Offical Age of Conan thread

[InkofDeath]

^Lol, have fun with that. =P

 

 

 

Gained 8 levels today, 22 to 30. Time to mass pk again.

[InkofDeath]

I just found out why people on the official forums have so much time to post...Resource Gathering.

 

 

 

1.2k silver, no black silver.

 

800 sandstorm I got the quartz.

 

1.7k Ash, got the ebon Ash.

 

 

 

Still doing cottonwhisp and brindled leather.

 

 

 

Sigh...

[Vidi]

Ouch... Ebon took me around 240, black silver around 120, and tin about 150... Gave up after that lol, would rather buy the resources :P

[Nadril]

That's an obscene amount of mats skatedog, I don't even know how you could get that much.

 

 

 

I haven't even bothered with tradeskilling yet, ah well. Oh, and level 73 right now.. maybe be able to be 80 or close to it by end of Sunday.

[krisc6]

After watching this i want to play just to kick the idiots

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v78JetKQcxU

 

They should mention such a feature on the box 8-)

[Nadril]

After watching this i want to play just to kick the idiots

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v78JetKQcxU

 

They should mention such a feature on the box 8-)

 

 

 

Knockdowns are fun. Nothing new though, I remember Bruisers in EQII doing this on top of "griffon towers", was pretty annoying when I played.

 

 

 

However you really do have to be stupid to get knocked down something like that. :P

[Kriegsmier]

Speaking of knockdowns/knockbacks, guy was waiting on a bridge with his mount to kick whoever crossed it off the cliff. I wasn't [developmentally delayed]ed so i crouched and went under him. When he noticed he chased me and ganked me. :(

[krisc6]

After watching this i want to play just to kick the idiots

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v78JetKQcxU

 

They should mention such a feature on the box 8-)

 

 

 

Knockdowns are fun. Nothing new though, I remember Bruisers in EQII doing this on top of "griffon towers", was pretty annoying when I played.

 

 

 

However you really do have to be stupid to get knocked down something like that. :P

 

Yeah but its just the manipulation of game mechanics for humiliation(not exploits) is something that i love, like crouching on your dead opponent in Halo

 

:-#

[InkofDeath]

That's an obscene amount of mats skatedog, I don't even know how you could get that much.

 

 

 

I haven't even bothered with tradeskilling yet, ah well. Oh, and level 73 right now.. maybe be able to be 80 or close to it by end of Sunday.

 

You haven't done tradeskilling yet...? Oh boy, can't wait till you come on and post about it.... :-#

 

 

 

My guild is happy with all the resources lol.

 

 

 

Knockbacks are fun in any game to be honest... :

 

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My guild today went to Khospef(sp?), and we started raiding the entire town there and the surrounding area. We wiped out the those below level 50 quite fast, there's about 10 of us at the time, eventually some 70s and 80s come, and try and take us on. For about 2 hours we're fighting back and forth, though majority of the time we're killing them, but dying from getting piled heavily. They start to outnumber us, so we call about 10-20 other guildies, and we blow them away. It starts to die down, people are leaving, and just me, and two other 30-35s are left. We search around, gank low levels, and take on a level 45, and a few others. I gained around 120 kills, but gained 40 deaths. Was so much fun. PvPing is so epic in towns. Can't wait for battlekeeps.

[Kriegsmier]

I've been the gatherer for my group/guild as well. I'm pretty close to those numbers. Its all i've been doing lately. No reason, just felt like it....PvP'd while doing it. I'm running out of bag and bank space!!

[InkofDeath]

I've been the gatherer for my group/guild as well. I'm pretty close to those numbers. Its all i've been doing lately. No reason, just felt like it....PvP'd while doing it. I'm running out of bag and bank space!!

 

My guild daily gathers around 4k-6k of each usable material. I don't know why we get so much each day, but most of us are getting the rewards from so much, especially from granite. :

 

 

 

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Decided to finally write a review for this game since I'm at level 35, experienced roughly everything except for the Crafting skills (though I've been on an account which did have access to them, and used weaponsmithing and gemcutting), and so here it is, organized by parts of any MMO - I'm posting this on several places, hence why it's formatted in this way and not a quick jot down...:

 

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[hide=Review]Age Of Conan Review

 

By: Inkofdeath/Skatedog111/Mageof Pain

 

Written On: Friday July 4th

 

 

 

Table Of Contents

 

0.0 - Introduction

 

1.0 - Graphics

 

2.0 - Game Play (Content)

 

2.1 - Quests

 

2.2 Combat/Leveling

 

2.3 - Story Line/RP

 

2.4 - Crafting/Non-Combat Content

 

2.5 - Dungeons/Instances

 

2.6 - Classes

 

3.0 - Technical

 

3.1 - Bugs & Glitches

 

4.0 - Service

 

4.1 - Customer & Company Service

 

5.0 - Conclusion & Overall Rating

 

 

 

0.0 - Introduction

 

 

 

Age Of Conan, released just 3 months ago, has stirred up many varying issues, and heated debates on any gaming forum out there, especially the official forums. These debates arise from exploits, game bugs, graphics, and any kind of aspect from the game. Many reviews on Age Of Conan were brought up in the first month of release of the honorary MMORPG. This lead to many reviews being biased, or not scratching the surface of Age Of Conan entirely. This review aims to be a non-biased view of the game, while giving views based on comparing it to other past MMO's, current MMO's, and a players perspective. This review does not aim to flame, or bash Funcom or Age Of Conan more than need be, and not in an immature manner. As well all ratings are out of 10.

 

 

 

 

 

1.0 - Graphics

 

 

 

Age Of Conan definitely has one thing that many other MMO's cannot compare to, and that is the immense graphics within the game. The detail of the textures, and the small detail on houses, plants, trees, and of course the ground is something other MMO's lack out of laziness, or overlooking how such small things can create a world that lives as you walk across it, or fighting that overgrown Mantis. Another thing about the graphics is the shadows, and the complex light features. These are well implemented all over with some cunning placement, as well as the usual necessities like torches or other fires. The graphics overall are astounding, and bring you into the realm of Hyboria while bringing it to life.

 

 

 

However for every action there is a reaction. Such high quality graphics just from the description below will already have inserted a higher than standard requirements in our minds. While this is discussed later on in this review, graphics as a whole must also take its own negativity. These high quality graphics are very beautiful, and immersing, however they have a price to witness them at their full beauty and potential, around more than just one pay check. Most players are usually toning down the graphics by anywhere from 2/3s to extremely low settings, just to get away with 20-30 FPS. Those who spend a bit more can achieve 40-50 FPS at the half-way point between High and Low quality. Whether this is a justified price for these graphics, or is entirely ridiculous isnt quite clear as of yet, however it is clear the average player will not be able to experience these graphics for a long time to come.

 

 

 

Graphic Scores: 7.8/10

 

 

 

The graphics are beautiful, better than any other game out there, however the majority of players cannot experience the quality, nor the immersion these graphics bring, which means the graphics arent really there, or are a reality, and players still say these common words, If only we could have better graphics,.

 

 

 

2.0 - Game Play (Content)

 

 

 

The Game Play, or content in Age Of Conan is quite diverse. Anyone can tell that it will take quite a bit of time to play through the content to get a good grasp of each aspect that the content has to offer. Ive divided the content down into some groups, which should offer a better comprehension of the content located in Hyboria.

 

 

 

2.1 - Quests

 

 

 

Quests are one of the most original, and satisfying qualities of any MMO out there. Quests in Age Of Conan, unlike many other MMOs, are not bound to the infamous, Go and kill X amount of enemies, quests that have become quite common among some MMOs. The Quests have storylines, which lead to even more quests, while keeping you entertained with the dark and mature characters. Funcom has definitely put a lot of time into these Quests, to make sure they resemble Conan Lore, even with additional new story lines not read in the books, while remaining in-depth with each quest. These are high quality quests, which deserve far more recognition than they are currently receiving.

 

 

 

The first 1-20 quests you encounter have voice over dialogue. This is something not seen too much in any other MMOs, or PC games, and its something well worth having, and accepted amongst the Age Of Conan community. The voices are not childish, or sound corny, they sound believable, which is amazing. However this is short-lived and after level 20 only the Destiny Quests remain to have dialogue.

 

 

 

Your own story line, the Destiny Quests , are also well planned out, enabling navigation to the far reaches of Hyboria, as well as introducing you to much of Conan Lore, and the current themes that appear through-out other quests, as well as the lore of Gods. These Destiny Quests are implemented in the game very well. At certain times you have an entire city to yourself, or you act on your own, without the help of others, creating a much needed value of independence in the game.

 

 

 

Another great aspect of Quests is the rewards you receive. Whether it is items, currency, access to new instances, or general knowledge to advance in the storyline, they are a great rewarding in any case. However some quests require you to face extremely tough monsters, which require the use of teamwork with others, but offer the reward of only one individual, and not a group reward. This causes a lot of problems if someone needs to log, and an important piece of a puzzle, or item needed to complete the quest is no longer available, and possibly restarting the entire instance, or area becomes the only option. Though its rare, it is there, and is a common thought when picking groups to raid an area. As well there is quite a vast majority of Quests within the game, all through-out the lowest level to the max level, which is surprising in any game.

 

 

 

Quest Score: 9.8/10

 

 

 

These quests introduce new features into the MMORPG market, risking voice dialogue, which was well received, as well as maintain a high quality in-depth essence about them. Collecting items, killing monsters, being an errand boy, or practically anything while questing at such a quality is a great feat to accomplish, and Funcom has done it well. However some quests are indirectly affected by bugs, and other small errors in the game, which isnt acceptable after 3 months of being live. As well some quests require you to travel vast distances at quite a low level, without a mount. This is irritating, and annoying, which causes some quests to take over several hours to complete, which isnt very satisfying for receiving a less than worth it reward.

 

 

 

 

 

2.2 Combat/Leveling

 

 

 

The core of any MMORPG out there would be the combat system, as well as the system which advances you further, or higher among your fellow players, which is normally levels. Age Of Conan brings to the table of a new type of combat, one which requires keystrokes to execute stronger attacks, known as combos. This was implemented for a few things. One was to combat the boredom of turn-based, or automated attacks, and create more possible strategies while fighting. The second was a glorified, so-called revolution to combat in MMORPGS.

 

 

 

While I dont doubt that the first one succeeded, after learning this new type of combat, and becoming familiar with it, it was very entertaining, and it requires you to stay focused, but in a fun way, which doesnt tire you out. This is probably why so many players are able to grind for 3-4 hours without being phased at all by boredom. Its worked in securing more strategies, and possible outcomes of a battle, especially since you must hit your target with the weapon, which can be quite difficult against seasoned player-killers. Though for beginners there is the automated lock-on feature for mobs, or players, but you still must move your character in their direction to land a successful hit.

 

 

 

However for the second reason theres a large amount of discussion going around. While I wont doubt that it was something new, and unexpected to see, and was probably something that isnt being used to its full potential yet, perhaps about 5-8 years too early for gamers of any kind, and the game atmosphere of how an MMO should be do not compliment this new system properly. However in time I do believe game companies will develop a game that better delivers this sort of combat system, and employs it evenly through-out all classes, or players.

 

 

 

This is another problem with combat, which leads to many classes supposedly overpowered. Magic based classes do not have to aim their attacks like melees, but just have to successfully cast the combo, and it will be a hit. This is also easily abused by stuns, and snares via stamina, which allows you to sprint, and execute combos, think of it as the mana behind the combos. This area of the combat system needs to be looked over excessively to maintain a future balance within the game between classes.

 

 

 

One more thing related to combat is levelling. In many games it will take you a many months, or even several years to reach the max level in the game. However this isnt the same in Age Of Conan. At the launch of Age Of Conan, many hardcore gamers set out to reach the max level (80). Surprisingly enough these individuals were able to reach the max combat within 3-4 weeks of playing. Eventually casual players after playing for 5-7 weeks were also obtaining level 70-80 quite fast as well. In most games, it is impossible to reach the maximum level within such a short time disregarding how many hours you put into the game. Age Of Conan levelling is far too easy, or perhaps too simplistic to handle the amount of experience rewarding content in the game (Quests). This is rapidly becoming an issue on the player side, low levels getting killed by high level players all the time, while these high level players are finishing up the non-combat aspect of the game fairly quickly as well. Funcom is already under light pressure about end-game content due to several reasons, but it will surely increase 10 fold within the coming weeks, if there is no large, or new content to distract the players for a time.

 

 

 

Combat/Leveling Score: 6.9/10

 

 

 

While the combat system is different, and new, and very entertaining, the game itself does not compliment such a feature while it remains a game with the atmosphere of automated attacks, or turn-based attack patterns. The games dynamics do not enhance themselves from the combat system, which drags the quality of this new combat system down. As well levelling by quests does not server combat, nor the rest of the game in a positive manner, and is an extending issue that will cause more harm in the coming months.

 

 

 

2.3 - Story Line/RP

 

 

 

The storyline, derived from the books of Robert E. Howard, and implemented into the game is probably not quite what Hyborian enthusiast were expecting, and how different it truly is from the books, but it does give colour, and enhance the images of our imagination what we thought of Hyboria, described by Robert E. Howard, magnificently. We surely do see Hyboria come to life, and see how dark and cruel this world actually is.

 

 

 

Role-Playing through-out the game is barely noticeable, even on the Role-Playing Servers introduced by Funcom. The players thoughts on RP is to Quest, and level endlessly, while completing bits of the game each day, taking little time to smell the roses in the game. These roses very a lot, and arent discovered among the majority of players.

 

 

 

Such roses like the world itself, which allows for re-enactments of wars, or areas to party like the various taverns, even social places to just hang out, and enjoy the scenery on top of a mountain, or cliff, listening to the sound of rushing water running down a waterfall. All of these are avoided, and ignored; such beauty and areas that encourage your imagination to roam are missed, and are disregarded as useless areas. Perhaps in the following months when the hype of getting to a high level before anyone else wears off, and we start to see more players grouping, more friends and bonds forming, a social world forming within the world, not just in the guilds, these areas, and the servers will be used for what they were meant to be used for.

 

 

 

Im not going to rate this section, as you cant rate something that hasnt been discovered in the game yet, the RP, and social atmospheres in the game will eventually form, perhaps then a proper rating on it can be formed, but there is nothing like taking the time to smell a rose with a friend in this game just because you can.

 

 

 

2.4 - Crafting/Non-Combat Content

 

 

 

With any MMORPG there is always that aspect that doesnt necessarily involve direct combat, or requires any skill to advance in this particular aspect. This is what potentially makes or breaks any game. Relying too heavily on combat, and not enough on non-combat skills brings the game to a grinding atmosphere. Without enough combat, the game itself becomes boring. This is the issue of balance within any game. Age Of Conan is nearly close to balancing these two diverse aspects.

 

 

 

Crafting itself is divided into two categories, Harvesting, and Tradeskills. Harvesting supplies the raw materials needed in order to create the second materials for the Tradeskills. These Tradeskills can also supply armour, weapons, or potions for use in combat. As well, combat s integrated within Harvesting so that a circle of life is created around these three basic aspects, which ultimately creates the games economy.

 

 

 

This all sounds pretty good, well balanced out, everyone is feeding the person in front of them, however there is some issues in this food chain. While the Tradeskills can be used together to create some powerful armour and weapons via socketing gems (which is also a Tradeskill; cutting gems), the resources needed to create the armour or weapons in the first place can take anywhere from 2 to 4 hours to create one piece of armour. While obtaining the right gem can take just as long and be quite expensive. Combat on its own cannot stand up to meet the prices equally, as well as theres not enough demand for crafted equipment as of yet, which reeks havoc on all the Tradeskills.

 

 

 

Harvesting in itself is a great idea, but poorly implemented. Having about 8-10 of one resource in one instance, which is quite crowded since its a Resource & Gathering area, leaves little to none resources to gather, which leaves the 2-4 hours to get about 10 of each resource, if youre lucky you might get away with 2-3 hours. This causes a lot of low level killing to fight for the resources, which leaves the stronger getting stronger, and the weaker getting pushed around until they get frustrated enough to go to Quests to level to defend themselves properly. This is why many players wait till level 50, 60, or 70 to even start harvesting, which cuts off the supply of raw materials greatly, but it isnt noticed as of yet.

 

 

 

Tradeskills require those raw materials in order to make the secondary materials. While disregarding that a few Tradeskills are bugged, and are inaccessible (however you can still continue the development of the Tradeskill via an item drop which supplies the missing materials), the amount of resources needed to create just one piece of armour, or the time it takes to collect the money to pay for the kits used for gems, is ridiculous, and this needs to be straightened out, and revamped, or else the economy will not be able to mature properly , leaving hundreds of players angry, and unable to fully use their Tradeskill.

 

 

 

These two aspects when the game first launched have a numerous amount of bugs, which for example is the drop rate bug which usually demands a minimal of 200-1500 of gathering one type of resource to complete a quest, this usually can take up to an entire week, if not more. The time it requires is ridiculous, and rather annoying. Blowing the quality of what the crafting system could be right out of the water.

 

 

 

Crafting System: 4.6/10

 

 

 

While the idea behind the crafting system theoretically would allow for a healthy economy to form, and enable players having a pleasurable time enjoying their respected crafting areas, the amount of bugs, and the poorly implemented Harvesting system leaves this area of the game flatlining.

 

 

 

2.5 - Dungeons/Instances

 

 

 

Dungeons, and Instances, allow for the most part either solo, or group parties. Dungeons in Age Of Conan are basically kill all the bosses and any and all Quests that are within the Dungeon. There is but one Dungeon, that actually deserves the name 'Dungeon', which has an actual puzzle system to it to advance deeper into the dungeon. This dungeon however is extremely simple in solving these puzzles, and very straightforward, a 7 year old could randomly move around in the dungeon and complete it. The dungeon is relatively fun simply because it's the only one that isn't 'hit and kill'. Funcom needs to redo a lot of Dungeons and add in puzzles, traps, and other assortments to create more fun content for those who enjoy teamwork, or groups, or even guilds.

 

 

 

Instances are large out-door playing fields where you get the majority of Quests from. Usually about 90% of Quests are completed in this area, by either killing monsters, or collecting items, or both. Instances also carry resources, and on PvP servers you are able to kill anyone, with no limits. Instances are executed quite nicely through-out the game, and they are basically neutral on every rating you can think of, they are fair, and provide you with the content needed.

 

 

 

Dungeons & Instances Score: 6.5/10

 

 

 

There's tons of content to be found and explored through-out each instance, or dungeon. However the lack of challenging content in dungeons, and the mass amount of bugs & glitches found through-out the instances, as well as the extremely long walks between Resurrection or goal points, leaves a lot of players bored, waiting to be motivated to actually complete the content in the area.

 

 

 

2.6 - Classes

 

 

 

For any MMO to succeed there needs to be something that divides the players between their own play style, whether stalking through the dark, or plowing through mobs to achieve their goals, many MMO's have created the standard of classes as this divider. Age Of Conan is no different, basing the classes off of Conan Lore, and several other sources. Funcom has done a brilliant job in diversifying the classes, and allowing very different play styles to be played freely through-out the game, for the most part.

 

 

 

Classes are chosen through four archetypes, which then decide upon which classes you can actually become, and from what Country you descend from, as well as personal looks. Each archetype gives it's own significant type of advantages, as well as each class. Every class is extremely fun to play, with it's own unique play style. Many classes are able to take on vast amounts of monsters, while others can quickly kill an enemy, while others can heal their comrades while defending them. The diversity is truly here.

 

 

 

There are some issues with this diversity. Many classes are underpowered, while others are excessively overpowered. This has been the case, and the same classes have remained in their same spot of power, whether weak, or strong, since the public launch. This is another negative objective Funcom needs to get working on, and fast.

 

 

 

Age Of Conan is quickly becoming a game where fights depend only on what classes are fighting. It takes a very skilled player to use an Assassin to defeat a new player of the same level but as a Tempest Of Set. This is only one example of how extreme the distance is within balance. This creates a lot of tension through-out the players in-game and on the forums, and is a reason why this game can really be difficult to play when attacked by a class that doesn't even have to pay attention to beat you.

 

 

 

Classes Score: 5/10

 

 

 

A halfway score for how unbalanced each class is to each other, while the classes do show how diverse Funcom has intended classes to be.

 

 

 

3.0 - Technical

 

 

 

Besides the public view of the game, and the content within it, is the technical aspect. Equal as important as having content in the game is the Technical side of the game. This area of Age Of Conan has a lot of issues, which do not provide smooth game play.

 

 

 

3.1 - Bugs & Glitches

 

 

 

Every MMO out there at launch will have bugs, some large, some small. After a week or so they will be ironed out, with new bugs being found as players progress. Eventually after the first two months, major bugs which halt certain aspects of the games, like broken dungeons, quests, or even skill will get fixed. This is not the case for Funcom.

 

 

 

Several client crashing problems exist, there's at least 3 ways to crash the client just by going into a new zone, or city, as well as a memory leak which also causes a crash. These have been here since launch, and have not been fixed. This impedes game play significantly as these crashes happen once per 2 hours.

 

 

 

Other then client crashes, there's numerous Quests which cannot be completed due to areas being blocked off, NPC's missing, or not working properly, entire Dungeons not working properly; misplaced NPC's, no redundancy codes, Quest Goals that do not update correctly in dungeons. This is for perhaps 1/10th of all quests, that there is at least one bug, or another in the quest, or Dungeon. Also have existed since launch.

 

 

 

*More on the low quality fixes later*

 

 

 

3.1 - Bugs & Glitches Score: 1.2/10

 

 

 

A low rating because the large bugs that affect the majority do not get fixed, even though they have been known since launch, as well as numerous Quests not getting fixed. Funcom cannot fix everything all at once yes, but they can fix the major issues and work their way down the ladder, the most known bugs still exist, while smaller unknown and less damageable bugs have been fixed. This is ridiculous response times.

 

 

 

4.0 - Service

 

 

 

The service any MMORPG company dishes out to it's customers is what makes the game truly successfully. If a company can listen to it's players, as well as interacts with it's players on some social level, the game will be successful no matter what happens. How Funcom tends to interact with it's players is questionable.

 

 

 

4.1 - Customer & Company Service

 

 

 

Many accounts of being stone-walled by in-game customer assurance employees have been reported, as well as 5 hour wait times for a reply from an employee. As well one look at the forums of Age Of Conan will tell you Funcom has no intention of interacting with it's players on any social level. The lack of moderation, and rule enforcing on the forums is ridiculous, where at least 70% of the posts should be deleted, while the majority on there need to be suspended or banned from posting on the forums for the next 5 months. It's completely pathetic, and reflects poorly on the company itself, that it cannot maintain it's own player-base. It's downright shameful, there is no company out there that would allow such shame to befall on the companies name. This is all but a small taste of what is to come without any proper regulations being enforced in-game and on the forums. Perhaps Funcom needs to hire more personal, or start working.

 

 

 

As well the amount of fixes that basically do not affect anyone in anyway are becoming worse, and is only causing more people to cancel their subscription. The lack of efficiency on updates that were planned for June that did not get patched into the game is also an indicator that Funcom cannot efficiently run this game.

 

 

 

Customer Service: 2/10

 

 

 

They are able to provide weekly patches, as well as tweak small objects or classes in-game, as well as do the most minimal amount of work through-out the forums or in-game as possible. However their lack of interaction with the community, and the amount of spam and flame towards them on the forums only shows that they themselves are not capable of running this game efficiently. Perhaps they would be better off selling it to another company to run it, as they themselves right now are incapable of dealing with their customers.

 

 

 

 

 

5.0 - Conclusion & Overall Rating

 

 

 

In conclusion Age Of Conan and Funcom both have a lot of work to do, in order to keep each other online, and to have a successful future. Working out the large kinks in the game should be completely fixed by the end of August, as well as cleaning up their forums and their public image. Age Of Conan must also receive some support from the technical advisers who can create a better reliable client that will run smoother, and performance will not be lacking.

 

 

 

Hopefully the future holds fixed Quests, fixed Dungeons, balanced classes, and play styles, as well as the players stopping, and relaxing enough to take in what beautiful game we have at our hands, and Funcom can see the potential that we have to offer to this wonderful game.

 

 

 

Overall Review

 

6.5/10

 

 

 

 

 

I hope my review has shown some light on the game as it is currently, and has shown it's current state of play. For those who haven't bought the game as of yet, I hope I've filled you in on what to expect, and the potential this game has to become the #1 ranked game of all time.[/hide]

 

 

 

So yea, there's my review. I plan to post this on like 7 or so other sites, even submit it to some MMO sites. What do you guys think about this review?

 

 

 

I actually want two types of comments:

 

 

 

1. Disregarding what I rated the game, was the grammar, organization, and overall use of English good, and proper?

 

 

 

2. Did I give the game justice, or did I just highlight the negative aspects (I did give positive and negative reasons multiple times per each category though)?

 

 

 

Thanks, and give hints on anything to revise or what not - I'll let you guys pick at it before I post it in other places...

[Vidi]

Umm... Sorry dude but at 35 you're not even half way through the game, you can't make a review on that.

 

 

 

There's (dungeons) Sanctum, Cistern & Main System, The Oynx Chambers, The Scorpion Caves, Caravan Raiders Hideout, Toirdealbach's Tomb, and the one you were talking about, Black Castle, which IMO, is the worst, there maybe a few others I'm forgetting. (Not including raid instances.)

 

 

 

You still have crafting to experience, the higher level zones, higher level quests and grouping, and ofc instances, and they still have alot of stuff they are adding.

 

 

 

Yes, some dungeons are public, but they work like that, annoying as it is, they work, because of the way they're set out.

 

 

 

IMO, the quests 1-45 a great, there's plenty, 45-50 you run low on them, 50-60 is a grind because of a lack of quests, early 60's is ok, but late 60's, a grind, 70-74, quests, 74-80, ALL grind which maybe 1-2 levels worth of quests, but they're all group quests.

 

 

 

The dungeons, they need abit of tweaking, eg, spawns being removed. Atzels Fortress has spawns, and it sucks because Atzel, the main boss, is extremely hard unless you kill all the named mobs in the dungeon, and you guessed it, they respawn.

 

 

 

All I wish for them to add so far is the promised PvP update (even though I don't care for it, I want them to actually live up to there words) and end-game content, then they can smooth out the leveling, because it isn't as bad as it seems.

[InkofDeath]

Umm... Sorry dude but at 35 you're not even half way through the game, you can't make a review on that.

 

Raids are the only things I haven't done, I've experienced most of the high level content, and it's not so different from level 30-60. The only thing I didn't get to experience on the 70 ToS I was on was dungeons.

 

 

 

IMO, the quests 1-45 a great, there's plenty, 45-50 you run low on them, 50-60 is a grind because of a lack of quests, early 60's is ok, but late 60's, a grind, 70-74, quests, 74-80, ALL grind which maybe 1-2 levels worth of quests, but they're all group quests.

 

If you do all the quests you'll have enough for 51, and this is excluding some of the annoying quests. 51 to 60 is irritating to level through though. Anything else past 61+ I've either read, or watched it.

 

 

 

The dungeons, they need abit of tweaking, eg, spawns being removed. Atzels Fortress has spawns, and it sucks because Atzel, the main boss, is extremely hard unless you kill all the named mobs in the dungeon, and you guessed it, they respawn.

 

It's not so much about what they need to fix now, or in the future, because if you do, your not making a true review. The review is to review the object in it's current state, out-looking just a bit.

 

 

 

The only thing I left out in the review was in-depth dungeon, as I don't have enough knowledge of it, but I've read enough about them to understand the implications that they may or may not have. Everything else I've experienced it. Though for Tradeskills it was weaponsmithing, and gemcutting on the said account.

 

 

 

I really don't think I was ignorant to anything except dungeons and guilds, everything else was pretty solid on information.

 

 

 

All I wish for them to add so far is the promised PvP update (even though I don't care for it, I want them to actually live up to there words) and end-game content, then they can smooth out the leveling, because it isn't as bad as it seems.

 

The PvP update is what I'm most looking forward to, then I'm looking forward to balancing classes.

[Vidi]

I never said it was a bad review, but it was a well thought out review, just IMO, you can't base reviews off a few things you've done on a 70 ToS, I have a 80 demo, and a 45 shammy, I've done all instances apart from Black Castle and Pyramids several times, and they are all good fun, even though everything is tank and spank in AoC. Hell, even farming bosses in epic kheshatta is fun.

 

 

 

And yes I agree with a review being on the current game, not on what's going to be added, but the game's un-finished, hence why I'm not giving it up on it yet, or writing my own review up on it yet.

[InkofDeath]

And yes I agree with a review being on the current game, not on what's going to be added, but the game's un-finished, hence why I'm not giving it up on it yet, or writing my own review up on it yet.

 

Neither am I, the game is quite fun even with being unfinished, but to others it's not. This is also why I put the date on it, since it probably will become out-dated if Funcom does update the game in August-October, this was more of review of the game at the third month mark then my own personal review, even though I named it that.

 

 

 

By the way you need to go and do Black Castle. 8-)

[Vidi]

Was meaning to on my Shammy.. But I hate moving to another region when I still have quests there, and by the time I was done in conalls and wild lands I was just way too high for it.

 

 

 

I do like Onyx, even with the rather speedy respawns and public instance, it's set out nice. Same with Sanctum, Scorp Caves is also well done, the nests are crazy. Caravan Raider Hideout has 5 bosses and a mob patrol of about 3 or 4 mobs, lol.

[InkofDeath]

Was meaning to on my Shammy.. But I hate moving to another region when I still have quests there, and by the time I was done in conalls and wild lands I was just way too high for it.

Yea that's a problem, you get a quest, and you feel obligated to complete all of them before you can do anything else, eventually you fill up your quest journal and your running around all over. It's hard in my opinion to break lose of the never ending chain. So irritating, lol.

[Vidi]

I *gasp* do enjoy questing in this game, which is unlike me. They just seem.. intresting, usually. Wish there was more though, my Shammy would be 60+ by now if there was more Q's, just cba going through it all again atm.

[Orpheus]

I'm finally getting the game :P probably get it tomorrow or something.

 

 

 

WTF, 30 gigs? holy shi...

[Nadril]

Half way through 78 at the moment, should be 80 by tomorrow if I play my cards right.

 

 

 

Khopshef PvP is great. Rolling kids all the time with me + Conq friend, it's great. Also Tyranny is seriously epic for PvP -- large scale GvG happening all the time.

 

 

 

example: Couple days ago was a huge [Death Row] vs [Addiction] battle in middle of town. Today it was [Vengence] vs [Dungeon Siege II] lol.

[InkofDeath]

PvP in general on Tyranny is just plain awesome. Khopshef, Wild Lands, and Conarch Valley is where I've witnessed guilds going at it with each other the most. It's pretty intense to see such marvelous things in a game. Also in wild lands, the houses are low enough that you can stand on top of them and attack those on the ground, meleers never saw it coming if you ask me. More use-friendly to spellcasters for the win. :

 

 

 

I'm 41, done all the resource quests, and have gotten T1 for gemcutting completed, as well as got my mount. Pretty nice to go into an area of level 40 players, and run by while attacking, with them not knowing how to react from ill-experience with mounts. :lol:

[Vidi]

Mount combat is a disapointment, you can't run and attack on a mount (only with melee.. and the damage isn't amazing), and to cast spells on a mount they have to be directly in front of you.

[InkofDeath]

Mount combat is a disapointment, you can't run and attack on a mount (only with melee.. and the damage isn't amazing), and to cast spells on a mount they have to be directly in front of you.

 

I'm an Assassin, and it's not for anything except for fun when I do it. Only trouble is getting knocked down, but I have an ability for that, which works wonders most of the time. People just get easily pissed off at it. Go by, attack, keep going, turn around, go back, hit them, repeat. Though I get dominated by spellcasters... :wall:

 

 

 

Also, I can't believe how easy the first tiers are of weaponsmithing and gemcutting. I did both in under an hour. Collecting the mass amounts of resources for just the rare items gave me at least 20x the amount I actually needed, which is like 48 copper, 48 silver, and like 26 Ash for first tier weaponsmithing. Harvesting the rarity resources makes the tiers considerably easy. Though I'd imagine it's different for Alchemists, AC's ftl.

[Nadril]

skatedog what's your name on Tyranny? Dunno if you ever said so.

 

 

 

Anyways I found my new favorite thing to do in Kheshetta. There are some tall bushes outside of the first town when you walk into the zone. Well me and a few other people would walk into the bushes, pull out a ranged weapon, and /prone in them.

 

 

 

Yup, makes us really damn hard to see. And yeah, I realize we can hide but, really, whats the fun in that?

 

 

 

Well when a person runs by on a mount we wait for them to get near, JUMP OUT and shoot them with our bows. Chances are they will get knocked off their mount, we'll surround them on the ground (so they can't run because of collision) and beat the [cabbage] out of them.

 

 

 

It's probably the funniest thing I've ever done in relation to PvP.

 

 

 

Oh and level 79, one to go. By the way, vidi, what would you suggest for a group makeup with Atzels fort? I did it with a PoM/ToS (me) / Guard / conq / demo / barb and we got absolutly rocked by the necro boss (that summons all the pets and AoEs) and the demo boss. Just couldn't keep people up, including the tank.

[arizark]

How well would I be able to run this game with these specs:

 

AMD Athlon 62 X2 Dual Core Processor 4000+ 2.11 GHz

 

2 GB RAM

 

NVIDIA GeForce 8800gt 512mb memory

 

 

 

Only thing that's really concerning me is my memory at the moment, but if you guys think it wont be too much of an issue I wont bother upgrading just yet.