Age of Conan: New site update. + Release date is set.

[K9]

It's open pvp and everyone can stealth?  Good god.

I don't actually understand what the problem is with that.

[Triforcer]

...except all the zones would be "empty", but throwing a brick in any random direction would cripple a stealther. 

[Signe]

Reactions I've seen have been universally positive. You wouldn't know it by funcom's 10.4% stock price drop, but the fanbois seem to understand the delay. First impressions are everything. Release quality matters. Etc.

And WAR isn't coming out until fall (at best) so they can afford the delay.

I thought WAR was coming out in June, or has that changed, too?  Of course, REGARDLESS of what they say the date is, you're probably right.  Release date delays and getting people to pay for unfinished, unstable games that leave out half the advertised features is now the standard.  And it's because we're a bunch of lunatics who fall into their diabolical trap.

[Modern Angel]

Reactions I've seen have been universally positive. You wouldn't know it by funcom's 10.4% stock price drop, but the fanbois seem to understand the delay. First impressions are everything. Release quality matters. Etc.

And WAR isn't coming out until fall (at best) so they can afford the delay.

Plus WAR's probably going to be $20/month & staring down the teeth of a WoW expansion release as well.

Whoa, what? Twenty a month?

[Chenghiz]

It's open pvp and everyone can stealth?  Good god.

I don't actually understand what the problem is with that.

Because stealth is fucking lame in a PVP game, and that's coming from someone who played the two stealth classes in WoW.

[K9]

I don't actually understand what the problem is with that.

Because stealth is fucking lame in a PVP game, and that's coming from someone who played the two stealth classes in WoW.

In the context of WoW-style stealth it would be fairly lame, but that's partly because WoW stealth is retarded. I'm not a fan of stealth in PvP, but one of the implied aims of the AoC devs (might have changed since I gave up on reading the official forums) was to make stealth more realistic; i.e. you can't just turn invisible in the middle of an open field; you'll become more visible as you approach a target, depending on your movement speed, rather than crawling from 100% invisible, to 30% visible to full visible at wholly arbitrary distances and irregardless of surroundings. In an environment geared towards mass PvP, with coordinated groups running around, stealth is already trivialised to an extent. Also there's the implied assumption being made here that just because every class can stealth, they can stealth as well as a true stealth class, which I doubt will be the case.

I don't know, maybe they'll cock it all up; hopefully they'll pull it together like they said they wanted to. I remember that stealth wasn't class-specific in AO, and there it really only impacted in duels and uncoordinated PvP. If they can make an environmentally-sensitive stealth system, and give all classes at least the option to use stealth then that's fine by me. I'm also interested to see how collision detection changes how many PvP mechanics (such as stealth) get reviewd. Maybe they won't, who knows *shrug*.

[Abelian75]

The problem with "realistic" stealth is that the client on your computer is either aware of an entity being there, or it isn't.  If it isn't aware, then the person has to be wholly invisible.  If it IS aware, then you can draw it as nigh-invisible as you like, but someone's going to haxx0r the client/sniff some packets so that your 1% visibility is now 100% visibility. 

[Merusk]

Reactions I've seen have been universally positive. You wouldn't know it by funcom's 10.4% stock price drop, but the fanbois seem to understand the delay. First impressions are everything. Release quality matters. Etc.

And WAR isn't coming out until fall (at best) so they can afford the delay.

Plus WAR's probably going to be $20/month & staring down the teeth of a WoW expansion release as well.

Whoa, what? Twenty a month?

Check the WAR thread for the link.  $20 is a guesstimate, it could only be $17.   

[K9]

Fair point.

[Velorath]

This game is going to fail hard. I think that most of us here have suck radar, and it's only a matter of how much we silence that radar with alcohol and delusions of hope. Failtrain inbound, gate AoC, all aboard.

There's no suck radar, most people here just assume every MMO will suck until proven otherwise.  It's called "playing the odds".

[Signe]

I have no dar!  Any dar!  I am darless!  You can be Asian and I'll think you're Hispanic.  You can be a gay woman and I'll guess lumpy straight man with a very pretty face!  I get it all wrong.  It's easier to pretend you have suckdar, though.

[Ironwood]

I have Suckdar.  It's amazing how many women it's been wrong about.

[Slayerik]

I'm glad they are delaying it.

I still am looking forward to it.

For any particular reason?  Or was that just a "So there!"? 

I was pretty much the original AoC fanboy, and I still like the concepts. I am glad they are delaying it. Sure, ole Gaute there is saying all the right things but I like that are even using the term polish. Maybe that means they are taking a page from Blizz in the right area (along with some other areas unfortunately).

Like Velorath said, its a real bold prediction saying it will fail. I think I'm going to do the opposite and say after a year it will hold 200k+ subs, and be a fun game. Yeah, I said the F word.

And Signe, love the new avatar :P

[Calantus]

I have no dar!  Any dar!  I am darless!  You can be Asian and I'll think you're Hispanic.  You can be a gay woman and I'll guess lumpy straight man with a very pretty face!  I get it all wrong.  It's easier to pretend you have suckdar, though.

That just means your dar is broken, take it to dar repair man and get it fixed.

[Signe]

I'm always skeptical about buzzy words like "polish" or "finishing touches" unless they'e about shoes and cake.  But I agree that, if they're being truthful, I'd rather see a late game a horrible launch ala AO, important features being left out and/or buggy, unstable servers.  I used to love pre-ordering my games so I could start on release day or even earlier in some cases but now I'm more TREPIDATIOUS.  (wait until I start using INTREPIDATIOUS) If I've not been in beta and seen what's going on for myself, I'm likely to wait until people start talking before I order, even though that means I don't get the in game mount or a cute little panda bear pet. 

Having said that, I realise it's a bit of a lie.  I'm VERY likely to pre-order a game to get a cute little panda bear pet. 

[Draegan]

I have no problem with a delay.  I don't plan on playing any shitty games or at least playing them.  Keep delaying it until it's ready.  *shrug*  Why would anyone get mad?  Wah Wah I can't play the game yet!  Get over it.

[Mrbloodworth]

Its very important that no one repeats Dark and light, Vanguard or Anarchy online release day.


I don't hold it against them (Funcom delaying).

[waylander]

Its very important that no one repeats Dark and light, Vanguard or Anarchy online release day.


I don't hold it against them (Funcom delaying).

Yeah and a game being sold with a heavy PVP focus has even less room for error. Typical PVP players/guilds will only put up with a buggy or under delivered product for about 90 days before they bail for new game or return to their previous one.

[Signe]

I have no problem with a delay.  I don't plan on playing any shitty games or at least playing them.  Keep delaying it until it's ready.  *shrug*  Why would anyone get mad?  Wah Wah I can't play the game yet!  Get over it.

Where are these angry mobs?  Vnboards? 

[Mrbloodworth]

I have no problem with a delay.  I don't plan on playing any shitty games or at least playing them.  Keep delaying it until it's ready.  *shrug*  Why would anyone get mad?  Wah Wah I can't play the game yet!  Get over it.

Where are these angry mobs?  Vnboards? 

Most MMO Media sites.... There is a lot of that going on (The "Wah Wah This game now sucks!!!").

I always find it funny that some get so attached, and even though they are still a potential customer, not a Current (Because its not even out yet, and no, they are not charging you) that people act as if they were swindled by things like delays.

EDIT: Was going to link an example, but, ill spare you all.

[Venkman]

I hate that noise. It's a delay. Better that than a bad game. But I also have mostly a distaste for MMO Media sites in general. They mostly seem to being trying to follow the traditional print media: create a controversy, rake in the cash/eyeballs, who cares about relevance/truth.

As to MMO suckadar, I'm with Signe (not literally, I'd get beat up) in that I no longer pre-order nor really start following a game until I'm either in beta or it's been talked about. And so far I've mostly gotten burned out on them in beta. This is just an ongoing pet peeve I have with the genre, the open beta. Even before WoW you had a much better chance of decreasing your overall playerbase potential than increasing it with an open beta. And I don't care that "open beta" isn't being used much anymore. It's still a beta with very loose entry requirements. Some are much better than others in terms of how they're now handling it, but that's nda land.

Nowadays if a player isn't floored by polish within the first five minutes, it's a stock-dropping disaster they get to go all postcount++ at MMORPG.com or some other moronic place, spreading anti-marketing. And non-betatesters eat that crap all up.

If I was making an MMO game, you wouldn't know about it until a tradeshow before launch, and then wouldn't be in the game until launch. There's a whole bunch of ways to do that and not get burned for it.

[Mrbloodworth]

Well, i was referring to the forums on such sites, not necessarily anything the staff posts or writes.

As far as the hype game. There is a fine line between good hype, and over hype. Also, the need for hype would hinge on how your company works (Public, funded, cash out of pocket, investors ETC..).

[WayAbvPar]

My suckdar went off off not because the game was delayed (as many have said, rather that than an even more incomplete launch than normal), but because they couldn't decide how long it was delayed. Quickly changing stories are either because no one knows what is going on, or the powers that be are hiding the ugly truth from even their own minions. Either way, it spells trouble for the end product (and the poor walking wallet who uses it).

[Venkman]

Just to be clear, according to sam, the original push out to March happened last August. I thought it was very recent too until he cleared it up. So last August they announced March and then four months later, they pushed it out to May. I don't think that's so bad personally, but like others here, we also don't care so much about a launch date as much as we do a good product.

That press release is dated 8/10/07. The OP posted old news, in a big font.

http://www.funcom.com/wsp/funcom/frontend.cgi?func=publish.show&func_id=1230&table=CONTENT

Edit: and before anyone mentions it, the 1/25/07 press release on funcom's site also says 3/25/08 but it was changed-- it originally said 10/30/07.

[Draegan]

I like the approach that frustrates the most people at the same time, which is Blizzards approach, "It's done when it's done, now shut the fuck up and leave us alone!"

[sam, an eggplant]

I don't think that's so bad personally

Well, it was delayed three times in one year. I wouldn't take it as a positive sign.

[Hoax]

I don't think that's so bad personally

Well, it was delayed three times in one year. I wouldn't take it as a positive sign.

I would considering Funcom doesnt have a history of setting realistic timetables nor releasing finished products.

[Zetleft]

And Signe, love the new avatar :P

That's all I came here to say.   Oh and every MMO gets delayed, big deal, rather it takes a bit longer then getting rushed out even earlier then it should be.  Hell I'm in no hurry to buy a MMO I never tested so they can take as much time as they need. 

[Venkman]

I don't think that's so bad personally

Well, it was delayed three times in one year. I wouldn't take it as a positive sign.

Yea, that I'd agree with. But I can personally chalk that up either to business considerations (which the developers don't necessarily have a lot of control over) or a change in focus on the project. There's been a number of changes to AoC in the last year, even those that have come out publicly. I don't know that there was enough to miss the woulda-helped-alot Christmas season, but I only really started following up later in the year.

[schild]

Most MMOGs are announced way too early anyway. Look at Spacetime.

Hell, most games not-japanese are announced WAY too early.

Developers just need to learn how to shut their fucking mouths.

[Trippy]

That's all I came here to say.   Oh and every MMO gets delayed, big deal, rather it takes a bit longer then getting rushed out even earlier then it should be.

Unless you are SOE in which case you do rush them out early.

[Zetleft]

That's all I came here to say.   Oh and every MMO gets delayed, big deal, rather it takes a bit longer then getting rushed out even earlier then it should be.

Unless you are SOE in which case you do rush them out early.

It can still be both here.  Getting delayed and being released before they are ready are not mutually exclusive.

[Aez]

Developers just need to learn how to shut their fucking mouths.

Agree.  One part of the issue is that a big fan base help with the suits.
Give us XXXXXX$ we have XXX beta applications!

[Trippy]

That's all I came here to say.   Oh and every MMO gets delayed, big deal, rather it takes a bit longer then getting rushed out even earlier then it should be.

Unless you are SOE in which case you do rush them out early.

It can still be both here.  Getting delayed and being released before they are ready are not mutually exclusive.

That's not what I'm referring to. EQ II literally had it's launch date pushed forward to get on the shelves before WoW (not that it helped them any) even though they started their main beta well after WoW started theirs and after the devs admitted right before launch that the archetype system was broken and would need to be redone.

[Zetleft]

Ah didn't remember that, mostly cause its SOE and Everquest.  Two words that make me tune out.