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The Anvil of Crom: Dreaming up expansion destinations
So how does a new Age of Conan expansion grab you? Well let's not get carried away just yet, but Funcom game director Craig "Silirrion" Morrison did drop the barest mention of a hint on the official boards this week. Responding to a post that asked about the size of AoC's dev team, Morrison said that "we are looking at the next new location (still under wraps, sorry no clues there right now)." Taken in the context of explaining why Funcom has development teams flung to the far corners of the earth (Norway, China, and Canada if you're curious), it says very little about where the game is headed. It is a good sign, though, one indicative of the fact that Age of Conan is a bit healthier than the legions of fail-trolls would have you believe. In this week's Anvil of Crom, I'd like to indulge in a bit of good ol' fashioned speculation as well as a healthy amount of wishful thinking. Join me after the cut to see where Hyboria's next expansion might lead us, and add your two cents in the comments.
The Anvil of Crom: In praise of forum PvP
Hello my fellow barbarians, and welcome back to The Anvil of Crom. The new year is but a babe at this point, but there's already a lot going on in the world of Funcom's Hyboria. If these first few days are any indication, I'm certainly not going to be hurting for column topics in 2011, and the Age of Conan community isn't going to be hurting for discussion items either. As far as my in-game adventures are concerned, I'm plugging away at the Khitai content with my Demonologist and seriously considering making him my permanent main. I'm still waffling a bit as I love alts and love the way they allow me to experience different parts of the game, but the post-80 grind is simply too much to bear on multiple toons. I guess moving to a single-character playstyle is ultimately a good thing, but in past games I've been unable to shake the nagging suspicion that I'm missing something. Look for more on this in a future column (assuming I can make up my mind). Anyhow, it's been quite a while since I took the community's pulse (mid-November to be exact), so what say we take a look at what's got Age of Conan's players (and developers) talking of late.
The Anvil of Crom: Of stealth nerfs and feature removal
Sigh. I guess I shouldn't be surprised at the spectacularly epic fail that Funcom pushed to the live servers last week. If you subscribe to any sort of yin/yang theory, whether it be balance in the Force or simply the law of averages, you had to expect some sort of mini-debacle, given the amount of good news flowing from the Age of Conan developers regarding new content as of late. In case you haven't heard, last week Funcom decided to remove the ability to PvP in the Underhalls and White Sands portion of Tortage. If this isn't enough to irritate you in and of itself, how does the fact that the nerf "managed to sneak itself into [an] update" grab you? While my initial thought on the stealth removal was basically an eye-roll at the thought of more PvP-focused whining, upon further reflection it occurred to me that in this case said whining is entirely justified. Turn the page for pigs flying, honest politicians, and yours truly taking up for PvPers.
The Anvil of Crom: Hives of scum and villainy
Once, a long time ago, I stood on the summit of a sandy cliff with my MMO mentor. His sage-like eyes took in the desert around us, surveying the burgeoning multiplayer landscape. On one side of us were MMOs; on the other, FPS titles and social networking games. Surrounding us from all directions I saw a writhing, rioting mass of digital humanity, overlapping chat bubbles floating toward the horizon for miles around. Some of these bubbles were legible, though many featured bizarre butcherings of the king's English as well as certain phrases that I couldn't even begin to decipher. Almost all of them sported excessive punctuation and some variation on LOL. Squinting his eyes against the glare and covering his ears with both hands, my mentor inclined his head down the slope. "Global chat," he said, a weary sign escaping his chapped lips. "You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy. We must be cautious."
Age of Conan devs release their August newsletter
The devs over at Age of Conan have just posted their August newsletter on the game's official website. In it they look back over the last month and the announcement of the new AoC expansion, Rise of the Godslayer, as well as clarifying some titbits about the new expansion. This includes thanking players for their feedback and explaining why they chose to venture to Khitai (the Conan-version of China) over other lands featured in the original books. The devs also touch on the fascinating subject of world design and how player feedback has shaped the new armor they are working on.The most interesting nugget in the newsletter is a sneak peak at what the immediate future holds for AoC in the form of the 1.06 update. This includes the possibility of splitting the update into parts rather than deluging players with a giant patch. They also look at the new level 80 dungeon, the House of Crom, the Veterans System and Tier Three Raiding. So if you're an AoC player excited about the new expansion and the next big update, you might want to head over to the official site and check out the newsletter for yourself.
Age of Conan gets new ground
We're sure that when you think of Age of Conan, you think about ground texture optimization. If that's not the first thing that pops into your head, it should be. All right, so maybe it shouldn't be, but it's still rather important -- we promise. If you don't believe us, just go check out the new AoC developer blog at 1up.com for proof. We have to admit to being skeptical ourselves until we saw the before and after screenshots. Not only does the ground art look much better, it also takes up less system resources -- which is always a huge plus. We wonder if this kind of dedication goes into the other visual aspects of Age of Conan.Would we rather see talk about some other topics? Sure, but it's always nice to see some examples of how Age of Conan has been optimized to run smoother. With the release date only a couple months away, the stream of information continues to grow -- with an exception for the occasional trickle now and then.[via RPGDot]
