Age of Conan PVP Weekend

No luck here, not that I could play anyways. And yeah, the install is massive, because the world is massive. Its not quite as big as vanguard, but much more detailed etc. I already preordered the collectors edition tho. Hopefully I have a half decent internet connection again by the time I get it :/

I signed up but so far nothing..

I've had several Beta invites into AoC, though I turned them down due to the 32.9gb, and the corresponding huge download that would wipe my internet download limits for a month and a half!

Apparently rumor has it that AoC plays a bit like guild wars in that you can't run off and visit that beautiful scenery in the distance --> it is very linear and scripted apparently

I played in the AoC Tech Test last weekend which was a disaster, even for a Tech Test. The test was several hours long and I was able to play a grand total of maybe 45 minutes - most of that waiting for things to long or lag to catch up. Sigh - it was a Tech Test so I can't hold them too much to blame for those issues.

However, the game itself isn't anything new. You are a *insert generic MMO character type here* and you go through overly scripted events to perform tasks. The graphics aren't anything special and the games takes to long to load. The fighting mechanics are average at best and button mashing at worst.

You guys are right about the installation size - it's massive and for no good reason, the visuals just don't account for it. Before the tech test they issued a 4+GB "patch" that had to be downloaded with a bittorrent download manager. I barely got it downloaded and installed in time for the test.

Altogether lame and unimpressive.

Just out of curiousity (and a great interest in AoC), but do you still happen to have any of those beta invite ?

Yes I do and no I won't. No offense bud.....if the game is delayed, which I think it will be, I may take up the beta offers so that both my GF and I can try it out. In all honestly if you know where to look you can egt a pretty good idea of the current state of the game, and it is hype, hype, hype all the way to the bank.

Isn't its release set for May 20? Cutting it close if it's going to be delayed at this point

Aye Anny, and if they do release in its current state...well Vanguard springs to mind.

Yeah, imo if they release any time soon it's going to be a disaster - even worse than Tabula Rasa.

wow, my bro got in beta and I saw him playing and it is nothing like you say..maybe you tried it in its early stages but it is not choppy and nasty as you say it is..as for the trveling into the distance you are very wrong about that..the detail is by far the best ive seen and ive seen plenty(vangaurd,eve,wow,archlord,COH,GW)..like i said maybe you tried it at its earliest stage but your making it sound as if its garbage..as for the download I agree with the both of you..its very long but its worth the wait..I dont expect any delays as the testing is giving them great feedback..and I am still waiting for key heh

32 gig?

Thirty two gig?

7 conventional DVDs worth of data?

Please tell me that that's the uncompressed size.

How freaking big is the download before it explodes to 32 gig?

The download itself is 6.9gb, and it needs an additional 26 to get everything installed. It probably extracts the setup files first from the 6.9, then it creates temp files from the setup (another extraction, wee!), and then it actually installs. The actual install probably wouldn't be over 10-11gb.

I got the key pretty late in the evening so I left the DL running, haven't gotten to install it yet

But, yeah, there's a nice warning on the client DL page about it needing that much space

Gotcha.

A fully patched and expanded World of Warcraft eats around 7-8 gig, so another few gig for better graphics is probably not asking much.

I just shake my head a bit sometimes...I remember the first hard drive I bought after I got married, was all pleased that I paid $1/megabyte. (got a 120 MB IDE for $120)

Meh, I dont see the point in "renting" a game. Granted the Beta's are usually free, but then again, its not a finished/polished final game, so again, what's the point? The only "MMO" game I play anymore is Guildwars, mostly because it doesnt cost me anything to play beyond the initial purchase. That and it really is a well made and fun game.

AoC just looks like another attempt at making money off of an MMO that will "try" to be the next WoW. I personally despise WoW, but I respect the fact that it has been as popular as its been. The problems I see with AoC is that Conan the Barbarian wasnt that interesting of a premise in the first place. It pales in comparison to LotR and DnD. The combat is going to be same ole same ole MMORPG 123repeat button timing and then sitting around waiting for energy/health to recharge. In an RTS, thats fine because there is other things to do, other units to control. In the RPG world, its a single (or sometimes a small group) avatar with just alot of wasted time.

IMO, it just seems "gimicky" in order to allure those with short attention spans into spending their money in the "latest and greatest" new thing. If I am to get into a new game, it will be months after release and user review pendings in order to decide if I am to part with my cash and time or not. (Although in the rare case of Sins, I bought it upon release, but that was still after reading many many reviews).

Fair points, but once in a while innovation does happen. WoW really wasn't "innovative", but it was just very well put together and given with the popularity of the Warcraft universe it ended up a big hit.

Gameplay-wise, it's hard to innovate the genre any longer. What interests me about Conan is the supposed more interactive combat system where I can do more than just watch the character swing a weapon. I picked up the PC version of Assassin's Creed, and I'm loving the combat - of course I don't expect the same variety and fluidness of animations in an MMO, but the idea of controlling *how* your character fights is very appealing, and if Conan can do that well, I might be willing to shell out a bit of money for it The rest of Conan I don't expect to be much different from the traditional formula at all.

Personally i shall be getting Conan simply because it is Conan, being able to slaughter my way through The Hyborian Age makes the game worthwhile for me, any innovation on the part of the game itself is just a bonus.

Apparently there are a couple of threads on the beta forums asking why you can't 'explore' and are heavily restricted to certain paths. Granted it may be the case that the devs have just chosen to limit where the Beta testers can go. Anyway, we will find out for sure as the NDA will be lifted very soon.

Hurray to Terraziel for being a good fan...however, Annatar11 you said its simple clicking and waiting for him to swing like WoW and its not. But lets not get into that..this will be successful because its different AND the fact that its bloody and includes nudity and you dont have those 13 yr olds nagging you. Apart from that the lore is good too and thats what I always go for..then comes the content with PvP seiging and cities...

DONT HATE...APPRECIATE

Actually, I said that I'm looking forward to trying Conan because it promises to be more interactive than watching an auto-attack routine

I got the PVP weekend Beta invite. Got the download finally. You have to use Gamespots Download manager, which limits it to 250KB/s download speeds... but I was averaging 100 or less. It took 18 HOURS! But that is becasue of the crappy download manager.
There are so many "AoC" sux posts. It's still in beta, so how do they know really?
I have pre-ordered the game, and am looking forward to playing it. If is stinks... oh well. It won't be the 1st time I bought a crummy game. BUT, if it rocks, then those same posters will have to eat their words. They can stay with WoW while the rest of us playing AoC will be having a great time.
I don't expect it to be perfect outa' the box. No game is. If it is only 1/2 as good as I am expecting, it will be worth it.
Sheesh, the game isn't even out yet, but folks are claiming it suxs. To those folks... go play PacMan.

Yeah, Gamespot's download manager leaves something to be desired I really missed the Fileplanet one once I saw those awesome speeds

Man I suck. I have been active in the CoA community for over two years and I have never got a beta invite. This despite have signed up for it three different times with three different systems. I guess if it was not for bad luck I would have no luck. I wish you guys the best that got invites.

On a side note, we are now forming a clan if any other sinners what to join us. Our fourms are WWW Link

Additionally, since I will be getting the CE edition when it is published I will have five (5) trial invites if anyone is interested in one of them let me know.

I might take you up on one of the trial invites, actually, if you don't mind. I'll see how impressed I am with the pvp weekend

Cool! Just PM me or join our forums. I'll be making a post there specifically for the invites.

Eets already made me register there I just noticed a few minutes ago that Fileplanet has the advert for its own Conan beta, teehee.