Is Aoc A Failure?

Scram

I quit Aoc about 2-3 weeks ago and at the start i liked it but after levels 40+ things get really crap. I got my Assasin to level 80(dont ask me how) and tried PVP as a necro i got to lvl 33 before i gave up waiting for the "PVP patch" and "Direct x 10" (for whats thats worth). I quit WoW and gave this game every chance to improve but the patches each week were so poor and so many promises made were never delivered.

The "Game Director" has gone and the new guy who saved "Anarcy Online" at least from what i read is in charge.

Whats your thoughts on AoC? Or am i just too "Spoilt by WoW" to give another MMo a chance. (Which i must add its hard to give another MMO a chance after WoW its very hard). Ive tried Aoc,Vanguard and at the moment im trying WAR.

Ivan

Depends how you define failure, I guess.

If by failure you mean, had enough game unit sales to fairly easily cover the cost of production. Combined with a reasonably healthy subscription based that is pretty much all profit. A failure, then yeah, AoC is a failure.

On the other hand, if you class an MMO failure as one that is massively hyped, huge sales and yet is critically slated by all and sunder, then likewise, AoC is a failure.

But MMOs are different to most PC games; at least in terms of "failage". Traditionally, if a game sells enough units to cover it's costs and net some profit, it was worth it. These days, if an MMO doesnt take a chunk out of WoW, it is considered a failure

There are reasons why the Matrix Online, Planetside and Ultima Online are still going. Because any reasonably decent sized subscriber base, for an MMO, is generally considered a success.

humanji

I think it was a fairly spectacular failure. It was simply released in too bad a state for people to want to hang on long enough for the patches. I say they still have a chance of pulling it all back together, but they've messed up everything else so far, so it seems unlikely.

Nehaxak

I didn't bother subscribing after my first month. Got my Necro to 55 I think but I found it boring with nothing to do and nothing to look forward too at all.

Nearly everything and everywhere being instanced was a flippin' joke as well.
Foudn both class and game mechanics had never realyl been tought about much past the first 30 or so levels and little if any thought had been given to any end game content.
Pvp for all it was meant to be, turned out to be pretty damn poor.

Now, 'moff to play PlanetSide...

WellyJ

As Ivan said im not sure it can be called a complete failure, as it seems to have enough subs to still turn a profit for the forseeable future.

But with all the promises and hype now both looking pretty silly, I tend to view it as a failure, it certainly failed to keep me interested past level 20.

Dyr

From what I read funcom are in financial difficulties though..

Sand

It was too much like WoW.

The only interest was griefing the hell out of people in that main city - camping the square where people crossed to the noble district and there was no guards, griefing people outside the taverns by alpha ganking them and then running for the tavern door to reset guard aggro. Oh and running around in swarms of level 5s and 6s ganking level 20s in White Sands. Good times. But limited. Griefing other players was pretty much the only enjoyment the game offered, and I can grief other players in better games.

Game Devs are going to have realise something. WoW has been done. WoW does it pretty well. If someone prefers the WoW gamestyle, theyll play WoW. Not your ****ty WoW derivative #592. I mean, how many MMOs have come and tried to take a portion of WoWs success and just failed hard?

Come up with something revolutionary. Chuck out the grinding gameplay. The levels and XP...create a new product that creates a new market, attracts gamers who havent found the MMO they are looking for.

Rev Hellfire

Its an interesting question, but with the lack of hard data its difficult to say.
Comparing any MMO to WoW is unjust, it is and remains a phenomenon which will prove hard to duplicate. Certainly War has failed to do so, and looks unlikely to have a major impact.

I think we can say that the AoC forum has been a failure, but I'm not sure we can link the activity of a forum here to the level of success to the associated with it.

For example Eve is one of the more active forums here, but as a percentage quite small going by the last update on mmogchart.com.

All in all I wouldn't write it off just yet, with these games its the sustained levels of subscription which matter not the initial spike of interest generated at launch.