Age of Conan Pricing Revealed

[Dr.Finger]

Age of Conan, the mature-rated MMO from Funcom, has garnered a lot of interest from the fans, even after the fairly lengthy delays the title has suffered. The recent beta in particular has really peaked interest in the game, so it's the perfect time for Funcom to drop the pricing schedule on the fans.

According to Joystiq (http://www.joystiq.com/2008/04/23/age-of-conans-retail-monthly-subscription-prices-revealed/), the game will sell for a rather robust $60/€50, with the subscription running you another $15/€13 per month. While the monthly fee is in line with most modern MMOs, the $60 price tag is a lot more than most MMOs go for at retail. Chalk this up to Age of Conan's somewhat unorthodox structure - you play the first 20 levels pretty much as a single player experience, and only after you reach that plateau do you go full time on the massively multiplayer elements .

[Asmodan]

Hrmmm... this doesn't strike me as a particularly good move. The barrier to entry needs to be low if they want to survive competing with WoW. Add in that the game focuses very heavily on PvP (a niche market) and is far more 'twitch' oriented (again, a niche for MMO's) and it's already shrunk the potential user base. Then ladle the reputation for fantastic launches that Funcom has onto the equation.

Sticking an initial price that is substantially higher than other MMO's on it doesn't seem to make much sense. The revenue from an MMO is the monthly payments, the initial box doesn't really make that much money comparatively.

[Lind]

You can swap between singelplay and mmo mode by entering a Inn and saying if you want to play in the night (alone) or day (mmo).

[balamoor]

You can swap between singelplay and mmo mode by entering a Inn and saying if you want to play in the night (alone) or day (mmo).

So you can play offline any time at any level?

[Deepsleeper]

Aaaahahahaha.

That's so cute. They think they're WoW. Man, this one's gonna sink like a brick.

[balamoor]

Aaaahahahaha.

That's so cute. They think they're WoW. Man, this one's gonna sink like a brick.

Not according to the beta buzz and the Pre Order sales. It's currently Number 1 and Number 2 at most Retailers. I'm going to wait and test it, and make up my own mind.

As far as being WoW god I hope not the last thing the world needs is another shit generic uninspired MMO.

[reimomo]

So you can play offline any time at any level?

No, what he said is very misleading. There is a main quest/story-line that you finish to leave the "newbie area"... parts of this quest-line are played "at night", and at those times all zones are privately instanced to you.

There is no "offline" version. And, to say that you play primarily single player the first 20 levels is entirely innacurate. You play primarily solo (if you choose), but there are other people around for most of your questing.

[Lind]

So you can play offline any time at any level?

At least the first 20 levels, after that I dont know.

edit - see post above for better explanation :)

But still I spent most of my first 20 levels in the beta alone doing the main quest in night-time mode and only popped into mmo mode for a bit of extra xp.

[reimomo]

Aaaahahahaha.

That's so cute. They think they're WoW. Man, this one's gonna sink like a brick.

I think its a terrible move... anyone with a <512 MB video card is going to want/need to upgrade... to up the entrance fee even more by being the first PC game to try and take the 60 dollar price point is insane.

[Telefrog]

This game has fail written all over it.

[Savok]

God, you yanks whining "oh noes, it's $60".

Almost every new game in Australia is over $90US now, feel my pain!

[Nura]

Collectors edition is still quite abit cheaper then an xbox360 game here.

edit: Nvm that, it's only slightly cheaper (96$ for AoC:CE and 100$ for GTA:IV 360 version)

[Crowe]

God, you yanks whining "oh noes, it's $60".

Almost every new game in Australia is over $90US now, feel my pain!

Fucking oath.

[Nesta]

Crap, well they better have a free 1-week preview demo out at some point or, as much as I love me some R.E. Howard and Conan, I'm not ponying up $60 just to see if I may like it.

[Savok]

Crap, well they better have a free 1-week preview demo out at some point or, as much as I love me some R.E. Howard and Conan, I'm not ponying up $60 just to see if I may like it.
I think there's an open beta soon, so you can try it then.

[Sternn]

man there's a lot of inaccurate information flying about in this thread ...except this:


No, what he said is very misleading. There is a main quest/story-line that you finish to leave the "newbie area"... parts of this quest-line are played "at night", and at those times all zones are privately instanced to you.

There is no "offline" version. And, to say that you play primarily single player the first 20 levels is entirely innacurate. You play primarily solo (if you choose), but there are other people around for most of your questing.


that's 100% accurate ..the total single player time is in and around 2-4hrs at most(lvl's 1-5, lvl 7, 10, 15, 19-20) ..although you can solo the entire time so it's really no different ..daytime is more populated by npc as well as players anyways


and really people complaining about the price? console games are priced the same ..often for games that have at best 10 hours worth of game play time. You could easily get 10x out of a MMO if you simply buy the game and just play for the month ...it's a far better value than $60 for a fraction of game time. And really if you're that hard put for an extra $10 dont buy it at release ..wait two months and I'm sure it'll have gone down a bit

and those that say the game is a failure waiting to happen: what exactly makes you think that? it's obvious you havent played the game ..so what is it exactly? was there a sign in one of the recent videos that said "OMG we're going to fail" because some of you seem to be formulating an opinion out of thin air with nothing substantial except "a feeling" ..there's always an element in gaming that wants certain games to fail for nothing more than some idiotic misplaced loyalty to some idea or pov or game, personally they annoy me to no end

[balamoor]

and those that say the game is a failure waiting to happen: what exactly makes you think that? it's obvious you havent played the game ..so what is it exactly? was there a sign in one of the recent videos that said "OMG we're going to fail" because some of you seem to be formulating an opinion out of thin air with nothing substantial except "a feeling" ..there's always an element in gaming that wants certain games to fail for nothing more than some idiotic misplaced loyalty to some idea or pov or game, personally they annoy me to no end

iT wIlz f4iLz0rZ cUz iT n0tz d4
w0Wz0rZ!!iqnegitiveeightyfoureatatjoes!!!!

Yeah gotta love fanbois.:rolleyes:

[morose]

It was a poor marketing decision. Period. Justify it however you like. Personally? Seeing an MMO with a high initial price makes me think "huh, they must not expect people to stick around, so they're getting their money up front". Not a good message to send. Maybe the game is great, I don't know. But that's the message their price is sending to me.

[balamoor]

It was a poor marketing decision. Period. Justify it however you like. Personally? Seeing an MMO with a high initial price makes me think "huh, they must not expect people to stick around, so they're getting their money up front". Not a good message to send. Maybe the game is great, I don't know. But that's the message their price is sending to me.

Well personally I don't what the fuck they are talking about Amazon, Gamestop, EBgames, and Gogamer all have it for 47.99 to 49.99

[Sternn]

yes because that's the goal of an MMO: get your money up front ..not long term steady income ..no that wouldnt make sense


how much did you pay for whatever game you havent played more than 80 hours worth ? because anything more than $10 is a an example of you buying into "poor marketing decision" ..or more accuratel "awesome marketing decision because we only have to make 8 hours worth of content and they'll still buy it anyways at an inflated price"



I think its a terrible move... anyone with a <512 MB video card is going to want/need to upgrade

nope, the game ran fine on my 2 year old 7800gt

[Grifter]

man there's a lot of inaccurate information flying about in this thread ...except this:





that's 100% accurate ..the total single player time is in and around 2-4hrs at most(lvl's 1-5, lvl 7, 10, 15, 19-20) ..although you can solo the entire time so it's really no different ..daytime is more populated by npc as well as players anyways


and really people complaining about the price? console games are priced the same ..often for games that have at best 10 hours worth of game play time. You could easily get 10x out of a MMO if you simply buy the game and just play for the month ...it's a far better value than $60 for a fraction of game time. And really if you're that hard put for an extra $10 dont buy it at release ..wait two months and I'm sure it'll have gone down a bit

and those that say the game is a failure waiting to happen: what exactly makes you think that? it's obvious you havent played the game ..so what is it exactly? was there a sign in one of the recent videos that said "OMG we're going to fail" because some of you seem to be formulating an opinion out of thin air with nothing substantial except "a feeling" ..there's always an element in gaming that wants certain games to fail for nothing more than some idiotic misplaced loyalty to some idea or pov or game, personally they annoy me to no end

I have played the game and nothing about it is worth $60. The graphics aren't as good as most single player games, the controls aren't as good as most SP games, the combat isn't as good as most SP games, just because the combat is better than other MMOs does not mean the game is worth twice as much. Counting the first part of the game as a SP experience doesn't make it worth $70 if that single player experience is of a lesser quality than most other single player games.

Now, I did enjoy the game and will eventually pick it up but it's just not worth $60 and a monthly fee, especially at launch. I get 10x the game with LotRO it runs smoother and at this point still looks better for $40 and $10 a month, why should we give Funcom more for less?

yes because that's the goal of an MMO: get your money up front ..not long term steady income ..no that wouldnt make sense


how much did you pay for whatever game you havent played more than 80 hours worth ? because anything more than $10 is a an example of you buying into "poor marketing decision" ..or more accuratel "awesome marketing decision because we only have to make 8 hours worth of content and they'll still buy it anyways at an inflated price"

And 9 times out of ten that 10 hour content is of much higher quality than 40 hours of an MMO.

[SilentScreams]

I'll still pick it up at whatever price it releases at over here.
I'm too hyped for the game to not buy it over a few £.

The price of the game won't put as many people off as the price of the hardware needed to run it.

[Drayven]

It seems to me that alot of the people complaining about the box price are the same people that won't pay a monthly fee for an MMO. I mean the comment that the graphics aren't as good as a single player game? That's sort of a given in the MMO world because they have to build these games in a way to keep performance up when multiple characters are together, it's just a different creature from single player games. And yes, LotRO probably does run better but it's also got a 2 year head start? I did the LotRO beta and I seem to recall it looking worse than AoC does now. I'm not saying that I necessarily agree with the $60 price tag but I also don't think it's going to spell failure for this game. If you don't like MMOs and you don't like monthly subscription fees then why the hell does this affect you at all?

[Sternn]

I have played the game and nothing about it is worth $60. The graphics aren't as good as most single player games, the controls aren't as good as most SP games, the combat isn't as good as most SP games, just because the combat is better than other MMOs does not mean the game is worth twice as much. Counting the first part of the game as a SP experience doesn't make it worth $70 if that single player experience is of a lesser quality than most other single player games.

now it's shot up to $70? and you played the PVP beta? or the entire game? please be specific ..but since you seem to think the first part is single player I'll assume you've only played the PVP beta ..having played it exclusively since nov 2007 I can honestly say it's worth $60 in fact I'm considering the more expensive CE


Now, I did enjoy the game and will eventually pick it up but it's just not worth $60 and a monthly fee, especially at launch. I get 10x the game with LotRO it runs smoother and at this point still looks better for $40 and $10 a month, why should we give Funcom more for less?

I dont know what hardware you're using but lotro does not in any way look better than AOC it might run smoother (beta vs game that came out a year ago)



And 9 times out of ten that 10 hour content is of much higher quality than 40 hours of an MMO.

relative to your pov and specific game ..just because you think it;s higher quality doesnt make it so ..especially since you havent played Age of Conan beyond a small portion of it's multiplayer

[Oblivion]

I think only sensible approach to a new MMO is to wait and see how it weathers the initial two-three months. That shows you what kind of a userbase it will have and the potential gameplay problems will be put forward by legions of whiners who inhabit every single corner of the net.

[Telefrog]

It seems to me that alot of the people complaining about the box price are the same people that won't pay a monthly fee for an MMO. I mean the comment that the graphics aren't as good as a single player game? That's sort of a given in the MMO world because they have to build these games in a way to keep performance up when multiple characters are together, it's just a different creature from single player games. And yes, LotRO probably does run better but it's also got a 2 year head start? I did the LotRO beta and I seem to recall it looking worse than AoC does now. I'm not saying that I necessarily agree with the $60 price tag but I also don't think it's going to spell failure for this game. If you don't like MMOs and you don't like monthly subscription fees then why the hell does this affect you at all?

I'm not even really upset by the price so much as I am everything else I've seen about it. $60 + $15 a month isn't good, but if they had the gameplay to back it up, what would be so terrible about it?

No, I haven't played in the beta, but all the footage I've seen and everything I've read about the game (to include a lot of broken NDA testimonials about the beta) doesn't make me feel like this game has the gameplay to back up that pricing. Maybe when it comes out, something will change my mind, but it would have to be pretty damn good to get me to pay for more than one monthly fee at this point.

[lockwoodx]

Well personally I don't what the fuck they are talking about Amazon, Gamestop, EBgames, and Gogamer all have it for 47.99 to 49.99

Yep that's what their web pages and my 3 preorder emails say.

I just tried to access my account at ebgames/gamestop online tho and it's down. They might be "adjusting" the price.

[tacitus]

Well personally I don't what the fuck they are talking about Amazon, Gamestop, EBgames, and Gogamer all have it for 47.99 to 49.99
Not to mention bestbuy, which is $49.99 on line and in store. They are specifically saying the price when you pick up your preorder will be $39.99, which is $49.99 - $10 for the preorder.

[bean19]

Well, they just moved OFF being a preorder title for me. For $60, I'll need to read reviews of the game. People in the beta have told me that the game is missing a lot of features that won't make it in until long after the release. Do they know that people can buy WoW and the expansion for $50 or play CoX for even less than that? It just doesn't seem very smart of them to raise the traditional price by $10. . . especially with a product that makes more money based on people paying a monthly fee.

[Sternn]

No, I haven't played in the beta, but all the footage I've seen and everything I've read about the game (to include a lot of broken NDA testimonials about the beta) doesn't make me feel like this game has the gameplay to back up that pricing.

first of all those testimonials as you call them are based on builds that are months old some of them are taken out of context and the person who first started it all was a malcontent who was banned for other unrelated issues, he wasnt very well liked in the community especially after he used other people's comments out of context and presented it as verbatim when it wasnt ...and the game does have the gameplay to back up the pricing: I've been playing it exclusively (ok there was a short brief period where I played Portal) since Nov 2007

Maybe when it comes out, something will change my mind, but it would have to be pretty damn good to get me to pay for more than one monthly fee at this point.

that's the problem right there ..their intended audience: MMO players are too busy smoking from the pipe to pull themselves away to try another game ..consoles arent ringing the death knell of pc gaming, WoW is


and people need to STOP comparing Age of Conan to WOW or any MMO to WoW for that matter jebus christ the game came out 4 years ago give it a rest already. I mean unless Jimi Hendrix, Jim Morrison, Keith Moon, and Santa freakin claus himself leaped out of your screen and started playing Black Dog by Led Zeppelin while you played a game there will never be a game that tops WoW ..it doeasnt matter if it's better in every single way it will never be better to a large portion of pc gamers

[Grifter]

now it's shot up to $70?

I'm sorry I meant $75, the initial cost plus one month.




I dont know what hardware you're using but lotro does not in any way look better than AOC it might run smoother (beta vs game that came out a year ago)

An 8800GTS (G92) and an E8400 at 4GHz with 4GB of RAM and yes LotRO looks better and runs much, much, better. The more they charge the more I expect from them and for $60 bucks it better look better and run better than the competition.





relative to your pov and specific game ..just because you think it;s higher quality doesnt make it so ..especially since you havent played Age of Conan beyond a small portion of it's multiplayer

Give me a break, if you think this has a more in depth story than Mass Effect or Lost Odyssey, a more complex combat engine than God of War or Ninja Gaiden or better graphics than Assassins Creed you're blinded and obviously a fan boy. I played enough of the game to know it's not worth $60 with or without the first months fee to put up with the inevitable launch issues they are going to have. I wouldn't have paid that much for LotRO and I trusted Turbine a year ago more then than I trust Funcom now.

If anything they need to release the game for $30-$40 now and then raise the price later once a lot of the bugs have been worked out and there is more content for it.

[lockwoodx]

Still crusading for tabula rasa Grifter? *snicker*

[torrefaction]

Australians should stop crying and move. Of course you get charged more...you're an island full of criminals.

hahahahaaha

[Drayven]

I'm sorry I meant $75, the initial cost plus one month.

An 8800GTS (G92) and an E8400 at 4GHz with 4GB of RAM and yes LotRO looks better and runs much, much, better. The more they charge the more I expect from them and for $60 bucks it better look better and run better than the competition.

Give me a break, if you think this has a more in depth story than Mass Effect or Lost Odyssey, a more complex combat engine than God of War or Ninja Gaiden or better graphics than Assassins Creed you're blinded and obviously a fan boy. I played enough of the game to know it's not worth $60 with or without the first months fee to put up with the inevitable launch issues they are going to have. I wouldn't have paid that much for LotRO and I trusted Turbine a year ago more then than I trust Funcom now.

If anything they need to release the game for $30-$40 now and then raise the price later once a lot of the bugs have been worked out and there is more content for it.

You know that the first month is included in the initial price right? So the purchase price is $60.

It really sounds to me like you just don't like MMOs the way you keep trying to compare them to single player games. I personally love MMOs so things like lesser graphics just don't even factor in for me, that's not why I'm playing the game.

[Grifter]

Still crusading for tabula rasa Grifter? *snicker*

WTF are you talking about? I didn't think Tabula was that great either nor have I ever "crusaded" for it.

[Savok]

Australians should stop crying and move. Of course you get charged more...you're an island full of criminals.

hahahahaaha
We also get most games 6 months late and missing bits.

All we want is humane treatment!

[torrefaction]

We also get most games 6 months late and missing bits.

All we want is humane treatment!

And all we want is all the criminals and their criminal children to pay restitution and be punished eternally.

[Slack3r78]

WTF are you talking about? I didn't think Tabula was that great either nor have I ever "crusaded" for it.

He may be thinking about the fact that GrinR is/was in love with that game.

[Grifter]

You know that the first month is included in the initial price right? So the purchase price is $60.

It really sounds to me like you just don't like MMOs the way you keep trying to compare them to single player games. I personally love MMOs so things like lesser graphics just don't even factor in for me, that's not why I'm playing the game.

If you read sternn's initial posts he is the one who compared it to SP games so I just played off of that. I never said Conan was a bad game I said it's not worth $60 AND all the launch issues it will inevitably have plus the initial lack of content.

I am currently playing and enjoying LotRO and as soon as the price drops on Conan or the bugs are worked out and it becomes a more content rich game I will, if it's still alive, most likely pick it up Like I said it's not a bad game I'm just not willing to pay a premium for what will be an inferior MMO for the first few months of it's life.

He may be thinking about the fact that GrinR is/was in love with that game.

Yeah, I think GrinR was just suffering brain damage from too long of exposure to Hellgate and because Tabula was the next thing he played by comparison it was heavenly.

[lockwoodx]

WTF are you talking about? I didn't think Tabula was that great either nor have I ever "crusaded" for it.

My bad got you confused with GrinR.




He may be thinking about the fact that GrinR is/was in love with that game.

edit>> Dam he beat me to it lol.

[Telefrog]

...and the game does have the gameplay to back up the pricing: I've been playing it exclusively (ok there was a short brief period where I played Portal) since Nov 2007

Since judging the quality of the gameplay of any game is a subjective thing, I'll have to see. Like I said, I haven't played it, but the stuff I've read hasn't been that great. Not terrible, just not really better than what's already out there.

that's the problem right there ..their intended audience: MMO players are too busy smoking from the pipe to pull themselves away to try another game ..consoles arent ringing the death knell of pc gaming, WoW is

and people need to STOP comparing Age of Conan to WOW or any MMO to WoW for that matter jebus christ the game came out 4 years ago give it a rest already. I mean unless Jimi Hendrix, Jim Morrison, Keith Moon, and Santa freakin claus himself leaped out of your screen and started playing Black Dog by Led Zeppelin while you played a game there will never be a game that tops WoW ..it doeasnt matter if it's better in every single way it will never be better to a large portion of pc gamers

What else can people compare it to? Like it or not, WoW is pretty much the commonly accepted standard of MMO games now. For a long time, it was "Hey, is that game better than EverQuest?" Now it's become "Is that game better than WoW?"

Beating WoW is a tough prospect for any game at this point. It's not even really necessary if you're content to have your MMO be profitable and run in the green. Guild Wars, EVE, and EQ2 do fine with their users. I think the pressure to be the next WoW-killer is really what kills a lot of MMO games. People for whatever reason, have it in their heads that if it doesn't beat WoW, then it's an automatic failure which just isn't true.

I really do feel that there is a limited market for subscription-based games. Most people will only pay for one or two (at most) different monthly game subscriptions at once. Unless a game offers something completely new and exciting, the majority of MMO players will just stick with what they already have. It can be a long-overdue graphical upgrade like EQ to EQ2, or a completely different genre like EVE, but a new subscription MMO has to offer something 'outside the box' to attract players that already pay for a game.

[Sternn]

I'm sorry I meant $75, the initial cost plus one month.

that's incorrect ..the initial cost is $60 ..you get 30 days for free

my best buy says it's $49.95

http://www.bestbuy.ca/catalog/proddetail.asp?logon=&langid=EN&sku_id=0926INGFS10100673&catid=21136




An 8800GTS (G92) and an E8400 at 4GHz with 4GB of RAM and yes LotRO looks better and runs much, much, better. The more they charge the more I expect from them and for $60 bucks it better look better and run better than the competition.

it does in every single concievable way, there is no comparison whatsoever ..lotro does not look better than AOC I've played both and it's night and day difference ..and again you're comparing a game still in beta with a game that came out a year ago ..if it doesnt run smoother there's somethign wrong with it




Give me a break, if you think this has a more in depth story than Mass Effect or Lost Odyssey, a more complex combat engine than God of War or Ninja Gaiden or better graphics than Assassins Creed you're blinded and obviously a fan boy.

and you're being an alarmist fool ..none of those games could ever be an MMO simply because of their game mechanics ..how the hell would you have god of war style combat in an mmo? have you ever seen a MMO fighting game? that's simply not possible what with latency issues ..and the depth of story in Mass effect? how the hell could you pull that off in a MMO? you'd walk into a city and all players would be as zombies standing in a single spot because they'd be too busy watcing a 7 minute cutscene

apples to oranges

I played enough of the game to know it's not worth $60 with or without the first months fee to put up with the inevitable launch issues they are going to have. I wouldn't have paid that much for LotRO and I trusted Turbine a year ago more then than I trust Funcom now.

you played a small portion of the multiplayer ..at best you played 5% of the game, certainly not enough to formulate an opinion on anything but classes and combat ..and since it's a beta it's all likely to change so even your opinion cant be definitive

If anything they need to release the game for $30-$40 now and then raise the price later once a lot of the bugs have been worked out and there is more content for it.


completely unrealistic ..games have a single month window of sales ..after that it trickles down to a negligible amount ..raising the price at a later date wouldnt make the least bit sense


also I might add that your ire is only brought to the forefront because you assume the price is $60 ..what if it's wrong what if it's $49 like it says in every retailer I look at? will your mind change then? or will you simply say it should be $10 less to apease whatever it is is you need to be appeased

[Demo_Boy]

Sternn is getting excitable. Watch out all.

My take on this pricing is that it is pretty crazy.
Its like they are saying this game is better than GTA4, since it will cost the same and charge a sub on top!

If the game is charging full retail, with a sub on top it has to compete with the best from both genres.
Like this game would have to be more entertaining than a copy of Bioshock _and_ a copy of LOTRO. I just don't see that being realistic.
Gaming in some sense is a commodity item: there's plenty that can entertain, (more than you have hours to play) and pricing is suppressed by market competition from new games, used games, entrenched games even web games.

I don't have any special suggestions for the publisher, but I think the retail + sub is not going to turn a profit.

[MacD]

apples to oranges

you played a small portion of the multiplayer ..at best you played 5% of the game, certainly not enough to formulate an opinion on anything but classes and combat ..and since it's a beta it's all likely to change so even your opinion cant be definitive

You do realise that you can turn that argument around (which I'm going to demonstrate shortly): if you know so little about the game, how in hell can you be so sure it's any good?

See what I did there?

[Qoz]

It's based on demand. Pure and simple.
Like new graphics hardware and other stuff is ALWAYS more expensive initialy.

Many people will buy this game even if the price is 60$ vs. 40$, and they will not feel ripped off. They just WANT IT NOW!! So why should Funcom price it lower? To give you money? They have made some fantastic work on AoC, and offcourse they
want it to be profitable. By maximizing profit they decrease the chances of a cancellation in the future.

You could then argue, that they are scaring people away with the high cost.
I don't think this will happen and some think it will.
Nobody knows.

I'm sure Funcom made some surveys to discover what they can charge to maximize profit (initial vs. monthly).

If you think it's too high then wait 2 months.
You will get it for far less.

[Chainblast]

I spent the last 6 months dipping in and out of the closed beta, and while the game has some need quirks it doesn't provide much anyone having played a MMO before hasn't been exposed to. It's not at all a bad game, it just doesn't really do anything new or drastically different. It might be worth checking out but I would never pay the price of admission as stated in this thread topic.

[Grifter]

that's incorrect ..the initial cost is $60 ..you get 30 days for free

my best buy says it's $49.95

http://www.bestbuy.ca/catalog/proddetail.asp?logon=&langid=EN&sku_id=0926INGFS10100673&catid=21136
Good for them.

it does in every single concievable way, there is no comparison whatsoever ..lotro does not look better than AOC I've played both and it's night and day difference ..and again you're comparing a game still in beta with a game that came out a year ago ..if it doesnt run smoother there's somethign wrong with it

LotRO has better models, better lighting, better sky and better water Conan AT THIS POINT only has better bump mapped textures and the addition of ambient occlusion which gives some of the textures much more depth than you would see in LotRO which looks good, and the water interaction animations are much better. Animations in general are about the same.

In the end it's really just a matter of opinion so there really is no point in going on about it.


and you're being an alarmist fool ..none of those games could ever be an MMO simply because of their game mechanics ..how the hell would you have god of war style combat in an mmo? have you ever seen a MMO fighting game? that's simply not possible what with latency issues ..and the depth of story in Mass effect? how the hell could you pull that off in a MMO? you'd walk into a city and all players would be as zombies standing in a single spot because they'd be too busy watcing a 7 minute cutscene

apples to oranges

You're the one who started the comparison and now your backtracking, I never expected it to play like a single player game and never would have brought it up if you didn't compare it to a SP game in your initial posts. You can't use one side of the argument and not the other but don't feel bad it's a common mistake with fanboys.



you played a small portion of the multiplayer ..at best you played 5% of the game, certainly not enough to formulate an opinion on anything but classes and combat ..and since it's a beta it's all likely to change so even your opinion cant be definitive

I played the game for quite a few hours and being an MMO The only real difference between the first 20 hours and the last is cooler shit and a better understanding of what you're doing. The combat itself does not change drastically so yes I think I played more than enough to know if I think the game is worth $60 on launch day.




completely unrealistic ..games have a single month window of sales ..after that it trickles down to a negligible amount ..raising the price at a later date wouldnt make the least bit sense

Didn't say it was realistic but from a price vs quality standpoint and from a consumers perspective it makes more sense, why should I pay more for less?
Normally MMOs don't follow the traditional rule of game sales because if they did they would all be failures.


also I might add that your ire is only brought to the forefront because you assume the price is $60 ..what if it's wrong what if it's $49 like it says in every retailer I look at? will your mind change then? or will you simply say it should be $10 less to apease whatever it is is you need to be appeased

Which is exactly what this fucking thread is about, the cost of the game. Yes if this news post is wrong and it's $40 or $50 it changes everything. I don't have any "ire" towards the game, in fact I quite like it I just don't think ANY MMO is worth $60 at launch, especially one from Funcom and Eidos.

There is this thing called perceived value and just because I don't think something is worth the price being asked for it doesn't mean I think the product isn't good.

Fucking obnoxious fanboys and their lack of reading comprehension skills!

Just so we are clear, I like the game, just not $60 on launch day like. Maybe I'll pay $50 or I may wait until it's $40 and see what the impressions of early adopters are after the first month or two of play.

Thankfully my ultimate purchasing decision and overall opinion has nothing to do with you so this argument is over.

[torrefaction]

All this drama over $10.

[Sternn]

You do realise that you can turn that argument around (which I'm going to demonstrate shortly): if you know so little about the game, how in hell can you be so sure it's any good?

See what I did there?

did you miss the part where I said I've been playing it since nov 2007?


You're the one who started the comparison and now your backtracking, I never expected it to play like a single player game and never would have brought it up if you didn't compare it to a SP game in your initial posts. You can't use one side of the argument and not the other but don't feel bad it's a common mistake with fanboys.

i didnt compare it to a single player game ..I compared it to the length of gameplay in a single player game ..there's a world of difference

I played the game for quite a few hours and being an MMO The only real difference between the first 20 hours and the last is cooler shit and a better understanding of what you're doing. The combat itself does not change drastically so yes I think I played more than enough to know if I think the game is worth $60 on launch day.

I disagree, only a small part of the content of the game is represented in the first 20 levels ..and you didnt even pay that; you played a mini game that is at best a small portion of the game

Didn't say it was realistic but from a price vs quality standpoint it makes more sense to me and normally MMOs don't follow the traditional rule of game sales because if they did they would all be failures.

not true at all ..MMOS box sales dip dramatically but game cards can maintain sales ..in other words the biggest avenue of revenue post release is through subscriptions not new players ..why else would they have a subscription service?


Which is exactly what this fucking thread is about, the cost of the game. Yes if this news post is wrong and it's $40 or $50 it changes everything. I don't have any "ire" towards the game, in fact I quite like it I just don't think ANY MMO is worth $60 at launch, especially one from Funcom and Eidos.

based on what? a game that came out 7 years ago? is Funcom forever to be held accountable for the crappy AO launch? what does Eidos have to do with anything, they only market/package the game


There is this thing called perceived value and just because I don't think something is worth the price being asked for it doesn't mean I think the product isn't good.

Fucking obnoxious fanboys!

first of all I'm not a fanboy, I'd get into far more detail if there wasnt an NDA, icluding the negatives in the game ..and second of all preceived value is in the eye of the beholder some people think 8 hours worth of gameplay is worth $60 I dont ..some people think 80 hours worth of content isnt worth $60 that's their own pov ..however to say a game isnt worth an added $10 just because you've played a small fraction of the game (think Monster hunt in Lotro) doesnt make it so, that's your perogative no one elses

[Cyndair]

All this drama over $10.

All this drama over nothing. I don't see a single online retailer asking more than 50 bucks for it.

If you are on the fence, sign up for the open beta and see if you can try before you buy. That's what I'm going to do.

[alienchild]

All this drama over $10.

Hahaha that was sooo spot on. Anyone complaining over the price should just STFU and wait until the price goes down. Funcom know there are alot of hype around this game and that the initial sales will be huge. If say, 1 million people buy it on launch instead of 1,3 million people because it's $10 more expensive, then fuck those 300k people, because they are prolly too cheap to pay the monthly fee anyways.

It's a business decision that makes sense.

[GrinR]

WTF are you talking about? I didn't think Tabula was that great either nor have I ever "crusaded" for it.

He's thinking of me, which would be cute if it weren't so sad.

[Sloth]

MMO box costs are usually pretty quick to drop.

[torrefaction]

He's thinking of me, which would be cute if it weren't so sad.

It's only sad because Grifter appears to be a very bitter and angry person.

[Devilturnip]

All this drama over $10.

Not only that, but from the best I can tell it's a fictional $10.

EB: $49.99 (http://www.ebgames.com/Catalog/ProductDetails.aspx?sku=646875)
Amazon: $49.99 (http://www.amazon.com/Age-of-Conan-Hyborian-Adventures/dp/B000RZPW9W/ref=pd_sim_vg_img_5)
GoGamer: $44.90 (http://www.gogamer.com/viewproduct.htm?productId=21524443)
Best Buy: $49.99 (http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=8830688&st=age+of+conan&lp=2&type=product&cp=1&id=1207957307964)
WalMart: $49.82 (http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=7788977)

I think the OP should be amended.

[Talon-]

Every MMO has been a work in progress at launch. Wasn't WoW unplayable for a month or two after launch?

[Sternn]

Hahaha that was sooo spot on. Anyone complaining over the price should just STFU and wait until the price goes down. Funcom know there are alot of hype around this game and that the initial sales will be huge. If say, 1 million people buy it on launch instead of 1,3 million people because it's $10 more expensive, then fuck those 300k people, because they are prolly too cheap to pay the monthly fee anyways.

It's a business decision that makes sense.

funcom are expecting 500-600K at launch ..at least that's what they have their servers perpared for

[Savok]

Every MMO has been a work in progress at launch. Wasn't WoW unplayable for a month or two after launch?
Unplayable as in the servers were never up, yes.

[Smoof]

From what the beta leak forums say, this game is far from finished.

[Sternn]

sigh ..the beta leak was from at least 2 months ago, based on opinions of beta players that represented at least another 2 months worth of different beta builds ..the beta has changed several times since then, including 2 full character wipes

[Grifter]

It's only sad because Grifter appears to be a very bitter and angry person.

How am I bitter or angry?
Sternn made a comment about comparing MMOs to single player games and I wrote my rebuttal I then gave my opinion of what I thought of the game and pricing sternn didn't like my opinion and replied.

The argument he is using is the same as all the other pre-launch MMO arguments "how do you know it's bad if you've never played the full version" which doesn't really work and is annoying when you never said the game wasn't good you just didn't think it was worth the initial cost.

I'm not bitter or angry unless giving your opinion on the internet makes it so and if thats the case I guess we are all in trouble.

[Telefrog]

sigh ..the beta leak was from at least 2 months ago, based on opinions of beta players that represented at least another 2 months worth of different beta builds ..the beta has changed several times since then, including 2 full character wipes

What are you talking about? I can read people's current impressions of the game right now and track their comments all the way back to when the leak forum for AoC opened. That's not just an isolated incident from 2 months ago. That's a constant stream of information about the beta.

[Mashidar]

If there is still a console version in the works I might give that a shot, from the PVP Beta I didn't really care much for the game. Combat was alright, but nothing that blew me away. I'll have to see how things are a month after the game is released before I rush out to get a copy. I mean if there are a good number of people playing after the first month it might be fun, but if the numbers drop after the first month then I'll wait for the "next" big MMO.

[balamoor]

The biggest concern I have over AoC is the community. An M rating is almost guaranteed to bring the Drooling idiot Twelve year olds that can't wait to dive into Boobage and Decapitations. That's basically why I asked about the offline mode. As idiotic as the Guild Wars community is I only have to deal with them when I'm in town, after that its just my group and me, I understand that's not what MMO's are about but I just don't have any patience for the unwashed masses.

I think that's why the couple of Online Role Playing games that are in development interest me more. It's still multiplayer, but you don't have to deal with every shit brain with Mommy's credit card.

[Sternn]

How am I bitter or angry?
Sternn made a comment about comparing MMOs to single player games and I wrote my rebuttal I then gave my opinion of what I thought of the game and pricing sternn didn't like my opinion and replied.

The argument he is using is the same as all the other pre-launch MMO arguments "how do you know it's bad if you've never played the full version" which doesn't really work and is annoying when you never said the game wasn't good you just didn't think it was worth the initial cost.

I'm not bitter or angry unless giving your opinion on the internet makes it so and if thats the case I guess we are all in trouble.

you didnt know what the initial cost was ..you thought it was $75 when it's not ..it's most likely not even $60



The biggest concern I have over AoC is the community. An M rating is almost guaranteed to bring the Drooling idiot Twelve year olds that can't wait to dive into Boobage and Decapitations. That's basically why I asked about the offline mode. As idiotic as the Guild Wars community is I only have to deal with them when I'm in town, after that its just my group and me, I understand that's not what MMO's are about but I just don't have any patience for the unwashed masses.

I think that's why the couple of Online Role Playing games that are in development interest me more. It's still multiplayer, but you don't have to deal with every shit brain with Mommy's credit card.

I'm in a guild made up exclusively of fans of Robert E Howard (the person who created and wrote short stories about Conan back in the 30's) ..I think the average age is 30 or so ..there are several guilds that are aiming for mature guild members when the game launches ..I think most MMO players are fed up with that loud demographic that ruins multiplayer gaming for the rest of us


What are you talking about? I can read people's current impressions of the game right now and track their comments all the way back to when the leak forum for AoC opened. That's not just an isolated incident from 2 months ago. That's a constant stream of information about the beta.

from who? surely not current beta players because the site is monitored by funcom ..the person who started it was banned months ago ..I've read some of the opinions and they almost all read like they were written months ago

oh and there was a recent full dl of the game that changed performance/content pretty drastically ...does the betaleaks site talk about this?

[MelbaToast]

Call me when it hits the 360.

[torrefaction]

How am I bitter or angry?

I'm not bitter or angry unless giving your opinion on the internet makes it so and if thats the case I guess we are all in trouble.

You resorted to the old "Obnoxious fanboys and their lack of reading comprehension" while ranting about the (incorrect) price of a video game.

Described that way, do you see how you would be regarded as bitter and angry?

[Grifter]

you didnt know what the initial cost was ..you thought it was $75 when it's not ..it's most likely not even $60

The news post I was replying to said the game was $60 plus $15 a month, 60+15=75. Still doesn't make me angry or bitter.

You resorted to the old "Obnoxious fanboys and their lack of reading comprehension" while ranting about the (incorrect) price of a video game.

Described that way, do you see how you would be regarded as bitter and angry?

The price I was commenting on was the price quoted in the original news post which is what this thread is about, if that price is wrong then the original news post needs to be changed accordingly.

No, described that way I can see how one can assume I don't think the game is worth the price quoted in the news post and that I think the one guy defending it to the death and giving people shit for using the same arguments he is is possibly a fan boy but hey, take from it what you will it doesn't matter much to me. Hell, sternn for the most part probably feels the same way, I mean this is the internet and rather we like it or not in the end all our opinions are pretty much worthless unless read by some one who knows us well.

You are right that the fanboy comment, no matter what I personally thought, was not needed nor did it help the conversation in any way so I do apologize to sternn for that.

[Kem0sabe]

you didnt know what the initial cost was ..you thought it was $75 when it's not ..it's most likely not even $60





I'm in a guild made up exclusively of fans of Robert E Howard (the person who created and wrote short stories about Conan back in the 30's) ..I think the average age is 30 or so ..there are several guilds that are aiming for mature guild members when the game launches ..I think most MMO players are fed up with that loud demographic that ruins multiplayer gaming for the rest of us




from who? surely not current beta players because the site is monitored by funcom ..the person who started it was banned months ago ..I've read some of the opinions and they almost all read like they were written months ago

oh and there was a recent full dl of the game that changed performance/content pretty drastically ...does the betaleaks site talk about this?

Actually, the beta leak forum is pretty accurate, i got into the open beta in march, i´ve been doing the tech tests since February.

After 2 patches that amounted to over 10GB worth of updates, i can say that the difference is minor, the gfx glitches are still all over the place, including the game never saving my gfx settings every time i log out, blue sand, bald character models every time my HoX transforms from demon to human form, and countless others. Oh, and what about the crashes most of the time you go from tortage night to day or vice-versa?

The game sucks on a technical level, Funcom looks like it simply cant handle optimizing this engine and getting rid of the constant crashes/glitches.


Now the classes... Casters are a mute point, they suck, pets suck, spells suck, everything about them is mediocre, the only mage that feels remotely fun is the HoX... and you only get to be in demon form for a few seconds every time you transform, its idiotic.

The healers are borked as well, so you can heal others... but the heals on you only heal for half the amount? that’s beyond stupid.

Melee classes are the only ones that look to have any degree of polish, especially the tanks, the rogues are somewhat inconsequential, with the exception of the Ranger, which recently had its CC fixed, couple that with absurd dps, they became absurdly overpowered.

Assassins... i can only say this, have fun with the stealth system. :rolleyes:

The game might become fun in about half a year of patching, right now? its not ready, its unstable to run, and it lacks most if not all endgame features. No Sieges, no player towns, no group chat :eek:

Oh, lets not forget about the lack of nipples, and spellweaving, i swear every other thread on the beta forums is about those 2 subjects, that goes to show the maturity of the community, especially about the nipples. *sigh*

[Swat]

This thread completely validates what is quickly becoming the stereotypical gamer. A shriveling, whining, collective mass of basement dwellers who crave massive amounts of fail to satiate some deep seeded void.

All of you - I have a homework assignment. Please go through the list of games coming out this year, and next to the FAIL stamped in big red letters, concoct a 400 page essay on how each game will ruin your life and tilt your unhappiness meters to dangerous levels.

:D

[Grifter]

This thread completely validates what is quickly becoming the stereotypical gamer. A shriveling, whining, collective mass of basement dwellers who crave massive amounts of fail to satiate some deep seeded void.

All of you - I have a homework assignment. Please go through the list of games coming out this year, and next to the FAIL stamped in big red letters, concoct a 400 page essay on how each game will ruin your life and tilt your unhappiness meters to dangerous levels.

:D

and hear you are.

[Swat]

and hear you are.

Read for context.

[Sternn]

Actually, the beta leak forum is pretty accurate, i got into the open beta in march, i´ve been doing the tech tests since February.

After 2 patches that amounted to over 10GB worth of updates, i can say that the difference is minor, the gfx glitches are still all over the place, including the game never saving my gfx settings every time i log out, blue sand, bald character models every time my HoX transforms from demon to human form, and countless others. Oh, and what about the crashes most of the time you go from tortage night to day or vice-versa?

The game sucks on a technical level, Funcom looks like it simply cant handle optimizing this engine and getting rid of the constant crashes/glitches.

what build are you playing?

and you're in the tech beta ..which is at most once a week ..you have a different client than the general beta ..you can tell quickly by looking at your feat tree ..notice anything different?


Now the classes... Casters are a mute point, they suck, pets suck, spells suck, everything about them is mediocre, the only mage that feels remotely fun is the HoX... and you only get to be in demon form for a few seconds every time you transform, its idiotic.

how long have you played HoX and that couldnt be your only spell ..I rolled one ht eother day and my hotbar is full ..mostly fire effects

The healers are borked as well, so you can heal others... but the heals on you only heal for half the amount? that’s beyond stupid.

dont know havent played a healer class ...cuz this is conan ..healing is left to the womanfolk ;)

Melee classes are the only ones that look to have any degree of polish, especially the tanks, the rogues are somewhat inconsequential, with the exception of the Ranger, which recently had its CC fixed, couple that with absurd dps, they became absurdly overpowered.

Assassins... i can only say this, have fun with the stealth system. :rolleyes:

a few guild mates who have played pvp extensively think they're overpowered

The game might become fun in about half a year of patching, right now? its not ready, its unstable to run, and it lacks most if not all endgame features. No Sieges, no player towns, no group chat :eek:

it never crashes on me ..the seige content is said to be in internal testing and without crafting there's no player made towns ..which take up to two weeks to make anyways ..we've been promised it by the end of the month (not holding my breath)

Oh, lets not forget about the lack of nipples, and spellweaving, i swear every other thread on the beta forums is about those 2 subjects, that goes to show the maturity of the community, especially about the nipples. *sigh*

I visit often they never mention nipples ..I think you're thinking about the main forum; thats nipple city ..besides, being in tech beta only grants you access to the tech forums right? I can see both

The news post I was replying to said the game was $60 plus $15 a month, 60+15=75. Still doesn't make me angry or bitter.

you said the initial cost was $75 ..it's not $75 the initial cost is $49, you get 30 days free, what you do afterwards is up to you

and it's not $60 either, not until my retailer says it is

[GrinR]

I'm curious about how good of a co-op game this would be. I'm totally confused by the 1-20 level thing. Will I be able to jump in with my 2 RL buddies and group my way through the PvE world? I don't have any interest in PvP at all (got to 60 in WoW and quit that day.)

[Sasori the Medic]

Grifter is a known troll and should be ignored. I've never seen him post anything remotely positive.

That being said, I'm looking forward to this game and 10 extra dollars, which next-gen console players have been paying for over a year, is no big deal to me. Besides, if you pre-order the game you get an art booklet and a War Mammoth mount. Sounds good to me.

[Telefrog]

from who? surely not current beta players because the site is monitored by funcom ..the person who started it was banned months ago ..I've read some of the opinions and they almost all read like they were written months ago

oh and there was a recent full dl of the game that changed performance/content pretty drastically ...does the betaleaks site talk about this?

Obviously, I'm not going to post a link since it may violate the ToS around here and it's in pretty poor taste, but if you can't be bothered to do a Google search on "Age of Conan beta leak forum" and read the darned posts, I guess you'll just have to merrily continue thinking that no one is currently talking about their time in the beta.

[Tik-Tok]

I like turtles!

[Kem0sabe]

what build are you playing?

and you're in the tech beta ..which is at most once a week ..you have a different client than the general beta ..you can tell quickly by looking at your feat tree ..notice anything different?




how long have you played HoX and that couldnt be your only spell ..I rolled one ht eother day and my hotbar is full ..mostly fire effects



dont know havent played a healer class ...cuz this is conan ..healing is left to the womanfolk ;)



a few guild mates who have played pvp extensively think they're overpowered



it never crashes on me ..the seige content is said to be in internal testing and without crafting there's no player made towns ..which take up to two weeks to make anyways ..we've been promised it by the end of the month (not holding my breath)



I visit often they never mention nipples ..I think you're thinking about the main forum; thats nipple city ..besides, being in tech beta only grants you access to the tech forums right? I can see both



you said the initial cost was $75 ..it's not $75 the initial cost is $49, you get 30 days free, what you do afterwards is up to you

and it's not $60 either, not until my retailer says it is

You missunderstood me on the tech test coment, i started joining the tech tests in feb, then received the invite to the general beta in march.

Usualy i ignore the tech test weekends and played the general beta, pitty they didnt maintain both sets of servers online at the same time.

Myself, i dont think its ready, but as with everything else, its a matter of taste, you either will love conan or you wont, its that kind of game.

One thing anoys me tho, people usualy think that an mmorpg needs to have WoW numbers to be sucessfull, look at eve, it doesnt even have 5000k players and its profitable, even with free expansions.

So i have no doubt that funcom will support AoC for many years, as they have done with AO, but i wont be amongst the people to buy it at launch, im in it for the pvp, so when the endgame and pvp is more fleshed out, and the classes are balanced, then i will surely buy it, untill then, we can only hope that Funcom's internal build is more advanced than our general beta and that the launch goes smoothly.

[Sternn]

Obviously, I'm not going to post a link since it may violate the ToS around here and it's in pretty poor taste, but if you can't be bothered to do a Google search on "Age of Conan beta leak forum" and read the darned posts, I guess you'll just have to merrily continue thinking that no one is currently talking about their time in the beta.

I have read it on occasion ..in fact some of my guild mates comments were copy pasted on those boards ..of course with some of the main points left out

but in any event I trust my own eyes and ears over a bunch of random people who may or may not have participated in some aspect of the beta



You missunderstood me on the tech test coment, i started joining the tech tests in feb, then received the invite to the general beta in march.

Usualy i ignore the tech test weekends and played the general beta, pitty they didnt maintain both sets of servers online at the same time.

Myself, i dont think its ready, but as with everything else, its a matter of taste, you either will love conan or you wont, its that kind of game.

One thing anoys me tho, people usualy think that an mmorpg needs to have WoW numbers to be sucessfull, look at eve, it doesnt even have 5000k players and its profitable, even with free expansions.

So i have no doubt that funcom will support AoC for many years, as they have done with AO, but i wont be amongst the people to buy it at launch, im in it for the pvp, so when the endgame and pvp is more fleshed out, and the classes are balanced, then i will surely buy it, untill then, we can only hope that Funcom's internal build is more advanced than our general beta and that the launch goes smoothly.

I've been through several builds since nov 2007 ..there's been a ton of changes since then ...also you should play the recent build ..much has been improved

[Qoz]

The tech test and beta client have different builds.
The beta one should have some extra features.
Also.. did you guys play it on Vista (the DX10 shots look great).

I have played the tech test and was not impressed (played only 30 minutes), but hey - it's a test, so I can't judge. I heard from others that the game is really great, so I don't know about playing. Will probably buy later.

[Kem0sabe]

The tech test and beta client have different builds.
The beta one should have some extra features.
Also.. did you guys play it on Vista (the DX10 shots look great).

I have played the tech test and was not impressed (played only 30 minutes), but hey - it's a test, so I can't judge. I heard from others that the game is really great, so I don't know about playing. Will probably buy later.

Theres no Directx 10 yet, it hasnt been implemented, at least so far as last weekends build, havent updated since.

[digitalErich]

Any word on trial accounts? I don't pay for MMOs before I play them. I tried that once with LotR online and the only thing I got for my money after a day or two of playing was a box on my shelf.

[Telefrog]

I have read it on occasion ..in fact some of my guild mates comments were copy pasted on those boards ..of course with some of the main points left out

but in any event I trust my own eyes and ears over a bunch of random people who may or may not have participated in some aspect of the beta

Well, then all I can say is that you have made your bias known. Going by what I can read between your testimony and those on the other site, I'll withold my money until I see some real substantial reason to purchase.

[balamoor]

I'm in a guild made up exclusively of fans of Robert E Howard (the person who created and wrote short stories about Conan back in the 30's) ..I think the average age is 30 or so ..there are several guilds that are aiming for mature guild members when the game launches ..I think most MMO players are fed up with that loud demographic that ruins multiplayer gaming for the rest of us






Yep I'm familar with Howard, I attend the R.E. Howard days at least every other year. Last year they were talking about a Beowulfesque movie...that would be interesting to say the least.

It's good to know that some mature folks are going to give the game a shot. I have a open beta key for May 1st, I plan to give the game a honest try, hopefully I'll enjoy it enough to purchase the game.

[kickmybum]

The price is too high, that's a little demanding for a PC game... especially one you have to pay more money to play after a month. That's ridiculous.

Also, why is this game labeled "mature-rated"?

[Sternn]

Well, then all I can say is that you have made your bias known. Going by what I can read between your testimony and those on the other site, I'll withold my money until I see some real substantial reason to purchase.

what bias? I've already stated I cant give my impressions negative or positive because of the NDA ..those quotes are cherry picked from posts that are a mix of positive and negative, an early one, which caused a stir on the official forums skips a large portion of the person's post but presents it as verbatim ..the op was pretty pissed his comments were selectively edited ..there's a reason why there's NDAs; misinformation can be as damning as information




digitalErich: trial accounts probably not until some time after release ..the CE version comes with 5 trial keys ..find someone who's getting the CE



Yep I'm familar with Howard, I attend the R.E. Howard days at least every other year. Last year they were talking about a Beowulfesque movie...that would be interesting to say the least.

It's good to know that some mature folks are going to give the game a shot. I have a open beta key for May 1st, I plan to give the game a honest try, hopefully I'll enjoy it enough to purchase the game.


I cant really comment on how faithful it is to howard's vision but that can be said about any medium ..I hope you like what you see ..I think it's as close as we're likely to get but that doesnt really tell you anything :)

oh and behold:

http://www.comingsoon.net/news/movienews.php?id=38941

I'm one part hopeful and one part cringing inside

[digitalErich]

Cool, thanks for the update.

In a post-WoW MMO space, I think it's suicide to launch without some form of widely available trial client but I guess there is some way to get one at launch, however unlikely.

[Telefrog]

what bias? I've already stated I cant give my impressions negative or positive because of the NDA ..those quotes are cherry picked from posts that are a mix of positive and negative, an early one, which caused a stir on the official forums skips a large portion of the person's post but presents it as verbatim ..the op was pretty pissed his comments were selectively edited ..there's a reason why there's NDAs; misinformation can be as damning as information

What bias?? Really?

I think it's fairly obvious that you're championing for the game. You most certainly have a pro-AoC stance in all your posts here. That's fine, but don't act like you're objective about your conduct.

I think you may be confused as to what I'm reading on the other site. I'm specifically talking about updated posts up to today regarding the partcipants general impressions of the beta, technical difficulties they've encountered, and even kudos for stuff they do like. You'll excuse me if I tend to think that a few thousand posts (both positive and negative) by various users may give me a better impression of the game than just your assurances.

[Sternn]

What bias?? Really?

I think it's fairly obvious that you're championing for the game. You most certainly have a pro-AoC stance in all your posts here. That's fine, but don't act like you're objective about your conduct.

I think you may be confused as to what I'm reading on the other site. I'm specifically talking about updated posts up to today regarding the partcipants general impressions of the beta, technical difficulties they've encountered, and even kudos for stuff they do like. You'll excuse me if I tend to think that a few thousand posts (both positive and negative) by various users may give me a better impression of the game than just your assurances.

then what are you complaining about? you yourself admit there's positives and negatives ..I cant give either because of the NDA; it would require specifics ..but I can give my overall impression without going into detail ..what I choose to reveal/withhold is my business, suffice it to say that on launch day I'll be in line with a copy of AoC in my hands, if that makes me biased then so be it

[Telefrog]

then what are you complaining about? you yourself admit there's positives and negatives ..I cant give either because of the NDA; it would require specifics ..but I can give my overall impression without going into detail ..what I choose to reveal/withhold is my business, suffice it to say that on launch day I'll be in line with a copy of AoC in my hands, if that makes me biased then so be it

Who the Hell is complaining other than you regarding other people's opinions of this game? You're the one getting bent out of shape whenever anyone says anything negative about AoC and simultaneously attempting to say that you have no bias.

I'm happy that you think the game is so great. Bully for you! Don't expect everyone to fall all over themselves about your opinion when there is a full beta forum of impressions that say otherwise.

[Sternn]

Who the Hell is complaining other than you regarding other people's opinions of this game? You're the one getting bent out of shape whenever anyone says anything negative about AoC and simultaneously attempting to say that you have no bias.

the other people's opinions were in some cases based on nothing and in other cases on only a part of the game ...well I'm here to tell them that what I've played doesnt match up with what they're saying ..so sue me for trying to correct people's perceptions or misinformation they been spoonfed


I'm happy that you think the game is so great. Bully for you! Don't expect everyone to fall all over themselves about your opinion when there is a full beta forum of impressions that say otherwise.

you just finished saying that it's a mix of positive and negative ..what's it going to be?

[GrinR]

If you guys could lay off arguing for a second, I have a decent question pending... about a page ago.

[Illuminus]

Firstly, i wouldnt trust a site that goes out of their way to break NDA's. Im sure some of the information will be misleading.

Secondly I would like to defend and show my concerns about certain aspects of Age of Conan (like Sternn)... but unlike certain people on this forum, i respect Funcom NDA.

And yes, i will have the game in my hands on release... but its up to Funcom to keep me there for the months after that ;)

[torrefaction]

If you guys could lay off arguing for a second, I have a decent question pending... about a page ago.

Shut up. Valid questions about the coop gameplay will not be tolerated on internet forums.

[Telefrog]

you just finished saying that it's a mix of positive and negative ..what's it going to be?

It can't have both and come out predominantly negative?

[Grifter]

Grifter is a known troll and should be ignored. I've never seen him post anything remotely positive.

That being said, I'm looking forward to this game and 10 extra dollars, which next-gen console players have been paying for over a year, is no big deal to me. Besides, if you pre-order the game you get an art booklet and a War Mammoth mount. Sounds good to me.

Who the fuck are you? Do you even know what a troll is?
And no it is not some one with a different opinion than yours so either shut the fuck up or come back when you have something intelligent to say.

Shut up. Valid questions about the coop gameplay will not be tolerated on internet forums.

It's an MMO, shouldn't the whole thing be co-op in a sense or am I missing something?

[Sternn]

you wont be able to co-op during the single player portion in the beginning of the game ...cuz it's single player

telefrog we're just splitting hairs at this point ..dont like what you see, dont buy I couldnt care less either way what you do

[bean19]

and people need to STOP comparing Age of Conan to WOW or any MMO to WoW for that matter jebus christ the game came out 4 years ago give it a rest already. I mean unless Jimi Hendrix, Jim Morrison, Keith Moon, and Santa freakin claus himself leaped out of your screen and started playing Black Dog by Led Zeppelin while you played a game there will never be a game that tops WoW ..it doeasnt matter if it's better in every single way it will never be better to a large portion of pc gamers

Look, people don't compare games to WoW because they think all MMOs should be like WoW. However, most people have played WoW and thus it saves time to make comparisons to WoW.

I could ask you either of these things:

A. Does Age of Conan contain some form of PvP that rewards skilled play by creating a PvP instance with even teams that are around the same level that fight over objectives rather than just killing one another? Do they reward PvP in these PvP instances?

or

B. Does it have a feature like the battlegrounds in WoW?

They are both really the same question, but question B was a lot faster to read and to type.

[Sasori the Medic]

Grifter

This message is hidden because Grifter is on your ignore list.


I'm sorry, what was that?

[drakkarim]

Well personally I don't what the fuck they are talking about Amazon, Gamestop, EBgames, and Gogamer all have it for 47.99 to 49.99

quoted for truth.

i'm looking forward to this myself. i'm hoping the wow kiddies stay away, maybe their moms/dads won't let give them their credit cards if they see the M rating.

Theres no Directx 10 yet, it hasnt been implemented, at least so far as last weekends build, havent updated since.

the 10 wasn't in the IGN stress test, perhaps its in the closed beta that's still going on. it should be in the final release that's coming out.


LotRO has better models, better lighting, better sky and better water Conan AT THIS POINT only has better bump mapped textures and the addition of ambient occlusion which gives some of the textures much more depth than you would see in LotRO which looks good, and the water interaction animations are much better. Animations in general are about the same.


that's the first time i've heard anything like that. the dx10 screenshots have been much more impressive to me so far than anything i've experienced in the beta of Lotro, which i cancelled my preorder for immediately after playing the beta for a few days. granted, that beta didn't have the full high rez textures, but the high rez models i've seen of lotro don't compare to the AoC ones. Lotro seemed to be much more WoW like in terms of general graphics direction, just higher rez.

[Lima Beans]

MMOs that advertise how easy it is to solo or play offline always turn me off a whole lot, kinda makes me not want to check this out.. So i will wait to see if I hear good things about it after release.

[drakkarim]

MMOs that advertise how easy it is to solo or play offline always turn me off a whole lot, kinda makes me not want to check this out.. So i will wait to see if I hear good things about it after release.

the solo option is available for the first 20 levels, its meant to be the tutorial if you will, so that when you get into the 'actual' game your first instinct isn't to spam "how do i..." or think "WTF do i do now?".

[Saladin]

I'm curious about how good of a co-op game this would be. I'm totally confused by the 1-20 level thing. Will I be able to jump in with my 2 RL buddies and group my way through the PvE world? I don't have any interest in PvP at all (got to 60 in WoW and quit that day.)

From what I've gathered in their interviews and previews, as well as the info coming out of the PvP weekend.

The first 5 levels is a private instance tutorial (kind of like the Boat in EQ2 but a bit longer).. After that you are free to group with others and complete quests up to level 20, but in order to progress past level 20 you will at some point have to complete several solo quests in private instances that advance the storyline. Once you complete all those you go out into the wide world which is your more typical MMO and you're free to group or solo as you wish.

[GrinR]

From what I've gathered in their interviews and previews, as well as the info coming out of the PvP weekend.

The first 5 levels is a private instance tutorial (kind of like the Boat in EQ2 but a bit longer).. After that you are free to group with others and complete quests up to level 20, but in order to progress past level 20 you will at some point have to complete several solo quests in private instances that advance the storyline. Once you complete all those you go out into the wide world which is your more typical MMO and you're free to group or solo as you wish.

Thank you!

[Slowpc]

Well... I was going to get it ...

So I went to ebgames.com and preordered it for 50 bucks so when they update it to 60... I will still get it at 50 ;)

[LongStepMantis]

If your game is an MMO, GIVE the copies out. Or at least charge half of normal retail.

Point being if you start playing a MMO that you're not 100% sold on, things like low or non-existent entry fees (or at least free trials) is how you get people into it, then once they start paying monthly, losses will be recouped.

This isn't the early days of MMO's anymore. Back when UO was pretty much all there was, and you were either in or out.
You should do everything you can to get people hooked from the start, or else they will just go find another MMO that will. Just my 2 cents.

[Zurik]

I don't know if this has been pointed out, but the $60 price tag is probably the 360 version, the PC version still says $50 on most sites.

[reimomo]

Also, why is this game labeled "mature-rated"?

Because every woman has enormous barely covered ta-ta's, and you can cut peoples heads right the %#$# off! Also there's blood... lots of blood.

FYI Grifter the sum-total of 100% single player content in the game is about 2 hours long.

[reimomo]

Unplayable as in the servers were never up, yes.

I think everyone forgets that the WoW release was so bad blizzard actually refunded money to people at first, and then were giving out free play time in response to massive, extended server downtimes. And they stopped selling the game in retail stores because they didn't have enough infrastructure.



nope, the game ran fine on my 2 year old 7800gt

Really? Because it runs like shit for me at 1280x1024 on low settings:
AMD 5000+
2 GB RAM
Geforce 7900GS

[Savok]

I think everyone forgets that the WoW release was so bad blizzard actually refunded money to people at first, and then were giving out free play time in response to massive, extended server downtimes. And they stopped selling the game in retail stores because they didn't have enough infrastructure.
"At first" being key there. The massive ingame problems aside, the free extra time (effectively refunds since you weren't playing yet) really were the way to go and made people a lot happier.

Pity it was only a launch trick, as subsequent times they've just told us to fuck off while smearing our money on themselves.

[digitalErich]

If your game is an MMO, GIVE the copies out. Or at least charge half of normal retail.
I agree, but this is an industry that, after more than 30 years, is still having trouble solidifying it's various business models.

Somewhere, some suit thinks that in a post WoW era it's smart to try to maximize money up front....moron. Blizzard has been putting on a free and public clinic on how to run and not run an MMO for the last 4 years and no one is listening.

[balamoor]

Pity it was only a launch trick, as subsequent times they've just told us to fuck off while smearing our money on themselves.

You just gave me a mental image that makes me want to stab my eyes out with a hot poker. :eek:

[Savok]

You just gave me a mental image that makes me want to stab my eyes out with a hot poker. :eek:
Well my work is done.

[lockwoodx]

I'm not bitter or angry unless giving your opinion on the internet makes it so and if thats the case I guess we are all in trouble.

"Moment of Zen" achievement unlocked.

[Radish]

What bias?? Really?

I think it's fairly obvious that you're championing for the game. You most certainly have a pro-AoC stance in all your posts here. That's fine, but don't act like you're objective about your conduct..

No, being biased would be someone who worked at Funcom going on about how good the game is.

Someone who has extensive knowledge and has played the game for a decent amount of time (as he seem's to have done), and then saying it's "good" isn't.

Nice to know theres an ignore function though - looks like I'll have to start using it :)

[Zeal]

game was highly underwhelming, buggy, and simply unfun. played all the way till the last day of beta.

the only thing that will touch WoW is its successor. period.

[SadGit]

I dont think I have seen this mentioned and I know it might be considered rude, but then again its something people will have to get used to.

Inflation seem to be rising in the US so a rise in prises for games and/or subs will follow. The 15$ a month mentioned might also have something to do with the rest of the world being less keen on your green money.

I realise it might seem odd that because people dont really want your dollars you have to give them even more dollars to effect a trade, but there you have it.