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Catch Rise of the Godslayer preview on Xfire
If you've been waiting for more information or a first look into Funcom's upcoming Age of Conan expansion, Rise of the Godslayer, then you're in luck! This Thursday, April 29th at 12:00pm Pacific (3:00pm Eastern / 9:00PM CET), they're planning on holding a special preview streaming event in conjunction with Xfire to give everyone an early look into the exotic new lands of Khitai. "Age of Conan: Rise of the Godslayer is now very close to launch and we are very excited to share our view of the expansion with the world through Xfire," says Game Director and Executive Producer Craig Morrison. All you'll have to do to catch the preview is to point your browser at the main Xfire site at the time mentioned above, sit back, and enjoy the tour. The game's developers will be taking players along as they adventure through some of the new content, offering a chance to see lands and sights as yet unexperienced. There is also a plan to do a question and answer session after the preview as well. If you've been waffling on picking up the expansion, it sounds like a great way to figure out if it belongs on your "must pick up" list -- or to ask any questions about Age of Conan that you may have.
The Anvil of Crom: Craig Morrison interview
Welcome to another installment of The Anvil of Crom, Massively's weekly look at Funcom's Age of Conan. It has been a big week for the sword and sorcery title, with the much-anticipated Update 1.07 going live on Tuesday, bringing a wealth of fixes as well as the Shrines of Bori PvP content. With Rise of the Godslayer looming on the horizon, it's as good a time as ever to take a break from our normal commentary format and chat with Craig 'Silirrion' Morrison, Age of Conan's Executive Producer and Game Director. Follow along after the cut as we chat about everything from the forthcoming expansion, to PvP mini-games, to social options.
Age of Conan 1.07 update coming tomorrow
Funcom is getting ready to take the wraps off Age of Conan's 1.07 update according to executive producer Craig 'Silirrion' Morrison's Twitter feed. Morrison, who also serves as game director for the sword and sorcery MMORPG, commented that the "update wheels are in motion, last minute hitches permitting, the 1.07 update should be hitting the live servers tomorrow." The update will feature the much-anticipated Shrines of Bori PvP tweaks, which include a guild conflict mini-game system with a few new wrinkles thrown into the traditional capture-and-hold mix. Additionally, the system will be a new source of PvP reward tokens. We'll bring you full details on the patch when it officially releases. In the meantime, check out our Shrines of Bori rundown as well as our new Age of Conan weekly column.
Faction armor is about choice in Rise of the Godslayer
Today's an exciting day for Age of Conan players, because this month's Letter from the Game Director is out and the theme is faction armors coming in the Rise of the Godslayer expansion. Craig Morrison explains that each class is essentially getting five new armor sets with this expansion, each of which serves a specific purpose. One set will offer a general DPS boost, one a general health boost and three are designed to enhance a different aspect of each class. The example given by Craig uses the Ranger class. Rangers get DPS and health armor sets and also receives three specialization sets: Critical damage, evades and hit rating. Protections and immunities. Traps and regeneration. These sets can also be mixed and matched, meaning that players are going to have a lot of meaningful choices when it comes to equipment selection in Rise of the Godslayer and that's certainly a good thing. Considering the alternate advancement feature being added with this expansion and (according to Craig in this very letter) next week's upcoming PvP-focused Shrines of Borai update, it's an exciting time to be an Age of Conan player. And once we know a solid release date -- beyond Craig's mention of it being "just around the corner" -- things should get pretty heady for the AoC community.
Age of Conan pushing Shrines of Bori towards quick release
Age of Conan game director Craig 'Silirrion' Morrison dropped a lengthy post on the official forums today detailing some good news for fans of Funcom's Robert E. Howard-inspired MMORPG. In short, the new and much-discussed PvP update Shrines of Bori will debut prior to the upcoming Rise of the Godslayer expansion. Morrison confirms that the changes will be pushed to the test server in the next few days, and will roll out to the live servers as part of the 1.07 patch. "It is important to stress that this has been the result of some great extra effort put in by the team and will not effect the schedule of the expansion. When we saw the tremendous support for this feature, and the many very constructive and rational arguments from you, our players...we decided that we would find a way to achieve this," Morrison said. He goes on to state that the 1.07 patch will feature some additional "mini-event type quests" which will lead into the Godslayer expansion launch, making today a great day to be an Age of Conan fan. Look for Massively's impressions of Funcom's Rise of the Godslayer presentation from GDC 2010 later this week, and check out our previous Shrines of Bori coverage. [Thanks Ayonyx!]
Age of Conan's next update promising alt leveling and travel improvements
Not every update is going to be a cavalcade of new and awesome systems, even though it feels really satisfying when they are. Craig Morrison, Age of Conan's director, has come out and said in so many words that unlike the game's recent 1.06 update, the upcoming 1.07 will largely feature changes under the hood that might not be as obvious to players. But his most recent letter to the game's fans is hardly all doom and gloom -- even with the lack of major new systems, there are still new things players will notice. Travel concerns are one of the two major issues that the next update aims to address, allowing quicker travel to quest hubs and faster returns from the field. The transport is limited to quest hubs, allowing players easier access to where they need to return but not cutting out a sense of exploration. That's hardly the only bombshell the letter has to drop -- subscribers will now slowly accumulate extra levels that they can allocate to their characters, even while offline. The system is intended to help with alt leveling rather than speeding through content, with Morrison stating that it would take nine months for a character to reach max level from this method. It's an interesting approach to helping alts keep up, and Age of Conan's players will soon get a chance to see how well it plays out.
Age of Conan's Return of Thoth-Amon now live
After plenty of testing and anticipation on the fan side, and lots of work on the development side, Age of Conan's Update 6 has gone live. Funcom's Craig Morrison was positive about the community response to the update in testing: "I am very pleased to say that the feedback we have received from our community on Update 6 so far is very good." Return of Thoth-Amon adds several highly-anticipated overhauls to the game, but the new content is as exciting for players as the changes to existing features. Thoth-Amon's Stronghold is a new dungeon that adds tier three raid content to the game, as well as a chance to fight alongside King Conan himself in an effort to take down arch-nemesis Thoth-Amon. You can view all the details on the Age of Conan forums. The update is live now, so make sure you check it out, and have fun! %Gallery-85867%
January Age of Conan director letter details the road ahead
While the January edition of the Age of Conan Game Director letter isn't the flashiest one we've ever seen, it is an excellent road-map of just what the team over at Funcom have in their sights for the next little while. They've been giving us tons of tasty Rise of the Godslayer news outside of the Director updates, so we certainly won't complain! This month, Age of Conan's Game Director, Craig Morrison, sits down to tell us just what the team has in mind for the future of Hyboria. Patch 1.06 will be coming to the live servers shortly, bringing with it the Guild Renown system, tier three raiding, and a major revamp for the Assassin class. As for Godslayer, he says that more players have been invited into the beta and the feedback has thus far been great. There's also a good chunk of information on what they're planning for long-term PvP improvements for those who can't wait to bash Hyborian brains in. In all, it sounds like Craig and the team have some excellent things in motion for the future of Age of Conan, so be sure to pop over and check it out. Having fun in Conan's homeland? Make sure to check out all of our previous Age of Conan coverage, and stick with Massively for more news from the Hyborian Age!
Age of Conan director asks how you like your communication
Craig Morrison, the Game Director for Age of Conan, posed an interesting question in his latest blog entry: How do you like your information? MMOs, whether they are still approaching beta or have been around for years, are constantly changing as developers add improvements here, remove bugs there, work on new content and expansions, and just generally tweak things to keep it all attractive to the players. The question for development teams is this: How much of the process do you share with the players? Do you say "We are working on stuff, and you'll know about it when we release it. Just trust us," do you share every step of the process with your fans along the way, or do you strike one of the hundred compromises in between? Morrison's blog entry talks quite a bit about the difficulty of finding that balance, and how it's often a "damned if you do, damned if you don't" situation. He winds up with an interesting question, though: What do you as a player prefer? Take some time to read his thoughts on the issue, and then give your own.
Age of Conan December community letter released
Age of Conan Game Director Craig 'Silirrion' Morrison posted the December community letter today, and he's clearly feeling very optimistic about the future. The 1.06 update cycle was the focus of most of the letter, with Morrison reminding players that it is currently up and available on the test server, and encouraging players to check it out (particularly the Guild Renown system). The Age of Conan team has put in quite a bit of work and are anxious for players to put it through its paces. Of course, the other big area of focus was the upcoming expansion Rise of the Godslayer and the excitement of the recent live beta broadcast. The letter also included a quick rundown of where progress on the expansion is right now. Players had some questions after reading the letter, particularly regarding PVP Towers, and Morrison was quick to step in and chat with the community in the thread, keeping them up to date on what is happening in that arena. The full letter (and thread) can be seen here.
What's to come in Rise of the Godslayer
Tigers, PvP, corruption, and more are coming with Age of Conan's next expansion, Rise of the Godslayer. Xfire has hosted a sneak peek live broadcast hosted by game director Craig Morrison and lead expansion designer Joel Bylos, and the two have shown off some of the inner workings of the expansion, including some of the changes and additions players will find. We here at Massively were watching closely and taking notes, so if you didn't get the chance to watch the video then no worries! As we said before, we have your back and we're ready to take you headlong into the blood and corruption of Age of Conan's expansion.
Age of Conan offers streaming expansion demo Monday
If you're playing Age of Conan, the odds that you're looking forward to the upcoming Rise of the Godslayer expansion are... pretty much one to one. The news on the expansion has been fairly slow in coming since its announcement earlier this year, but it looks like we're due for a big burst of new information on Monday. Funcom has announced that the developers will be hosting a streaming demo of the game on December 7th via Xfire. The demo, hosted by game director Craig Morrison and the expansion lead designer Joel Bylos, will begin at noon PST (3 PM for those of us on the other coast). Scheduled to last for an hour, it promises to cover both the content in the demo -- which is all slated to be new material -- as well as the expansion in general, which is targeted for release in the first half of 2010. Both the developers and their hosts at Xfire are excited about the chance to show off a live demo, and odds that the game's playerbase is excited are, again, probably one in one. So clear some time to catch the broadcast on Monday, and see what's in store for Age of Conan as it journeys into the eastern empire of Khitai. [ via WarCry ]
November letter from Age of Conan's director released
As the end of the year approaches, Age of Conan has been quietly but steadily progressing through development and improving its engine and gameplay. It's certainly improved compared to its state at launch, and with its first expansion on the way the game has a promising future ahead of it. The end of November saw the release of a letter from the game director, Craig Morrison, addressing the game's upcoming Korean launch as well as the incoming changes in the near future. The biggest bits of news are the statement that 1.06, the game's next patch, is planned to begin rounds on the live test servers this week. 1.06 will also be seeing a few adjustments to the balance of force between casters and melee, one of the more contentious issues in the game. Crowd control will see a severe reduction in range and efficiency, with the letter explaining that the intent of the abiliies is to give casters a panic or escape button rather than allowing them to effectively pin targets at range. They're also denying casters the option of stamina potions to avoid making them too durable. Age of Conan's casters are probably unhappy about the news, but the letter itself has more to say, so it's likely in every player's best interest to take a closer look.
Age of Conan community interview: Your questions answered!
Earlier this week, we asked for your Age of Conan questions, and you delivered. Although we only received seven usable questions (some were duplicates and two we combined), the answers given by Game Director Craig Morrison are candid and to-the-point. Funcom's steady push for new content and poised ear to the community shows that they're on board to keep AoC going strong for a long time. Follow along after the jump for Craig's answers on changing Tortage, more PvP, opening the forums to everyone and more.
PAX 2009: We travel east with Rise of the Godslayer
Age of Conan came to PAX pretty much directly off their announcement of the Rise of the Godslayer expansion. So when we arrived at our appointment to check the game out and speak with Executive Producer Craig Morrison, you can imagine our curiosity levels were quite high.This expansion is taking players far into the eastern lands of Khitai, which is essentially a retelling of our own ancient eastern worlds. Something we were told right away is that Funcom wanted to avoid Japanese influences, as they're fairly over-saturated in videogames. Instead, they're going for a heavy focus on Korean and Chinese culture for the lands of Khitai.%Gallery-72323%
Funcom announces Rise of the Godslayer expansion for Age of Conan
With GamesCom has come the announcement of a brand new boxed expansion for Age of Conan -- Rise of the Godslayer. Age of Conan fans rejoice, you have been loved.Rise of the Godslayer, however, will not be an expansion as your normally understand it. Instead of expanding the game vertically, like so many other MMOs, RotG will be expanding the game horizontally. The level cap of 80 isn't changing, but expect RotG to be adding much more meat to the lower levels of the game's content -- specifically from level 20 (and the end of Tortage) up until 80.RotG will also be adding Robert E. Howard's vision of the far east -- the Empire of Khitai -- and the brand new race of the Khitan. Khitans will be starting in Tortage, like all of the other slaves, but don't expect to magically appear in the empire once you get done. Khitai will be reserved exclusively for higher level characters, while lower level characters will have to make a great trek across the lands.For even more scoops than we could fit into this post, head on over to Eurogamer and check out their first impressions of the new expansion. Or, if you love us, you'll jump over the break and check out the first trailer for the new expansion, embedded right in this post![Thanks, JP!]
AoC dev blog discusses class tweaks and recruiting more advocates
Funcom's Glen "Famine" Swan has put another entry into his blog at MMORPG, discussing Age of Conan's upcoming guild features (which Craig Morrison elaborated on in his recent game director letter) as well as some class tweaks that the developers have been working on. Right now the dev team is looking at the Bear Shaman and Barbarian classes, with the Conqueror and Dark Templar up for possible changes after they're done with the first two. He doesn't spill the beans on exactly what might be happening with these classes but we're told to stay tuned for more information soon.The rest of Famine's blog post relates to things outside of the game. It sounds like the Advocate Program has been going well, but Funcom would like to bring a few more advocates on board. Along with the existing class advocates, they might be recruiting advocates specifically for areas like roleplaying and player-versus-player, as was planned some time ago. Famine also gave a quick update on Funcom's plans for Dragon*Con in Atlanta this September. Among the activities will be a developer panel featuring Age of Conan's lead designer Joel Bylos.
Craig Morrison's latest AoC letter discusses guild features in Update 6
As July is coming to a close, Age of Conan's game director Craig Morrison has weighed in with his letter to the community for the month. The biggest discussion point this time around is a new 'Guild Renown' system that will be introduced with the next major content patch, Update 6. This system will allow members of a guild to contribute to its reputation on two separate scales. A guild's Renown Level will be increased by members earning Valor points (from PvE activities like questing and killing NPCs), Glory points (PvP) and Artisan points (crafting). Higher Renown Levels will mean access to better guild city vendors and other bonuses -- even a brand new building type that Morrison does not elaborate on in this letter.
Free to play an option for Age of Conan
It would appear that for Funcom, going the way of free-to-play with Age of Conan isn't entirely off the table. At least so says Erling Ellingson in a recent interview with IncGamers. There's certainly a precedent with Anarchy Online having gone that route long ago and its director -- at that time -- was also Craig Morrison. So really, all bets are off on this one.Still, for the time being subscription remains the primary method of play. Our guess? Funcom is probably waiting for the first expansion or two before opening the original game for free to play access, much like they did with Anarchy Online. So if anything, this probably won't be happening for a couple more years. That is, unless things rapidly go south for the Norwegian games developer. But with The Secret World looking quite interesting. they've got a good chance at making a comeback.[via MMORPG]
Craig Morrison discusses Age of Conan's improvements and future
Craig Morrison spoke with Eurogamer recently about the state that Age of Conan; what's been going on over the last year and where the game is headed in the future. This is of course one of many interviews you can expect to see regarding Age of Conan as Funcom is in the middle of their summer blitz to get people to come back and check out all the changes.As it turns out, a whole lot has changed. We've mentioned it on our podcasts and in our posts, but Morrison is keen to continue to emphasis the improvements and updates here as well. The latest update has quite possibly been the biggest and equally subtlest improvement yet, as it completely reworked the item system to be less obtuse and make items more desirable.But you really don't need to take Morrison's word for it, since the two free weeks campaign is in full effect. You can be sure Massively is jumping head first into Hyboria to get a taste of AoC's new flavor.
