Age of Conan revisited - early impressions

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pibbur

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Like other have-been-aoc-players, I got an invitation to try it again (14 days free). So I did (and signed up for a 12 month subscription, but that's partly because I wanted to support our game industry. Sentimental? Me? Yes.)

I'm still in Tortage, so I can't say anything about the rest, yet.

So far I've noticed some improvements

- The game is more stable
- Performance has improved
- Fewer graphical glitches, but there are still a few of those: failing textures and my hair changes colour now and then.
- Some of the dialogures have been edited, and make more sense now.
- Game balance seems to have been improved. I play as a dark templar, and this class performs well, methinks.

When I last played it, armour items looked more or less the same. There is more variation now, while still compliant with the game's dark athmosphere. I also find it much easier now to determine the relative strength of different items.

These are my impressions so far. Right now, I'm happy with it, so I'm a subscriber again (but as stated above, not for entirely rational reasons).

Oh, in order for you to determine my credibility: I liked Oblivion, very much. (But I also like Gothic 1 and 2).

I'll keep you informed. And of course, some of you maybe have things to add?
 
I'm playing it again as well, and I'm also liking it a lot.

It will never be THE MMO, I think, but of those prevalent today - it's the one I keep coming back to.

I adore the combat system and the pace in general, and I think it's one of the least "grindy" MMOs out there.

DX10 client finally works really well - as long as you know how to tweak it a bit - and the game is just beautiful.

I think one of the main strengths of the game is that it's fully soloable - but in a way that doesn't actively discourage group play. There are solo instances that are quite immersive and well done - even if they're generally too easy. The whole game is on the easy side, and it makes for a nice overall pace.

I really like the flow of PvP combat, but I think they still have quite a bit of work to do in terms of discouraging ganking - where it seems the only way to really progress efficiently in PvP rank. The murder/criminal system is decent enough, but it's far from finished. I'm all for free-for-all PvP, but they should make PvP be about good player performance, and not how many of your friends you can take to gank endlessly.

But I still prefer that to WoW instance style PvP with absolutely no bearing on the open world.

The recent reworking of item mechanics was also a VERY good thing, because you're motivated by the loot hunt now - but not so much that they dominate the game, at least I don't get that feeling. I think they hit the right balance of having items matter, but skill be the most important factor.

I'm still only level 47, so I have a long way to go before making up my mind. But there's no doubt that I can hit level 80 without ever running out of ways to have fun. The end-game is naturally where I'll make my final call - but there's enough content to last a couple of months, for sure. I'm not planning on making this another life, but I'm going to have to try out the sieges. They seem to actually have an impact on the world - but I'm not sure. Raiding is supposedly more forgiving than WoW - but what I'm really interested in is rewarding open world PvP as a solo player. I'm not sure I'll ever really get that in an MMO - but this one has the potential to provide it in a decent fashion.
 
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Funny how opinions differ...
I think one of the main strengths of the game is that it's fully soloable - but in a way that doesn't actively discourage group play. There are solo instances that are quite immersive and well done - even if they're generally too easy. The whole game is on the easy side, and it makes for a nice overall pace.
to me that's actually a weakness, as I prefer games where you have to group, not that it's supported, but that it's at least heavily encouraged or even required.
I really like the flow of PvP combat, but I think they still have quite a bit of work to do in terms of discouraging ganking - where it seems the only way to really progress efficiently in PvP rank. The murder/criminal system is decent enough, but it's far from finished. I'm all for free-for-all PvP, but they should make PvP be about good player performance, and not how many of your friends you can take to gank endlessly.
And I despise PvP and would never play an MMO where it's the focus
I'm still only level 47, so I have a long way to go before making up my mind. But there's no doubt that I can hit level 80 without ever running out of ways to have fun. The end-game is naturally where I'll make my final call - but there's enough content to last a couple of months, for sure.
Another difference, to me the game ends when I reach max level (for that character). To me it's all about the journey, the destination is the end of the journey. In fact, it's not even max level, but a level where the only difference I get when advancing is having more hit points, spell points, or doing 100 instead of 90 damage. When I can't learn more skills/spells, that's about it.
 
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You sound like you should be playing Everquest or Vanguard :)

But in any case, yeah - opinions differ and let's praise that fact!
 
You sound like you should be playing Everquest or Vanguard :)

But in any case, yeah - opinions differ and let's praise that fact!

I did play and love Everquest for the first 2 years, right about the time everything turned into raids. I said I liked grouping, but I don't like raiding, strange as it may sound. In a group, each person has a role and I know what to expect from each member. In a raid it's too chaotic, and even worse, in most raids I feel like a puppet, with some dude dictating what to do all the time.
I also played Vanguard, but don't remember why I left ... think it was because it was difficult to find a group (this is the main reason why I leave any MMO, if I can't find groups to play with, it's not fun for me)
 
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I did play and love Everquest for the first 2 years, right about the time everything turned into raids. I said I liked grouping, but I don't like raiding, strange as it may sound. In a group, each person has a role and I know what to expect from each member. In a raid it's too chaotic, and even worse, in most raids I feel like a puppet, with some dude dictating what to do all the time.
I also played Vanguard, but don't remember why I left ... think it was because it was difficult to find a group (this is the main reason why I leave any MMO, if I can't find groups to play with, it's not fun for me)

I really like grouping as well, I just don't like feeling forced into anything. I need a sense of freedom and to know that I can do as I please, without being severely restricted. Especially when it comes to grouping or raids, because that makes you dependent on other people behaving correctly - and that's not something I have a strong desire to be.

Age of Conan has several good group dungeons with lots of nice rewards. It simply doesn't force you into them, because you can be competitive and you can progress without those rewards.

Just how I like it.

But if you're heavily into "forced grouping", I think you should give Vanguard another try. There's a free trial out, and they've done a lot of things to improve the game. I was very keen on that game myself, because I love the concept of huge open worlds with the amount of freedom it had, and I also greatly enjoy the non-instanced dungeons etc.

Of course, the complete lack of meaningful PvP and the quirky technical problems finally killed it for me, and I couldn't really find any real-life friends who'd play it. Otherwise it could very well have been my MMO of choice.
 
I just heard it is coming for the Mac ... maybe I'll try it there.
 
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I tried to like I really did, but always play casters mage, necro or mezz. This game has the worst mage classes of any game mmog or not I have ever played. No such thing as a paper tank here, no slows, no roots, you get beat on like a tin can while you spam your fastest cast to damage ratio spell 24/7. Uggh, cringe even thinking of it. :disappointed:
 
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