All Posts by Gishgeron

Originally posted by DrowNoble

I don't use Xfire myself so it isn't taking into account the fact I'm a subscriber still.  I am enjoying the game quite a lot.  It has lived up to my personal expectations of what I wanted from the hype.

  I'd be very interested (and not just trollingly so) in what you expected from the hype then.  No tirade, no flames....serious question.  I honestly believe you, and want to know what YOU wanted from the game based on everything you heard.

  I'd also like to know (but is not required, and I won't press the issue) how you feel about what the hype has failed on, even though you took from it what you wanted.  Even more (and equally un-required), I'd be terribly interested in how you feel this company is as a whole, and whether or not you feel they have lived up to their responsibilities...or if they have acted rather poorly considering the nature of the market they are in.

  Mostly, the first question is what I really want to know.  So be sure to focus on that, and give detail where possible.

  At least they are gonna lift theirs well before the game hits.  Not just some "You can only see the starting town and talk about the first 10 levels of the game" kind of lift either.

  I think that its rather telling, because that means they intend to have the game publicly acceptable, not only before launch, but before OB even.  That denotes a great amount of polishing effort put into place by this team...and regardless of what becomes of WAR, I really respect that.  Fly or fall, they are going to run on their own merits and nothing less.  I'd be hard pressed not to at least pay them one month just to support such principles.  Even if I hate the game...I want to encourage all MMO companies to follow suit in this.

  I can give you a plan guaranteed to work.

  3 steps

  1:  Reduce monthly payment to 5 dollars a month until steps 2 and 3 are done.  Add to this a formal apology and free month for all subscribers who stayed with them during Christmas time this year.

  2:  &**$%*% add the stuff they swore would already be IN the game, and make it ((#$%#*#* work.  Jack up support 100% (after the holidays)

  3:  Start a "Christmas Referral" program.  First, the game goes down to 20-30USD from october till january.  Next:  Each subscriber gets 3 referral codes which negate this fee for online download and players get a free trial month.   Each player that stays reduces the referrers' monthly fee by $5 for one month.

  This plan WOULD cost them some money...yes it would hurt their monthly income for a bit.  The ideal is that the initial box sales would recover some of it (since the fee monthly was only $5 for a bit, it would encourage more players to both try it and stick with it until they fix things).  While they try and ride that and buy time, they can fix many of the major issues.  Ideally, the fix would be set in before october, and thus open them to a PERFECT "re-launch" (without ever having actually said they need to) during the holidays.  The immediate box sales would cover the free month their vets would get at december, and they would likely up their retention rate from the below norm they have now to around 50%, which is very respectable. 

  Immediately following the holiday season, there should be a new years addition to the game in terms of content.  Something rather large...but not massively time consuming to make.  Just some flavor in a big package to really draw media attention back onto them.  Having completely abolished their bad press through a fully successful holiday, this attention would begin forcing a growth period to the game.

  From there we enter into Xbox launch time....no content is even needed as an addition to see good growth here.  Instead, they can focus their attention on something MORE important.  Widening their machine availability.  This is ground no one has really tread, generally a graphic heavy game will still require high machines.  If they toyed around long enough...its possible they could create a new way to process and texture things to allow lower end machines to join in.

  Doing THIS would secure them a place as a WoW killer....and revolutionize the industry.

  Call me crazy but...

  If DX was the only thing holding this game back....I doubt we'd hear from nearly as many haters.  Adding DX 10 really isn't going to save them one damn thing.  The people that cried about it were just grabbing for straws.  The problems Funcom faces now are well and beyond something as simple as adding DX 10 support.

  You can bank on that.

Originally posted by PoopyStuff

I wish they would introduce a pvp\rp server that is actually.. oh I don't know....

 

 

difficult?

 

easy leveling and no death penality does not a good mmo make.

 

  It would appear that the vast majority of the gaming community disagrees with you.  That would make your statement a personal opinion.  The numbers here would then also make your personal opinion a VERY niche one.

  Next up:

  Making games super grindy and with heavy death penalties is often just a cover for the fact that nothing IS actually difficult.  The vast majority of my past MMO deaths (in games like UO and EQ...ect..) were from completely bogus junk.  Things like a spawn appearing slightly off its normal place...or someone running a train into me.  If I only counted the time I actually died in an actually DIFFICULT encounter...none of the penalties would have really mattered either way.

  You need neither of the things you mention to make a game difficult.  You need them to drag out the gameplay to ensure longer subs when you can't create content fast enough or good enough to satisfy.  Good job, mate, you're a large part of the reason why THIS market blows so much anymore.  You don't bother trying to move forward, you are always stuck in reverse.

  I'm going to answer the title of this thread directly.

  No

  I think people expect only what they are told to expect from a given product.  They may tack on some slight things, but in the end...most complaints come directly from a product failing to provide that which it has advertised.  If you say, "We're going to have the most beautiful armor ever made!" you had best research ALL armor across ALL games and spend all the time you can ensuring you DO have such a thing.

  Likewise....if you say, "We're going to have a great PvP system and a gorgeous game with a serious and deep mature setting", you had BEST come through on all three.  If you drop the ball on any of them...people are gonna start seeing crap in ALL of them.

Originally posted by Krogan

 

 

well its nice that they can satisfy at least the most casual of gamers, because that's also about all they seem to be able to satisfy.

  They haven't even been satisfying all of those.  Some casuals got sick of things too.

Originally posted by Mordria

 What the heck is Spore Creature Creator?

  Exactly what it says it is.  Spore is a game that is about to come out that is basically entirely about making creatures and letting them create a civilization.

  The creator is a 10$ pre-release that lets followers go ahead and start playing around with ideals till it releases.

Originally posted by altairzq

Tits and gore is not "Mature content", it's  "Inmature content".

  They are removing more than tits and gore silly bean.

  Also, you can drop the elitism.  Not thinking tits and gore is mature does not make you better than anyone.  Frankly, if such things WERE only for immature people...then Porn would be legal for sale to minors.  It IS content intended for mature players. 

  But they are removing FAR more than "just" tits and gore.  Its what they are taking away from the NPC text and speech that hurts the most.  They are (perhaps, I can't swear) removing the very heart and soul of the universe (which is VERY mature stuff...you wouldn't want your kids to read it) which they swore to everyone they would stay true to.

  I'm sorry if you cannot follow as to why people would be upset.

Originally posted by Krogan

Blizzard was never worried about AoC and as the record shows the didn't need to be either, if they had been they would have released Wotlk 1 month before AoC as they did with TBC to defuse Vanguard (which in the end they didn't need to do), instead they are holding wotlk for War and it does look like Blizzard has once again outplayed all its opponents.

  Well, I mean...it makes sense really.

  Leave it to the guys who made blockbuster strategy games to be really good at making awesome strategies.  I think everyone knew that they were most afraid of WAR....because its through warhammer that they even came to life to begin with.  Of all the games out...those two are sitting on the same market level.  They ARE direct competition...and WAR has been planning for it the whole time.  They, very wisely, chose to market to the players who loved WoW...but wanted more PvP stuff.

  It WILL prove to be an awesome battle.  I really think that WAR chose right...and that it will pay off.  Maybe not on the same success level as WoW....but it will score them a ton of player if they do it right.  Considering they already MADE a game just like WAR that was a success....I see no reason they cannot.

Originally posted by woody1974

lol I think that even the games my daughter plays on Barbi.com kill WOW. Every since they started to nerf and change the classes, WOW has sucked. When you have a cloth wearing priest standing toe to toe with a DPS or Tank class, then you know WOW sucks. Whoever came up with the ideal that a Druid is a tanking class ought to be tossed out on their head. I understand this is a game and a fantasy world but in every mmo I have ever played, you will never find the kind of balogna that you find in WOW.

WoWs dev team and the powers to be kill WOW all by itself from the classes, auction house prices to the mount prices they killed the game.

I think in about a year after all the dust settles and the haters go away (once they figure out they are on the losing end of the mmo battle) AOC will be a top rated game, with a larger player base than WOW has.

To the OP,  WOW was dead long before AOC. Posting numbers on here does no good, because everyone on here is a CPA when it comes to sales.

  Logic says you are wrong.

  First, its a western marketed game.  AKA:  There goes 5 million players they WON'T have over WoW.

  Second, its western market is in the middle of a recession....and it requires far too much of a financial investment in PC upgrades.  There probably went another 2 million players.

  Third, they still have failed to provide even half of what they hyped themselves over.  So even among the ones who ARE western market AND have the PC required...you are still going to lose players who just won't stand around paying for a beta.

  Last...not everyone really gives two dimes about the Conan universe.  The warcraft universe had millions of fans ALREADY.  Many, many millions of fans....and many more that were just plain fans of Blizzard anyway.

  In summary....AoC will never have a larger playerbase than WoW.  In fact, no one ever will again.  They had a perfect recipe, and VERY good luck, that granted them what they have and its not likely to repeat itself ever again.  Especially now that we are entering an age where we move from consoles to PC (or consoles which ARE PC's).  There will no longer be blockbuster console producers that can come through to the online market. 

  I'm sorry, you are dead wrong and I really hope you are smart enough to understand why.  Its okay to be a fan of something...its even okay to suggest it be a success.  What you said, however, is just plain dumb.

Originally posted by reisu

Originally posted by Gishgeron

Is this for real???

Jesus, that makes THIS their biggest lie yet.  No PvP system, no T3 city at launch, no DX10, and now....NO MATURE MATERIAL?  Good god...are they trying to pull a Sony on us?

 

Yes, you should be angry...nay, outraged...that your ability to have hours of fun with pixelated tits has been changed.

In case it isn't obvious, /sarcasm off.

 

  I couldn't care less either way.  But, its not even about the porn.  They are removing the mature themed LORE for christsakes!   Or, at least, being speculated to.  Regardless, its very important that you understand that, in removing said parts of the game, they completely remove themselves from EVERYTHING they said they were about.  They told players that they DELIBERATELY kept the mature theme and nature of Conan.  They marketed to those players, and got those players to buy the game.

  By removing it, they are essentially taking away the very last aspect of their game they had left to offer from their originally listed set of things.  Honestly...will you guys not stand up for anything?  Has the MMO market really desensitized you so much...that you totally accept, not only failing to provide even HALF of what was promised, but also removing many of the things they DID provide?

  The only reason I saw for any player to remain here was because they really liked the Conan lore and mature theme (which was showcased with their graphic engine).  In case you didn't know....what is being discussed here is the fact they could be removing that to make way for the "new players" they plan on getting.  I've heard THIS before...and it cost that company 200-300K players as a result.  Its too late to market to a younger crowd, or even a different crowd.  They have already spent too long hyping the game as it was....changing things is gonna sink em.

Is this for real???

Jesus, that makes THIS their biggest lie yet.  No PvP system, no T3 city at launch, no DX10, and now....NO MATURE MATERIAL?  Good god...are they trying to pull a Sony on us?

Originally posted by Ghist

What's worse?  Someone who can't spell or someone who can't operate a spell check option?

 I vote someone who cannot read.

Read the "grammar nazi" post again...and try really hard to understand what is being implied.

Originally posted by Zorvan

Fion, you've been here since 2003. Did it really take you this long to realize noone of above minimal intelligence takes the rating systems here seriously? The rating systems have always been this sites achilles heel.

  I actually find it pretty good.  Granted, I take it with a massive grain of salt.  But, generally, if a game here has a 7-8 rating....its always been worth the time it took to download and enjoy for a few days.  Whats really important is that the really bad games have pretty horrid ratings.  I figure that the troll 1-bombs are evened out pretty equally by the fanboy 10-bombs.

  In the end, I read reviews mostly.  You can get a lot of info from them, even if they fall into extremes.  I just read between the lines a little...and still get a more honest review that anything a website or review site is giving me.

Originally posted by Vetarnias

Budweiser might be the King of Beers, but I still think it's undrinkable horse urine.

The same analogy might be made with Age of Conan, but I wouldn't go that far myself.

  That depends....

  Is AoC "undrinkable" similar to that beer....or "undrinkable" because there was no glass and your mouth was sewed up?   Heh, maybe it doesn't taste like horse urine...but then, maybe it really goes above the call of duty in its efforts to keep people from enjoying it.  Like not having the enjoyable stuff it should have, or crashing out on people who have super rigs.

  Also, in response to the OP.  It has a 10 million player climb to be king of anything but the second tier.  Basically...you just called AoC "King of 4th place!"  Why 4th?  Because I can name at least 3 other games with more players.  Can't be the "King" when you have the least customers.  Whats embarrassing here, really, is that free to play junk it out performing it.

  But, then, free to play junk has been outperforming most of the market for years now.  Raking in more cash too....since it costs so much less to upkeep em.  We CALL them AAA games....but really, saying something is AAA implies that it offers something absolutely superior to B-listers.  None of them really do.  They offer "slightly better" quality.  We pay them for that....aren't we dumb?

Originally posted by vet-in-exile

Originally posted by Gishgeron

Originally posted by kobie173

OK, that last comment is just ridiculous. Bioware is under no obligation to give you back pre-CU. If you end up not liking it, nobody's forcing you to play it. But if you think you're going to "kill it" ... well, delusions of grandeur sure are cute.

The "arresting Smedley for his crimes" bit made me lol IRL.

 

  Yeah....his "crime" of being a douche.  It WOULD be nice if being a douche were outlawed.

If that happened most of the people who post on these forums would be in jail.

  Oh yeah...well so would the lawyers and judges, along with most of the officers that would have had to arrest us.

  Amazingly enough...if being a douche were illegal, I suppose that it would instantly cause anarchy.  Or world peace...assuming people actually tried NOT to be one.

Originally posted by kobie173

OK, that last comment is just ridiculous. Bioware is under no obligation to give you back pre-CU. If you end up not liking it, nobody's forcing you to play it. But if you think you're going to "kill it" ... well, delusions of grandeur sure are cute.

The "arresting Smedley for his crimes" bit made me lol IRL.

  Yeah....his "crime" of being a douche.  It WOULD be nice if being a douche were outlawed.

  This thread is pretty much full of silliness.  Ideally....the sandbox concept can be very easily defined.  It has nothing to do with classes....or all that jazz.

  Basically....

  In an normal MMO...the world guides the player.  In a sandbox...the players guide the world.  When you think about the largest known sandbox games, you can see that definition fit every one of them.  EVE, SWG, UO....each one widely successful because the players guided the world and made it what it was.  Skills...classes....bah.  None of it matters.  All that matters is a world that YOU build, rather than one which builds YOU.

  Oddly enough...I actually believe in them having an office.  For me to believe my version of this tale...they would have to at least have a cover office.  Technically....a house could be an office.  I know a lot of American business men whom use their homes as an office.  Regardless...no matter which version of the tale you choose to believe in...a cover office is required.

  One thing is for sure.  There is a lesson to be learned here...and that lesson is:  Do not try to cheat gamers in the internet era.  Of all the people on the planet...we're probably the only ones that would even bother doing this kind of research.  Should there be a shred of evidence out there...we'd probably find it.  Just look at the manhunts that the SWG fanbase go on.  I truly pity the crooks in THIS industry....they should have stuck to gasoline or corporate fraud.  Those people don't try so hard to catch you.

  Us MMO gamers are drama whores.  We get off on it.