Isaac Whatever

I'm quitting Age of Conan.

Why? It's too buggy.

There are a bunch of other problems with it, things that make it less appealing, such as...

• All of the races are the same.
• The classes are not interesting.
• The models look like crap, wooden and ugly and badly animated.
  
• The voice acting is boring and annoying.

But the bugginess is what really kills it. I'm constantly dying for no apparent reason. I died because I got aggro'd during a quest sequence. I died while the bad voice actor droned on and on, while I couldn't do anything.

The combat is much more active, you have to stay much more focused, true. But that makes glitches much worse. Lag is much more apparent. Death by lag or glitch is a constant occurrence.

It comes down to this: even if the game was really attractive, the bugs would be deal-breakers. But the game isn't attractive, it's boring and annoying and stodgy...

So I won't be back, even after the bugs are fixed. I don't like the game.

Here's hoping Warhammer Online gets big-world pvp right. I loved that aspect of AoC.

Labels: age of conan, aoc, fail, final, quitter, review

I'm still an assassin. I still defeat enemies surprisingly quickly. Stabby stabby.

The downtime is very low. I might lose 50% of my health in a quick combat, but resting regenerates it quickly.

The real killer here is the lightly-restricted PvP. It's so much fun. It changes the way players interact throughout the entire game. Here's a quick scenario that actually happened to me...

Smoke coils around ruined pict huts. Their bodies litter the dusty ground. I hide near an alter, waiting for the Bat Pict Priest to return. I've been charged with a quest to collect his head. Or his hand. Or some jewelry, or something, I forget.

Anyway, I'm waiting.

Then another adventurer saunters up. He stands there, waiting.

From hiding, I ask, "Are you waiting for the priest?"

He spins around looking, and can't find me. He faces left, a likely (but wrong) direction, and responds, "Yes?"

"I was here first," I say, "His death is mine. You may join me in killing him or fall under my knife."

I send him a group join.

He accepts.

I drop out of hiding. I'm 5 levels below him. He'd kill me easily in a fight. We laugh and then do the same to everyone else who arrives.

That scenario would be impossible in a non-pvp game. It changes everything. We are all so much more aware of the other players, the game is so much more interesting and exciting. Levels matter in a way that they haven't in WoW. I really can pwn this noob for dancing naked for gold.

This interaction is only the tip of the possible iceberg, but it is a step in the right direction.

Labels: age of conan, aoc, mmo, mmorpg, review, wow

I'm an assassin! Stabby stabby.

Hmm, the graphics are ok. They're kind of clunky, the animations aren't great, but there is a huge amount of detail everywhere. The water is sexy.

I can only sneak in the shadows? I have a stealth-meter and I will get spotted if I get in a light area? Sweet.

Oh, hello, I got ganked by a lvl 25+. In a noob area. PVP is kind of brutal. Who sits around killing lvl 7 noobs? Weirdo. I evaded them from then on by running erratically.

All the quest guys have voice? Neat! Except that I have never listened to a single quest setup, or read a full quest description. It's all the same. Blah blah blah, make an X on my map so I can head out.

Ack, now I'm dying because I can only sneak in shadows and it's not shady here :(

Early reports:

• Player interaction level - sucks! Nobody talks.
• Progression - ok. Feels like I'm getting somewhere.
• UI - Kind of crappy. Feels console-y.
• Quests - I dunno, I don't read them. There are lots though.
• Models - Great details, but clipping issues, bad animations, and overall lack of attention to detail (imho).
• Baddies - standard MMO dumb guys.

The only thing that makes this game different is the combat. I run up to a guy and start spamming key combinations. Sometimes I get a neat fatality effect. They defend certain sides, etc, but it doesn't really feel involved. It's too random and spazzy.

The huge PVP, siege battles, in the endgame better be good or I'm out quick.

Labels: age of conan, aoc, mmo, review