Get on Secret World beta with Conan sub

[Jamiko]

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/another-new-age-of-conan-deal-begins

Funcom has told Eurogamer that a new Age of Conan re-evaluation period gets underway today.

To lure you back, the developer is offering two weeks of free play to returning players and two weeks of double experience for everyone. And those who choose to subscribe will be showered with even more gifts.

Sign for three months earn a guaranteed place in The Secret World beta; sign for six months to claim a beta spot plus in-game AOC helmet that boosts experience earned by 10 per cent; and sign for 12 months to earn all that as well as a free copy of Conan expansion Rise of the Godslayer when it's released. These rewards are not retroactive; subscribers from October onwards are eligible.

[Nebu]

Are they trying to convince everyone to quit for a month and resubscribe?

[Jamiko]

I think current players can get in by purchasing a 3 month sub or greater.

[Shatter]

Intersting...I was thinking about resubbing to AOC for a month anyhow just to toy around a bit and see how things shaped up, if I add 2 months to that I get beta access to Secret World....  Im not one to pay for a beta which is basically what Id be doing but this does intrigue me...decisions decisions

[Morfiend]

They have a 14 days "come back free" thing right now. So you could do that, and then do the 3 month sub if you enjoy it.

[Shatter]

They have a 14 days "come back free" thing right now. So you could do that, and then do the 3 month sub if you enjoy it.

Yeah I may just do that.  My POM is level 80 and I have a feeling I will be bored relatively quickly without a guild.  Debating right now between going back to AOC or EQ2, might just do both. 

[tkinnun0]

I don't see any of that on their site. What's the procedure for someone who has a cancelled account?

[Nightblade]

I don't see any of that on their site. What's the procedure for someone who has a cancelled account?

They sent out a wave of emails promoting this; with a link included in the email of course.

I considered the offer for about 30 seconds, until memories of sluggish convoluted combat and overly long and tedious instances came flooding back.

[tkinnun0]

Aha, found the email. I might do Tortage again to see if they've smoothed out the transition to MMORPG gameplay.

[Falconeer]

sluggish convoluted combat

Unbelievable.

[ghost]

This might be worth doing just for the expansion that's coming down the pike.  I am optimistic that it will be good.  I also hope they do some things to the PvP.  I just don't think complex combos is good for melee PvP combat.

[Morfiend]

I activated my account with the 14 day trial. So far im on one of the more populated servers, and the world is empty of players. I have played enough to go from level 59 to 61, and have yet to see more then 3 players actually out in the world.

Kind of a bummer.

[ghost]

Yeah, I took advantage of the freebie, too.  Tortage is teeming on Wiccana.

[Nightblade]

sluggish convoluted combat

Unbelievable.

Yes, I love activating a melee combo and having my opponent get slapped with it 20 yards away as the overly elaborate animation plays out, or having three abilities on my hotbar that server similar functions, having a double tap ability activate when attempting to quickly change the direction you're sidestepping in... Oh, and lets not forget having 5 directional attack keys when three would easily suffice. I could go on, if you'd like... But I doubt anyone would want me to.

[Falconeer]

Sure Nightblade. Go go autoattack! Because that's not sluggish, and realistic, and how melee combat should play like in MMOs.

You are the reason why MMORPGs will keep sucking balls over the same autoatack-hotbar formula for the next ten years.
Conan is far FAR from perfect, but melee combat is awesome and one of the few things they got right (especially after the revamp which shortened high-level combos) in a sluggish-by-definition massively persistant environment. Unless, of course, you are totally inept.

[Nightblade]

Sure Nightblade. Go go autoattack! Because that's not sluggish, and realistic, and how melee combat should play like in MMOs.

You are the reason why MMORPGs will keep sucking balls over the same autoatack-hotbar formula for the next ten years.
Conan is far FAR from perfect, but melee combat is awesome and one of the few things they got right (especially after the revamp which shortened high-level combos) in a sluggish-by-definition massively persistant environment. Unless, of course, you are totally inept.

I love this post because you pulled the majority of it out of your ass, and in typical MMORPG fan fashion, attack the poster for having a different opinion from yourself... Oh, and you also conveniently ignored everything I posted in lieu of assuming I like one style of game over another. Brilliant. All that's missing is "ur mom".

Despite how flawed the game I'm about to reference is, Fallen Earth's approach to combat is far more elegant than this game's mess.

AoC's melee system works adequately in PVE. You don't have to worry about latency as much, you don't have to chase your opponent around, and you don't have to deal with copious amounts of CC... most of the time. I don't know; the last time I played was during the last get back promotion. The point is, the complaints I have are all for PVP, and how sluggish the game becomes when you try to pit one player against another. In addition to hoping your combo doesn't miss for some inexplicable reason, (both officially with the miss text and just slashing air despite being next to your foe) you have to worry about many other things. Alignment, shields, crowd control, stamina, and mana (for the HoX I guess) all whilst playing keyboard DDR with the melee system and trying to compensate for the LOVELY input lag that rears it's head every time more than 2 people engage in combat... Oh, and are casters still ridiculously overpowered? I'd be surprised if they aren't, honestly.

My system is pretty good, as it handles the game on max easily; yet even when switching to modest settings the combat becomes substantially worse when in a group setting. No frame rate issues, just horrible input lag.

I hate to break it to you, but it's not my fault MMORPGs are terrible. My complaints aren't unreasonable either.

- Bad response, especially in group settings
- A need for excessive amounts of hotkeys, can you explain to me in detail why it is necessary to have a lower right attack and lower left attack key?
- Casters don't have to put up with a lot of my complaints... Except the whole getting slapped with a melee knockdown from well out of melee range.

If things were handled much differently, I think the game would be a lot more enjoyable. It may not be entirely necessary for a character to do flail around like the Star Wars kid for 20 seconds to perform a single ability, all whilst the guy Im hitting has control of his character.

Incidentally, the only auto attack system I could stand was WoW; because it utilized a very unique concept. When I hit a button... the action actually fired off. Amazing, I know.

[Falconeer]

AoC's melee system works adequately in PVE. You don't have to worry about latency as much, you don't have to chase your opponent around, and you don't have to deal with copious amounts of CC... most of the time. I don't know; the last time I played was during the last get back promotion. The point is, the complaints I have are all for PVP, and how sluggish the game becomes when you try to pit one player against another

This quote only proves you weren't good at this game. Hence, you didn't like it. I played Age of Conan strictly PvP for a full year and that's exactly where the melee combat shines.

Battlekeep sieges were a mess (melee or not), that's a fact, but up to 30 vs 30 and the like the system was perfectly fine. And as I said, ESPECIALLY after the combat revamp.

[Nightblade]

AoC's melee system works adequately in PVE. You don't have to worry about latency as much, you don't have to chase your opponent around, and you don't have to deal with copious amounts of CC... most of the time. I don't know; the last time I played was during the last get back promotion. The point is, the complaints I have are all for PVP, and how sluggish the game becomes when you try to pit one player against another

This quote only proves you weren't good at this game. Hence, you didn't like it. I played Age of Conan strictly PvP for a full year and that's exactly where the melee combat shines.

Battlekeep sieges were a mess (melee or not), that's a fact, but up to 30 vs 30 and the like the system was perfectly fine. And as I said, ESPECIALLY after the combat revamp.

Maybe it was just me then? I hit a button and action is delayed by several seconds, or is that normal? I'd actually have to try and go slowly on purpose just to try to keep up with the pace of the game during group fights.

Either way, I pvped at all levels in the game, and did fairly well... Or maybe my opponents were inept. Barbarian and Guardian (and his stupidly overpowered polearm ability that I forget the name of).Most of the times pvp in the game degenerated into:

1 - Being ganked by roving gank squad
2 - Ganking people with your roving gank squad
3 - Dealing with broken sieges

All equally uninteresting... To me, at least.

[Morfiend]

My main gripe with the melee combat is when it moves to 5 buttons. I feel its excessive and that 3 would do just fine. 5 just makes you really DDR on the keyboard.

[Falconeer]

Yeah Morfiend, they realized that and cut the higher combos from five steps down to three. You have 2-steps combos up to level 70+ and only get the 3-steps ones only in the last few levels. 3 steps feels kinda right for your final combos.

[Morfiend]

Yeah Morfiend, they realized that and cut the higher combos from five steps down to three. You have 2-steps combos up to level 70+ and only get the 3-steps ones only in the last few levels. 3 steps feels kinda right for your final combos.

I saw that did that a while ago, and I applauded that move, but what Im talking about is the addition of the Lower Left and Lower Right melee swing buttons at level 50? (level 40?). I just feel its to much. If they had just stuck with 3 melee buttons I think it would be much better.