Age of Conan - October 30th Release - March 25th - May 20th

[Brasse]

Wow. No thanks.

Sex for me is a very splendid but very private thing, and not something I wish to engage in, overtly or for gameplay reasons, in an MMOG.

[Wren]

Woohoo, if Brasse won't play this, that means more time in some game that *I* want to play.

Admittedly I have not read much about this game, nor of this thread, but I am sure PLENTY of people will love the feature where you get buffed for having sex. Maybe those that play online games mainly for cybersex will flock there instead and stop propositioning me.Oh, wait, NO ONE propositions me.

That's not something I wish to do publicly in a game, and with my luck, you'd need a full group in order to accomplish it, hahahaha. (OK, maybe only I thought it was funny, but it made ME laugh)

[decarian]

Its all speculation at this point, will just have to see how they implement it. Guessing probably click on NPC, select yes, screen fades to black then back to normal, buff appears and your wallet probably gets lighter. Guessing there won't be an option for sex between PC's but I could be wrong on this one. If serious griefing issues occur I would expect them to fix the issue quickly or risk losing customers.  Keeping my mind open on this as no firm details have been released yet.

In the end this game may totally suck... but just being the 1st MMO for the Conan setting has me excited enough to at least give it a shot. Which is more than I can say about Vanguard...

[Kaid]

All I can say is this could bring the term "Raid Instance" to an all new and scary level.

[Loki]

No one propositions you Wren?

Come on. We all know you ALWAYS have atleast one stalker per game.

[Brasse]

i usually beat them into submission.
;-)#

ps. Loki, you need to start turning up on a more regular basis!

[Wren]

Ha, my stalker count has been dwindling steadily over the years (and over different games), and I figure that is due to my standoffish, terse and intimidating manner. Yeah. Or maybe it's my extra-perky, foodalicious, random-odd-saying spewing self that scares them away.

Either way is fine, for it's that many less people to beat with a stick.

Still...it did provide some entertaining fodder for my above-referenced sayings...

happy day,

wren

[Loki]

I'll try to show up more often Brasse 

[Leon]

Hello dec, hello peeps, a voice from the past here, how you all doing?

Atherin pointed me in this Direction.

(Leodra)

Anyhow, I am waiting on Conan, but the thought of no collision control and Sex buffs, leaves me cold, but hey, nothings ever what it appears to be, till it appears, if you get me.

There are several aspects I am looking forward to, the Lore alone is worth a try out, being an old Conan fan, but I must admit one thing I hope works well, is the fact that Mobs, can not only see, but can hear and smell you. Now to me that level of AI, is more in line with expectations, as the sort of player that loves the Hunter/Ranger/Scout class, and adds a level of Immersion missing in most games these days.

I am watching this game closely with a view to signing up if all goes well, just hoping I can get into beta for a closer look at the reality and not just the speculation.

I played WoW up to level 70 and the grinding at that level is so damn tedious, I finaly gave up, after investing all that time on my character on one of the RP servers. So will probably kill some time on VG, no matter how bad it is ;p until Conan, or something better pops up.


Leon

[Brasse]

the fact that Mobs, can not only see, but can hear and smell you

Hehehe, that is not good AI! that is just instructing some mob types to ignore line of sight and/or range.

Dev 1: Oh crap, these things keep aggroing through walls!
Dev 2: Damn. Oh wait! We'll pretend that it's working as intended!
Dev 1: BRILLIANT! ~breaks out the Guiness~

Sorry, I know that it is probably far more complex than that, hehe. I just couldn't resist!

;-)#

[Reginald]

Well, I know that I will unfortunately be giving AoC a pass.  I had been looking forward to the game as I think I've read every Conan book from the originals by Howard on up through the newer ones by Jordan, Green, Roberts and the like.  I thought it would be fun to adventure through the realms of Hyboria that I know so well after all these years.  However, as the others have pointed out, their 'sex' buff is going to draw all the immature (both in years and mentality) and I just don't feel that I want to bother with those types of people if I can help it.  I doubt that there would be enough room in whatever ignore chat function they provide to basically include the entire server.

I also don't know where people are getting this idea that sex is so prevalent in the setting of Conan.  Yes, Conan was generally rescuing some fair maiden or even on occasion beating one up.  And they were generally wearing silks or something revealing, but I do not recall Howard or any of the others who wrote in the Hyborian realms having explicit sex scenes.  These weren't some tawdry romance novels.  While there might be an implication that it would or had occured I cannot remember one sequence where it was explicitly spelled out.  Maybe my memory is slipping as I get older (very possible) but for the developers and others to be proclaiming that sex was a MAJOR part of the Conan stories is wrong in my opinion.  The stories of Conan can be boiled down to the standard heroic saga.  One man overcoming overwhelming odds or blackest sorcery through the strength of his arm, will and the pure steel of his blade.

I love the Hyborian realms and way back when I even played in the PBM Conan game.  After reading through all the posts and realizing what types of people are going to be in AoC....well maybe the old PBM is still going on....

[Reflex]

I never read the books, but I'm still emotionally scarred by "the scene" in the movie. 

You know the one.  Ah-nold gets seduced by this peasant woman.  They go inside, strip down, and start rolling around on the bear skin rug in front of the fire.  Just as my puberty starts to get riled up....she turns into this freakin witch...and...well...I don't want to talk about this anymore...   

[decarian]

Some nice tidbits from a recent demonstration at a convention in Oslo. You can read the entire article on the AoC forums here - http://forums.ageofconan.com/showthread.php?t=40949


"At some point, our barbarian stopped outside a tavern, and out stumbles a drunk pirate NPC, reeling towards the dock, and taking a leak in the water for comical effect. "

Formations
The group leader / raid leader selects formations from a UI. They give different kinds of bonuses. After formation being selected, there are green circles on the ground that the party members have to move to. Formations can be used both in Pve (dungeons) and PvP. Formations are optional, you don't have to use them, but the bonuses give an edge.

Colision detection
You can use colision detection to block other players in PvP. For example, a row of defenders blocking the entrance of a battlekeep, to prevent the attackers to enter.

Crafting
I asked him if the crafting system was comparable to the one in SWG, in terms of experimentation and depth. The crafting system is nowhere near similar to that. It is more like WoW, where you just put the resources together. I would not have too high expectations of it. Crafting is likely going to be standard MMO stuff. You have to use crafting stations though, and the gem slots with the jewelry profession adds some depth.

Segregated Servers
I asked him "Will Europeans be able to play on American servers", and to my great shock and astonishment, he said no. You will have to import the game from United States. This was a major disappointment for me, as I am one of those who like to play with american guildmates and friends. It is also surprising because it contradicts earlier statements indicating full server selection for non censored countries would be possible. I am not sure Funcom realise how important this is for many players. Of course, plans can change (he did emphasise that), and I really, really hope they change their minds on this. A lot of players are going to be displeased about this, as it breaks up multi national guilds and communities.


The drunken NPC thing is flavor and has greatly been missing from almost all MMO's.  The NPCs that stand in one spot forever or maybe do patrol routes or wander within a limited area are straight out of 1980's programming, developers should do much more by now.  I'm glad that collision detection is in for PvP, I just hate the way it is in most games with people moving through their opponents continually trying to create "You need to face your opponent" type of issues. Very disappointed to hear that crafting is standard MMO faire...  Same ole, same ole about segregated servers, I'm sure there will be away around it for those that wish to play on US based servers if they don't just give in on the issue.

[Leon]

"At some point, our barbarian stopped outside a tavern, and out stumbles a drunk pirate NPC, reeling towards the dock, and taking a leak in the water for comical effect. "

hehe, I bought the console game 'The Witcher, great game, but anyhow, my character was in a slum area and a bandit chief just casualy walks over to the corner of a buliding and sends a yellow stream splashing all over the place, just glad I was stood a little aways from him. 

Leon

[FynDara]

I was planning to give this game a shot when it came out, but then I watched some of the videos   

It's pretty doubtful now that I'll venture into such a game.  I mean, get real here or perhaps what I mean is . . . but not *that* real, lol.

OK, so it wasn't the arm being chopped off that did me in; it was the blood that continued to spurt out of the wound and the gore hanging off it, swishing about as the battle continued.

Excuse me
/barf

<- shakes head.

What is it the developers think we are anyhow?   Manson in training? 

What in ****ing H*** gave them the idea that us *fantasy* game players want to see realistic blood and gore flying about while we play our games, accomplish our quests?  Talk about a wet blanket 

Heck, I was even looking forward to the adult content, thinking in my naive mind that they were talking about sexy armor and ahhhhhh sexy buffs.  But NOOOOoooooo, they are talking about realistic amputations and the gorification of battle 

Yuck