MikeJL Blog - AoC

New Life at 50

nospam@example.com (Mike) — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 09:37:48 -0700

No not 50 years of age; level 50. In AoC when you hit level 50 you got a one time level 50 alt. With about 1 gold 50 silver (enough to purchase a mount) and a comparable set of gear.
So it finally happened; Vandoren, my Aquilonian Conqueror, hit level 50. DING!

So I created a Cimmerian Ranger , Thorngar.

New character and new expansion coming is pumping some fresh blood into AoC.

CROM!

Update (5/6): Ranger seems to become new main. Now at level 53.
Link to planed feat build for Bow/PvE

By CROM!

nospam@example.com (Mike) — Mon, 26 Apr 2010 12:52:06 -0700

Conan! What is best in life?
Conan: To crush your enemies, see them driven before you, and to hear the lamentation of their women ..
Me: and 60 days of play for the cost of 30!

Got me a cheap 60 day Age of Conan time card. And heading out to Hyboria again. This time armed with a video card upgrade. Got a 9800GT 1GB few months ago and look forward to better graphics and smother performance.

Also .. Vandoren my 48 Conqueror is close to 50. And at 50 you get a one time alt also at level 50. I'm thinking Cimmerian Ranger. And to top it off I pre-ordered of the AoC expansion "Rise of the Godsalyer" that should arrive May 11th.

So poor me some ale and fetch me a wench.

then I'm off to bash some skulls.

Update (4/27/10) - BY CROM! new video card makes world of difference! I click "High" for graphics setting and get great FPS so far. And even get .. shadows! Game looks fantastic and played smooth. Did some combat in Fields of the Dead (to relearn how to swing a sword .. then headed to Old Tarantia Market (i.e. auction house) and FPS dropped into the 30's. Before with older AoC code and 8600GT I was lucky to get 20 FPS anywhere.

So off to a great start.

Back for a Month and Half

nospam@example.com (Mike) — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 21:00:06 -0700

Ok .. I am officially playing an MMO again. Age of Conan has a come back for two weeks ... discount, free stuff offer. I grabbed a month (with two free weeks tagged on) for $11.99 and new stuff (mount and in game items). So month and half to draw some pict blood!

Patching right now and its huge (like 2GB) so I hope its a sign the game has improved.

So Vandoren will be mounting up again (now with free mammoth mount)

to head out for some adventure.

I hope good stuff awaits in Hyboria.

Note:

Need to update my video settings again.

Great reference: http://conanvault.ign.com/wiki/index.php/Age_of_Conan_Video_Optimization_Guide

Falling into RP

nospam@example.com (Mike) — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 12:00:11 -0700

So getting back into AoC some last night. I often like to walk around town. Not be in a hurry take in the great game art and sounds.
So I deiced to head a back to Pyramid of the Ancients. So catch a boat to Khemi and walk through the market district. I deiced to stop into the Serpent Head Inn to get a drink before taking a river boat to Khopshef Province.
First off I notice.. Its busy. After the serve merger I find lots of players. As I walk through the tavern I get invited over to have a drink with a few others. I sat with a small group of the The Black Daggers Mercenary Co. and begin to experience some real RP. I often do some personal RP in my MMOs with back story and play style. However this was some real RP. And I really like it!
Then I get an invite to the guild! Very surprised and excited I accept. So Vandoren finds a family of sellswords to share drink and tales with. End the drink and talk Van heads back to Pyramid of the Ancients.

Now note to self. When in Pyramid of the Ancients look down. I took several floor spike traps on second floor. This cut my adventures short. And it was great! Yes.. I love the idea of the traps and few of the named bosses were a fun fight. And game performance ran great.

Now I need a back story for Van …
Shards of a previous life spring from forgotten thoughts. Usually in dreams or a smell or sound takes Vandoren back to who he was.
Southern Poitan mountains; all times of childhood forgotten, however he knows he must have grew up their. Sergeant .. Van was one. In charge of squad of men in the service some forgotten petty lord.
Sounds of battle then blackness. Damm Zingaran buccaneers . .never have they attacked inland like that an in those numbers. Now thoughts become more clear. Waking up at a costal camp with major head wound. Spending time on that salve ship heading for a life of slavers.
The attack then and washing-up on that beach. Van fought his way out and off that island… and found his way home. Well to a home in Taratia .. all seems new. And though the physical journey ended the journey of finding himself continues.
A life of a mercenary seems fitting .. Defiantly bringing out skills he had in past and honing them.

Out With the WoW in With Conan

nospam@example.com (Mike) — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 10:29:15 -0700

Today ended my time card on WoW. So I’ll let the sunset on WoW as I only played a few times. I guess my WoW time has passed. Thanks Bliz .. great time .. Its me not you..really.

So after reading posts on how Age of Conan has been shaping up I trolled Amazon and got a discount 60 day time card.

Loaded AoC, patched and entered my 60 days on account. All went good …. happy to see Vandoren my 43 Aquilonian Conqueror waiting for me. All characters were transferred to a PvE server Wiccana. Had to log in a few alts and pick a new name.

Play little to get use to AoC again. I’ll leave judgments after little more playtime. However; little laggy in, and one disconnect, in the city of Tarantia . Was happy to see lots of other players around. Server merger may have been a good thing.

When I went to the Field of the Dead all was smooth. Will play more. I really want AoC to shape up as I love the world of Hyobira and the mature content.

Few old pics

Vandoren (level 30)

My award wining pic of Tarantia Market Place

Not “tucking tail” on AoC

nospam@example.com (Mike) — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 16:43:57 -0700

A funny thing happed after reading posts on Vanguard forums that stated:

“Was in at launch quit .. year later it is looking better”
and lots of
“Played AoC and it is bad so I am here to try out Vanguard”

Got me thinking; I may my tucking tail and running form AoC too soon. I typicaly level slow to try to enjoy the content .. so past two months into AoC and my main is 41. And I do have a few really good MMO moments form AoC, also there it lots I have not seen.

Server lag . pfft I lived though WoW loot / vendor lag and login queues I can survive AoC lag spikes.

I will venture into AoC and try to get into a few Black Castle runs (it's gray quest for me. However, don’t care as I am in no hurry to get to 80 and want to get some party combat and see Black Castle).

AoC Crafting

nospam@example.com (Mike) — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 10:16:21 -0700

Have not played AoC too much past week or so. Vanguard and BioShock have been on the top of my playlist lately. So I decided to head back into the world of Hyboria to start crafting. One of the big annoyances of AoC was no crafting till you get to 40 (and no gathering till level 20). Ok, I hit 40 and with the new mount … I headed out and did some gathering of copper and silver. Great start, I found copper and silver nodes with 70% and more each time. I also got lucky I struck tin to complete a gathering quest. So happy with my stroke of harvesting luck I head back to the local village to start on my weaponsmith crafting. In the world of MMOs you typically have a skill level or crafting level and you make components or items to level up your crafting skill. AoC .. no skill level.. just a quest to make one of each type of weapon.

It’s different form the typical in AoC you pickup the advancement quest (that has a list of weapons to make then turn in for inspection) then pick up a quest that give you the recipe foe each type. Sort of strange however it seems ok. More like the crafting master wants you to make a weapon then he approves it. I can go for that.
So I open the recipe book, and make the one handed mace. Basically you buy one component (like a simple short handle) then combine them. AoC has one of the most simplistic crafting I have even seen. Old SWG was so in depth it was an entire class. AoC crafting is s something that every just does a little.

I took a few minutes and did all the weapons for the quest. Excitedly I go to turn in the advancement quest .. and that’s it. I got back all the items I crafted and now have those recipes the recipe book. And I click on “I want to learn more” then told to come back at level 50 for next quest. WTF! No other new swords, maces, daggers to learn. No recipes to buy or any that drop.

So crafting in AoC is very shallow and useless. I have no hesitation now is letting the subscription end in a few weeks. AoC has lost its luster now.

New mount in Conan

nospam@example.com (Mike) — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 23:29:15 -0700

Got to 40 in AoC tonight. First order of business was to pick up a new mount. (Pic below). Second was to get trained in crafting.

I picked up weapon and armor crafting. Collected some resources and did a new 2H sword and a new armor piece. Its starter items .. seem pretty good on stats. I will be directly comparing Vanguard to AoC epically on crafting. Did some WoW .. to be honest board as hell with it. Vanguard seems to offer the PvE experience I like. AoC is like great looking however Vanguard has way better depth and non-instanced world.

Good weekend .. level 10 in Vanguard (new mount there and started crafting). Level 40 in Conan.

Now thats a CRIT!!

nospam@example.com (Mike) — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 00:26:01 -0700

Or a fatality in AoC.. event at level 36 and over 30 days into game it still is fun as hell when this kicks off.

Won a Screenshot contest

nospam@example.com (Mike) — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 16:14:40 -0700

Got a forum PM that I was one of the winners of the AoC Community Screenshot Competition:

Forum Post

Cool.

It was for this screen shot