The criticism this game received was mostly justified when it launched. NOT anymore. (Loo
Now then, having said that; I was one of the 800,000 or so people who started playing AoC when it first launched. At the time, I had a computer which was right on the borderline for meeting the minimum specs (I'll post a "before and after" spec list at the end of this commentary). As such, I was playing the game on the bare minimum settings and *still* getting a maximum of 10-12 frames per second in the best of cases. Regretfully, after 3 weeks of this or so, I shelved my level 31 Herald of Xotli...and the game.
Over the next few weeks and months, I read up on the long list of bugs, glitches, crashes, memory leaks, broken quests and broken game mechanics that pervaded the game. I was disappointed, because even with slideshow performance, AoC felt fun. The combat was fun and the first 20 levels of Tortage (the tightly scripted, story-driven starter zone) had whetted my appetite for more! Regretfully, I stopped having any hope for this game.
Then some promising signs; the game's lead designer resigns and is replaced by a man who apparently had a sharper vision and more drive than his predecessor. Reviews and comments are chirping about bug fixes, performance enhancements, added content, server mergers to fix population problems. Overall, the positive vibe is starting to at least match the negative.
(A word on negative MMO reviews; always take them with a grain of salt. Tons of people on the Internet will write "reviews" based only on what other people say or write, and these people will NOT change their minds no matter what. I'll admit the game had huge issues at launch, but I'm also honest enough to give someone kudos when they fix their problems, too. Others people aren't.)
After a few months of playing nothing followed by 5 months of playing Warhammer Online, well...I gave up on WAR because that game, while also excellent in many facets, has its own issues to work through. Now, I could either wait for Star Wars: The Old Republic...or resub to an old game.
It wasn't going to be WoW. I hate WoW with a passion I normally reserve only for people who mistreat kids and animals. Everquest, City of Heroes/Villains, Everquest 2, Guild Wars, EVE Online...all my old games came up short when I considered going back.
Then I installed and resubbed to AoC after reading many more comments on various sites and forums, and deciding the game was worth another shot. I had a much better PC this time around, so I cranked the graphics and logged in, expecting at least moderately improved visuals and performance.
Day 1 Back: Gasping as I max out graphics settings and get a steady 70-90 frames per second, followed by careful prodding around as I try to remember what my skills and abilities too.
Day 2 Back: Grab a ton of quests and go to town, slaying and being slain. I'm impressed by the number of people playing, the game stability, and the fun factor of most quests as I have to trek through the countryside rather than just running 200 feet or so outside the nearest "camp".
Day 3 Back: Hopeless addiction sets in as I join my first ever AoC group and enter what used to be a mostly solo dungeon, the Black Castle. It was now apprently revamped as a group zone. Tough mobs, traps (the Indy nod was especially hilarious!) and great boss fights.
After my time in the Black Castle, I was convinced. For players looking for a return to the days when quests had some challenge to them and the gameworld felt like more than just an excuse to plop down some NPCs and dole out some XP, this is your game. Huge vistas, roaming dangerous creatures, alternate routes to pretty much everywhere...and dungeons that put the sense of fear and exploration back into you. This is the game that I have been waiting for since I stopped playing the original Everquest almost 6 years ago.
If you're looking for a game that will suck you in, this is it. Give the free trial a whirl; you simply will not regret it.
OLD PC:
Ahtlon 64 3500+
2 Gb RAM
ATI Radeon X1950XT (256Mb)
CURRENT PC:
Intel Core2 E8500 3.1Ghz
4Gb RAM
ATI Radeon 4850 512Mb