Funcom to implement server mergers as player numbers drop.
Funcom has well and truly blown any chance it had to capture the non-WoW-playing MMO market with Age of Conan. Despite a huge launch, it has not been able to deliver the kind of experience that keeps people coming back to a massively multiplayer title. It becomes more and more apparent that significant gameplay concepts were cut or postponed in order to get the game out the door, and while there isn’t any immediate danger of AoC falling in a heap, the writing is definitely on the wall for the game.
Simply put, AoC has lost those hunting for a new MMO hit. I would put money on the fact that the launch of Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning (WAR) has captured a lot of the audience that was ‘just trying’ Age of Conan, and if that didn’t cause a significant dent, then the impending launch of Wrath of the Lich King will as players go back to WoW for the expansion.
There is something very worrying about an MMO developer talking about the need for server mergers. They are the sign of a shrinking MMO population, and a need to consolidate the remaining audience to sustain that massively multiplayer feeling. In the latest letter to the community, newly appointed AoC game director Craig Morrison talks about server mergers, and they seem to be coming soon.
To Funcom’s credit, it is putting a lot of effort into enhancing the game for those still playing, however, just reading some of the fixes (and having no experience playing the game), I wonder how they made some mistakes in the first place.
For example, it is adjusting the way items are designed so that they have a more noticeable effect on a character’s performance. The original, quite noble intent was for items to not be the major mode of progression in the game. However, if Blizzard has proved one thing with Diablo and subsequently WoW, it is that the tangible progression in gear is an almost primeval driving force in a gamer’s involvement with an MMO. To ignore such a fundamentally obvious aspect of MMO participation is not only a bold, but also a reckless move.
I get the feeling that under this new tenure, Age of Conan can indeed evolve into a more rounded MMO experience, however it is probably too late. WAR is being incredibly well received by most, and it appears that the problems with a lacking mid to end game that plagued AoC are not present in WAR.
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