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Funcom teases Age of Conan's Turan content with new trailer
If you haven't taken the plunge on Age of Conan's new Savage Coast of Turan adventure pack yet, you can still get a good look at the new location thanks to a developer video recently posted by PC Gamer. The clip runs for over six minutes and is narrated by Funcom's Craig Morrison, otherwise known by his forum handle Silirrion and for his deeds as AoC's game director. The video hits all the adventure pack's highlights, and Morrison says that the dev team set out to offer something for everyone in the form of new solo instances, a group dungeon, and a large quest-driven playfield. The video also delves into a bit of the lore behind the Persian-themed Ardashir coast region and mentions the cross-over between the recent Conan the Barbarian film and several of the storylines and characters that players will encounter in their adventures. See all the sights after the cut.
The Anvil of Crom: Savage Coast first impressions
Oy, the life of a game blogger. Earlier this week I teed off a bit on subscription-based games that tack on a cash shop. The short version of that particular rant is that I'm not a fan of the practice, at all, and as far as my personal gaming time goes, I've bid adieu to all of the double-dippers formerly denting my wallet -- with one exception, of course. Whether that one exception makes me a hypocrite or is simply part of my job description is something I haven't quite figured out yet. In any event, it's somewhat ironic that I'm now about to tell you what a good time I had after spending 20 bucks in Age of Conan's item store. Yep, there I was, forking over for 2400 Funcom points -- I only needed 2000 for the Savage Coast of Turan adventure pack, of course -- and enjoying it for the most part. Luckily, it only costs 520 Massively points to read my first impressions after the cut. %Gallery-132491%
Age of Conan's Morrison talks Savage Coast dungeons and gear
Interested in learning more about Age of Conan's newly minted Savage Coast of Turan adventure pack? Eurogamer recently talked to Funcom game director Craig "Silirrion" Morrison about everything from the marketing opportunities represented by the upcoming Conan film to specifics on the new tie-in content. Morrison riffs on new instances, both the solo and group variety, including an encounter with pirates called Dead Man's Hand and another tryst based on the Island of Iron Statues from the original Robert E. Howard lore. There's also a new raid in the Temple of Elric that features Ela-Shan, a master thief whom Jason Momoa's Conan encounters in the new film. Still want more? How about a new epic quest line and various loot upgrades? The drops from the team instances will be "slightly more powerful than the rewards we give for max-level content in Godslayer," Morrison explains. He also drops a hint about the adventure pack's new armor. "You can't go into an area like Turan and have that magnificent Persian theme without bringing in new armor sets." Despite the high-level nature of some of the drops, it appears that much of the Savage Coast content is aimed at players around level 50. Head to Eurogamer for more.
Funcom prepping new Age of Conan adventure pack inspired by film reboot
It looks like rumors of new film-related content for Age of Conan were pretty accurate, as Funcom has officially announced The Savage Coast of Turan adventure pack for its fantasy MMORPG. According to a new press release, the pack "includes but is not limited to" content from the forthcoming Conan the Barbarian film reboot and will see players traveling to the lands of Turan some 20 years after the events of the movie. Players will explore the city of Ardashir and take on new quests, encounters, raids, and dungeons, all inspired by the film and on display in the recently released Conan trailer. Conan the Barbarian debuts August 19th, and while there is no firm release date for The Savage Coast of Turan, film producer Fredrik Malmberg says that fans will appreciate the synergy between the movie and Funcom's MMORPG. "Many of the concepts, locations, and designs from the game development were utilized by the film team for consistency," he said. Check out our AoC gallery below for a glimpse of some Ardashir concept art that includes new Turanian armor. %Gallery-9836%
Rumor: Funcom readying new Age of Conan lands
Speculation and excitement are the order of the day on both the European and American forums for Age of Conan. What's all the hubbub about? Two new lands are purportedly in the works, and this jibes with a cryptic comment by Funcom game director Craig "Silirrion" Morrison in last month's development update. "This is where we get to the stuff we can't quite talk about just yet... yes, a little teasing I know, but trust us, it is far more frustrating not being able to talk about what is coming just yet. These will be important updates, with two new and important elements incoming," Morrison wrote. Fans are speculating that the two new and important elements are in fact two Hyborian provinces filled with a multitude of new zones, specifically Turan and Ardashir. Massively has confirmed that bringing up the in-game player search tab and filtering by region shows two new headings labeled Turan and Ardashir alongside the pre-existing countries of Aquilonia, Cimmeria, Stygia, and Khitai. There is also a bit of conjecture on the official boards regarding Funcom's annual report, which says in part that 2011 will bring "significant content and story tie-ins with the [new Conan] movie." We'll keep you updated as this story develops and as we get official word from the devs. [Thanks to Nyan for the tip!]
