AoC dev blog discusses class tweaks and recruiting more advocates

by William Dobson Aug 3rd 2009 at 11:00AM

Filed under: Fantasy, Age of Conan, Classes, Events, real-world, Patches

Funcom's Glen "Famine" Swan has put another entry into his blog at MMORPG, discussing Age of Conan's upcoming guild features (which Craig Morrison elaborated on in his recent game director letter) as well as some class tweaks that the developers have been working on. Right now the dev team is looking at the Bear Shaman and Barbarian classes, with the Conqueror and Dark Templar up for possible changes after they're done with the first two. He doesn't spill the beans on exactly what might be happening with these classes but we're told to stay tuned for more information soon.

The rest of Famine's blog post relates to things outside of the game. It sounds like the Advocate Program has been going well, but Funcom would like to bring a few more advocates on board. Along with the existing class advocates, they might be recruiting advocates specifically for areas like roleplaying and player-versus-player, as was planned some time ago. Famine also gave a quick update on Funcom's plans for Dragon*Con in Atlanta this September. Among the activities will be a developer panel featuring Age of Conan's lead designer Joel Bylos.

Tags: advocate-program, advocates, age-of-conan, barbarian, bear-shaman, conqueror, craig-morrison, dark-templar, dragon-con, dragon-con-2009, dragoncon, famine, funcom, glen-swan

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Venekor said on 12:20PM 8-03-2009

I'm playing again and I'm having some fun but I have some problems.

- Combat system feels funny as it seems to take animation over function. I'm An Assassin and when attackign someone my character is moving around on screen when doing an attack and I don't feel in control, always feels like he's controlling himself. Also th combat system has this lag between actions on the keyboard till when you see it on the screen. WoW is very good because it's instant and feels right. I love the directional combat but I don't like the combo system because again WoW makes it feel so good because the skills are their own.

- I hate how small the zones are because I'm always zoning and loading into new areas. The gates of tortage where you click on it and it opens seamlessly is how I wish the transitions were. I also wish traveling over sea you have to get on the boat because just clicking on a guy breaks the immersion.

- It's too hard to find groups because everyones soloing and theres noa dvantage to grouping unless you're on a PVP server where still people don't group.

- I wish that on a PVE server I could have the SWG Pre CU overt/Covert system where you could choose to be open PVP or PVE only on the same server.

- The armour often looks the same and it's all ugly from the first 20 levels I've seen.

- My Assassin class feels very underpowered compared to the rest.

- I havn't come across crafting yet and thats a big thing for me and dunno if it's in there but if it's not then I wont carry on.

Neurasthenic said on 4:28PM 8-03-2009

Those are all valid gripes, some of them are just a matter of preference though. I actually enjoy the combat - it has its flaws but WoW feels a bit too mechanical for me. In AoC it's much more visceral. Sloppy at times but overall a lot of fun.

As for the zones, I have to agree on that one. My biggest complaint is that I wish the world had the same kind of continuity as WoW or LOTRO. But the game is pretty demanding technically so I can understand the need for distinct zones.

In my experience grouping hasn't been a problem - if I had to give you just one piece of advice, JOIN A GUILD. Last night I quested with a couple of guild mates in the Eiglophian Mountains and it was the most fun I've had online in months. And 99% of the time if I see a guy questing in the same area as me and it's a relatively difficult spot, they will gladly accept a group invite. The other factor is going to be what server you're playing on. Some just don't have as many people. I'm on Ironspine which is a relatively new server - so a lot of people are still leveling their main characters and aren't trying to rush through everything solo.

The gear is improving slowly. I think Funcom is aware of the complaints about boring gear or a lack of variety in appearance. But I have seen some really cool looking characters lately, and don't forget there's an expansion coming that's rumored to be Asian themed - so that should add some gear with an interesting new style compared to what's currently in the game.

Crafting is definitely in the game. I can't remember if you start gathering at level 30 or 40, but it seems like everyone in my guild does a lot of crafting.

Yikes, I didn't mean to end up writing a wall of text. Like I said though - my biggest piece of advice is to find a friendly guild and chances are they will help you out with whatever you need.

double9s said on 6:32PM 8-03-2009

Even though there is crafting, I'm not a fan of the delay either. I believe it's gathering at 20 and crafting at 40, and both should start at 1.

Gnova said on 12:51PM 8-03-2009

Loving this game and the changes they have made to it atm.

I personally think it is the best PvE MMO available atm, when you take into consideration graphics, zone design, quest design, combat, and itemisation. Other MMOs have them beat on one or two of these but overall none of them do.

spamero said on 4:41PM 8-03-2009

Seriously.. there were tons of posts and bug reports on Test Forums on varoious issues (bugged spells, feats, exploits and what not).

People took their time, cause they cared, and guess what?
Funcom fucked it and the bugs went straight to the live server.. so wtf bother?

Btw, how are siedges going in AoC.. ah right forgot 1 year later and it sill crushed every 15 minutes... gg failcom

Venekor said on 5:16PM 8-03-2009

Thanx for the reply and Yeh it's down to personal prefrence and I've paid for a month + 14 days so even though I wont be playing when thats up im gonna try and get my moneys worth.

I've completed every quest in Tortage and it was fun, though I wish I never joined a PVP server. I got sent to Tarantia which is boring as hell.

Is there any better places to level up with lots of quests like 1 - 20.

Venekor said on 5:18PM 8-03-2009

Also I hate that theres no day and night cycle.

double9s said on 6:27PM 8-03-2009

To be fair, there is a day/night cycle outside Tortage, but it's timed, it doesn't coincide with the server time like WoW does. What I mean is that a full cycle happens every N hours. Not sure how many, but you get the idea.

I've always liked the realtime (WoW) system best. It's just a little extra bit of immersion when the game world looks like the real world, in terms of time.