Being wrong about Age of Conan
Posted by Tipa in Age of Conan, Dark Ages of Camelot, EverQuest, MMOs, Warhammer: Age of Reckoning, World of WarcraftI admit it. I was wrong about AoC.
I said it would be a blip that would quickly fall to the high system requirements and the World of Warcraft juggernaut. I said that WoW would be entirely unchallenged by AoC, and was only mildly worried about Warhammer Online.
I think I was wrong about every thing I said. Those people who called me clueless were right.
AoC is having the most successful launch I think I have ever seen, maybe even better than WoW back in 2004. Back then, of course, the market was a lot smaller, and WoW’s launch turned then-MMO champ EverQuest into a niche game, something Asheron’s Call and Dark Age of Camelot had not been able to do. So I don’t see AoC booting WoW to the curb.
It sure looks like WoW is weaker than I thought. Since all this interest *must* be largely coming from WoW (nobody else has that kind of presence), great crowds of people must have just been waiting for a new game to come out which wasn’t trying to be a WoW competitor but was just trying to be the best game possible. And with the welcome news of a very smooth launch and very playable game, more and more people will decide to take the plunge and join their friends.
I thought WoW had at least another year or two of unchallenged superiority. Maybe when people saw the next expansion would be nothing to really inspire passion, they became more willing to roll the dice and take the chance on something new?
Going to Warhammer Online, I expected. That is a game that I thought would appeal to WoW players (and probably will). AoC I disregarded as a blip, a quick MMO to play before choosing sides in the WoW vs WAR megashowdown at the end of the year — a battle I still expected to be won ultimately by WoW. Now, I am not so sure.
WoW is this giant walking around crushing villages and causing devastation wherever it turns, and all other MMOs are like people attacking the massive toes of the giant with clubs and pitchforks. Maybe the giant has finally met his Jack.
Blizzard acts like a leader in the MMO world, magnanimously hoping for decent competition. You can say that when you’re ahead. But Blizzard has shareholders to appease, and they can’t be liking the thought that another company would steal any of WoW’s thunder before they had a suitable replacement ready.
Is it time for Blizzard to pull back the curtain and show what they have planned for WoW’s second act? We’ve all seen how fast market leaders can become yesterday’s news.
So yeah, I was wrong and I admit I was wrong. Way to go, Funcom. I hope Age of Conan surprises and shocks EVERYONE by its wild success.
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It’s in the nature of communities to be defensive. And they have a right to be. The PvP servers are emptying to go to AoC. But if you think the EQ2 fanbois are defensive, check out the WoW ones.
Hey Tip, curious on your thoughts about my recent resource gathering write up.
Posted it today if you’ve a few to read it and respond.
I’m finding it very refreshing so far (the resource gathering), but I wonder if it will soon get stale and if I’ll find myself wishing for LotRO or EQ2 or WoW’s more in your face version of doing so.
I did read that. It really reminded me of Vanguard, actually. Well, I guess I’ll head to your part of the webs :)
@tipa Sex, blood and violence sells.
I am playing AoC and I love this game. I don’t love it because of the sex, blood and violence… well… it contributes, but the gameplay and the artistic detail. It’s a fun game, you don’t have to worry about having the best gear, the highest level spells in order to be competitive in PvP. Based on my pvp experience in EQ2, that Funcom did it right in this game, for example: separate PVP experience and feat trees, pvp sieges and mini-games, pvp helps your guild attain a goal. These are things that I felt were missing in EQ2 PvP.
[...] then, in a rush to judgement, I see Tipa saying she was wrong and that Conan is a success, Genda saying that Conan will be chewing on WoW’s [...]
I am also playing AoC and I’m pretty sure when mentioned in the past, I’ve tried to stand by this title. I played beta for months before and its really amazing to see how far it came for launch. So far I’d say the best thing for me about AoC is not the action oriented style or the great eye candy but the speed of levelling and the lack of loot hoarding. I am very much a casual gamer, and although I’ve put in more than my usual 1-2 hours per day or so of game time, I am sure to be level 40 tonight and myself and my guild are hoping to have a guild city started in the next short while. It seems we may be the dominant guild on our server so far, and so hopefully we will have quick access to the resource provinces, and then the game will REALLY be on.
It is very refreshing to play a game that moves away from the content-driven gameplay which is meant to be repeated ad-nauseum to get all those pretty items. Let me at my enemies, not at the scripted gameplay which, once solved, proves to be an exercise in memorization.
@Ddoom
Also, for us Casual players who like to enjoy the scenery…hehe…
I am only level 23 after 26 hours…the level curve is AWESOME for me…
If I get 80 hours out of the game…I then got my moneys worth out of the box alone…
Good fun
Four people I work with play WoW. These are four people on reasonable salaries. When I told them I was playing Age of Conan they said “Their system wouldn’t play it”. Not taking anything away from WoW, it’s a good game, but so much of it’s success is due to its system requirements, at least in my opinion.
Imagine how many more people might have bought/tried AoC if it ran on lower specced systems.
@Caliga
And imagine how many more people would have said it is exactly like WoW if the had lower specced the game..
The graphics in AoC distances itself even from LOTRO visually…and due to the mechanics of the game..more power is needed for collision detection, etc.
The more realistic feel and visual quality will be a “new system sales” pusher for sure…as so many people have made the plunge for next gen computing thanks to the graphics needs of this title…and then to have so many more games follow suit will be a boon.
We need to push ahead in the PC market, or else consoles will take over…pure and simple. There will be no need to innovate in any manner…and then people will be stuck playing WoW ten years from now…the same boring playstyle and same graphical power.
So many people are done with WoW…and if they really want something new…then they will make the move to go forward…if not, then each time they complain they are sick of WoW and the same old tired mechanics…they can always look back and say “Well..if I just would have spent a few hundred dollars…”
There is a lot more to AoC than blood and and boobs. A lot of people can’t see past that and really put some time into it in order to experience everything that game has to offer. Their single player (1-20) quest chain pulls you into your character and plays more like an RPG(such as mass effect or oblivion)… no other mmo has been able to give me that kind of experience with their quests. When you talk to an npc it looks cinematic like the way Mass Effect does their conversations. Of course it’s not as good as a true rpg but still better than any other mmo out there in my opinion…
AoC has a lot to offer in terms of gameplay. There are a lot of people who, before WoW, played AC, AC2, shadowbane and fell in love with the vast landscapes and the open field for pvp and exploration. WoW players who were fans of those games will probably move to AoC. This is why people are staying once they get into the game. It reminds them of these mmos that original got them hooked. This game also offers huge castle sieges, wars and creation that only DAoC and shadowbane was able to provide. Although imo shadowbane’s sieges were nothing compared to DAoC’s siege warfare. Right now AoC is the only thing that may come close to that.
I don’t think Warhammer will be as successful as AoC. Warhammer looks way to much like DAoC. Not much new and the whole thing looks like it will play the same way. AoC has more variety in skills… to me its “deeper”. There are a lot of things that you can tweak with your character and its not just add damage skills. Stealth is a skill that I think every class has available at some point, this in itself is very unique in any mmo. More classes can heal and main healing classes can dps. Healing works differently. Most healing is passive with and not potent. It is mostly HoT and dps/healing.
These are the reasons why it’s doing well. I can see melee combat and shielding becoming boring and annoying after a few months, maybe the pvp will even become repetitive.. so for this reason I believe people will go back to WoW after end game or find something else. Right now I think WoW has the most end game content that’s not boring.
Everyone I know who was playing LotRO is now playing AoC. I don’t think family friendly or blood and gore have much to do with it (though I will say the “sex and violence” mainly just make me giggle – I’m almost surprised they got the rating). Timing is good in that WoW, LotrO and EQ2 all have a bunch of top end people waiting for the next expansion.
*whispers* I still prefer EQ2 overall, though.