Ustwo

The game seems way to liniar.

Reminds me of playing single player games like dungeon siege, where you where in a 'big' environment but had to always follow the path.

While the closed NDA is still up (Bad sign) the gist is that most of the zones are like that and only a few are truly more open.

I'm going to be keeping my eye on it, but so far I don't think it would hold my interest long enough for an MMO.

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tcp

I haven't actually played the beta, but I read that the first 20 levels was supposed to be like a tutorial focusing mostly on single-player. After that, they let you enter the main world.

Each new region supposedly progresses the time line. They are already planning their first expansion for new lore, but with that may also come new gameplay. They consider themselves an action RPG, so they may change how the game is played alot to keep you interested, beyond just giving you more storyline and new monsters to fight.

In my opinion this game is definitely worth a try. I don't see why its so hard to outclass WoW, except if hardware requirements prevent a lot of people from playing. Most of the top MMORPGs, like Lineage II, WoW, and Guild Wars, are outdated if you look at their game engines.

BurntToast

So anyone getting into this? Servers open for everyone tomorrow May 20th. I went out and bought the game today after hearing good things from people I trust. I am not sure that I am ready for ffa pvp, but I don't think that I want to go PVE and miss out on the carnage. I am thinking that the my enjoyment of the game will depend on how many times I get run over by a guy 20 levels above me.

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YaWhateva

I am in the Early Access and I can tell you that the game is way more polished than it was in the open beta. My experience has been awesome. The first 20 levels are basically a noob training area where its split to day and night quests. The night quests are separate and single-player only and are used to advance the story. Don't get put off by this though because once you leave for the mainland the day and night are dynamic and there is no more single player component. The classes are all unique and fun from the ones that I have played and combat is a blast. I can't tell you if you will enjoy it but I am enjoying it a lot so far.

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samcol

I want to at least try this but can't decide on pvp or pve server. Can you seriously gimp yourself for pvp or pve depending how you spec like in WOW? I liked being a holy priest in wow actually, but couldn't do anything in pvp or soloing. Hopefully it's not as bad in AoC.

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YaWhateva

The healing classes are actually way awesome. All three priest classes are based on being able to put up a good fight. I don't know too much about the feat(talent) trees as I am pretty low level still but it seems that you won't get super gimped for going one way or the other.

I would recommend pvp but that's just because I love pvp. Most servers are FFA pvp but they have one server that's only pvp against people of other races.

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Mephex

Just picked this up and am currently installing. Lot of old WoW friends play and have a guild going. They are enjoying it so far, maybe I will too.

Speaking of spec's etc I just found this - http://feats.goonheim.com/

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YaWhateva

Just to make a comment on this, once you hit lvl 20 and leave the starting island, the game changes drastically. No more of the single player nonsense and those day/night quests. the game expands a lot.

Also, thanks Mephex for that link. It will definitely be helpful

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Ustwo

I'm still waiting to see how it goes. I have a feeling about it, but I hope I'm wrong.

If its good I might get it but I'm working on a research paper right now and mmo's are bad for productivity

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Mephex

It's so .. so so. I just logged back into WoW to set my gnote for an extended absence, but geez. The interface was so nice to use again, this thing feels no different than any other rough n tumble launch. Nothing going for it so far. That being said, I have 3 20ish toons and am still unable to decide whether I'll stick with it. Most of that has to do with all the other people I know who play I think. I'll give it to the end of it's first month.

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Shauk

anyone got a free trail code they can PM me? i'll stab at it for a week.

YaWhateva

um, really? The launch was amazingly better than any other mmo launch I have seen. I have had no problems whatsoever with it. That's weird.

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Prophecy

The buddy codes had not be released as of Friday. Funcom, states they'll be released after the Subscription customers are situated. So if you haven't bought the game it might be a while before you get a trial key.

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MuadDib

Just ordered the game today. I have a few friends that are playing and they are loving it. Keep in mind they are PvP oriented players playing on the 'Culture PvP Server', but from what I've seen and heard I am extremely excited. As a previous poster mentioned, the game takes a major shift at level 20 when you leave the single player style mode and are emerged in a real MMO. What's more you have free range PvP style of play between the 3 races, plus multiple opportunity for arranged PvP. Right now you gain PvP levels along side regular XP levels, but there is currently no reward for the PvP experience. There are a few bugs in quests at the moment, but nothing major or out of the ordinary for the official launch. Leveling is quick early on a few of my friends are already in the mid-30s (though they are pretty serious gamers). PvE seems all good, but I haven't really seen or heard much about that. Overall, the game is gorgeous, but as a consequence the system reqs are pretty serious compared to WoW, EQ2, etc. PvP is fairly skill based, and it isn't uncommon for a player 3-5 levels lower than than another to win in 1 on 1 PvP where the lower player is more skilled. The game doesn't seem too item driven, but it's hard to say if it will remain so at higher levels. The classes seem very well balanced by comparison to other MMOs upon initial launch. There do seem to be more prevalent classes (Rangers and Demonologists) while there are typically fewer tanks/priests (Guardians & Priests of Mitra). Professions are pretty well done but not very elaborate right now. Architecture seems interesting since guild-towns seem to be a major goal (hopefully it'll turn out more DAOC than SWG). Overall, the game is very pretty and seems to be stable and well-balanced as far as my focus is concerned (PvP) and there is a lot of room for some excellent development. Time will tell on that last part though, since I'm sure we are all more than aware of the route MMOs can take without proper post-launch development.

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samcol

I'm not liking the PvE at all. I'm used to grouping to gain levels and hate soloing.

On the other hand I love ganking with my 28 Guardian. Liking guardian because I have tons of HP's and can tear down other melee 6 levels higher than me at times. Priests give me a bit of trouble as well as rangers, other than that I usually win.

I just out circle strafe them basically and spam attacks instead of comboing.

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Cynosure

The first twenty levels?!

With other MMORPG's, it's the first three or four levels; or five levels, at most.

Prophecy

The first 20 levels can really fly by, it's not that bad. I was level 15 after goofing off and doing a few quests for a couple of hours.

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xepherys

After voting "Couldn't care less!" I'm actually trying it as a WoW replacement. So far I think I like it, but I just started. We shall see...

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Catdaddy33

I just started it myself, and so far its ok, I have a lvl 16 atm and the early levels do fly by and the "night-time" legacy quests add a nice touch to the game. On the flip side, it does have it's share of bugs but none were critical or game ending for me. I've played many MMORPGs from Day 1 EQ2, SWG, City of Heroes, WoW, and Planetside and none were even close to bug free Day 1 or even after 30 days.

I want to really like the game, I've been playing WoW on and off since launch but part of the problem with AoC is the "same ole same ole" syndrome - nothing so far sets it beyond any of the other MMOs that I have played. The only thing it has going for it is the "interactive" combat and combo moves but nothing earth shattering about that. Everything else is the same, run, kill, gather, deliver, etc... I really don't PvP much in MMOs (I'd rather play twitch games like Team Fortress 2 or Counterstrike) so that isn't my hook. I still play City of Heroes as my "WoW burnout avoidance" since at least the setting is different than the conventional MMOs and its just plain fun.

I'm not sure I want to invest the hours to level up another character in another game, only to find out no one is left playing when I finally hit lvl 80, because they all left due to Warhammer or Lich King being released. I'm going to keep plodding on at least for my free 30 days and then decide if I want to renew.

samcol

I hear 40-80 the game is very unfinished and a real grind with little questing. I think the biggest thing that could kill this game for me is the instances and lack of grouping. I loved the eq style of 1 of each zone per server and the heavy reliance on groups.

AoC feels like I'm playing a single player game most of the time with all the instancing.

This game could become really enjoyable, but Funcom needs to get it's shit together quickly to avoid a mass exodus within a couple months.

Also, the UI is about the biggest hunk of garbage I've ever seen. WoW did set the standard for an easy to use UI. I never had to read the manual or search to figure out how to do anything with that UI. Nothing about AoC interface is intuitive. I mean we are supposed to map 5 attack directions in addition to the dozens of keys for combos and stances, yet funcom won't let us use mwheelup, mwheeldown, mouse4 or mouse5 or additional mouse buttons? wtf...

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xepherys

I'm using additional mouse buttons. *shrug* My MOUSE4 is my auto-move key (just like it is by default in WoW). Maybe it's a mouse driver issue for you? I believe they use the simple DirectPlay calls from DX9/10 rather than custom calls from the software. I dunno...

I think the interface is great. Sure, it's a bit unfinished, but it also takes up way less of my screen. I prefer the simplicity of it. One of the reasons I loved the interface for Eve Online was it's simplicity (unless you had a million windows open, in which case you were SOL).

The game does need polish, but I'm willing to give it a go for a while. They seem like they are working hard to get it going.

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Catdaddy33

I agree the UI is lacking, as they keep tossing more skills at you. Hopefully mods will pop up soon that can expand the buttons.

Thank WoW for the single player "feel", which IMO has good sides and bad sides.

YaWhateva

here are some UI "mods" that people have made. Werik's is my favorite.

http://aoc.curse.com/downloads/browse/?s=1:58

I am loving the game!

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“If the Americans go in and overthrow Saddam Hussein and it's clean, he has nothing, I will apologize to the nation, and I will not trust the Bush administration again.” - Bill O'Reilly

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Vizzini

Not playing the game myself (I dislike the idea of instanced zoned) but I have to say the mounts look amazing:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=s-rl3RPC_Mw

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xepherys

The instanced zones are actually pretty handy as you can move about between instances and bring other people about with you. It's not quite like it is in WoW. It's more like multiplayer instances from DAoC.

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YaWhateva

If you are thinking it is like guild wars where you can only see other players who aren't in your group when you are in a town, that isn't the case. The zones are huge and include towns in them with no rezoning. The instancing doesn't feel "instanced" to me. There are tons of people running around everywhere. Yes, I have had to sit around waiting for respawns to pop of boss mobs just like I had to in WoW. Except, unlike in WoW, I can just kill everyone around me until a mob repops.

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“If the Americans go in and overthrow Saddam Hussein and it's clean, he has nothing, I will apologize to the nation, and I will not trust the Bush administration again.” - Bill O'Reilly

"This is my United States of Whateva!"

xepherys

Their communication really IS horrible, however. I've done the little thing under "My Account" to get forum access, after 3 days and a password change (in case I mistyped) and an email a day sent to all 6 addresses I can come up with... I still cannot login. It basically didn't export the info from my account data to the vBulletin DB. But they don't even RESPOND. The game is pretty cool, but if *YOU* happen to have a problem, prepare to get annoyed.

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Catdaddy33

I've been WoW free for well over a week now thanks to AoC. After you leave the island post-20 the game gets much better. Not to say there arent a ton of bugs, but so far for me nothing game breaking.

Funcom put out a press release this week that they hit the one million mark in worldwide sales. I swear I didnt hear about this game until the latest issue of PC Gamer profiled the game...

Delirious

Lots of bugs and little fixing.. I have a 60 ranger but after playing alot the first few weeks I'm kinda whatever about the game. Prob won't renew again.

Raleighbum

AOC good times with a horse.. LOL
funny as hell, gotta try that, if it still works..

Baraka_Guru

It now has a free-to-play model being implemented, like Lord of the Rings Online.

Age of Conan is going free to play! | PC Gamer

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m0rpheus

How does the free-to-play work?

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YaWhateva

You buy the game, but there is no subscription and there are microtransactions I believe.

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“If the Americans go in and overthrow Saddam Hussein and it's clean, he has nothing, I will apologize to the nation, and I will not trust the Bush administration again.” - Bill O'Reilly

"This is my United States of Whateva!"

Baraka_Guru

Yes, there are microtransactions, but I'm pretty sure they're optional.

I saw somewhere on the website that the game is $9.99.

Haven't looked at all the details yet. I'm going to download it this weekend. I had a trial version, but I didn't play it that much. I didn't want to get hooked, as I was also into WoW at the time.

If you go here, they call it "Unlimited Trial": Welcome to the unlimited trial in the most savage world ever

Here's a quote from their FAQ:
There will be limitations on free accounts, such as number of character slots, number of classes available, number of dungeons available, and a few other limitations. But, hey, the game is as cheap as free if you want it to be.

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Knowing that death is certain and that the time of death is uncertain, what's the most important thing?
—Bhikkhuni Pema Chödrön

Humankind cannot bear very much reality.
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high_jinx

what's the verdict? worth trying?

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Baraka_Guru

Had some trouble installing. I will try again soon.

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Knowing that death is certain and that the time of death is uncertain, what's the most important thing?
—Bhikkhuni Pema Chödrön

Humankind cannot bear very much reality.
—From "Burnt Norton," Four Quartets (1936), T. S. Eliot