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The Anvil of Crom: Is Age of Conan a PvP-focused game?
One of the great things about Massively is the deluge of MMO information and opinion that is spread across the site on a daily basis. Since I'm so closely tied to our Age of Conan coverage, it's interesting to read other writers' perspectives on Hyboria, particularly when they don't match my own. Take one of our recent early-morning conversation starters in which Funcom's title is described as a PvP-focused game. Despite being a throw-away reference, the wording here struck a strange chord. Age of Conan does feature both open world and instanced PvP, but said PvP is -- in my experience -- a red-headed step-child in terms of content updates, system tweaks, and player preference. The key here is "in my experience," and it's amazing how a simple turn of phrase like "PvP-focused game" can send the mind drifting on all manner of perceptual tangents. Analytically, though, is Age of Conan a PvP-focused game as of May 2011? Head past the cut to find out.
Age of Conan 2.1.2 patch goes live
Hold on to your bloodied, battle-scarred, and barbarian-themed helmets, kids, it's patch day in Hyboria. Yes, the 2.1.2 update has come to Age of Conan and brought with it a few tweaks to the game's classes. The Guardian, in particular, is the recipient of quite a lot of developer attention, and reaction on the official forums seems to indicate that the rich just got richer. Also of note is Funcom's apparent addressing of long-standing issues relating to silences and other crowd-control abilities that have heretofore been immune to damage breaks. According to the patch notes, the unintended immunity should no longer occur. Another welcome change sees increased XP rewards from the new Call of Jhebbal Sag PvP minigame, as well as increased tick rates. You can view the full patch notes, and the resulting discussion, on the official boards.
Age of Conan 2.1 brings new minigame, Guardian revamp, winter event
Today is patch day in the world of Hyboria, and Funcom has quite a few changes in store for Age of Conan. Version 2.1 is currently on the live servers and it brings new social content, a new PvP minigame, and a Guardian class revamp. Still want more? OK, how does a winter solstice quest grab you? In addition to the items above, 2.1 also boasts a laundry list of tweaks and additions, among them adjustments to PvP minigame balancing, 18 new Gateway of Khitai quests, guild renown adjustments, and various and sundry bug fixes. While the jury is still out on the minigame balancing, the new game (The Call of Jhebbal Sag) transports players to the Pictish wilderness for a lengthy battle featuring capture objectives and resource stockpiles on a large-scale map.
Morrison chats about latest Age of Conan development update
Age of Conan's Craig Morrison has taken to the official forums for his latest monthly development update. While the proposed tweaks and additions are interesting in their own right, the epic amounts of PvP-focused QQ in the 18-page (as of press time) comment thread following Morrison's post can also be a fun read, depending on your perspective. As for the updates themselves, they include a summation of progress on the new Call of Jhebbal Sag PvP minigame, a Christmas (sorry, winter solstice) event that features new quests and rewards, and further content additions. This last bit looks to be considerable, and Morrison touches on new Pai-Kang 6-man dungeons, new tier four Jade Citadel raids, a level 80 solo instance designed as a daily quest, and two new solo dungeons that will scale between levels 40 and 80. If it sounds like a lot of PvE, it is, hence the temper tantrums from the I'm-canceling-my-sub-no-really crowd. Morrison, as he often does, actually responds to a good number of the comments in detail, and it's worth a read if you're interested in Age of Conan's near future.
The Anvil of Crom: Ranting ranger is ranty (oh and some opinions on the dev update)
Yes, it's that time of the month again: It's time for another analysis of a Funcom development update. This time around, there's the added bonus of a new patch (2.0.7) to discuss, but for the most part I'll spend today rant... er, talking about Craig Morrison's latest monthly roadmap for Age of Conan. After two weeks of positivity, I guess the time is right to bring a little balance to the Force (or at least, to The Anvil of Crom), so join me after the cut as I break down the good, bad, and fugly in relation to where the Hyborian Express seems to be headed.
Age of Conan adding Conquest game mode, new PvP minigame
Age of Conan's Craig Morrison has been a busy man of late. When he's not generating discussion fodder on his personal blog or overseeing the setup of Funcom's new production studio in Montreal, he's finding time to chat up the AoC community on the forthcoming additions to the game via his monthly development update series. Morrison enlists the help of two additional Funcom developers in the latest installment, beginning with lead systems designer Einar Forselv, who talks a bit about the incoming PvP additions. Not only is a new PvP minigame in the works, but an entirely new game mode is coming along with it. The new mode, called Conquest, will make its debut in the new mini -- The Call of Jhebbal Sag -- and will find players fighting for control of a strategic location in the Pictish wilderness. Funcom has also added a new wrinkle in the form of resource points that fluctuate depending on how well your team is doing at holding capture points. The new mini will feature two groups of six for a total of 12 players per side, and it will also allow players to bring their mounts into a minigame battle for the first time. Lest you think the 2.1 update series is solely focused on PvP, Morrison also taps dynamic gameplay designer Tanya Short for a bit of an explanation about the social features coming soon to a server near you. She provides a bit more info on the activities briefly mentioned in last month's letter. "This patch introduces two major social content additions: guild events and horse racing. Both will hopefully provide guilds and roleplayers with some fun activities and offer an interesting diversion for everyone who wants to try them," she writes.
