Age of Conan

I don't understood the gloom merchants with their overly serious predictions of the end of civilisation as we know it because of NDA or release dates etc. The game is NOT that expensive to buy, it's hardly like you are investing in a mortgage or something. AOC is cheaper than a cheap-ass night out in Tokyo (I live in Nippon) or a night out in any other major city.

Why you sweat it and agonize so much? If the game is good then Funcom make their real money from my subs, and if the game sucks then I don't sub and I have only spent a small amount of cash. The way some of you talk, it's as if 25quid or 50 dollars is some huge investment of your personal wealth and you are effectively "shooting yer wad" empty; c'mon, most of you are working adults, so we are talking small change here.

I really hope Age of Conan rocks, but if it doesn't then no big deal. The pressure is on Funcom, not me.

Keep it real guys.

Originally posted by melmoth1

They way some of you talk, it's as if 25quid or 50 dollars is some huge investment of your personal wealth; most of you are working adults, so we are talking small change here.

I think you misunderstand the stakes here.  It has nothing to do with the money, (you're right, its a pittance) and all about  the fact so many folks have been looking for a long time now for a game that's good and not WOW.

In the past few years there have been so many disappointments, and the anger and bitterness stems more from that than anything else.  One IP after another has crashed and burned in many folks eyes (D&D, LotRO, Star Wars etc) and even the self-avowed experts (Garrot, McQuaid) failed everyone horribly.

There were/are high hopes for AOC, and gamers are pretty wary these days after the string of unremarkable games they've had to chose from in the past few years.  Its understandable they are wound a bit too tight and jump at every perceived bad report coming out of the beta.

The thing is there are very few games to look forward to right now.  I think masses are growing bored of WoW and most of the other popular games are too old or dwindling to replace it so they look to the new games.

The choices are Age of Conan, Aion, Warhammer, and Earth Rising(far away).

Aion is turning out more and more to be a complete WoW clone with an Asian twist and cool Asian graphics if you're into that sort of thing.  Warhammer is looking to be more and more dumbed down to appeal to the WoW audience.

To me I feel like both of these games are going to be more of the same.  An Asian twist on WoW, or a mix of WoW and DaOC.  

Age of Conan shows promise to be something new, refreshing, entertaining, and all of those good things but with the new ideas comes new bugs and new design flaws.  I don't expect the launch to be the best thing ever but that is because they aren't taking systems that have already been used in other games, but instead they are being creative.  This will lead to a lot of issues but it will be worth it in the long run. 

So let them nay say and predict the apocalypse and keep playing WoW,  or keep looking forward to WoW spinoffs and WoW clones and look forward to being part of something original even through the hard times.

Yeh, I get what yer saying. I know gamers have been waiting a long time for the next big thang and I agree that they (and me!) deserve an ace mmo.

However, the doom and gloom in some of the posts I have  read seem totally disproportionate and even hysterical. These more hysterical posters should reserve their flames until they have actually played the game.  I think certain people just like to set themselves up as "The Authority" on mmos and feel a need to vent on things they haven't even tried yet. They remind me of evangelical Christians who criticize novels, comics and movies that they have never even read or watched, e.g. "Even though I haven't read Harry Potter, I can tell you in all confidence that it is, indeed, the work of satan himself and the greatest threat to our children's eternal souls since D&D."

Thing is - maybe some of those doomsayers have already played the beta.  Maybe they know more than we.  But ... thats another maybe.  Forums are filled with maybes, ifs and buts.  Thats just how it is.

Originally posted by melmoth1

Yeh, I get what yer saying. I know gamers have been waiting a long time for the next big thang and I agree that they (and me!) deserve an ace mmo.

However, the doom and gloom in some of the posts I have  read seem totally disproportionate and even hysterical. These more hysterical posters should reserve their flames until they have actually played the game.  I think certain people just like to set themselves up as "The Authority" on mmos and feel a need to vent on things they haven't even tried yet. They remind me of evangelical Christians who criticize novels, comics and movies that they have never even read or watched, e.g. "Even though I haven't read Harry Potter, I can tell you in all confidence that it is, indeed, the work of satan himself and the greatest threat to our children's eternal souls since D&D."

Haha that's a great analogy.  I'll never forget being forced to go to a friends church to hear these people talk about how all parents and students should boycott anything having to do with our view or take or scientific evidence on dinosaurs and fossils because it is all a lie because the bible says it is, and the scientific facts have been manipulated. 

They then sold their own line of 'bible' friendly dinosaur toys and books for more money then a video game at the end of the sermon. 

The thing is people love drama so stuff like that is always around.  I remember before WoW launched the main board has like 8 out of every 10 posts discussing about how it would fail because of the graphics, or the lack of death penalties, or because they thought they were messing up the Warcraft lore.  They are probably still playing today...

Originally posted by Kyleran

 

Originally posted by melmoth1

They way some of you talk, it's as if 25quid or 50 dollars is some huge investment of your personal wealth; most of you are working adults, so we are talking small change here.

 

I think you misunderstand the stakes here.  It has nothing to do with the money, (you're right, its a pittance) and all about  the fact so many folks have been looking for a long time now for a game that's good and not WOW.

In the past few years there have been so many disappointments, and the anger and bitterness stems more from that than anything else.  One IP after another has crashed and burned in many folks eyes (D&D, LotRO, Star Wars etc) and even the self-avowed experts (Garrot, McQuaid) failed everyone horribly.

There were/are high hopes for AOC, and gamers are pretty wary these days after the string of unremarkable games they've had to chose from in the past few years.  Its understandable they are wound a bit too tight and jump at every perceived bad report coming out of the beta.

 

I do not think LotRO crashed and burned given it is probably the only example we can point to as a succesfull MMORPG in recent times that is not named WoW even if it is only PVE centric.

With that said I agree there has to be guarded optimisim given what poor quality has been piled onto us lately for the most part.

Originally posted by Hoplites

 

Originally posted by Kyleran

 

Originally posted by melmoth1

They way some of you talk, it's as if 25quid or 50 dollars is some huge investment of your personal wealth; most of you are working adults, so we are talking small change here.

 

I think you misunderstand the stakes here.  It has nothing to do with the money, (you're right, its a pittance) and all about  the fact so many folks have been looking for a long time now for a game that's good and not WOW.

In the past few years there have been so many disappointments, and the anger and bitterness stems more from that than anything else.  One IP after another has crashed and burned in many folks eyes (D&D, LotRO, Star Wars etc) and even the self-avowed experts (Garrot, McQuaid) failed everyone horribly.

There were/are high hopes for AOC, and gamers are pretty wary these days after the string of unremarkable games they've had to chose from in the past few years.  Its understandable they are wound a bit too tight and jump at every perceived bad report coming out of the beta.

 

 

I do not think LotRO crashed and burned given it is probably the only example we can point to as a succesfull MMORPG in recent times that is not named WoW even if it is only PVE centric.

With that said I agree there has to be guarded optimisim given what poor quality has been piled onto us lately for the most part.

Ah but LoTRO was a complete failure in my eyes.  It could have been so much more, but like D&D Online it ruined a great franchises chance to become a great MMO.  Just my opinion.