3rd person action), combo chaining/character build like guild wars, npc interaction like bioware games. There are 4 archetypal classes: Soldier, Rogue, Priest, Mage, and each archetype subclasses into 1 of 3 subclasses.
for example Rogue: subs to ASsassin, Ranger, or Barbarian. There are 3 feat trees to pursue no matter what you pick.

combat:
melee:there are basic attacks, and combos. combos are learned while lvling, and from your feat trees. Stamina works like Oblivion, except it recharges relatively slowly. If you overexert yourself, you are pretty much fuked. It recharges probably about 1/4 the speed of Oblivion. However, basic attacks take little to no stamina. They of course, hit much weaker and don't have special properties like combos.

ranged: currently rangers are quite OP. For some reason their bows do way too much dmg. Rangers can play in FPS mode. If in 3rd person, they use a cone targeting system like Virtual On.

magic: magic spells are often aimed as well, placing a grenade area, or conal attack.

pace:
this game departs from the popularized business model of most mmo's. no grinding, time wasting gimmicks meant to waste away your life. Everything is interactive and busy. The people who like mindless gaming, like grinding, or autopilot will chatting with friends, will probably not like this. That doesn't mean you can't chat of course, it's just the game takes more concentration than the grinding mmo's.


atmosphere
AoC's atmosphere: prob one of the most well done settings ive seen in awhile. Nothing is spared from the player in the grisly world of Hyborea. The starting screen says it all: if male, you're a slave rowing in a slave ship. If female you're in the back of the ship with a slinky bikini in chains. NPCs cuss like they mean business, there's lots of gore, brutality. Make no mistake, this gameworld is no joke.

game engine: the game engine is quite good. I can run at 20-30 fps on my !%%% comp, (8600 1.86duo core). I can send screenshots if you'd like. Water is decently done, there are real time reflections and fractals. The polygons themselves move in the water, not just fractal textures. Blooming is sorta too harsh. Honestly i dont think any game has gotten blooming down as well as Guild WArs did. Bump mapping is pretty good, and the engine prioritizes anisotropic filtering, thus a !%%% comp like man will not see texture detail unless 20 yards away. Collision detection is moderate, but gets the job done. Physics is basic, but way better than other mmo's. There is momentum, fall dmg, and some rag doll physics.

other perks: animations can be pretty cool, like finishing moves harkening to Mortal Kombat Fatalities.

pvp
pvp isn't totally balanced yet, but still fun, because it is highly skill based. You must aim, coordinate your attacks, and manage your resources carefully. There's not a whole lot of 'absolutes' as i call it. Absolutes are things that take away skill, like in WoW, where you lose control of your character due to stuns/crowd control. Immunities are on the same level: your character unable to hurt your foe.

most awaited feature for pvp is the guild vs guild. Players can make their own forts, setup NPC positions in them, and then fight other players.

pve
pve so far is quite dynamic, as mobs have dynamic defensive systems, and you must overcome them by chaining your attacks differently.



conclusion: it's a good game, not without bugs. It's worth at least playing 1 time through. Only time will tell if a game can retain players at endgame.

[MisterBob]

ranged: currently rangers are quite OP. For some reason their bows do way too much dmg. Rangers can play in FPS mode. If in 3rd person, they use a cone targeting system like Virtual On.

Only until level 30, when tank classes suddenly rape them

magic: magic spells are often aimed as well, placing a grenade area, or conal attack.

Out of 14 spells, I have one that is aimed

pace:
this game departs from the popularized business model of most mmo's. no grinding, time wasting gimmicks meant to waste away your life. Everything is interactive and busy. The people who like mindless gaming, like grinding, or autopilot will chatting with friends, will probably not like this. That doesn't mean you can't chat of course, it's just the game takes more concentration than the grinding mmo's.

No grinding? "Kill 50 Picts on White Sands Isle" and "Collect 22 Lynx Fangs" would like to have a word with this fellow.

atmosphere
AoC's atmosphere: prob one of the most well done settings ive seen in awhile. Nothing is spared from the player in the grisly world of Hyborea. The starting screen says it all: if male, you're a slave rowing in a slave ship. If female you're in the back of the ship with a slinky bikini in chains. NPCs cuss like they mean business, there's lots of gore, brutality. Make no mistake, this gameworld is no joke.

There's some gore. However, fatalities are nothing like they said they would be, and a lot of the "adult content" promised during development was removed and replaced with tits.

game engine: the game engine is quite good. I can run at 20-30 fps on my !%%% comp, (8600 1.86duo core). I can send screenshots if you'd like. Water is decently done, there are real time reflections and fractals. The polygons themselves move in the water, not just fractal textures. Blooming is sorta too harsh. Honestly i dont think any game has gotten blooming down as well as Guild WArs did. Bump mapping is pretty good, and the engine prioritizes anisotropic filtering, thus a !%%% comp like man will not see texture detail unless 20 yards away. Collision detection is moderate, but gets the job done. Physics is basic, but way better than other mmo's. There is momentum, fall dmg, and some rag doll physics.

The game engine sucks. My powerhouse desktop plays it fine, but even when scaling things down on my laptop (2gigs of ram, dual core 3.2ghz processor, 256mb nvidia quadro card with custom drivers and overclocking, majorly exceeds minimum requirements), FPS is low and the game is subject to crashing. Physics and collision detection are terrible. I died like 4 times in a volcano area from lava that I was 20 feet away from.

other perks: animations can be pretty cool, like finishing moves harkening to Mortal Kombat Fatalities.

Too bad they're completely random and the same thing over and over again

pvp
pvp isn't totally balanced yet, but still fun, because it is highly skill based. You must aim, coordinate your attacks, and manage your resources carefully. There's not a whole lot of 'absolutes' as i call it. Absolutes are things that take away skill, like in WoW, where you lose control of your character due to stuns/crowd control. Immunities are on the same level: your character unable to hurt your foe.

"PVP isn't totally balanced yet" is a huge understatement. Priests dominate at ridiculous levels. My Necro, Demonologist, and Dark Templar usually can't even break someone's damage shield before being put into stunlock and killed. Also, mages don't aim their attacks, they just hit the button and watch. Also, the "revolutionary combo system" is incredibly simplified and adds almost nothing to PVP combat. Also, have I mentioned that PVP serves NO POINT right now?

most awaited feature for pvp is the guild vs guild. Players can make their own forts, setup NPC positions in them, and then fight other players

Too bad it doesn't work.

pve
pve so far is quite dynamic, as mobs have dynamic defensive systems, and you must overcome them by chaining your attacks differently.

By dynamic defensive systems I assume he means "They choose to block 1 of 3 areas and you pick a different one". Wow, that sure is dynamic.

conclusion: it's a good game, not without bugs. It's worth at least playing 1 time through. Only time will tell if a game can retain players at endgame.

The game is honestly a mess right now. It has potential, but I don't predict it reaching it for at least 6 months.

[guartz]

This is why Warhammer is gonna kill everything when it comes out.

Everyone said the same thing about this game. It seems like everything gets overhyped these days

wtf did you hear that? Age of Conan stopped being a threat as soon as closed beta opened. The game is half finished, and has no distinguishing features aside from titties and gore.