Funcom...riddle me this..

Is the "Never Give Up" strategy working?

2009-11-06T10:15:00.003-05:00

If any company can use this motto more today than ever...it is Funcom.

From Anarchy Online to Age of Conan, this company has had a strategy that follows a specific pattern.

Mess up, break it some more, fix it up some, add some more breaks, and it goes on.

But, during all this time, the company still struggles, still survives, and holds on for dear life. Is this admirable to you the player? Or is it a sign of a company that just tries to "get by".

In todays work ethic, the "getting by" is a road to disaster in my opinion. Yet, Funcom still survives and holds out for the next financials report.

For example, I can note that each time a financial report is almost due, Funcom takes it upon themselves to scrabble and release an update, do a trial, add new content...something. It is almost like Funcom is working on the "get it in at the last minute" strategy actually.

What do these last minute fixes and changes do? Fix their bottom line and help make those financials look good.

This time around, the 3rd quarter financials are due November 12th of 2009. Luckily Funcom came through and patched Age of Conan. But, they also made the mistake of introducing a multitude of bugs. Then again, they recently lowered the monthly subs for multiple month subscribers...so, could this help that bottom line at the end of the day?

The other issue that always seems to be making the rounds of discussion when it comes to Funcom...is choices.

As of late, their decisions on changes to the game seem to be questioned in all manner and form.

No new raid content for close to a year, another 6 man dungeon when so many exist. Changes to classes making one play style more prevalent over the other..

I am sure any MMO developer is guilty of this. Just for Funcom, at this time, these choices are not the best means to build back up a dwindling population.

So, where do we stand here. The "Never Give Up" strategy looks to be a good call, and makes the company look like they are trying...just waiting to the last minute to make changes, and as well, make some choices that do not vibe well with the community is questionable.

Is Funcom "Not giving up" or are they just "Getting by"?

Age of Conan - Who else worries about AoC?

2009-11-05T14:10:00.004-05:00

Looks like Gamestop and Barnes and Noble are worried about Age of Conans longevity as well as me.

60 Day Game cards, normally 30 bucks, now going for $12.99

B&N Price Drop

Gamestop drops price of AoC time cards

Ouch!

Age of Conan - Truth or Dare?

2009-11-05T09:12:00.005-05:00

The Dare...

Play a game that is fun to you, even though the company does not care about it's product and then watch as servers dwindle and die as said company continues to degrade the client..

The Truth?

Funcom has a lack of skill and intelligence to truly run a full fledged AAA MMO product without degrading the performance, playability and add content on a timely manner...that it makes it truly unbearable to give the company another red cent.

Lets take a step back in time, and see where this all started for Age of Conan's downfall.

In June of this year a new content patch was applied. Also known as the gear revamp, this patch changed the systems of how gear related to attacks, magic, etc. In so many words, the gear mattered now.

Before the gear had an issue of using numbers that were less than intuitive. But, this also led to a system that skill was more important over the numbers, that people could actually wear basic armor pieces and be good at combat and actually survive combat.

People were torn over this update, but it did make a difference in how the gear looked in relation to stats. They made sense. A new gear reliance game was born.

At this time new content was introduced. New dungeons, a new zone. Life was looking up.

Funcom then introduced the return trial for launch players. The servers loaded up. New stuff to do. Quest progression versus leveling was well done now. People were pleased with the changes taking place.

Age of Conan went to the upper 20's on Xfire. Life was looking up.

Then began the balancing act.

From July and on, Funcom started a MAJOR revamp of the classes in Age of Conan. Melee took some hits as their capabilities were diminished. Casters were spiked to be more powerful and even sometimes harder to kill.

A disconnect took place over the issue of Stamina versus Mana (Stamina runs out for Melee for running AND combat, yet only running for Casters...and as well, the amount of Mana used is less to a degree than the relation of stamina for a melee class...it is complicated to say the least), and people started to complain. The game had a new name by many ... "Age of Casters".

This is normal for most MMO's though. Some class becomes favorited and it sees a balance shift...but not a whole STYLE of gameplay.

But, then time went on in the revamps, and nothing was done for classes (Assassins receive no revamp) and certain classes were gimped even more (Barbarians...the mainstay of Conan).

Then the issues started.

Each patch would break something for no reason. Guild cities now had a bug where if you entered and stayed for a bit, goodbye ALL sound in the game, forcing a relog.

Bizarre issues like hair changing color while zoning, turning the players body gray after certain knockdowns in certain zones...the list goes on and on.

And each patch got worse. Life was looking...down.

The worst part is during this whole time...ZERO content was added. Thus endgame suffered, and nothing was taking place to create things to do. It took almost 4 months before anything new would be added.

What would we get with that new update? They add a 6 man dungeon. That is all. (They did add a Halloween event, which will be removed within the next two weeks...so, if you wish to count quests that can be completed in 1-2 hours...cool).

But, with the content patch, we get NEW bugs. Blocked quests, mitigation in raid issues, new memory leaks, the return of the dreaded RED BAR lag spike that had been missing since the beginning of patch 1.05...the list goes on AGAIN.

Thus, this is where we are at. Two hot fixes are in and yet, some of the issues still exist...as well as old issues that have not been fixed.

The client degrades and Funcom sees the outcome (at least I can as many others do). Xfire has a dip into the low 60's and over the weekend bombed into the 70's. The first time ever.

Raids are taking a decline in how many are taking place. Grouping takes hours to get together. The Trader suffers as certain products become over priced and others take a dive as the player cannot get rid of it. Certain items flooding the market coming from people running the same content over and over.

Emptying servers overall is Funcom's reward.

So...Truth or Dare: Would you play a game where the company who runs the game continues to ruin the experience, creates a dwindling population with empty servers and hits a long running game with bugs that creates a game environment where you are more scared to run the client and log in than just load up another game title instead..

You decide!

I am BACK!!!

2009-11-04T14:39:00.003-05:00

And ready to rant my ass off.

Basically, as you can probably tell by the title of my blog that this is going to get ugly.

I have a few remarks I would like to make about a game I love to play, and the company who is out to destroy it.

For now...I will let it sit and fester and grow into it's seething rant...waiting to happen!

Age of Conan - Issues all make sense now

2009-10-30T22:56:00.002-04:00

Age of Conan's issues have all been explained now..We understand why the game is where it is at!

From Craig Morrisons blog...(Source)

"Alas there is one thing I am bad...really bad...at and that is actually finishing work."

Age of Conan - BROKEN game!

2009-10-29T21:19:00.005-04:00

Age of Conan truly has hit rock bottom. Ongoing issues and then new bugs as well causes the game to become an almost unplayable mess.

Recently an update went live (Tuesday Oct. 27th) which added new event content and a new dungeon.

Along with this wonderful content ... a slew of new bugs like lag spikes kicking you out of the game, raids being borked due to mitigation issues, broken quests, trader issues...

Basically they fixed one issue and introduced three more.

I am now in a major discussion with my family of what to do. The wife is of course very forgiving...especially seeing she has not played an MMO in ages, and AoC is the first one to entice her back.

She loves it. And she does not want to give up that easy.

Same for me...

But, at what point do you say that you have had enough.

Do you go to a restaurant, eat a shoddy meal, yet have good appetizers, but the delivery of the food took forever, yet it was an excellent deal....and finally say...well, I will go back again or never return?

This is where I am. I love the meal, but man oh man, I hate the service.

Age of Conan is just on it's last legs. Maybe someone finally needs to put her out of her misery...or mine at least, as I just do not want to play another MMO. Maybe if they shut it down, I could finally move on.

Help me Obi-Wan!

EDIT: Just when you think you are talking to a brick wall, along comes the Game Director and opens the "Devtracker" (Source)

Looks like details on upcoming updates, a central source for info on the expansion and a way to see what bugs are being tracked, issues, concerns and more.

Alright, Funcom gains a small reprieve...but for how long?

Age of Conan - Ending? Beginning?

2009-10-20T12:11:00.003-04:00

Well, a little hiatus never hurts.

I have been super busy, and as you can probably see above, my signatures show an "official" 3 level 80's in my repertoire.

So, where do I go? What do I do?

Hard to say.

Several things are keeping me busy right now.

Our Guild City as part of an experiment (only 3 people in the guild) is COMPLETELY Tier one. Seems it works if you have cash, and put the time into gathering. We liked having this goal.

We are now progressing on Tier Two. But, this requires even more cash, and that has been my current plan.

Gathering, job contracts and hopefully some dungeon runs will net me some goodies to sell and an abundance of cash (which is not easy in this game).

But, Raids are off limits. The time it takes, and the outcome is not really what I need.

We as a guild were able to afford several "Culture" pieces of armor, or called Tier Zero armor for running quests, etc. So, the need for Raid gear is not really there yet.

An example of how powerful we are was the 3 of us tackled the Slaughterhouse on normal in less than 30 minutes, which can net about 2-3 gold...so, this is on our list of "to do". My hope is we may be able to go "Epic" mode on this dungeon and try to get even more cash...

Wonder what the payout is?

The Tarantia Commons is quick silver per contract (and the contracts are easy)...

But, that is all we got.

Luckily as you may have read, a new Halloween event is coming soon to occupy us, and the Iron Tower which is group based. I am interested on if it is any good or not.

But, the money is the key. I like having the guild city be a goal, and not raiding nightly.

But, my son desperately wants to raid, so I will need to go with him once so he can learn some raid etiquette, and then he can go on his own from that point on.

For myself, I have started to break my time up in game with some Single Player RPG's. I have went back to playing the Witcher (so love that game) and am playing Risen. Risen is truly enamoring and has kept me wanting to play more.

So my routine is now AoC in the mornings for gathering and contracts, and in the evening with the family. Afternoons and off times in SPRPG's.

Funcom's speed in updates is truly a cement and molasses affair, and I find it hard for them to continue to keep players entertained this way. I know it is killing me with nothing to do. I do not want to start again at this time on a new character, so what do I do?

Will this be the ending? Or a new beginning? Time will tell

Age of Conan - Upcoming Halloween Event

2009-10-16T10:16:00.002-04:00

Age of Conan will be doing it's first holiday themed event.

For Halloween, Funcom will present "Nights of Lost Souls "

With two brand new solo quests, and an additional team quest, players will have to track down and defeat three Lost Souls. The quests will take you to places you thought you knew, but this time of year casts a shadow over things you once found familiar.

With fun and fantastic seasonal items to acquire, those that seek out the Lost Souls will find themselves facing the true dangers that lurk just beyond firelight.

Of course, there are plenty of rewards as well. How about the Fermented Brain Juice that causes you to vomit and become drunk, or the Void Essence that changes your skin? Here is a selection of the great, new items you can collect from these autumn quests! The nights begin after Update 5.6!

Read more....

Age of Conan - Defensive, On Message or Right?

2009-10-14T09:26:00.003-04:00

Craig Morrison has dropped into a forum post based on a recent blog post he did a little over a week ago...(Source).

Craig called the blog post "Community Communication...Between a rock and a hard place".

In it he discusses how difficult it can be to communicate with the "forum" crowd when stating his message.

He points out how someone "argued" with him over PM about Age of Conan.

The conversation went

"'[PM'er]You can't possibly tell me what I like or dislike most' and I [Craig] replied explaining that I wasn't trying to do that at all, that I was just pointing out that there were different playstyles out there and that we, as an MMO developer, had to try and balance the needs of many different playstyles. (much in the way I have discussed it here before) to which he then replied - 'That's exactly the same thing no matter how you word it. You are still telling me I am wrong in my opinion."

This is understandable on Craig's part. The person was still seeing it his way. But, then the blog post does go on to state that he maybe felt this person was wrong in his approach...so basically, wrong?

A fine line there.

Anyways, someone posted his conversation (blog post) on the AoC forums. And well...it seems Craig gets a bit defensive. (Source) At least from my viewpoint.

I am trying my best to understand if Craig is trying to just make sure he stays on his message, is being defensive or is he right? Or should the old adage apply..."The customer is always right".

The post takes a turn into some "opinion" territory, with players stopping in to point out their concerns, with Craig stating the reasons they have done what they did in the game...yet, so many seem to think it is NOT the right "direction".

What basically started as a "state your point in a concise manner" looks to me to turn into a "now dear forum poster, here is why your point is NOT right"

For example...

POSTER: I really think you should make some new armor/weapons, so everyone isn't pigeon holed into a single set of options in order to be viable in pvp.

CRAIG: ON an aside first, I think 'viable' is subjective to your personal approach to gaming. If you are a true min/maxer there will only ever be one 'viable' choice....aside from that though we are working on adding more items and armor into the game, and the expansion will see a huge addition there.

So Craig DOES answer his post, but seems to take an attitude that this specific posters opinion of viable is...not viable?

That poster returns and states...

POSTER: Great! Love the idea of an expansion other than that I shouldn't have to pay for content that should have already been here. Hate to hear that I'm stuck with mostly the same gear as what I've been wearing for the last 18 months for at least another 6-10. That seems like an awful lot to ask of your subscribers.

I also don't agree with your assessment about being "viable". I'm approaching 'viable' from the standpoint of 'I want to kill people, rather than be killed by people'. There is no reason to level up in pvp or use pvp gear in this game other than if you don't have the raid equivalent. DPS > mitigation in this game, so if you're using Pvp gear over raid gear, you're fooling yourself.

The way your gear progression should be going based on how hard it is to acquire in this game is :

(He goes on to explain what he sees as viable)

This gets no response from Craig. But he does have this to say when someone points out that he looks like he is defending and not saying --Well, we may be wrong, or we need to look into that--......

POSTER: I think the real issue is that Craig is "defending" his stance, and these points will go on deaf ears. But, that was a really good (but tough) read. Everyone at the Funcom offices should also read it thoroughly, and not reply or defend anything.

CRAIG: They don't fall on deaf ears, all the feedback is read and assimilated and while we won't always agree hearing other opinions is always valid, and being able to discuss them without feeling like it is 'defending' is an important part of taking part in an actual discussion. Think of it more as explaining rather than defending.

I guess I do not understand that if opinions are "valid", why must you always explain away the opinion to make it feel like the person is "wrong".

Or is it wrong to believe the dev is trying to do this, and just needs to give you the "reason" they did something?

This is a really tough situation right now for Craig, with updates being few and far between for Age of Conan, layoffs, subs seeming to disappear (based on visual acuity as well as sources like Xfire).

Should Craig even be in this discussion?

Ok...off for now...Cheers.

Age of Conan - Progressions

2009-10-07T09:25:00.005-04:00

As you may see above (in my signatures list), several characters have leveled.

Ethalos, my Tempest of Set has hit level 73. He plays with the family guild. Tabari, my Herald of Xotli is 79 and just 6 bars from 80.

Basically Tabari has been on morning duty, and tackling contracts and running what is called the Slaughterhouse. He also has several quests yet to complete in Kheshatta, the region of Stygia where Thoth-Amons castle reigns.

He does not have much further and will start the final road of quests for the storyline. I have not debated what I will do with him once I hit 80. I am unsure of raiding with him at this point. But, due to how he does combat, it sure would be a blast.

Ethalos of course travels with the family pack, and progression is FAST due to being grouped and being able to tackle quests quickly and efficiently.

We have been in Kheshatta, but have still some quests in Atzels Fortress zone.

But, all of this is moot, as the big news is the Guild City.

We tackled this as a 3 person team. My old main, Amatheon, became an Architect, and we have been working on the build of the city gradually.

We have all of the main Professions and standard buildings in place (Temple, Keep, Barracks). One set of walls and tower up to the gates (the gates have been built as well).

We still have about 17 wall pieces and 3 towers left, then we can move to the inner wall.

Once that is complete, we will be Tier One!

This has actually proven to be a major fun project for us. From working on the Trader to sell goods, collecting gold, gathering resources...we really made an effort.

I can see how tough this is, and with just 3 of us, I think it is pretty impressive work.

I think the best part is it allows us to do something different than the norm of questing and killing, and it has been a blast.

Well, that is all for now. Our main goal at this point is to have our family team hit level 80 and hit Tier one on the city. After this we will make some decisions on what we want to do. As long as Funcom can't get content out, then it is hard to say where we will go.

No other MMO works for us, so we could all go our separate ways...hard to say.

For now, all we know is we are happy, and the family that plays together...stays together...eh?

Cheers

Age of Conan - Bizarre downtime for Oct. 7th

2009-10-06T09:49:00.003-04:00

Tomorrow, October 7th, Age of Conan will come down for maintenance. This in itself is not bizarre. What IS bizarre is first...we had maintenance last week. We have never had more than one maintenance in a month... except once.

Which leads me to #2. The usual times for maintenance is 2 hours. This one is scheduled for...SIX?

The last time we had SIX hours or more AND more than once in a month for maintenance...

We had MERGES!

Talk amongst yourselves.

Age of Conan - Economy?

2009-10-05T09:19:00.006-04:00

As we have been discussing, Age of Conan has of course (like other MMO's) seen a loss of players due to Aion's launch, Champions Online (not so much there, seeing how it keeps dropping on Xfire) and Fallen Earth (indie = niche = small pop.).

But, it seems a huge discussion is going on at the MMORPG.com community (probably the lowest denominator of posters you are likely to see except for a select few..)

I call them "The Kids are NOT alright" there.

Anyways, I have been having a Twitter discussion with Sevenwind, another regular player of AoC, as he has seen someone start a thread called "Another reason not to play...Age of Conan - Economy".

It seems the poster is using a tool called Yellow Gremlin to discuss how there not that many items for level 80's to purchase, and uses an example of the Cloth Wearer and notes a total of just...25 items in all.

As quoted

"Of level 80 items, there are 171 for sale. If you wanted to buy level 80 equipment for your character, this is what is available in the game at the moment:

Yoggite Ritual Club

Darkfate Mask

Crown of Torment

Robes of Torment

Belt of Torment

Fine Steelsilk hood, robe, sash, tunic, cap, wristbands (cloth player made)

Impskin Tunic

Illfated belt

boneblaze

voidseeker sash

wildfire sash

celeritous slippers

palemoon leggings

deathvigil tunic

shadowslick treads

blacknettle sash

bloodrill pants

nadiril sash

nadiril wristbands

25 things in total, including the player made cloth items. "

Basically he is saying whether it is Armor, weapons, rings, etc...there are a total of 25 items IN ALL for sale for level 80.

As I can see first, he took the "Steelsilk" items (which are each one piece) and made that ONE piece. He also lists NO rings, NO necklaces...etc.

Sevenwind asked me to see if this was possible. I decided to log into SET (server where he said his data is from) and see what the problem was (as you could see, this WOULD be a worrisome issue).

First off, I noted in Cloth armor alone, there was a total of 40 "unique" pieces (that means head, wrist, legs, chest...) etc pieces in all available. Quite a few crafted items were available also.

When looking at weapons I came up with 4 "unique" maces (while the above poster lists ONE).

I mean, really, what is the purpose of doing this in the first place? As one note, there are NO or virtually no Chest pieces that are available for sale at higher levels, as they are all strictly Bind on Pickup...so, any chest piece will already be worn by the player...who PICKED IT UP...not as a for sale item.

Second, a majority of players will actually wear level 78 or 79 pieces known as "Culture" armor which, if a person can afford them, as they go between 8 all the way up to 40 gold for one piece and they are CRAFTED and EPIC RARE, can actually wear those pieces until they get Tier one pieces.

The issue boils down to a person who is not a player trying to make a mountain out of a mole hill. His information is way off, and he is strictly trying to start an argument.

There is a REASON level 80 equipment is thin, as FIRST this is not WoW.. AoC is not such a gear oriented game, that all the player does is camp the AH and wait for their armor piece to appear. There are no tokens to get armor, and everything in Age of Conan must be EARNED.

Crafted pieces are just a bandaid until someone gets the drop they REALLY want.

And that is the SECOND item. Most pieces are NOT for sale, but instead are BoP and as such, everyone is out getting what they want...thus PLAYING the game, and not camping the Trader.

A final say on the market. The economy actually revolves around resources. THIS is what the poster at MMORPG.com should have noted. He cannot note it as for some reason when you search the rare resources on AoC.YG.COM...for some reason they do not appear.

An example, Tainted Alkahest, a needed potion to remove gems from crafted items to place new ones in...each sell for 1G 25S on a regular basis (this does not waver..)

AoC.YG shows ZERO of these on Set.

There is a full page of these when I search the Trader on Set in game.

Platinum, one of the more expensive crafting pieces needed to make the "Culture" armor I noted above? A full page in game at 1G or more.

AoC.YG? = ZERO LISTED.

Good thing this poster had a reliable source!

Next time, please poor argumentative MMORPG.com poster who has nothing better to do, get your facts from a true source, and not use a tool that has it's ups and downs (PS: More downs than ups...)

What are your thoughts on economies and MMO success? Pipe in...and btw...

Cheers

(Just an EDIT: Seems this DIIIMaster who started the hate thread at MMORPG.com is now stating he has been in contact with me, and he has not. Also of note, I was FORCED to create a new MMORPG account to set the record straight ...I am known as TempestNews there. I do not plan to keep it...but, when you have someone causing issues like that, hard not to pop in and say otherwise)

(EDIT TWO: Seems that I am a liar unless I have pictures of the Trader, as this is some VAST conspiracy...so, here are the pictures. Enjoy folks...)

GALLERY

Age of Conan - As we go into October...

2009-10-01T10:17:00.004-04:00

Age of Conan players are left with a bitter taste in their mouths.

With the announced layoffs, it seems that the forums have started to fill up at the community site for AoC with discussion of where Funcom is headed with Age of Conan.

Several posts really speak out for how everyone is feeling both in the community and in the game as well...

What makes you consider Unsubbing?

Sub decision coming

Oh AOC ... you disappoint me

Hurry up AoC!

This last thread speaks volumes.

What the issue boils down to is priorities of the Funcom staff.

Many surveys have gone out, and many times the forums fill up with the same concerns after this happens.

Not enough endgame and not enough PvP fixes.

The first issue is that the raids have been relatively the same (except for fixes to certain raids that already existed but were a buggy mess). As these raids grow stagnant, the team has been working on??...

Another 6 man dungeon.

If we look, most content has been new dungeons for small teams. It is getting old for many.

Guild Tools was another gripe that has been on the forefront of player concerns. We may not see any Guild changes (like the Renown system) until the end of the year.

Finally, PvP has done absolutely NOTHING since the new "Criminal" system went into place last year (around September actually)...except again for some "fixes".

Is Age of Conan just in maintenance mode? And how can they continue in that aspect with "The Secret World" being delayed?

Is the main push now for the free to play MMO that Funcom has been working on? As we can see, the Free to Play market is becoming lucrative for many companies (overseas and local to the US, like Dungeons & Dragons Online, which has seen a massive jump in the number of players since going free)..

Or is it that Age of Conan's issues continue to cause havoc for the team as they try and add new content? For example, the next patch is to include the Iron Tower which has been discussed for several months now (in the Tarantia Commons district which was added several months ago), yet the first iteration to hit Testlive is buggy beyond belief (with complaints of all bosses being bugged, issues with lighting and shading, etc...).

And for the Iron Tower, Funcom has put T3 raids in "dev" mode...meaning it will not show up for some time..

Vets are the main concern now, as with new games launched like Aion pulling scrips from EVERYONE who is a fantasy nut. Fallen Earth and Champions Online and their niche playing in those worlds...the vets who love the game are the ones Funcom should be concerned about pleasing.

Yet, all they will offer vets are rewards in the new vet program...which are things like horses and bags (which most vets have), Cassilda following you around and cheering you on like she does in the tutorial island (annoying) and BREAST ENLARGEMENT POTIONS...yea...everyone needs those.

So, with layoffs, this may not be a concern for Funcom, as moving to Canada allows them to take a huge tax break and really get motivated...but so far a lot of the team is not leaving Norway (as who wants to leave one of the top 5 best countries to live in?..I think it was #2 actually...lol - SOURCE)

So, really...where does this leave Funcom...and where does this leave Age of Conan?

Looks like scary times for AoC and those who love her, thanks to a company so many do not love...

Age of Conan - Middle Class Performance

2009-09-29T14:48:00.006-04:00

Welcome to my report on the Middle Class system. Obama would be proud to own this rig and play him some Age of Conan. Just don't ask for that health care plan and expect to have the system survive the OC'ing I did on this baby...

But, I digress.

This time around we are playing with the middle class system. An e8400 (OC'd to 3.2Ghz), an Nvidia GTX 260 (not OC'd), 4 gigs DDR3 1333FSB and good ole onboard sound. As we have seen about 600-700 bucks will net you this beauty.

Well, lets not wait around any longer, and lets get to the numbers shall we? First we always start with that lovely scene. You know the one. The one that makes you cry as you watch all of your frame quality be cut in more than half...

1360x76 All effects on - 20FPS

Interesting. Now, just a little commentary on this real quick. First off, I have been impressed with Nvidia's drivers as so many optimizations exists in their control panel, that we are not quite sure if this scene is actually being fully rendered. I mean, so much culling of back scene polygons are taking place. As well, we can note a "washed" out effect to these images compared to the ATI. When it comes to IQ, ATI definitely wins. But, Nvidia allows full 16x AA over this scene with not too much slow down. For the cost of this card, it is hard not to like those numbers.

1920x1080 All on - 18.1FPS

Not too much loss there. But still, noting how washed out some of the screens look. This seems odd. I tried adjusting gamma and contrast, colorization...but not with too much luck.

Also of note (which does not show up in the screenshots) is a strange "sparkle" to textures the further out they are. Like I stated earlier, looking like missing polygons being rendered...weird.

How about the Optimized settings? These are noted in my previous ATI 5870 article. We pull back on view, and remove grass, etc.

1920x1080 Optimized - 26FPS

Impressed that the GTX 260 can handle this spot and at such a high framerate. Depending on the card, some feature causes each card to bog a bit (water? snow? lighting?). As you will see in this comparison section.

Comparisons

1360 Nvidia - 34.5FPS

1360 ATI - 58.4FPS (23 frame increase)

1360 Nvidia - 36.5FPS

1360 ATI - 58.5FPS (over 21 FPS increase)

1360 Nvidia - 128.8FPS

1360 ATI - 217.3FPS (over 88 FPS INCREASE)

Something to keep in mind. Drivers for ATI are still beta and not optimized quite yet. I am also running 8x Supersample (16x regular on Nvidia), and this can give a hit in performance in some zones as well. But, there is no doubt that the Nvidia does quite well for it's price...but at a cost of visual quality and some performance quirks

At one point while in Atzels Zone, my frames dipped to about 18, and started to stutter, yet the ATI kept rolling at over 50+ FPS. I actually had to shut down the game and restart after this stutter incident, yet Atzels never seemed to recover in this one section (near the Fortress for those who know the zone).

This was an unexplained quirk to me, and I could not recover for the life of me.

So, it is hard to say what you should do. Save money or hold the cash. If you are on a limited budget, you may wish to go this route. Another option may be to get the computer equipment from the previous kit with the new Intel i5 series, and then get the GTX 260 to tide you over until prices come down on the ATI.

Another option is to start watching prices on the ATI 4890 which is not too much slower than the 5870 and get a good boost here. Prices should start to drop thanks to the 5870. (I will post some benchmarks for that card in this system at a later date).

Thats it for the Middle Class. Next up will be the lower class money saver for those on a "I have to eat ramen noodles to survive" budget.

Cheers

Age of Conan - Upcoming report - Nvidia

2009-09-29T12:27:00.002-04:00

Hey all...before I forget, I am finalizing my report on the next system in class performance for Age of Conan...an Nvidia GTX260, E8400 and 4 gigs DDR3.

Before I do that, here is how this price breakdown occurs on that system. I call it the "Middle Class" system. Affordable for those on decent incomes, but are not into the latest gadgets.

E8400 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115037&cm_re=e8400-_-19-115-037-_-Product
Asrock 1600 Twins - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157130&cm_re=asrock-_-13-157-130-_-Product
GTX 260 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814143140&cm_re=gtx_260-_-14-143-140-_-Product
GSkill 4Gigs DDR3 1333- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231180&cm_re=gskil_ddr3-_-20-231-180-_-Product
WD 640 gig HDD- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136319&cm_re=wd_aals-_-22-136-319-_-Product
Onboard sound

$566.00

I have not included the power supply, etc...so those are up to you. I suggest the previous power supply linked in my first system (Source).

You can get a smoother frame rate if you use the X-Fi sound card as well, but really not needed.

I will have more on the numbers soon...so keep an eye open.

Age of Conan - Funcom announces layoffs

2009-09-29T10:52:00.002-04:00

By way of Twitter and the Hudson grabbing all news as it immediately happens (Mad News Skillz!)...seems Funcom is rolling in a 20% reduction of staff.

This seems to affect Secret World the most, and discussion is that Age of Conan's expansion for Rise of the Godslayer is still on (but my bet is on "live" updates taking a fall...big time...especially when they need them most)

You can read Hudsons quickie post here (which links to Funcom)- SOURCE

I will have more to say on this later based on some conversations I have seen on the Testlive forums and the main forums as well.

Not cool with this, and I am truly saddened (wish I had another game that was worth a crap...)

Age of Conan - Insanity sets in

2009-09-29T09:19:00.003-04:00

Well, just a quick post. I will have more on an interview several developers at Funcom gave on the upcoming Iron Tower, Veteran rewards patch.

But, talk about insanity. The Simple Complexities guild (our small family guild) finally hit level 70 (our characters did anyways).

When we went to go about doing crafting for the level 70 quests...we hit a snag.

Seems most of the goods we need to craft must have a guild city in place with Tier 1 bldgs to start.

If we want 4 hour food, new armor, etc., then a Guild City must be created.

Talk about insanity. We decided to go after this goal. My main, Amatheon has become an Architect, and the wife and son, who are both now hitting the Trader and selling goods have begun the cash collection process so we can start building.

Talk about insanity...did I mention insanity?

I will update on this as we progress. But, I mean, we just helped the casual Thursday guild, Creeping Darkness, complete their city (check out that work here)...and now we plan to do it all over again.

Insanity! (But, oh so fun)

Cheers for now...off to the nut house!

Age of Conan - New survey circulating

2009-09-28T12:28:00.004-04:00

Age of Conan subscribers, make sure to check your emails.

Seems a survey is coming along asking questions of the players again. I understand their need to do this, but it really is not needed.

The questions are easy to answer...

Content and PvP should be your main concerns. The Sieges which are still borked, need to be fixed. All the little niggles and concerns (floating swords, shields through heads....basically QA) needs to be looked at.

If anything, you only have vets right now until the next expansion. This means make new ENDGAME content...NOW!

The questions in the survey seem to ask the same thing as before...

If you were a game developer for Age of Conan how would you prioritize the need for development in the following areas with 1 being a top priority and 5 meaning this area does not need immediate attention?

Class balance PVE
Class balance PVP
Combat mechanics
GUI
Tradeskills
Sieges
Character Customization
More items
Social activities
(emotes, pets, etc)
Events
Customer Support
Bug fixes
Griefers/Exploiters
New group dungeons
New Quests
More Levels
More Professions/Classes
New Raid Dungeons
New Siege Dungeons
More areas (non dungeons)
Travel modes/time
Graphics
Technical

Forget class balance. You have done it, and you need to stop that mess and get with the program. The classes may get as polished as can be, but you will not have an audience if the players are STILL doing the same things they did 6 or even 12 months ago.

The combat is what we love about this game, and the reason we are here...why mess with that?

Graphics...uh, some of the best in the industry, so please don't even tough them...

Ok...anyways, enough rant today. I do not plan to go to another MMO, but if content dries up for me, I will not be in AoC. Good thing I am still having fun...but, I am almost to the year mark...so, you may want to think about some major stuff to do.

Cheers

Age of Conan - Community Letter

2009-09-28T06:31:00.002-04:00

Craig Morrison's monthly letter on the latest news for Age of Conan is up.

This time he discusses Veteran Rewards and the Iron Tower instance...

"For this month’s letter I want to go into some details on the new veteran reward system that will go live with the next game update. The update is getting ready for the test server (at least when I am writing this, there is every chance the build will already be on the test servers as you read this!)"

Read more at the source

Age of Conan - ATI 5870 By the Numbers

2009-09-26T09:34:00.003-04:00

Ok, so more time has passed and I have had a chance to run some more numbers on this beautiful video card.

Not just that, I have also done some tweaking as well. So, lets not waste any time, and get right to the meat.

First off, yesterday I had a question and realized I did not include this. The screens are running the game at 1360x768. This resolution works best as I use a 42" 1080P LCD TV and play from the couch (and I use an Xbox 360 controller...stick around and let me know if you wish to learn how I do that...ps: Just ask).

This allows me to read the text (and until I find a way to increase text without breaking the UI, I will play at these settings).

Anyways, most people will not run at this resolution, so I made sure to get some 1920x1080 benchmarks as well. Basically, if you run the game at 1280x1024, those numbers I have already run will match what you would get (and actually you would get a frame or two more...or 10...hehe)

First, lets give you the infamous "OMG, there is smoke coming from my video card" location at 1920x1080.

I am hitting about 24+ frames here. Thats right. The loss is next to nil for this card, as it was meant to totally run high resolutions with a minimum of loss. So, even if I play at 1360 or 1920, I will get a smooth game.

Here is an example of two screens...one at 1360 and one at 1920 (after tweaks...and I will post those shortly).

1360x768 Tweaked (40.1FPS)

1920x1080 Tweaked (35.1FPS)

So, again, the loss is minimal (about 10%), and hardly noticeable. Now, these numbers may seem low, but it is because I am purposely choosing "long view" scenes.

The distance in this game is huge and causes massive slowdowns depending on what is in the view (the example here is water. Bogs down the vid card for sure)

I also have everything "cranked" for the card. This is at a full 8x AA, 16x AF, and Supersample AA is on. So, the image quality is incomparable vs the Nvidia and even the 4890 in the household. It truly is mind boggling. And I tell ya...these screenshots do not do it justice.

But, what about in standard situations? Lets look at this comparison.

Entry into the Slaughterhouse.

1360x768 Tweaked (217.3FPS)

1920x1080 Tweaked (162.9FPS)

These numbers are so high, it is hard to tell the difference (now seeing about a 20%+ loss). You will NOT feel any lag...that is for sure. So, playing at a high resolution will be just a minimal sting, and most likely at no cost to you visually.

As to the tweaks I have enabled, here are the images for those.

The tweaking involves these steps.

Hit the "HIGH button on page 1

Page 2. - Change shadows to High (Ultra is borked...but on the 5870 it seems to work ok...just not needed quality wise)

Push all sliders to the 50% mark for view distance, etc.

Disable grass (I actually hate the grass, as it is almost impossible to find the bags sometimes. So, I prefer it off...and it adds frames)

On this final screen not much has changed. As I kept fiddling, I learned I could keep most attributes turned on...and I enjoy the visual quality. Thanks to the 5870, I can keep all of these on..except Screen Space Ambient Occlusion Lighting. That setting is buggy at this time and causes a muddy shimmery effect on anything light colored (snow for example).

As you will learn, the other two systems, the Middle class and the Low class cannot keep some of these features on to keep performance..

Now, I will finish off with a few more "hotspots" in the game that causes hardware to buckle...I even got lucky and grabbed me some "Godrays" (a special setting in AoC for DX10 that allows special lighting with a hint of realism as it shines through trees, clouds, etc.). These are all at 1360 and tweaked.

1360 (58.4FPS)

This spot always bogs due to the fact it is the Trader, and the building is FULL of people.

1360 (58.5FPS)
Long view in Poitain. Always bogs due to the "open view" which causes strain.

1360 (59.3FPS)
As I was taking my shots, the sun peaked out, and gave me some Godrays (also a frame killer...yet notice how my frames went up...lol)

Now...how do these compare to my other equipment? Well, you will have to wait for those. But, I will say this. The numbers in each of these screens may seem low (where is that magical 60FPS?) and I could hit those with more tweaks. But, I want quality now, as I can have it with the 5870.

And when you see what the other hardware does...you will see why these numbers excite me.

That is all for now. Next up is the middle class system. I will also show you comparison shots with the 5870.

Cheers folks

Age of Conan - 5870 Preliminaries

2009-09-25T06:19:00.008-04:00

So, last night after trying to search down the Fedex office (hidden on a side road) after they decided NOT to honor my signature on file anymore, and took my package back to their offices...

I got the 5870 installed.

Hooray!

First off. It is a pretty big card. There are some screenies out there, and even a video showing just how big it is. Luckily the case I have can more than accommodate it. (The NZXT Hush series...padded for sound proofing as well...sweet case.)

I will let you find out all you need to know from the web about this beast of a card.

Suffice it to say, I have it with one goal in mind...Age of Conan frames.

Now, I got her installed, all excited about what this bad boy can do...then the first thing I notice after loading up, and leaving my settings as they were (Using 2x AA for example)...I had this happen...

Seems the lowest AA settings did not work. Now, of course, the drivers are pre-release, so this could explain the problem.

As well, any benchmarks will be suspect.

But, when I saw this...I got scared. Did I get a bad card? I decided to go ahead and play around and changed to 8x AA though, then all was good.

It seems that as part of ATI's new AA features, they have introduced a feature that Nvidia has had for a while..Super-Sample AA.

Now, lets not get too overloaded on jargon here, but let me say this...Super-Sample basically runs the card to supply AA multiple times to pixels to reduce shiny sparkles on edges when using AA (something Nvidia has to defeat...and believe me, sparkly textures can be just weird). And for those who do not know, AA just attempts to reduce jagged edges on objects in a game. Most normal players and gamers (my wife for example who nodded her head very nicely as I kept saying.."Look at the SMOKE from those chimneys")...well, they just don't get it.

Thats ok...this here stuff is for the geeks (and geekesses...all nice in their glasses and short skirts...WHA!! ...whew day dreaming...sorry).

ATI's goal with the new cards was to offer a "Maxxed" out experience for settings with minimal to no change in Framerates. Quality visual is key here while keeping performance.

So, how did that go? Lets get to the MEAT here.

Ready to see what this bad boy does?

First stop...Danger zone. Who remembers this from yesterday? 15.1 frames per second...OUCH.

Ok...now lets crank everything...all features on...and now what do we get?

26.6 FPS. We added over 11.5 FPS alone (and this is stock, with a few minor adjustments, UPWARDS even...using the super-sample)

So basically I can have ALL my features on (yes, even ones I have been turning off) and get some decent frames in one of the most harsh views in the game. (Still unimpressed that this area has such a low benchmark though)

I am close to the magic 30FPS here at least.

30FPS is really the bare minimum we wish to see in game, as this still allows a modicum of visual quality in movement and animation. Standard TV for example runs at 30FPS (not anymore thanks to HDTV...oh and before the super geeks come here and start quoting exacts...I know it is 27 something...but for arguments sake, we are sticking with the standard of 30 as is mostly quoted to be general.)

Now, I plan to do more testing and will be sharing the next two systems (the Medium and the Low End unit) and their specs along with performance. Then we will get into "tweaking"...but this is a good starting spot for those who are desperate for info.

So...a verdict. How do I feel so far about the ATI 5870? Well, this is kinda how I feel ...

Yes Virginia...that IS 259+ frames per second...

Age of Conan - System one!

2009-09-24T14:28:00.005-04:00

Well, it is a go. System one will be complete come tomorrow. So, I wanted to stop in real quick and set ya up for what it would cost to make this monster machine...

ATI 5870 1GB - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150443&cm_re=ati_5870-_-14-150-443-_-Product

MSI P55-GD65 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130239

I5-720 Intel Processor- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115215

Ripjaw 4GB DDR3 PC1600- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231277

650 Watt Power Supply- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817339024 (spend a few bucks more and get a name brand...but this one is working great for me)

WD 640GB 32mb cache- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136319&cm_re=western_digital_kls-_-22-136-319-_-Product (the fastest standard hard drive money can buy)

X-Fi - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16829102017&Tpk=sb%20x-fi (for those extra few frames and of course, better sound quality)

$1026.00 (averaged out...oh and fixed dollar amount. Missed stuff I already owned...lol)

(Add tower case and DVD for about $100 more...so worth it)

So, as you can see, to get the most bang for the buck with minimal to no cost...this is the way to go.

I have spent a $1000 bucks, and I am at the top of my game short of going for Dual Video cards.

Some people mention the need for an i7, but I felt the cost/performance ratio to loss really added up.

Now, once I get my video card installed, I will start pulling some numbers for this setup, and then we will start working on changes to settings, the .ini file and more..

Cheers

Age of Conan - This is a ..uh ..setup

2009-09-24T09:18:00.002-04:00

Ah ...who am I kidding. Titles like that above will get me shot for sure. (Setup / Stickup...get it?...haha...yea)

Anyways, today is the first part of my series on performance, hardware and bang for buck when playing Age of Conan.

Since it's release, AoC has become the game most likely to fry your computer system (and I still remember the forum posts from those who said it actually did...hehe).

The capabilities, especially in DX10 of Conan shows that it is trying to be on par with First Person Shooter's in graphic details. This does not always bode well for an MMO though.

When speed is everything, and staying logged in and not blue screening or crashing is the foremost thought on the players mind...we need to make sure that we have the PC guts to keep it together.

Luckily, since launch, changes have been made to the code, and it does run smoother. That is...until you find the "hardcore" spots.

No matter the power of your system, if you have certain features turned on...be prepared to lose over 3/4 of your frame rate.

Here she is

This will be my test spot as I try to find the right settings using the right components and then comparing price points to see what you can get for the cash.

BTW, zoom in on that pic. Yes...you would see that the FPS in the upper left is...15.1.

I will post other comparison spots later as this series continues to show how the framerates normally run.

As one example, I can hit over 120FPS in some spots, and usually hover between 60-80 on a good outing.

Now, to make sure we understand what my test motives will be, I first of all cranked everything for the above picture. That is the sweet spot. Then I will slowly turn off features and go through settings adjusting to see what works best.

The above picture was done on my new i5-750 system with a 4890 and 4 gigs of DDR3 1600.

Here are the settings I used in game.

Now, I will note, I will NOT be using DX9 for this report. AoC has next gen capabilities in the software, and I see no reason to step back.
Lets look to the future.
Age of Conan is the ONLY MMO on the market that is 100% DX10 compliant (note: uses all features...DDO does not, LOTRO does not...not even EvE). And yet, it is still in "test" mode (lol). But, all reports point to the fact that the DX10 implementation is fully realized, thus lets see how it makes our systems work.

Moving on, for the cards I am using (ATI and Nvidia) these are the settings used in the respective control panels.

So, we see both ATI and Nvidia each have specific settings which can enhance the game, or help the game be faster...and ATI even allows me total clock control (for OC'ing, which I will be doing in this series.)

Finally, today is the day...my new ATI 5870 will be arriving. This card is suppose to be a beast...but will it have any effect on Age of Conan? Only time will tell.

Tomorrow I will pull together my complete system listings and show you how much each cost.

Stay tuned as it will be [bump] mappy...(ARGH...end jokes /now)

Age of Conan - Performance and what it will cost ya

2009-09-23T17:28:00.006-04:00

Recently I have made several shifts in hardware on my PC for Age of Conan gaming.

Installed currently I have the following gear as my main PC...

i5-720 OC'd to 3.6GHz on air
ATI 4890 1GB model video card
4 GB DDR3-1600
Western Digital 32mb Cache 640GB 2 platter hard drives (2)
SB X-Fi PCI-Express sound card

As well, in the house I have...

E8400 OC'd to 3.2
Nvidia GTX 260 896mb
4 Gigs DDR3 1333

E7300 2.66Ghz
ATI 4870 512mb
4 Gigs DDR2 1066

So, a variety of systems.

As we all know, Age of Conan really runs like a dog at times, and at other times runs very well. My plan is to find out what sweet spots for settings work for each of these PC's. Several use different resolutions due to monitors (system 1 is on a 42" TV at 1360x768, 2nd system at 1650x1200 and 3rd at 1440x900), so I will also take that into account as well as drivers and more.

As a final note, released today, is the new ATI 5870 1GB card, and I have one on order. This may change the layout here a bit, so only time will tell in that respect...but, overall I wish to see how performance goes at various settings with that unit as well. Does the GPU make a difference?

The CPU does for sure...

(As a side note, here is a listing of how the various video cards are ranking with specs on the 5870 in comparison to other cards..and WOW it is nice..(Source)

I have found several "harsh" spots of the game that bring the framerates to their knees (and believe it or not...it is NOT in raids.) and I will be using those for my comparisons. Over the next few days I will post screens of FPS counters in game and what settings we are using here.

As a last bit of info, I want to also track how much these systems would cost for the regular player. I will be back with a post on how much these parts can be obtained for so that you can track if it is really worth it to purchase new parts and what you would need to be satisfied with AoC performance.

Hold tight as this will get interesting.

Aion - Really?

2009-09-23T06:14:00.004-04:00

As one twitterer proclaims "Aion is the best MMO EVAH", I cannot help but shake my head.

Bear with me, as I take a moment to discuss this game.

As we can probably see based on Xfire, box and digital sales and the god awful queue systems, Aion is a hit.

Period.

Why?

As I played the beta and saw what to me looked to be an un-cartoony WoW (ok...somewhat...I mean...what is up with those mobs in the starting zones?), I tried to find this most awesome game...

Polished? yep. Runs well when logged in? yep. Streamlined quest system and directions system? check. Great character models and ooo..wings? You got it.

Yet, here I was whacking away at mobs for almost a minute to kill just one. Get two or three on me, and I would start to suffer. As I went from one kill 10x quests to the next, I wanted to rip my hair out. As I ran down the path and other players ran right through me, I would cringe.

Why are people paying NCSoft for a game that just denotes that we as players do not want any change to the WoW systems.

Want unique gameplay? NOT HERE.

I think Tipa made a remark once that it is "familiarity" that is key to Aion's sales...and she is right. It is 100% familiar to me, and may be why I just do not want to be there.

All I have to say though is..."Thanks sheeples" as you have made it possible for NCSoft to now finish up Guild Wars 2 and really put some polish in. I can go back to Age of Conan and enjoy just a little more in regards to unique gameplay. And eventually we will see players go back to WoW...but for now, and the forseeable future, we do have another MMO hit....

It just happens to be the same as the old one.