Age of Conan Week: The Launch Comments by Oli Welsh

My nipples explode with ...zzzzzz

The pre-release has been pretty stable so far although there are still a few annoying instance bugs and the guild options are primitive. Some people are already in their mid-30s so let's hope the content is there...

Also this just in:

"Age of Conan DirectX 10 support dropped for launch

...Funcom has regrettably announced that the DirectX 10 version of its MMO, Age of Conan, will not ship with the initial launch. Funcom says it has decided to ship only the DirectX 9 version and spend more time on building a DirectX 10 version "worthy of Microsoft's great vision for the future of PC gaming".

microsofts great vision for the future of pc gaming.

sorry i'm watching a documentary about hitler and this sounds awfully similar to his propoganda.

p.s that event looks like shit

"Hither came Conan, the Cimmerian, black-haired, sullen-eyed, sword in hand, a thief, a reaver, a slayer, with gigantic melancholies and gigantic mirth, to tread the jeweled thrones of the Earth under his sandalled feet."

Could be fun if they get the feel right.

That pic of the event conan looks pissweak...

Guys, im in the early access, i wasnt in the beta, but from what ive been told in the early access chat its such a jump from the beta performance wise. It looks stunning, Ive just reached level 20 on a rp pvp server and the free for all pvp is really fun and fresh if a little frantic. Overall Ive played many mmos at launch from Wow to Tabula Rasa to LOTRO to EQ2 and this is the best launch technical wise, absolutely flawless perfomance no lag. Having only reached level 20, Im giving it a solid 8/10 still waiting to group with my friends, which will undoubtedly boost the score, and I have that niggling feeling to play and am still interested, which is always a good thing.

So is it Anarchy Online with pretty graphics? The chat interface looks so much like Anarchy Online.

I honestly think this will bomb but don't know why...
I just don't think there is a big market for it.
It might have lots of pre-orders but 250hours later they max out on levelling .. will get bored /complain on forums and it'll die a slow death like Tabula Rasa

i dont think so somehow. Especially when you consider the likes of MxO still hanging on. The game is really good and im very impressed so far with it. This is very promising start!

I have such an aching feeling it's gonna tank in a few months.
And I honestly would hate to see that happen. It seems rather promising to me.

Time will tell..

I would say this is likely to be a slow-burn MMO like Eve, but that levelling speed is far too fast for that. Really this game needs a solid end game or it will fail pretty quickly.
Or maybe I'm looking for reasons not to start yet another MMO... answers on a post card!

its about endgame pvp and pve

"Norway's biggest-ever entertainment export on their hands"

A-HA CANNOT BE RIVALED

edit: oh, and turbonegro power-metal? fair enough, this isn't a music mag, but seriously...

People have feelings that its going to tank? I wanna know on what basis they have these feelings.. maybe they need to sit on the toilet for 10 minutes lol.
The difference is with AoC is that the content is there already. There are large scale PvP goals, there is a reason to PvP that isnt a statistic on your stat page. There is Raid content (although many are yet to properly experience it) and there is high lvl gear to show off to your mates lol. Tabula Rasa had none of this, the content was all the same like some guy came in with the cloning stamp and went hell for leather and it was all back to front, high end gear was not better and was handed out quite freely. In the end they tried to bolt on all the things it should have shipped with but its not enough.

Vanguard, another MMO with great potential, a real different MMO with beautiful graphics and some great details, but had serious flaws at retail. And was almost tucked under the carpet in terms of advertising: the money just ran out, and so did the subs.

I sincerely hope it doesnt tank and gives people a popular alternative to Azeroth lol.

@ Byzanite;
The problem with PvP (and this is a general issue) is that it's actually quite a niche attraction as far as MMO's go, mainly because there is a loss associated with dying (experience, time, items, etc..) which is pretty unpopular with the majority of players.
If the endgame for Conan is PvP orientated then it will face problems, I sincerely hope this is not the case as the MMO market could well use some more top-tier competition.

vegard - Alright you've got me, it's been a long time since I understood the subdivisions of metal. How would you describe them?

We were told they would be death metal, and all I know is that they're definitely not that.

I forgot about A-Ha and all. (Don't tell Ellie.) All I could think about in terms of Norwegian cultural exports was Henrik Ibsen.

I'm racking my brains for other Norwegian musical exports, and about all I can think of outside of black metal stuff is Apoptygma Berzerk.

Oh, and Royksopp.

lol Oli, great stuff (:

Turbonegro themselves are quite big in Scandinavia. Its pure shit, but alot of goth-teens seems to enjoy TurboJugend.

"I'm racking my brains for other Norwegian musical exports, and about all I can think of outside of black metal stuff is Apoptygma Berzerk.
Oh, and Royksopp."

ANNIE, Shinji. For shame.

Annie? Sorry, my shame must be complete - no idea what you're talking about :)

Annie is great! One of my favorite singstar-songs back in the day.

Also...

du-du-duuuun

Lene Marlin! c:

Norwegian exports? Let's see, there are at least the dream-poppy Bel Canto, and the ambient guy Biosphere.

Sounds like my computer would struggle to run this. Which is a shame, because it sounds fun otherwise. I guess I'll take the plunge in a few years. :)

Norwegian exports? Let's see, there are at least the dream-poppy Bel Canto, and the ambient guy Biosphere

... Röyksopp, TNT... Stage Dolls got some success in the States. In olden days (1970s) Popol Ace/Popol Vuh.

For some reason also Kaizers Orchestra (even if they sing in a Norwegian dialect, they have a following in Germany I think), Motorpsycho (prog-rock)...

And an entire Encyclopaedia of black metal: Dimmu Borgir, Gorgoroth, Satyricon, 1349, Immortal, ...

Back to subject: Good thing the release is better than AO was. At least for the Early Access players, but tomorrow is the 20th...

Awesome game.

Looks pretty much like the game that the extremely old school (circa Shadow of Yserbius) guilds have decided upon. Good or bad, make of that what you will...

Royksopp's first album is still one of my favourite albums ever. Especially great to work to, or just background music while chatting with friends. Brilliant debut. Pity the 2nd album wasn't quite in the same league, although 1 or 2 tunes on it were great.

As for all that metal, I'm no longer 14 ;)

Turbonegro is a self proclaimed deathpunk band. For those who wondered. and also from wikipedia
"Initially the band had two running ideas for band names; Nazipenis and Turbonegro. They were advised that a band named Nazipenis would never sell records, so they chose Turbonegro as an arguably more consumer-friendly choice."

...the band's stated motivations are anti-racist, trying to change the attitude of racism and nationalism perceived as prevalent in parts of Scandinavia. Founding member Thomas Seltzer once said, "A turbonegro is a large, well-equipped, armed black male in a fast car, out for vengeance. We are his prophets."

haha

Ebonlore (the guild of choice for MMO hackers) have released a list of their level capped characters. Game neerds a lot of balancing and tightening up. Servers have been down for a while now for fixes.

1 Damelon Inner Council 81 Priest of Mitra
2 Kioski Inner Council 81 Ranger
3 Axem Guild Leader 81 Guardian
4 Vipin Inner Council 81 Demonologist
5 Mance Inner Council 81 Ranger 0.00
6 Mistical Inner Council 81 Demonologist

http://www.ebonlore.org/dkp/listmembers....

@ Rirekon

Yea, youre quite right. I think Funcom have catered for the PvE with Raiding and there is no necessity for Guilds to have Battlekeeps or get involved in PvP. And being in a PvE server players or guilds would never have to see PvP at all. But of course it is a large part of AoC's endgame :)

Well Im in the early access Aoc launch, and Im very disappointed with the Necro caster class, I really wanted to play it, but the pet seems horribly bugged, also some of the pre level 20 quests are bugged, which seems inexcusable to me. The game is amazing in other areas, but I cant help but feel there is more balancing and bugs needing to be fixed. Im keeping a blog of my Aoc impressions so far, http://www.mmorpgrant.com/category/aoc/,

So is there a Trial / demo for this yet?

Would quite like to try it but since I've only got a laptop I'm not risking buying it just for it to turn out to be unplayable. Laptop handles Oblivion quite nicely but I don't trust some developers opinion who is plugging his game.

"I really wanted to play it, but the pet seems horribly bugged"

AFAIK pets do not hold aggro like a WoW hunter, if that is what you are expecting.

@Batbat

I read your blog, and I do have to say that you're completely retarded and fail to grasp even the basics of this game. I really hope you're not going to play on my server - or at all.

lmao nice :D

Antwandemarco says
"Hither came Conan, the Cimmerian, black-haired, sullen-eyed, sword in hand, a thief, a reaver, a slayer, with gigantic melancholies and gigantic mirth, to tread the jeweled thrones of the Earth under his sandalled feet."

Could be fun if they get the feel right.

Aye, that it would. But never in RE Howard's works did Conan find himself with a whooping cheerleader trailing behind him, sqealing applause as he lands blows on the enemy. Nonsense from the word go.
Conan, like all of his Cimmerian race also shun and fear magic, but in AoC you will find even the most basic melle attacks bristling with blue lights and shiny particles. Bah.

Performance is now said to be jolly good, nay wonder if they've stripped out DX10 features, Funcom having been shouting it from the rooftops that AoC would be a DX10 stunner. Now we should shut up and wait until August to even 'see' DX10, let alone play it.

LotRO features just about everything, bar the nipples, that AoC does, right the way up to raids and PvP seiges, yet it's struggling. IMO because it messes about with the lore, taking liberties, in order to dumb it all down for the masses. TR also suffered from dumbing down and is paying the price. Will devs now realise that the dumb 'n' dumber audience have already found their niche and are unlikely to jump ship, even for flat nipples.

Ignore me, I'm only passing the time till Friday, then I'll be proper moanin' :D

"LotRO features just about everything, bar the nipples, that AoC does, right the way up to raids and PvP seiges, yet it's struggling"

Really? I thought LotRO was doing alright, around the EQ2 level of subscribers (or ten to twenty times the number of Vanguard subscribers).

I see there are levelling bots out there already, and problems with the login / registration. With people already at the level cap, let's see how Funcom manages this...

You can see more of my views in response to the article on character classes in this game, but for this discussion I'll just say that AoC plays VERY differently from LoTRO, which I also like, and the pvp for anyone coming from that game will be a real eye-opener.

Depending on your server choice, pvp can be central to your experience or only additive when you choose to partake. Totally up to you. I'm starting on a rp pvp server and if that's becomes obnoxious or stops being fun, I'll move to a PvE.

I thought LoTRO was great, but after AoC, I don't see the need. I'll keep my WoW account for the time being.