Age of Conan: Class List

[tazelbain]

PvP servers and Battlegrounds are segregation not reconciliation.

[Nebu]

1. Games that target larger audiences have the potential to make larger amounts of money.

2. Most people suck at or don't like PvP. 

3. Reconcile 1 & 2.

I think someone already did that.

Do people really play WoW for the PvP?  It's terrible.  I always considered WoW a well crafted PvE game.  PvP... not so much. 

[stray]

I would play WoW exclusively for the PvP. Especially with all of the supposed revamps in the expansion. Combat can be relatively fun (so long as you're not fighting twinks and epics, or playing a Paladin). I enjoy the feel of it more than DAoC, but not as much as SB. It's somewhere in between, and I think it could be even better.

I think WoW's PvE game is horrible though (to be fair, I think the PvE in all MMO's to date has been horrible). I hate it for it's own sake, and I hate it because I can't really PvP much without participating in it.

[Velorath]

Do people really play WoW for the PvP?  It's terrible.  I always considered WoW a well crafted PvE game.  PvP... not so much. 

I find the PVP to be pretty fun, mostly playing defense in AV.  Personally I find PVE in the game to be broken since I'd be cockblocked into doing the guild thing to be able to experience most of the raid stuff.

[jason]

In some respects it has been dumped, or to put it another way it's just not really a problem the way they're doing it.  From what I remember in reading past interviews, once you finish the single player mode (which takes you up to level 20 when you choose your class), you never have to go through it again when you start new characters.  So it sounds to me like with every character after the first you can choose your final class right away.  They also got rid of the later class choice which was supposed to take place at 40 or 60 or something I think.

This is correct.

Also, unless the guys from Funcom I talked to at the Age of Conan demo at Dragon*Con were wrong, 1-20 is a single player game.  There are 4 unique games/storylines (one per archtype), which they hope people will want to play through, but once you get past one of them once, you can jump to 20 and start the MMO immediately on any new character.

Edit: Damn its early for me... I should read before I post.  Anyway, as of September 4th, the game still works this way, and firing a bow is still mouse driven targetting.  Which they explained as "By allowing bows to be mouse driven and true projectiles, meaning you can hit or be blocked by your own group mates, it allows us to make bows more damaging and desirable."  Oh, and mounted combat is awesome... not just fighting from the horse, but you can actually run people over and trample them.

[Venkman]

The truth is, in pvp games the average player will lose an encounter far more than they will win it.

WoW PvP is not particularly relevant, but it's a lot more interesting for many than hitting MC over and over and over. MC never changes. Meanwhile no two AVs are ever the same.

The key to PvP in WoW is that you don't need to be awesome at it to have a good time. Unlike SB and Eve, there's nothing really to lose. That makes it more casual, something anyone can try. I've seen dedicated PvE/Raiders I've known since pre-Velious EQ who never did a day of PvPing in their lives bring their Tier 0/1 stuff to AV and, within a few days, have remapped their hotkeys, respecced, and done very well.

Just treat it like Raiding. Whether you win nor lose, you're still gaining something (faction, turn-ins, access to vendors in the zones, etc)

[Oban]

[/quote]
... Oh, and mounted combat is awesome... not just fighting from the horse, but you can actually run people over and trample them.
[/quote]

Why does this seem like a very bad idea?  Unless mobs can run as fast as a horse or dismount a player, this could make the game very boring...

[stray]

Lol, mobs. Funny that was the first thing you thought of when picturing mounted combat.

[jason]

... Oh, and mounted combat is awesome... not just fighting from the horse, but you can actually run people over and trample them.

Why does this seem like a very bad idea?  Unless mobs can run as fast as a horse or dismount a player, this could make the game very boring...

Well, considering you can't get into multiplayer until level 20... and I don't think you can get a horse until then... he never killed anyone with the horse, just ran over them and knocked them down.  Now, he did some cool sword fighting from the mount, but he had to slow down for that... but was able to behead opponents from horseback.  Then mobs started shooting him with arrows and he dismounted in order to hide behind trees to escape them.  They didn't show it but did say there were manuevers that people on the ground could use to dismount a rider.

More fun from the demo... guilds will be able to create and manage non-PvP towns, but guilds at war with each other may be able to attack each other's towns.  Towns must be maintained, defended from mauraders, and the forests around them kept clean of bandits, if you don't, the NPCs will grow in strength and eventually attack your town.  They can burn down your town.  Player towns are instanced.  For PvP, there are Keeps that guilds can conquer and control, guilds can fight over control of them.  They were unclear how unguilded would be able to participate in towns and keeps, or if they'd even be able to.

[Slyfeind]

You can outrun mobs on horseback in UO, but that game's not boring. (And you can always put mobs on horseback, too.)

Interesting about player towns, exciting that they're hubs for adventure, but sad that they're instanced. I'm tired of people keeping their things in an alternate dimension. AC did player housing the best, and all much emulate them, or else suck.

I wonder if destroying player towns is really going to matter, besides to piss off your enemies. It's fine if that's all it is; I'm just wondering.

[Strazos]

I'm wondering if roguish characters can sneak into towns and pilfer things...

[Oban]

What other games allow a mounted player to damage another player or npc?

I do not remember that Ultima allowed for this, but I may have missed that feature.

[Morfiend]

What other games allow a mounted player to damage another player or npc?

I do not remember that Ultima allowed for this, but I may have missed that feature.

You could fight from horseback in UO.

[Slyfeind]

I'm wondering if roguish characters can sneak into towns and pilfer things...

Oh gawd I hope so. I really REALLY want the good old days back when "rogues" were fucking thieves. Warriors could be tanks, or damage-dealers (holy crap I refuse to call them DeePeeEsses, who the hell started calling characters DeePeeEsses?!), or hybrids of both. Rogues can, I dunno, be all roguish and whatnot, and sit with their feet on the table and wink and flirt with a glass of wine in their hand. And the thieves can steal the pants off of ALL OF THEM.

[jason]

In Conan, the traditional "sneak" from other games doesn't exist.  You can't stand in the middle of a well lit room and be invisible.  All characters can sneak (heck, Conan himself is a barbarian fighter thief), but rogues will be better at it.  To sneak you have to turn on the sneak skill and then stay close to other objects, like trees or walls.  They weren't clear on how rogues would be better at it, but we did see the warrior do the normal "half fade from view" while walking near the trees, but came back to full view once he got too far away from them.

[DataGod]

"but you can actually run people over and trample them."

Yeah, being in a large guild of hardcore PVP'ers having mounted calvary, siege equipment and ranged mounted combat is going to be damn sweet....

[Velorath]

The downside is that being in a large guild seems like the only way to enjoy most of the PVP in Age of Conan.  At the least you're probably going to a want a guild with a good mix of the prestige classes (Lord, Crafter, Commander, and Master).

[stray]

What is meant by "large"? I was in an uber guild in SB at one time, and there was very little cooperation and community there. It wasn't uncommon to get screwed/ninja'ed/lied to/etc by your own guild members (and in turn, having no choice but to kill them and loot their corpses because of it). I hope it isn't that bad. Smaller guilds are better (50 or so...preferably less).

Besides that, it's kind of a strange choice for a game that kicks off the first 20 levels in single player mode.

[Velorath]

What is meant by "large"? I was in an uber guild in SB at one time, and there was very little cooperation and community there. It wasn't uncommon to get screwed/ninja'ed/lied to/etc by your own guild members (and in turn, having no choice but to kill them and loot their corpses because of it). I hope it isn't that bad. Smaller guilds are better (50 or so...preferably less).

Besides that, it's kind of a strange choice for a game that kicks off the first 20 levels in single player mode.

From the FAQ:

4.5 Will there be crafting-specific classes?
No, you won’t pick a crafting class like you would pick an ordinary class. There is definitively a room for crafters in the game, and you will be able to become one, but crafting is in another layer of the class system in Age of Conan called prestige classes. Later in the game you will be able to pick a prestige class that you develop alongside your ordinary class. Crafter is one of these special prestige classes, and as a crafter you will have access to all crafting-specific skills, whereas the other prestige classes only will have access to one or two different crafting skills.

4.6 What prestige classes are there in Age of Conan?
There are four different prestige classes: The Crafter, the Lord, the Commander and the Master. Each of these has extremely valuable advantages that can be used both in solo play and in team play, and each has specific skills and benefits that can make a great difference. The commander can, for instance, expand groups and use special formations during combat, while a lord have certain rights when it comes to building cities and gathering resources. As for the master, he will be able to control a computer-controlled follower that can be of aid in battles. Here are some of the benefits that the prestige classes carry with them:


Lord:


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:

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:

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 Crafters
Has access to all forms of crafting


Master:

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

A good mix of the Prestige classes would seem to be ideal.  I don't know if alt's or inactive accounts count in regards to bonuses, if there's a limit to how many people can actually be in one guild, etc...  I can picture some guilds trying to get 30 of each class for maximum benefits.  At the very least though I'd expect a guild to need a handful of each Prestige class to function.

They released more info on crafting on Friday here (nothing really relevant to PVP though).  Don't know if they're going to post up more on the other 3 Prestige classes later.

[Der Helm]

So, for maximum extraction boni, you need 120 people in different prestige classes. That does not sound like a huge deal for a semi-organized guild.

I would be surprised if they tie the boni to unique accounts, "per prestige class online" would be more likely,but even that is not said in the FAQ.

And even if small guilds can't achieve the maximum boni, we do not know how big a deal these boni are.

[shiznitz]

I don't know if you are trying to be cute or not, but boni is not a word. Bonuses, plskthx.

[Der Helm]

I don't know if you are trying to be cute or not, but boni is not a word. Bonuses, plskthx.

Whoa, really ? 

Just checked an guess what, you where right.  Just in case you are interested, Boni is the German plural of Bonus, and since it is of Latin origin ... 
 
You learn a new thing every day ...
:-D

[HaemishM]

Kind of surprised I didn't see anyone link this:

Age of Conan to be an XBox 360 Game as well as PC

I wonder if they'll be able to put both 360 users and PC users on the same server. This was the only AOC thread I could find in the first 2 pages.

[Velorath]

Kind of surprised I didn't see anyone link this

I think that's mostly because they had more or less unoffically announced it a while back.  In fact when I read about this, the first thing I thought to myself was "Didn't they announce this a long time ago?".

[HaemishM]

First I'd heard of it. But the press release was issued today, so this is an official announcement on the non-official announcement you may or may not be thinking of.

[Velorath]

Exactly.

[palmer_eldritch]

Even before the official X Box announcement they made a point of saying that players could use a mouse and keyboard or could use a joypad for combat, which suggests that the game has always been designed with joypads partly in mind, even for the PC.

As far as PvP and guilds go - as I understand it, the keeps will also be bases for the guild's craftspeople, so possibly there will be an option to allow non-guilded people in shop. What I personally would like to see is a system where people can somehow become residents or "friends" of a keep, and have the option of helping to defend it even if they are not in the guild that owns it. It could allow soloists or small guilds to take part in the big wars and add some sort of political dimension, as big guilds would have an incentive to build alliances and friendships with others.

In any case, I am looking forward to seeing what Funcom come up with.

[Morfiend]

Kind of surprised I didn't see anyone link this:

Age of Conan to be an XBox 360 Game as well as PC

I wonder if they'll be able to put both 360 users and PC users on the same server. This was the only AOC thread I could find in the first 2 pages.

Linkbucks... really?

[Simond]

Money hats for Funcom, if they don't screw it up.

[dwindlehop]

Yeah, being in a large guild of hardcore PVP'ers having mounted calvary, siege equipment and ranged mounted combat is going to be damn sweet....

Mounted archers? 

[Soln]

lets wait and see.  M$FT failed on Mythica and may have screwed Sigil.  Who knows what kind of partners they are?

and frankly, is having an MMO on a console really going to add anything?  I'd figure it dumb things down. 

[UnSub]

Kind of surprised I didn't see anyone link this

I think that's mostly because they had more or less unoffically announced it a while back.  In fact when I read about this, the first thing I thought to myself was "Didn't they announce this a long time ago?".

From memory, there was an unofficial demo of Conan on an Xbox 360 at some gaming convention and the devs commenting that porting it across to the console as a can-we-do-it? thing helped them tighten up some coding.

MS wants a big MMOG so badly, it's almost pathetic. Or funny. I forget which.

[Venkman]

and frankly, is having an MMO on a console really going to add anything?  I'd figure it dumb things down. 

Dedicated audience in a nearly non-competitive environment.

When I played AoC, it was the first time I'd ever played an MMO where I thought using a controller wouldn't suck monkey balls (for me, anyway. I hate the arthritic-inducing non-intuitive poorly-molded-playdoh-looking things).

[stray]

As if MMO's aren't already dumbed down enough...

They can only go up, I think.

-

I'm serious. Just about every console game made requires more attentiveness and coordination than any mmo made ever.

[Threash]

To anyone who has played it already: how does the mounted combat compare to mount and blade?