I have been considering purchasing this game for some time but am still not 100% ready to take the plunge. I love Conan and the Hyborian Age. I love large, well-themed, epic board games. I also LOVE FFG games.
Having said that, my only real gaming group is my kids (ages 7, 10 year old twins, and a soon to be 17 year old) and occasionally my wife. We enjoy the BSG and LoTR games as well as WoW The Adventure Game and Doom the Board Game. Outside of FFG products, we do some miniature wargaming and assorted adventure board games as well as RISK.
Normally, I would have already been all over Age of Conan except that I had a really disappointing experience with my last large-size, FFG game purchase. Being a Tolkien fan, I followed the development and just "had to have" Middle Earth Quest. Well, to make a long story short, after 3 tries diligently trying to MAKE myself like it, I had to finally admit that I didn't. I hate it. It's the most not-fun non-rewarding game purchase I have ever made even though "on paper" it seems like I should absolutely love it.
So now, I'm afraid the same thing will happen if I go ahead and purchase AoC. I've read the rulebook and it seems pretty straightforward, but that doesn't always equate to having it on the table. So how "fiddly" is it to play? Does it "feel" like Howard's universe? Is it unnecessarily overcomplicated (as is the case with MEQ)? How does it compare to some of the fancier RISK editions?
Thanks in advance for any insights into the game any real players can give!