Age of Conan

Just like Guild Wars it is debatable if you can call it a TRUE MMO.

Even those, that really love the game as it is, would be hard pressed to say with a straight face that this game is closer to WoW than Guild Wars.

I know that some people will like the instancing, but for others like me, its a death killer.

Originally posted by thexrated

 

 

How the fuck you fail in something you never planning to do?

Many use WoW as an example for open world, but the fact is that I spend more time zoning in various instances in WoW at level 60 or 70 than I have so far done in AoC. Both games have key end-game aspects instanced - BGs, group instances, raids, and arena. Plus changing a region in both games is instanced. While the adventuring (levelling) zones in WoW are not instanced and in AoC they are.

I actually understand why Hyboria is instanced besides what have been stated here before. The fact is that we only have three kingdoms open so far and within them only very few adventure zones and areas relating to those. Mostly those are meant to help you level your character with nice quest lore behind every zone that actually is nicely detailed. All open areas in those zones have been handcrafted with very realistic terrain design and look vs. very flat-design that many other more "open" games have. 

Adventure zones in AoC do not differ much in terms of purpose as they are in WoW.  Only difference is that you in AoC you zone into one and it takes typically 2-10 seconds. In WoW you fly or ride that takes usually many minutes.

In the end you spend a lot of time in instanced group and raid content.

 

 

 

You don't have to use bad words to defend yourself.

All I can say is that in wow TBC (!) Outland you can take your personal flying mount , can fly ALL over mountains, lakes cities, forests, rivers and LAND ANYWHERE you want without EVER seeing a loading screen.

The view from above the lands, cities, forests, towers YOU fight and live in is ... breathtaking.

Open seamless world to its fullest.

Just like spectators go to a football match (BG or arena) or go to the theater and view the Wizard of Oz or Red Cap (Kara dungeon) doesn't mean that this kind of seamless open world can even REMOTELY be compared to the narrow instances and loading zones used in Conan.

The fact you don't like to fly is not even the question, the fact that this technique was used in 2007, shows what can be done with open world MMORPG's.

HUNDREDS of players quest at the same time when newly worlds are opened, meeting people seeing people is so much more in seamless open worlds than narrow closed up PRELOADED graphic boxes.

I think the real problem here is that the group of people defending the none instances zones have only played WOW so it turns into WOW v AOC argument.

WOW is not the only MMO that has continent size zones. LOTR has the same and some areas are not connected by single paths, you can freely travel between borders at any location the two areas meet. FFXI also has continent size zones but these are connected with small paths like WOW. 

The point is that there are just as many game out there with instancing as there are with full zones, and apparently people were expecting full zones from Conan because of the PvP aspect they kept pushing. With the limited population zones it means that the PvPing is going to be relegated to only certain areas and...... it basically turned this game into one of the many others that have done this already.

It isn't bad but when I'm running around in a drunken rage cutting heads off..... i dont want people teleporting to other zones to escape.  

Originally posted by Battlekruse

Just like Guild Wars it is debatable if you can call it a TRUE MMO.

Even those, that really love the game as it is, would be hard pressed to say with a straight face that this game is closer to WoW than Guild Wars.

I know that some people will like the instancing, but for others like me, its a death killer.

Guild Wars didn't have a monthly fee!

AoC is a semi'ish mmorpg at best. At least it is online. Okay so it is not massive. Multiplayer hybrid of some sorts. RPG is debateable... but without any social structure and devoid of basic sandbox elements it is not really a RPG.

Originally posted by heerobya

For all people b*tch about WoW and it's so "this this and this"

I bet they really miss being able to move from one side of the world to the other without any loading screens.

Oh, I'm sorry, there are two loading screens. One when you switch continents and one when you enter a dungeon/raid/battleground.

Ever run from Booty Bay to Silvermoon? Naked? In a race?

That is open world.

Oh wait, there is one 5 second load screen when you enter the new elven lands, but it exists as a physical barrier for those w/o the Burning Crusdade expansion.

rofl instanced zones. GG guild wars/AoC

 

I played wow since launch, and they did have load screens, when instancing, which now actually happens alot especially at higher levels, and when you travel like on the Blimps.  Please dont use WoW as a open world, because it technically isnt, most of the gameplay that takes place now in WoW is basically Heroics/BG's very rarely to you see people take advantage of the open world, why? because everyone is grinding high level instances for gear and attunements. WoW may have been open world at some point early launch, but that quickly changed with the expansion.

Its no diffrent then EQ2 is, I am not sure how meny people are in one instance at a time but I know its enough for me to kill plenty of people a day. I read a while back the instnaces can hold aproximently 200 people, so that is plenty of people I would say.

My god I am getting so tired of this instancing business. Why have people got to repeat the same thing over and over again. It's been said, the game is made it's not going to change just because you don't like to wait for 15 seconds to walk into a pub.

The instancing is nothing at all I can't see what the problem is at all. Personally I think the most wonderful thing about being human is our innate ability of choice. If you don't like to go into instances then either don't go into them, don't play the game or learn to enjoy the game for what it is and forget about the way it was designed.  Not every game has to be designed the same. Not every game has to be designed for just you.

Now I hope this silly pointless ranting will stop and we can all read and discuss the beauties and prospects of the next big thing rather than dwell over something we have no longer any control over and certainly said plenty enough about time and time and time again.

Personally, I think instanced zones are a bad idea to begin with unless done right. It kills creativity and is just a way for content creators to to be lazy with origionality. Why bother making new content when yyou can just create a bunch of modules that create the same rehashed content over and over again with a different name..

On the other hand, if used right, it can be nice. The way AO did it was a good way to go about it.

Originally posted by Wakygreek

I played wow since launch, and they did have load screens, when instancing, which now actually happens alot especially at higher levels, and when you travel like on the Blimps.  Please dont use WoW as a open world, because it technically isnt, most of the gameplay that takes place now in WoW is basically Heroics/BG's very rarely to you see people take advantage of the open world, why? because everyone is grinding high level instances for gear and attunements. WoW may have been open world at some point early launch, but that quickly changed with the expansion.

What the fuck !

Since TBC Outland  (published 2007 !!!) is ONE big zone you personnaly fly over and travel through without ANY loading screen and you can land ANYWHERE you want.

REAL 3D, that wasn't the case in standard Wow.

And like I said in YOUR world you are going also to a football stadion (arena) or the theater to watch a play (even litteraly in the case of Karazahn),

But the Outland WORLD in TBC is completely open with no lading screens whatsoever. NO "small" paths that are blocked by some fake 2D rocks.

Conan uses COPIES of PRELOADED zones and FIXED entry points and FIXED respawn points with 50(!) yes 50 ! persons MAXIMUM in EACH copy.

They block the so called s