Live Age of Conan interview

By Robert Purchese Published 22 January, 2009

Game director Craig Morrison in hot-seat.

mmo Live Age of Conan interview

by Bert Bert

22/01/09 13:00

Game director Craig Morrison in hot-seat.

MMO
Age of Conan - Hyborian Adventures Eidos Funcom PC Age of Conan - Hyborian Adventures Eidos Funcom Xbox 360
Picture of Robert.

About Robert Purchese

Bertie is Eurogamer's Senior Staff Writer. When he's not hunting down news stories he's often found playing with his kids or gabbling about fantasy games and strange online worlds.

Read more articles from Robert by visiting the Robert Purchese archive page.

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Comments (109) 3 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • Benno #1 3 years ago

    How can you be working on an expansion pack, when the core game is so broken?

    Ask him that

  • Chufty #2 3 years ago

    Do people still play this game?

  • Entity #3 3 years ago

    Need someone to write a CV?

  • DFawkes #4 3 years ago

    Is "Why is WoW so much better than AoC" a valid question?

    Why don't you ask him yourself that one, Benno? I have for you anyway (in a more diplomatic tone though).

  • iokthemonkey #5 3 years ago

    Who do I speak to to get a refund?
    Edited by 1 at 22/01/09 @ 14:04

  • Slabbathepave #6 3 years ago

    I was waiting for iokthemonkey to show up....man AoC messed you up baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaad. You should have a fight with it.

  • iokthemonkey #7 3 years ago

    Poor mod. It looks like nobody is asking any questions. Or nice questions, anyway...

  • iokthemonkey #8 3 years ago

    I was waiting for iokthemonkey to show up....man AoC messed you up baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaad. You should have a fight with it.

    ----

    Yeah, because reading the above posts, I'm obviously the only person who thinks AoC wasn't a good game... /eyes
    Edited by 1 at 22/01/09 @ 14:22

  • iokthemonkey #9 3 years ago

    This isn't at all painful to watch.

  • spimmy #10 3 years ago

    :( they ignore all anti aoc questions :(

  • iokthemonkey #11 3 years ago

    I know...

    What's even more interesting is that most of the people asking the questions have no previous forum posts or article comments...

    Hmm...

  • Benno #12 3 years ago

    morrison socks?

  • Slabbathepave #13 3 years ago

    so far the answers mean (to me)

    Dont play me yet i am still only half baked, i will be half baked into 2009 and i am not likely to be a complete game until nearly 2 years after my release date and we started taking your money.

    A fail so large that even my usually unbias and open mind wants to individually slap all Funcom employees. A real shame too...i really want AoC to be good.

  • iokthemonkey #14 3 years ago

    You should have a fight with it.

  • spimmy #15 3 years ago

    its sad they are only asking pro aoc questions :/

  • iokthemonkey #16 3 years ago

    I thought my question was nicely posed, not rude and something many people would be interested in hearing the answer to...

    "Can I have my money back?"

    See, nicely posed, not rude and worthy of discussion.

  • sambo_nz #17 3 years ago

    Super Moderating Hero = Super Censoring Fluffy Everything's Great Morrison's Terms Were Positive Questions Answered Only Hero
    Edited by 1 at 22/01/09 @ 15:05

  • Slabbathepave #18 3 years ago

    iokthemonkey.

    I think you and i should tag team it. you hold it down whilst i stick the boot in.

  • iokthemonkey #19 3 years ago

    We'd immediately double the amount of players...

  • Nasty #20 3 years ago

    The original concept was sold almost as a mmo beat-em-up with real time fights relying on your ability to pull off special moves etc. This was watered down to the point of a combo system that for the most part is as boring as clicking your abilities in WoW only that in AoC you get to click the button then pull off the combo. It's like playing my 2 year old daughters leap-pad system. Fix it.

    Was sadly not asked.

  • spimmy #21 3 years ago

    Fire Super Censoring Hero EG!

  • Slabbathepave #22 3 years ago

    what did we learn from that little exercise?

    Ziilch.

    We already knew the answer to every single question asked. So what was the point?

  • oerhoert #23 3 years ago

    Sorry guys, but if you ask them "Why does your game suck" I don't see why you'd expect an answer.

  • iokthemonkey #24 3 years ago

    The original concept was sold almost as a mmo beat-em-up with real time fights relying on your ability to pull off special moves etc. This was watered down to the point of a combo system that for the most part is as boring as clicking your abilities in WoW only that in AoC you get to click the button then pull off the combo. It's like playing my 2 year old daughters leap-pad system. Fix it.

    Was sadly not asked.

    ----

    Because it's a statement, not a question... ;)

    You should have said "Do you plan to fix it?"

  • iokthemonkey #25 3 years ago

    Sorry guys, but if you ask them "Why does your game suck" I don't see why you'd expect an answer.

    ----

    If Rob did receive so many questions of that ilk, then why weren't they compiled into a polite "your game received a lot of criticism. How would you answer those angry at the game's release state and the fact that a lot of content promised at launch still isn't present?"

    I'd have asked that but I've no interest in hearing his excuses.

  • Slabbathepave #26 3 years ago

    @Oerhort

    Why?

    Would make for a pleasent change of pace and i think the only thing capable of garnering support for FC at the minute would be a huge dollop of humble.

    It certainly wouldnt hurt to face up to a little criticism.

  • sambo_nz #27 3 years ago

    "Game director Craig Morrison in hot-seat."

    Hot seat????
    You mean "Cushy la-z-boy paid marketing exercise recliner with foot rub", right?

    bah /egquit

  • anomagnus #28 3 years ago

    ha, my hats of the mod, my first question was garbled as i didnt know how much space i had!

    @ion i have loads of posts

  • iokthemonkey #29 3 years ago

    @ion i have loads of posts

    ----

    Yeah, I saw that, hence my "most" comments.

    I'm not saying there's no audience for AoC or ridiculing anybody for playing it. My beef is not even with the game, particularly. No, my points are directed at whichever Funcom employees thought it was acceptable to release an unfinished game and pass it off as being ready, to the point of detailing features on the box that weren't even present, let alone in need of a polish.
    Edited by 1 at 22/01/09 @ 16:00

  • Bertie Verified Senior Staff Writer, Eurogamer.net #30 3 years ago

    We're not censoring! And now you'll just claim we are.

    Apologies to the people who asked about changes to specific areas like stealth and instant hits and guild cape logos and things. We were running out of time and felt these were the sort of topics covered patch-to-patch rather than on a broad 'what we're doing this year' scale.

    We're after constructive questions that can be answered, and certainly do not shy away from pertinent topics. We're neither for nor against Age of Conan, but interested in focusing on what Morrison plans to do about fixing the MMO and making things right. Not why it sucks, but how it can get better. Not why the features are not there, but when they will be there. I hope you can see and understand that.

  • iokthemonkey #31 3 years ago

    Come on: not one question even to ask about how he thought it had improved and how he planned to address the existing issues that had turned-off early adopters?

    Not one question about the server merge and how it had affected the subscriber base?

  • _LarZen_ #32 3 years ago

    Nothing in this interview made my wanna go back to AoC. World of Warcraft is just so more superior in terms of what a mmorpg should be then Age of Conan.

    Sorry Craig Morrison but Age of Conan do not contain what a good mmorpg game should have. Goals and meaning..+++

  • miiiguel #33 3 years ago

    Thanks to ask him my question, EG. He didn't really answer, but I was expecting that. I believe he doesn't know either.

  • KlusterDT #34 3 years ago

    perfect game, If you can't find anything to do in an online world you've pretty much lost already tbh,

    and if you want to use mmo's as digital crack lay off the heroin.


    core game is fixed, not seen a bug in about 3 months and i've done content upto t2, even dt's win pvp fights these days.

    for less money than your sick days monkey boy you can't really ask for it back, and tbh, i'd pay you £50 just to clear off...

    at the risk of sounding like the guy having fun in the back of your mind, AoC was much better than the first year of wow and i saw bugs in wintergrasp not too long ago that resulted in the playfield coming down, there are websites where you can argue all day and night unfortunately AoC doesn't have those, Also the Polish and Russian versions of the game are getting launched soon so cyryllic is soon to be out of sight, at least unless you read every forum post going as they have their own boards :)


    pvp on pve servers all day, raids every night, instances all day long, dogs and cats, living together, MASS enjoyment :)

    lots of love,

    happy customer

  • ryohazuki1983 #35 3 years ago

    No point in asking questions of a negative nature, because all the answer would be is "we have numerous players who enjoy the experience...blah blah blah"

    He is unlikely to admit flaws and say yeah its shit we know, but its gonna take fucking ages to fix.

  • iokthemonkey #36 3 years ago

    for less money than your sick days monkey boy you can't really ask for it back, and tbh, i'd pay you £50 just to clear off...

    ----

    Could somebody translate? I'm afraid I don't speak Retard.

  • Jockie #37 3 years ago

    My questioned was doctored a bit by the supermoderating hero :(
    It started out as :
    AoC appears to have legions of disillusioned players across the internet. Do you still hold out hope of convincing them to return to the game? If so how do you propose to do this, with many of them claiming AoC is fundamentally broken?

    Hardly positive, i guess thats why it got rejigged.

  • Benno #38 3 years ago

    oikthemonkey is getting very tiring though

  • Pirotic #39 3 years ago

    Wow, you guys really chickened out of asking him any proper questions like

    "why did it ship is such a dire state"
    "will you still be around in a years time?"
    "how many active subscribers have you got?"

    etc.

  • Slabbathepave #40 3 years ago

    we didnt, those questions were asked but were conveniently lost. Complete bollocks and an exercise in absolute futility.

  • iokthemonkey #41 3 years ago

    Wow, you guys really chickened out of asking him any proper questions like

    "why did it ship is such a dire state"
    "will you still be around in a years time?"
    "how many active subscribers have you got?"

    ----

    The session was moderated and only "appropriate" questions got through.

    I asked "Can I have my money back?" about 3 times...

  • Kami #42 3 years ago

    I admire the guy for wanting to be different from WoW, but that is exactly the bloody problem with a lot of MMO's. They are trying so hard to not be WoW they fail to grasp that systems in WoW are successful because THEY BLOODY WORK! I'm sorry but reinventing the wheel just isn't working - it didn't work for Tabula Rasa, or Vanguard, or Hellgate and it sure as hell hasn't worked for Age of Conan. Being different can be done visually. It can be done plotwise, how you pace the storyline across the game. You van add regular events, you can focus on PvP or PVE.

    The industry has always tended to follow what works. With the MMO market, they did the exact opposite and tried very hard to be excessivly different. Maybe it's time to accept that WoW got it right and begin the shameless copying...

  • 1simen1 #43 3 years ago

    Monkeyboy has managed to fill 14 out of 43 post in this thread spitting out his usuall AOC hate.

    Thats close to 30% of all posts so far. Can he go to 50% ?

    Considering how much you play the "internetz", i would have to say that buying AOC have given you plenty of bang for your buck entertainmentwise...... lol ;-)

    Go kill an elf in LOTR....cause your starting to sound more and more like an ork......

  • Kami #44 3 years ago

    Well, the AoC hate can be justified. I was there, a lovely beta followed by a launch that came nearly as close to being as bad as Vanguard.

    But as I said, the main problem now is I hear so many people harp on about how they want to be different to WoW. That's wonderful, but in doing so MAKE SURE IT WORKS. AoC could have been forgiven a multitude of sins but what happened to the PvP servers is a sin many people will not forgive AoC for. It didn't work, and if they still do not have the consequences system in there now then I can only wish AoC a quick but painful demise. MMO's have died recently for far less serious offences.

    WoW systems work. If you're going to be different, get it right from the off. None of this "we'll implement it later" bullshit that we've tolerated for three years or more as everyone chases Blizzard. If you can't get it right, then there's no shame in copying the models WoW uses. The industry has sorta counted on that for 20+ years or more, and at least we know that the models work.

    But if you must be different, get it in there from the start or keep big exec mouths shut.

  • Spekingur #45 3 years ago

    WoW system works because it is near to no diffirent from other MMO systems in the past. Blizzard just took in alot of ideas from other games (MMOs and others alike) and refined them into their own MMO.

    As for AoC, I played it just after release. I liked it - well the first part of it, anyways. I might see myself going back to it sometime. The state of release is also a matter of perspective. No MMO has ever been released in a 'ready' state. WoW wasn't launched in the state you play it in now. Neither was DAoC, EQ, Eve Online, City of Heroes, LOtRO, etc. I always think it is strange how people like to compare a new MMO to WoW as it is today - something that you can't really compare. I also think it is strange how people feel the need to defend WoW and Blizzard. Yes, Blizzard brought us gems like Warcraft, Starcraft and Diablo, but they have changed into one of those industry giants. There are 11 millions subscribers for WoW - the first MMO ever to get such a high number of subscriptions. This means that they get more than 500 million dollars from subscription fees alone over a whole year (I'm guessing subscription fees vary between regions). And what has that money given WoW-ers? Two expansions? That they still have to pay for?
    To me Blizzard is only a few steps from becoming the new EA.

  • warlockuk #46 3 years ago

    I like Steak. But Funcom can't cook.

  • MaxiSleep #47 3 years ago

    @jstar

    People release bad games because they have a bad design process or because their initial tech choices were wrong. This would be the purview of the developers

    I really dont buy the "its the suits fault" argument as the main reason for bad game releases, although it does of course happen.

    If you look at Age of Conan they simply got their content production pipeline wrong. My guess was they out an awfull lot of love on the tortuga bit which was supposed to be a single player game initially, and which took a lot longer to "MMO" then they expected. It is a shame but the disaster they made of PVP/itemisation/crafting is all down to the developers.

    And WoW at launch was still way ahead of pretty much anything around today if you like PvE.


    Remember captain placeholder anyone?


  • iokthemonkey #48 3 years ago

    And at iokthemonkey

    What the fuck are you talking about you idiot? No one wants to release a bad game.

    ----

    *sigh*

    The point you're ALL missing is this: AoC's box details features that aren't in the game.

    What Funcom KNOWINGLY sold us didn't match-up with what they TOLD US was present.

    Not in that "well, it's open to interpretation" or "well, maybe it doesn't quite work how you might think" kind of way.

    No in that "this feature we told you was in the game actually isn't, but we didn't tell you that because we knew you wouldn't but it otherwise."

    Got it?

    It's not about the perceived quality of the features or the game lacking polish.

    It's about Funcom releasing a game with MISSING content. Not "not quite working" content. MISSING content. Read that, repeat it over and over until you understand it and then maybe you'll get why a lot of people are pissed off about the whole AoC debacle.

    To use an analogy you MIGHT understand: suppose you see a CD with 11 songs listed on it. You buy it, get it home and discover it only has 3 songs on the CD, despite promising 11 tracks. Is that a simple enough analogy for you to get?

    And yes, all MMOs have their troubles. The difference is that they don't lie to the audience over the content.

    But hey if you want to keep paying for content that should have been present on the CD you bought and live off all the promises they're shoveling you, you go right ahead. Me? I'd rather give my money to a developer that actually knows how to produce a good game, delivers updates that work, on-time and doesn't string me along like a tool.

  • 1simen1 #49 3 years ago

    Monkeychild, i remeber the post in which you wrote that you had been been working as a game developer for15 years to back up your "arguments" in AOC discussions , trying to look more credible.

    You still behave like a teen who spent your accumulated alovance on a game and lost your life saveings doing so.

    Perhaps the real reason why you hate AOC so much is that your MA found out about using her creditcard and cut you off the monthly fee.

    Considering the maturity level of your arguing, i holeheartedly believe that is the case , i really do lol.

    Seriously you bougth a game that will always change , a genre also known as a MMO. I take it you got more playtime out of AOC than most other games out there anyway before you quit.

    What did you pay for it? 40£ and a coupple of montly subs? If that hurt you so bad i say get a frikkin' job.....
    Edited by 1 at 24/01/09 @ 01:05

  • Darkjinxter #50 3 years ago

    I've now gone from a genuine player of AoC to an iothemonkey type hater due to this despicable move on Funcom's part.
    My sub runs out on the 29th Jan and being more cash aware these days I broke open my collectors edition to use the key therein.

    The key was a duffer

    A GM gave me another key.

    I used that key, but Funcom refused to honour it - 'Vaild as of 23 May only' or something it said. A key which can only be used at launch window????

    I have cancelled my sub.

    ...and after reading the evasive tripe in this article, it's probably just as well.
    Edited by 1 at 24/01/09 @ 09:08

  • iokthemonkey #51 3 years ago

    Seriously you bougth a game that will always change , a genre also known as a MMO.

    ----

    *sigh*

    You really are retarded aren't you? I'd presumed it was a language thing at first and that you were having trouble translating it into Norwegian, but I see now that you're utterly dense.

    Funcom told us the game had a number of features. It's there on the box. It's in all the interviews. All the pre-release stuff talks about these features.

    So on that basis, we all bought the game.

    Once we'd installed it, we found out these features weren't in the game, despite promises of them being there. Funcom then defend that by saying, "Well, although we SAID that stuff is in the game and it still says so on the box, actually it's not."

    That's not an "MMO changing."

    That's Funcom LYING to their customers.

    Do you understand yet, 1Semen1?

    Okay, how about I make it simpler? And if you don't get this then clearly you truly are a brain-dead retard of the worst kind.

    You go into a store to buy a TV.

    The salesman shows you a great TV and says they have one for sale.

    You buy it, take it home and then open the box to find it's full of bricks.

    You check the box. Yup, it says it contains a high-def 42" TV.

    You complain to the store and they explain that, "yes, well the box might say that but that's just our salesman getting over excited and you shouldn't expect everything he said. But don't worry, pay us a shippnig fee and we'll send you a new TV. Eventually."

    Getting it yet, 1Semen1?

    Because if you can't understand the difference between a game evolving, being polished and fixed when it's live and a game being KNOWINGLY sold with PROMISED CONTENT MISSING then that says a lot more about your intelligence (or lack of) and moral character than anything you could level at me...

  • 1simen1 #52 3 years ago

    Monkeyrude: all i hear from you is the same Bla...bla...bla....bla...bla...bla.. bla. Always politely and and gratiously written lol

    You still use your no good TV argument. If you buy a TV and it turns out to be worse, or even the same as expected, will JVC come and upgrade your TV at a montly basis to improve it? I think not....

    Buy a fresh MMO at launch, and you are in for a bumpy ride. Let lose a few hundred thoused players into your gameworld, and you will soon find out that not everything is working as planned or that there are much more bugs that you ever thought it could be.

    But since you claim to be a "gamedeveloper" with 15 years in the industry on your back, i take it you already knew that....

    MMO's eveolve as they go along. Now several months after launch almost all problems existing at launch have been fixed. And another huge content/gameplay update is just around the corner.

    AOC is no longer the game it was at launch or when you quit in August/september, and should be judged as it stands today.

    I couldn't care less about the games status on launch day. To live in the past you will need a timemachine. From what you are writing it seem like the world has stood still for you since late summer 2008..... Did you invent one?

  • iokthemonkey #53 3 years ago


    You still use your no good TV argument. If you buy a TV and it turns out to be worse, or even the same as expected, will JVC come and upgrade your TV at a montly basis to improve it? I think not....
    ---

    It's perfectly valid. You need to READ THIS AND UNDERSTAND.

    You look at a TV box.

    The box says it contains a colour, hi-def, 42" TV.

    You buy the box.

    You get it home.

    You open it.

    It's full of bricks.

    You complain.

    They tell you they'll ship you a new TV but it will cost YOU more money.

    You pay.

    They give you a new box of bricks.

    See how it works yet?

    THAT is the difference between AoC's lack of content, Funcom's behaviour and what happened with the launch.

    Got it?

    Because if you can't understand that, then you're either unwilling or unable to comprehend and there's nothing more I can say to make you get it into your tiny brain that FUNCOM LIED TO THEIR CUSTOMERS. It's not marketing hype or something that's open to interpretation. It's LIES.

    Where exactly is the DX10 support they STATE IS ON THE BOX?

    Where are the bar brawls they said were in the game?

    The PvP mass battles they promised AT LAUNCH are only now in, but they don't work properly.

    The PvP system they promised AT LAUNCH is only now in, but it's bugged.

    So sure, yeah, that's all marketing hype and stuff, isn't it? No, it's not.

    Funcom DELIBERATELY mislead and LIED about their game's content.

    If you can't understand that - and why that's a Bad Thing - then you're as morally bankrupt as you are fuckwitted.

    I DON'T CARE ABOUT THE STATE OF THE GAME NOW NOR DO THE CUSTOMERS FUNCOM LIED TO AT LAUNCH.

    The fact is Funcom LIED to us, took our money in good faith and didn't sell us what we asked for.

    Getting it yet? Or is there some weird thing in Norwegian where you don't have a word for "liar?"

  • 1simen1 #54 3 years ago

    Monkeysad, we norwegians live in the now, not the past.

    The game do support DX10, infact is just about to be put in. Would you rather have 'em put it in in a shitty state at launch, or implement it when it's ready?

    You must be the biggest crybaby in history when it comes to internett forums.

    Many a game has been marketed to be longer than it is , have more content than it had, less bugs than what it turned out to have and what not.
    This is nothing new. If you believe all you read and hear in a marketing hype, you are at best naive...

    I have gotten your point from day one. You feel violated, gangraped and betrayed by FUNCOM because the game wasn't all you wanted it to be at launch. "But but they lied to us man, they realy did" . Well BU HU F'n HU. You quit as a consequence, good for you.

    What i still dont't get is going to such lengths in a a personal internett fora vendetta over a game because it didn't have everything promised on the box at launch.....A game genre that by it's very nature is subject to change. Most of 'em, if not all, even say so on the box.

    For us the readers of your posts it seems like this is way worse to you than all other bad things in the world. Like the conflicts in Kongo, famine, Aids, Israel vs Palastine, world wide ressesion, the war on terror and what not.

    You really need to widen your perspective and put in some of your energy into something that really matters.

    Seems more and more like this is paid part time work for you........

  • SleepyMagpie #55 3 years ago

    Speak for yourself, and please, shut up already, 1simen1, this is one norwegian that agrees totally with iokthemonkey's arguments.

    They are clearly valid. Funcom expressly promised DX10 support from the get-go with AoC. You call this a trifling manner, when many people may have upgraded to Vista, bought new graphics adapters, and gone through all kinds of aggravation and stress to be ready for AoC.

    This is inexcusable, and can not be attributed to the evolutionary manner of MMORPG development!

    There are numerous other issues as well.

    You write: "Seems more and more like this is paid part time work for you........, about Iokthemonkey's involvement.

    The exact same accusation could be levelled at you.

    No, Funcom has this and more coming to it for it's wrongdoings regarding AoC, and even though I am Norwegian as well, and would have liked to see them succeed, it is an EPIC FAIL, and that's the way it is.

    You are, btw, not doing Funcom any favors at this point, if that is your mission.

    Gi deg nå, denne saken er død.

  • 1simen1 #56 3 years ago

    SleepyMagpie i respect your opinion. I haven't even played AOC. Monkeyboy just annoyed me and i made him a promise. If he kept writing shit about AOC i would continue to counter it just for the hell of it.

    Childish you might say, and i kinda agree to that to. What annoyed me was the fact that he kept going for ages and still are writing the exact same things about a game that clearly have evolved alot since he quit last summer.

    And if people upgraded their computers for the game, so what? It's 8 months later. The game is still there. Their new shiny computers are still there. If you spend 1000 - 2000 Euros on a new computer based on a marketing hype without trying it first, you are chansing it. Especially in the MMO genre where new games historically have been bumpy rides. Just like AOC was.

    You write: " gone through all kinds of aggravation and stress to be ready for AoC." If someone felt like this come launchtime for AOC, they should really see a doctor, the head examining kind... It's a game. If pople went through huge ordeals in order to prepare for this launch financially, it's on them.

    Now the bumps are mostly gone,their computers are still there with vista and high end spechs. Why not try it for 15 Euros again, maybe you will like the changes and maybe not.

    And when did you quit the game? Have you played it since it started to go in the right direction again this autum? Or did you quit playing it last summer like Monkeyrude.

    If you go to the official forums you will find that the doom and gloom is almost gone andre more and more people are coming back til game.

    So when you write "gi deg nå denne ballen er død" which means if i understand your meaning correctly : quit already ,this game is dead, i beg to differ.....
    Edited by 3 at 26/01/09 @ 02:06

  • iokthemonkey #57 3 years ago

    The game do support DX10, infact is just about to be put in.

    ----

    And with that, you do more to illustrate my point than anything I could ever write.

  • 1simen1 #58 3 years ago

    Monkeychild, the point is that i don't care about your point. I want things to work as intended before beeing put into any game.

    DX9 vs DX10 is an eyecandy issue. More important are gameplay,bugs, balance and content issues.

    I think most players would agree that the latter is more important and should be dealt with first. And thats what Funcom did.

    Did they releace the game early? YES. Have any other big MMO been releaced flawless at launch: NO.

    Should one care about a games state at launch 8 months later? NO

    Continue to be a dramaqueen if you want to, but for each patch releaced your arguments are becoming more and more irrellevant...
    Edited by 1 at 25/01/09 @ 22:49

  • iokthemonkey #59 3 years ago

    My arguments are relevent and my point illustrated with every patch that adds content that was supposed to be there AT LAUNCH.

    But you clearly cannot understand that argument.

    Or maybe your paymasters at Funcom haven't given you the appropriate training as to how to deal with that one, hmm?

    ----

    Should one care about a games state at launch 8 months later? NO

    ----

    I personally don't. That's the point you're missing. I care about the MONEY FUNCOM WERE PAID FOR A SERVICE THEY DIDN'T DELIVER.

    I could illustrate this with an analogy that everybody else here would understand but you're clearly so lacking in imagination and intelligence that you can't make the connection. But for those enlightened enough to see it, my posts make perfect sense and sum-up the situation perfectly. Funcom KNOWINGLY informed us that the game we were buying had features A, B, C, D, E, F, G, etc but only upon purchase did we discover - and they then ADMIT - that it only contained features C, D and F. As I say, that's like getting a boxed TV that says it's a 42" high-def TV and when you open it discovering it's a box of bricks. And if you can't understand THAT analogy, then you're clearly a fucking retard.

    But I know what your next response will be, so seeing as I'm a nice guy, I'll post what you're going to reply with...

    "Why you always talk about TV? TV not game. That make no sense. Duh." - You.

  • iokthemonkey #60 3 years ago

    Oh and one more point.

    Saying "Monkeychild, the point is that i don't care about your point" is about as mature and intelligent as sticking your fingers in your ears and going "lalalalala I'm not listening."

    What are you? 12?


  • 1simen1 #61 3 years ago

    Monkeyrude, ha ha, from your argument style i find it quite funny that you consider me a 12 year old ;-) i mean you have shown yourself time and time again to be the king of maturety lol...

    It's about realistic exectation of what a MMO game will deliver at launch. Funcom told you that this game would have this and that. At launch it didn't but they are getting there.

    Remember the launch of another quite famous MMO WOW. Severly lacking in content and people couldn't even log in for long periods of time.

    SWG lacked lots of content at launch got very good after awhile before they messed it compleatly up with the NGE,

    Point is many of you expected a perfect game come launch day. What you got was this:

    - A game were you could log in anytime you wanted to with great graphics. Kind a rare for a MMO
    - Great starting area, intreaguing quests and a "new" kind of gameplay in MMO's

    Problems you were facing:
    - With the wrong operating system and a less than stellar rig, you would get memory leaks making the game close to unplayable for many.
    - Lot's of bugs.
    - Not enough endgame for powerlevelers. Leveling was also to fast?
    - Gaps in content
    - Some unbalanceing issues
    - Itemisation. Items meaning so little that many thought that stats were bugged and didn't ad anything to your players skill.
    This was intentional by the devs and considered a vital part of AOC's design gameplaywise. Thay have now left that path and
    will make items matter more.

    An MMO is the most complex games a developer can make. They can test until kingdom come but will not get a full picture of the quality of the work they have put in before hundreds of thousends of players enter their virtual world and start hacking it apart.

    They bring so many variables it's close to impossible to have though of all before launch.
    That is no excuse, it's the nature of a MMO launch. Personally i believe they could have done better, but hey whats done is done.

    Since launch they have fixed almost all issues, added tons of quests and much mure content. l Come february and patch 1.4 will bring lots more.

    When you buy a MMO. You don't buy a game like Call og duty. That game stays the same year after year. When you buy a MMO, you buy a concept that is subject to change for as long as it is up an running.

    That is why your TV argument is at best wrong. Unless you believe that the TV manufacturer will come to your house and upgrade it every coupple of months for as long as you own it.....

  • iokthemonkey #62 3 years ago

    Funcom told you that this game would have this and that. At launch it didn't

    ----

    If you bought a game and took it home and found it was actually a music CD, you'd think that was okay, would you? No, you wouldn't. That's no more acceptable than Funcom selling a game THEY KNEW didn't include the content they said it did.

    I've made this point time after time but you're clearly not intelligent enough to know the difference between "broken" content and "missing" content.

    THAT'S the crux of the matter.

    So stop trying to divert attention from that with your comments about updates and fixes and content coming in NOW (content which should have been in at launch, wasn't and either still isn't or doesn't work) and look at the point I'm making: Funcom LIED to its customers. I don't mean they hyped the game or over-sold it. No, they flat-out LIED about what we were buying.

    Got it yet?

    Because if you can't grasp that, then you're a lost cause. I suggest you divert your attentions to saving up for the PC you need to run AoC and go experience it for yourself. That's what's so hilarious here: you're sucking on their corporate cock, happily gulping down their jism of lies and extolling the virtues of a game you haven't even played for yourself.

    I find that both hilarious and saddening.

  • actionfitz #63 3 years ago

    I cant understand why some people will defend a piece of shit software with the same vehemence as if it was their struggling local football team. You can be a football fan and fly those colors through thick and thin, and I can see the reward from that, the comaraderie, the fellowship and the conflict...
    But for fuck sake. Videogames are a different beast.

    Funcom released AoC in a fundamentally flawed and incomplete state. They did this for many reasons, none the least of which was to start recouping on their investment ASAP. The powers that be at FC had to have known how sparse / bugged the game was when they chose to let it out the door. They did so with unforgivable (for me at least) cynacism, the whole 'ship it then patch it' mentality - which only really works for minor flaws tbh.
    For me it comes down to the loss of my goodwill. Im not fixated on the 'bad launch' - even wow had a less than stellar birth - im resentful of the cynical attitudes of the studio heads that caused it. The denials and broken promises.

    I hope AoC continues with a full dev team...
    If only so the same fuckers can be kept the hell away from Ragnar Torquists next game 'secret world'.
    That guys' game storys make my man-bits feel nice. :)

  • iokthemonkey #64 3 years ago

    Im not fixated on the 'bad launch'... im resentful of the cynical attitudes of the studio heads that caused it.

    ---

    Thank you for showing me I'm not the only person here who finds their attitude so distasteful.

  • Kami #65 3 years ago

    Same with me.

    I paid £50 for the game and one month of subscription, there are lots of nice little things on the box and in the manual but they weren't there when I played it at launch. I left before the disasterous PvP Server changes, but that made many more leave. The loot system where you could just grind for a half hour and trip over blues and purples as if they were rocks on the road, counterset by making crafting the most impossible and most painfully difficult task possible and making whatever they made absolutely worthless. Anyone could knock up a clan, and you ended up with people who just stayed solo. Difficulty curves not set, an overtly complex battle system that did more to annoy than intrigue (tbh, the three-to-five way attack thing is a distraction and totally worthless)...

    I left that first month asking myself any questions. How could any company get away with it? The lies, the deciet, playing with the goodwill of the userbase and stringing them along. Yes, WoW wasn't complete when it was released but they didn't lie about what was in the game at the start. It made the mistakes and Funcom should have been paying attention and learning from them. They did not, they not only made the same mistakes but they amplified them for themselves.

    We paid good money for a game that was incomplete, bugged, poorly designed and one which the developers treated their paying customers as a glorified group of beta-testers. "It's better now they've started adding in this stuff" - wonderful, great they're getting their shit together now. So why did they not do that at launch? Or hold off a bit and get it working proper?

    And all of this is before you get to the horrible attitude of the users when you wanted to complain about someone, or report a bug, or find out if something was working as intended. This was not limited to the users though, the GM's were pretty damned rude too.

    People who are paying money have a right to expect a working game and professional service. People who came in from EQ2, or FFXI, or WoW or Tabula Rasa or Guild Wars or even bloody Hellgate London were in for a hell of a shock. And many of us voiced our frustration by unsubscribing and cutting our losses early.

    Ironically, we're the people Funcom should be trying to appease and win back, maybe with a "Return here for a month for free and see how we've changed!". But they won't because they're still blowing smoke where the sun don't shine and dancing around the broken and missing parts of their masterpiece trying to distract from them.

    New Square-Enix MMO going beta this year allegedly, Aion, new Star Wars MMO, Huxley... Age of Conan had it's chance and it blew it. Hopefully the new big-boys coming in will have been watching these problems with the sole purpose of not going through it themselves, because there was no need for AoC to end up the way it did.

    That's the sad part. AoC's problems were avoidable... but you rush something out too fast, and it only knows half the routine, it ain't going to put on much of a show...

  • iokthemonkey #66 3 years ago

    there are lots of nice little things on the box and in the manual but they weren't there when I played it at launch.

    ----

    But as 1Semen1 will point out (if he bothers to reply to you, he only ever addresses me, presumably as he has some kind of creepy stalker crush on me) the game is now fixed so you have nothing to complain about.

    This is the point he - and Funcom - miss. Funcom didn't sell us the game they said we were buying. They sold us a pack of lies. They sold us a game that advertised features that weren't (and still aren't) present, then they wonder why people weren't happy? Not incomplete or bugged features. No, features that weren't present on the disc, despite the box saying they were.

    THAT'S the reason I won't give Funcom another penny of my money.

  • 1simen1 #67 3 years ago

    Monkeyman, you write :

    "They sold us a game that advertised features that weren't (and still aren't) present, then they wonder why people weren't happy? Not incomplete or bugged features. No, features that weren't present on the disc, despite the box saying they were.

    THAT'S the reason I won't give Funcom another penny of my money."

    Which is fine, and i totally respect you quiting because of it. What i don't understand is why this is such a big issue for you considering you bought a game that will be around and keep evolving for years.

    And since the game will continue for years, i can't understand why there is som much hate for this game in peticular considering the current state of the game which appear to be good.

    Read the forums. Most are happy there now , mainly because Funcom has adressed many of the problems present at launch.

    The AOC people quit after a month or two is a different game than it is now. The state of the game at launch is not relevant in relation to the stat the game is in now. That is my point.....

    A point that seem to elude many here.

  • iokthemonkey #68 3 years ago

    The argument isn't about what the game is now or could be (although you're glossing over the fact that half the fixes weren't fixes at all, half the content is still broken, the server merge indicates how poorly the game is doing and that there are fundamental design flaws in the game.)

    No, it's about Funcom's lies.

    But hey, if you think it's fine for your country's only developer to lie to its customers, then you go right ahead and keep it up. But maybe you should think about how much longer they're going to be around and, if this is acceptable, common practice, maybe we've answered the question as to why there are no quality game developers in Norway.

    And I seriously hope they're paying you for the BS you spout here. Because if you're not, you're an even bigger fool.

  • iokthemonkey #69 3 years ago

    Oh and by the way, thank you for illustrating your fixation with me again by ignoring the scores of other posts and focusing entirely on my comments.

  • 1simen1 #70 3 years ago

    Monkeyman, Why do i only argue with you? Told you before as long as you continue to badmouth AOC in every news story releaced about it by Eurogamer, i will continue to counter it just for the hell of it. Told you that several months ago.

    Same reason now. I'm not getting paid for this, its actually becomeing an entertaining little hobby. Bring it on!! lol

    You have been crying "they lied" for close to 5 months now. Time to let it go and move on?

    You haven't played the game for 5 months either, yet continue to tell everybody how bad AOC is. This and that is broken, gameplay sucks and whatnot. The game has improved alot sionce you and many others left, yet you keep judgeing it like it was launchday one week ago.

    So yes they may or may not have lied. So what. It's not the 17'th of mai 2008 any more. Its january 26'th. The game has evolved and moved on. Why wont you?



  • iokthemonkey #71 3 years ago

    Funny, I'm one of three people here making the same point yet you ignore their comments? I'm flattered really but maybe you should go find somebody else to stalk...

    It's hilarious to see you get in such a flap about a game YOU HAVEN'T EVEN PLAYED then try to tell those of us who did play it and experienced the shitfest that was the AoC launch that we don't know what we're talking about. And then you sidestep the point of the argument - that Funcom lied about the game's content and then expected their "customers" to not only roll over and take it but also PAY for the "pleasure" - is something you don't seem capable of grasping.

    All you do with your posts is illustrate how ludicrous a character you are! Seriously, Funcom must be loving that there's somebody so willing to chug-down on their corporate cock and not even have to pay them for it... Too bad that all you're doing is making those stung by Funcom even LESS likely to play their "game" again.

    But hey, go tell your paymasters that I'll stop complaining when they refund me my money and issue a public apology to everybody they lied to over the game's content, okay?
    Edited by 1 at 26/01/09 @ 17:16

  • iokthemonkey #72 3 years ago

    You haven't played the game for 5 months either, yet continue to tell everybody how bad AOC is.

    ----

    And you haven't played the game ever yet continue to tell everybody how good AOC is.

    Go out right now and buy it, play it and then we'll have a proper conversation about it, okay?

  • 1simen1 #73 3 years ago

    Monkeylirious, Granted i haven't played the game at all , but i seem to have a better grasp of it's current state than you...

    I still read patch notes and read about the good and the bad from existing players in the official forums.

    Always better to rely on more opinions than one when you are passing jugdement on anything in life. Games included.

    And the ones still playing are more valid sources than both you and me..

  • iokthemonkey #74 3 years ago

    Monkeylirious, Granted i haven't played the game at all , but i seem to have a better grasp of it's current state than you...

    I still read patch notes and read about the good and the bad from existing players in the official forums.

    Always better to rely on more opinions than one when you are passing jugdement on anything in life. Games included.

    And the ones still playing are more valid sources than both you and me..

    ----

    Chug that corporate cock.

  • Kami #75 3 years ago

    "And the ones still playing are more valid sources than both you and me.."

    Maybe but more accurately they're also probably die-hard Age of Conan fans who can't see the same problems the game has for the light they see shining out of it's arse. Which happens with MMO's as much as it does with console wars. Every MMO has its issues, some more than others, but there's a group who will refuse to listen to reason.

    And why are the opinions of myself, monkey and others here not valid? If all you want to hear is one side of the argument go and read the Daily Mail. You're on the internet now buddy and you're going to hear all sides of the tale, usually from those who got burned and have just as much right and are just as valid sources as current players and any company PR or executive trying to blow smoke up your backside.

    Oh, and...

    "Monkeylirious, Granted i haven't played the game at all , but i seem to have a better grasp of it's current state than you..."

    I'll help Monkey out here. If you haven't played the game then back off this one. I have, Monkey has, and we feel cheated and robbed. Quite rightly too I feel. Even if all the features were there now (which they're not. Seriously. There's still stuff they promised on the box and in manual that isn't there. That's pretty bad, wouldn't you say?) the fact is we were promised them at launch. Some of us stayed a little while and when it became pretty apparant that the game was headed south for the winter, we sought sunnier climes. I could care less if these features are there now (which some are still not). It's way, way, WAY too late.

    Here's a funnier take on things.

    You buy a Sonic the Hedgehog game for, say, £40 rrp. It looks good and there's talk of epic storylines and 40 different stages and 20 characters.

    You get it home, put it on.

    Sonic cannot jump. There's only 15 levels and 10 characters. And the plot is unfinished.

    You rightly bring this up with the company on whatever forums are available, to which they answer, "Yes, we had to get it out of the door sooner than expected, but we'll introduce the features soon. But we're charging you extra for when the content arrives"

    You wait a month... and you get another 5 stages and 2 characters and a little more of the storyline for another £10. But Sonic still can't jump. You're told in the next pack, which will cost another £10, he will be able to jump and you'll get special stages and a couple more actual stages. But that's still not all the content promised on the original box. And now you're up to £60 for a game.

    You so wouldn't take this in a single-player game, right? So why should anyone tolerate it in an MMO? If it wasn't ready, it wasn't ready. Vanguard was out before AoC and demonstrated really well what happens when you try and force a game out of the door that isn't ready for primetime. The same goes for Hellgate London. Forced out too early, features promised not included.

    The MMO market is seemingly much less forgiving than the single-player gaming market. You're asking people to pay very good money. Over a year, you're talking a very easy £100 and even then, £60 to £70 of that goes straight to the company with no middle-man to take a slice. That's a lucrative market and I'm not surprised everyone - including Nintendo - are trying to get a slice of that sweet, sweet apple pie. But with such arrangements comes expectations.

    Of course, given time AoC might build itself up. The current economic shitstorm probably won't help but if they can keep the game funded in a year or so it may actually be worth poking my nose back in and seeing what happened. Most of us did this with World of Warcraft, because let's be honest - in the early days it was as shocking as AoC launch was. WoW's success is hardly overnight, but it's the benchmark now and people rightly or wrongly expect new arrivals to be at that stage of completeness and balance.

    Time may heal the wounds, but it may also take an effort on Funcom's part to extend the olive branch and offer those who were so disillusioned they left early a chance to come back and try it for two weeks or a month, and see how it has changed. And they probably will, as every MMO does it at some point.

    But AoC's launch was god awful and people have every right to want to vent their frustrations about it. The execs and devs still aren't going to listen, but at least it's within some sense of earshot of them and they can't answer back by deleting the posts.

    This is a gaming site for ya 1simen1. You'll get the good, the bad and the stupid. And then you'll get people who dictate to someone they know nothing about what is going on who readily admit they haven't even bought the game and don't know how we feel...

    Oh.

  • 1simen1 #76 3 years ago

    Kami: Well written and i totally understand how you feel and your reasoning. The only reason i bother to write what i do is because of lines like this one in Monkeyrudes posts last post :

    "Chug that corporate cock". Polite as ever that one...

    First: Funcom did promise alot. Problem with MMO's is that they are not static games, they evolve. Content will be added for years. Gameplay may be altered and even changed. In the marketing hype running towards release, they do not just try to sell you the game and whats ready as launch content, they try to sell you the consept of the game it self. living and figthing in Hyboria in Conans world. Not just what you will be able to to the first few days and months, but what you will be able to do for years.

    This means that what the box says is in it might be wrong at launch, but the same box will be correct 10 months later, or wrong again becasue they tok it in another direction again based upon player feedback.

    Now to your Sonic argument. You can't compare a game from another genre directly to a MMO. A "normal" game, if you will, is meant to be static. (Some as you know get added download content these days which you may have to pay for)

    If you buy Sonic you play it for 10 hours and you are done. You paid 40£ and move on.

    How many hours did you and the Monkey put into AOC before quiting? 30, 50 100? More?
    I take it most of those that quit got alot more entertainment for the money with AOC before quiting than if they had bought any other type of game.

    I to believe that AOC was released early. I also believe that there is close to impossible to have a polished MMO at release. As soon as you open up your gameworld you will have thousends upon thousends of players doing their thing. Thinking up strategies and interacting with the game worold in ways the developers didn't think about.

    You can talk about closed beta and open beta all you want. The real beta starts when paying customers start playing. They will went loud and clear when things are wrong. And in AOC they did. I remember the official forums in the beginning shortly after release. That was intense lol.

    There were two major problems. OOM's (out of memory leaks) crashed the game to desktop for a huge amount of players. Only those with vista 64 seemed to escape that one. People with older hardware ran out of memory fast ,making the game almost unlplayable.
    Second problem was lack of content when people reached level 80, and some content gaps getting there. The itemization design choise that made items matter only as pretty objects instead of making your character stronger and better increased this problem. Many thought item stats was broken because of this. They were never broken, just didn't matter that much as in other MMO's.

    These two things put a lot of players off and they quit.

    Since then OOM's have been fixed, content gaps filled another zone added (Ymirs Pass), and most bugs are gone. Servers have been merged to increase populations for the remaining players that stayed with the game trough the good and the bad.

    Should you or anyone else try it again? If you left because of the OOM's the answer is : Yes.
    If you left because of lack of end game content, wait until patch 1.4 is released in febuary. Two new zones for level 80 and i believe the elusive DX10 will come to.

    If you left because items didn't matter and you felt you couldn't progress your characther anymore, wait until patch 1,5 after that one the stats of items will matter, not to the extent in for instance WOW, but they will make a difference.

    If you Left because you didn't like the gameplay mechanics and combat system, well don't come back at all.

    Some of you were dissapointed by AOC and many rigthfully so. But the game has come a long way since most of you quit last summer. Many of the old arguments against it do not apply anymore.

    Anyway Kami, nice to have a "civil" discussion. Who would have known, a mature former AOC player lol. Have a great day!

    Simen



  • iokthemonkey #77 3 years ago

    Nice way to sidestep and ignore every point, Semen.

    Funcom must be so proud of you right now.

  • Lemming81 #78 3 years ago

    Just to step in here:

    iokthemonkey is right

    1simen1, what the fuck do you not get? It promised a dx10 environment ON THE BACK OF THE BOX, thats basically TECHNICAL specs. That has fuck all to do with an MMO's changing structure. That would be like WAR promising the Knight of the Blazing Sun and Black Guard at launch and delivering as they did, instead of quite rightly letting people know during beta that it wasn't going to happen - and (and this is pretty fucking basic) NOT promising them ON THE BACK OF THE BOX. Which is what Mythic did, then reintrouded them within four months.

    There are people that bought AoC BECAUSE it used DX10. it was supposed to be the best looking MMO out there - and it's not, because Funcom didn't deliver WHAT THEY PROMISED AS A STANDARD FEATURE AND CONTINUED TO KEEP ON THEIR BOX COVERS RIGHT UP TO LAUNCH.

    Do you get it now? No, probably not. Ugh, I hate having to use Caps, but some people really don't read things properly sometimes...

    iokthemonkey, just don't waste your breath on this one anymore.

  • 1simen1 #79 3 years ago

    Lemming 81: AOC is the best looking MMO out there even in DX9.

    And if memory serves me right Funcom stated to the gaming press a few weeks before launch that they wouldn't put DX10 in at launch. That was after the box had gone to print, and before it went out to retail.

    If you bought the game knowing that, well thats on you then.

    In a few weeks DX10 will be implemented. In a years time hardly anyone will care anyway. Except Monkeyboy, who probably still will be going mental in every news story about AOC in 2010...

    And for the record. Off course Monkeyman is correct. THE GAME WAS RELEASED EARLY.

    What i don't agree with is the relevance of that "issue" today, 8 months and several patches later. In less than a month DX10 will be there and then that argument will be void to.

    Unless you prefer to live in the past that is.

  • iokthemonkey #80 3 years ago

    And if memory serves me right Funcom stated to the gaming press a few weeks before launch that they wouldn't put DX10 in at launch. That was after the box had gone to print, and before it went out to retail.

    ----

    Well, that's the first I'd heard of that...

    And you don't drop a feature "at the last minute" of that magnitude. By that reckoning DX10 support would have appeared "a few weeks" AFTER release. But it's SIX MONTHS later and still no live DX10 support. That's not feature creep or something missing a deadline. No, that means they knew when the boxes were printed DX10 support wouldn't make it in.

    And you still don't understand the point, do you?

    The state of the game now doesn't matter. Does the game being closer to being what we were sold now do anything to appease those of us who got ripped-off by Funcom? It doesn't change the fact that they lied to their customers and sold a product UNFIT for purpose.

    But you're clearly too stupid to understand that.

  • iokthemonkey #81 3 years ago

    You say you understand then make statements that show you've completely missed the point.

    The point being that Funcom LIED to its customer base and continues to behave as if nothing they did was wrong.

    It's nothing to do with player expectation, hype, MMO hotfixes or gaming rigs. It's plain and simple that Funcom sold a product unfit for purpose, lied about it and then act as if their behaviour was acceptable.

    It's not.

    And yeah, for me and many others it's left a bad taste in our mouths and continues to do so when Morrison and his cronies keep trotting out this "no, everything's fine and dandy" PR bullshit. The day he and Funcom apologise and admit they LIED regarding the launch content is the day I'll stop pointing out what they did.

    You really need to stop making excuses and face up to the fact that Funcom's behaviour was unprofessional and illustrates a total disregard for their customers who have since voted with their feet and abandoned that abortion of a game, as much based upon Funcom's continued disrespectful attitude of "it's coming soon" and half-fixes as the actual lack of decent game content.

    I would never wish redundancy upon anybody but if Funcom wind-up going under, they need look only to themselves for the cause.

  • 1simen1 #82 3 years ago

    Monkeystrange, I do get your point and i understand what you mean. I just don't agree with you.

    Here is a link for you:

    This is the press release by Funcom from may 19'th, a day before the US launch and 4 days before the European launch:

    [link url=http://community.ageofconan.com/wsp/conan/frontend.cgi?f unc=publish.show&template=content&func_id=2489&table=CONTENT
    ]http://co mmunity.ageofconan.com/wsp/cona...[/link]

    Do a google and you can find various gameingsites responding to the press release the same date.

    Ign responding :

    [link url=http://p c.ign.com/articles/875/875069p1.html
    ]http://pc .ign.com/articles/875/875069p1....[/link]

    To you this is the Watergate of the gameing industry and Funcom is Richard Nixon.

    To me it's nothing special.

    When a MMO gets closer to launch the hypeing machine is talking about two things. What you can do from the get go in the game and what you will be able to do down the line, the vision of the game if you will. And they almost always promise more than they can deliver. Is this bad? Yes. But then again thats marketing for ya...

    I just think you blow things totally out of proportion. Sure they could have done a better job, but you act like this was the end of your world as you knew it...

    They told gamers that DX10 wouldn't make into the game at launch before you could buy it at your favourite gamestop.

    Are they still liars in regards to DX10 even when they told you the truth about it?

    I knew this, why you didn't considering how much time you spend on gaming sites is beyond me....
    Edited by 9 at 28/01/09 @ 11:28

  • iokthemonkey #83 3 years ago

    They "announced" the lack of DX10 support just 4 days before launch in Europe and ONE day before the US launch.

    Six months later and there's still no live DX10 support.

    They knew months in advance that the DX10 support wouldn't be in but said nothing to dupe customers into buying it.

    Just TWO DAYS prior to the US launch and FIVE days prior to the European launch, they still said DX10 would be supported, knowing full well it wouldn't be. What about everybody who pre-ordered the game? Funcom sold a game on the strengths of features they KNEW would not be included. To then issue a statement mere days before launch is underhanded at best.

    DX10 support however is just ONE of the many features that didn't appear in the launch game: the PvP system didn't work and still doesn't, massive battles weren't in and even now don't work, bar-room brawls didn't appear and still haven't. There's a checklist of FACTUAL content - not imagined, expected content - that wasn't there and is either still missing or is barely working.

    You need to shunt this "hype" idea out of your head. Like I said, it's not about the audience's expectations or the marketing department's hyperbole. It's about a simple checklist of features we were told WOULD be present and - once we'd parted with our money - discovering they weren't.

    It's like somebody promising you apples and selling you bricks. You can't turn around and say, "Oh yeah, my fault. When they said they were selling me apples and I thought I was getting apples, I should have known what they meant was they were selling me bricks."

    But no doubt you'll pull your "but MMOs evolve and are updated" BS out of your arse again, so here's an analogy you CANNOT dismiss that is perfectly suitable.

    You SUBSCRIBE to a new TV channel called Blockbuster TV that promises you 24-7 movies, the latest and greatest blockbusters. You pay your cash, switch on your TV and discover all they're airing are episodes of Big Brother. And that's only when the channel is working, because it goes off the air every 30 minutes. You complain and they tell you not to worry and that your movies will be coming soon, just keep subscribing and anyway, actually at the last minute they had to change their schedule but it's still a movie channel but for now you can watch Big Brother and it's great anyway.

    A month passes and finally they show a movie. Except it's an old public domain flick. And still most of their programming is Big Brother re-runs. And it still breaks down every 50 minutes now.

    After much complaining - and months of subscriptions - you do the right thing and finally cancel.

    A few months after you've cancelled they finally start showing a couple of blockbuster movies - the stuff YOU were paying for all along but never got to see. And when interviewed about this, the head of the channel points out that it's always been showing movies and that there'll be more coming "soon" and to just shut-up and keep paying your subscriptions and you'll get the blockbusters you're paying for "some time" with no definite dates or deadlines. 6 months after launch the content you were told would be there and you paid for still isn't and there's no firm date as to when it will be.

    Would you consider THAT a good investment? Would you subscribe to a channel that called itself "Blockbuster TV," promised the latest movies but then only showed TV reruns?

    THAT is exactly the situation here and THAT is why I - and most people stung by Funcom at launch - are annoyed at the way they DUPED us out of our cash.

  • iokthemonkey #84 3 years ago

    They told gamers that DX10 wouldn't make into the game at launch before you could buy it at your favourite gamestop.

    Are they still liars in regards to DX10 even when they told you the truth about it?

    I knew this, why you didn't considering how much time you spend on gaming sites is beyond me...

    -----

    Despite what you may think, I'm not scanning every gaming site I can find 24-7 for news about a game that had piqued my interest. No I read about the DX10 support and other features - plus the game spec that actually wasn't accurate - ON THE OFFICIAL AOC WEBSITE ON THE DAY OF RELEASE. Information, BTW, that was still listed on there even after the game was on the shelves.

    And as I say, that still doesn't cover pre-ordered copies or explain why - when they obviously knew SIX MONTHS ahead of launch (based on the fact that that feature still isn't live at this stage) that DX10 support wouldn't be present - they didn't comment on this until mere days before launch.

    And funny how you "knew" about the DX10 support being dropped yet never, EVER mentioned it before in any of your discussions about the game... Hmm, maybe Funcom's influence is starting to rub-off on you now...

  • 1simen1 #85 3 years ago

    Monkeymonkey : Wall of text lol

    PVP system works, some don't agree or like it though.

    Sieges works but can still improve from what i read in the forums.

    Drunken brawling is still not there, will it ever be? Only Funcom knows.

    And for you TV example. Yes i would resubscribe or continue subscribeing f they startet showing the kind a movies i really like. If they didn't i would spend my cash elsewhere.

    There are thousends of players in HYBORIA haveing fun right now. Playing a mostly bugfree, content filled MMO. (lacking a bit after level 80, Patch 1.4 this febuary will adress that)

    If you didn't like the gameplay, fine move on. If you did like the gameplay wait another month and try it again after patch 1.4

    It's the cost of a meal for 2 at Macdonalds. Not your life saveings....

    What you and others have "lost" on AOC is much less then you would spend on a night out with the boys....You keep talking like you spent all the moeny you had and all the money you ever will have on this game...

  • iokthemonkey #86 3 years ago

    And the point - that NONE OF THAT CONTENT WAS PRESENT AT LAUNCH DESPITE THEIR CLAIMS OF IT BEING THERE - escapes you yet again.

    Oh and please, don't try to give me pointers on the gameplay in AoC, unless you're going to follow your own advice and, I don't know, maybe PLAY IT FOR YOURSELF...

    Your comments are totally invalid until you do so. Go on. Ignore my comments, ignore the comments of the others here who support or dislike it, ignore the comments of the AoC players, ignore the comments of Morrison et al and GO EXPERIENCE IT FOR YOURSELF and maybe then we'll have a chat about it, okay?

    You won't though, as you know deep down I'm right.

  • 1simen1 #87 3 years ago

    Monkeyman:

    You need to face the facts. For every day that pass us by, for every patch released by Funcom, your arguments are getting more and more irreleveant.

    Just showed you that one of your main arguments, Funcom lieing about DX10, was bull. And what do you do?: Keep spinning it trying to make youself look good lol.

    I think Yoda was right when he said "the hate is strong in this one" ;-)

  • iokthemonkey #88 3 years ago

    For every day that pass us by, for every patch released by Funcom, your arguments are getting more and more irreleveant.

    ----

    Hmm, so if somebody came into your home and stole your belongings, after six months you'd just think they should be given a pardon?

    And all the patches do is illustrate how much content was missing at launch, actually PROVING my point.

    You think you "proved" my argument was "bull?" Then explain to me why the OFFICIAL AOC WEBSITE listed DX10 as being supported even when the game was out.

    Explain to me why Funcom pulled a feature just days before release that, six months on, still hasn't been implemented.

    Explain to me why features such as the PvP battles and bar room brawls, all features Funcom promised were included prior to the game's release, weren't present and - in the case of the latter - still isn't incorporated.

    Explain to me how Funcom passed off THEIR wishlist of features as content in the most bold-faced way possible, lied to the customer base then became evasive and denied they'd done anything wrong, yet you think it's not only acceptable but are defending these people and think they're doing a good job.

    But hey, you keep chugging it down and being Funcom's bitch. I'm sure they must love the fact that they've managed to con somebody - who hasn't even played their game (which is hilarious!) - into being their #1 fan.

  • 1simen1 #89 3 years ago

    Monkeycrasy:

    "somebody came into your home and stole your belongings"

    Seriously, listen to yourself lol you crack me up he he:-)

    "Detective, Funcom the evil bastards entered my flat at night. They stole cash out of my wallet chained me to my computerdesk and forced me to play AOC for 3 months. Then they left without a trace.
    I am a victim of cruelty thats what i am. You must find them and arrest them. Trow away the key! Or even better still shoot them at dawn for what they did. Animals that is what they are Animals i say!!!"

    Monkey Monkey grow up will ya lol

  • iokthemonkey #90 3 years ago

    It's an over the top example, but it holds true.

    Yes, I bought AoC of my own volition. But that was based upon "facts" I'd been given by Funcom regarding what I was buying, "facts" that later proved to be wrong.

    So whilst I didn't have anything stolen from me, I was lied to regarding what was being purchased and to me, that's theft.

    If somebody sold you a box of 10 candies and when you opened it you found it only contained 3, you'd take it back and be given a refund. So where's my refund?

  • iokthemonkey #91 3 years ago

    Oh and nice way to dodge the explanations I asked you to cover.

  • 1simen1 #92 3 years ago

    Monkeymad:

    MMO's are subject to change. They start with a gaminig world ,the skeleton,that is slowly filled with more and more content, the flesh, as time pass.

    If you had bought Call of duty your arguments would be on the money. But the lack of content at launch argument in an MMO will get caught up by time.

    That's just the way it is. If that should be the norm is another discussion. And that is a complex one. Mainly because MMO's by nature are very complex games both to develop and maintain after release.

  • iokthemonkey #93 3 years ago

    Back to the old "MMOs change" argument.... /sigh.

    Here's a newsflash bucko: that doesn't apply when you're being sold content that is stated as being there. This isn't about balancing stuff and fixing bugs or introducing new content. Funcom LIED to the userbase about the game's content and claimed features were present that weren't. They didn't say "we'll introduce that at a later date." No, they said, "yes, that is in the game and when you buy it and install it, you will be able to do that." They stated that the content WAS THERE AT LAUNCH. It wasn't.

    That's why your "MMOs change" argument is totally invalid.

  • 1simen1 #94 3 years ago

    Monkeylasy:

    From what i can tell, the only things "on the box" that wasn't there at lauch was "Drunken Brawling". There has been no word from Funcom as far as i can tell about when and if that will make it into the game.

    The box also says"optimized" for DX10,which the game is, it's not implimented yet. But you can't really be to hard on 'em for that since they stated that it wouldn't be ready for launch before the game was avaliable in stores.

    Some of the content was seriously bugged though. Especially siegeing. Took to long before they sorted that out. Still a few hickups with siegeing, but it seems to have been functioning well for a few months now.

    So my question is: which other features were named on the box than these 2 that wasn't there on launchday?

  • iokthemonkey #95 3 years ago

    Yes, because I just so happen to carry the box around with me... /rollseyes.

    But let's look at the points you made: "Optimised for DX10." That means "works better with DX10." Despite the wording being vague (and therefore giving Funcom room to say, "well ,we didn't TECHNICALLY say that" and then squirm out of it) it's not true anyway. There is no DX10 special support in the game and if by "optimised for DX10" they mean "runs better under Vista" then that wasn't true either.

    And no, they slipped out a little, "oh, by the way..." comment about DX10. The game would have gone gold a good month before it was in stores, yet they waited until the verge of launch before they announced that DX10 wasn't supported? And you think that's fine and dandy?

    Well, all I can say is I'm glad I'll never have any dealings with you in real life, as you're clearly of low moral character if you think that's acceptable.

    Bar brawls, nope no sign of them yet.

    The massive battle stuff didn't work. So that's not a complete, present feature. To say it is is like saying "yeah, well my car has this pedal I press and it's supposed to slow me down and although it doesn't, that does mean I have working brakes." It DIDN'T work out of the box, despite the devs' claims that they'd been playing it. So again that's a feature that wasn't present at launch. Again though, you're going to argue that it was so it counts. /rollseyes

    And worst of all, how about, I don't know, a game that works and isn't bugged to fuckery? Not much to ask, really is it? I don't know about you but actually being able to use what I've spent my money on is pretty important when it comes to "features."

    Now it's your turn. Oh and please brush your teeth - the stench of corporate dick on your breath is quite overpowering.

  • Lemming81 #96 3 years ago

    1simen1: "What i don't agree with is the relevance of that "issue" today, 8 months and several patches later. In less than a month DX10 will be there and then that argument will be void to.

    Unless you prefer to live in the past that is."

    You moron. It's more relevent the more time passes it isn't present. 8 months? For something that was touted at the design stage of the game? How much are Funcom paying you btw?

  • 1simen1 #97 3 years ago

    Lemming81: Funcom doesn't pay me anything. I don't even own the game. But as a 35 year old gamer who follow the gameing industry out of habit, i sometimes feel like commenting here and there.

    Monkeyboy was so off target that i figured what the heck, if he can spend that much time talking crap about a game he stopped playing, then i can spend just as much time doing the opposite. Monkeyrude also turned out to be quite the polite gentleman in his discussions making these threads entertaining for teens not old enough to play the game themselves :-)

    Monkeybusiness: DX10; we both agree that it was not in the game at launch. To Funcoms defence they did tell the world on the 19'th of may last year before the game hit retail. This was mentioned by all major gamingsites the same day. If you bougth the game without that piece of information, well thats not entirely their fault now is it?

    Also when you print several hundred thousend boxes of AOC , many will be in store for a long time. The wording "optimized for DX10" makes perfectly good sence. Hopefully in less than a month DX10 will arrive and the boxes in retail shelfs world wide will be "correct" again.

    Drunken Brawlling, not in the game now and i havent read any dev comments in the official forums about when and if it will arrive.

    Sieges was there at launch but bugged to kingdom come. They have patched siegeing several times since then, and siegeing seem to be functioning quite well now. Again from what i can read in the official forums.

    Bugs, content gaps, balance and performance. All four have been fixed since launch in several small and big patches.

    End game: Still need some work but will be better after patch 1,4 this febuary that will add 2 more level 80 zones.

    So Monkeyinfant, the arguments you have been shouting in EVERY news article about AOC since you quit are becomming more and more irrellevant each day.

    That my friend is my point. Move on stop living in the past. Funcom is not into charity. They will not pay you your money back.
    You spent money on a game, played it for many hours, quit and moved on. Leave it at that.

    The games state at launch are irrelevant to people that haven't tried it as of yet. The current state is.
    The current state is also relevant to people like yourself that quit because of the launch issues like bugs OOM's (out of memory leaks) and lack of content forceing you to grind. All these issues have been adressed.

    You still argue like it's the 20'th of august last year with the problems that were present back then.

    Several months later the game should be judged as it stands to day , not like it was when you quit.

  • iokthemonkey #98 3 years ago

    Monkeybusiness: DX10; we both agree that it was not in the game at launch. To Funcoms defence they did tell the world on the 19'th of may last year before the game hit retail. This was mentioned by all major gamingsites the same day. If you bougth the game without that piece of information, well thats not entirely their fault now is it?

    Also when you print several hundred thousend boxes of AOC , many will be in store for a long time.

    ----

    Here's some maths for you to work through: they announced AoC would not have proper DX10 support one day before the US launch. To date DX10 has not been implemented, even though it's over six months since launch. That means, backtracking on that, that they knew six months before the game was released that DX10 support wouldn't make it in for launch. Yet still they insisted it was present right up until ONE DAY before the US launch.

    Had DX10 support appeared a week or two after release, then that would have at least been almost excusable. As it is, the game went gold about the same time as the packaging would have been printed - about a month prior to release day - with DX10 support still requiring another 6+ months of work to implement. AND FUNCOM KNEW THAT.

    And as I pointed out, Funcom's site still included DX10 support along with all the features they didn't ship with, right up until the weekend after release. And as I've also pointed out - and this is something you've yet to respond to - YOU didn't know about the DX10 "announcement" until today. Because if you'd known on the day it happened, you'd have mentioned it by now. Funny that, isn't it?

    And no, you're right, Funcom aren't a charity. They're a company who clearly have no regard for their customers, lie, cheat and sell product that isn't fit for purpose, use false advertising and mislead their audience on a regular basis. But if you can't see that and you think their behaviour is acceptable, then clealry you're a "man" of very low character.

  • 1simen1 #99 3 years ago

    Monkeybad: judgeing by your faul mouth there is only one person here with a very low moral standard...And that my friend is not me ;-)

    I have known about the DX10 announcement since may 19'th. That was when i read it the first time. There was also much speculation going on in various forums and gameingsites about wether DX10 would be implemented at launch or not.

    Only reason i bothered to write down the link for you was the fact that i grew tired of people like yourself calling Funcom liers because it say "optimized for DX10" on the box and it wasn't present at launch. You can try to spinn that around as much as you like.
    It's officially proven that they did not lie about this.They told you before you could buy the game. End of that discussion.

    My guess, and it's just as good as yours. I think they had to release it abit early due to finacial pressure and marketing strategy, hoping they could fix things fast. That was the first mistake.
    Then they missjudged how fast people would level up. Missjudged how many bugs and content gaps there were. Missjudged how many problems there were with OOM's (out of memory leaks).

    I then take it they focused on the important stuff first. Fixing bugs,content gaps, broken quests, OOM's before finishing the DX10 version.

    It took them time but the DX9 version is running beatifully almost all problems fixed, whats left until this game will rock so much that even i might give a go, is more end game content ,which is comeing with patch 1.4 hopefully along with DX10.
    Next will be items ,making them more meaningfull.
    Then we might have a winner.

    I just don't see the need you fellas have to try and drag the game and the company into the mud becasue you left becasue of it's early problems. Especially since most of these problems are gone and dealt with.



    Edited by 1 at 29/01/09 @ 00:40

  • iokthemonkey #100 3 years ago

    Yeah, sure you knew about it... /rollseyes. Look back over your posting history and see how many times this has been raised and NOT ONCE have you mentioned this information. And that's because you only found it yesterday. If there's one thing worse than a liar, it's a bad liar.

    And as I've pointed out before, the OFFICIAL SITE didn't include the information even AFTER release. So answer that one please. If this information was so widely distributed, why didn't their site include it?

    Then there's the fact ONE DAY BEFORE RELEASE (or four if you're in Europe) FUNCOM "INFORMED" THEIR CUSTOMERS OF THIS, DESPITE KNOWING FOR OVER A MONTH, MINIMUM. That's not at all shady, is it? Go on, defend that one.

    And what about those who pre-ordered the game? Did they get the option - or time - to cancel their order? No. So explain that one, too.

    Funcom KNEW they were falsely advertising a feature that wasn't in their game FOR AT LEAST A MONTH (probaly closer to SIX MONTHS) and waited until the last minute - when it was too late for those who'd pre-ordered or for word to get around - to release this information, a fact they didn't bother to include on what most people would take to be the "official" source of information, their own website.

    And please, you're talking about "spin" when you're the one squirming around about "well, it says 'optimised for DX10'" and trying every trick to make out Funcom did nothing wrong? Please...

    Funcom misjudged NOTHING. The game was in beta testing for long enough to identify their issues, but they simply didn't care. They took the attitude of "let's shove this thing out the door, recoup some costs by ripping off the audience, then string them along with a bunch of promises as we try and patch it up to the state it should have been a year before release."

    And there you go again. If AoC really is this awesome, incredible gaming experience, why aren't you playing it? Why aren't you supporting your countrymen by doing what really counts - not coming here and promoting their agenda but giving them the financial support they so desperately need, considering they've only retained about 25% of their player base. Go on, "give it a go."

    Or is it because you're scared you'll discover - as the majority of players have - that it's STILL full of bugs, lacking content, includes retrogressive features, simplistic gameplay and nothing worth paying your subscription for?

  • 1simen1 #101 3 years ago

    Monkeynaive: There you go again. You know ,resorting to slander adn calling people liers will not win you the argument.

    I just told you why i didn't write about the Press release from Funcom regarding DX10.
    Got tired of listening to your "Funcom" is lieing BS. So i googled "no DX10 for AOC" to get the exact date which i didn't remember. Just remembered that it was put out by Funcom before launch.

    Again, anyone following AOC closely through development all the way until launch and claim they had no clue that DX10 wouldn't be there at launch must have had their heads buried in the sand those last few weeks.

    It was all over the internett in all mayor gameingsites. DX10 will not be ready at launch for AOC. Also it was written everywhere stating that the DX10 version would be shown at the gaming convension in Leipzig in August 2008.

    If the biggest selling point of AOC to you was DX10 and you bought it anyway when you must have known it wasn't ready, well as i said thats on you for not paying attention. The information was there for anyone to see.

    Thats the facts. Deal with it and stop repating yourself. That part of the discussion is over and done with.

    You claim to have 15 years of game development under your belt, yet you seem oblivious to some of the problems of MMO game development. You can beta test for years and there still will be problems at a MMO launch. It's in the genres nature. The real beta test if you will ,only start when the thousends of paying custumers start hacking away at the game. They will think of and discover many things that the devs wasn't aware of or though would function differently. Thanks to feedback from their new community they can fix things as fast as they can.

    Could Funcom have done a better job at that? I believe so. But there might have been som internal problems aswell slowing things down. Gaute Godagers retirement as gamedirector comes to mind....

  • iokthemonkey #102 3 years ago

    Again, with the lies.

    You didn't know about the DX10 "announcement." You'd have mentioned it sooner. And again, if this article was "all over" the gaming press, why didn't Funcom's site include this information?

    And why did they wait until THE DAY BEFORE THE US RELEASE to announce it? They knew MONTHS in advance that it wasn't going to launch with DX10 support, yet did NOTHING but issue some weak, half-arsed comment mere days before launch, AFTER people had pre-ordered the game.

    And AoC's issues were found in the beta, yet they did nothing to correct them. In MMO launches (and trust me I've experienced plenty of them) some issues do become apparent after the game has finished beta. But issues such as memory leaks that crash the game every 30 minutes, the item stat code not working, content not being present are ALL issues Funcom were informed of but chose to ignore, instead hoisting a broken, feature-incomplete mess upon their customers then simply stating they'd fix it "later."

    And again, you dodge the point: you haven't played AoC. Go play it. Then we'll talk, because until you do, I have no more to say to you on the matter, as you're speaking out of your arse.

  • 1simen1 #103 3 years ago

    Monkeymonkey: I am not lieing. Period. I resent the accusation.

    Oh and Funcoms site still to this day have this information:

    [link url=http://community.ageofconan.com/wsp/conan/frontend.cgi?f unc=publish.show&template=content&func_id=2489&table=CONTENT
    ]http://co mmunity.ageofconan.com/wsp/cona...[/link]

    Stop it already you are just making yourself look bad.

    Go play it yourself. You havent since August was it?. And have no experience of what the game is like to day. Just like me.

    So if anyone is curious about AOC's current state, go to the official forums and the existing players will tell you the good and the bad as the game stands today on january28'th 2009.

    The problems Monkeyboy and others faced close to launch are gone, making all his arguments obselite exept for one that i totally agree with.

    AOC was released to early and problems should have been fixed sooner, but hey you can't relive the past now can you....

  • iokthemonkey #104 3 years ago

    1. Yes, you are lying.
    2. Funcom's site THE WEEKEND AFTER LAUNCH and the supposed announcement STILL LISTED DX10 as a feature.
    3. I have more experience of the game than you. So go play it and prove me wrong (yeah, right.)
    4. Second-hand information from a biased source. The majority of people quit AoC leaving only a dedicated hardcore of players. So yeah, sure, that's going to be balanced. Why not go to the WoW forums and ask the posters there what their favourite MMO is?
    5. It's still valid when Funcom are continuing there "it'll be here soon" approach to the poor souls still playing AoC and will remain so until they issue an apology, refund everybody they robbed and start giving proper dates and schedules for upcoming releases.

    Go play AoC for yourself, Semen, then we'll talk.

  • 1simen1 #105 3 years ago

    Monkeycild:

    1 : I am not lieing. You still resort to low blows when you know an argument is lost. It will only continue to refelct poorly on you.

    2 : Semantics. It's a feature. Not now, but it will be when implemented. Since just before launch Funcoms official stance have been that it will be put into the game when they feel its good enough. They are getting there, sadly slower than anticipated.
    I would rather have it in when its working as intended instead of half assed. According to your agrument i take it you share that opinon.

    3 : Granted you have more experience than me. Doesn't take much since i have never played the game. You haven't played it since last summer. You quit before the big fixes was in. Making your experience old and not up to date.

    4 : The official forums of any MMO, will bring you all information you'll ever need. Some of the games biggest critics will always be present there.For instance I played SWG for over 2years. Believe me there was outrage and hysteria going on the whole time from existing players.
    The same is the case in the AOC forums. People will say their piece good or bad, and they do. I'ts nerf this and nerf that,change this and change that, this and that is bugged and what not. It's all present for anyone to see in AOC's official forums.
    Since there hardly are any bugs left and the game runs stable it's more nerf this and that bableing, and gameplay elements that some don't like that get the evil eye nowadays.

    5 : They have already said in several interviews that they are sorry for the problems many faced during the launch period and first months.
    I for one like the new game directors policy of not setting fixed dates for updates. Things will be put into the game when it's ready and functioning as intended. Then they will avoid the problems they got when they were patching left and right in the first coupple of months. Patch fixed an issue and created two new ones...

    And a refund....Grow up!!!

  • iokthemonkey #106 3 years ago

    Go play AoC for yourself, Semen, then we'll talk.

  • Roxette #107 3 years ago

    The game inmproved a lot. No bugs to be found anymore, a lot more content.......and a rapid growing number off players.

    Most of all .....at the launch there was DirectX10 included. It only was taken out at the first patch. I played it the first 2 weeks with DX10.

    Btw. Funcom is a much better company than many others. They do their best to solve problems with games, something what I can't say about other game companies. Biorware is 10x worse than Funcom. Recently I had some Bioware folks on the phone about a bug in one of their games. They only replied with: "bugs, thats your problem". Well, 40% of the players have the same bug. Its a Bioware problem, not a players problem.

    So to all gamemakers we can say "Can we have our money back!"

    And what to say about Blizzard? Those ordinary thieves. I hope that one goes bankrupt.....I want to have my money back which they stole from me.

    So to those who dont want to hear it, or to listen to it, or to believe...............Conan is the best there is. No matter what those anti-Conan Nazis tell.......





  • Kami #108 3 years ago

    @ 1simen1.

    It's great that AoC is getting better, but the damage done was the fault of Funcom. They can't expect users who were disappointed and burned to run back a few months later because they added the features that should have been there from the beginning. It just doesn't work that way.

    The Sonic argument was an extreme example of what Vanguard launch was like. You would not release a single-player game that wasn't finished (although lately I am starting to worry about that). Funcom may have needed to get it out, but it shows us now that an unfinished MMO - or at least, a technically unsound MMO - isn't going to fly.

    Funcom's next step, if they can claim that AoC is better, is to offer the olive branch back to those who left very early. Two to four free weeks, invite people back. They screwed us over remember. It's not my job to go back to AoC now and go "Wow, it's so much better!". It's Funcom's task to get old players like me back - if it's better, two weeks of free play to check out the new actually-finished (or at least, reasonably complete) game is enough. We'll know if the extra time has been worth it.

    Anyway, next.

    Say what you like about World of Warcraft Roxette (I'm not being nice about it of late either) but the game now is technically sound and has an absolute crapload of content for whatever you want to do. Bugs all companies strive to fix - it's unfair to point a finger at Blizzard because I've never seen a company that tackles large bugs so quick. SoE are too, but then they had to rebuild a whole game in Vanguard so even there I cut the devs some slack (I do wonder how much coffee is required to keep them going 24/7. Do they have their own coffee plantations?).

    As for AoC having no bugs, that's a blatant lie. MMO's will always have bugs. That's the nature of the beast. There's always balance to maintain, things to be fixed. If there were no bugs there would be no need for maintainance and patches only when introducing new content. That's a fairy land that we're not at yet.

    No-one is demanding their money back. I never did with Vanguard (I paid full price and a couple weeks later it was £5. That's what you call f**king painful). I paid for Founders with Hellgate London. We didn't get all that we were promised and the extra money we paid for a lifetime sub was gone. I loved Tabula Rasa and that died, they just didn't have the funding to add content so basically tweaked the PvP endlessly. And now AoC. A game that launched with a catalogue of problems each more game-breaking than the last - and it got worse as well after I left!

    I'm no stranger to how the MMO scene works. I've wasted good amounts of my own cash on it. I don't get paid to write about it (though I am looking for work if anyone wants me!), I just think sometimes people who've only seen the good can't relate to those of us who saw the worst of it all. Funcom still have a good chance yet, I admit it. But the ball is very much in their court, and users who left are still potential customers to return. But we were burned. So how to make it work? Offer them some free time, minimal - two week trial or four week period - to come back in and see it for themselves.

    If we're happy, we'll stay. If we think it's still broke, we'll bugger off again. It's worked for WoW. EQ. FFXI. Star Wars Galaxies. And other MMO's.

    It's not my place to confirm AoC is finished now. I paid for the game. I gave them a chance. It's Funcom's place now to coax back people like me.

  • iokthemonkey #109 3 years ago

    Most of all .....at the launch there was DirectX10 included.
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    ORLY?


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    Btw. Funcom is a much better company than many others. They do their best to solve problems with games, something what I can't say about other game companies
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    Problems they themselves created in the first instance.

    And I don't know about you, but I prefer to buy products that, you know, ACTUALLY WORK... I dunno, maybe I'm just out of touch with this crazy modern world but somebody selling me a product using false advertising that's not fit for purpose doesn't really leave me thinking, "Hey, they're a great company! I want to give them MORE of my money and one day I might actually get the product I paid for, instead of a broken mess!"

    But hey, if you're having fun, good for you...