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normal edition & collector edition

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 41
Date: October 27, 2007
Author: Amazon User

whats different between normal edition and collector edition ? I wish you can put some information about it.

Welcome to the 4th Generation of MMORPGs

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 46 / 55
Date: May 01, 2008
Author: Amazon User

Age of Conan is a well-constructed, beautifully-rendered, multi-layered MMORPG that includes features for every playstyle in the genre.

For those adventurers who prefer to explore solo, the world is vast, beautiful, and dangerous! In addition to the creatures, beasties and wild humans providing nail-biting combat with a fantastic AI, on two of the server types (FFA (free-for-all) PvP (Player vs. Player) and RP (roleplaying)-PvP), there is the added danger of edge-of-your-seat combat with player characters. There is, of course, a Player vs. Environment (PvE) ruleset on some servers that will allow the more reticent to get their game on in style without the added fear of being ganked.

Solo gamers who join AoC will find that all of the classes are solo-friendly to some extent. Funcom has included robust potion play for those OMG moments, though it's not so over-powering that it feels like going into god-mode.

Though Solo play is encouraged through many game-mechanic devices (such as the level 1-20 "destiny quests" which are 100% solo), the real meat of the game is in the group and guild play. The character classes compliment each other well - none is so overpowered as to have the proverbial "I Win" button. Healing is mostly over time, so priests can get into the fray and smack it up with the best of them without having to stand back and spam heals. Caster, range, stealth and melee classes round out the options, with choices offered being determined by race.

PvP, in addition to "out in the world" fights, can take place in "mini-games," similar to the Battlegrounds of WoW, but at a much faster pace. The options available in the beta were "Capture the Flag" and "Annihilate Opponents," both of which were engaging and fast-paced. The learning curve isn't too steep - We found with a little organization and an understanding that thr group needed to stay together, we won more times than lost.

There is crafting at level 40 (the cap is currently level 80) but I haven't seen that part yet. Crafting professions include armor, weapons, gemcutting, architecture, and alchemy. As crafting is one of those things that can make or break a game economy, I'm really looking forward to getting involved in it as soon as possible.

Questing is really rich in this game - dialogues are played like cut scenes, and the voice acting is top-notch. The quests include single runs and long storylines. Rewards are appropriate and always helpful depending on your level. The cities are teeming with NPCs, and most will have somethign to say to you or some quest to offer.

All-in-all, a fantastic game with a lot of potential for deep involvement. My final score, heading into launch, is 4.5 out of 5 stars, with .5 off for restricting crafting to the later levels.

****UPDATE****

I received the collector's edition from Gamestop yesterday, and I am overall very pleased with both the presentation and the contents! The art book is not hardbound as advertised, which is a disappointment, but both the artwork and behind-the-scenes storytelling are phenomenal.

The leatherette map is a nice touch - it's not really readable for the small fonts, but it's nice looking is a cool piece of Conan memoribilia.

The soundtrack, on the other hand, is the real gem in this collection. Atmospheric, often moving, sometimes even heartwrenching, this soundtrack is fantastic. We've had it in heavy rotation since we got up this morning, and it's lovely.

I recommend this collector's edition for the true fans of the genre - it's a great immersion into the AoC world, and I'm glad I spent the extra cash on it.

Thanks for reading!

Wait, or expect frustration

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 10 / 78
Date: May 07, 2008
Author: Amazon User

I just cancelled my pre-order of this game. Have been (trying) to play this product in beta and it is the most buggy software I've ever seen. In addition, Funcom is providing 0 technical support at this time. I'll wait until the product has more polish if I purchase it at all.

Great game

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 12 / 18
Date: May 13, 2008
Author: Amazon User

I've played many, many MMOs over the years and AoC has definitely provided some of the best synthesis of previous MMO gameplay and new and innovative gameplay. All of the classes are soloable and are more interactive and at minumum subtly different than classes in other MMOs.
The graphics are beautiful, but I'm truly only rating the game high because of its well-thought out gameplay.

Funcom's early access program is sold out.

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: May 14, 2008
Author: Amazon User

Contrary to any assurances that pre-orders will allow you to access the game early, this is no longer possible. Funcom only allowed for a certain number of early access accounts (fewer than the number promised in the form of pre-orders), and you can no longer get in early, even if you have the code and email to do so.

Three days is by no means the end of the world, and you DO still get the other pre-order perks, but this is something more people should have been aware of.

Much to Offer

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 9 / 11
Date: May 16, 2008
Author: Amazon User

At this early stage AoC has much to offer gamers especially if they have the hardware to detail its graphic glory.

There will be hiccups in the first week, so if your frustation level is low just begin later. The weakest at present of all the classes as far as innovation are the Necromancer and Demonolgist. Without access to combos you are like casters in any other game. Not a bad thing for many and the easiest way to sample and learn the game. Spellweaving as I understand it at present will not be available until perhaps level fifty and it will have limited PVP uses as the animations can be VERY long and you need to remain still. Casters will be powerful and although I always play one, I will play a hybrid in this game to have access to combos also and from my open beta experience a more involved experience.

I suggest finding a good guild and picking a good server for your playstyle (PVP vs. PVE).

Chaos

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 7 / 31
Date: May 17, 2008
Author: Amazon User

So far all I've seen is false advertising. The benefits of pre-ordering the game were advertised as 3 days of play before the official release and an in game mount. It turns out, that contrary to the early game play advertised for pre-orders, you also had to register and buy the extra time. That wouldn't have been a problem if they had mentioned it. Instead I found out when I set up my log in and found out there were no early play spaces left. From what outside sources have written, it looks like you also don't get the mount they promised if you pre-order from certain sites like Amazon - from Amazon it looks like you get a bow instead. I don't think they meant to falsely mislead folks, but if they can't communicate well enough to get people into the game, what is game play going to be like? Heaven forbid if you need to talk to someone. You can't even get to their site now because they redirect you to their community page because of heavy volume. Even if you'd bounced through their unmentioned hoops early enough and were set up to play the early play, you couldn't reach the site to play at the moment.

ripped off

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 0 / 15
Date: May 17, 2008
Author: Amazon User

Well, I can't say much for the game yet, as I have not been in beta. When I preordered this it was stated that early access would be given with the key. Well, When I used the code, it only gave me the amazon bow, no ea. I'm very dissapointed, as I'llhave to wait a while to get it over here in Turkey. Guess I'll just be lagging behind my guildmates.

Amazing graphics, a MMO worth trying!

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 4 / 6
Date: May 18, 2008
Author: Amazon User

On a whole this MMO is well put together, it has the look of LOTR but with much more content and depth. Graphics are amazing, combat more complex and involved than point and click. The game still needs a little more polish on the interactive side for PVR, but PVP is really good. If your new to MMO's or just looking for something less-grind-like than WOW this is the game for you.

A New Age MMO

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 11 / 13
Date: May 19, 2008
Author: Amazon User

EDIT: I'm editing my review after over a month of playing AoC. This is mainly because the higher in level I get and the more "content" I've explored, my opinion of the game has dropped.

After reading and waiting for months for Age of Conan (AoC), I finally was able to get into Early Access (EA) on Saturday, May 17th.

On Saturday morning, imagine my disappointment when Funcom delays opening the servers by 3 hours! 3 hours?? What am I supposed to do now? Well, I got over my delay disappointment and on the specified hour, I promptly logged in, chose my server (Set) and started creating my character. I had no idea what I should choose so I went with a Stygian Ranger. The character customization is OK in AoC. I spent about 15 minutes constructing facial features, tattoos, scars, hair, and body type. Unfortunately there is a limit to the body and hair styles and there are some of the ugliest facial defaults I've ever seen in my life with one good looking one. Guess which one most people will be choosing? There is a lack of a color palette to choose from as well.

As the intro played, my poor Ranger washes up on the beach of Tortage and is greeted by a creepy old man. Here is where I learned the basics of fighting and interacting with the environment. While combat is tricky at first, I eventually got the hang of it. The main thing I like about combat are the fatalities. I've already had the pleasure of gutting and cutting off the heads of my opponents. I've also gotten some sweet fatality deaths from my bow and arrow. It does my heart good to see enemies fall with an arrow in their throat and blood spewing from their mouths!

This leads me to the "mature" content. Granted, by the end of the weekend I was just level 21 but the mature content is really negligible. The most risque stuff I witnessed was in general world chat (or OOC). Sure, the blood and decapitations are cool and the half-naked women rock, but AoC would get a PG-13 rating instead of an R if it were a movie. EDIT: After a month of playing, there are some topless women and toons which would earn this game an R-rating.

Back to my first day, it was tough. While I had no problems with lag, fps, or any of that stuff (I have a relatively top shelf computer), dealing with so many people scrambling for slow spawning mobs became a chore. Imagine trying to gather 40 hides of crocodile leather and you are competing with twenty other players in one small section of an island where maybe 15 crocs spawn. Remember when I wrote "slow spawning" well, yeah, there you go. I eventually completed these tasks as well as my destiny quests and moved on to my homeland starting area.

As for the environments of Tortage, they are rich and detailed. There is a lot of eye candy and you can move around fairly easily in it though you are limited to specific zones. More on that below. Cons movement wise can be filtered down to a "climbing" skill. I'm not particularly sure why this is here and why it's not user friendly. I have to hit "U" or right click on a ladder or vine to scramble up it. If I don't keep my eye on the chat window and catch the alarm "YOU CAN CLIMB HERE!!" I would have missed climbing opportunities.

Zones. The bane of my existence! AoC is instance/zone heavy. This is a bit disappointing especially since you may find yourself repeatedly going back and forth between them which eats up real time of watching a loading screen. What I would do was gather all the quests I could find and just head to a specific zone (White Sands for example) and stay there until all my quests were complete. I'm sure this is what most people did. EDIT: The more I play this, the more I hate instance/zones. Sometimes they load fast but more often than not lately, they load extremely slow which makes me a frustrated panda and more disheartened.

Anyhoo, toons don't just walk through each other like ghosts but can actually block you. This may prove to be very cool when higher level PVP kicks in as formations would actually mean something. Imagine a bunch of conquerors forming up a shield wall to prepare and defend their battlekeep. God that's awesome. Not to mention that line of sight issues appear to be right on track so far. I can get on high ground and fire down into my enemies without LOS errors or those annoying "evades" you'd always see in WoW. This would make for excellent ambush opps in PVP play as well as full scale battles. I'm really looking forward to it! EDIT: The latest is that full on battlekeep PVP is still borked limiting organized PVP engagements. Another disappointing item that makes it seem that Funcom really did rush this out without completing the Beta.

So far from what I've seen, despite some of the cons I pointed out from my own perspective, this is a fun game. I look forward to discovering more features of AoC as I progress because I know I'm just at the tip of the iceberg! EDIT: As of this date (July 2, 2008), the playability and fun of the game is decreasing for me. Big patches are now being released once a week but some of the updates I've seen, seem irrelevant to the big picture. Fixing the look on an NPC's face over fixing the obvious memory leaks which causes crashing even on high end computers makes me scratch my head in puzzlement.

I'm going to continue to play, but come September, if nothing has significantly changed, I will probably be quitting AoC and moving on to Warhammer Online. If Warhammer turns out to be a stinker as well, I guess I'll head back to WoW and wait for the expansion.

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