Age of Conan: Hyborean Adventures (the new MMO)

[The J Pizzel]

I was waiting patiently for someone to start a thread about it but no one did so I figured I would.

The game is a welcome break from most MMO's. For those who don't know, it's an MMO based on Robert Howards Conan pulp books. It draws very little inspiration from the Arnold movies. So, if that's your fear (as I've heard from some friends), put it to bed. I have three major pros on the game:

The combat is incredible. Unlike any MMO's I've played (EQ2, Final Fantasy XI, WoW) you don't go into any sort of "auto-attack" mode based on a dime delay of your weapon. Instead, you have to actively hit keys to swing your sword. Now, mind you...until the pre-release this past saturday (when I started playing) that was my biggest turn-off. I want to go into attack mode and then casually cast spells and use class abilities. Boy was I wrong in that. Let me explain how combat works. You have 3 basic swings that everyone does: left, right, head. Around the baddie you will see 3 little } looking things. They will move around his body, either in his left, right, or head. This represents his sheid...and how well he's sheilding it. The 3 }'s can be spread out evenly (1 on left, right and head), variously (2 on left, 1 on head), or all the same (all 3 on head). Why is this so damn cool? Because he's responding to the way your hitting him. You keep swing to the head and eventually you'll see all 3 sheilds on his head and you have to now swing to the side. It's beautiful. You have sheilds as well, but I haven't learned them yet. Amidst the basic swings, you'll use combos and class abilities. I'll tounch in those later.

The next major pro is that the game is rated M for mature...and it's for a reason. This game is graphic. Blood, innuendo, profanity, traces of nudity are all everywhere in this game. Why do I like this so much? Not becuase I'm a nasty pervert or anything. I'm actually a happily married man of 26. I like it becuase I'm an adult. Now I get to play a game geared towards adults. In the small amount of time I've played the ingame discussion between players are extremely mature (meaning non-childish) and are generally sincere. I know many parents will rush out to buy this game for the 11 year old son and not bother reading the rating, and that's sad. But for the time being, I'm happy to play an adult MMO with adults.

My final major pro is the simplicity of the game. OH. MY. GOD. This game is so simple, my dog can play it. I know it sounds kinda odd saying I like an adult geared game being simple...but I do. The game is just....well....easy and fun to play. Skill points, attack, combos, spells, summons, chat, feats, quests, HUD, inventory, etc. it's just all so damn easy to learn.

Some other things about the game I like: Going to an Inn and resting until nightfall puts you in a single player game. Going back and resting till the day puts you back in with everyone else. This is cool. You can run around all game with friends and guildmates and quest, kill ****t, shop..but when you get tired of all that; you just go to an inn, click the sleep button and voila, you in a single player story mode game. I like this.

Spell and combos: spells are just like every other game. You hit the hotkey, a castbar goes across the screen and the spell casts. No biggie. Combo's are new, and very cool. Combos are a nifty little thing were you hit the hotkey and then hit the "follow up" strikes rapidly. This is not as difficult as you'd think at first. It's not like doing the combo's on the old game stations. It's like the sweep combo for my Conquerer, hit the Sweep (hotkey 4) then 3 head swings (hotkey 3). So I just hit the 4 button, then rapidly hit the 3button three times. That's it. Oh, and you get a lot of these.

The races are nothing like high-fantasy. The races are Aquilonian (little of everything), Cimmerian (barbarian-nomad like) and Stygian (magic and thievery like). The clases are new and interesting. Their are 4 archetypes which are just to let you know what "style" of class it is. They are of course Fighter, Priest, Thief, and Mage. There are 12 classes, 3 in each archetype. Race does limit what you can play. The classes are (if I can remember them all)

Fighter: Conquerer (melee buffer and off-tank), Dark Templer (massive melee damage, off tank, and little dark magic), and Crusader (hella tank)

Priest: Tempest of Set (evil preist damage dealer with healing stuff), Bear Shaman (decent meleer, can wear armor, and healing stuff), Priest of Mitra (clasic healer)

Mage: Herald of Xotli (damge dealer mage who carries two handed swords, everyone's playing it...I didn't like it), Necromaner (duh), Demonologist (duh, a lot like warlock from WoW; some damage, DoTs, and summon demons to fight. Warning: the succubus is NUDE)

Thief: Ranger (awesome ranged damage), Barbarian (highest health and awesome melee damage, uses all weapons) Assassin (highest melee damage in game)

Only certain classes can carry certain weapons. I love the weapon restiction, duel-wielding restrictions and armor restrictions. Whew, I'm tired.

Well, I didn't want sound over eager; so I will add my one con I have. When you make a new character, you must first play through a little single player story before you reach the city. You usually get there around level 5-6. Don't worry it goes by pretty quick. It just gets annoying when you're making a lot of characters to see what you like.

Other than that, I'm tired of typing. Let me know if there's any questions I can give yall. I'm currently playing a Conq. I'll be trying a Bear Shaman tonight. I will also try a Necro. and Demon. soon, since my favorite WoW class was warlock.

jP

[Breltar]

I was in the 'tech' and 'closed' betas and it didnt do it for me for the same reasons you liked it. I found the fighting to be too 'mortal combat' -ish for me as the constant clicking gets old fast. I didnt like that the game is so simple, I like a bit more complexity to figure out new ways of doing things.

The mature rating is kinda lame as well, as its just for a bit of blood and guts and 'innuendo' which to me always seemed like a crutch to try and make the game more unique. I will reference my former comparison to Mortal Combat for the gore, as the 'finishing moves' made me instantly think of that game.

My summary is that it is nice that someone did a game about the book/comic Conan and not the movie one, but play-wise it reminds me of the over simplicity that CoH/CoV had, which isnt my thing.

[The J Pizzel]

I was in the 'tech' and 'closed' betas and it didnt do it for me for the same reasons you liked it. I found the fighting to be too 'mortal combat' -ish for me as the constant clicking gets old fast. I didnt like that the game is so simple, I like a bit more complexity to figure out new ways of doing things.

The mature rating is kinda lame as well, as its just for a bit of blood and guts and 'innuendo' which to me always seemed like a crutch to try and make the game more unique. I will reference my former comparison to Mortal Combat for the gore, as the 'finishing moves' made me instantly think of that game.

My summary is that it is nice that someone did a game about the book/comic Conan and not the movie one, but play-wise it reminds me of the over simplicity that CoH/CoV had, which isnt my thing.

HA, that's hilarious :smallbiggrin: I like and you dislike for the same reason. I love that. To each his own, huh. I dunno. I guess I was just tired of clicking on a bad guy and running up to him and the computer doing an "auto-attack". I kinda like having to swing my weapons and pay attention to where his shields are at. Also, I've heard from several places that the game is night and day different from the Beta (I didn't play the beta, so I wouldn't know), so you might give a little smidgeon of play time and see what you think. As far as the rating goes, I think they did that to represent the stye of the Conan books. They were friggin graphic.

jP

[Crispy Dave]

hmm i defently want to try this game out but i'l probobly wait till the free tril comes out. As for a new mmo WAR is coming

[Khanderas]

I shall have to overclock my comp from 2667 to 3000 to get to play it. On the other hand my graphic card is more then fine. So tomorrow when the preorder I bought can be picked up, ill more then likly be playing it.
Frankly yesterday when on wow, it felt so pointless and I was sad that WoW would lose such a big chunk of subscribers. Now logically I know it has been said before but that was my feeling when I was grinding fishing with my almost 62 rogue. Many guilds will feel a dent in active raiders while AoC starts up and ppl try it (and on the northen part of the sphere, actually going outside because summer is here. Bad time to release AoC I feel but eh. if its done its done, and near the next expansion is prolly bad as well).


BUT this is not about WoW, its about AoC and it is looking mighty fine. Other MMO's lack so many things after being around for years that AoC is going to have from the start or in the very near future. Such things being siege warfare, between clans and mounted battle for starters.
The maturity rating I feel is a big plus, I was glad to hear they went out on purpose to not get approved for young ages, this means they can put in whatever they want to put in and not have to keep it family friendly.

While the directed attacksystem seems quite cool (and another of the "about time" moments) I reserve my judgement til I actually played it out for a while.

So assuming that atleast most of my expectations are met, I will be one of the defectors from WoW to AoC.
But first, get the thing, then get it installed, then curse and get upgraded comp parts, then actually play alittle, Then judgement on its greatness.

[Driderman]

I've been playing it since Early Access started the 17th and I love it. Wonderful game. I also think the mature rating is very well done, not too exaggerated, except perhaps for the gore, but who doesn't like gore?

And for the record, you get even more basic attacks when you hit level 40, you'll have 5 instead 3

[Cybren]

Combat is hokey (oh man THREE BASIC ATTACKS instead of one!!!) and the game overly relies on instancing(night mode? What is the point of playing online?), but i'll see how things improve.

I also fear PvP will be made into little more than a minigame.

[DemonicAngel]

Gotta give the creators a credit, it looks like a fun game.. and I just got an email about a drinking cape or something like that, "for playing the game for many months"... while I haven't even spent one minute into the game, as I don't have a beta character

[leperkhaun]

Gotta give the creators a credit, it looks like a fun game.. and I just got an email about a drinking cape or something like that, "for playing the game for many months"... while I haven't even spent one minute into the game, as I don't have a beta character

i think that is something you got if you signed up for the newsletter before a certain date.

[Semidi]

I'm considering playing. It looks like a fun game, though I'm waiting to read some more reviews. From what I've read, it's either a love/hate thing and I really hate shelling out 60+ bucks for a game (50 bucks plus a month subscribing) that I'm not going to enjoy.

[Khanderas]

Combat is hokey (oh man THREE BASIC ATTACKS instead of one!!!) and the game overly relies on instancing(night mode? What is the point of playing online?), but i'll see how things improve.

I also fear PvP will be made into little more than a minigame.
Solo play feature seems farily logical to me when you consider:
-Early game you tend to solo quest around anyway. In WoW I played to level 20 before my first group.
-Every class start off with different questpaths (or so I am led to believe), but it can be nice to not have to look for a group / wait on a spawn
-The single player part is mostly the beginning levels, it phases itself out.
-Single player quests and daytime quests seems to be seperate.

PvP will definatly be more then a gimmick in AoC. Atleast if you are keeping a clan castle in the borderlands. I think this is good.

Picking my copy up today after work. I forgot my reservation at home though :smallsigh: (gotta swing by home first).
Actual playing will problebly have to wait (HAH, I'll fail my saving throw vs temptation) since I got too much stuff to get done before I start.

[Ranis]

I'm considering playing. It looks like a fun game, though I'm waiting to read some more reviews. From what I've read, it's either a love/hate thing and I really hate shelling out 60+ bucks for a game (50 bucks plus a month subscribing) that I'm not going to enjoy.

It's $50 per month?! WHAT??

[Tren]

It's $50 per month?! WHAT??

He's saying $50 for the game and $10 subscription (it's actually $15 I think but with one month free)

I'm really enjoying the game myself. The combat is fun and different without being too gimmicky. It doesn't take much effort but it rewards active participation by dealing more damage. It's slightly miffing that 3 of my hotkeys are dedicated to directional attacks but in the long run that's such a small thing, I can manage.

So far it's hard to tell how the game will run in the longterm, it was pretty laggy the first night I tried it but last night the game ran quite smoothly so there's still a question of whether the game is a hog or if it's just server congestion (which at start up I'm not too concerned by).

Overall I've found myself really liking the general atmosphere of the game, it's something kind of hard to put my finger on though. In a way it feels a little more adventure-like, similar to old school EQ (without the horrible grind and general player hate).

Anyway I think it's incredibly refreshing compared to WoW, I'm really enjoying it and hope to keep playing for some time.

[Shikton]

I've ordered, but I have no idea what type of server I want to play on yet. This is actually the first time ever that I'm gonna start out on a European server instead of a US one =P 4th time is a charm I guess.

From what I've seen there are a LOT of mixed opinions about this game, but it mostly boils down to PvP being too "simple" (don't ask me why, I haven't played yet), that the combat system was hyped excessively and it seems like the worlds are underpopulated (but the game has just launched damnit!). Neither of these things bother me at all except the population part if it proved to be a lasting thing, I'm too social to solo in a MMOG.

What I do adore about this game before even playing is the mature rating. Less kids. Hopefully we'll see positive effects of that, as I really can't stand idiot 12 year olds running around acting like tards. WoW was full of that, and it was sickening. Bleurgh.

Too bad I won't get my copy before monday :(

[stm177]

It sounds like an interesting game, but I have other plans for this summer. MMOs are all-consuming, at least for me.

The computer requirements are steep as well. Maybe I'll try the game in a.. what do you call them again... the places with 10 computers with a T1 connnection where you pay 3$/hr to use them? Computer center? Darn it...

[Pwenet]

After a massive WoW addiction I kicked about a year ago I decided to give Conan a shot.

Tried it on my new laptop, it was okay. Then I finally repaired my desktop (needed a new video card for over a year) and WOW! Looks great and plays great.

I so far like it a lot better than WoW.

That is my short review.

[Exachix]

AoC Looks cool.

Be warned. The EU and the US servers are seperated. If you get the US version of the game you cannot interact with European Players.

I know people who are on Funcom's other MMO Who also play AoC (that's alot of money to Funcom per month). and they will have/have had/have got round that problem.

Just a warning. But ya. It looks coool

[Shikton]

AoC Looks cool.

Be warned. The EU and the US servers are seperated. If you get the US version of the game you cannot interact with European Players.

I know people who are on Funcom's other MMO Who also play AoC (that's alot of money to Funcom per month). and they will have/have had/have got round that problem.

Just a warning. But ya. It looks coool

It was the same with DAoC too, but that wasn't a problem. I think it's a good thing though. Easier to find people to play with on your own time schedule.

[Prophaniti]

I've definitely liked what I've seen so far on this. I'll need to upgrade my pc a little, mostly the processor (I'm the only persone I know still running a 1GHz). I'd really like to play a demo, though, before I start shelling out money for a new game. I'd also like to know if I have to pay the monthly subscription to access the single player 'night mode'. Answer is probably 'yes', but I can hope, right? So if anyone knows of a demo or something like that, I'd really like to know.

[TheThan]

I got to play it at a friend’s house yesterday. I quite liked what the game is doing. His machine is a beast so it had no problems with the graphics. And let me tell you they are sweet!

You have a lot of freedom in character creation. In wow, all characters of X race look the same except for their heads. In AoC you can change body height and width, as well as head features and other markings. Which while not new, it is certainly neat, and something I’ve always liked.


The combat is much more involved than it is in wow, which people will either love or hate.

What I really like is the environments; they immerse you in the history and feel of the world far more than wow ever did for me. The opening jungle island feels like a tropical paradise filled with all sorts of wonders and dangers.

The whole environment just seems so much more entertaining than wow (and since that’s why people play video games to begin with).

[Murongo]

At first I was excited when I heard there was going to be a heavy PvP twitch based game. Unfortunately, they then removed the twitch based aspect (largely) by adding an auto-tracking feature so not only do you not have to aim a swing or shot or spell, you don't even have to worry about facing the right direction. The twitch based swinging is largely formulaic and eventually turns into as much of a grind as WoW's "right click and wait" style combat.

The PvP zones turned out to be instanced fringes far away from the happy world of fighting NPCs. Lame. The same thing happened with WAR, they called it a PvP game at first and then a couple years into development it turns into a PvE game (WoW syndrome if you ask me). If you're into trying to get a bunch of people to do simple tasks against the computer, sure, you might enjoy it. Myself, I prefer fighting and leadership that revolves more around fighting another player(s), as it has less to do with memorization and more to do with improvisation, reflexes and bravado.

AoC certainly looks like a well made game, just not my type. Which disappointed me because at first it looked like it was going to be my type of game entirely. Kind of like planetside. Oh well, Darkfall or bust.

[Tren]

, you don't even have to worry about facing the right direction. The twitch based swinging is largely formulaic and eventually turns into as much of a grind as WoW's "right click and wait" style combat.

It's not a PvK or Dark Messiah FPS kind of "twitch" play no, but it's certainly more involved and tactical than WoW, you have to actually take note of your distance from enemies or you simply won't make contact, also if you're using a larger weapon it's to your advantage to maneuver so you'll hit multiple targets with one swing. But it's definitely much more involved than *click* auto-attack.


The same thing happened with WAR, they called it a PvP game at first and then a couple years into development it turns into a PvE game (WoW syndrome if you ask me).

I really have to question whether or not we've reading/watching the same WAR preview material :smalleek: I can't imagine how someone could consider WAR anything but a PvP game with modest PvE elements, given the entire point is to conquer territory from the opposing faction and eventually sack their capital city.

[Jube]

My Problem!

I played WoW for a long time, I got rather good at it and I'm still very fond of it (Planning to come back for a short return in the next expac). However my latency clearly made me a second class citizen.

They finally fixed that a little a while back now. But still, it was very apparent in any kind'a serious raiding or PvP that if you didn't live in America you had to work twice as hard as someone who did.

Twitch gaming sounds all well and good, but doesn't that completely exacerbate this problem? Is there any reason buying this game at all for someone with 500-600ms lag?

[Jube]

My Problem!

I played WoW for a long time, I got rather good at it and I'm still very fond of it (Planning to come back for a short return in the next expac). However my latency clearly made me a second class citizen.

They finally fixed that a little a while back now. But still, it was very apparent in any kind'a serious raiding or PvP that if you didn't live in America you had to work twice as hard as someone who did.

Twitch gaming sounds all well and good, but doesn't that completely exacerbate this problem? Is there any reason buying this game at all for someone with 500-600ms lag?

[Carrion_Humanoid]

I love the game and it loves me. I have abnormally quick reflexes already so I;m pulling off many combos at once, Its mad fun. The only problem I have with the game is spawn-campers, damn you! Except when I do it, then its funny.

[Khanderas]

I love the game and it loves me. I have abnormally quick reflexes already so I;m pulling off many combos at once, Its mad fun. The only problem I have with the game is spawn-campers, damn you! Except when I do it, then its funny.
Spawn-camping, is that when you kill someone who just ressed, or when you kill a monster needed for a quest before others have a chance to ? (I feel the term works on both explanations)

[leperkhaun]

I picked up the game. its fun, but i dont know how it stands end game. Right now im trying out two characters the first is a ranger. Mostly because I got a code for a bow, so i got a level 20 bow for free. its fun, but at my level im still mostly killing with my swords. I only have one bow ability....

The other im playing is a Tempest of Set. From in game chat i heard it was reallly powerful.....but thats probably not until later in the game. I actually kill stuff eaiser with my ranger.

Overall its a fun game, and ill probably play until WAR comes out. If WAR does not intreast me, ill probably keep AOC for when i dont feel like playing WoW. Iv found that alot of people are rather helpfull when it comes to questions i have. Thats a big plus, however when in daytime mode and trying to find people to run around and do quests with, it was kinda hard to find people to group with.

Granted most the quests you can solo.





The PvP zones turned out to be instanced fringes far away from the happy world of fighting NPCs. Lame. The same thing happened with WAR, they called it a PvP game at first and then a couple years into development it turns into a PvE game (WoW syndrome if you ask me). If you're into trying to get a bunch of people to do simple tasks against the computer, sure, you might enjoy it. Myself, I prefer fighting and leadership that revolves more around fighting another player(s), as it has less to do with memorization and more to do with improvisation, reflexes and bravado.



You might want to recheck out the game. As you move up in tiers the RvR areas get larger and the PvE only areas get smaller. They added in keeps in the open world and other open world objectives that you need to take in order to raid the enemies capitol city. You can raid the enemies capitol city and it will be split into 75V75 instances. While its true that the King encounter is PvE, there really isnt a way to do it PvP style.

There are senerios (like wow BG's). Basically if the people dont PvP, they cant take over the enemy capitol and thus get all that nifty stuff.

[Carrion_Humanoid]

Spawn-camping, is that when you kill someone who just ressed, or when you kill a monster needed for a quest before others have a chance to ? (I feel the term works on both explanations)

When they Res-Kill you, because sometimes you re spawn but your loading screen doesn't fade completely.