Age of Conan

I had not been following AoC at all. I signed up for beta, but that's about it. I didn't get any newsletters or do any kind of research. I did for WAR, but not AoC. AoC, I was sure, was going to be a flop. I suppose that remains to be seen really, but I digress.

First off, the game is beautiful and it runs pretty damn smooth on my system. 2.7 Athlon 64 X2, 8800GT, 2GB RAM...pretty modest system but I get around 40FPS with adjusted high settings. After all the cries of low FPS and system lag, I was expecting the worst, but was pleasantly surprised by how smooth it ran.

Also of note, I did not encounter any major bugs at all. Granted, I have not left Tortage yet. But even so, the most buggy thing I saw was a mob that was floating across the ground, and frankly I've seen that happen in WoW, EQ2, LOTRO, etc. For a game that just released, it's stability, in my experience, is unrivaled. Perhaps one of the smoothest MMO launches yet; aside from what I hear about GM issues.

The 'cool' factor of the combat has not really faded away yet, but I imagine it will. I don't mean it will fade away and become unpleasant, but I predict you will get used to it and it will become less entertaining and more like traditional MMO hotkeying. Which is fine.

So far I have toyed around with a Bear Shaman, Guardian, Priest of Mitra, and Ranger. The Ranger  has become my 'main' I suppose. The Ranger is loads of fun. I especially like the fact that bows have bowstrings and when you're out of combat, but still have your bow out, an arrow is kept knocked. Very cool to see that. The only complaint I have so far is that the Priest of Mitra's spell animations were very basic and aesthetically inferior to other MMO effects. Minor complaint, surely, but whatever.

Instancing: yes, there is a lot of it. However, this is not instancing as you might think. When you enter a dungeon (at least in Tortage) you DO get an instance of that dungeon; but there ARE other players there. This is not the WoW-style instancing where you get your own private copy- there are always other players there with you. I like this. It's a good balance between "open world" style and private instancing. Would I prefer open world? I'm not sure. Vanguard's open world style was nice but I never got to delve deeper into it since I quit. Overall, I don't find the instancing to be annoying or detrimental to the immersion.

Immersion/atmosphere: I like it. It's not the best I've ever experienced in an MMO but it's definitely noteworthy. When I first got to Tortage and I saw a body hanging from the keep, I was immersed, no doubt. The ambient effects are also pretty good. They're so good in fact, that I can't hardly recall them, I just know they are there. I hate it when ambient sound effects are poorly implemented and then you predict them...they're not subtle. Here, they seem to be very subtle. Torches burning at night, the moon in the sky, the ripple of water. It's there.

The UI is leaps and bounds better than most other MMO's UIs when they were launched. It needs some work but I never had any problems with it. It is very customizable.

I haven't grouped up yet, so I can't comment on party/group dynamics, which is something I've been meaning to do. It's not that I couldn't find one, I just wanted to get a feel for AoC before I started grouping. Obviously the party play is a very important factor and if anyone wants to enlighten me on that I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Overall, I love AoC. Maybe I'll start to hate it after Tortage, who knows. But for now, I am enjoying it very much. I just hope the endgame PvP/PvE and activities will be worthwhile, since that seems to be what Funcom is banking on. And regarding the 48v48 cap...who cares? Like your PC could handle any more than that anyways. I just want to see it in action, see how fun it actually is. I think Funcom's ability to keep endgame interesting, rewarding, and MEANINGFUL will be the deciding factor for this game. Give guilds a strong reason to keep fortifications besides bonuses to X or Y. We'll see; but for now, I can easily recommend AoC to someone looking for a new MMO...if not for the long-term, then at least for the summer.

Good luck Funcom; I'm pulling for you!

I totally agree, especially with the instancing thing, it isnt as bad as people say it is on the forums.

Also

[quote]Good luck Funcom; I'm pulling for you![/quote]

lol

There is no such thing as an unbiased impression. 

There are only two things in the known universe that are unbiased:

Facts and data.

I woulden't play ranger if i were you :P

Originally posted by Phylicus

There is no such thing as an unbiased impression. 

There are only two things in the known universe that are unbiased:

Facts and data.

Yes, yes. I feel we know what he meant; he came to AoC knowing little of it and not being a fan or detractor.