Comments on: Where Have You Gone, Joe AOC? http://blog.gamerdna.com/blog/2008/07/25/where-have-you-gone-joe-aoc/ Discover games being played and enjoyed by people like you -- right now. Mon, 23 Nov 2009 18:20:41 -0400 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 hourly 1 By: Temporary Inbox http://blog.gamerdna.com/blog/2008/07/25/where-have-you-gone-joe-aoc/comment-page-1/#comment-8395 Temporary Inbox Thu, 16 Jul 2009 06:46:34 +0000 http://blog.gamerdna.com/blog/2008/07/25/where-have-you-gone-joe-aoc/#comment-8395 Great post! Much appreciated :) Great post! Much appreciated :)

]]> By: Kevin http://blog.gamerdna.com/blog/2008/07/25/where-have-you-gone-joe-aoc/comment-page-1/#comment-4360 Kevin Wed, 03 Sep 2008 18:31:56 +0000 http://blog.gamerdna.com/blog/2008/07/25/where-have-you-gone-joe-aoc/#comment-4360 "something went badly wrong with the June 16th patch...the weekend immediately following this patch saw one of the steepest drops of the observed time period. " The free 30-day trial period ended at that time. That's the reason for the huge drop at once, but the overall trend is because the game was only finished up to Level 20 at the time of release, just enough for the reviewers and beta players. “something went badly wrong with the June 16th patch…the weekend immediately following this patch saw one of the steepest drops of the observed time period. ”

The free 30-day trial period ended at that time. That’s the reason for the huge drop at once, but the overall trend is because the game was only finished up to Level 20 at the time of release, just enough for the reviewers and beta players.

]]> By: Sahdow http://blog.gamerdna.com/blog/2008/07/25/where-have-you-gone-joe-aoc/comment-page-1/#comment-381 Sahdow Mon, 28 Jul 2008 23:22:08 +0000 http://blog.gamerdna.com/blog/2008/07/25/where-have-you-gone-joe-aoc/#comment-381 Finally a data miner I think a follow up would be good on the sales correlation especially since many users didn't buy the game at release but were talking into it because its great until end game Finally a data miner I think a follow up would be good on the sales correlation especially since many users didn’t buy the game at release but were talking into it because its great until end game

]]> By: Hades http://blog.gamerdna.com/blog/2008/07/25/where-have-you-gone-joe-aoc/comment-page-1/#comment-380 Hades Mon, 28 Jul 2008 22:14:13 +0000 http://blog.gamerdna.com/blog/2008/07/25/where-have-you-gone-joe-aoc/#comment-380 LotD had a 150 person roster going into release. We wanted to focus on sieging, zone control, and arena all at the same time. Instead we were treated to broken sieges, massive technical issues, patches that broke more things than they fixed, etc. Our attrition rate by day 60 of retail was 57%, which left us with around 65 active players. If that is applied across the board, that means that 1 out of every 2 players quits the game within 90 days. Smaller guilds suffered even higher attrition rates because losing 50-75% of their members effectively shut them out of the end game completely. AOC can recover with server mergers, fixes to the end game, PVP systems with rewards, and giving smaller guilds a way to buy into the end game. LotD had a 150 person roster going into release. We wanted to focus on sieging, zone control, and arena all at the same time. Instead we were treated to broken sieges, massive technical issues, patches that broke more things than they fixed, etc.

Our attrition rate by day 60 of retail was 57%, which left us with around 65 active players. If that is applied across the board, that means that 1 out of every 2 players quits the game within 90 days. Smaller guilds suffered even higher attrition rates because losing 50-75% of their members effectively shut them out of the end game completely.

AOC can recover with server mergers, fixes to the end game, PVP systems with rewards, and giving smaller guilds a way to buy into the end game.

]]> By: Methedras http://blog.gamerdna.com/blog/2008/07/25/where-have-you-gone-joe-aoc/comment-page-1/#comment-379 Methedras Mon, 28 Jul 2008 21:12:46 +0000 http://blog.gamerdna.com/blog/2008/07/25/where-have-you-gone-joe-aoc/#comment-379 I'm betting a large number never left WoW, just tried AoC out on the side, and then kept playing WoW. I’m betting a large number never left WoW, just tried AoC out on the side, and then kept playing WoW.

]]> By: Xianthe http://blog.gamerdna.com/blog/2008/07/25/where-have-you-gone-joe-aoc/comment-page-1/#comment-378 Xianthe Mon, 28 Jul 2008 20:53:51 +0000 http://blog.gamerdna.com/blog/2008/07/25/where-have-you-gone-joe-aoc/#comment-378 What's really weird is their Anarchy Onliine test environment is pretty healthy, has rewards built in and other perks. I don't understand why they couldn't move that over. I enjoyed when I played but I missed the wave of players leveling and now my friends are level 80. Plus I'd have to now move servers to be with them. In the old days I probably would have done so by now, but now I'm on the fence waiting and seeing after putting 300 hours into games like Vanguard with friends then we all left. Of course fun is fun and no time is wasted, but I would like to spend my time these days wisely. If I know an MMO is going to be a veritable wasteland in a few months, I'm timid about time spent. What’s really weird is their Anarchy Onliine test environment is pretty healthy, has rewards built in and other perks. I don’t understand why they couldn’t move that over. I enjoyed when I played but I missed the wave of players leveling and now my friends are level 80. Plus I’d have to now move servers to be with them.

In the old days I probably would have done so by now, but now I’m on the fence waiting and seeing after putting 300 hours into games like Vanguard with friends then we all left. Of course fun is fun and no time is wasted, but I would like to spend my time these days wisely. If I know an MMO is going to be a veritable wasteland in a few months, I’m timid about time spent.

]]> By: Jodou http://blog.gamerdna.com/blog/2008/07/25/where-have-you-gone-joe-aoc/comment-page-1/#comment-376 Jodou Mon, 28 Jul 2008 17:24:52 +0000 http://blog.gamerdna.com/blog/2008/07/25/where-have-you-gone-joe-aoc/#comment-376 The biggest problem here is Funcom did not provide a solid beta test and with every knee-jerk patch, it shows. Their method of balancing is to introduce partial changes in waves, which sharply rocks the boat back and forth -- losing players to the sea with each crest. It's this roller-coaster that people grow tired of week after week when paired with the constant client/server instability and new bugs. These are all things that should have been done in beta and not when you're trying to convince players to stay. The biggest problem here is Funcom did not provide a solid beta test and with every knee-jerk patch, it shows. Their method of balancing is to introduce partial changes in waves, which sharply rocks the boat back and forth — losing players to the sea with each crest. It’s this roller-coaster that people grow tired of week after week when paired with the constant client/server instability and new bugs. These are all things that should have been done in beta and not when you’re trying to convince players to stay.

]]> By: Drakiis http://blog.gamerdna.com/blog/2008/07/25/where-have-you-gone-joe-aoc/comment-page-1/#comment-375 Drakiis Mon, 28 Jul 2008 15:45:25 +0000 http://blog.gamerdna.com/blog/2008/07/25/where-have-you-gone-joe-aoc/#comment-375 At this stage of the games evolution you get out of the game what you put into it. Most people got soft playing WoW, and of those people many expect to have everything given to them and are players seeking a quick progression in the game without having to do the learning necessary to become proficient in it. They chase the flavor of the month umber class, they do not explore the nature of the feat tree, experiment or do their best to over come obstacles, nor do they have the patience to level, instead opting to sit and moan and finally quit or cancel. As far as guilds go, I think many are under the delusion that this game is like Guild Wars where anyone can start up a guild and the guild will become large through force of will alone. This couldn't be further from the truth, except for maybe on a pve server most small time gank guilds will not have the organization to truly enjoy the game or meet the requirements needed to prosper in the game as a organization. At this stage of the games evolution you get out of the game what you put into it. Most people got soft playing WoW, and of those people many expect to have everything given to them and are players seeking a quick progression in the game without having to do the learning necessary to become proficient in it. They chase the flavor of the month umber class, they do not explore the nature of the feat tree, experiment or do their best to over come obstacles, nor do they have the patience to level, instead opting to sit and moan and finally quit or cancel.

As far as guilds go, I think many are under the delusion that this game is like Guild Wars where anyone can start up a guild and the guild will become large through force of will alone. This couldn’t be further from the truth, except for maybe on a pve server most small time gank guilds will not have the organization to truly enjoy the game or meet the requirements needed to prosper in the game as a organization.

]]> By: Angela Bull http://blog.gamerdna.com/blog/2008/07/25/where-have-you-gone-joe-aoc/comment-page-1/#comment-374 Angela Bull Mon, 28 Jul 2008 13:08:08 +0000 http://blog.gamerdna.com/blog/2008/07/25/where-have-you-gone-joe-aoc/#comment-374 I am still playing Age of Conan and have high hopes. My guild on Cimmeria, Section One, nearly has a tier II city and our 80's have begun participating in the PvP mini-games. The details of AoC need to be tightened up and content expanded, but the core and combat of AoC rock. I am still playing Age of Conan and have high hopes. My guild on Cimmeria, Section One, nearly has a tier II city and our 80’s have begun participating in the PvP mini-games. The details of AoC need to be tightened up and content expanded, but the core and combat of AoC rock.

]]> By: Cedia http://blog.gamerdna.com/blog/2008/07/25/where-have-you-gone-joe-aoc/comment-page-1/#comment-373 Cedia Sun, 27 Jul 2008 22:28:03 +0000 http://blog.gamerdna.com/blog/2008/07/25/where-have-you-gone-joe-aoc/#comment-373 The June 12th patch is when the undocumented change to grey elite monsters went into play. My husband and I cancelled a few days later. Apparently, this is still an issue that is unresolved (and uncommented on by Funcom) as per http://forums.ageofconan.com/showthread.php?t=85317 Our reason for cancellation was that, if they could change core game mechanics on a whim without notifying their player base at all, what was next? The June 12th patch is when the undocumented change to grey elite monsters went into play. My husband and I cancelled a few days later. Apparently, this is still an issue that is unresolved (and uncommented on by Funcom) as per http://forums.ageofconan.com/showthread.php?t=85317 Our reason for cancellation was that, if they could change core game mechanics on a whim without notifying their player base at all, what was next?

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