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Age of Conan's January Director letter talks PvP gear, daily quests, and crafting system
Age of Conan's January Game Director letter delved into the game's most recent patch as well as the upcoming re-balancing of PvP armor, an update on the crafting system overhaul, and a look at new daily quests. Additionally, the next world boss to start rampaging through Hyboria (which will have more frequent spawns than those before it) will begin its menacing spree on February 5th. PvP armor will be receiving the same re-balancing treatment that PvP weapons recently got, giving newly level-80 players a fighting chance to land some good blows and dish out damage in PvP. As an update on the long-awaited crafting revamp, the letter notes that all existing items can be broken down into salvaged components for upcoming crafting recipes. And finally, new daily location quests will give players a reason (and rewards) for traveling across Hyboria each day and visiting different locations.
Age of Conan to receive some new world bosses
Do you like finding huge monsters out in the world and taking them down? Then you'll have reason to be excited about Age of Conan's upcoming world boss system. The most recent game director's letter explains that these bosses are an outgrowth of the anniversary event designed to make the game world feel more dynamic. Each boss will have a one-week spawn period, and with 12 bosses in total, players will be facing a different boss each month. The boss will spawn within one or two outdoor areas and can be engaged and fought by any level-appropriate characters within those areas, with rewards going to anyone who takes part in the fight and survives for at least one minute before it dies. Item caches are dropped by each individual boss, but the bigger reward comes to players who manage to be counted as slaying all 12 bosses as they spawn. For more details, as well as information about upcoming gathering and event changes, take a look at the full game director's letter.
The Secret World hints at Aegis system with Issue #9
With Issue #8 on the way next week for The Secret World, Creative Director Joel Bylos hinted at what lies beyond in his latest game director letter. While the fans have known that the first part of the long-awaited Tokyo zone would be coming with Issue #9, Bylos dropped a small bombshell that a new system will arrive as well. "We will be introducing the new Aegis system," he said, "which will expand the horizontal progression of The Secret World and provide new mechanics that allow us to build consistent horizontal progression mechanics that will keep content fresh, not only in Tokyo, but also for all new areas in the future." Bylos reports that "full production is underway" for Issue #9, including work on missions, characters, motion capture, and voice acting. He said that once it's completed, it will be the single largest content update the MMO has seen to date. [Thanks to Cotic for the tip!]
The Secret World looks forward to scenarios and augmentation
One of the downsides of The Secret World's advancement system is that if your build works early on you can wind up with loads of AP and nothing to spend it on. That's part of what Augments are designed to fix. The latest game director's letter discusses the Augment system, explaining that Augments are collected via Scenarios and can be used at significant AP cost to learn new skills. Players attach those skills to active abilities, some of which enhance a specific ability and some of which enhance your character overall. That's hardly the only thing in development at the moment, however. Issue #8's exploration of Venice and Issue #9's Tokyo adventure are both well on the way to completion, both replete with new challenges for players to explore. There are also plans for a new event starting tomorrow that pits players against one of Gaia's natural defense mechanisms rampaging across the globe. Whether you prefer the high-end challenges of The Secret World or prefer more casual play, there's plenty on the table for anyone.
Age of Conan's August letter previews the Great Hyborian Race
How do you implement open world PvP in an aging game? Age of Conan is going to do precisely that by running a race. Director Joel Bylos discusses the upcoming Great Hyborian Race in his director's letter for August, an event designed to promote PvP as well as give everyone a chance to see the game through new eyes. New players and old will have a chance for glory, fame, and fantastic prizes. How will it work? After the server merge (which has been delayed slightly by moving the game's offices), a new Blood and Glory ruleset server will be started specifically for the race. Players will have sharply limited use of XP potions, no use of offline levels, and a simple goal of reaching level 80 as fast as possible. Prizes will be given to players who reach the top first and who gain the most PvP experience. The letter also discusses upcoming unchained dungeons and upcoming unchained PvP, so even if you don't want to race you'll have something to explore.
The Secret World Game Director's letter dishes more details on Issues 7 & 8
We already knew that Issue #7 would bring The Secret World a spy-like experience. And now, thanks to the Game Director's letter for May, we also have the title, snazzy cover art, and a glimpse at the climactic ending. We even get an expected time-frame for release; while an exact date is not given, it appears that it will hit the end of June, according to the cover art, and Director Joel Bylos himself states it will coincide with TSW's first anniversary. Issue #7: A Dream to Kill ends with filth infiltrating Agartha itself through the newly discovered Tokyo entrance, and players will continue to fight this threat with group and solo content until Tokyo can finally be entered. Bylos also reveals information about Issue #8, including the Virtual Training Scenarios and the Augment System. To prove readiness to enter Tokyo to the Council of Venice, players will have to complete training scenarios that will have random elements thrown in, making each experience different. The Augment system is a new advancement system that will allow players to improve their existing abilities by providing customization in the roles of damage, support, healing, and survivability.
