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f13.net  |  f13.net General Forums  |  The Gaming Graveyard  |  Age of Conan  |  Topic: Update to Investors about AoC launch 0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.
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Author Topic: Update to Investors about AoC launch  (Read 12889 times)
Xuri
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on: May 19, 2008, 03:10:36 AM

Some tidbits that might be of interest can be found in this update to the investors, availble on the Funcom website:
Quote
Funcom would like to provide an overview of the status
and plans for the launch of the Age of Conan game.

Status of the launch
Market update
• The Collector’s Edition of the Age of Conan game is now sold out in all markets. Over 110.000 copies were produced. The CE edition is also sold out in most retail chains, but the CE version may still be found on shelves in some stores.
• Funcom estimates the day-one ship in (the number of boxes sent to retail) of the Age of Conan game to be around 700.000. The Company
underlines that there is high uncertainty regarding the sell through speed of this day-one shipment.
• The pre-order program has continued to develop very positively. Based on input from some major retail-chains and combined with the simultaneous multi-language launch in both Europe and North America, Funcom has reason to believe that the game is on track to at launch have the highest pre-order number for any MMO ever. The preorders will represent a significant proportion of the
day 1 ship-in.
• Funcom has made an additional order for servers, increasing the size of the server park for the Age of Conan game, to cater for 100.000 more
subscribers for the launch period, under a set of assumptions for playtime per subscriber, number of subscribers per server, number of subscribers per game clients sold etc. The server parks will now be dimensioned to handle 600.000-700.000 subscribers (Not concurrent users).
• Since January 2008 the Age of Conan site had more than six million unique visitors according to Google Analytics. During last week the site had 1.1 million unique visitors.
• The first review for the game gives it a 9 out of 10 score, and it is Game Reactor, the Nordic region's largest gaming magazine, which gives the score.

Launch update
• Funcom has successfully launched the Age of Conan game for around 100.000 early access players on May 17th. Almost all the early access
players logged in during the first night. The launch was conducted without major technical issues.
• The full US launch is planned for May 20th and the full European launch is planned for May 23rd.
• The DirectX 10 version of the game will not ship with the initial launch. The DirectX 10 version of the game will be premiered at the German Games Convention in Leipzig, Germany, August 20 – 24.

Launch risk update
• Key risks for the remaining parts of the launch will be technical issues related to network and servers and to client performance such as stability and frame rate for different hardware configurations.

After launch
In the period after launch, Funcom will focus on ensuring that the game is as stable as possible and will adjust its actions to the reception of the game in the gamer market.
• Funcom expects a number of game reviews from the press in the coming days. Review scores may impact the sales success of the game.
• Funcom will continue to update the Age of Conan game with technical fixes as well as content updates.
• Funcom will not report subscriber numbers on a regular basis after launch, for marketing reasons, but will provide additional financial guidance before the Second Quarter 2008 reporting.
• Key risks after launch will be the quality of gameplay, and thereby the longevity of the average subscription, and the ability of the Company to
quickly address potential technical issues. Another key risk will be Funcom’s ability to optimize the game’s performance for PC’s with medium to low end specifications.

Funcom is not taking investor and analyst meetings in the period from May 4th 2008 until May 30th 2008 due to the very sensitive nature of this time period.

The Management Board of Funcom N.V.
Dübendorf, May 18, 2008

-= Ho Eyo He Hum =-
schild
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Reply #1 on: May 19, 2008, 03:14:07 AM

Quote
Another key risk will be Funcom’s ability to optimize the game’s performance for PC’s with medium to low end specifications.

Interesting, of all the things, I didn't think this would be listed under key risk. The game scales pretty goddamn well. Personally, with my crap graphics card, I can knock down enough settings to get 80-100 FPS or go high enough to get 2 FPS. I'm pretty sure they need to worry about actual retention through gameplay features. Though I don't imagine a report to investors with the word 'loot' in it is likely.
Daztur
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Reply #2 on: May 19, 2008, 04:29:49 AM

Well if they do sell 700,000 boxes they should be able to pay for the game's cost pretty much just on that, right?
Trippy
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Reply #3 on: May 19, 2008, 04:41:18 AM

No. They only get a fraction of the retail sales price.
stray
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has an iMac.


Reply #4 on: May 19, 2008, 04:53:35 AM

What graphics card do you have, Schild?
Viin
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Reply #5 on: May 19, 2008, 07:02:15 AM

Quote
• The DirectX 10 version of the game will not ship with the initial launch. The DirectX 10 version of the game will be premiered at the German Games Convention in Leipzig, Germany, August 20 – 24.

Well that answers that. August is a long ways away.  cry

- Viin
ShenMolo
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Reply #6 on: May 19, 2008, 09:09:52 AM

An unscientific and random guess at the $$ for Funcom might look like:

$60 Retail

$30 to Bestbuy/EB/etc
$15 to Publisher
$15 ish to Funcom?

So roughly $10 million from 700,000 units?
pants
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Reply #7 on: May 19, 2008, 02:32:29 PM

Quote
• Funcom estimates the day-one ship in (the number of boxes sent to retail) of the Age of Conan game to be around 700.000.

This bit confuses the hell out of me.  How can they not know exactly how many CDs have been stamped, and boxes produced, and then stuck in a truck and sent to retail warehouses?  Surely they know exactly how many physical units have been produced, since there'll be a cost involved with this.
sam, an eggplant
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Reply #8 on: May 19, 2008, 02:45:20 PM

Of course they do. Each one has a unique CD key. They just aren't broadcasting the exact numbers.
Oban
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Reply #9 on: May 19, 2008, 03:06:23 PM

Quote
• Funcom estimates the day-one ship in (the number of boxes sent to retail) of the Age of Conan game to be around 700.000.

This bit confuses the hell out of me.  How can they not know exactly how many CDs have been stamped, and boxes produced, and then stuck in a truck and sent to retail warehouses?  Surely they know exactly how many physical units have been produced, since there'll be a cost involved with this.

Some fall off the truck, some are lost due to the unofficial ebgames employee discount plan, some get misplaced in backpacks, and so on....

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Daztur
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Reply #10 on: May 20, 2008, 09:59:42 PM

No. They only get a fraction of the retail sales price.


So? How much do you think it cost to make it? It can't be too much more than $10 million...
schild
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Reply #11 on: May 20, 2008, 10:23:07 PM

No. They only get a fraction of the retail sales price.


So? How much do you think it cost to make it? It can't be too much more than $10 million...

Just from playing? $50M. Easy.
Jashan
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Reply #12 on: May 20, 2008, 11:18:50 PM

Easy. With how long this game has been in the oven and the technology they are using...
apop
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Reply #13 on: May 21, 2008, 12:46:30 AM

In interviews with Norwegian newspapers, Funcom has estimated the development cost of AoC to about 200million NOK/40.2 million US$. The game is, by far, the most expensive entertainment-production in Norway ever.

Montague
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Reply #14 on: May 21, 2008, 12:48:43 AM

In interviews with Norwegian newspapers, Funcom has estimated the development cost of AoC to about 200million NOK/40.2 million US$. The game is, by far, the most expensive entertainment-production in Norway ever.



They'll make it back and then some, IMO. Money hats incoming.

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schild
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Reply #15 on: May 21, 2008, 12:53:30 AM

Good guess on my part, I suppose.

It's as polished, if not more polished than WoW at launch. And has about 400 features WoW needs desperately. WoW does a number of things better. But combat is not one of them.
Velorath
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Reply #16 on: May 21, 2008, 01:10:23 AM

No. They only get a fraction of the retail sales price.


On the other hand they did get to milk an extra $5 out of everybody who got into the head start thing.  Not sure how many people they let in though.

Edit:  They also sold out of the $89.99 Collector's Edition (Funcom says they sold 111,000 copies of the CE).
« Last Edit: May 21, 2008, 01:15:50 AM by Velorath »
schild
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Reply #17 on: May 21, 2008, 01:11:52 AM

No. They only get a fraction of the retail sales price.


On the other hand they did get to milk an extra $5 out of everybody who got into the head start thing.  Not sure how many people they let in though.

110k.
Margalis
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Reply #18 on: May 21, 2008, 01:22:48 AM

10 million doesn't go too far these days. At 100k a head total cost that's less than 50 people for two years. That's pretty good for some types of games but not for an MMO and the huge amount of content that has to be created.

That's one reason MMOs have tried experimenting with auto-generated content. Unfortunately auto-generated looks auto-generated...at this point if you want something to look nice you still need an army of artists and level designers or you need something more like Phantasy Star Universe (lots of repeated content, zones assembled from parts) or a space-based game or something like that. A lush fantasy game with zones that look handcrafted is going to cost you.

vampirehipi23: I would enjoy a book written by a monkey and turned into a movie rather than this.
schild
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Reply #19 on: May 21, 2008, 01:34:31 AM

I really, really like Conan. And if these zones aren't handcrafted, they found God's Landscaping Program. This makes Oblivion look like Amateur Hour. This is HYBORIA... and stuff.
Ratman_tf
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Reply #20 on: May 21, 2008, 01:42:24 AM

So we'll see who subs up after the trial period.  Oh ho ho ho. Reallllly?



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KallDrexx
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Reply #21 on: May 21, 2008, 04:06:15 AM

It's as polished, if not more polished than WoW at launch. And has about 400 features WoW needs desperately. WoW does a number of things better. But combat is not one of them.

I'd have to disagree just because 1) the chat system is buggy and horrible and 2) the guild/friends/group tools are fucking archaic.  Everything else seems polished but those two things are really important (imo)   
Murgos
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Reply #22 on: May 21, 2008, 05:36:26 AM

It's as polished, if not more polished than WoW at launch. And has about 400 features WoW needs desperately. WoW does a number of things better. But combat is not one of them.

I'd have to disagree just because 1) the chat system is buggy and horrible and 2) the guild/friends/group tools are fucking archaic.  Everything else seems polished but those two things are really important (imo)   

You almost couldn't play WoW at launch due to the queues.  Also there were several lock-up and crash bugs, one involving resource nodes comes to mind.

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schild
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Reply #23 on: May 21, 2008, 05:44:01 AM

The chat system is fine, it's just not streamlined.

The guild and player search tools are more useful than nearly anything else in an other MMOG. It just requires effort to make it more than useless. It's like the linux of in game tool systems. The entire GUI really is. They must've let programmars design it.

Gameplay is more important than either of those.
Mrbloodworth
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Reply #24 on: May 21, 2008, 05:53:59 AM

The chat system is fine, it's just not streamlined.

The guild and player search tools are more useful than nearly anything else in an other MMOG. It just requires effort to make it more than useless. It's like the linux of in game tool systems. The entire GUI really is. They must've let programmars design it.

Gameplay is more important than either of those.

Going to agree with schild here. Anything that lets me add a friend, invite to group, and invite to guild (or not) all in one button press is win. There is even a LFG, LFG, and even specific encounters.

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schild
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Reply #25 on: May 21, 2008, 05:55:25 AM

Not to mention you can even do guild searches for level range among other equally silly shit. It's full featured, just very badly designed. It's pretty goddamn robust in fact, only beaten by the absolutely bizarre SWG GUI that could be customized into being useful as it was an application in itself, and the WoW GUI AFTER MODS. Before Mods, WoW is even worse than Conan.

Edit: Also, between the minimap, journal map, and regular map, if you can't find something, you're doing it wrong or the quest is bugged. That shit is one step away from Google Street View.
Miasma
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Reply #26 on: May 21, 2008, 05:56:14 AM

Yeah I'm quite pleasantly surprised by AoC.  First game in a long time I want to stay home from work for.  There are definitely problems, my main got stuck in a zone which crashed yesterday and I couldn't play him, but overall I am really enjoying it.  I'm just in love with the zones, they are so well designed and gorgeous.  It's like they took the realistic style of EQ2/Vanguard but actually made it work, made it suck you in.  The combat is such that you feel like you're in the world, unlike other games with far too many combat systems, poor animations and crazy particle effects which only serve to remind you that you are playing a video game.

I am taking my time levelling because I don't think the endgame has really been designed yet, I also don't think it will be very good.  Of course I thought the game would suck so hopefully they will prove me wrong again.
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Reply #27 on: May 21, 2008, 05:57:29 AM

Quote
I am taking my time levelling because I don't think the endgame has really been designed yet, I also don't think it will be very good.  Of course I thought the game would suck so hopefully they will prove me wrong again.

I'm gonna take my time leveling once I hit 40 with my main. I want to play my ranger nice and slow, but I want to get the guild city stuff and requirements down before I get on with that. But I'm halfway to 38, so shouldn't be much longer.
Lantyssa
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Reply #28 on: May 21, 2008, 06:08:00 AM

I do think interfaces get shorted on effort, however if the underlying functions are solid, the interface can always be prettied up.  It's easier to modify how the information is presented than to redesign all the underlying mechanics.

Hahahaha!  I'm really good at this!
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Reply #29 on: May 21, 2008, 06:51:49 AM

I really, really like Conan. And if these zones aren't handcrafted, they found God's Landscaping Program. This makes Oblivion look like Amateur Hour. This is HYBORIA... and stuff.

The over under on you souring/getting bored/quitting is probably about 60 days. I would take the under. Anyone take the over? If not, then the 60 days has to come down. At 40 days I would be indifferent between over or under.

I have never played WoW.
schild
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Reply #30 on: May 21, 2008, 06:54:12 AM

I really, really like Conan. And if these zones aren't handcrafted, they found God's Landscaping Program. This makes Oblivion look like Amateur Hour. This is HYBORIA... and stuff.

The over under on you souring/getting bored/quitting is probably about 60 days. I would take the under. Anyone take the over? If not, then the 60 days has to come down. At 40 days I would be indifferent between over or under.

The last game that had housing and a world I liked I played for 1.8 years, 2-4 hours a day. I'm not saying I'll last 1.8 years or even a year, but 60 underestimates my fucking love for running a guild with a guild city behind it.
KallDrexx
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Reply #31 on: May 21, 2008, 07:01:49 AM

You almost couldn't play WoW at launch due to the queues.  Also there were several lock-up and crash bugs, one involving resource nodes comes to mind.

Ok then I misinterpreted on what was meant by polish.  To me polish means more of the little things that make the game feel complete and streamlined.  The chat, guild, and UI systems so far are the opposite of this.
Abelian75
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Reply #32 on: May 21, 2008, 07:15:56 AM

One thing that gives me hope about the future of this game is that the combat and encounter mechanics seem very flexible.  You've got feats that modify previous abilities, feats that cause interactions between abilities, pets that get summoned when certain conditions are met, effects that happen when a pet's duration runs out, etc.  It seems like their game systems are very flexible.  And regarding encounters, I was running around Poitain last night and my character was suddenly stunned, and a second later an NPC ranger took a (second) shot at me and became visible, and his warrior friend started whacking on me.  So they can do random encounters that open from stealth and a stun shot.

Basically I'm not too worried that the boss encounters apparently suck so far, because I suspect they have all the tech they need to do awesome things, they just haven't made them yet.  Same goes for the terrible itemization, for that matter.  As long as the tech is there these things shouldn't be too hard to fix.
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