I am feeling melancholy today as I almost reach a pinnacle for only the second time in MMO gaming...reaching max level in any MMO.
The only other game to keep me long enough to feel any type of completion was Guild Wars. But, this game proved that level 20 was never the end, with the multitude of story and missions. PvP was plentiful, and to actually have a reason to go on, even when you reached max, to have your own Cutscene ending...was just a marvel in this genre.
Some argue Guild Wars is NOT an MMO, and I still beg to differ. And if it is not? Then more MMO's should be like Guild Wars.
So many of these games in this genre have proven to be tedious and mind numbingly boring once you reach a certain level. With constant grind, same ole, same ole quests, boring combat, and more.
Do not get me started on crafting for example.
GW took away all of this.
I thought after playing WoW, EQ2, Tabula Rasa, DDO, LOTRO, Lineage 2, Silkroad, etc, etc...that I could never find that magic again.
Then, Age of Conan appeared.
I felt it. I had a story. The combat was fast and furious. The massive mobs attacking you, and you always feeling victorious (or lost and dead, even though you took another crack at it, as you learned how to handle it). This game was it.
But, the bugs at launch, and a team of developers who seemed to not care. Little content at higher level. It was horrible.
I left after 3 months.
The game was taken over though, and changes were made, and I returned. It was good. And then I saw it. I could actually do this. A long term MMO like AoC could keep me til the bitter end. I was actually getting to max level!!
And it may be bitter. As I see some issues with how content for endgame is being handled, and there are concerns of course that thanks to the game not having a large population (even though I could be fooled into thinking this, as when I look around, it seems busy, but the numbers say it is failing...), and a massive patch that some are calling an NGE (Star Wars fans lament us and our games pitiful developers), it could be over.
But, thanks to Age of Conan, I can experience some things I have not done before (Raids, Engame PvP, SIEGES!!), I think I will be here until I know for sure if this is what I want or not.
I am now halfway through level 78 thanks to another DMC grind group (fun as hell!!) and this mornings raid. I may not even have to wait much longer until that 80 DINGS!
Let us just hope that this does not mean "Game Over, man!" (shout out to the Hudson!)
3 comments:
"Hicks sir. HE'S Hudson.."
First.. early congrats! I played AOC myself shortly after launch, but only until about level 40 or so. I do find myself missing it from time to time.
I'm curious about the circumstances on your trip to the end-game.
1.) Did you play on a PvP server, and if so, is the random in-world PvP a large part of your game/experience?
2.) Are you part of a large guild or regular play group, or have you mostly gone it solo and/or with pugs?
Cheers!
Dlangar
Haha....Who is Hudson?...lol
A lot of people were burned by that launch, but I knew the game had something unique and did not want to give up on it. It is a 100% totally different game now..
Anyways, onto your questions.
1. I avoided a PvP server, as I wanted to play the content without the hassles. I do have a character on the PvP server, and may go back to it...but, I prefer my PvP when I WANT to PvP.
I still think Funcom made a mistake of focusing on PvP, as their PvE really shines.
2. I am part of the Fellowship of Souls, which is a casual guild, but with a huge base of players...try 800+ right now. (lol) on the SET server.
Basically the guild is for players who want a place to become interactive in other things than pure raid, but also offers a raid core group as well.
My playtime over the last several months though has became a morning ritual (before work), where not many players were on, so I did a lot of solo, with PuG.
But, I also mixed in grouping with guildies along with that for dungeons, and what not.
I am an all around kind of player.
But, first and foremost, my family and work life takes a big chunk of time that I cannot do long hauls in game.
This is why the raids interest me in AoC also, as several have centralized locations without going through a massive amount of dungeons and trash mobs to fight.
It is my understanding that a lot of the raids can be done in 20-40 minutes depending on flow.
Dungeons are of the longer playstyles ..usually 1-2 hours.
Anyways, that is it in a nutshell. That is why this is a different experience now.
For example, when I played GW, my wife played, and the kid was quite young, went to bed early, so we could play for hours in the evening.
Can't do that anymore.
Luckily I have added a new laptop to the household, and this lets the wife do her mini games online now, and she is a Facebook fanatic, so I have been able to do a bit more.
Wish me luck, so I can then dump a bunch of stories out there about how this game is doing! I think it deserves more attention for what it does right than the hate mongers should be allowed to give in their negativity.
Cheers
You can do it, dude :)
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