Patch 5.4 patch notes
Virtual Realms feature revealed
The Proving Grounds are coming
The latest patch 5.4 newsFuncom: WoW is McDonald's, AoC is steak
by Mike Schramm 
Jun 26th 2008 at 2:45PM
It's just in the nature of game developers to talk a little trash -- whenever you work on something for so long, you'll pretty much say whatever you can when someone asks you to compare your game to someone else's. So we'll forgive Funcom's Gaute Godager (game director of Age of Conan) for what he says about World of Warcraft in this Eurogamer interview.WoW comes up first at the beginning of the interview, and Godager gracefully accepts props for AoC having the biggest launch since World of Warcraft. Which is true -- AoC has shipped over a million copies since launch (though Warcraft has gone on to sell nine million more, and AoC hasn't quite gotten there yet). But at the end of the interview, Godager really brings out the big guns -- he says that playing WoW is fun and all, but "if you've been to McDonald's for four or five years, and had your burger and your coke, sometimes it's great to just have a great steak and a glass of good wine."
Apparently Age of Conan is supposed to be that steak, and our little critically acclaimed and history-making game is supposed to be the culinary equivalent of McDonald's. Which isn't a bad comparison -- we can definitely see Age of Conan being called "steak." Especially since it was served so undercooked.
Filed under: Odds and ends, Blizzard, News items, Humor, Wrath of the Lich King
Reader Comments (Page 3 of 3)
Chopwood Jun 27th 2008 4:21PM
Roflmao... Wowinsider posting stuff about AoC. I wonder what the reaction of the readers will be XD Guys, AoC just launched, lets give it enough time to patch things up so we can compare both games. We're all WoW fans but you have to realize that there will be games that are better then WoW. Only reason most of you play is the guilds....ofc...if you just keep playing for purplez then i can just pity you. I've played WoW for a few years and I had a blast, and I have a copy of AoC but still haven't tried 'cos it's summer and there are more important stuff then video games.
Taxis Jun 26th 2008 4:37PM
/shrug. The combat in AoC is a big improvement over WoW. I don't think I am going to go back for a while. Fighting in WoW kind of feels floppy now.
grravie Jun 26th 2008 6:52PM
there is no such a thing as a steak being "undercooked"
Gulbrandt Jun 26th 2008 6:09PM
I agree. I've had medium and medium-rare steak. It's quite juicy and tender, far more than medium-well or well done steak. On the other hand, if the steak was cooked, but allowed to cool down, or even put back in the fridge, and *then* served...yuck.
I wouldn't *ever* touch underdone pork or chicken, though. Blargh.
Cadun Jun 26th 2008 4:59PM
Gotta say that despite the bugs I am having tons more fun playing AoC than I ever did in wow. Especially the combat is a lot more fun!
nonbreakingspace Jun 29th 2008 5:57PM
I got the collectors edition of AoC, and I sorta enjoyed it, but it definatley felt unfinished and stiff.
(Plus their account management section is crap, i couldn't claim my pre-order rhino :( )
Think my time runs out this week or something, might try it again in a couple of months.
crsh Jun 26th 2008 5:20PM
Well damn them; I play AoC these days, I like it a lot, but what in heaven's name was that guy thinking when he came up with such an idiotic statement.
GenBanks Jun 26th 2008 6:00PM
What do you mean by 'undercooked'? Steak is better rare.
Jax Jun 26th 2008 7:01PM
The AoC combat is not for me. After a time it felt like nothing more than console-style twitchy button mashing and it grew old quickly. Wow's system, if you play your class right, seems allows for more finesse and strategy- you essentially build combos on the fly and vary them from encounter to encounter.
AoC also felt more like a collection of game levels and not a virtual world. *shrug*
I might return to AoC in a few months, for now though I will stick with wow.
Etrix Jun 26th 2008 8:32PM
I plan on trying AoC in October when Blizzard announces that Wrath is being pushed back to January 2009. They should have the majority or really bad bugs dealt with by then and possibly even added some content for post level 50 players...
egoslayer Jun 27th 2008 3:23AM
I tend to agree with the steak/mac analogy after playing aoc for a few weeks. Sure it has some bugs to iron out, as you would expect from a new mmo, but overall its a step up from wow.
Where wow wins is in the social aspects, it lags behind in combat mechanics and to a certain extent class mechanics. That's my personal opinion of course.
I loved playing wow, but personally it now seems old when i log in. I am not sure even wrath will see me return to wow, given wow reliance on gear as opposed to skill and its out of date graphics engines.
Now Diablo 3, that would be worth returning to blizz or even wow 4.
PsychoChris Jun 27th 2008 8:21AM
In defense of WoW....AoC had the luxury or learning from WoW for 5 years, then attempting to compete. WoW had to figure it out as they went. And is still hands down the king of MMO's.
And in case anyone is concerned, MMO's are a for-profit business, and WoW should be flatered to be considered the McDonalds of MMOs. They have a formula that everyone loves, even if they occasionally love to hate it. AoC will be dead in the water 18 months flat.
Nick Jun 29th 2008 8:32AM
I left hoping for change as did 10 other people I knew. While it started out pretty good the first 20 level in Tortage got old quick if you were rerolling trying to find the class you wanted to play. ToS's and Necromancers are so overpowered they make locks and rogues on wow look like puppies. Anywho I cancelled wow and went there but then i realized I like wow better (it suits me) I reactivated my account yesterday and had fun last night. I do admit i was playing wow like Conan (it was so hard to fight) Blizzard should find a way to incorporate AoC's melee system for melee classes especially for rogues. The combat is the best part of AoC (oh and bring fatalities to pvp in wow lol)