Topic: Age of Conan going Free to Play

[Tus-XC]

http://community.ageofconan.com/wsp/conan/frontend.cgi?func=publish.show&template=content&func_id=3310&table=CONTENT

‘Age of Conan’ goes FREE and UNRATED

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‘Age of Conan’ soon available in a savage, sexy and brutal UNRATED version featuring a hybrid business model


Durham, USA – May 25th, 2011 – Funcom is excited to announce that the award-winning and critically acclaimed massively multiplayer online game ‘Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures’ will receive a digital re-launch this summer under the new name ‘Age of Conan: Unrated’. As well as reaffirming its position as the sexiest and most savage MMO in the world, ‘Age of Conan: Unrated’ will also feature a hybrid business model allowing anyone to freely roam the vast lands of Hyboria either as free players or premium subscribers with access to extra content.

“With over 1.4 million copies sold, glowing reviews for both the core game as well as the expansion, and a healthy player base ever since launch in 2008, there is no doubt that ‘Age of Conan’ has been a true success story for Funcom,” says SVP of Sales & Marketing Morten Larssen. “Now we turn to another chapter in this story as we thrust ‘Age of Conan: Unrated’ into the world of free-to-play games, a gaming space that is becoming rapidly more popular and profitable across the board.”

The new business model will give players the opportunity to choose whether they want to play for free or become premium subscribers, and Funcom is also introducing an in-game store to the game where both free players and premium subscribers can purchase exclusive content such as weaponry and mounts. For a full overview of what differs from the free and premium offerings, please view the Frequently Asked Questions now available on ‘Age of Conan’ community website.

‘Age of Conan’ has always been a Mature gaming experience, but going Unrated gives the development team freedom to stay even more true to the original works of Conan author Robert E. Howard, and use even more of the barbaric, brutal and sexy setting that is Howard's Hyboria. Funcom is already in the process of developing new locations, monsters, equipment and storylines for ‘Age of Conan: Unrated’. This includes the movie tie-in adventure pack announced yesterday, that will introduce content and characters from the upcoming ‘Conan the Barbarian’ movie.

“Everyone on the team is excited about opening up our world to an even larger audience,” says Creative Director and Executive Producer Craig Morrison. “The online world of Hyboria is constantly expanding as we continue to introduce new gameplay features and new content, and we truly believe that ‘Age of Conan: Unrated’ will offer something truly new and unique to both new players and to those have already experienced the brutal online world of Conan the Barbarian.”

[Sirgod]

Saw this today, which is kind of funny, as I had got some free time on my two accounts last month. LOL, still, I hope this get's in some new subs.

Stephen

[FRA.E.Kehakoul_XC]

What a load of crap,..this premium BS is the nail in the coffin for me,gaming wise.

Any game supporting this unbalanced sh*t gets boycotted ,they obviously have no clue how games work.

Why don't they put  this up for other games as-well? like tennis for example, the premium player will get extra balls.

The whole concept of premium ammo and so on was obviously introduced by completely retarded people,i hope (excuse my french)the suffocate on their own sh*t.

And people  who play this without premium are obviously masochists,considering the IQ drop in the youth today it fits though.

[Tus-XC]

Don't get what you're saying.  It is normal for there to be limitations on the free to play version, that is why its free.  And really, the 4 classes picked to be free are the most common classes played, so its not like its going to change much outside of making it easier to find places for my DT and HoX on raids.  And if you are a former subscriber you aren't going to lose those classes btw, you'll just be limited to 2.  BTW, the 'premium' armor as you say, ain't really all that powerful.  They are on par with blues you can get in game and in comparison to end game content they are not overpowered.  Hell most end game blues gained in say atzels and onyx are better.  It just makes things a little easier for those with extra cash.  The one thing i really like though is having the vanity slots and being able to buy different costume sets (also not uncommon) - I finally won't look like a clone of everyone else.

[FA Frey XC]

What a load of crap,..this premium BS is the nail in the coffin for me,gaming wise.

Any game supporting this unbalanced sh*t gets boycotted ,they obviously have no clue how games work.

Why don't they put  this up for other games as-well? like tennis for example, the premium player will get extra balls.

The whole concept of premium ammo and so on was obviously introduced by completely retarded people,i hope (excuse my french)the suffocate on their own sh*t.

And people  who play this without premium are obviously masochists,considering the IQ drop in the youth today it fits though.

What the heck do you mean? You haven't played AoC in like... 2 YEARS, Kehakoul. You don't even know what we're doing on Age of Conan, let alone what the new hybrid model is.

I'm excited as hell about this, and I wish you'd re-sub on the EU servers Tus, we're raiding weekly and about to start T3 / T4.

Regards,

[Tus-XC]

I prolly will for a bit, but my schedule no longer works with EU play times.  I work a normal work week now, which would limit raiding on EU to the weekends only

[FRA.E.Kehakoul_XC]

a load of crap,..this premium BS is the nail in the coffin for me,gaming wise.

Any game supporting this unbalanced sh*t gets boycotted ,they obviously have no clue how games work.

Why don't they put  this up for other games as-well? like tennis for example, the premium player will get extra balls.

The whole concept of premium ammo and so on was obviously introduced by completely retarded people,i hope (excuse my french)the suffocate on their own sh*t.

And people  who play this without premium are obviously masochists,considering the IQ drop in the youth today it fits though.

What the heck do you mean? You haven't played AoC in like... 2 YEARS, Kehakoul. You don't even know what we're doing on Age of Conan, let alone what the new hybrid model is.

I'm excited as hell about this, and I wish you'd re-sub on the EU servers Tus, we're raiding weekly and about to start T3 / T4.

Regards,

I am talking about the so called Micro transaction systems,if its cubits in BSg online or gold ammo in world of tanks  and premium tanks , or vanity clothing  in eve online etc,its a scamm.

If i want to see social differences due to different incomes, i don't play a game i just observe real life.

To be against that i don't need to know what  content they added to aoc.

I think we talked about this before in game, when i noticed those stupid premium mounts, or height advantages of you character ,gold sellers etc ,, i mean wtf.

It all started with preorder advantages.

The very definition of a game is that the rules are for all players the same,.. that's called fair.
if you leave that path ,.. then  what i wrote in my first post apply s.

IF all this has no real impact then why pay for it at all i ask,..you don't really believe that or  do you?

So far only the EVE community seems to get what this means,that's the reasons for the riots and all the red faces there.

.[/quote]

Sorry about the edit, mistakes happen

[762_XC]

I see your point to a large degree Kehak. I largely felt the same frustration, and I might say almost indignant anger, when I first played DDO (which is the worst of the four MMO's that I have played in that regard). I too felt I was being scammed...if not out of money then out of time. It's frustrating to invest so much in developing a character and then to hit a brick wall that says "please insert 695 Turbine points".

In another sense this economic model has become a big one for gaming. We give you so much for free, and try to entice you to buy more with these little perks.

The upside to this is that the model is successful to the degree that the companies that develop these games can spend a lot more time and resources in presenting the games themselves, as opposed to an off the shelf game that you pay 50 bucks for and then walk away. For a single player game that's fine maybe. For an online game that you expect updates to and, even more to the point, a server infrastructure that can host the online gaming community (ask Frey how much that costs), a pay as you go economy makes a lot more sense.
 

[FA Frey XC]

Kehakoul,  please ... with all due respect I feel like you and a couple others on these boards have no idea what your talking about, and it's really frustrating when I have to deal with this type of BS when we're trying to hype up something we like.

Microtransactions are HERE. They are the way things are, now. If you'd been online playing ANYTHING in the last 5 years, you'd know this. I keep my finger to the pulse of the industry for several different reasons. I'm damned GLAD AoC isn't going totally F2P, as well as damned glad ST:O isn't going F2P, because F2P MEANS a CASH STORE.

And one other thing my friends.... if you truly believe that any game you play online with other people doesn't involve some type of commerce, your ... unobservant ? Prestige, BPV, Atari-Coins, Cryptic Points, Funcom Points, they are ALL the same thing!!! Those people who have the time but not the money - your solution is here. Those people without the time but with money? Your solution is here. Now we can all get together and game.

One last thing (I watched Sucker Punch tonight and couldn't help it) - ANY GAME WITH A LEVELING SYSTEM IS INHERENTLY UNFAIR AND FAVORS THE PLAYERS WILLING TO PUT THE TIME IN. There is no "equal playing field" , except in the ENVIRONMENT... RIGHT ??? Everyone has the opportunity to level 24 / 7 because the content / grind is there, regardless if it's AoC, DDO, or Champions Online. Age of Conan's environment is much much more balanced now, and much more skill based than even before.

Why, one would say that perhaps it's the individual's responsibility as to how fast he or she levels, but that's ridiculous, and we all know it 

Anyone who expects more than rock , paper, scissors for FREE in an online medium is nuts.

You pay for the game's continued existance, and it's not my fault (the player that can afford to play it, like ... what... several other million people in the US alone)  that you liked the game, decided to play it, didn't read the fine manual, and then got rightfully indignent because you feel like you got scammed when in fact you scammed yourself. You didn't investigate, you didn't look into things, you just rushed blindly ahead and then got pissed because it didn't turn out like you wished.

Sense of entitlement ruins one's enjoyment of life is Frey's lesson for the millenium. Or should I say MOOOOOOlennium.

Regards,

[marstone]

Free to play will always be a nurfed version of a game.  With more play that is unlocked by paying.  Take it as a trial version.  Play and enjoy.  If you like subscribe and do the extra stuff. 

[FRA.E.Kehakoul_XC]

Just one example WOW worked for many years without having to scam the  already monthly paying people.

Its not about if i am able to pay for this nonsense,which i could but wont because its a question of principle.

I miss Aoc,but under these circumstances ,sorry but  i would need to remove parts of my brain before i could say yes to something like this.

Anyways there  are people out there in EVE who are against this,and i am considering to join them,.. maybe i already did.
 Read this  Article regarding EVE And the MIT outrage,the guy who wrote this nailed it quite good i think.

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2011-06-27-eve-online-in-crisis-article

[FRA.E.Kehakoul_XC]

Kehakoul,  please ... with all due respect I feel like you and a couple others on these boards have no idea what your talking about, and it's really frustrating when I have to deal with this type of BS when we're trying to hype up something we like.
Regards,

That`s quite bold to say,and i think you are dead wrong on  this one.

 I think the majority of companys doing this are destroying  gaming like we know it.

Never let an accountant control the fate of a game,i hopefully don need to point out the implications for all games inclusive our approach to SFC or do i?

[Tus-XC]

AoC becomes Age of Conan: Unchained (aka Free to Play) tomorrow (1 July)

[Sirgod]

Time to finally get a EU copy now and a few accounts to MB. Sigh, it'll take me a month given my limited bandwidth unless someone wants to send me a DVD or two. <Cough Frey,  Cough>

Stephen

[Tus-XC]

Time to finally get a EU copy now and a few accounts to MB. Sigh, it'll take me a month given my limited bandwidth unless someone wants to send me a DVD or two. <Cough Frey,  Cough>

Stephen

Actually there is no need to.  If you have AoC installed already (i assume US account) then all you need to do is copy said folder, and then replace the Localconfig.xml file with an EU one (which i'm sure Frey could post a copy of his here).  At which point it will point to the EU servers and will grab anything else it needs.

[Sirgod]

Well heck, yeah I could do that then. I have plenty of HD space, since netflix put all the startreks except DS9 up on instant watch.

I may just have to get in touch with Frey then.

Stephen

[FPF-DieHard]

This worked for DDO, saved the game.  Tons of new people playing and a once dying game is not thriving.  It'll hopefully work for you.