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Not Ready for Prime Time

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 6 / 6
Date: June 30, 2008
Author: Amazon User

A stable launch followed up with poorly thought-out and unbalanced content.
The devs push out two patches a week which break as many things as they fix.
A cycle of buffing and nerfing of classes, which generally range over two weeks.
Uncommunicative dev team which choose community managers who lie about upcoming changes.
This cake needs more time in the oven, might try again in 6 months.
Unsubscribed.

Review of the service

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 16 / 28
Date: June 02, 2008
Author: Amazon User

I paid for a preorder and then $5 to download the client early and do the free preview. So the day comes to start playing the game and I cannot download the patch. So I go to the store to pick up my copy and install from the disks, same problem, the patch is a no go. So I go to the website expecting a little technical support, however none of the topics really covered my issue (which is the 620 gig patch getting to between 20 and 150 gigs and then no longer downloading at all). So I check the main forums and there are quite a few people there having the same issue, but there is no post from any sort of official source about how to resolve the issue. I disable my virus protection, open all the ports on my router, download updates, plug the connection directly to the computer, nothing works. I e-mail billing but by the time anybody gets back to me 6 days of my 10 day preview have gone by. I ask for some form of refund and they tell me they can't do that. Finally after two or three e-mails asking why I should be expected to pay for "Preview access" when I have not been able to log in, somebody finally credits my account for another 10 days of time.

In short the support for this game is terrible, and while I was not entirely nice in my e-mails to Funcom, they made no effort to be nice or give me more than three sentences of their time. Frustrated players who would like to log into your game but can't, are not people you should be snarky to in my opinion. In any event, I never got to actually play the game, which I hear is fun if you like PvP. So take my review for what you will. I never got into the game because of some issue on my end or their end, and I never received any real assistance, so I just gave up.

Fun at first..

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 9 / 12
Date: June 26, 2008
Author: Amazon User

I enjoyed the first part of this game up until about level 30. Then I started to see things I could have ignored if there hadn't been so many of them.

Cons:
- Small doors that zone you to the next area that look like other doors that don't do anything. I dont know if there's only a few zones but it seemed that way.
- no generally fun encounters. All I found were just cookie cutter creatures moreso than other mmo's. Everything just runs up to you and starts swinging and altering it's defensive directions in a totally predictable manner. Both dungeons I found just had 1 type of creature in each of them, and that was it. No named encounters or strange things. The most unique thing an enemy did was not change it's defensive direction in a predictable manner. They have a lot of potential with the active combat and defensive directions but didn't take advantage of it.
- Annoying map that doesn't show other group members until you're right next to them. They should have separated the command for the world map from the local map so I didn't have to open the local map everytime I opened the map after closing it with Esc. Or at least remember which map I had out last time I pulled it out. Also, the map should show all zone lines (doors) no matter how far you are from them, since there's only 1 spot to go to the next area.
- Annoying instancing. Give us the option to choose which instance we are going into since it's such a big (and obvious) part of the game without having to go into the instance first, then find a rez spot. IMO instancing should be as invisible to the players as possible, but since you can't do anything in a group if you form up in separate instances this would help newbies understand it better.

Pros:
- Awesome line of sight aggro. Creatures facing me will aggro from farther away than one not facing me. This could be a great strategy when separating enemies, but the call for help aggro is a little goofy.
- Great combat system. I love that you have to be active in it and can't just turn on autoattack and go afk. The defensive directions was a nice touch too.

Disappointment

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 14 / 24
Date: May 30, 2008
Author: Amazon User

I tried several classes and really attempted to like this game as my friends are playing it. I simply could not get past the constant zoning, instancing, and loading screens. By the time I finally go where I was going my patience for bugs or other issues was gone.

Character specialization is about impossible right now as none of the tooltips give any values for your "feat" points. Most list something like this: Improves Spell X. No values, completely vague description of how it improves it, nothing of use there.

More importantly, I run a pretty nice PC (it meets or exceeds recommended stats to play) and had to turn alot of the graphical settings off and/or down in order to get my frame rate over 15FPS (which got it up to 30)

Overal rating: -$50.00

Greatest MMO-fun in a long time

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 11 / 17
Date: May 20, 2008
Author: Amazon User

This is the greatest fun I have had in a MMOG since Ultima Online back in 1997. The game looks great, plays smoothly (I got a high end PC) and has the most immersive combat in any MMOG I have ever played.

It is also really nice to have a game for adults, abandoning the cartoonish child-friendly environment.

Think this game will keep me entertained for a long, long time.

Fantastic job Funcom!

PS: For all the people using the review to complain about Funcom running out of early access codes, here is a humorous cartoon reply: http://www.ctrlaltdel-online.com/comic.php?d=20080519

Solid MMO, but lacking features compared to WoW

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 9 / 13
Date: June 16, 2008
Author: Amazon User

I'm a long time MMO player who got really big into World of Warcraft. I was hardcore in WoW, playing for 3+ years and raiding with one of the top PVE guilds on my server. I've always thought that with the sheer amount of time and development put into WoW, it would be impossible for anyone else to match the bar that has been set.

With that said, I don't think AoC tries to be better than WoW, and in many ways it's not. I'm currently a level 64 guardian on a PVE server, and here's my list of pros and cons I've seen.

PROs:
* Melee combat system of combos keeps you engaged in battle. You have to adapt and pay attention to each encounter which makes fights more interesting.
* Fatalities and decapitations are satisfying
* Graphics are really good (I have a pretty high end machine)
* The death penalty is basically 0. I like the fact that you don't get punished for dying, but then again it makes it a bit silly when dying is turned into a form of transportation because you can resurrect on the other side of the map instantly.
* Decent leveling pace and skill upgrades. I feel like levels don't take that long to get, and the new skills and talents can give you incentive to just get one more level.

CONs:
* Limited number of zones. I know the developers are working on this, but at the moment, there are only 1 or 2 zones for a character of any given level. This causes problems like quests being camped and a lack of variety.
* There are not enough quests to fully sustain leveling up. What I mean is that there will be times when you run out of quests, and when this happens, it can feel a bit disappointing to know that you have to grind on killing random enemies in order to become eligible for the next set of quests.
* Chat system needs work. Sometimes you don't see the proper chat lines, sometimes there's lots of spam, and the transparent chat window makes it hard to read sometimes.
* Crafting system is difficult to get into. There's no good information about how you progress in the crafting trees and the the whole thing seems unfinished.
* Instancing zones adds friction to getting groups started. I think they're working on this because at least you can find out which zone you're in now.

It seems like AoC is getting a much better reception than people anticipated, so the developers are rolling out patches twice a week to fix bugs, improve the UI, adjust balance, and introduce new content. I think that given enough time, this game could fix all the problems I've stated above and become a very compelling game. With that said, there are really only a few key features that differentiate this game from WoW.

* Better graphics
* Different combat feel and different classes
* Possible siege warfare

With that being said, the next expansion of WoW will introduce a new class and siege warfare, so all you're left with here is better graphics and the combo system for attacks.

When you boil it down, AoC is not a bad game, and it will give veteran MMO players something new to do and explore. However, it doesn't significantly change the genre and it has a lot of catching up to do. It's a fun change of pace for me, but I don't think I'll stick with this one for too much longer.

Fun for about 20 levels then you realize its half baked.

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 8 / 11
Date: July 28, 2008
Author: Amazon User

Most people who give this game high reviews haven't played it past level 20. The beginning island is fun and done well, as it was originally suppose to been a single player game and that is what the beginning island is all about. Not long after you leave the island you begin to realize the game is incomplete and out of balance mathematically. What I mean is you only travel back and forth mainly between 3 areas. Then you then realize your armor stats, most skills you have are uselessly weak or broken. Armor pretty much all looks the same and only stat that means anything at all is the defense stat the rest of stats are useless. For example like .01 to slashing damage when you are doing 80 damage per swing. Game is a hyped up rip off full of lies by Funcom, wait and buy WarHammer if you are looking for a good new MMO.

Wait for a trial or a better game

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 11 / 18
Date: June 18, 2008
Author: Amazon User

This game is lacking in so many aspects. Almost every feature that is listed above either dosnt work properly or was very poorly added to the game. There is nothing being done in this game that hasnt been done before and been done better by another game.

It seems as though nothing was tested except the first 20 levels which is only the starting zone and since there is only one starting zone for everyone it gets old fast when you try to play a new character. I have never written anything about a game before but I truely cant beleive that the developers feel that people would be fine paying for this game in its current state.

Yes it can and will get better in the future as it really cant get any worse as far as it stands right now. I would pass on this as like I stated earlier there are several other games out there now that have way less problems and does what this game does but better. For a fantasy type game having only one starting location and one race with three different names is a bad way to start off. I mean how many games can you play where playing a human is the only option.

WAIT FOR SOMETHING BETTER!!!

This game had great potential but appears to be all hype

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 7 / 9
Date: July 05, 2008
Author: Amazon User

I really gave this game a shot even with all the usual problems you can expect for a game at launch. 2 months in and they are still sending out patches that break many more things than they fix. Performance is a major problem for me and I have a custom built machine that is only 3 months old. My main problems continued to be the constant disconnects, crashes to desktop, memory leaks, horrid customer service petition system, high latency due to east coast only servers. I am very disappointed with this game and will avoid funcom products in the future.

Need to wait on this one

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 6 / 7
Date: July 10, 2008
Author: Amazon User

I believe AoC will be a pretty good MMO...eventually. Every MMO starts out with bugs, but Funcom released a SERIOUSLY buggy beta version and charged 50 bucks for it. I feel pretty badly cheated. A full 20 percent of the quests are broken, and there aren't too many to choose from, especially in the 60+ level ranges. There's a data leak that could drain lake Erie. System requirements are pretty high, especially if you group or raid. Lag outs and crashes are far too common. Banking is broken (still) and the PvP system that Funcom raved about is atrocious.

HOWEVER, Funcom was very smart and slick. They worked hard to get the first 20 levels pretty finished and polished, and kept it mostly solo, so those just starting the game (or REVIEWING it) would be impressed. But once you move out into the wide world, everything begins to fall apart.

High end content is seriously lacking. I mean SERIOUSLY.

The massive PvP is still very buggy and will bog down a PC powered by a fusion reactor.

Customer service is simply missing. You are on your own. Petitions will wait up to 4 hours for a response, IF the GM deems it even worth answering. Emails receive a canned response that basically tells you 'figure it out for yourself'. Phone support will never be implemented, according to Funcom.

In other words, this is another Vanguard: Saga of Heroes. Great concept with some excellent storylines, graphics, and gameplay...until you get past level 20. Then you see what is missing.

The game is also easy. You can solo all the way to the top in about a month if you push it. Maybe two for casual play.

On a more basic level, the game is not really my kind of MMO. Combat is frenetic and fast. This kills any sort of communication or social interaction when in a group. Often you are far too busy executing combos to chat with anyone, be it a tell or guild chat. And no matter how interesting combat is, once you grind enough, it will get repetitive and boring. It just requires a lot of concentration and interaction so you can't chat to relieve the boredom.

Being able to solo means not many people group. There's no real incentive to do so. And unless you HAVE to group, it's very hard to FIND a group.

On the positive side, the combat is interesting for a while. The M rating is fun, with light nudity, mild cursing, and buckets of gore. Some of the fatalities are immensely amusing and satisfying. The graphics are excellent and animations are quite good. Sound quality is exemplary. When quests work, they are usually worth doing and the storylines behind them are well-constructed and engaging. Voiceovers (which only exist in the first 20 levels) are quite good.

Again though, the good points are only good when they work. Crashing during combat makes it very NOT fun. Video bugs and data leaks destroy immersion quickly. Broken quests are extremely frustrating and big time-wasters. Funcom's utter silence on the customer service front is also extremely annoying.

1st person view is most definitely not the best thing to do from a tactical standpoint. You can't see visual cues you have to see for combat when in first person. It's like they threw it in as an afterthought, but forgot about it and really don't expect anyone to use it. 1st person view means a lot to me as a player, because it really helps with immersion.

The bottom line is that you should wait a good 6 months for the game to be fixed. If there's any sort of population left after that time, it might be a pretty good MMO.

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