Blizzard not evaluating AoC as a threat?

[Jedite]

Originally Posted by r3probate

You're aware that even if that PC is 4 years old, it was quite fucking good 4 years ago? The run of the mill 4 y/o PC is going to be 1gig ram tops, running a P4 and a terrible gpu.

Offcourse.. Then again Im a gamer and I take my time when building my machines and selecting components.. Like I said a true PC gamer

[Twobit Whore]

Originally Posted by Korioni

another 6 months and the "average" pc will run AoC on high with no problems.

Didn't they say this about EQ2 as well? It only took about, oh 4 years.. and it still can run like ass.

Those of you expecting to buy a new game and run it on the same system you were using for Fallout 2 need to go ahead and meet the rest of us up here in 2008.

Hyperbole will get you nowhere.

[Jedite]

Originally Posted by Twobit Whore

Didn't they say this about EQ2 as well? It only took about, oh 4 years.. and it still can run like ass.



Hyperbole will get you nowhere.

Someone tell me WTF do they consider an Average PC.. Im sorry but any self respecting gamer that buys GARBAGE from OEMs be it Dell, or HP deserve to get horrible performance. They stick the most absolutly horrendous components then sell it as if its a High performance computer.

Like I said I have a fucking 4 year old machine with good components that can run the game on Medium with sustained 30ish FPS. This machine has a single core Processor(AMD 3500) and an x800 video card not even top of the line when I bought it.. Offcourse I don't play it on this machine I play it on my main Gaming machine on High =)

[Twobit Whore]

I'd suggest you play on that machine past the beach area and see what kind of actual performance you get in a variety of areas.

[Jedite]

Originally Posted by Twobit Whore

I'd suggest you play on that machine past the beach area and see what kind of actual performance you get in a variety of areas.

Thanks I did.. Actually played with that machine last night in the Wilds since my other PC was being used by my Wife for some graphics design(Large screen on that one). I still got decent FPS in that area k thanks =)

[Darus Grey]

run a core 2 duo 6600 2.4ghz, nvidia 8600GTS and 2 gigs of RAM and I run AoC flawlessly on middle settings with view distance maxed out.

Same specs, just replace 8600gs with 8800gtx(I'm constantly amazed...I almost never buy new tech and this card is still the best card today(for my monitor), it's lasted forever by video card standards). I don't OC anything unless I specifically need more performance, which in this case I don't.

I run the game at 2560x1600 with everything maxed and get a consistent 30+ FPS in crowded city areas and 60+ elsewhere, My systems like two years old now...so I don't see the issue. I'd consider it mid-end by todays standards, since you can get a PC with comparable specs for around $600

Edit: Not speaking to who I quoted specifically...just in general I don't get the bitching. From my perspective AOC runs absolutely great for it's level of graphics vs the power it actually needs.

[Mkopec1]

Originally Posted by Jedite

Someone tell me WTF do they consider an Average PC.. Im sorry but any self respecting gamer that buys GARBAGE from OEMs be it Dell, or HP deserve to get horrible performance.

Bullshit. My wifes Dell says otherwise. $700, Quad core, 2 gigs ram, 250Gb HD, 20" wide screen, I added a 8800GT on the stock 350W PS and I get 40+FPS
in AOC.

Vostro 400 Mini Tower

Fuck me, you even get a 22" screen now. :/

[Ailu]

Why does everything have to be compared with WoW all the time? Release problems, content, specs etc. My biggest problem with WoW is pretty straight forward. The game is over 3 years old. I played it for a long time, but the reason I'm not anymore is the same reason I don't play Counterstrike or Starcraft and it's not because they are bad games. It doesn't matter if they release an expansion with 250dps weapons and new content. I can recognize WoW as a more polished, tested game than AoC, but it's still several years old and I'm done with it. Surely I can't be the only one with less than two years attention span for MMOs no matter how good it is? I can't for the life of me understand those who played EQ for 5+ years and I can't really understand those who go at it in WoW for so long either.

AoC is something new. It doesn't have to be better in every aspect or even in any. As for the original question. 400k sold copies first week is good and I know AoC is also completely sold out atm in some places here in Europe. But to me it seems that the only game that actually lost a bunch of players to another game was EQ to WoW and I'm not even sure it hurt them that much. Other than that it seems that it doesn't matter much what game you make as the growing market hides the negative effects of players who quit.

[Jedite]

Originally Posted by Mkopec1

Bullshit. My wifes Dell says otherwise. $700, Quad core, 2 gigs ram, 250Gb HD, 20" wide screen, I added a 8800GT on the stock 350W PS and I get 40+FPS
in AOC.

Vostro 400 Mini Tower

Fuck me, you even get a 22" screen now. :/

Well it might be running "well" but I assure you that the components inside that computer are not of very good quality. The rams timings are probably through the roof, Im guessing the motherboard is OEM ect ect...

[Linus]

Originally Posted by Jedite

Someone tell me WTF do they consider an Average PC.. Im sorry but any self respecting gamer that buys GARBAGE from OEMs be it Dell, or HP deserve to get horrible performance.

Hey, you're right, I'm sure the hundreds of thousands of people playing WoW daily also check NewEgg for prices on the latest nVidia GPUs and are comfortable opening up their computers, loading drivers, and disabling the on-board video ...

Look, I know people who play WoW who would think a 8800GTX is new car from Pontiac. These people aren't going to spend $150, which is a lot of money to some of them, on a new video card when their computer does "the internet and email" just fine.

My point is that if you're designing a game for niche PC/MMO *gamers* then sure, make the reqs a bit steep. If you're looking for a MMO that is going to compete with WoW, you have to make sure it runs just as good.

Plus the whole 'in 6 months/1 year all the computers will be good enough' is just a bullshit excuse and you know it. EQ2 said the same thing until CPU design went from focusing on one single-core very fast processor to multi-core, and then EQ2 was fucked until they rewrote the code to support more multithreading - they were planning as if Intel would release a 6GHz Pentium5 instead of a Core2Duo (or whatever.)

It was said like 4 pages ago and it still the truth - Blizzard doesn't see AoC as a threat because it isn't going to steal subs - box sales will be high but when you play AoC and get 18-25 fps and then load up WoW and get 50-60 fps, there had better be a good reason for you to not play the game the runs/looks/feels better.

[Jedite]

Originally Posted by Linus

Hey, you're right, I'm sure the hundreds of thousands of people playing WoW daily also check NewEgg for prices on the latest nVidia GPUs and are comfortable opening up their computers, loading drivers, and disabling the on-board video ...

Look, I know people who play WoW who would think a 8800GTX is new car from Pontiac. These people aren't going to spend $150, which is a lot of money to some of them, on a new video card when their computer does "the internet and email" just fine.

My point is that if you're designing a game for niche PC/MMO *gamers* then sure, make the reqs a bit steep. If you're looking for a MMO that is going to compete with WoW, you have to make sure it runs just as good.

Plus the whole 'in 6 months/1 year all the computers will be good enough' is just a bullshit excuse and you know it. EQ2 said the same thing until CPU design went from focusing on one single-core very fast processor to multi-core, and then EQ2 was fucked until they rewrote the code to support more multithreading - they were planning as if Intel would release a 6GHz Pentium5 instead of a Core2Duo (or whatever.)

It was said like 4 pages ago and it still the truth - Blizzard doesn't see AoC as a threat because it isn't going to steal subs - box sales will be high but when you play AoC and get 18-25 fps and then load up WoW and get 50-60 fps, there had better be a good reason for you to not play the game the runs/looks/feels better.

EQ2 aswell as Vanguard just had HORRIBLE Graphics Engine design. I just spoke with a guildmate he spent 1300 on a new machine and he is running average of 100+FPS.(9600GT on SLI Intel Core Duo 3GHZ) You would never see that in EQ2 on release, because SONY FUCKING BLOWS chunks when it comes to Graphics Engines.

So right now there are systems that can eat up AOC and spit it out like there is no tommorow, so It cant be so hard to believe that within 6months to a year the average pc will.

[Itzena]

Originally Posted by Jedite

So right now there are systems that can eat up AOC and spit it out like there is no tommorow, so It cant be so hard to believe that within 6months to a year the average pc will.

You have no idea what the average PC currently is, and neither do you seem to grasp how slowly that average changes.

Go look at some Steam survey data or something.

[Madrugan]

Isn't going to steal subs may be entirely inaccurate to the situation. My raiding guild has 160 accounts, and of those roughly 140 players. 80 of those have an active subscription to AoC right now, as well as WoW. They spend raid nights in WoW, and the rest in AoC.

Fact of the matter is, the more AoC pushes content release, bug/patch release, and keeps to the program of delivering relatively good content, WoW subs won't necessarily decrease, but in game time will.

I know I wouldn't trade 1 hour of AoC doing whatever, for 1 hour of endgame WoW, doing whatever. Not worth it in WoW anymore.

[The Bog]

Yeah, I do wonder whether you guys all make a decent wage and just haemorrage money like it's pee. The average PC can't run Conan on medium settings smoothly. Even my 3gig ram/quad core hitches because i only have a 320mb video card (8800gts). Not even I want to upgrade that, because shit, a few hundred dollars is a lot of money.

[EmiliaEQ]

Originally Posted by Itzena

You have no idea what the average PC currently is, and neither do you seem to grasp how slowly that average changes.
Go look at some Steam survey data or something.

Steam => Gamers

The "average" PC probably has 1024Ram, a Celeron/Sempron, and build in GPU, 400$ Dell/HP