Thanks to Goonheim again for the pics.
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
Goonheim Begins City Construction in Age of Conan - Game First?
The Hordes of Goonheim, a PvP Guild on the US FFA server Deathwhisper have begun construction on their Guild City... already. As far as I know, they just might be the first to do so.
With 3 days of early access being cut effectively in half (for working stiffs) by down-time, I find it absolutely astonishing that a guild could already be building their city. These are the guys who were building Feat Calculators in the beta however, so it's obvious that they're serious about their Conan. I just didn't expect to see this happening already and on a FFA PVP server no less.
Talk about team work. They must have been running hard and like a pack of wild dogs out the gate.
Grats to them. Maybe tonight I'll be able to get out of Tortage (barring any downtime) and start the TTH Guild, unless of course Boomjack or Cody beat me to it. Here's a couple pictures from the Goonheim event. As you can see the War Mammoths are appropriately "mammoth". Something tells me these guys will wind up dominating their server's Border Kingdom for a while.
Monday, May 19, 2008
Something I can't Wait to Try (AoC)...
Expect a lot of Conan posts from here on out, sorry if that is a downer to anyone. Just a disclaimer.
Now, take a look at THIS.
That is why I pre-ordered and got the mammoth mount. I want to gore people with my tusks.
That is allo.
Now, take a look at THIS.
That is why I pre-ordered and got the mammoth mount. I want to gore people with my tusks.
That is allo.
The Tempest of Set - One Bad Mamma Jamma
So, after a lot of deliberation I finally decided to play a class in Age of Conan that I never touched during the beta - The Tempest of Set. Essentially, the ToS plays like a nuker with the ability to heal. I was skeptic at first, even toyed around with the Herald of Xotli some for a bit, but eventually I made my way back to the ToS and I don't think I'm going to stop again with him for quite some time.
The downside of the ToS at the start is that they're not particularly good at healing. Not at all. You get an early HoT that does something ridiculous like 2 HP every second for 17 seconds... but I have 200HP. So at the outset, I found myself relying more on my potions and resting between fights, and this is really the way it is for all healers in the beginning of Age of Conan. I remember exactly the same issues with the Bear Shaman. But then by about level 15 (roughly 6 hours into the game) suddenly it clicks in terms of healing. At 18 I have 3 HoTs and a Rez. I can pop those heals on my friend and I and watch as the health bars go up instead of down when fighting enemies.
Combine these healing abilities with my lightning AoE spells, my root, and my mez... and there's no touching me (even when solo-ing) unless I get swarmed. I've never played a healer that felt so strong and capable of playing alone so early on. It's a refreshing change of pace really. Something tells me Funcom wanted to make sure the healers in their game were actually fun to play, and because of the nature of the action-oriented combat and the pacing of the game in general... they certainly are.
There's just something very satisfying about seeing an enemy rife with elecricity as he convulses and turns blue then crumples to the grounds in a smoking heap. There's something more to it when you remember that you're not a mage, but a "priest" in a traditional sense. I can see myself providing a lot of support in PvP with my Crowd Control, and even holding my own with damage thanks to the power of the serpent god, Set.
Good stuff, Funcom. Good stuff, indeed.
The downside of the ToS at the start is that they're not particularly good at healing. Not at all. You get an early HoT that does something ridiculous like 2 HP every second for 17 seconds... but I have 200HP. So at the outset, I found myself relying more on my potions and resting between fights, and this is really the way it is for all healers in the beginning of Age of Conan. I remember exactly the same issues with the Bear Shaman. But then by about level 15 (roughly 6 hours into the game) suddenly it clicks in terms of healing. At 18 I have 3 HoTs and a Rez. I can pop those heals on my friend and I and watch as the health bars go up instead of down when fighting enemies.
Combine these healing abilities with my lightning AoE spells, my root, and my mez... and there's no touching me (even when solo-ing) unless I get swarmed. I've never played a healer that felt so strong and capable of playing alone so early on. It's a refreshing change of pace really. Something tells me Funcom wanted to make sure the healers in their game were actually fun to play, and because of the nature of the action-oriented combat and the pacing of the game in general... they certainly are.
There's just something very satisfying about seeing an enemy rife with elecricity as he convulses and turns blue then crumples to the grounds in a smoking heap. There's something more to it when you remember that you're not a mage, but a "priest" in a traditional sense. I can see myself providing a lot of support in PvP with my Crowd Control, and even holding my own with damage thanks to the power of the serpent god, Set.
Good stuff, Funcom. Good stuff, indeed.
The Signs of A Good Game
I spent most of the evening Saturday in Hyboria, experiencing one of the smoothest launches of an MMOG I've yet experienced. I was shocked at just how well Age of Conan ran when the servers finally came up after a short delay Saturday afternoon. The delay, at least at first, reeked of of "here comes the crashes". I thought for sure that when the servers did come up, they'd be down within moments, but the opposite proved true.
The lag was minimal, the players plenty, and the client... smooth as could be running on absolute highest detail. 30 frames per second, no graphical bugs or niggles... just uninterrupted gameplay for the rest of the evening. Finally, with launch, people can now see the game I've been playing and loving for the past few months. I only hope their open beta fiasco didn't do them any harm. Though early reports are that Funcom had a very high pre-order rate for this little gem, and I hope so. They deserve success for creating such a fun take on the genre.
Anyway, the purpose of this post...
I woke up Sunday morning and immediately went to log in. Sundays are ritualistic for me. I wake up, I go downstairs, I eat some awesome breakfast and I chill out with my wife while we figure out what we're doing for the day. Not this Sunday.
This Sunday I went right into my office and pulled my PC out of sleep mode. I had a few quests that my eyes wouldn't stay open long enough for that needed to be handed in. Later that afternoon I had made plans to go with some friends to see Iron Man (a 2nd time, it was worth it), and during the movie my mind kept drifting to my Tempest of Set (more on this later) and just how much fun it was to electrocute picts and Redhand Guards until they turned blue and black from the power of his spells.
I got home eventually but my buddy Adam wanted to hang out and play some GTA IV since he was waiting on his girlfriend to pick him up from my house. There I was, playing easily the best game of the year (maybe of the past 10) and all I could think about was JoBildo, the Tempest of Set.
Yep, it's a good game. I want to go home now. I want to go back into Hyboria. But hey, at least now the game's live, and it's running on all cylinders. Well played, Funcom. You've won me over for good.
More on my adventures later. Lots of work to do today.
Cheers!
The lag was minimal, the players plenty, and the client... smooth as could be running on absolute highest detail. 30 frames per second, no graphical bugs or niggles... just uninterrupted gameplay for the rest of the evening. Finally, with launch, people can now see the game I've been playing and loving for the past few months. I only hope their open beta fiasco didn't do them any harm. Though early reports are that Funcom had a very high pre-order rate for this little gem, and I hope so. They deserve success for creating such a fun take on the genre.
Anyway, the purpose of this post...
I woke up Sunday morning and immediately went to log in. Sundays are ritualistic for me. I wake up, I go downstairs, I eat some awesome breakfast and I chill out with my wife while we figure out what we're doing for the day. Not this Sunday.
This Sunday I went right into my office and pulled my PC out of sleep mode. I had a few quests that my eyes wouldn't stay open long enough for that needed to be handed in. Later that afternoon I had made plans to go with some friends to see Iron Man (a 2nd time, it was worth it), and during the movie my mind kept drifting to my Tempest of Set (more on this later) and just how much fun it was to electrocute picts and Redhand Guards until they turned blue and black from the power of his spells.
I got home eventually but my buddy Adam wanted to hang out and play some GTA IV since he was waiting on his girlfriend to pick him up from my house. There I was, playing easily the best game of the year (maybe of the past 10) and all I could think about was JoBildo, the Tempest of Set.
Yep, it's a good game. I want to go home now. I want to go back into Hyboria. But hey, at least now the game's live, and it's running on all cylinders. Well played, Funcom. You've won me over for good.
More on my adventures later. Lots of work to do today.
Cheers!
Saturday, May 17, 2008
TTH - AoC Guild Rolling on Wiccana
Just an FYI to those who care that myself and the rest of the TTH-AoC guild will be making our home in Age of Conan on the US PVE server Wiccana.
Look for Bildo or JoBildo there, and feel free to pester me whenever.
Servers go live in about an hour from this posting.
Have fun storming Hyboria!
Look for Bildo or JoBildo there, and feel free to pester me whenever.
Servers go live in about an hour from this posting.
Have fun storming Hyboria!
Thursday, May 15, 2008
Official Server List for AoC Launch
Funcom's just released the names and types for the servers available at launch for Age of Conan.
I'm not sure where we TTH folk will be headed yet, but I'll keep you all posted. Here's the list of all servers for those who can't see Funcom's site from work... like me.
US Servers (Early Access 17th of May)
PvE Servers
PvP Servers
RP-PvP Server
European English Servers (Early Access 17th of May)
PvE Servers
PvP Servers
RP-PvP Server
French Servers (Early Access 17th of May)
PvE Server
PvP Server
I'm not sure where we TTH folk will be headed yet, but I'll keep you all posted. Here's the list of all servers for those who can't see Funcom's site from work... like me.
US Servers (Early Access 17th of May)
PvE Servers
- Set
- Dagoth
- Zug
- Omm
- Derketo
- Thog
- Wiccana
- Gwahlur (recommended Oceanic)
- Anu
PvP Servers
- Tyranny
- Bane
- Deathwisper
- Bloodspire (recommended Oceanic)
- Doomsayer
RP-PvP Server
- Cimmeria
European English Servers (Early Access 17th of May)
PvE Servers
- Crom
- Dagon
- Ymir
- Bori
- Astoreth
PvP Servers
- Fury
- Wildsoul
RP-PvP Server
- Aquilonia
French Servers (Early Access 17th of May)
PvE Server
- Ishtar
PvP Server
- Ferox
RP-PvP Server
- Stygia
German Servers (Early Access 17th of May)
PvE Servers
- Mitra
- Asura
PvP Server
- Aries
RP-PvP Server
- Asgard
Spanish Server (Early Access 17th of May)
- Zingara (PvE)
Guess those Spanish are screwed if they wanted a PvP ruleset server. Heh...
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