f13.net

a more retarded prospect than the idea of having no pvp at all

Players will begin Age of Conan as level one galley slaves without a specific class. At level five players will get an "archetype" based on the way they're playing. As they continue to go through the single-player portion of the game, they'll specialize more and more. Once they've reached level 20 and have finished the single-player part of the game, they'll get a prestige class as well as the choice of specialization classes including crafter. Crafters can create weapons, armor, potions, siege weapons, houses/walls, PvP specialist equipment, or weapon and armor enhancements.

Crafting will have a separate 20-level tier system and five levels of item quality. While everyone can craft, the highest quality items will be reserved for guild crafters with a town. Interestingly, players don't get experience for creating items. Instead, each level is achieved by going on a quest. "We didn't want players to have to grind crafting," Godager said. "Everything the player builds should be for sale or to support a guild, town, or battlekeep."

This is Conan? They've managed to make a mythos about a single kickass barbarian into a compelling online game?

Funcom wants more PvE players (who greatly outnumber PvP players) to at least try the other side of the game.

I stopped reading at this point.


From here https://www.wow-europe.com/en/serverstatus/

Sorry for no graph.

WoW Europe has

67 PVE servers 4 showing high population & 6 showing low
107 PVP servers 34 showing high population & 12 showing low

That's a pretty fucking stupid reason to stop reading an article you were apparently interested in enough to click on in the first place.

For future reference what is a good reason to stop reading an article I was interested enough to click on?

Even if there are more PVPers, the whole point of his statement was just that he wanted to get more PVEers to at least try a little PVP.

There are more folks who will pick Pure PvE over pure PvP out there.  WoW's PvP is a nice hybrid that you lose nothing in, and it's initial fanbase is already predisposed towards PvP from WC3/ SC/ Diablo.  If all games took the same tack dowards their PvP, you could probably release with the majority of servers being PvP and a few being PvE and not get much grief from your playerbase.

Myself, I won't bother with PvP servers in a level-based game anymore.  The one attempt we made on the PvP-RP server told me that, yes, I in fact hate "open" level-based PvP that uses PvE as its measuring stick.  It wastes my time and my money having to dick around with other folks I have 0 chance of killing (and yes, a Level 30 has 0 chance of killing 2 level 50s unlike in SB.) corpse camping me.  I know that's a personal preference thing, though, and I'm not about to make a mass-market call on it.

That shit still happens -- I had some Hordie (Stone Guard versus my Knight) chain some mobs on me when I was soloing in the Plaguelands. Since it was a PvE server, and I wasn't flagged, it was all he could do to grief me. I think he was pissed that I beat him to a mithril deposit. *shrug*. In a PvP server he would have ganked me -- and had he kept it up, I'd have probably reported him (that's harassment on a PvE server). But once or twice? Eh, just someone being a dick.

I won't play on PvP servers, however, because being a dick requires less effort -- so more people do it, which means I get to experience how much of a dick people can be on a much more frequent basis. I've tried it, it bores me to tears.

WoW's success lies in realizing most players want their PvP and PvE to be fairly segregated (sometimes they want to quest, sometimes they want to PvP) and even their PvP servers have mechanisms to make this workable. In the end, it just means players have a greater variety of choice on when and how they PvP.

Carebear.

Myself, I won't bother with PvP servers in a level-based game anymore.  The one attempt we made on the PvP-RP server told me that, yes, I in fact hate "open" level-based PvP that uses PvE as its measuring stick.  It wastes my time and my money having to dick around with other folks I have 0 chance of killing (and yes, a Level 30 has 0 chance of killing 2 level 50s unlike in SB.) corpse camping me.  I know that's a personal preference thing, though, and I'm not about to make a mass-market call on it.

It's nice that you are giving ground and all but we weren't having a debate about anything, this is just the first post with you actually on topic.

The key to remember is that Anarchy Online had a lot of good ideas going for it at the time of it's release, but reformatting your hard-drive was not one of them.  That's what I will remember while I watch Conan's developement.

Rather than sword battles and duels to the death, players will instead swig mugs of ale and smack each other over the head with cups and broken table legs.

There will even be separate equipment tables for PvP and PvE weapons and armor.

The second element in the game will be traditional battleground-style environments where players try to achieve particular goals against an equally matched opposing team.

"We're actually going to have separate PvP and PvE servers, although our initial plan was not to have special rule sets." According to Godager, the decision was the result of intense lobbying by players, not a result of their game design.

It's important, but they believe that if their third tier of gameplay comes off the way they plan, it won't be used all that much. "There will always be a few players who try to make others miserable," Godager says, "but so much of the griefing that goes on in MMOs is the result of bored players with nothing else to do. If you give them a way to channel their gameplay, the problems get reduced."

More than that, though, player towns will also attract enemies. Monsters will begin hiving near player towns, creating a mirror town that will gradually be added to over time. Once the monster town grows large enough (after three or four weeks), it will start launching raids on player towns.

"We didn't want players to have to grind crafting," Godager said. "Everything the player builds should be for sale or to support a guild, town, or battlekeep."

Doesn't this pretty much encourage grief PK by ensuring that anyone out doing PvE will not be equipped for PvP?

Don't take this literally because it won't make sense.

But

WoW PVP doesn't really count as PVP.

So stuff popularized by WoW is already "traditional" huh?

I'm not giving any ground.  I still think you just as fucking stupid as I did earlier.

You took it literally. You do know what I mean though, so I'm not going to AW you.

I wouldn't say it was popularized by WoW really.  The example he gave was capture the flag, which is something you can do in several FPS games and some strategy games like Myth.  WoW did popularize putting goal-based battle grounds into MMO's I don't that that's what he was referring to when he said "traditional".

You've got it for the most part.

Think of mass multiplayer games as stuff you'd do during recess in the 3rd grade. Would you like someone to invent something like football, dodgeball, baseball, or basketball? Would you rather see a new variation of red rover?

Look at the quote.  Traditional "battleground-style" environments.  That was totally a WoW reference.

I know a few guys who are gonna want to play this, and they'll want to play it on a PvP server.  I'll go with them, but I'm gonna be cranky if I have to lose items.

I thought you were a UO fanboi.

...While only guilded players will be able to contribute to the construction and maintenance of a town...

More than that, though, player towns will also attract enemies. Monsters will begin hiving near player towns, creating a mirror town that will gradually be added to over time. Once the monster town grows large enough (after three or four weeks), it will start launching raids on player towns.

Look at the quote.  Traditional "battleground-style" environments.  That was totally a WoW reference.

Also, I smell the beginnings of 30-page uberthread greatness.  The SWG and UO threads are gone, let's get this one going.  :-D

blah blah
If you guys say so.

Approximately how many nanoseconds after release will it take for someone to create a "galley slave" with dark-toned skin to do a little offensive RPing?  I'd bet anything that name gets changed.

I for one think that is awesome - that is what I mean by really embracing the license and letting in be empowering rather than limiting.

I for one think that is awesome - that is what I mean by really embracing the license and letting in be empowering rather than limiting. In Conan stories most of the women are harlots of some sort. It's an adult world. People get dismembered, eaten by giant slime creatures, torn about by flying demons, screwed then left hung out to dry.

(Insert flashbacks to FF XI's male leather.)

Funny thing is Conan artwork is what cemented the 'chainmail bikini' style in my mind.

Yeah, because when the author writes about a self-contained short-term PVP environment in an MMO and describes it as a "battleground" it has absolutely nothing to do with the fact that the most popular MMO in history has been marketing this exact same mechanic under the label "battlegrounds" for like a year and a half now.  It's sheerest coincidence that they used that precise word, and that they used it to describe precisely the same game mechanic.

/shrug

If you guys say so.

He is, but he's one of those rare, near-mythical players that *liked* Trammel.

Gameplay Preview #7 Prestige Classes and Guilds

- Apr 28, 2006
This week we take a deeper look at the Prestige class and guild systems in Age of Conan

First up a word from Game Director Gaute Godager on the subject of guilds and the Prestige classes on all the interest shown amongst the community.

"I thought I would write a section for you about the balance between guild- and solo play. This has generated a lot of heated debate on the forums, which is something we really do appreciate, honestly, and it does inspire us to make sure we get this balance right.

The core of the question is: can we give any advantage to social gameplay without affecting negatively some peoples’ perception of solo gameplay? I guess that is impossible. The problem is, I want to reward people for being social, without alienating the true image of Conan as a truly solo friendly game. I have thus decided on making a compromise for the social classes, the Prestige Classes as we call them. The compromise is to let all abilities be available for your social class, but simply in a somewhat weaker form. You are barred from nothing, but you can not reach your full potential.

Now then, the remaining question is: how much more powerful will the abilities be in a Guild? Is it 5%, 10% or 50%. To be honest, I don’t know yet. This is something we will find out during beta. There will be a difference though. Now on to the important parts..."

Guilds will be a very important part of Age of Conan and the Prestige class system allows players to provide benefits and improvements to their guild in a way not seen before in an MMO. This system allows players to be truly engaged in the well-being and strength of their guild like never before. Everyone will have a true interest in helping support and grow their guilds whilst also getting personal benefits along the way!

There are four prestige classes that players can choose from: Lord, Commander, Crafter or Master. Each brings something very different to the guild and players will have a real choice to make in terms of how they want to benefit their guild.

In this update we mention the four types of resources. Everyone can extract the four types: Gold Nuggets, Iron Ore, Wood and Stone. They are used for building houses in the Guild Villages, in the building of Battle Keeps in the Massive PvP areas and finally for Crafting. If you are guilded you get resource extraction bonuses which goes to a guild repository, and which can be used by everyone. If you are not in a guild, you must gather all your own resources.

Lord
The Lord offers guild management bonuses and extras. In general, they provide a discount and savings in how much it costs a guild to build and maintain a city. In turn, this reduces the overhead associated with player cities and improves the efficiency of the the guild’s resource collecting.

    * Has exclusive placement rights in regard to the main Keep.
    * Can build Guard Towers that automatically defend against enemy attacks.
    * Each Lord in a guild increases the resource extraction of gold nuggets for all guild members – up to a max of 30 Lords.
    * Each Lord in a guild increases the experience point bonus for all guild members – up to a max of 20 Lords.
    * Has access to the Architect and Alchemy crafting skills.


Commander
The Commander is the military brain of the guild. In practical terms, their usefulness is that they allow larger team sizes (up to ten people from the standard six) as well as improved formation bonuses and morale abilities on the battlefield.

    * Adds one additional maximum member to a team, up to a total of 10 (with 4 commanders).
    * Can build Barracks for the Village or Keep that will spawn soldiers to protect the village on attack.
    * Each Commander in a guild increases the resource extraction of iron ore for all guild members – up to a max of 30 Commanders.
    * Can draw up special “Tactical Plans” to enable Commander only formations. Massive battle formations, such as large mounted formations or the special Raid Attack resistant formations, are available only to the Commander.
    * Has access to the Weaponsmith crafting skill.

Crafter
Crafters are those making essential items and equipment needed for the guild to succeed in extended battles and harsh conditions. Supplying everything from siege engines to weapons, the Ccrafter will be the person keeping their friends and customers supplied with goods.

Crafting has its own tiered progression system with 20 ‘levels’ but it is not experience based. Each level will be attained through a quest. Items also come in five tiers of quality, with the highest tiers reserved for crafters with strong and resourceful guilds.

Players will be able craft outside of a guild, although they will restricted from the higher-level tiers unless they have access to their own guild crafting facilities.

    * Can build crafting premises, smithies, and other tradeskill facilities in the guild villages.
    * Each Crafter in a guild increases the resource extraction of wood for all guild members – up to a max of 30 of Crafters.
    * Has access to all forms of crafting.


Master
The Master receives a loyal follower who stands by their side and helps them. Whilst the their follower can fight, that is not their specialty and shouldn’t be relied on when the going gets tough. The follower’s true role is in the domain of collecting resources, as they can be set to collect resources for the guild when their master is offline.

    * Can have one “follower”. Being in a guild gives you access to more powerful followers.
    * Can build Stables which upgrade the quality of mounts.
    * Each Master in a guild will increase the resource extraction of stone for all guild members – up to a max of 30 Masters.
    * Has access to the Armorsmith crafting skill.


Each prestige class that exists in a guild will give benefits to the guild (on a 'per account' basis to prevent players bolstering their ranks with 'alt' characters—you may have alt characters, however only the prestige class of the first to join will benefit your guild.)

Players will be able to choose a prestige class outside of a guild, although they may not get the full benefits or have access to the best skills and abilities of their chosen path unless they are a member of a guild

This is an overview of the Crafting skills available in Conan:

Weaponsmith
As the name implies, a weaponsmith specializes in making various forms of weaponry for arming those he plans to support in battle. Using techniques passed down for generations, a smith trained in these arts can produce some of the most deadly weapons in Hyboria. In addition to creating arms, this smith may also supply various other forms of weapon enhancement materials, such as whetstones and polishes.

Armorsmith
Similar to the weaponsmith, the armorsmith focuses on crafting various pieces of protective gear in addition to ways to enhance said equipment. Having many avenues available to them in terms of advancement, the armorsmith may choose to provide a very wide variety of armor styles, ranging from leather to full plate.

Gemcutter
Taking advantage of the skills of the armor and weapon smiths, the gemcutter specializes in honing and crafting gems to decorate and enhance equipment. While some gems only have minor effects, others found in crypts or carried by those practicing darker arts may carry strange powers which can be harnessed by the gemcutter’s craft. As the gemcutter is familiar with working with a fresh set of armor or weaponry, they can also provide some more straightforward modifications such as counterweights or other reinforcement.

Alchemist
Trained in various pharmaceutical and metallurgical arts, the Alchemist specializes in creating various compounds with strange and seemingly unnatural effects. Utilizing both common and rare ingredients found around Hyboria, those trained in this art may provide many useful consumables to their allies for use both in and out of battle.

Architect
Concerned more with the “big picture” than simply making equipment or potions, the architect is set on designing the more impressive buildings and siege engines used to wage war in the Border Kingdoms and beyond. Carrying a great burden of responsibility to those he allies himself with, architects facilitate the design of cities as well as devices designed to protect his allies’ assets or destroy his enemy’s.

If you're talking Frazetta, then you might be confusing "chainmail bikini" with "completely butt naked" (save for the occassional pantie bottom or armband here and there).

He has my interest, but not my faith.

ATTENTION F13.  In order to save myself a shitload of typing everytime someone trolls/derails a thread with this topic, I have taken the trouble to snap a couple screenshots and slap together an image I can use instead.

*snipped pic*

If you're talking Frazetta, then you might be confusing "chainmail bikini" with "completely butt naked" (save for the occassional pantie bottom or armband here and there).

So essentially, Age of Conan will hard-code in the need for a guild from anyone who wants to do PVP, as opposed to just making it a choice? AWESOME!

Forced grouping leads to forced groping.

Whats wrong with some GvG? Could you show up errant in Shadowbane to a bane of a city? Not fuckin likely. If you want some one on one, I am sure there will be arena/bar fights/open field PVP.

If you can make an easy 100 bucks, or work hard for 100 bucks...which are you going to choose?

What's wrong with it is that every other MMOG forces you into guilds to really enjoy the game. There is no place for the errant as anything more than an irritant. And in Conan's case, I don't think he was a member of HardCore_Uber_Guild_07 until he was King.

Will you just go re-read the old thread and STFU?

If Conan were a forum denizen, he'd be smart enough to realize that other people had a Trammel tangent going before I ever bothered to post that pic.  He also would know better than to exhume AW's hoary "You pussy kids are too lazy to WORK for your fun!" line of argument, then cry about said pic when told that we've already done that thread and he should just STFU.

Does that count?

Anyway, the big questions about AoC in my mind (other than "Will it make my hard drive explode?") are what the death penalty will be, and how important rare lewtz are.  The lighter the penalty, the more forgiving players will be toward odd semi-experimental PVP designs.  EVE gets away with a harsh death penalty, but then I've never heard of anyone having to catass for months on end to get a leet item in EVE either.

If Conan were a forum denizen, he'd be smart enough to realize that other people had a Trammel tangent going before I ever bothered to post that pic.  He also would know better than to exhume AW's hoary "You pussy kids are too lazy to WORK for your fun!" line of argument, then cry about said pic when told that we've already done that thread and he should just STFU.

Does that count?

Anyway, the big questions about AoC in my mind (other than "Will it make my hard drive explode?") are what the death penalty will be, and how important rare lewtz are.  The lighter the penalty, the more forgiving players will be toward odd semi-experimental PVP designs.  EVE gets away with a harsh death penalty, but then I've never heard of anyone having to catass for months on end to get a leet item in EVE either.

You can fight from horseback and decapitate (!) your opponent.

I wouldn't expect a thriving monster town that is really rich and deep but monsters actually doing something rather than sitting back and getting their asses kicked constantly is pretty cool.

I call bullshit.  The game just sounds too cool. I went along with the whole "mugfights in a bar" and even the "monster towns parallel player towns in epic struggles for resources."  But you expect me to believe there will be horse combat, decapitations, AND mature content like slaves and whores? 

FFXI just introduced in the latest expansion a system where enemies have bases of sorts and when they build up enough forces rally up a group and attack your town. Apparently AO has the same sort of thing in Alien Invasion.

I wouldn't expect a thriving monster town that is really rich and deep but monsters actually doing something rather than sitting back and getting their asses kicked constantly is pretty cool.

Funcom and Conan Inc. has extended the agreement in which Funcom has the exclusive rights to develop any and all Massively Multiplayer Online (MMO) games based on the Conan license. The agreement gives Funcom the right to develop MMO games with the Conan brand on PC, present and future gaming consoles, portable devices and mobile systems until 2018. In addition, Funcom now has an option to prolong the agreement with five additional years."

The main part of the agreement says they've extended exclusive rights until 2023. Does anyone else find this extreme? Is it necessary? Is it that hot an IP? Also, mobile systems until 2018? Do five additional years really matter that much? What the hell is going on?

2023 is too long and 2018 is WAY too long. Funcom doesn't make enough games to need that much licensing room.

Maybe they could farm it out.

To Tose. :P