Age of Conan Launches with 700K Copies Shipped

[giaokei]

If you were wondering if AoC(http://www.ageofconan.com/ (http://tinyurl.com/5rvs9k)) was going to be a hit, wonder no more. Funcom has announce that it has shipped 700,000 units world wide for its May 20th launch date, which includes 110,000 units of the special edition box. To put that in perspective, World of Warcraft, which didn’t do a global launch, launched with 250,000 units in North America then a few months later in Europe with 280,000. Even if you add that up, that still puts AoC 170,000 units over WOW. This makes Age of Conan the highest pre-order number for any global launch of an original PC game, ever.

Although Funcom has stated their servers are up to the challenge to handle all these players, there will no doubt be some hickups on launch day considering the huge numbers. Since I’m waiting on some reviews, hopefully by the time I get it everything will be running smoothly.

For those of you that pre-order the game and are already playing, please let us know what you think of it so far.

from:http://www.mmocrunch.com/2008/05/19/age-of-conan-ships-700000-units

If this is correct, not only is this number much larger (2-3 times) than I expected it to be, it's high than LotRO's launch by a good margin. It's even higher than WoW's launch numbers, but that's a dubious comparison, since WoW did not launch worldwide.

[Erloas]

700k copies shipped isn't the same as 700k copies sold. All that really means is that they have 700k copies in the hands of retailers to be delievered to customers. This will mean isn't not going to be hard to find a copy of the game but that is about it.

I would imagine the game is selling well. The real question for an MMO isn't how many people try the game on release, its how many people are still playing the game 3-6 months down the line.

[Breltar]

LoTro was also at half a million players last month, though I am sure Conan might have cut this down a bit.

[Carrion_Humanoid]

I <3 Age of Conan, I love the game the only problem is the Spawn-Campers, thats it. The Battle method is intuitive, and it actually requires finger skill.

[stm177]

Have they sucked people out of other MMOs like WoW? I've heard that people have been treading water in that game for a while.

[Eakin]

Have they sucked people out of other MMOs like WoW? I've heard that people have been treading water in that game for a while.

The real test of that will be when Blizzard next releases subscription numbers. If there's a noticeable drop, we'll be able to assume Conan made a dent. The real test will be whether this can arrest Blizzard's ascent into the stratosphere, especially when the next expansion launches.

[bobothegoat]

The system reqs on AoC make me doubt its potential as a "WoW-Killer." Part of WoW's success is that you can really run it on pretty much any computer. AoC's specs call for a theoretical future-computer from space by comparison.

[Khanderas]

The system reqs on AoC make me doubt its potential as a "WoW-Killer." Part of WoW's success is that you can really run it on pretty much any computer. AoC's specs call for a theoretical future-computer from space by comparison.
What are you talking about ? My comp will handle it easily and it is far from space age. I only lacked 333 MHz on my processor and I have barely upgraded a thing on it in two years.
Frankly when WoW came out, I had to upgrade more on it then I will have to do now.

As for killing, problebly not. I know several who are trying out AoC but have not cancelled WoW accounts yet. And they said they would be back when expansion hits in any case. May dent it alittle, with a half a mil moving to AoC the first few months (as in quitting payments, until expansion anyways), that means about 5%. Nothing WoW can't handle even if the actual money lost will be impressive.

[Breltar]

I am wondering about when AoC is going to hit the consoles, if that will make its sub numbers jump or not. Is this going to be the first true cross hardware MMO?

I read a good blog about all MMOs and comparative thoughts here. (http://www.thegrouchygamer.com/)

[Khanderas]

I am wondering about when AoC is going to hit the consoles, if that will make its sub numbers jump or not. Is this going to be the first true cross hardware MMO?

I read a good blog about all MMOs and comparative thoughts here. (http://www.thegrouchygamer.com/)
Intresting blogs, they support my views quite well :smallbiggrin:

Final fantasy XI online is console playable IIRC, and I think it helps them, as it will AoC.

[Breltar]

Intresting blogs, they support my views quite well :smallbiggrin:

Final fantasy XI online is console playable IIRC, and I think it helps them, as it will AoC.

Glad you like it, hope you arent the author in disguise....:smallsmile:

Were you able to play with the PC users in FFXI? I honestly didnt even know about that game until Vanguard crashed and burned and folks talked about going back to it.

[Khanderas]

Glad you like it, hope you arent the author in disguise....:smallsmile:

Were you able to play with the PC users in FFXI? I honestly didnt even know about that game until Vanguard crashed and burned and folks talked about going back to it.
Never did play Final Fantasy Online (ordered it online but it was lost in the mail so I got my money back and didn't bother to order it again) but I would imagine they played in the same world and all.
Heck they had a translator, so Japanese could communicate with english speaking ppl with varying degrees of success) and with that in mind, sharing a server of both consoles and PC's seems not so far-fetched.

[Azuroth]

Were you able to play with the PC users in FFXI?
Yes, although as a PC user, the interface suuuuucks, since it was designed for consoles.

[sihnfahl]

Have they sucked people out of other MMOs like WoW? I've heard that people have been treading water in that game for a while.
More like twiddling their thumbs.

It's become 'what's next, what's next - oh, WOTLK! Six months out, oh well, guess I'll find something else to play until then since I'm bored of this repetitive gameplay...'

[bobothegoat]

What are you talking about ? My comp will handle it easily and it is far from space age. I only lacked 333 MHz on my processor and I have barely upgraded a thing on it in two years.
Frankly when WoW came out, I had to upgrade more on it then I will have to do now.
AoC doesn't have steep reqs for anyone who basically plays games as a hobby. My computer meets the reqs just fine as well. There are plenty of games pushing steeper reqs than AoC is as well, but they also don't have as much success as WoW. To be a Wow-Killer, the game has to be runnable by the mainstream masses, and to that group, AoC's minimum specs will look pretty brutal. Especially if the game might as well be unplayable at minimum specs, and you actually have to be closer to "recommended specs," as is often the case (though, I'm told the game has been optimized far more by release than it had been during beta, which might help it).

[leperkhaun]

The real test isnt if they can steal subscriptions from WoW, Its how many of those people who went from WoW to AOC will still be playing AOC when Wrath of the Lich King is released.

Any game that claims to be a WoW killer....its lying. WoW is just too big to be brought down by a single game. Its going to be the big boy on the block for many years to come. A lot of people i know who play WoW and who like AOC and want to try out WAR......they are still keeping thier wow accounts.

[Khanderas]

To be a Wow-Killer, the game has to be runnable by the mainstream masses, and to that group, AoC's minimum specs will look pretty brutal. Especially if the game might as well be unplayable at minimum specs, and you actually have to be closer to "recommended specs," as is often the case (though, I'm told the game has been optimized far more by release than it had been during beta, which might help it).
Ah that is what you ment. As the post below yours and above mine says, to be a WoW-killer you actually have to make WoW lose a substantial amount of subscriptions when the Northrend expansion comes out.
Chances for that are slim.

Sides, I don't count my computor to be any kind of advanced.
I run Windows XP on it, most of its parts are more then 2 years old (some of it closing in on 5, and my small harddrive is... 4 Megs.. not gigs. Megs. How old that is I cant even guess without being called a liar :)
Compared to WoW the specs are harsh, but WoW is also several years old. When it came out, not a small number had to upgrade their PC then as well.

That being said, WoW killer, no. Be the first real competition to WoW, problebly.

[bluish_wolf]

I run Windows XP on it, most of its parts are more then 2 years old (some of it closing in on 5, and my small harddrive is... 4 Megs.. not gigs. Megs. How old that is I cant even guess without being called a liar :)


4 megabytes total? You shouldn't even have enough space to install Windows, let alone a game.

[TheCleric]

it's also going to be released on the Xbox right?

[Khanderas]

4 megabytes total? You shouldn't even have enough space to install Windows, let alone a game.
Its my Small Harddrive. I have a bigger one as well, perhaps I should have been clearer :)

[Tom_Violence]

Is anyone actually playing this yet here? I hate MMOGs more than anyone I know, but every now and then I see one that actually looks to have a glimmer of promise. Anyone got any good impressions?

[factotum]

Its my Small Harddrive. I have a bigger one as well, perhaps I should have been clearer :)

I'm pretty sure you're misreading something somewhere. The very first hard drives ever released for the PC (and we're talking the best part of 25 years ago now!) were 10Mb units. Why would anyone bother with a 4Mb hard drive? That's only about twice the capacity of a floppy disc!

[Talanic]

Closer to 3 - and only if you're counting the more advanced 3.5 floppies. The 5.25 ones were only 525 kilobytes; a 4mb hard drive approaches ten of those.

I wouldn't be that surprised to see a 4mb hard drive; even ruling out an off-brand knockoff of the 10mb early hard drives, there's also the possibility that it started as a 10mb but has damage/partitioning/hidden files that have restricted its size.

[bobothegoat]

Is anyone actually playing this yet here? I hate MMOGs more than anyone I know, but every now and then I see one that actually looks to have a glimmer of promise. Anyone got any good impressions?

Well, there's another thread here (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=81035) where some game-experiences were posted, and for the most part people seemed to have positive reactions.

I haven't tried it myself. I'm probably going to wait for a trial version to be released before I do though. It really seems like the sort of game that's going to be hit or miss for me, and I'd rather not go spend $50 on something that, if I don't enjoy enough to pay a subscription for, I won't be able to play again anyway.

[Rutee]

Guys, you can't kill WoW if your game can't run on everything. Sorry, but there's just no way.

But you know, who cares? Really? All that matters is that the game itself is good, and that you've got people to play with, right? And it sounds like AoC has both. I'm pleasantly surprised by that ship count, because while that doesn't mean that everything's sold, they genuinely think it's going to move about that much. I may give it a poke, but I'm not expecting it.. too much to do.

[Khanderas]

I'm pretty sure you're misreading something somewhere. The very first hard drives ever released for the PC (and we're talking the best part of 25 years ago now!) were 10Mb units. Why would anyone bother with a 4Mb hard drive? That's only about twice the capacity of a floppy disc!
I seem to have flipped the Megs and Gigs when I typed. It is 4 gigs. :smallredface:



Guys, you can't kill WoW if your game can't run on everything. Sorry, but there's just no way.
It isn't gonna kill WoW, since WoW is just too strong. My point was more to not compare the needed specs between WoW and AoC straight off, since WoW came out several years ago and the spec for WoW is trivial now, it might not have been back then (wasn't for me).

The OP is thumping its chest as a "most sold ever prior to release ever" thing, but that is because it is a viral advertising bot. Noone else has expressed AoC being a WoW killer.

[leperkhaun]

Its a decent game. Its fun to play. Anyway, iv heard that there are some balance issues end game that needs to get addressed as well as a lack of end game content overall.

From what i heard grouping is not something you want to do. Basically if you group you lag behind xp wise and what this means is that you will spend MUCH more time grinding mobs to make up the difference. The reason is that when you group xp gets split, and there is no group xp mod......so if you do 10 quests where they expect you to kill 100 monsters to finish them, and in a group you only get xp for 20 of those........

Also there are a couple level ranges that are dead quest wise which means a grind.

Overall the game has some issues, but i think most of them are fixable. I have no idea how the class balance gets as bad as everyone says it does, but apperently alot of classes are able to one shot each other.

Most of the complaints iv heard deal more with pvp balance. PvE wise...(since i have a guardian) the only real complaint iv seen is the inability to tank more than say 2-3 mobs reliably. Typical group set up seems to be 2 of each archtype.

[Tom_Violence]

From what i heard grouping is not something you want to do. Basically if you group you lag behind xp wise and what this means is that you will spend MUCH more time grinding mobs to make up the difference. The reason is that when you group xp gets split, and there is no group xp mod......so if you do 10 quests where they expect you to kill 100 monsters to finish them, and in a group you only get xp for 20 of those.....

Meh, that's pretty much put me off the game entirely. It sounds like its gonna be just another MMOG with all the usual boring problems.

[leperkhaun]

Meh, that's pretty much put me off the game entirely. It sounds like its gonna be just another MMOG with all the usual boring problems.

Its a fun game, if you have the cash to spare id say get it and try it out. There are some issues, but every single MMO has had them, including wow.

Heck WoW release was actually really really really bad. Im sure alot of the issues are getting looked at, and most the players who spend some time on the forums know what things are ripe for a nerf.

My post contained mostly the issues of the game and complaints iv seen, but iv played it. Its fun, ill probably keep playing until WAR comes out. Though to be honest ill probably keep the subscription even then. 15 bucks a month isnt a lot of money.

[Genda]

Guys, you can't kill WoW if your game can't run on everything. Sorry, but there's just no way.

But you know, who cares? Really?

This is a great point. You don't have to out-do WoW to be a good and successful game. AoC is more fun than I thought it would be. I'd even panned it a little in the beta reviews I wrote at thegrouchygamer.com (thanks for the plug, btw, Breltar.)

The fact is that no one is going to come out of the box and beat WoW. It's going to be small attrition here and there that eventually takes the beast down. Until then, unless you are a big "me too" gamer, there's nothing stopping you from enjoying something other than WoW.

[Bleen]

Guys, you can't kill WoW if your game can't run on everything. Sorry, but there's just no way.

But you know, who cares? Really? All that matters is that the game itself is good, and that you've got people to play with, right? And it sounds like AoC has both.
While my opinion of AoC is "eh" at best, I care insomuch as the lack of "worthy" competition basically meaning that Blizzard never has to pick up any of their slack or put any effort forward to make their game better, and can pretty much crap on their consumer base all they want.

I'd love to see someone step in that the snowy giant registers as a 'threat' so they'd get their asses back in gear and make good, high-quality content for once. I'm hoping that between AoC and WAR that actually happens, though if I have a good game to play for a few months with other people that'll be fine, too...

[Tom_Violence]

Its a fun game, if you have the cash to spare id say get it and try it out. There are some issues, but every single MMO has had them, including wow.

Heck WoW release was actually really really really bad. Im sure alot of the issues are getting looked at, and most the players who spend some time on the forums know what things are ripe for a nerf.

My post contained mostly the issues of the game and complaints iv seen, but iv played it. Its fun, ill probably keep playing until WAR comes out. Though to be honest ill probably keep the subscription even then. 15 bucks a month isnt a lot of money.

Well, I like playing online to play with other people, getting into the whole grouping thing is what I'm in to, but this just sounds like its the usual rat race to the top of the big pile of XP. Why can't someone just make a damn game where there isn't huge gulfs in power levels between all the players in it?

[Bleen]

Because that doesn't make people pay monthy fees to support the servers and pay the employees and make a profit. Sorry, truth of the genre. Now, if someone makes it an interesting grind, I won't mind. I actually enjoy how City of games play out, and would like raiding in WoW more if there wasn't so much artificial difficulty tagged onto it.

[Khanderas]

Heck WoW release was actually really really really bad. Im sure alot of the issues are getting looked at, and most the players who spend some time on the forums know what things are ripe for a nerf.
Heck yea. I remember several things that were just horribly wrong on startup. But I honestly don't remember what it was or I would point it out more often. MMO's have bugs in the beginning, even WoW.

On the comment AoC lacks endgame... Well WoW didnt have Molten core, Battlegrounds, PvP points (Honor), PvP rewards, Diremaul, Maraudon, reputation rewards (except other races mounts and 10% discount with vendors and repairs) and many more I could list. You got to level 60, then you farmed Upper blackrock spire for kicks... perhaps attack Ironforge (but no PvP points and the servers usually couldn't handle the stress so you crashed and that server was down for a while.
Endgame was not there.

[Bleen]

Endgame will exist when there are enough people there to warrant it existing.

In a game that expects thousands of subscribers, the 100 people who hit the cap in the first month are likely the lowest common denominator.

I'd honestly rather have a mid-game that remained fresh and new than see developers focusing all their attention on the endgame while letting the content before it crumble and decay.

The mentality of "Endgame is the real game" that WoW has inspired is stupid design and implies that roughly 70% of the game world that has been created shouldn't matter.

[The J Pizzel]

I've been playing it since the 3 day early release. My friend moved back into town and we've been playing it on his computer. I installed it on mine, and it couldn't even load the damn character creation screen. Anyone who claims that "this game can run on any 'ole computer" is honestly just wrong. It can't. I've sold my computer and ordered a new one with higher specs and a GeForce 8800 to run it. Any graphics card under a 7600 cannot run this game. I'll be deleting my character on his account and making new ones as soon as it comes in. So, on the computer spec discussion, you do need a pertty good computer to run this game. Now, as someone above said...if you already have a gaming computer you're probably good to go. But no store bought family PC is gonna run this game without some serious modifications.

As far as the game is concerned. I abasolutely love it. I started on FFXI several years ago and then went to WoW. For those who've played both, the difference is night and day. This game seems to be right smack in the middle. Graphics are realistic like FFXI and not cartoony like WoW. Grouping is there and useful like WoW, but not reqiured like it was in FFXI. You can group all day or just solo. The spells are beautiful and the classes and races are new and innovative. The names have been used before, but the ideas are cool. Obviously the combat is new and I can't begin to tell how much I like it. No more auto attack. God I love that. I've never one enjoyed a melee tank class in a MMO...as of now, my favorite AoC class is the Conquerer. Which is a melee tank/buffer. The combat is just so damn fun you can't possibly get bored with it. You have to watch where their shields are to know where to swing. I like that.

So, that being said I'll be happy to answer any questions. I've played most classes up till about level 10 (which really isn't that high) and a leveled my Conq. and Necro to 18. Necro is sweet.

jP

[Shikton]

I'm also loving this game at the moment. I've gotten a Priest of Mitra up to level 28, and it's awesome. I can do wonders both solo and in groups, which is something I've been longing for. Not that I've grouped much up to this point but that'll come in time =)

The game is a bit buggy though. Hoping they will fix a lot of the major ones VERY quickly (like quest items only dropping for 1 person in the party...) etc.

[Rutee]

The mentality of "Endgame is the real game" that WoW has inspired is stupid design and implies that roughly 70% of the game world that has been created shouldn't matter.

Seconded. If the cap is all that matters (Not /just/ WoW, but) then why have levels before it? (I know that answer, money. Rhetorical question >.>)

[leperkhaun]

Seconded. If the cap is all that matters (Not /just/ WoW, but) then why have levels before it? (I know that answer, money. Rhetorical question >.>)

Well end game will always matter, in an MMO it has too. If it didnt, then the only purpose of playing would be to roll a character, get it to cap, abandon the character, then start another one.

For the way MMO's work, you have to have a way to keep players intreasted in playing. I hate leveling characters, absolutly hate it. Just the first 1-3 times its not bad. You can try different classes, you do different sets of quests, but by the time you are on your 10th character it just gets annoying.

Its not like an RTS or stragey game where every game you play is different because you are playing against a human opponent, so the replay value is high.

MMO's need end game content to keep people playing. Its no fun to pay 15 bucks a month and keep throwing away your character.

You have levels before end game for a couple reasons.

1) its fun (the first couple times) to go through the story and do intreasting quests and see the various areas.

2) To learn how to play your class. Some people are able to just jump in and just know how to play a class, but most people arnt like that. Leveling lets you get adjusted to how that class plays.

If you ignore end game, then all you have left is a multi player console game with a 15 buck a month subscription. they might as well have made it a single player game with a multi player option (like neverwinter nights).

Leveling can be fun, it is fun....but for most people its only fun the first couple times around.

[Bleen]

Well end game will always matter, in an MMO it has too. If it didnt, then the only purpose of playing would be to roll a character, get it to cap, abandon the character, then start another one.

Didn't say it shouldn't. However, it's not a factor that should render an MMO irredeemably bad, especially not during the first month of its release.


For the way MMO's work, you have to have a way to keep players intreasted in playing. I hate leveling characters, absolutly hate it. Just the first 1-3 times its not bad. You can try different classes, you do different sets of quests, but by the time you are on your 10th character it just gets annoying.

If you hate the process of levelling, then that's a flaw of the game's pre-endgame design, not the actual lack of endgame itself. WoW, for instance, has a poorly-designed mid(20-50)game. A number of MMO's I've played don't, and the levelling process is actually an enjoyable part of the experience.


Its not like an RTS or stragey game where every game you play is different because you are playing against a human opponent, so the replay value is high.
City of Heroes wants to have a word with you. The problem here is the veryexistence of over-emphasis on endgame - all the new content tends to be glutted towards the very top of the level cap, while the previously-existing levels are never revised. If developers would, instead, spread out content to areas that seem starved(which may very well include endgame, in some cases!), rather than stuff it all towards the end, there's actually some variety in what content your various alts are going to be put through.



MMO's need end game content to keep people playing. Its no fun to pay 15 bucks a month and keep throwing away your character.

Right; so why does that matter during the first year of release, when no one's at that stage anyway?


You have levels before end game for a couple reasons.

1) its fun (the first couple times) to go through the story and do intreasting quests and see the various areas.

2) To learn how to play your class. Some people are able to just jump in and just know how to play a class, but most people arnt like that. Leveling lets you get adjusted to how that class plays.

Right, and when those parts of the game are neglected, then they're no longer fun for newcomers who come along and have to deal with the lackluster, stale, and unattended to pre-endgame content.


If you ignore end game, then all you have left is a multi player console game with a 15 buck a month subscription. they might as well have made it a single player game with a multi player option (like neverwinter nights).

Diablo.


Leveling can be fun, it is fun....but for most people its only fun the first couple times around.
Like I said; during the first year of release, it's still going to be the majority's "first couple times around" anyway. As said earlier, WoW didn't even have endgame content until two years after release.

[Jube]

However WoW completely opened up the market. There's a lot more people playing MMOs and there's a lot more people wanting things from MMOs.

Nowadays it simply wouldn't be acceptable to make endgame wait 2years. I don't agree it needs to be put in straight off but I definatly wouldn't postpone it for a year. When you're competing with WoW you need people to keep playing your game, not play it, hit cap, get bored and leave. Maybe they'll come back when Endgame's out but most likely they'll be playing WotLK or WAR since they'll both be here later this year.

(I'm expecting WAR to absolutely kill AoC if it's any good. Most of the fans seem to be around the same kind'a people but with a stronger following for WAR. Just a prediction 'course)

Also: I disagree that the WoW levelling is bad. It's less good for sure, but when it came out the 40-50 zone, while painfull was leagues ahead of any competition. It continues to be among the best MMOs for Solo and group play during the levelling period. And hell, with the Levelling XP change a couple'a patches ago it's a breeze, you could do 2levels a day if you put your mind to it.