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AoC dev blog discusses class tweaks and recruiting more advocates
Funcom's Glen "Famine" Swan has put another entry into his blog at MMORPG, discussing Age of Conan's upcoming guild features (which Craig Morrison elaborated on in his recent game director letter) as well as some class tweaks that the developers have been working on. Right now the dev team is looking at the Bear Shaman and Barbarian classes, with the Conqueror and Dark Templar up for possible changes after they're done with the first two. He doesn't spill the beans on exactly what might be happening with these classes but we're told to stay tuned for more information soon.The rest of Famine's blog post relates to things outside of the game. It sounds like the Advocate Program has been going well, but Funcom would like to bring a few more advocates on board. Along with the existing class advocates, they might be recruiting advocates specifically for areas like roleplaying and player-versus-player, as was planned some time ago. Famine also gave a quick update on Funcom's plans for Dragon*Con in Atlanta this September. Among the activities will be a developer panel featuring Age of Conan's lead designer Joel Bylos.
Checking in with Age of Conan's Advocate program
It looks like the quest is over, and most of the spots for community Advocates for Age of Conan are well on the way to being filled. Funcom opened up spots for representatives from each player class: Assassin, Barbarian, Bear Shaman, Conqueror, Dark Templar, Demonologist, Guardian, Herald of Xotli, Necromancer, Priest of Mitra, Ranger, and Tempest of Set, who will advise Funcom on what the community feels are the important problems and needs of each class, as well as serving as a liason between Funcom and the Age of Conan community. All the advocates are required to have a character of that class at least level 60, an account in good standing, and own a pair of asbestos underwear to better survive the inevitable flamewars over class balance issues. To add to this, Funcom will also be looking at adding some additional advocates suggested by the community during the course of the advocate discussions. Some of the ones they've mentioned are an advocate for role-playing, crafting, player-versus-player, and player-versus-environment issues. How precisely this changes Age of Conan's development, if it does at all, remains to be seen.
