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Age of Conan

Mangoose

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Divinity: Original Sin Project: Eternity
Yes. I have yet to hear about a mmo that goes from P2P to F2P and back to P2P. I went a bit derp and bought 3 month subscription (it's ~10% off and you get 1 additional month and never-ending +33% xp item.
Games have definitely gone from F2P to P2P before, although I'm not sure I'd qualify them as MMOs. In all cases this has resulted in their declines and death in short order. The most prominent examples that come to mind would be the Sony Station games and the Mythic Gamestorm games.
Proper metatransactions are the best way. By proper I mean like LOTRO (granted quite boring combat in solo... admittedly never grouped)
 

bozia2012

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Codex 2014 PC RPG Website of the Year, 2015 Codex 2016 - The Age of Grimoire Make the Codex Great Again!
A28CC09DAF9B5B4694B9D07048DE1565B784F56A
 

bozia2012

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That's the way to ~level 30 dungeon right? Sanctum something.
Sanctum of the Burning Souls - it's the second 6-man.

I'm having massive fun re-running old content to get achievements - exploring zones, doing low-tier raid sweeps, completing Iron Tower quests I missed or doing purist runs with a fresh character. Also got into some T6 action - I need this ridiculously OP gear.
 

Rahdulan

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Update 5.0, membership changes and sadly probably way too late for some of these things.
http://www.ageofconan.com/news/newmembership

Experience true freedom to play Age of Conan! We’ve listened to your feedback and made a huge change to the way the game works: Membership is no longer required to enter any area! That’s right--you may now access any area you own, regardless of your membership status. You no longer need to keep buying access passes or membership in order to enter Raids, Unchained Dungeons, or playfields from expansions you already bought. Please remember that you still need to own the appropriate pack (such as Rise of the Godslayer) in order to access these areas. Dragon’s Spine has become its own pack that is sold separately, but if you’ve ever spent money through us on Age of Conan before this update, we’ve given you the pack for free!
 

bozia2012

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Codex 2014 PC RPG Website of the Year, 2015 Codex 2016 - The Age of Grimoire Make the Codex Great Again!
Update 5.0, membership changes and sadly probably way too late for some of these things.
http://www.ageofconan.com/news/newmembership

Experience true freedom to play Age of Conan! We’ve listened to your feedback and made a huge change to the way the game works: Membership is no longer required to enter any area! That’s right--you may now access any area you own, regardless of your membership status. You no longer need to keep buying access passes or membership in order to enter Raids, Unchained Dungeons, or playfields from expansions you already bought. Please remember that you still need to own the appropriate pack (such as Rise of the Godslayer) in order to access these areas. Dragon’s Spine has become its own pack that is sold separately, but if you’ve ever spent money through us on Age of Conan before this update, we’ve given you the pack for free!
Lots of things about AoC have been done too late....

Looks like now the game is a lot more forgiving for F2P and socially awkward people. The new raids are rather easy and quick (it's only 3 bosses, lots of things got simplified and nerfed) - it's not really an alternative to normal raids (no item drops, just tokens), but it allows people to see some new stuff (including T6 it seems) and gives a good reward if you spend some time (best rings in the game, some more pets).

Some of the loyalty rewards are super cool (free extra spec, unlimited vendor summon, legendary mounts) and the token gain bonus is OP (+100% on quest tokens, +50% on raid and PvP - all rounded up!).
 

Ninjerk

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I loved the music in what little I played of the solo version they implemented.
 

tet666

Augur
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Apr 13, 2012
Messages
396
Update 5.0, membership changes and sadly probably way too late for some of these things.
http://www.ageofconan.com/news/newmembership

Experience true freedom to play Age of Conan! We’ve listened to your feedback and made a huge change to the way the game works: Membership is no longer required to enter any area! That’s right--you may now access any area you own, regardless of your membership status. You no longer need to keep buying access passes or membership in order to enter Raids, Unchained Dungeons, or playfields from expansions you already bought. Please remember that you still need to own the appropriate pack (such as Rise of the Godslayer) in order to access these areas. Dragon’s Spine has become its own pack that is sold separately, but if you’ve ever spent money through us on Age of Conan before this update, we’ve given you the pack for free!

I'm sure the 5 people who still play this are pretty happy.....
 

Rahdulan

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I can't free myself from this game because of the incredible atmosphere they created.

You appear to be in the know so I figure this is my best place to ask - is it possible to buy Rise of the Godslayer digitally anywhere? Or has Funcom moved all purchases beyond base games into their respective in-game shops?
 

bozia2012

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Codex 2014 PC RPG Website of the Year, 2015 Codex 2016 - The Age of Grimoire Make the Codex Great Again!
I can't free myself from this game because of the incredible atmosphere they created.

You appear to be in the know so I figure this is my best place to ask - is it possible to buy Rise of the Godslayer digitally anywhere? Or has Funcom moved all purchases beyond base games into their respective in-game shops?
I think you can try getting a key from a physical copy (f.e. https://www.amazon.com/Age-Conan-Rise-Godslayer-PC/dp/B003ITXT26), those should still work (I didn't test it myself though).

Normally it's Steam and AoC in-game shop only.
 

Lyric Suite

Converting to Islam
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Mar 23, 2006
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So how far i can get into this game without paying any money? I downloaded the client ages ago, i want to give it a shot before i delete it if nothing else to justify the 20+ GB download.
 

bozia2012

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So how far i can get into this game without paying any money? I downloaded the client ages ago, i want to give it a shot before i delete it if nothing else to justify the 20+ GB download.
They just changed the f2p/premium model, but unfortunately I have no idea about the details (like gold cap or inventory limits).

I know you get one character slot and you can visit base playfields: the whole Aquilonia, Cymmeria and Stygia (except Dragon's Spine which - along with Turan and Khitai - are ~15$ addons).

You can get to max level and then do some raiding (possibly finish the main storyline with Thoth-Amon) - first 3 tiers should now be free and you can queue (with new raid finder) for lite versions of all 6 tiers.

There are no mechanics that will force you to spend cash (like lockboxes, respeccing etc.) - all services in the game are done with in-game currency and real cash is used only to unlock content. But I don't doubt you will get a shop pop-up everytime you log in :)

I'd say the game is still a great treat for all fans of the original Conan (the one with black hair, not the dumbed down blonde) even as a single-player one-time affair.

Don't expect hordes of people roaming the starting zones, but it's not that desolate and I believe recent changes improved the population. You want to play on Crom (biggest pop), unless you're a die-hard PvPer.
 

fizzelopeguss

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They seem to have opened it up.

First thing I noticed is that you can now play all the classes, that's the first thing that turned me off completely last time I tried it F2p. Still limited to 2 character slots though.

Maybe that's because I have a box copy from 08 tagged to my account though.

___

Aww yeah, washed up on the beach and clubbing dudes to death with a broken paddle.
 

Lyric Suite

Converting to Islam
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Mar 23, 2006
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56,166
I only got one character slot. Right now i have a level 14 Guardian. So far it's not bad. Still trying to see if i like the combat. Not sure i really understand what i'm doing it. Looks like i'm supposed to use the combo skill that opens up the directional attack i want depending on which side of the enemy the shield is, but there's usually multiple enemies and certain areas of the game are so bright you can't even see where the white parenthesis is, so all i'm doing is going through a rotation dictated by the cool downs.

I'm on Crom and i run into people all the time. Kinda surprising since i thought the game was going to be a desert. The game right now reminds me of a mix between Wow, Titan Quest and Gothic.
 

ERYFKRAD

Barbarian
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Strap Yourselves In Serpent in the Staglands Shadorwun: Hong Kong Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire Steve gets a Kidney but I don't even get a tag. Pathfinder: Wrath I'm very into cock and ball torture I helped put crap in Monomyth
So, how're the classes in this game, thinking of running the usual barbarian(there's a surprise).
 

Maculo

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Strap Yourselves In Pathfinder: Wrath
I remember playing the free version of the game years ago. I do not remember why I stopped, since I enjoyed parts of it.

For those that played the game consistently, why did this game drop in popularity so quickly? I vaguely remember performance problems and a quality drop-off after the first zone. Otherwise, it looked like the game had consistent content in terms of raids and PVP (or so I thought).
 

Ninjerk

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I remember playing the free version of the game years ago. I do not remember why I stopped, since I enjoyed parts of it.

For those that played the game consistently, why did this game drop in popularity so quickly? I vaguely remember performance problems and a quality drop-off after the first zone. Otherwise, it looked like the game had consistent content in terms of raids and PVP (or so I thought).
I wasn't playing it when all this stuff was going on, but I thought PvP keep sieging or something had a good deal to do with it.

EDIT: Oh and now that I'm thinking about it, people complained they basically only made enough interesting content by release for like 1/3 of the leveling experience (ie. they rushed it to release).
 

bozia2012

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fizzelopeguss I think at some point vets were getting an extra char slot. Now they changed it so all new accounts have 1 slot and extra 7 if they go premium and vets have 2 + 6.

Lyric Suite You don't have to mind the shields most of the time, but when you're fighting other players or more powerful mobs it makes a difference. Combos consist of opener, steps and finisher (last step) - if you press everything in time you will execute combo and get several hits on the mob with increased damage. All combo steps don't have to actually hit (but you loose some damage), you need to only land the finisher.

ERYFKRAD Barbarian is pretty bland for longer run - better try heavy (Conqueror) or healing version (Bear Shaman).
 

Wilian

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Divinity: Original Sin
Is the bagspace still extremely limited? As former launch owner/subscriber I did a new char like year back or so and the bagspace was along the lines of loot couple mobs and you're full.
 

Pipeweed

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Joined
Feb 12, 2012
Messages
202
you can buy extra bag space its not a problem

the problem is you get no offline levels without sub and it burned me out being sent on menial back&forth side quests for experience, playing necromancer I only made it to level 30 something
 

bozia2012

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Wilian I think they increased the bags space for f2p, but not sure. Anyway, you can buy (as soon as you reach a hub city) or craft (need guild city for that) bigger bags with in-game currency. Most of the stuff you pick up is complete shit (fangs, claws etc.) - unless it's worth close to 1s you shouldn't even look at it. Still bags space is will be a problem depending on how much of a hoarder you are - I just can't throw away all my raid sets, even though I will never use them.

Pipemen Offline levels have been disabled now - no one gets any.
 

ERYFKRAD

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Strap Yourselves In Serpent in the Staglands Shadorwun: Hong Kong Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire Steve gets a Kidney but I don't even get a tag. Pathfinder: Wrath I'm very into cock and ball torture I helped put crap in Monomyth
ERYFKRAD Barbarian is pretty bland for longer run - better try heavy (Conqueror) or healing version (Bear Shaman).
Yeah, was leaning between Barb and Conqueror, though the Conqueror seems to be best in a group, and I'm more likely to be derping about solo. What is so bland about Barbarians anyway? If they're a basic whack-whack-whack class, I'm okay with that, to be honest.
 

bozia2012

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ERYFKRAD Barbarian is pretty bland for longer run - better try heavy (Conqueror) or healing version (Bear Shaman).
Yeah, was leaning between Barb and Conqueror, though the Conqueror seems to be best in a group, and I'm more likely to be derping about solo. What is so bland about Barbarians anyway? If they're a basic whack-whack-whack class, I'm okay with that, to be honest.
Barbarians just have combos and damage buffs - very straightforward. I feel like a generic damage dealer when in raid - but maybe it's because being "dps only" in unappealing to me. Barbarians can shine in PvP though - they specialize in dealing CC and avoiding CC.

Bear Shaman feels so much more - you still swing a big club, but you can also heal and buff your party.

Similar case with Conqueror - you can go dual-wield and deal massive damage or go 2-handed and become a full tank. Or you can just switch between those 2 roles during the same encounter. And you give nice party buffs and can rezz people during combat.
 

fizzelopeguss

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Just got out of tortage and landed in cimmeria. This is when I remember the game getting good. Will be nice to check out ymirs pass for the first time as well. They added that just after I left last time and filled a big content gap in that level bracket.

Think I've fallen in love with it all over again. Playing a shaman this time, their bear effect still looks cool and has held up after all these years. And the Crom server seems very healthy currently.

How is the dark templar also? Are they a solid solo class?

Finally Is there any deals or packages for all the content? Still have no idea what I've got to buy.
 

bozia2012

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Just got out of tortage and landed in cimmeria. This is when I remember the game getting good. Will be nice to check out ymirs pass for the first time as well. They added that just after I left last time and filled a big content gap in that level bracket.

Think I've fallen in love with it all over again. Playing a shaman this time, their bear effect still looks cool and has held up after all these years. And the Crom server seems very healthy currently.

How is the dark templar also? Are they a solid solo class?

Finally Is there any deals or packages for all the content? Still have no idea what I've got to buy.
Dark Templar can now tank and deal massive damage at the same time. Since you leech life/mana, you can strike a balance between dps/mitigation and heal yourself with the damage you deal. You can replace your shield for a talisman and wear priest/mage clothing for crazy dps.

All classes are good for solo once you know what you're doing. Obviously Dark Templar has some easier life in the damage mitigation departament - you wear heavy/full plate armor - but you also have some crowd control and the damage is really good.

They pulled all deals from Steam - I guess they were inadequate with the f2p/premium revamp. They are supposed to reduce the monthly sub price soon - probably this will also bring some deals back.

All the content packs in the in-game store are almost strictly level 80.

The Shadow of Vanaheim is a 1-3 player dungeon - I think you can do it on lower levels, but the main appeal were the rings you can buy from the added faction (they were the best in the game, but now you can get better ones with raid finder).

The Savage Coast of Ardashir gives a level 50 playfield, but also a T3.5 raid, 1 group and 2 solo hardmode dungeons - all of which require level 80 or are more rewarding for level 80.

Rise of the Godslayer gives a starting playfield for Khitan characters (level 20-30) and 2 solo dungeons, but also 4 playfields for level 80 with T4 raid and like a dozen of hardmode dungeons and 1 solo dungeon.

Secrets of Dragon Spine is strictly level 80 - T5 and T6 raids and 2 hardmode dungeons.

The last 2 are also fully lovecraftian if you're into that kind of thing.
 
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