AgeOfConan
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The MMO launch subscriber bubble
It feels like a new MMO is being released every month these days and the market for persistent online games is certainly expanding. At the head of this market is a set of games commonly referred to "triple A" titles. These are popular games from big name studios or games using popular intellectual properties. New games that are considered "triple A" have a unique ability to build unparalleled levels of anticipation and hype around themselves prior to release. In order to draw in as many players as possible, an obscene amount of cash is often spent on advertising to hype these games up for release. But is this appropriate and cost-effective or does it show a fundamental misunderstanding of of the MMO market?In this article, we look at what can go wrong with over-hyped MMO launches and what happens when the subscriber bubble bursts.
Urban exploration in Age of Conan
Free running and urban exploration in virtual worlds have both taken off significantly in recent years. Players can be seen clambering around buildings and jumping between the rooftops in games from World of Warcraft to Everquest 2 and Funcom's Age of Conan is no different. Like a lot of players, I found myself eventually having to make my own fun after a while. For me, that meant finding my way onto the rooftops and jumping between them like a maniac. In this visual article, I find myself on the rooftops and back alleys of two cities in Age of Conan and see things from a perspective that most players will never see first hand. Age of Conan Freerunning Gallery %Gallery-32334% Having fun in Conan's homeland? Make sure to check out all of our previous Age of Conan coverage, and stick with Massively for more news from the Hyborian Age!
Urban exploration in Hyboria (part two)
Hyboria's other cities may hold more interesting finds. Despite its failings, one thing Age of Conan did well was providing breathtaking landscapes. When I got bored with quests and monsters, I looked for ways to make my own fun in Age of Conan.
Urban exploration in MMOs
Urban exploration and free running are activities normally associated with the real world. In recent years, however, MMOs such as Everquest 2, Age of Conan and World of Warcraft have become a digital stage for the arts. With entire new virtual worlds to explore, no risk of injury and no physical fitness required, it's understandable that many would-be free runners are going digital.In this article, I take a visual tour of the world of urban exploration and rooftop running in MMOs and explain how you can learn to clamber onto the rooftops in your favourite game.%Gallery-30295%
Age of Conan dethrones GTA IV in Europe
With the amount of hype, advertising, positive reviews and media attention Grand Theft Auto IV has received over the past few months, we wholly expected it to remain on top of the software sales charts until our video game consoles grew sentient and attempted to purge humanity from the planet. Strangely enough, a dark horse recently overtook Rockstar's well-received crime drama in many European territories -- a horse mounted by a brawny, rippling Cimmerian. Yes, Funcom's decapitation-rich MMORPG Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures recently outsold GTA IV in a number of European locations, including Germany and Sweden. Since Rockstar's latest opus is still selling like freshly baked hotcakes in North America, we can't help but wonder if GTA's themes of living the American dream and hooker brutalization got lost in translation as the title crossed the Atlantic -- or whether Age of Conan's musclebound mascot reminds German gamers of a certain pop culture icon who is quite revered in their country.
Age of Conan collector's edition is all sold out
Selling out has become a common occurrence for Funcom's upcoming MMO Age of Conan, a theme that continues this morning with news that the game's collector's edition print run of 111,000 units is "completely sold out in all markets." The announcement stings for those of us who kept putting off pre-ordering the limited edition box until tomorrow, and while Funcom notes that some boxes may still be found on retail shelves, stores will not be able to order more. Even so, Funcom adds that it is putting some 700.000 copies of Age of Conan on trucks bound for retail shelves on day one, ensuring that anyone who fancies suiting up in virtual loincloths will be able to do so when the MMO officially begins tomorrow.
Age of Conan's retail, monthly subscription prices revealed
Norwegian publisher and developer Funcom has announced the amount of money armchair barbarians can expect to shell out from beneath their loincloths to play Age Of Conan: Hyborian Adventures, with the MMO's retail box costing $59.99 and €49.99 in North America and Europe respectively. Beyond that initial outlay of coins, swinging an axe in Hyborea will carry a monthly subscription price of $14.99 in North America and €12.99 for players on the other side of the Atlantic. However, while the oft-delayed MMO has seen a healthy influx of interest during the game's beta test, this hasn't clouded Funcom's gift for the obvious, with the company stating in an investor update that "the success of the game will depend first and foremost on the response it receives from players after several hours of playtime of the finished product." [Via Massively]
Age of Conan pushed back until May 20
The age of Conan will begin eight weeks late. Funcom has announced that its visceral MMO Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures, originally due at the end of March, has a new release date of May 20. The company cites further polish as the reason for the delay, but we suspect they just wanted to keep up with a never-ending trend of "final" delays for the award-winning title that had an impressive showing at E3 ... 2006. The new release date could put the game against another highly-anticipated MMO, Electronic Arts' Warhammer Online, although our sister site Massively points out there are rumblings of a fall 2008 delay for Warhammer. Check out our impressions of Age of Conan from this month's Consumer Electronics Show. [Via Massively]
Conan MMO dev: WoW popularity in decline
Everyone knows that World of Warcraft is the hottest thing to hit the MMO genre since BakeQuest: The Battle for Sliced Bread. But according to at least one rival developer, that popularity may be starting to dwindle. Speaking to the accurately named VideoGamer.com, Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures Quest Designer Joel Bylos cites a "feeling on the Internet" as evidence WoW is beginning to lose its appeal. "You get that just from online communities, which of course we all pay attention to as well," Bylos said when asked if people might be getting tired of WoW.We're sorry, but a "feeling on the internet" probably isn't the best way of measuring satisfaction in a game with 9.3 million paying subscribers (up from 7 million roughly a year ago) and a celebrity-packed ad campaign. Sure, there will always be internet trolls and forum whiners that threaten to leave over every little problem, but by and large the silent majority seems just as hooked on the game as ever. Much like Democrats who promised to move to Canada if George W. Bush was reelected, these vocal complainers seem good at making threats but bad at following through on them. Then again ...[Via WoWInsider]
Age of Conan beta surpasses 10,000 testers, more invites to come
Age of Conan, Funcom and Eidos' perpetually delayed massively multiplayer romp through the magical world of Hyboria and its sea of rippling pecs, has surpassed 10,000 beta testers, which by itself would sound impressive had more than ten times this number of would-be warriors not signed up earlier this year. Given this, it seems that the powers-that-be have been particularly selective about who they let into their sandbox, a practice that we presume has Lord British chartreuse with envy. The devs state that Age of Conan is being patched and updated 'frequently,' and that Funcom plans to "continuously expand the beta efforts in the months to come, including adding tens of thousands of new testers," no doubt welcome news for the thousands of would-be players still waiting at the gate, shivering patiently in their loincloths for the chance to grind alongside fellow barbarians. The MMO, which was first announced way back in Ye Olde 2005, is currently scheduled to ship for the PC on March 25, 2008, though if you are like us you're holding off placing bets quite yet. [Via Massively]
Dragon*Con impressions: Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures
Funcom was at this year's Dragon*Con in force with demos of their upcoming MMO Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures. While the game isn't slated for release until March 2008 (we hope), the game Funcom showed us looked pretty slick -- though they're still tight-lipped on the feat system (that would be "talent trees" for you World of Warcraft-ers) and the "spell weaving" system the magic users will have access to. We did, however, get a good look at the gameplay as well as a look at the game's female models. For those of you who have to see these things for yourself, Funcom is accepting applications for beta-testers, but for full details on what we saw at Funcom's demo, keep reading! %Gallery-6912%
Frank Pearce talks WoW 2, competitors and Team 3 with Gamasutra
Senior VP Frank Pearce and Starcraft II producer Chris Sigaty sat down with Gamasutra to chat about "The State of Blizzard's Union" recently, and while there's not a lot of new stuff ("Team 3" is mentioned, but no hints are given), it's always cool to have an inside look at what it's like running the biggest MMO in the world.Pearce does talk about a possible WoW 2 (not gonna happen, he says, until Blizzard needs a whole new framework, and that's not going to happen for a long time), and WoW's competitors-- he namechecks Warhammer and Age of Conan, but as I've said before, we won't know how those games will actually do until they see release.There are a few interesting numbers thrown around in the interview as well-- while Blizzard has said they've got 9 million before, Pearce specifically says 8.5 million subscribers, so it does seem like they're dropping a bit (updated-- see note below). Still, especially with the release of Wrath of the Lich King in the next year or two, they remain optimistic that they'll hit 10 million before it's all said and done. It's also amazing to see Blizzard's growth-- Pearce co-founded the company, and they started out with around 50 employees. Before WoW, they had about 500, and nowadays, they've got 2700 people working for them. And the teams are really interesting, too-- WoW has 135 developers, Starcraft II has 40, and Team 3 has 50, plus Blizzard has 85 people (also devs, however) that work on their famous cinematics, and extra teams for sound and quality assurance.Very interesting to get a look inside such an amazing videogame developer. Now if only we could find out what Team 3 was...[ via WorldofWar ]Update: Blizzard contacted us to say that this interview happened way back at E3, which was before this press release dropped. Subscriber numbers are not dropping-- when Pearce did the interview they had 8.5 million, and after that, they rose to 9 million. And Blizzard tells us that since then, they are above the 9 million mark.
Age of Conan's last delay wasn't so 'final'
Remember when Funcom promised in January that their delay of Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures to October was guaranteed as the "final launch date" for the MMO? Well, they totally lied. Age of Conan has been delayed again until next March. This time around they aren't silly enough to say it's the "final" time. Funcom CEO Trond Arne Aas said, "We believe that the new release date is in the best interest of the gamers, our company and our owners."Our time with the game has been fine, but a ten minute demo doesn't give enough of an answer to how this game will avoid the MMO trap of making players not realize they are "waging a war against the mind-numbing effects of repetition." Obviously the developers think they need more time and publisher Eidos seems to be on board with that idea. Funcom now has until next March to announce another delay.
Joystiq impressions: Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures
When playing an MMORPG, you're essentially waging a war against the mind-numbing effects of repetition. There's no way to avoid it in a genre that's less concerned with immediate interaction than it is with protracted character building and management. The crucial trick in creating a good MMORPG then, is to bury this almost mechanical repetition in enough layers of entertainment and atmosphere to convince you that you're plundering loot from a defeated swamp creature, and not a polygonal mass of lesser statistics. World of Warcraft is demonstrably such a game and judging by our brief time spent with it, Funcom's Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures may be as well. Don't misunderstand -- it's not going to radically change your feelings towards MMORPGs, but it may prompt you to consider getting your hands dirty.Indeed, getting your hands dirty is arguably one of Age of Conan's most prominent features. Being based on Robert E. Howard's Conan the Cimmerian novels (sorry, Arnie fans!) naturally gives the combat a barbaric edge, with the ability to string together attack combos resulting in a greater sense of immediacy and involvement compared to other titles in the genre. It's not quite an action RPG -- statistics still play a predominant role -- but you are given a variety of physical attack options through a set of on-screen buttons. A smartly executed combo will finish off weakened foes with a fatality animation and a satisfying splatter of blood across the screen.
Choppin' heads with Age of Conan
Eurogamer has posted a rather lengthy preview of Age of Conan from Funcom. AOC looks to be shaping up nicely, adding some new spice to the MMOG genre. First and foremost, is the combat system. Rather than opting for the single click system used in most MMOG games, AOC utilizes a real time combat system. Players have access to several different kinds of sword strokes, each with different arcs and effectiveness. These strokes can be chained into different combos, adding a level of skill to combat. Of course, damage is still determined by dice rolls, so it's not entirely real time, but still a welcome change of pace. The game is host to many other great concepts, like in-game cities actually built by player guilds. These cities, of course, can be sieged by other guilds, too, so you'll want to beef up defenses. The game also adds many story-driven single player elements to the MMOG genre. All in all, it's looking like Age of Conan will bring some interesting new ideas to the MMOG genre without straying too far from the path set by those before it. Hit the "read" link for the full preview.
New Age of Conan video barbarizes the net
A new video of Age of Conan has appeared at GamersInfo, taken from a recent Funcom press event in San Francisco. The video -- at least for us -- appears to have no sound, so the action is missing a little flavor. Still, we do get a glimpse at some of the game's detailed environments and the combat system. We've mentioned the combo-driven combat system before, but this is the first time we've seen it in use. Honestly, it looks like it could use some work. Either that, or the person playing had no idea what he was doing (a likely possibility at a press event). We can't complain about the environments though (especially the cities). They look great. Hit the "read" link for the video.[Via Evil Avatar]
Does the industry need to give WoW competition?
Right now WoW stands as the big boy on the online gaming scene. It will take quite a bit to close the gap between it and the other -- some could argue the inferior -- titles. Mark Ward at BBC News wrote an article on the subject of competition to World of Warcraft last week, and it raises some interesting issues. Mark interviewed Funcom game director Gaute Godoger, the man responsible for the upcoming Age of Conan MMO. Gaute believes that competition is needed for WoW because it has such a stranglehold on the market right now. Normally, I would have to agree with him, since competition breeds innovation. But in the case of Blizzard, they are competing with themselves for innovation, which is why WoW constantly comes up with new and fresh concepts and content that other games strive to copy. From where I sit, the company appears to be driven by the internal desire to put forth the best game possible, and so I see little in the market today that would have the potential to actually compete with their ethic.
BBC reports on upcoming WoW competition
Slashdot is linking this morning to an article that BBC has posted today which gathers views from several game developers as they talk about what comes next when you have a behemoth such as the World of Warcraft dominating the MMO-verse. While somewhat light on new perspectives, it's just further showing that developers really do have to account for WoW when considering their existing and future software offerings. Though the article talks with people behind Star Wars Galaxies, Lord of the Rings Online, and the upcoming Age of Conan, I find that Slashdot commenter JanusFury sums it up best with, "Instead of complaining about the lack of a strong competitor to WoW, how about making one?" What's on your MMO horizon as a WoW-killer? Does anything coming up, or existing on the market now, have a powerful enough hook to pull you away from the World of Warcraft? Obviously, if you look at the included image, you know what I'm waiting for. [via Slashdot]
Over 100,000 gamers sign up for Age of Conan beta test
If you haven't already signed up to get into Hyboria in the Age of Conan beta test, you might want to try before they slam the gates shut. They had over 50,000 wannabe barbarians sign up during the first 24 hours of the signup period, and a total of over 100,000 over easter weekend.Apparently they made the signup process a bit difficult in order to "avoid gamers that were simply looking for a free trial of the game." So, if you're looking for a free trial of the game, just work a bit harder during signup. With this game winning "Best MMO of E3" from several different sources, it'll only get more and more popular. Unless the beta ends making gamers shout "By Crom!" in frustration.
New video of Age of Conan
Not to be confused with the recently announced Conan, a new video of Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures has been released. The video features a city known as Khemi, the capitol of Stygia. Age of Conan is an MMORPG with a twist. The game offers a robust single player campaign. Upon completion of the single player campaign, the MMO world opens up to players. The Games for Windows version is expected late this year, with the 360 version following (possibly in 2008). Expect to hear more about Age of Conan from GDC next week.[Thanks, Darksaviour69]
