I've been eagerly awaiting this game, and have purchased a coopy, but have yet to install it, or play due to an unexpected business trip, and an extended power outage at my home due to severe storms.

I do have a concern after reading some reviews though. Gamespot had this comment:

"The prospect of new loot, often a major reason to push forward, isn't as exciting as you'd hope, either. As you level, you'll find that few looted items are helpful, and the limited inventory space (even after buying an extra bag) can make dropped items more of a nuisance than a pleasure."

Is this accurate? I also talked to two players that I know who have had the game since it released. One is at level 37, the other at 40. Both confirmed that the items you get via drops are simple things with a small + to something or other, or similar things.

I'm honestly not sure if this game will hold my interest. I came from playing Ultima Online, then Diablo, and D2 for years,  WOW, etc. The chance to find cool weapons and armor, etc. are one of my favorite things from all of those games. The ability to use them to change the way your character plays, or their attributes are my favorite part of gaming. Does AOC really not offer anything of interest in this category?

Not sure if the patch changed things but today I looted a "blue" (superior) crossbow From a boss in the ruins. Best lvl 20's crossbow I've seen.

 As for changing the way your character plays. AOC has a skill tree and ability system so 2 people of the same class can play completely different within the class boundries.

I really didn't think I would like it when I bought it. I got it because I got a new graphic card :)

It's not perfact but it's goods definatly outweigh the bads. If funcom delivers on their upcoming promises I can see sticking with it

To be honest I found quest rewards more beneficial up to level 40. From level 40 onwards I started getting rare gems and tradeskill resources from looting corpses. I noticed a slight increase it how the gear was a little bit better (not just standard stat increas). I also have gotten a few rare drops past lvl 50 from general mobs and some nice items from dungeon boss'.

You do also have bank space now to store things so collecting loot and selling it on can increase your income quite a bit from lvl 40 onwards. Alot of the crafting stuff is useful for tier 3 crafting too from 40 onwards.

You do get the odd rare drop but maybe not as often as some other game in my experience so far.

If you friends are around lvl for you should get them to do the Sanctum of the Burning Souls run a few times there are some nice weapons and armor drops you can get there which will carry you for a few levels.

A blue item you might get at a low level is diff from a blue at a higher level, same colour, just scales upwards from the level of the Boss you kill.

I made it to level 39 before i uninstalled the game. I didnt find any item on a mob that was worth anything, which really took a lot of fun out of the game. But i heard that in a recent patch they increased the droprate of good items. The game is fun it just wasnt for me. If you have the game already i suggest giving it a shot you never know you may like it.

The stats don't seem to be working.  The armor doesn't seem to be working.  Most of the feats don't seem to be working. 

Yeah, this game had a lot of potential but the delivery was just horrible.

Do as about 75% of the players do.

Install the game, play for about 30 hours. be excited in the first 10 hours. Dissapointed in the next 20.

Then cancel the sub, uninstall and do NOT forget:

Defrag the hard disk. That last act will give you the most satisfaction BTW.

To those who upgraded their systems: don't worry, that 400 dollar update just to uninstall a game isn't a bug - sorry big - thing with oil prices dropping and life being so cheap these days.

Just think about the smiling faces at FunCom, at last they can pay their bills now.

Originally posted by Zorndorf

Do as about 75% of the players do.

Install the game, play for about 30 hours. be excited in the first 10 hours. Dissapointed in the next 20.

Then cancel the sub, uninstall and do NOT forget:

Defrag the hard disk. That last act will give you the most satisfaction BTW.

To those who upgraded their systems: don't worry, that 400 dollar update just to uninstall a game isn't a bug - sorry big - thing with oil prices dropping and life being so cheap these days.

Just think about the smiling faces at FunCom, at last they can pay their bills now.

Really? 75%? Prove it.

From someone that has been to 74 before quitting let me tell you, most of the stats do nothing, besides quest rewards are enough to get to you to top level. Also expect your character to look nearly the same 1-80 (exception being dungeon gear). Npcs seem to be wearing awesome looking gear, they just don't drop it (well perhaps picts do, but that's what 5-10 items tops, and 1 of them out of Tortage?) If you enjoy gearing up your character AoC (as it is right now) is not for you.

problem with items is that you don't see big effects from most stats they have on them. there is allready a lot questions on official forums if the attributes (STR, DEX, CON, INT) are working at all, without any official answers.

if items have resistances against magic damage types its usually less than 1% so it doesn't seem to make a lot of a change.

so overall there seem to be only very few stats that are really making a difference, which makes it really hard to get excited about blue item drops cause the difference is very minimal. Even for weapons blue ones seem to be only good for a few levels then you get a regular green or white drop with more damage and with most other stats not making a real difference you end up equipping the one with more damage over the blue boss drop.

I still have to see stats of crafted items and if these are superior/worse to these drops. With the bug with socketed items now hopefully fixed i hope to get an impression of these in the next time.

---

Originally posted by Icarumba
Really? 75%? Prove it.

---

---

Originally posted by quaiky
I still have to see stats of crafted items and if these are superior/worse to these drops. With the bug with socketed items now hopefully fixed i hope to get an impression of these in the next time.

---

Unless it's stamina, HP, +damage, mana,  stats are meaningless.  So going you and raiding whatever dungeon you can find for that drop means that you have a pretty item that does the same damage/ buffing as the white item.

Of the three unofficial and relatively unacurate polls I have seen, about 30% of people are not re-upping their subscription.

Last night me and my guildie were doing quests in instance that is avalaible from Poitian village. Dont remember name of it.

I got nice blue belt from random mob and a nice blue light armor chest piece from last boss. Guildie got nice cloth robe. He is lvl 62 ToS (me lvl44 PoM) and he said both drops were better then what he was wearing at lvl 62.

So yes, there are drops that are worthwile for some time. Tonight we are going to try again to get him that blue light armor chest piece.