Age of Conan
Setting: Fantasy | Developer: Funcom | Release Date: May 23, 2008 | Discontinued: Still running and getting occasional updates | Payment Model: Initially Pay2Play, since 2011 Free2Play
Pretty graphics, naked skin, bloody finishers, adult setting: Age of Conan was meant to be the MMORPG for all genre fans who found WoW too colorful, Azeroth too tame, and the tab-targeting fights too dull. And it also came from Funcom, which had already gained experience in the genre of online role-playing games with Anarchy Online.
The trailer for the Unchained relaunch of Age of Conan:
And indeed, the first impression was good. The quests from the village of Tortage and its associated island were fun, and the combat system was refreshing because it differed significantly from the competition while still functioning well. Thanks to the accompanying hype at launch, developers quickly celebrated their first million active subscriptions.
What went wrong? Age of Conan simply launched far too early. Once players mastered the first 20 to 30 levels, they increasingly encountered content gaps, countless bugs, and unfinished or improperly developed systems such as PvP or crafting. It was an alpha version that players had to pay for, and that even required a subscription.
While the developers eventually managed to resolve all these issues over time, it took far too long due to the abundance of problems. A large part of the player base had already moved on, disappointed. Even the obligatory shift to a Free2Play model initiated in 2011 couldn’t pull Age of Conan out of the niche it had maneuvered itself into due to the disastrous launch. At least: Age of Conan just about slipped into the top 20 of the best MMORPGs of all time.
