So just a month ago some friends and I (old time CE players) were discussing on Discord how awesome it would be if they released a “Conan Exiles 2.0”. The common thought was Conan 2.0 should be UE 5 and at least combine Siptah and CE into one map or make transport between them more smooth (like traveling to the high desert in Dune). Even better if they add new maps over time…
Well when the news came out several days ago that they basically are doing what we wished for (well other than promises of new maps…) for free we were surprised in a good way. At the risk of giving them ideas, I’d honestly have been willing to pay $ for it (I was dumb enough to pay big $ for Ark Ascended several years ago…).
To me it shows that Conan Exiles is not done and still has a future for it!! This should be celebrated. I understand the disappointment for consoles and non-Steam PC but they apparently already confirmed it will come out later for the other PC’s and consoles apparently are not completely off the table in the future.
I went to the forums soon after expecting to see numerous posts of celebration and excitement. Instead I’m just seeing non-stop doom and gloom…
Best I can tell is that nothing is being taken away just that the update will come later for some (especially for non-Steam PC). That being the case, let us Steam players be the Guinea pigs and hopefully a better product will be rolled out later.
As for consoles, I hesitate to say this, but if you really like these kind of games, you may want to consider PC in the future. With PC there are so many lower priced games and you can get numerous mods for these types of games. I was just playing the Elden Ring Convergence mod (not available for console) that was mind blowingly good. Unlike some of the doom and gloom sayers in some of these posts, you don’t need “thousands” for a decent PC. Looking online a PS5 is ~$600 USD for base while the pro goes for $900+… You can get a decent gaming PC for $900 to $1000 (saw some in the $800s) that would meet the recommended specs and are easily upgradeable to keep them from going obsolete.
That isn’t entirely true though. Non-Steam PC players on official will lose access to official servers since they won’t get Enhanced and Legacy official servers will be shut down. So any non-Steam PC player playing on an official server will lose everything not in their character’s inventory because it will be long decayed by the time they get Enhanced as well.
Additionally, anyone playing on a Siptah server will lose all of their Siptah bases because it is not currently possible to port them to the UE5 game world.
I am not one voicing doom and gloom, but I acknowledge that there are reasons for certain people in specific scenarios to feel bad about losing their stuff through no fault of their own.
Now that being said, I am not sure Funcom/Inflexion could have handled things any differently. They have a release schedule, and getting the game out on all platforms simultaneously would require significantly delaying the launch. Attempting to save Siptah is also a pretty big technical challenge that those who do not know what they are talking about think is easier to solve than it really is.
I don’t see any part of this announcement that doesn’t lead to backlash, at first, everyone was excited… but the moment they saw the fine print, it all turned into disappointmentand and honestly, they’re going to lose players across almost every platform… or am i overreacting? Because i really don’t think i am.
AMD I’m not sure what share of the player base is on Steam, but is it really larger than every other platform put together?
There are rumors of 2027/28 PS6 and Xbox may be out of the console market. I saybthat with also the FC change to CE as a games as service. Imagine developing the uogtade fpr consoles, but then realizing oh wait we uave to redevelope again ifnit is to maintain thePCs gakes as service add ons? So maube they are waiting fot the PS6 and its specs. But how do you produce that ina statement without lying?
I share this doubt. The result is a bit frustrating to console/epic store and some other players, no question. But delaying the whole port until everybody could get the update would not have been a viable choice, either. Would management agree to just sit on an asset ready to publish, when it could instead be brought to the public in time for the anniversary? Would it be wise to hold back the update while newer games take away attention and market share? Would it even be fair for PC/steam players to make them wait, even though they could get their shiny stuff right now?
The end result is frustrating, and I’d very much agree that Funcom should put some effort into relieving this frustration. But please, fellow barbarians, let us show some empathy for their position and the constraints they have to deal with. It wasn’t Funcom that introduced console gaming, a multitude of game stores and all the restrictions that come from that. They have to deal with it somehow, and the result may not please everyone, but well, that’s what they managed.
The only real criticism that’s hard to counter is the lack of communication. But there may be hurdles in that we don’t see. Maybe work on the update went quicker than expected, or maybe they cannot announce such stuff without being sure for legal reasons or company policy. Funcom isn’t traded publically anymore, I think, but after getting in trouble for insider trading regarding a product announcement some years ago, they might be a bit sensitive about their public communication about new products, and understandably so.
I am incredibly pleased with Dana’s resurgence and communication. She is currently exhibiting everything that I expected in engagement: answering questions, acknowledging frustrations, deferring where appropriate and triaging. But she needs rest too and it’s clear her scheduling includes weekend rest periods
Although, she could use some help and absolutely will need it come launch from my observations.
With that said I agree with many others that the language in the announcement has led to an uncertainty that most are not willing to accept. I think that’s where the communication may be failing…
@biggcane55 made an excellent point that I haven’t seen much discussion regarding and that’s the rumours of next gen consoles coming out. “Myths often contain truths” and its simply status quo to come out with next gen every so many years. Of course, there’s also a lot of talk about consoles not having the numbers they used to. They’ve held the banner of accessible family gaming entertainment since Nintendo; with inflation they have not been as reasonable to justify in individual and family budgets. Then there’s the hardware shortage problem
I’ll keep saying it: give consoles/Epic/MS the option to transfer their account information to Steam. Let them retain their achievements, DLC, Twitch drops, Black Lotus Bazaar purchases and Battlepass. This won’t fix everything but it would be so incredibly impactful. Even if they have potato PCs they can game on streaming services (assuming CEE gets on them asap).
That would be the greatest solution to the dilemma. Might be hard to implement - don’t know if it’s even possible. But it should at least be tried.
If not possible (technically, economically, legally), a compromise like a discount might ease the pain a little bit. Consolidating all players on one platform as much as possible should be a big boon to Funcom, too.
If either way was taken, it should also generate revenue from former console players who continue to buy bazaar items and DLC. So maybe, management might be persuaded to swallow giving something for getting something.
I apologize. I saw the note about PS players still having access to the official servers but missed the part about UE4 PC players losing access… Agree that something is being lost… I think Kiki makes good suggestions but I wonder how hard would it be to convert at least some of the official PC servers to legacy UE4?
Once again, for $1K you can get a decent PC. I suspect PC vs Consoles is a bit of the “Chevy vs Ford” debate that folks had when I was a kid but my thoughts are that consoles are fine for certain types of games but if you really like these survival type games you’d be happier, long term, with a PC. Mods, lower game prices, etc.
That’s why. The point of console is cost reduction dedicated gaming device. If it’s in the price range or a PC, just why? Not to mention PlayStation has always had issues with ensuring m& KB functionality with games so at that point…id just get a PC.
While I agree PC is a better option if you love survival games, I think the issue with this suggestion (which keeps coming up) is a lot of folks already have a PS5 or Xbox Series. Buying a $1000 PC when you already have the latest console is a luxury a lot of folks don’t have.
Now if they are upgrading from a PS4 or Xbone, sure.
Why would it be delayed? The problem is not that the Enhanced version comes out first on Steam. The problem is that it was stated that there were no plans for it to come out anywhere else.
don’t judge on poor communications. That is a recurring theme. Bad wording in the update announcement. Server transfers enabled, server transfers disabled. A day later big update incoming in 10 days, transfer you chars if you don’t want to be moved.
So no, it wouldn’t have been the same if it was said that Funcom was considering releasing the Enhanced version on some other platforms at a later date. On PS4, or the equivalent Xbox, it’s impossible. They just can’t run it. They would be entitled to a finished version of the game. Same for low end PCs that could run Conan Exiles but can’t deal with UE5.
All other platforms would receive the enhanced version at a later date. Guess what, it wouldn’t even have to be for free. People would gladly pay for it for the most part. Usually, a last gen version is about 20 bucks. We are also accustomed to that.
That would have been the decent thing to do.
What did they do instead? Favored a subsect of players and said all others to pound sand.
