Age of Conan balancing act
August 6, 2009
I enjoy the heck out of this game. Age of Conan (AoC) has a lot to like…but also a lot to not like as well.
Balance has been a severe issue since launch. Each class handles some aspect like standard MMO’s, but are also unique as well. From Tanks (Conqueror, Guardian) to DPS (Demonologist, Ranger, Assasins), pet classes and healers…the game has it in spades. Also, into this mix, throw a less gear reliant game than most and a heal system that leaves a lot to be desired, yet proves to be one of the most challenging in any MMO…you have a good mix for an excellent game of skill and not a “look at your screen as global timers spin around and around” system.
I have seen a lot of discussion on the combat system in Age of Conan. Some love it, some hate it. Some think it is just some nutsy keypresses and no strategy whatsoever.
Most just don’t understand it.
Several times I see the statement “The interface seems unresponsive” or “My keypress did not do anything”
What I want to do is break down how melee combat specifically works and how to make it feel more alive, and thus alleviate the issues involved in knowing how the combat system works.
Mainly when we speak of the combat in Age of Conan, we are discussing the melee or hand to hand.
Spell casters need not apply to this conversation.
Combat in AoC is more of a “context” sensitive situation. It is NOT waiting for an “animation”, it is not the UI being delayed. It actually waits for course corrections due to the speed of firing the skill. It also allows movement, etc. Finally it calculates damage on the strikes as they happen.
You love your MMO, but hate mine?
July 14, 2009
These past few days have been a whirlwind in my MMO of choice. It was a conscious choice when I decided to play this MMO and I truly believe that this MMO is the one that all people should love. The company thinks so as well, thus they wish others to return to their MMO and try it out for a free trial period.
So what happens when those other players return who have not played the game in a while due to some reason?
They do not like it much at all.
Hate may be a strong word, but it truly seems to be the feeling when mentioning this MMO in certain public spaces.
So many issues are bandied about. This certain issue happens to the player when they log in. While playing this part of the game, this certain issue happens.
The list goes on.
Yet, I do not see those issues.
These other MMO players say they enjoy another particular MMO instead due to how it does what they want while this game I play does not.
Wait, I played that MMO, and I think it was the ultimate in wastology, the bottom of the low, the worst of the worst. I have this issue happen when I do this in the game. Or lets say I try this, and “this” does not work. If and when I do that “thing I do” the MMO does not like that “thing I do”…get my drift? (note the many ” ” marks…please feel free to fill those in with your particular problem with an MMO)
So, here sits my dilemma. Why would such a thing happen. Should we not love all these games in their particular genre for what they are?
For example, you can have a split camp on shooters like Halo vs Call of Duty. Yet, these players can enjoy that particular shooter without too much of the hate I see rampant in the MMO circle. RTS’s? None of this “Hey my Starcraft can kick your Command and Conquers butt”.
So, what could cause this in the MMO genre?
The difference is PEOPLE…oooo…yea…PEOPLE!
People inhabit the world of the MMO, thus a particular piece of being able to play the game is people. “People” is a component or “mechanic” if you will, of gameplay in an MMO. “People” is just one piece of “code” in the MMO game itself.
And guess what?
That particular component is still buggy!
It does not always work right. “People” for example does not always work as intended. “People” can sometimes misfire in action. “People” can sometimes miscalculate, and use a skill incorrectly. “People” can sometimes cause lag in a particular zone. “People” even has a problem at times communicating with the server. If “People” gets too fragged, then it can spew messages onto your screen, say in your global chat, and be illegible, or even downright …bad.
“People”s worst problem comes from the fact that it is an old component. See, all developers are using this component that came from another game, where we have seen that component not work correctly. That component exhibited the same issues within that older game that it has brought to the new game.
The “People” component of gameplay is truly flawed, and will always have that old code within it’s genes, thus when the developer attempts to use that component, it will always have problems. All the developer can do is try to reprogram that code and hope it works within the new framework. I believe actually, the “People” component is somewhat sentient, and can make a choice for itself. It can stop entering the code of the new game. As a matter of fact, the “People” component should be used in other games for a while. That “People” component needs to be put into a shooter, RTS or action title for a while, so that it loses some of it’s issues when co-mingling with other “People” component code. This clears the code, and makes it fresh. Thus when it is put back into a previous MMO it has not worked well with, it seems to be clear of any extraneous data that can cause the code to be buggy.
I know, as I worked on that “People” code myself. I took that code out of it’s current working environment, put it into another piece of gaming. For 6 months the code seemed to take it upon itself to re-code, reprogram, and start fresh. When that new updated code entered into it’s MMO of choice…what was once bad, became good…nay, even better. The code had made the MMO even better than it could have ever been before its upgrade.
I think I see some “People” code right now that needs a new sector, as the hard drive it is on is pretty bad. I think if it could be defragged, pulled off the sector, and placed into another sector for a while, it could repair itself.
Thus in these immortal words of another bit of code (slightly changed to match what I have to say) I will leave you with this simple thought.
“Would you like to play a [NEW] game”?
Where does Innovation end and Stagnation begin.
July 8, 2009
First off, a quick hello.
I am Openedge1 of Dichotomy of the Gamers Blogosphere. I am currently an Age of Conan blogger, and have been focused on that game for a while now. Luckily I was invited to Angry Rant to allow me to discuss some of my other “meanderings” as it were about the MMO industry, or various other games in the genre.
I use to be pretty open about talking about all of these subjects on my blog, but I recently have become focused on one subject, so it is good to be here and have a place where some of the other stuff swirling around in my head can come out.
So here goes. This post is specifically on the Aion beta that took place last week. Over the July 4th (in the US) holiday weekend, I was invited (ok, jumped onto Fileplanet REAL quick and got myself invited) to Aion.
I have been watching Aion for a while for several reasons. Most notable is NCSoft, a company of who I have enjoyed games of. I am a huge Guild Wars nut (even though it was developed by another company). I have played Lineage 2, Tabula Rasa (not as bad as people made it out to be)..so this was at least on my radar thanks to the company. Another reason is the visual quality. And of course the flying. Having played another title with flight (Perfect World, mind you its ONLY good quality is flight, and some visuals), I wanted a good game with this ability.
There is no doubt that Aion is probably the slickest game I have played from visual quality, UI, stability, and overall busy-ness to the game right off the bat. A player does not feel lost while playing, and can easily pick it up…
Especially if they have played WoW or Lineage 2.
Why? Because it does not “innovate” on the original Quest, Kill, Level mechanics.
Adding flying also does not an innovation make.
But, does that make it a bad game? No, not at all. But, some issues will apply when you do finally sit down to play..
Boredom creep and the eventuality of “Been there, done that”.
Why is it that most titles that have come out of late have not been able to stray from this path of becoming WoW-ified? Last year we had Age of Conan, Warhammer Online which though both offered more of the PvP and their own innovations so to say…did not make total changes to the formula.
Quest, kill, level up.
Luckily both WAR and AoC made some structural changes to their titles so these mechanics seemed fresher (from Conan’s cutscenes for questing and multiple objectives in single stories to the Open World PvP scenarios of WAR). But, Aion? ….well, from the gathering mechanic (wow like) to the constant kill quests (wow like) combat shards (lineage 2) repeatable quests system (lineage 2), the only unique feature IS the flying.
So, maybe my post should really read…has Innovation ended and Stagnation begun? If 2009 is an indicator, I am unsure. Champions Online has already been noted to have the same Quest, Kill, Level mechanic, and several games have been pushed back to 2010.
For now, I try to break up my gaming habits now so I do not feel this “stagnation”. Not only is Conan played in my house, but I put time into my Xbox, and some single player games as well.
I guess I will offer that others do the same before this genre implodes due to tedium and ennui.
