Age of Conan players get to grips with new PvP mechanics

By a startling coincidence that probably has something to do with a planetary alignment in Capricorn or some such, the first big PvP patch went to the Age of Conan servers at about the same time a certain other game was gearing up for final launch. We have no idea how or why this could possibly have happened, and are frankly amazed at the synchronicity.

At any rate, the players have been getting busy killing each other; there are even reports that some servers are now 'booming'. We're seeing quotes like 'This is the most fun I have ever had on AoC.' Of course, we're also seeing posts that report tumbleweeds and lone and level sands stretching far away.

In the midst of this exuberance, one group decided to get technical and work out what the hard facts of the new system actually were. Drocmar and his associates have put together a nice, solid, informative post explaining how PvP XP works. He's explained the diminishing returns, who gets what for killing who, and how much PvP XP you'll need to ding first level. There had been some numbers available before on the Testlive forums, but as any tester knows, what appears there isn't necessarily going to appear on Live. Players helping players: that's what we like to see. As well as players decapitating players.