Cradle of Decay Video

Martuk · 01-06-2009, 04:17 AM

Age of Conan Hyborian Adventures is working on its new update on the Test server and it will include new content and a load of fixes when it goes live. One piece of new content is a level 43 group dungeon called the Cradle of Decay. This week we have put together a video run through of the dungeon to give you a look at what's in store for mid-level adventurers when they enter this dungeon after this update goes live.

Watch the video here.

Overall this was a nice little dungeon. It's of a fair size but smaller than you might think.

Barbarious · 01-06-2009, 09:31 AM

Great video. Thanks for that.

It's great to see Funcom is still churning out content for AoC, but after watching the video it confirmed for me that I still am not ready to come back to AoC or give it another go around.

For as amazing as the scenery in the dungeon looked and with a name as wicked sounding as "Cradle of Decay" the mechanics and content of the dungeon looked a lot like everything else in the latter half of AoC - very "bleh".

The monsters appeared to be largely "positioned" and for the most part were just standing on either side of the beaten path near a torch or possible moving slowly in a pair of 2.

It could just be my taste in MMO's but I have this love/hate relationship with AoC that continues to this day. The scenery and content on the outside is beautiful and "seems" awesome. However since my PoM hit 25 and beyond the content itself has just not been dynamic or challenging and more importantly in many cases it's been downright dull. >_<

Acidbaron · 01-06-2009, 09:42 AM

They are still working on it though,

it's not done yet, they just decided yesterday to turn it into a closed instance, Developers just started to return since yesterday and we'll probably see a few more versions of that dungeon before it actually gets released on the live servers.

Casters are in my opinion rather dull, barely managed to level my necro past 40. Some people love those classes but for me it's just a few button spam fest that gets old rather quickly.

They did improve the AI here and there such as you are no longer able to pull one mob away from the rest of the group that easy without the others noticing it.

They will probably offer free game time in the near future so you can always wait for that.

Martuk · 01-07-2009, 08:37 AM

It's really a nice looking dungeon. It's not as big as you would expect but it should provide a decent area for mid-level folks to have some fun.

BigHammer · 01-07-2009, 08:18 PM

The dungeon looked very bleh??? Are you insane, that shit looked better than anything else in the market. If this area is half as good as Ymirs pass I will be a very very happy man.

Reality check, go have a look on Darkfall or WAR... none and I mean not one single element is close to look as good anything in this entire dungeon.

Thasri · 01-08-2009, 09:28 AM

The look of the game is not whats in question here it's the game play. The combat system is terrible, not to mention that in every patch the Dev's managed to screw up classes and bug quests that where not before the patch. The real crime here is the Dev team not fixing the bugs and introducing new ones with each patch. Did I mention the combat system is terrible? Yea.

Acidbaron · 01-08-2009, 12:35 PM

Your opinion to have many disagree with it and most find it hard to return to their former mmo once they got used to AoC's combat system.

But since you just want to rant i'll let you do that.

Barbarious · 01-08-2009, 12:46 PM

I didn't find it hard to return to other MMO's after playing AoC's combat system. Not at all.

I also did not feel that AoC's combat was bad either. It was pretty solid to be perfectly honest.

On that note I'd also suggest that AoC's combat was nothing special. No part of it felt revolutionary or overtly better than more mundane systems.

Moving further back - the dungeon looks "meh" not in the sense of the graphics or visuals. Because frankly, I don't really play games for pretty pictures. That would make me an idiot and I have plenty to qualify myself on that as is without being amused by "teh pwetty graphixx".

My statement was more directed at the very boring looking monsters being placed idly along the path with a few scarce patrols of 2 mobs moving around elsewhere. The monsters looked almost all identical with the exception of a few and the dungeon consisted entirely of a dreary swamp with 1 altar of some kind. *yawn*

So to wrap it all up - my feelings were that AoC's combat system is not a "feature" for me, it's just standard, it's average, it's not special. Hence when I look at new AoC content I expect to be blown away. If I saw an innovative and amazing dungeon that looked complex and dynamic I would be interested.

But since AoC's combat is just "okay", I don't see myself jumping all over AoC again so I can kill 1 Zombie standing by a lightpost and 2 Zombies walking around in the mud and then 1 zombie by a lightpost again and then 1 zombie standing on the road and then 2 zombies walking around.

If I wanted that I'd go play Diablo 2.

I'm like 90% sure that Diablo 2 lets me click on the screen a tedious amount of times to kill a couple zombies in a dismal swamp.

If AoC wants to woo me back it needs to stop trying to play on its alleged "features" and just start making content that I can get excited about. The combat is basic, I don't care about graphics and all of the "gruff M rated" content seems to be mysteriously vanishing. So how about some new content that can really get me going?

Here you go:

"Cradle of Decay":

1. Starts in a swamp with individual zombies standing by lightposts.
2. Moves into a massacred and desecrated town where rabid villagers/zombies are running rampant. (insert neat scripted events here)
3. Moves into the abyssal ruins of a desecrated temple where cultists are sacrificing villagers to their profane gods and resurrecting them as mindless undead. (insert more cool scripted events)
4. Upon clearing the temple the remaining cultists are killed and their flesh is harvested to birth an avatar of the god's wrath who bursts from the temple walls into a thicket of swamp and rot behind the temple where the group goes toe to toe with him as the dead rise from the surrounding waters.

Now that's vague and mechanically unsound for AoC. But my point here is that is something that could be neat to play through. That's something that could be cool to be a part of.

I don't care how realistic looking your swamp or your zombies are - 5 zombies idling around a swamp like old folks in a retirement home just isn't doing it for me.

Acidbaron · 01-08-2009, 02:59 PM

You played a caster class were the difference between other mmo's systems is minimal.

So it's normal that you find it basic as from that perspective it's just as basic as in every other game.

Several scripted encounters and smarter encounters ingame and not only at lower levels.

Barbarious · 01-08-2009, 08:53 PM

While I would agree that playing the Casters of the game makes the combat much less amazing and special, I don't feel like that's really my fault.

I prefer casters. Hence if Funcom wants my money again they need to add something that will lure me back. Not push melee combat. :P

I don't blame them for making casting very standard, it doesn't bother me. However I don't feel like amazing melee combat is an excuse for dull content elsewhere.

In other words - the melee combat may be awesome - but you need to knock my socks off somewhere else in the game if you want me to come back.