I’ve spent an obscene 48 hours this week in WoW; Hrishnak is up to level 56 and I am getting tired of old world content. But I’m almost done with it.
Funcom’s new offering of 14 free days in AoC for lapsed customers tempted me partially just because it’d be a break from WoW for a little while. It took overnight to get the client downloaded and patched, but since then I’ve put in a fait bit of time.
I started a new character, an Aquilonian Conqueror, who has about the most thuggish look imaginable, as you can see from the screenshot above. He’s also built like a brick shithouse; AoC allows you to do quite a lot with character customization.
Starting the Tortage 1-20 chain was kind of nice, actually; I’d been away from it long enough that it feels fresh, and I never did the warrior side of the sequence when I was playing before. It really is, hands-down, the best starting area in MMOs, but it’s a shame it’s the only one in the game. Here’s hoping that whatever the soon-to-be-announced expansion turns out to be, it’ll include a few new races (I demand Shemites and Vanir!) along with new character slots to accommodate them.
So far I’m having a fantastic time. AoC’s combat is fluid and fast-paced, and a lot of fun. The game’s still got its share of graphical artifacts (although a lot of mine went away when I updated my video drivers – clipping is about the most serious issue,) but it’s a serious, high-quality effort.
July 10, 2009 at 2:35 am
ooooooh you tease just restarted patching mine so should be finished by the time im home from work. As you have done I think i’ll start from scratch as i loved the tortage area
July 10, 2009 at 11:08 am
This has been a major boon on their part. If anyone left because of the issues and not the game, the current release is pretty bug free.
Nothing prevents the player from leveling or completing quests.
Gear is really well done now (with tons of variety actually kicking in), combat is fast, spells are awesome..
Yea, I am still glad to be playing.
Smart move for people trying classes is not to go past level 5.
Try them out, pick a favorite or two…then level one to 50…thus getting another free 50, as the 50 to max level game is polished and well fleshed out, so you can get to endgame quickly.
Woot.
July 10, 2009 at 11:13 am
openedge I actually have a toon at level 49 however Im not wanting to jump on him atm as I’ve been away so long this feels like a brand new game.
July 10, 2009 at 7:08 pm
That guy looks like he should be loading ship at some port. Glad to see you took the plunge.
July 11, 2009 at 3:46 am
Funny thing for me is when WAR offered me free time I jumped on it without even thinking. When I saw AoC wanted to give me free time I was uncertain and even though I sort of want to see what it’s like now, the fact I still feel burned and have a disgustingly huge dislike for Funcom as a company simply puts me off even installing their game on my machine.
July 11, 2009 at 10:08 am
I took up the AOC offer to return to Hyboria as well. The game does seem to be much improved.
July 13, 2009 at 5:24 am
Well I played for a few hours over the weekend and whilst i have been impressed at parts I dont think it holds enough for me to return and pay for a monthly sub. I will no doubt play for the remainder of the 14 days but that will be all im afraid
July 13, 2009 at 5:25 am
Oh and just to let you know Ardwulf I have deleted my old blog ‘The Crusading Noob’ as I wanted to 1.Start again and 2. keep everything together
July 13, 2009 at 5:35 pm
He totally looks like Minsc from Baldur’s Gate.
July 14, 2009 at 5:16 am
Any incoming ‘Review’ on this or are you waiting until the end of the two weeks?
July 15, 2009 at 2:45 am
I will probably have something to say about it in the next few posts. I now have the new character out of Tortage, and praising the starting area wouldn’t really give anyone any new information.