AoC is not ready

[TurnX]

I think for starters there is no way AoC is going to be delayed. The game has already gone gold and short of the pressing plants exploding there is nothing to stop it from release on May 20th.

To the OPs concerns... I wouldn't say the game isn't ready for release, it will just have a ruff start. To put it into perspective, lets examine it compared to a game that truly was not ready to come out, Vanguard. Both games suffered from performance issues, however if you compare Vanguards performance issues to AoC, AoC looks polished as hell, but thats where the similarities end. Vanguard had a severe lack of content, even noticeable int he stater areas. AoC on the other hand has content coming out their ass, I recall at one point having to drop quests because things were turning grey before I could do them. Another thing about Vanguard was at this point in prior to it's release on whole starting area was missing, along with several other higher level zones. Again in comparison AoC, as far as I was able to see, has everything in place.

Realistically the game is ready to launch, it just has some issues. WoW had plenty of issues when it came out, so did EQ, EQII, etc, etc. I think with a month or so of patches and fine tuning the game will be up to snuff. Personally I still haven't decided if I am going to buy, performance aside I still am not sure about the combat system and the way instances are used in the zoned world, so I will be holding off at least for a week or 2. I say give it some time, let it breathe, then make a final judgment.

 

[skace]

Originally posted by: Genx87
WoW had a few bugs and the atrocious lag\queues for at least 1-2 months post launch.

The bugs were relatively minor and the lag/queues were server specific because people kept trying to pig pile into specific servers instead of going to low pop ones. They had low pop servers open during the first week of launch, I know because I moved from Archimonde to Sargeras.

 

[Modelworks]

I seriously doubt how competent funcom is.
The beta they released had basically no security features built in.
If you load the client in a debugger you will not only see every single line of game/server communication, but also comments to explain all the code.
They apparently don't realize the damage that people using hacks/cheats can have on a game, especially on a mmorpg.

I could see them accidentally releasing the client unencrypted, but to comment each line of code so there is really nothing to figure out, that is completely unacceptable.

 

[hooflung]

blah blah blah

The Closed Beta used a different build than the Open Beta until last weekend when they wanted to find out why the Open Beta was having a lot of problems with shader performance. Whatever Modelworks, I am sure there will be a hundreds of farmers out in PVP zones botting it up right? Maybe, until they get slaughtered over and over and over and over...

The Closed Beta client with the updated code not shared with either closed or open betas and put into the retail deployment will be ready to be shipped on DVD and then they have time for updates in between.

This game is about PVP. Biggest problem is balance of classes and not catering to the noobs. Graphics can be flawless depending on what client you had the opportunity to run.

 

[Modelworks]

Originally posted by: hooflung
blah blah blah

The Closed Beta used a different build than the Open Beta until last weekend when they wanted to find out why the Open Beta was having a lot of problems with shader performance. Whatever Modelworks, I am sure there will be a hundreds of farmers out in PVP zones botting it up right? Maybe, until they get slaughtered over and over and over and over...

Yeah, that is going to be fun playing against tons and tons of bots.

Its going to be an interesting thing to watch.
Learn some assembly and take a gander at what they leaked.
They gave the key to the city to those who want to use it.

Updated client ready to be shipped on dvd ?

The dvd went gold over a week ago.
Unless they can time travel, your not getting anything different than what you already have when you purchase the dvd.

 

[Fingolfin269]

Originally posted by: hooflung
This game is about PVP. Biggest problem is balance of classes and not catering to the noobs.

You can't have PVP without constantly balancing classes. People will always complain about class balance and just because they complain does not make them a noob. You realize there could actually be a class that is OP, right?

I'm just glad to see (from the limited up-time I actually had in the open beta) that it looks like AoC does have PvE content. The PvE in Shadowbane sucked. But at least you could get to the highest level very very quickly. After all, you can't call a game a PVP game if it takes just as long as every other PvE MMO to level up.

 

[skace]

Originally posted by: hooflung
blah blah blah

The Closed Beta used a different build than the Open Beta until last weekend when they wanted to find out why the Open Beta was having a lot of problems with shader performance. Whatever Modelworks, I am sure there will be a hundreds of farmers out in PVP zones botting it up right? Maybe, until they get slaughtered over and over and over and over...

The Closed Beta client with the updated code not shared with either closed or open betas and put into the retail deployment will be ready to be shipped on DVD and then they have time for updates in between.

This game is about PVP. Biggest problem is balance of classes and not catering to the noobs. Graphics can be flawless depending on what client you had the opportunity to run.

When MMO code is easily broken down, botters aren't going to be your concern. Programs like ShowEQ, speed hackers, and general cheaters will be your concern. And you won't be killing them, they will be killing you.

 

[ViviTheMage]

Before reading everyones post id like to say that Open and Closer are very different apparently.

Buddy of mine was in his 40s level, and the dungeons had no walls, and stuff was lacking. Also certain quests would spew out code instead of the quest name, words, etc.

I still cant wait to play it, open beta made me lovers it! PVP was pretty fun too.

 

[TurnX]

Originally posted by: skace
When MMO code is easily broken down, botters aren't going to be your concern. Programs like ShowEQ, speed hackers, and general cheaters will be your concern. And you won't be killing them, they will be killing you.

Actually there is already a version of speed hack available for the game, which I find kinda disheartening.

 

[JBT]

Originally posted by: KeithTalent

Originally posted by: Genx87
Has there been an MMORPG that was ready on day one?

LOTRO was like butter on day 1.

KT

agreed!

 

[stumben32]

Originally posted by: Fingolfin269

Originally posted by: Genx87
Has there been an MMORPG that was ready on day one?
I have been part of two launches (UO and WoW) and neither worked correctly out of the gate. It usually takes 3-6 months to get things ironed out. Which is why I am going to wait 3-6 months after Warhammer is released before joining. I did this with DAOC and loved nearly every second of the game for the 3 years I played. Though i did love UO, I would probably drop it if they launched today the way they launched in 98. WoW got stale within the first 2 months.

I have been involved in several mmo launches. As far as launch goes, WoW was as close to perfect as you will get. I was also there for Funcom's launch of AO. Let's just say I'll wait a week or two before deciding whether to buy this one or not. It's a hard line to walk because you don't want everyone to wait and see on these because then no one buys it when they realize the servers are empty. At the same time, I don't want to buy a game that I fear will suck for two weeks. Tricky...

OP, I heard they patched over the weekend and it made dramatic improvements but have not had a chance to hop on yet to see for myself. Are these experiences you're reporting pre or post patch?

My experience was before and after patch but it got worse after.

There was another patch yesterday but servers down for long time, I did not get to try it.

You know for every 2 people that say they have serious problems like I have, there is 1 person who claims it runs fine. Either people are not telling the truth or there are hardware compatibility issues or perhaps issues with certain zones. Many people in beta like myself have not been playing that long so they are stuck in Tortage ( level 1-20 ). This is where I see the MAJOR Problem at launch.

Everyones going to be Jammed in Tortage, the zone has major problems. Its going to be funky.

I have other issues with the game besides the performance problems.

The biggest reason I looked forward to AoC Was end-game Player built siegeable cities in PVP. Also I hope for a REAL death penalty so pvp is not just pvp but something Meaningful like in EVE ONLINE where when you pvp..your heart pounds because it really means something.

Instead this looks to be another Quake fest like Warcraft. Also the Player cities I think are going to be instanced. There will be player built structures that gather resources that are siegable.. this could still make end game PVP a new dynamic.. but there NEEDS to be a penalty for dying. IF they let you just pop back up with your gear and run back into battle...... ugh.

I suppose I shouldn't try to sound over-negative here. If I was not interested in this game or want it to be good...then I would not even bother posting about it. It might still kick @ss! I already pre-ordered.

I really do not know about the combat. Its a little different - not sure if it is just different enough to simply be annoying or different enough to make PVP a unique experience. Remains to be seen.

The Classes are on "OK" shape compared to other MMOs at lanch. Spellweaving is not in yet which is maybe the biggest issue. As I feared it seems the game is heavily catered to melees right now. Usually MMOS lanch the other way around.

Oh well - see you guys in AoC for better or worse.......or even worse....

 

[Sentrosi2121]

All these replies, and no fixes for the guy.

Dude, I was disconnecting on a minute by minute basis back on May 1st. Updated video drivers and then the game ran sort of smooth to me...more like 5 minutes between client resets.

Then, I dived into the Official forums after a week. Figured that there had to be fixes out there for the problems I had experienced. And sure enough, there was.

I've done the work for you, hope you have better luck with this guide up. Credits and shoutouts go to those who found these fixes and put them up on the AoC forums. Thank you for your tireless efforts!

Set affinity to one core (especially for AMD dual core processors)

Task Manager - Processes - right-click on the AoC exe, choose affinity and set to one. Should improve your performance by 50% if you´re having problems.

Note: Some AMD processors have an inherent timing problem which affects certain apps. It´s been noted that AoC Open Beta IS affected. If you´re experiencing around and below 10 FPS, YOU are affected and should tend to it.

Delete shader.cache files. (this one worked for me big time!)

Go to your AoC folder and delete all the shader.cache files, no other files. Should help from crashing and give a smoother. experience

Turn off Bloom

In your video options, turn off Bloom. Should give you 25% higher FPS.

Downscale to shader model 2.0

In your video options, turn it from 3.0 to 2.0. Will increase performance greatly and stop crashes.

Misc. reported fixes, unvalidated

Turn your Fog Distance first to 120m (unless 120 at default), click apply then set it to 100m and re-apply. Should give an FPS boost. (Reported by Saorsa)

Set your shadows to "Simple"/"From Character Only" or just turn them off. Will help eleviate "meshy" edges and smaller stalls in the client. (Thanks to Nymph for the reminder)

Assertion Error Fix: http://forums.ageofconan.com/showthread.php?t=80655 (Thanks to Colbert and the IGN users)[/quote]

First...old school:

Update video drivers...use the beta drivers out there if its Nvidia.
Update sound drivers....very important.
Defrag if it has been a while since last.
While running the game, disable Anti-virus/Anti-spyware or Internet security's.

Second...

A)If dual core...While game is started, Cntrl+Alt+Tab..go into Task Manager>Processess>AgeocConan.exe <right click it and then choose Set affinity..uncheck CPU1. Occasionally this will fix some crashing.
B)Try to make sure that the desktop AND the game are running the same resolution. This is a normal beta issue for all games.
C)If Vista, right click shortcut and choose Properties>Shortcut>Advanced>Run as administrator>OK>Apply>Ok.
D)If still not working, then dig into the Program Files/Funcom/...root directory and double click SimpleConfig.exe>Click Verify/Repair. Check off both options, which are 1)Verify Data Integrity, 2)Compact Resource Files. These might take a bit of time to do, however its a quick way to identify any issues.
E)NEXT....if it still ain't working....uninstall via Add/Remove programs(for XP) or Programs and Features(for Vista). Then reinstall and change the directory when it asks you where to put it..change it to Funcom1 instead of Funcom.
F)If for some reason none of this has helped, Find a decent sized hammer...and smash your toe with it. Any toe will do mind you. This will take your mind off of anything else.

 

[stumben32]

Update guys, there was a huge patch on the 7th which to my suprise and delight, fixed the serious issues I was having.

I do not know what they did, but the game just went from near unplayable to .... well I will say average performance. When it runs nice.. its very fluid.

Loading times are still bad but... not that bad. Lots of texture issues - I notice from area to area it differs I can typically fix the texture issues just by adjusting my overall video settings in the game ( Low-medium-High).

Now that I could actually play the game... combat is starting to grow on me a bit - still need to see how it shakes out.

So... I will withdraw some of the gloom and doom I originally posted. Lots to fix but....theres hope.

 

[Scrimmy]

I've actually been having a blast with it, and I think the PvP is going to end up being incredibly fun. Class balance is completely screwy at this low level (13 levels out of 80) so stealth classes are completely dominant because they have their stealth attacks for huge damage, but the other classes don't have any of their survivability feats, their heaviest armor, heals are still very weak, and no one has high enough perception skill to make a difference.

The game's been very stable for me the whole time, although it seems to be very finicky depending on minor hardware differences. The graphics are fantastic for the genre and the zones have excellent atmosphere. The classes are all really interesting, too; this is the most trouble I've had in a game settling on a class for a main, but I'm going for bear shaman.

Anyway, definitely feeling optimistic about it, and it seems like Funcom really did learn a lesson from the AO launch, which was definitely one of the worst. Shame, too, because the game had amazing potential that it finally reached way too late.

 

[stumben32]

Originally posted by: Scrimmy
I've actually been having a blast with it, and I think the PvP is going to end up being incredibly fun. Class balance is completely screwy at this low level (13 levels out of 80) so stealth classes are completely dominant because they have their stealth attacks for huge damage, but the other classes don't have any of their survivability feats, their heaviest armor, heals are still very weak, and no one has high enough perception skill to make a difference.

The game's been very stable for me the whole time, although it seems to be very finicky depending on minor hardware differences. The graphics are fantastic for the genre and the zones have excellent atmosphere. The classes are all really interesting, too; this is the most trouble I've had in a game settling on a class for a main, but I'm going for bear shaman.

Anyway, definitely feeling optimistic about it, and it seems like Funcom really did learn a lesson from the AO launch, which was definitely one of the worst. Shame, too, because the game had amazing potential that it finally reached way too late.

I hear you on deciding on a class. Very hard when there are so many levels and barely scratch the surface if you get to like level 20. So far I have tried Ranger, Hox, and Dark Templar. I like the DT the best so far. I WANT to like the Ranger but Ranged attacks with the Bow are a bit out of wack right now. The Ranger fights better in melee, but if I want to play melee, the DT blows the ranger out of the water....

 

[Scrimmy]

Originally posted by: stumben32

Originally posted by: Scrimmy
I've actually been having a blast with it, and I think the PvP is going to end up being incredibly fun. Class balance is completely screwy at this low level (13 levels out of 80) so stealth classes are completely dominant because they have their stealth attacks for huge damage, but the other classes don't have any of their survivability feats, their heaviest armor, heals are still very weak, and no one has high enough perception skill to make a difference.

The game's been very stable for me the whole time, although it seems to be very finicky depending on minor hardware differences. The graphics are fantastic for the genre and the zones have excellent atmosphere. The classes are all really interesting, too; this is the most trouble I've had in a game settling on a class for a main, but I'm going for bear shaman.

Anyway, definitely feeling optimistic about it, and it seems like Funcom really did learn a lesson from the AO launch, which was definitely one of the worst. Shame, too, because the game had amazing potential that it finally reached way too late.

I hear you on deciding on a class. Very hard when there are so many levels and barely scratch the surface if you get to like level 20. So far I have tried Ranger, Hox, and Dark Templar. I like the DT the best so far. I WANT to like the Ranger but Ranged attacks with the Bow are a bit out of wack right now. The Ranger fights better in melee, but if I want to play melee, the DT blows the ranger out of the water....

Yeah, my first alt is where things are going to get tricky. The necromancer is looking pretty freaking cool about now, especially after the latest feat changes (here, updated along with the other classes). A frost-nuking, pet-eating necro just seems like way too much fun. I'm more impressed after playing around with the new feat trees, also; there are way too many feats for the number of points to spend on them, so people are actually going to have make real choices about where to spend them. Obviously, not all the talents are going to be good, but there does seem to be a lot of diversity within the trees.

Dark Templars and Heralds of Xotli look like a whole lot of fun, too. Also, as someone who frequently plays a healer, I love the fact that there's no such thing as a healbot in the game; the heals are primarily HoTs with a single burst heal on a 30 second (lower with feats) cooldown, then supplemented by other stuff like damage/healing conversions for some classes or melee heal procs for the bear shaman. Fun stuff.

Definitely going to be a rough game for the alt junkies.

 

[hooflung]

The biggest reason I looked forward to AoC Was end-game Player built siegeable cities in PVP. Also I hope for a REAL death penalty so pvp is not just pvp but something Meaningful like in EVE ONLINE where when you pvp..your heart pounds because it really means something.

At first there are no huge death penalties except your ego but the DEVs have said if there is a lot of requests for a PVP looting server then they would add one. That means, player looting. That would be sick.

Instead this looks to be another Quake fest like Warcraft. Also the Player cities I think are going to be instanced. There will be player built structures that gather resources that are siegable.. this could still make end game PVP a new dynamic.. but there NEEDS to be a penalty for dying. IF they let you just pop back up with your gear and run back into battle...... ugh.

Player cities are instanced. Once you get to a certain level they become Battle Keep 'eligible.' Once they do that they can 'EMERGE' from its PVE instance into a world city. If your keep can grab up one of the Battle Keep spots on the server opening day/week/month/whatever then you will have a PVP driven city. If your server has no free BK slots then your BK eligible city will remain instanced for PVE until your guild assaults another Guilds Battle Keep.

The reasons to do so are PVE and PVE centric as I think BK's will help you control better resources and possibly give you easier access to Raid zones or something. Who knows on that. This is what I have gathered from multiple interviews with the devs.

IE... the safe carebearish people will probably never want a keep but to do the carebearish stuff it will require a lot more effort. They will have to use politics, infiltration and stealth to advance to do PVE in someones back yard.

 

[Scrimmy]

There's also a PvP exp penalty, as well. The basic system for PvP rewards looks similar to Realm Ranks from DAoC or the original PvP Rank system from WoW, in that it has particular ranks of progression. In this case, there are 20 PvP levels and you get special PvP Feat points based on those levels.

What keeps it from being a straight-out grind (like old-school WoW *shudders*) is that one death is worth quite a few kills. In Open Beta right now, the current kill ratio is one death costs you the exp you gain from six kills, so if you die a lot you'll never be able to get much above the first rank. Once you gain a level, you can't lose it, but you do need to maintain a good ratio

This will need to be tweaked and groups will need to be taken into account somehow, as well, since a raw death:kill ratio heavily favors stealth and survivability classes over cloth-wearers and healers. This can easily be tweaked, though, and I like the fact that death will have real consequence, especially for people who are just trying to grind up ranks. Getting to a higher level will definitely put a huge target on your back and make it just that much harder to get there.

 

[Malladine]

What's the official release date?

 

[Scrimmy]

Hah, I'm starting to feel like a real shill now.

Release date is May 20th, with people who pre-ordered getting early access on the 17th by downloading the game.

 

[Baltazar325]

I've also been having a blast with the game too and I'm very excited about the release. Most, if any tech problems that I've had were fixed with a few tweaks in the graphics settings and on my machine, which is a bit below the reccommended specs, I run at about 45-60 FPS in the zones away from Tortage and 35-40 in Tortage.

I'm also having a problem picking between HoX, Bear Shaman and DT.

 

[Sentrosi2121]

I am sooo in love with my Herald of Xolti! I can't wait to see what my character blooms into. Still learning the feats and such, but after the next big update (the one that takes all your 13th level characters up to 20th level and open PvPing) I'll be checking out the PvP aspects of HoX.

 

[Naeeldar]

I had no problem running the game

vista 64, e8400, 8800GT and 8gig of ram.

That said I just don't find the game play compelling enough to get into it. I am going to go back to WoW and get my warlock from 60 to 70 so I can play with a few rl friends. WoW hasn't captured me like EQ but I know AoC won't so at least I can play with friends.

 

[gizbug]

Originally posted by: stumben32

FYI some basic specs on my Rig:
Athalon x2 4400
2 Gig Ram
Nvidia 8800GT
Sounblaster Xfi Platnium
2x 160 GIG wester Digital HD ( 1 I just installeD JUST FOR AOC!!)

Taking a few things into consideration; This is not the same build as the live version supposedly. They have been doing massive stress tests and debuggers are running so its taking a significant performance hit.

But this game has some crippling issues right now. DO NOT I repeat do NOT go and waste your money on a new machine to play this game. If you meet the recommended specs just want and see if the issues get ironed out.

From what I can gather from talking to people and hunting on the forums, the biggest problem with the game right now is Texture loading and these damn shader files. The amount of files and size of this game is overwhelming. IT seems like it then in turn has to load so many gosh-darn textures that
1) it takes for ever

2) This is the crippler - there are severe issues with "corrupt" shader files. Basically what happens is your screen looks like your Vcard is overheating, and once it happens its like the game is hosed. Unplayable.

Last night I literally would freeze for 20 seconds every 2 steps. Meanwhile my HD grinds like a madman.

After I installed the game I was appalled at what it did to my HD. Being a freshly installed HD with almost nothing on it.... how could my files be so fragmented? I defragged of course....

Long story short.... I Fear This is going to be a disasterous launch and a rough few months. Anarchy online all over again. Most of us who are interested probably already pre-ordered though - they sucked us right in.

For those of you that pre-ordered...well.... I will see you in launch. I will need a bottle of scotch for that one!


P.S. One good thing... the graphics are very nice... when it works

How quickly you forget you are playing an OPEN BETA, aka a STRESS TEST, aka in DEBUG MODE. shrug

 

[Wreckem]

Originally posted by: Scouzer

Originally posted by: KeithTalent

Originally posted by: Genx87
Has there been an MMORPG that was ready on day one?

LOTRO was like butter on day 1.

KT

It had to be after Turbine launched an epic fail bomb with Asheron's Call 2

MS dictated to Turbine what the game was going to be, down to Turbine having to give them a concept drawing of grass.

AC2 was doomed because of MS, not Turbine.

Still. Turbine by far has the best engine for MMOGs. Vast mostly seamless worlds with very little instancing. I dont know why other developers havent licensed it from them. It would cut down on their development time and the engine is mature and well developed.