I think Conan looks cool and I know I'll try it. We also have a lot of respect for our friends at Funcom.
The graphics also look top notch in quality.
That said, remember to compare apples and apples. Games like D&D Online, Guildwars, Tabula Rasa, etc. are not about huge online worlds to explore, nor about freedom. They are a different type of MMOG, if MMOG is even the word to describe them. They use a lot of single player elements, tons of Instancing, etc. to make a more linear experience.
The problem with this genre thus far has been longevity. You just can't make enough content. A single player game is meant to entertain for weeks, whereas an MMOG for months and years.
From what I can see of Conan, especially from their official site:
1. It's a branching style single player game to level 20. This means a lot less content to build and no online play during this time, no community, no player driven economy.
2. When you do hit online, there seems to be a huge focus on PvP, much more so than PvE. This also means a lot less content to build, but games who have relied on PvP to auto-generate content have shown that even in a PvP focused game, there has to be a 'default background activity' -- there has to be PvE. It's one of the reasons PvP worked so well in EQ and works so well in WoW -- it's layered in with a large world with lots of NPCs, quests, and a world to explore.
3. On their main site, under world, I only see 5 or 6 places. At E3 I saw 2 (a forest and a city). Looking at the screenshots I don't see a lot of variety either. While this is again fine for the game they are building, I don't think we're talking about a large virtual world to explore. I may be wrong here and they just haven't released that information yet.
4. While the dates on their site make it appear that the game is coming out in the same time frame as Vanguard, what I hear elsewhere is it may be up to a year later than Vanguard. They certainly aren't in beta 3 and as far along as we are unless they are keeping it a huge secret and I don't know how or why they would do that.
5. Other people mentioned here that the game is zone based, doesn't have multi-sphere advancement, only has one race, etc. I can't verify that, but again, that means a different sort of game with a different focus.
6. The siege weapons and PvP stuff sounds very cool. Mounted combat was mentioned I think as well. Again, I don't know when the game will come out, but it's possible Vanguard will have a lot of that by then as well. I can't say for sure, but city building and mounted combat will be worked on once we release the game, and PvP will be a big part of that (although so will PvE).
7. Overall the FAQ is not very detailed and nor is the rest of the web page and other than saying they will be out 2nd quarter 2007, which I find hard to believe, I see very little indication that this is a game like EQ, EQ 2, WoW, Vanguard, etc.
Again, nothing against the game at all. The only thing that gets me a bit riled up is when developers/publishers/marketing firms/whomever call their games MMOGs when they lack so many elements that make an MMOG an MMOG. It can still be a great game and not be an MMOG -- there are many great games that aren't MMOGs. But you won't see me calling Vanguard a story driven single player RPG, or a great RTS with lots of options and build trees, etc.
Lots of people enjoyed Guildwars and few complained about it not really being an MMOG because it was free. Not so D&D Online -- they charged, and when people ran out of content, there were problems. Tabula Rasa still isn't out and has been re-designed from scratch at least once if not twice.
But using MMOG to try to mislead people who are super excited for another MMOG to come out... well, I think it's tacky.
Looking at Conan's tech, like I said, the graphics look great, but appear to be about a year or more behind Vanguard's in tech and they are rendering a LOT less. You don’t have the view distances, the massive variety of different art on the screen, including player characters with different items, etc. If they are using heavy instancing, they can also control how many people are in an area tool. Talking to my Dir. Of Tech, one specific example: They don’t use a lot of multitexturing, which helps performance but also means pixilation at close range. He agrees the tech is 1-2 years behind Vanguards. And, again, who cares in one sense – it was just something to point out. WoW’s tech is very low and one can hardly criticize that.
Others who checked out the game only saw two environments at E3 as well. Perhaps they are keeping the others under wraps, I don't know.
In summary, very different game, older tech, likely a lot less content (and therefore longevity), solo player focus and then PvP focus -- where's the PvE and exploration? Cool combat system and lots of gore -- they're really going after the M rating where we are going for T. One race? Why so little info on the web site? Why the release date on the web site that seems a year off? And why do people call it an MMOG?
I hope they release a lot more information about it, and I do know Funcom knows how to make a good game (AO). Is it something that is made to challenge WoW in 2007 like Vanguard? Is it about freedom, races, character customization, owning houses, multi-sphere development, a massive and varied seamless world with meaningful travel, ships and flying mounts that can go virtually anywhere?
Doesn't seem to be. Doesn't have to be either to be a great game. But it does have to be to be compared with games like Vanguard, WoW, EQ 2, and others as if they were the same genre of game.
Lastly, lest anyone think I’m picking just on Conan re: calling these games MMOGs, please check out a couple of articles on
www.bradmcquaid.com from several months back where I talk about Instancing and what makes a game an MMOG, etc. and how calling a game an MMOG when it’s likely something else isn’t IMHO cool because it misleads the consumer/gamer.
edit: I talk about this a bit on
www.bradmcquaid.com on the Instancing article and then more on my response to Booth here:
http://www.bradmcquaid.com/Response%...Instancing.htmThe irony.
Author
. - schild
Guess I'm just a softie.