It has been hard to separate the truth from the spin in the ongoing Age of Conan saga, but we're seeing more and more evidence that neither players nor stockholders are satisfied with Funcom's campaign of misinformation.



Stockholders Have Had Enough

After repeated misleading press releases, Funcom still has no answers for people wondering where all the players are going.  Populations on all servers are down, forum activity is dropping, and the community at large seems content to simply pack up and go home.  Funcom refuses to acknowledge this fact, and seems comfortable giving no response to its waning Conan fanbase.

This negligent treatment of customers has investors fleeing in droves, dropping the share price of FUNCOM.OL down by 60% since Age of Conan's launch (see image above).  In a climate where customers are outraged and the "company line" reports no problems, serious trouble is the unspoken implication.

Funcom Forum Coverups Lead To Mistrust

The Official Age of Conan Forums have become even more of a joke lately, as moderators aggressively lock and delete threads that mention anything negative about the game.  Serious gameplay bugs, technical problems, questions about future content, and billing questions are all hidden away in an attempt to preserve the illusion of customer satisfaction.  Feel free to try for yourself; forum threads on any of these topics (and several others) are systematically locked or deleted by Funcom's "moderators":

Female Swing Speed Discrepancy

The DPS discrepancy for female characters appears to be an unintentional bug, but developers stonewalled players on the subject to a ridiculous extent, finally breaking down and admitting to the error after a month.  Discussion of this topic results in a locked thread and account ban.



Account Billing Beyond Cancellation

Cancel your account, and get billed later anyway!  Given the prevalence of electronic credit card fraud, and the already-shady nature of Funcom's subscription numbers, this is a very serious matter.  Ask on the forum why you are being charged for a new month despite having canceled your subscription, and your thread will be deleted along with an account ban.  Is this how Funcom justifies that 700,000 subscribers figure?

Server Consolidations

The "ghost town" status of many servers in the world of Hyboria has caused concerned players to inquire about server consolidation to improve the feel of the community.  Once again, they are stonewalled -- bring up this subject and your thread will be locked immediately.  Any reference to reduced player activity is not allowed whatsoever. Don't ask, don't tell, I guess?

Questions About New Content

Players are incredibly bored with both the leveling process and the current "endgame" in Age of Conan.  Large content gaps at mid levels, along with missing PvP content that was promised at release, has lead some players to ask about the status of this promised game content.  Any answers?  We haven't seen them yet.  Instead, those who ask are banned and their threads are deleted or locked.  Anything to keep customers happy!

Make No Mistake: Funcom is Desperate

One month ago, I wrote about how Age of Conan was desperate for subscribers, and many naysayers felt I was lying or exaggerating.  While it seems some of my sources may have been compromised, I stand by my claims about the quality of this title.   Subscriptions are dropping like flies, activity continues to fall, and customer satisfaction is at an all-time low.  If you're not convinced, think about these facts:

* Funcom is already working on a new MMO using the AoC engine
* Funcom released inflated subscription and sales numbers to the press
* Funcom is allowing billing to continue past account cancellation
* Funcom squelches any dissent in its official forums

The strategy at this point is clear: Funcom is finally starting to realize they completely dropped the ball on this game, and they are cutting their losses.  They will continue to string a few suckers along with promises of more content and continued development, but those promises will just be broken like so many others have been.  If many players don't notice that they were charged an extra month after canceling, well, that's more money in the bank as well.




Flaming Out On Xfire

Xfire activity statistics (another topic that will get you banned on the Age of Conan forums) continue to reflect Age of Conan's decline in popularity.  The Xfire population doesn't represent everyone, but it's a very reasonable sample if you're wondering about activity trends in the game.  As the player activity level goes, so goes the Xfire activity level, and so goes the Funcom stock price.

Why Waste Time On A Dead Game?

Since development costs are already sunk, Funcom's best bet is to sell as many copies of the retail box as possible, knowing that no sane person will actually pay for a continued subscription to Age of Conan.  When the "new game" sales finally drop down to zero, the next MMO will be nearing release, so development efforts are better spent on content for the new game than the "already broken" Age of Conan.

Knowing this, do you really want to spend more of your time leveling one or more characters in hopes that a few of your friends will return to AoC, and that "maybe someday" there will be something else to do?  Good luck with that.

Tired Of Being Silenced? Let Funcom Know!

Funcom can delete all your threads and ban you for asking questions on its official forums, but you can still let them know you aren't satisfied.

DIGG this article so your voice is heard!