Age of Conan

I recently got myself a new computer, a quad core AMD Phenom 9850, 6 GB RAM, Geforce 9800 graphics card, and a builtin wireless N card ... and all this for $699 at Best Buy ... I kid you not ... I did not go to buy a computer but I could not let this one on the shelf

Anyhow the point I want to make is that I am amazed of the graphics in this game. I used to have good framerates on two year old HP media laptop , but this is just a major step up, abilities and spells have very nice all engulfing effects, during combat blood spurts everywhere ... etc 

I am continuously in awe of the combat, I don't profess to being an MMO expert but I played a few. This is the best and most engaging melee combat I ever had the chance to play.

I am  still a lowbie at lvl 25 though... that is because I leveled 4 alts so far, boy I am tired of Tortage for sure,

If you get used to this kind of graphic quality, you wont play games with crap graphics anymore, I'm warning you, is happening to me :)

Screen shots?

Originally posted by Yeehaw

I recently got myself a new computer, a quad core AMD Phenom 9850, 6 GB RAM, Geforce 9800 graphics card, and a builtin wireless N card ... and all this for $699 at Best Buy ... I kid you not ... I did not go to buy a computer but I could not let this one on the shelf

Anyhow the point I want to make is that I am amazed of the graphics in this game. I used to have good framerates on two year old HP media laptop , but this is just a major step up, abilities and spells have very nice all engulfing effects, during combat blood spurts everywhere ... etc 

I am continuously in awe of the combat, I don't profess to being an MMO expert but I played a few. This is the best and most engaging melee combat I ever had the chance to play.

I am  still a lowbie at lvl 25 though... that is because I leveled 4 alts so far, boy I am tired of Tortage for sure,

Oh my, HP laptop...

You sir have just discovered AoC

Originally posted by Sonicspeed

If you get used to this kind of graphic quality, you wont play games with crap graphics anymore, I'm warning you, is happening to me :)

I disagree, though the game does have amazing visuals, it leaves much to be desired in the field of actual content available.

A shallow combat system, which is really the same as any other button mash-fest (it's just disguised by adding a few new keys for "directions" to make combat appear more genuine and realistic).

Little to no endgame content.

Crafting systems that are still broken and many are just not worth taking at all, for any reason.

Patches that break one thing after another, while fixing very little, and often bugs claimed to have been fixed in said patch are still present following the patch hitting live.

I have an 80 Guard and 74 ToS on Cimmeria, so don't take the above as hate, its simply where I ended up with the game.

AOC is great overall, it provide some great entertainment and experiences right from 1 to 80, but in the end I need more than just exceptionally nice visuals to keep me playing, and at the present time (and into the forseeable future) it simply lacks anything in terms of quality content to keep someone engaged and interested.

Still hoping for screen shots. Also, the guy above me, your wrong in your assesment of the combat system. Actions are more real time than any other MMORPG on the market.

Originally posted by Mrbloodworth

Still hoping for screen shots. Also, the guy above me, your wrong in your assesment of the combat system. Actions are more real time than any other MMORPG on the market.

No, my assessment of the combat system was fine, it just happens to differ from your own.

Did you even bother to read my post? I'm an experienced, release day veteran who began playing during the middle of the second phase of closed beta. I have an 80 and an alt who is also close to cap. Both on the most populated PvP Server, Cimmeria.

Theres nothing "real time" about it, it is the same as any other mmorpg just very cleverly disguised, you press a button and your character performs an action (only instead of pressing just my 1 key, I have to push a direction first, then my number keys). If anything, the delay caused by having to press a direction prior to the combo key-presses makes this game less "real time" than any on the market today.

Sure, they've eliminated 'auto-attacks' but they have taken a massive step BACKWARDS when you compare it to both vintage and contemporary games. It's downright clunky! It's not intuitive, it's not efficient and it's not fun to use.

Nevermind the fact that any clown with a G15 can macro the combos into his keyboard and voila! instant, one press combos! Ridiculous. It makes the entire system and any further development of it completely null and void, you can buy a certain model of keyboard and go own by rolling your face across your programmable keys.

Ever play a game called Severance:Blade of Darkness? it released in 2001 and featured an actual real time combat system, might want to check it out - helps to be able to actually differentiate between what you consider to be "real time" and what actually IS real time combat.

The vaunted real time 'combat system' has all the appeal of a game of 'whack-a-mole'.
 

Calling AoC combat system the same as any other button-mashing MMO out there is stretching it a bit far. I happens to dislike all the button mashing myself as well but that's besides the point; which is that AoC is trying to re-invent the auto-attack combat in mmo's. Combat system is fine it's just too damned long keystroke-sequences on the end-game combos.

There's also lots of other innovations to the combat system; such as cone healing/buffing/de-buffing and weapon impact damage opposed to having to target first. You also have to direct every attack meaning you can't just auto-attack while grinding.

You say the combos are stupid because all you have to do is buy a G15 keyboard. This is a silly argument. Of couse you can do that, but so can you in any other game known to man. Does that mean that innovation is impossible because you can set up macros? I never played it with macros by the way.

I stopped playing AoC despite it's combat system, not because of it. I heard they're shortening down the keystrokes needed to execute combo's as well. That will further improve it imo. You're ofc entitled to your opinion MrListerSir, but calling AoC combat system shallow sounds - pardon my french - silly to me.

I'll take a text based game over a game with great graphics and boring/repetitive/shallow gameplay. Sure, graphics are nice, but...