All Posts by openedge1

Originally posted by Yeebo

I've been playing MMOs since EQ around SoV.  I think of EQ II, WoW, and LoTRO as being in the same genre of MMOs: "Quest based PvE focused fantasy MMOs." 

Between AC II and EQ you have almost every design element that LoTRO and WoW share in common.   Anyone that thinks LoTRO is a WoW clone (specifically) probaly hasn't been around long enough to know how few of the WoW design elements were original.

The key for WoW is polish. We hear it so many times. But it is true. A slick programmable interface, visuals that are different than the other games out, fixed mechanics that did not work well in other titles.

So, WoW may be compared to it's predecessors, but it did those things well.

In my opinion, LOTRO did not try to make strides to improve on the formula.

This is why it is not a WoW clone, but maybe a wanna be?

Originally posted by Papadam

Originally posted by openedge1

Originally posted by miagisan

Funcom marketing and Gaute himself needs a few good swift kicks to the nads. Their PR is probably the worst i have ever seen. Their PR points are dropping faster than the gemslots in their armor.

I agree with this..

Funcom made some major mistakes.

Yet, the game is considerably more fun than LOTRO.

If they would have stopped at 60 levels, and filled those areas with content, catered to the casuals, and avoided PvP on launch, the game would be a major success.

No, now it will probably wallow in the same amount of subscribers as Vanguard, EQ2 or LOTRO...just niche numbers.

WB to the LotrO forum opedege1!
 

"If they would have stopped at 60 levels, and filled those areas with content, catered to the casuals, and avoided PvP on launch, the game would be a major success."

I just cant stop laughing at this.. you have been bashing LotrO for a year and then this?? This is exactly what Turbine did with LotrO... ;)

so since AoC failed you. what game are you going to be a fanboy of next?? Darkfall maybe?

Actually, no LOTRO did not do the one thing AoC DID do. Have a FUN game.

Turbine missed that boat.

Now, if Funcom had not tried to bite off more than it could chew, it would not be on everyones hit list. What is sad on AoC's part is the game is vibrant, feels more alive and has great combat and the story lines which are fun. But, they tried to push it too far, and like LOTRO did not release with enough content and bugs that feel as big as Vanguard.

The difference is I WANT to go back to AoC, while LOTRO everytime I returned left the same bad taste in my mouth when I left. All I know is Funcom the company is my issue with AoC, not the game itself.

Anyways, hopefully Funcom can get it's act together, and fix the issues, as it will be worth the time and effort, and they deserve at least a pat on the back for trying something new and somewhat innovative. Something LOTRO did NOT do.

Originally posted by miagisan

Funcom marketing and Gaute himself needs a few good swift kicks to the nads. Their PR is probably the worst i have ever seen. Their PR points are dropping faster than the gemslots in their armor.

I agree with this..

Funcom made some major mistakes.

Yet, the game is considerably more fun than LOTRO.

If they would have stopped at 60 levels, and filled those areas with content, catered to the casuals, and avoided PvP on launch, the game would be a major success.

No, now it will probably wallow in the same amount of subscribers as Vanguard, EQ2 or LOTRO...just niche numbers.

Originally posted by baso80

Originally posted by Lydon

Originally posted by SioBabble

Since X Fire is self selecting, and you don't automagically log into it when you launch whatever game you're about to play, the numbers don't mean too much to me.

If I'm not mistaken it launches automatically when your PC turns on my default. The majority of people who intend on using the program for what it is designed will leave that option on. Apart from that, wherever you launch the game from on your PC is will detect that it is running.

I consider it quite accurate considering it is collecting data from such a large sample of users.

 

Correct.

 

It launches automatically by default. And I also agree that is gives an accurate picture of the gaming market since it has a large user base.

 

People just dont want to knowledge xfire when their own game goes bad. AoC is dropping like a sack of potatoes when you look at the charts. But hey, it still is a popular game. But in a year AoC is not gonna be better than any other random mmo. It's still brand new and therefore people are giving it a try.

 

Big agree.

The overall Xfire system has a base of 10 million + players on various games. Yet, I have even seen on the AoC forums people saying "No one uses it"

10 million "No ones" (lol)

The data is clear. The game has lost roughly half or more of it's Xfire base. 50% loss is not something to shake a stick at.

But, I also wish to point out how much the games fluctuate. And lets keep an open mind.  AoC CAN improve..

The game to compete against at this point is going to be WAR. This gives AoC roughly 3 months or maybe more (I feel a slight tinge we may see a delay on WAR until Christmas or further than September at least) to get their act together.

Funcom screwed up, but can fix it. Fix the game to what they promised, lets the players who left come back free for a month in September, and this could change the spiral and get a good base of players.

Overall populations do not suck yet thanks to people still buying and trying or those who do not want to go back to their old MMO's, or the casuals who like the PvE (which does not TOTALLY suck).

Look at these stats and you can see a grim picture

http://classygamer.blogspot.com/

This guy tracked all AoC EU servers, and got a rough average of players. Based on this sample, you usualy take the overall count and can multiply that by 10%. This % covers users logging on and off during the day and brings in the US servers. We still see a better population than say Tabula Rasa, Vanguard, EQ2 or LOTRO.

If Funcom gets their thumb out of their A**, then this can at least be a good NICHE game like Guild Wars or EQ2 or CoH/CoV.

They need focus is all. And watching patches will give us an idea if that focus will work.

Originally posted by ethion

My vote is to sell it to soe and add it to station pass :P  Guess thats cause I like station pass.

I am afraid that you are just paying all that money for one good game ..

EQ2

The rest of the games under that pass is just a bonus, and are not worth the extra you pay.

AoC deserves better than that.

Originally posted by Warblaze

as for Xfire, it seems AOC is going down faster then a five dollar hooker...  Yesterday it dropped from the 7th to the 8th place. Today it has dropped another 2 spots and now stands on #10.

Yea, they are screwed again today. 5 hour loss for another patch to fix the patch, that was the patch before that, which crashed the patch, that was suppose to be the patch for stabilty

I patch that!

Originally posted by DeaconX

What UI are you using and where could I get it? :) thanks in advance.

+1 for humor.

Well done!

Why necro this thread....been gone for a month now.

Think that is against ToS guys

Later

Originally posted by rataria

Originally posted by openedge1

Originally posted by Ender4

It isn't worth arguing anymore if you don't see it at this point but they do not have 700k subscribers and there is ample evidence that the player base is shrinking and not growing.  That doesn't mean the game is doomed or anything, in fact it is normal for most new mmorpgs.

 

If todays patch is any indication, then this game will fall flat on it's nose...not because the game itself sucks...but because Funcom as a company has no idea how to run an MMO

Period

As to Xfire, over the last two weeks, AoC always stayed on the chart, even on patch day.

Today, it does not even list in the top 10.

(PS: Check my sig...when a 3 year old game is more entertaining, something is amiss)

 

Sad!

 

ahh even you start thinking that funcom sucks and all they do is hype. they should sell the game to turbine, at least there is devs that could fix the mess. with funcom devs aoc is dead.

Thats right...lets give the game to the Company that brought us Asherons Call 2 and DDO..

No thanks...really bad suggestion

Originally posted by Baldhor

Is it so hard to understand that not everyone is able to resolve oom and perf issues?

And that it take longer to fix than anything else

 

seriously guys, stop playing mmorpg and go play football or whatever else

 

 

edit:

Just to make it clear, I dun care comments like:

"Crap still no perf/oom fix, sux"

 

But I don't like comments like:

"they should fix perf/oom instead of that kind of crap"

 

It is not the same peoples working on all issues, some have their specialities

I think you are confused then. 99% of all MMO's I have played (and the list is longer than i have time to type here) all do one thing before anything else.

FIX Stability and Client errors.

I have been harsh with LOTRO in the past, but they also did not release any patch without some type of fix for performance issues, crashes, something.

Funcom has NOTHING like this in their latest notes. But they sure did get in more stealth fixes, and more bugs than you can shake a stick at.

They would have been better off releasing no patch, or if they did patch, not putting in troll fixes like the ones I noted. As that is what happens, the haters take that and use it for fodder.

I am not a hater, but I am getting close. I was thinking of giving them 30 days before the last patch that brought down the server for 13+ hours, with issues that had HAD BEEN REPORTED to them by the testers.

I am sorry, but the whole "This is the way MMO's are" crap is not working.

Lets look at good examples of our last MMO's? Tabula Rasa, Vanguard, Hellgate...Do we really need to have AoC join that party?

Well, Funcom is leading a game that could have been great...down that path!

Originally posted by Baldhor

Originally posted by Kenze

i didnt see one mention of performance improvments or oom fixes. Does funcom not think these things are important for the patch notes?

 

important for who? you?

I'm sure other fix are also important for some peoples ...

 

priority handling is bit more complex than "Kenze has performance issues, let's stop everything and work on it ... Kenze is so much more important than anyone else!!!"

 

 

Cool...at least they look to have these fixes in place...makes tons of people happy

The Den of Wolves: The goal name was changed from "The Den of Wolves" to "Kill Plains Wolves".
The Wolf Hunt: The goal name was changed from "The Wolf Hunt" to "Kill Yukagi Wolves".
Death to the Undead: The goal name was changed from "Death to the Undead" to "Destroy Conriocht werewolves in the Haunted Forest".
Greater Prey: The goal name was changed from "Greater Prey" to "Kill werewolf Rippers, Antagonizer, Slasher and Slicers".

This is important stuff ya know

Officially nerfed the "Spellweaving" animations.

What exactly is this company doing?

http://forums.ageofconan.com/showthread.php?t=117594

So sad

Originally posted by Ender4

It isn't worth arguing anymore if you don't see it at this point but they do not have 700k subscribers and there is ample evidence that the player base is shrinking and not growing.  That doesn't mean the game is doomed or anything, in fact it is normal for most new mmorpgs.

If todays patch is any indication, then this game will fall flat on it's nose...not because the game itself sucks...but because Funcom as a company has no idea how to run an MMO

Period

As to Xfire, over the last two weeks, AoC always stayed on the chart, even on patch day.

Today, it does not even list in the top 10.

(PS: Check my sig...when a 3 year old game is more entertaining, something is amiss)

Sad!

Every video I watched had horrible hitching. I hope this is only indicative of a Closed Beta client.

Otherwise that type of performance is not going to "fly"!!

Later

Originally posted by Consensus

it comes down to opinion. now lotro is above aoc. mine is: I'd rather splice my groin than play lotro, its so bloody dull. it may be finished unlike aoc, but at least aoc is fun.

Hear, Hear.

I took a break as Funcom gets their priorities straight, but I also after many time trying to go back to LOTRO, just cannot do it.

Lifeless, empty, boars and wolves, bad UI. I just would prefer to play Guild Wars again.

Oh yea...I am playing GW...hooray!

I would see this more of a troll post. You REALLY want us to see that you canceled.

It is a veiled attempt at trolling..but, hey, to each their own.

Good luck

Originally posted by courtsdad

Originally posted by openedge1

Originally posted by solareus

Originally posted by Thedrizzle

Are most of the people who frequent these forums new to the MMORPG genre? I mean really?

I would like to know which game hit the market flawless with all that was intended in the game implemented?

 

Lord ofThe Rings online did. It may of not of sold more coppies then AoC but it is just a better game then AoC and the people on mmorpg.com recognize this , as well as people all around the mmorpg industry.

To say Turbine has no right to be number one is like saying Michael Jordon can't dunk a basketball, it is asinine.

Before this happened , all of the AoC fans where sopouting about the front page of this website "where number one where number" and I commonly replied "for the moment" Great games have great staying power, and Lord of the Rings Online has been staying for over 1.5 years now .

THe person who stated that Lord of The rings Online jumped from some lower number to this "new" number is wrong. LotRO has maintained the 8.4-8.5 through out this year and a half. I been on this forum forum for little under 3 yewars and I've never seen a game drop as fast on this chart as AoC has. This chart as insignificant as the AoC player base on this website wwant it to be , is a good reflection of the current player choice.

this is mmorpg.com , this biggest website dedicated to mmorpgs , yet somehow they got it wrong , according to the AoC community...

Flawless?

On release LOTRO experienced the following...

An exploit was found in the first 24 hours of release in the AH

Floating NPC's (including the infamous hopping Hobbit in Bree) existed for well over a month after launch

Certain quests could not be completed due to the NPC not speaking to you, etc

HUGE memory leak in the Hi-Res textures that went on for close to 6 months

The infamous sound delay in the Barrows (the main instance) and the overall area had an issue where music would completely stop, and not play again until you either logged, and in the instance you had to turn sound off, as the delay was close to 2 seconds between a hit and the actual sound.

Characters would be frozen in place after a Fellowship Maneuver (1 or 2)

All resource icons were a dull green, and certain resources all had the same icons

))))))))))))))))

 

I could go on. But, for those who believe LOTRO was the end all be all of perfect release...the only game with that honor is DAoC (who had one...yes, just ONE bug on release)

Cheers

 

You are really going to keep going on about  a bouncing Hobbit and a  sound glitch ( which I know of no one experiencing (and I played through Beta )and then compare it to the glitches /bugs in AOC? As a a matter of fact other than the AH exploit ( which is very common in games) and the barely noticeable memory leak ,( which was so minimal in live that I think I only ever heard a handful of people complain and it didnt lat for 6 months) the other bugs you list Ive never heard of.

 

Really no need to bust on you because you are doing a fine job yourself in comparing apples to rotten oranges being eaten by maggotts

The point is someone stating that LOTRO had a "pristine" launch is the issue, I never once said AoC had no bugs, and I am fully aware of their bugs,

But, painting LOTRO in this light of perfection is not fact, and I wished to share the facts that LOTRO also was rocky, but thanks to a polished starting zone (sound familiar?) a lot of these problems were not seen until the same hardcore players found the issues.

I can point to many a blog showing people who have hit max level, with no issues. That to me at least sounds playable...

Oh, and as to the sound delay glitch

http://forums.lotro.com/showthread.php?t=71690

this doesn't seem full servers

Doomsayer - 2215
Bardvista - 248
Mannanan - 609
SHadowblade - 785

 

We call that selective choices. You just  picked all of the new servers that have been opened since launch.

But, thanks for proving my point.

Cimmeria, Tyranny, Deathwhisper, Wiccana, Set, Derketo are examples of original servers.

Notice though ...even the new launch servers have people on them.

6:00 ET Shadowblade - 625 players.

Doomsayer - 600 at 10 AM ET, 1280 at 2:30 PM ET.
Mannanan - 259 at 10 AM ET, 379 at 2:30 PM ET.

Bardisattva - 172 players

 

well if they all new servers why people asking for server merges already?

 

Wait. You are using non-prime time numbers to push your argument. Instant failure.

Try to go in at 9pm EDT and 10pm EDT, then let me know those numbers.

But, as to server merges. I am sure Badisattva would LOVE a merge. And of course why would they not. But, why merge servers when the original launch ones are still busy on a regular basis. They should just create characters on the busier servers.

Thanks for the update though!

Originally posted by rataria

Originally posted by openedge1

Originally posted by rataria

Originally posted by openedge1

Originally posted by rataria

Originally posted by openedge1

Originally posted by Slythe

To find out how many people are playing just log in, do a search for levels 1-80 and select no area, so that it will count all the players on your server. Someone did this on Saturday for the Cimmeria server and found that 1500 people were playing there. It's not a huge amount of people but I wouldn't call it a failure.

However, if they don't do something quickly to retain the higher level people, the game could fall on it's face. Considering that this game has one of the quickest leveling systems, it won't be good when even "casual joe" is level 80 and has nothing to do.

 

This meant 1500 players, not subscribers.

When using that search feature, those numbers will fluctuate through the day. Reason being people log on, log off to go eat or work, etc.

You will never know the full amount. But, instead you want a good even average over many days,

Deathwhisper usually about between 2000 to 3000 at a time, Wiccana would average 1500 to 2500 depending on the time of day.

As well, you can use the Xfire chart to check times played. Even though this is not a large segment, it is more of a "trend"

After the initial trend downward (which was to be expected from such a harcore audience) the game has remained stable now, and is still in Xfires top 10.

We will see if that continues.

For now, AoC is NOT hurting.

 

thats BS. can you prove there is aoc servers with 3k people in? show some prove or you making up that numbers. some screens.

 

Sure can....go here

http://forums.ageofconan.com/showpost.php?p=958884&postcount=6

and here is a thread discussing numbers at various times during the day

http://forums.ageofconan.com/showthread.php?t=114218

Then a third thread

http://forums.ageofconan.com/showthread.php?t=100721&page=5

The numbers fluctuate, but there is several occasions of large pops. Depends on the time of day.

At one point the Tyranny server hit a total of 72 pages of players, at 50 per page, so 3600 players (this was at 10:25 PM EDT in the third week of launch)

And with the announcement of the one EU server hitting max capacity, that would be OVER 3000. Statements have been made by Funcom that a server can hold 5000 players.

No BS, no matter how much you hate the game. Guess what, still some high pops out there.

 

i asked for a prove, go in game and take some screens of  that pop and pages, what people is write doesn't matter, the server you mention is not full at all, people can't make new chars, but can login in that server, server is full when people can't login to play.

 

Wait...you want me to go in and take 72 pages of screenshots (each page of players equals 50 players), actually double that, as you have to scroll each page as well, just because YOU think threads full of people on the AoC servers may be lying?

Why not do this, since you think a multitude of proof from players is NOT enough, prove the servers are not full. How would you do that?

Lets see either one poster from a random forum is telling the truth, or threads full of people actually playing are telling the truth. I think i know who to believe.

Sad troll is truly an obvious troll.

 

this doesn't seem full servers

Doomsayer - 2215
Bardvista - 248
Mannanan - 609
SHadowblade - 785

We call that selective choices. You just  picked all of the new servers that have been opened since launch.

But, thanks for proving my point.

Cimmeria, Tyranny, Deathwhisper, Wiccana, Set, Derketo are examples of original servers.

Notice though ...even the new launch servers have people on them.

Originally posted by Papadam

Thanks Openedge1 for sharing YOUR OPINION! Im sure that all that counts in the MMO market is YOUR OPINION...

 

LotrO had plenty of bugs at release.. there is never going to be a a MMO released that doesnt have bugs... but everything is relative...

the difference between LotrO release and AoC release is that Turbine delivered exactly what they promised and they were very open with what the game was about and what was in it... A very opn beta, buddy keys and the free trial came not long after launch so they werent trying to hide anything...

 

And by the way... who cares about theese numbers?? Its just silly arguing about such things..

Wait.,..it is my opinion that AC2 and DDO both failed? I fail to see your logic that that is an "opinion"

As well as the bugs, these are not "opinions". These were known issues. All you need to do is go onto LOTRO forums archives to see the many issues with the memory leaks, etc. The only thing you will NOT find is the exploit (which all MMO's delete, as no dev wants info on exploits available)

EDIT: Added links to patch notes...here

http://forums.lotro.com/showthread.php?t=35853 (Memory leaks)

http://forums.lotro.com/showthread.php?t=39394 (AH exploit...was not deleted...weird)

END EDIT:

I also think you believe I am saying AoC is some godsend, and that cannot be farther from the truth.

But, to state Turbine is a "shining" example of a good development company ...THAT is an opinion, as history shows otherwise.

Cheers