I'm encouraged. In a year's time, Age of Conan might actually be decent enough to return back to. It's great if the new director can pull AoC out of the slump it was in. The graphics were stunning, the combat had a different feel to it. The incompetent and late attempts at patching were what finally drove me away. For the record, nerfing before fixing is not something to do to inspire confidence. It just suggested that there was no one who had a clue behind the helm.

AoC has been schizophrenic, though. It see-saws up and down. They look good one moment, and then they fubar something horrendous the next. If they manage to maintain this consistency over the months, then they've indeed pulled out of their slump. Subscription fee = consistency and confidence required.