Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures Comments by Rob Fahey

Except that not a single person in this comment thread has suggested that AoC is anywhere near WoW in quality terms. It patently isn't.

Everything else is a matter of opinion, however. You say it's visually boring, I say the view from the top of Connall's Valley makes you wrong. Others say the combat is a boring pointless gimmick. The hours I've already ploughed into the very enjoyable combat suggests not everyone feels the same. Some say that the instancing and loads ruin any semblance of a seamless world and therefore they can't get invested in it. Maybe I'm just special, but most of the game is hubs from which you spend hours and hours questing: Connall's Valley, Wild Lands of Zelata, some 15hrs of gameplay in those two, with minimal loading.

Bottom line is it's not fundamentally broken, at least in my opinion and that of the reviewer. I've met loads of great people, completed loads of fun quests, and I'm having a ball with it.

Do I think the UI and chat/guild management is a clusterfuck? You bet - I don't think I can imagine a way they could've fucked that up any more. But it just isn't a gamebreaker for me. I don't have the time to waste on shit games - this just doesn't fall into that category for me. That said, and not that it's that big a deal, it's a 7/10 for me.

Or maybe Magpie's right and I've been chomping on these here Blue Pills for too long, and for some reason I'm deluding myself. :)

re: the comparisons to WOW at release

The minute I hit 60 (as one of the first rogues on the server) I was into the attunement for MC with various groups of 5 players throughout numerous complete, balanced and fun instances.

That very same evening I was in a fully working 40man raid situation, downing the first boss and collecting Epic gear with stats that mattered and looks that differed.

I compare that to our guild's AOC level 80s now having painfully grinded awful, broken, incomplete content for the latter part of the game, only to hit the cap and be completely bored and un-catered for.

I'd still like to see my points on the second page answered.

Nothing posted by either EG staff member in any way justifies this abortion receiving an 8/10.

Oli:
"Lest we forget, WOW launched with no organised PVP at all - no battlegrounds! can you imagine? - and whilst it was relatively bug-free, the servers couldn't cope with demand and were suffering constant unannounced downtime (something else Funcom has mostly managed to avoid). Should it have been given a 7 for that? Of course not. "

Yay, lets compare it to a launch that took place ~4 years ago. I see what your aiming at, but thats just a silly argument.
Whats laughable is that the Conan launch wasnt better than WoW. On par with, id say. Some things are better (as you point out) while others cant even stand up to a launch made FOUR years ago.
And they solved one of the problems by heavy instancing. Something that, personally, ruins a whole lot of the immersion.
As the endgame pvp in Conan is mediocre at best (today that is, may improve), its hard to see that as one of the games "strong points". "Look at us! Pvp at launch motherfukkers. Its shit, but IT IS THERE."

I dont know where im going wih this really. No point in arguing with reviewers over a number. Im done trolling. Can find me under my bridge.
Rather than replying to this, use the time to read Gaols "post of obvious flaws" on page 2. Cheers (y)

being honest, i think its ridiculous for people to be writing conan off.

gaol may not like the game, and have legitimate concerns, but to be frank everyone of them is a?) his opinion and b) if correct is fixable.

the hyperbole that comes with mmorpgs is unreal. the recent outrage, and i do mean OUTRAGE at the removal of attunements from wow is truth to that.

the point is, AoC is 30 days old. A year from now, it wont be recognizable. If you compared WoW now, to WoW 4 years ago, i;m sure, SURE that you if you interview 10,000 players you'd get

a) Rabid gamers who would put their mother heart on the table and swear the game was broken, unplayable and a waste of time
b) rabid gamers who would whip their cock out and wank all over the show and say it was the best thing since god developed megan fox
c) Everyone else that just plays the game.

Conan is just an mmo, it'll fix things, break things, and grow in its own regard. WoW will continue, but if you think the game isn't stagnating just a little, you're living a fantasy. WoW is an institution now, it has become its own structure, and any rapid and original departures at this stage would be game breaking.

As a result, some people will go to conan, just as some went to lotro, and some will go to war. They'll have their own communities, their own needs and wants. WoW will be a vanilla offering something that defines the genre, does it well, but never breaks the mold that itself has created and never unbalance anything.

So why panic about an 8? Those that like the game will direct its growth, you can try it again when its fixed. I have a lot of faith in Funcom anyway. AO was a DOG, and i mean a DOG when it launched. It hit a peak a few years after that, and to this day, flaws and all, i have more memories, good AND bad, of AO than WoW.

Now calm down. I mean, all this chitter chatter is taking us away from the big story. Was GTA4 better on the Xbox.

Yes. Yes it was.

"Now calm down. I mean, all this chitter chatter is taking us away from the big story. Was GTA4 better on the Xbox.

Yes. Yes it was. "

Good diffusal tactic there ;)

"b) if correct is fixable."
"the point is, AoC is 30 days old. A year from now, it wont be recognizable."

Thats my biggest complaint for the Conan 8 you just brought up there.
So you also think a game should be reviewed with a "what will be" in mind?

The Orange Box for ps3 got shitty reviews (in comparison). Rightfully so! It had some serious issues.
Those where later addressed in a patch. Should the original review had taken the future patch in consideration? I personally dont think so, and nor did EG.
With MMOs thou..its suddenly a different story?

Exactly Krelle, and this 'MMO effect' you describe runs contrary to the whole re-review thing that Eurogamer brought in to counter it.

Krelle and Butler

The game will change as it grows, but that doesn't negate its score now.

EG reviewed it, and they found it to be enjoyable. More than any other genre, the MMO is what you make of it. No other game type offers you as much to do. Yea, some MMORPG's dont have everything right straight away, but you can only rate them on your current experience and your expectations for it.

The re-review is a good idea, as it allows you to reflect on everything that does change.

A stationary and permanent score for a piece of entertainment that WILL change is absurd and unfair. Its not a movie, or single player game, which will always be the same. But nor is it something that changes everyday. Scores are fair, as a means to see how a game is in a particular state at that time.

You rate the game as is, each time you play.

As for the orange box issue, i don't think EG should have based their review on an expected patch, but after the patch was released, a re-review wouldn't have been unfair, if the patch was of considerable impact.

Again, thats a rare case. Remember, patches in MMO's and expansion packs can have considerable impact, often changing entire swathes of games completely. Basing a review on something that may no longer be valid is unfair.

All MMO's should be subject to reviews, to review how they are at that time.

Point! Counterpoint! Point! Counterpoint!! Point! Point! Counterpoint! Point! Counterpoint! Point! Counterpoint! Point! Counterpoint! Point! Counterpoint! Point!

**Primal Scream

No actually - there were a lot of really nice (as in interesting to read) comments. Just thought I'd thrown in my two cents. I have a level 26 Conq. that so far I've really enjoyed playing. The combat for me is interesting and feels right and is why I haven't logged into my wow account in a week. Now don't be silly, it’s not the only reason, but so far it’s the most relevant reason. Back that up with this – “oh crap – I’ve got to log into wow so I can farm for the raid tonight”! This highlights the fact that – YES – wow is getting stagnant for me. Don’t get me wrong – I love wow – and what it has become – full of friends and fun and three uber toons I can run around with and pwn sht. I don’t see myself canceling my wow account either btw. I keep getting this feeling that any second AoC is gona turn to sht and my old faithful stand-by will be there waiting for me.

Things I love about AoC:
*The graphics are fantastic. I have to mention three especially nice stop-and-go-oh-shit-that’s-cool moments. 1-turning around after creating my first toon and seeing the water and the beaches and reefs and white sands. 2-Seeing the city of Tortage off in the distance and noting that it just looked perfect. 3-Climbing up to a knoll in Conarc Village and seeing the snow-capped mountains and the cloudy blue sky for the first time.
*The combat system is oh-so-sweet. When I’m fighting a bad guy and I hit my sequence of combo’s just right, not missing any of the button smashing juiciness, it flicks my pleasure center’s in just the right way.
*The way everything looks – it just feels right!

Think I don’t like about AoC:
* Zoning in and waiting for the new content to load. Look – I don’t mind it when I’m going from like the village to the valley or from Tortage to Conarch Village – but walking into the Inn or into a house is Irritating to say the least.
* The shear amount of crap I had to go into to get my freaking drivers to work well enough to play the game.
* The economy and AH is absolutely useless and this makes me sad.
* The generally unpolished aspect of it. Though this is something I’m willing to live with in hopes that the dev’s will fix it.
* Broken quests
* Being able to run along a cliff without falling or running down mountains.
* Being able to swim up a water-fall.
* Mobs acting all goofy.
* Mobs not following me in the water.
* Being hemmed in and forced into areas. Let me go to the higher level areas even if it means my toon will get mauled. The fact that I can’t just irritates me and makes me feel over-manipulated.
* The fact that the Feat-Tree’s are too freaking complicated and I can’t tell if it made any difference when I put points into it. Just seems like it’s a bit overwhelming. The tweaks are too small and there are too many of them. (come on guys - .3% of anything is just silly - stick to a ten point system - its okay just make it 1% - it'll be alright - really)


**Tons more to say but this is already to long.**

Wow this comments thread is insane.

People need to calm down a bit, everyone has their opinions.

I really liked AoC, Gaol etc. obviously didn't. You can list as much as you want, I will still like it, and they still wont. The review is fine, its the reviewers opinion.

Benno: So, just becouse we wont change the world (or opinions) means we cant have a debate about it?
Do you expect politicians to switch sides, or problems to get solved, every time there is a debate on that level aswell?

The only thing youve contributed with is this thread is several "im better than you guys. I wont take part in the debate, which means im above you."-posts.

Somn po g. klocka ar fukkin 02.40 i Kyoto redan.

Nothing wrong with the comments thread going fubar Benno, its better a case is made here than in the forum threads which you won't see me near, as I've no interest in ragging on people who are enjoying it. Eventully though, expect it to contain the usual backlash about lack of patches when the game was a stinker from the get go.

I disagree with the idea that this game can be patched to be bearable, and believe that even if the review is based on 'potential' it should still be getting a merciless kicking from the press. Its fundamentally flawed at a design level; its a below par one player game that that has been shoehorned on a server with no thought about grouping mechanics, community, structured pvp, class differences or a working economy.

The last mmorpg to put such a decidedly one-player based experience on a server?

Auto Assault.

7/10 :-s

Krelle = got killed on a pvp server and stopped at lvl 22. Bitter lol.

I can taste your tears from here, yummy.

Gaol, i say again go to http://www.gamerankings.com/htmlpages4/9...
So far 20 sites/mags have reviewed AOC. The average is 83%

Can 20 professional reviewers be way off? or should we believe you , one single person on a warpath because you don't like the game.

I totally respect you not enjoying AOC.
I still don't get why it's so important to you to trash it left and right and tell everyone how much you hate it.

If you had written down pros and cons in a balanced way, myself and others would have takened your critisism seriously.
Even if you found the negatives to outweigh the posetives for you.

When all you do is trash it like it has nothing at all in it that is right or even remotely enjoyable, well something's off....

Noone forced you to buy the game, if you don't like it don't play it and move on. I mean is 50 euros all the wealth you had in the world and Funcom robbed it from you?

You sound more and more like a WOW fanboy doing your best to stop people to drop WOW for AOC.
Or a WAR fan worried about WAR not getting enough players. There is room for all and more MMO's. I believe the future will prove me right on that one :-)

If someone like WOW more than AOC i say cool , play it. If someone like AOC better, i say cool play that.
A game can't please everyone all the time, but it can please someone most of the time.

Bottom line is everyone have to try for themselves and find out if the game is right or not for them. Just make sure that you have a good enough rig before trying, if not the experiece will not be good.

Benno: Never tried the game, to be fair. Just trolling. Wonder whos bitter, eh?

1sien1

Go back and read my criticisms and respond to them and I might take you seriously. Your post is a list of assumptions about my motives and PC rig which are all way off base (as you'd know if you had read them). Phattso has done a decent job of defending the game (I doubt you've even played it), so its not like this thread has been one sided

The thread is dieing out now anyway, it'll be off the front page soon. Can 20 reviewers be wrong? Wait 12 months and we'll see who was right. You keep hiding behind that metacritic score, which as I suggested already, is the primary motive here.

Gaol, I have read your critisism and all i find is rant, rant ,rant oh and more ranting.

Not one posetive thing to say. Your posts lack balance which i why i totally disregard them and suspect you have "hidden" motives.

Note that a game's quality and sucess don't go hand in hand. Gaming history is full of games that were considered great that just did not sell and the other way around.
Reviewers find AOC to be good, and it has already sold lot's of copies ,wether enough people stay in game to call it a sucess or not is way to early to tell.

We can agree about one thing though, the answer to this lies in the future.

My criticisms are not just a rant, and even the other AoC defenders here will back me up on that. You're way of base 1simen1, and not adding anything to the discussion.

@ Gaol - after criticising you earlier in the thread for not presenting your arguments well, I take that back after reading your full critique, you make some very interesting points there and make them well, I salute you for taking the time to do so.

Just to clear up any perception that there's Gaol on one side and me on the other: I'm not defending the game and all of its issues blindly. Very clearly there are elements in AoC that were rushed, are unfinished, and even that were ill conceived. Buyer beware and all that.

My sole purpose in posting in this thread has been to simply say this: for everyone like Gaol who thinks the game is an affront to nature with zero merit, there's probably someone like me that's happily plodding through the game and having a great time.

While Gaol, to his credit, has listed the things he dislikes about the game very clearly I would point out that more than half of them do basically boil down to personal preference, rather than facts that can be set in stone. I like the combat. I find the game to be high on atmosphere. The instancing hasn't been a significant issue for me yet. Some of the visuals are breathtaking. I get a very clear sense of being in a MMORPG world.

And while Gaol appears (thus far) to be spot on regarding class balance (in that there don't appear to be encounters that utilise specific class functions, as WoW does so well in its dungeons) I'm not convinced that this in any way precludes a group of dungeon runners from, you know, just having some fun. :)

Anyways, just thought I'd clear that up. As Gaol mentions, once this thread drops off the front page it'll barely get any posts. And maybe in a year AoC will be a footnote in history. But Gaol won't be "proven right" - I'll just be disappointed that a game I'm enjoying didn't go the distance.

Age of Conan: Not as Shit as You've Been Led to Believe.

I should work in marketing - that tag line is genius! ;)

A fair review I'd say, covers the bug issues well but still congratulates the game on being, quite simply, good.

Closing comment spot on, the next few months and Funcom's addressing of issues will be this titles make or break. For now, my 30 days has run out and I'm in no rush to go back yet...really liked AOC, can see potential for a wow competitor ( but never a wow defeater, simply because wow has gone on for so long , no other reason )

Maybe I'll pay for another month or two next week...maybe not.....wish play.com would send me one of the 17.99 sixty day play cards I ordered a month ago....

"But Gaol won't be "proven right" - I'll just be disappointed that a game I'm enjoying didn't go the distance.

Touche, thats a much bigger concern than my ego getting a boost. Believe it or not, I won't be getting any satisfaction from another mmorpg crash.

Well, I meant more "proven right about the game's basic failings" rather than winning teh internetz. :)

So did I. :)

I w1n btw ;p

Heh - well as long as I'm bored with it before you and the rest of the AOC Resistance storm their servers and take them offline, I'm happy. ;)

Jebus C.., the amount of time some of you guys put into commenting on a game you hate is just beyond me..Do you half n' half your days into 1.playing MMO's 2. Ranting about how much the MMOs you're not playing suck. No wonder you're in such a terrible mood;).
In Metacritic 523 users (most of whom probably don't participate in any organised scheme to promote shitty games) has given the game an average of... 7.9!!! Now will you please shut up about the conspiracy theory and leave room for a constructive debate!?!

Gaol, you are not discussing, you are ranting. There is a differece.

You don't like the game, that is very clear to all here.

You have an opinion, well here is 3363 more : http://www.gamespot.com/pc/rpg/ageofcona...

Gamespot gave it an 8,5/10 and the user average after 3363 votes is 83/100.

Your user review for this game (if you were to give one) would probably be like this : "this game is really terrible, nothing is like i though it was gonna be. I'll give it a 4/10, utter crap"

Let it go. Just because you don't like it doesnt mean that the vast majority aren't haveing a ball with it. Even with all the bugs and flaws. They are there but will dissapear overtime with patches and polish.

Re: Ranting and game-abuse in general.

Ok, so let's assume that somewhere, somehow, someone from 'Gameco, Inc.' is looking at these forums, and many others. Let's assume they are taking notes about what people do and do not like about games. Let's also assume that those complaints/suggestions make their way into developers hands.

That would mean we are, in a very roundabout way, influencing the design of future games. I'd like to believe we do have a small say in what gets developed.

Gaming takes up a large portion of my life, so I have a vested interest in seeing things that I like being served up. In tearing down one game you may be giving devs what they need to build a better one in it's place, so keep on ranting I say.

With amount of bugs atm,its not worth money.

I preordered AoC, bought the Early Access, played the game for 4 days and stopped.

I just couldn't handle the awful interface and heavy instancing. The graphics is very good, it ought to be ... I have spent £900 to build a new computer just to play this game.

My copy of the game is still shrink-wrapped and my account is frozen. I couldn't even bothered registering it now.

I went back to WoW. Play the same characters again. I should have felt bored playing the game for 2 years now but I don't.

For me, AoC is a dissapointment. I really wanted it to be very good. My expectation is high and it ends up with nothing.

I can't give a score for this game because I just haven't played long enough. But from what I have experienced 8/10 is a too generous score to give for this game.

From my own personal opinion, I agree with the original score of 8, because I enjoy it a lot. I played (still play) wow for over 3 years, and was looking forward to this for a while. A lot of the problems that have been mentioned here are valid. But, to be honest, at this moment in time, the only thing worth worrying about is the hardware issue. This game is such a huge resource hog. A lot of the "Our of memory" issues seem to stem from 32bit versions of Vista. 64bit seems fine. You do need a very, very good PC to really enjoy the visuals I believe.

I'm currently lvl 58, and havent had a problem with quests running out. If I find a broken quest, then I just go and do another one. And later on (past 35 really), the game does encourage you to group up, as Instances have some really good loot in them (Sanctum being the first proper one at around lvl 40ish). I'm playing a Tempest Of Set, and we have just had out first big nerfs this week, to our aoe leveling style, but its fine, its early days still. It's only a month old really. As time moves on, more spells and feats will be added I'm sure. Yes, it seems slow to gain new stuff, but I was so immersed, I didn't really notice that at lvl 40, I was still wearing a few lvl 20 items. Maybe thats a bad thing to some, that you think gear doesnt make that much of an issue, but as soon as I swapped in some lvl 40 items, my defence rating really made a diference (as a caster). The 'Skills' section really needs to be explained better too, as I didnt find out till about lvl 50, that pouring all my skill points into Mana Regen and Mana Attracter makes absolutely no difference if youre not using Rest.

So, from my own personal point of view, I agree with the 8, but then it's my kind of game. If I was taking into account the wider world, then it would probably get a 5 or 6 due to need of imba pc to fully appreciate it.