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The Anvil of Crom: Uncommon fun
I'm standing high above the stone and stucco portcullises of Tarantia, the glare of the sunshine doubly bright as it bounces off the dirty white dwellings and the twin daggers poised in my calloused hands. The Iron Tower, a bleakly bronzed pillar of darkness amid a sea of sandstone, rises menacingly to the west, casting a lengthy shadow over the maze of rooftops that stretches in all directions. My cloak whips to and fro in the hefty breeze; my sandalled feet inch backward toward the edge of a high rooftop as three masked Crows close fast. I risk a glance over my shoulder, and the dizzying height makes my head spin. One of the Crows lashes out with a short sword and whiffs as I step off the ledge and drop like a stone toward the glassy surface of the canal several stories below. With a rush of wind, the building walls bleed and run as I plummet past, indistinguishable streaks of tan on white. The shock of the water whips me back into the here and now; I surface for air and drag myself up on the bank, trying not to dwell on the stench that plasters the cloak to my skin. Welcome to another leisurely stroll through the Commons.
Age of Conan video walks players through new Tarantia Commons zone
This has been a really big week for Age of Conan. They released Update 5, "Gangs of Tarantia", which has introduced new zones and content, but more than that, completely reworked some of Age of Conan's existing game mechanics. The amount of written content that Funcom has put together on these changes is substantial -- in fact we linked to all of it in our post on Update 5 earlier this week. Funcom can write all they want about the new changes to the game, but when it comes down to it, actually seeing these places they've described may have a stronger impact. With that in mind, Funcom released a video tour of the Tarantia Commons zone today, narrated by game director Craig Morrison.Tarantia Commons is what he describes as "the urban underbelly" of the capital city of Tarantia, a place Morrison says is "wracked by gang warfare and civil unrest." In other words, there's always a lot going on in Tarantia Commons and the video walkthrough shows this, revealing how players will choose which side to take in riots -- either aid the city guards or stick it to the man with fellow rioters. The riots then trigger other events. Specific quests become available and certain bosses spawn, depending upon the general state of chaos in the streets of Tarantia Commons. There are two warring gangs in the new gameplay area, The Wharf Rats who exist at ground level in the streets of Tarantia Commons, and The Crows whose area of influence shows off a different aspect of the game: rooftops. Interacting with The Crows above Tarantia Commons gives a different perspective on the city, with some impressive views of the zone. Of course there's content on the outskirts of Tarantia Commons for players to experience as well, including a leper colony where NPCs will lash out at you, intentionally trying to infect you with disease. As an added bonus, or spoiler depending upon your point of view, the walkthrough also shows off a boss encounter and the tactics he'll employ against players. If you're on the fence about returning to Age of Conan to see the new content, this Tarantia Commons walkthrough might just be the tipping point. We've got a video embed for you after the jump:
Age of Conan's Update 5 goes live, game director hints at future improvements
The fifth major update to Age of Conan,"Gangs of Tarantia", has gone live. The update adds the Tarantia Commons District, a high level area with both single player and group dungeons, as well as a revamped RPG system. There are substantial system changes that have gone into effect in Update 5, which impact every class in Age of Conan, covering everything from itemization changes to feat trees, as well as abilities, spells, and combos. Plus Funcom has rolled out a complete overhaul of the gem crafting system and introduced new rewards tied in with guild cities. Any in-depth look at the sweeping changes made to Age of Conan with Update 5 is beyond the scope of this post, but are summarized in the patch notes. In the June letter from the game director, Craig Morrison explains how Gangs of Tarantia is the most significant update made to the game thus far. Morrison also drops some hints about the directions Funcom plans to take Age of Conan with future game updates. He writes that the next update to Age of Conan will focus on three main areas: improving guild gameplay; new high level content in the House of Crom; and more goals and objectives with Border Kingdom PvP. Beyond the letter from the game director, Funcom has grouped together a ton of information related to Gangs of Tarantia and AoC in general, which can be found in Issue #23 of the Age of Conan newsletter.
Interview with AoC Live Producer
MMORPG.com sat down with Age of Conan Live Producer, Henning Solberg to chat about various aspects of his job, recent positive reviews the game has been getting, and new things coming down the pipe. In case the second point in the previous sentence is surprising to you, here's some proof!Henning has been with Funcom since 1995 and has worn many different hats during his tenure, including: QA Manager, Designer, Lead Designer, Lead Scripter, Director of Online Services, Associate Producer, and now finally Producer. His current job has him planning, organizing, setting overall priorities, and staffing for the various development teams. "The team makes the game, the producer helps make it happen!"In terms of new things he's working on, Henning mentions the RPG overhaul that will make gear more valuable to players and the new Tarantia Common District, two items that have been in development for a long time. In order to figure out what to update next, Henning lists various sources such as playing the game themselves, reports containing detailed player feedback, and the QA team.For an expansion of these details and much more, head on over and check out the full Henning Solberg interview.
Craig Morrison discusses future Age of Conan updates and changes
Age of Conan's game director, Craig Morrison, has written a letter to the community about the next slew of upgrades and updates coming to the game now that Ymir's Pass -- and its new PvP system -- is on the live servers. First on the list of patches will be DirectX 10, which Morrison says is something the team wanted to be really special. We're just hoping it doesn't bring any serious new bugs with it, but from the sound of things Funcom is trying to make sure the new graphics are highly scalable for various computers.The second big project in the works are two new dungeons. Thunder River will hold both of them and they'll be aimed at max-level players. The Slaughter House Cellar is for single players, while Xibaluku is a large team dungeon. We can expect to see these released with the next update, apparently.
New Age of Conan video showcases coming content
Courtesy of German gaming site onlinewelten.com, we're able to bring you a presentation of upcoming Age of Conan content by Erling Ellingson, straight from the Games Convention in Leipzig. The presentation takes us on a tour of the Tarantia Commons, a slum area in which your character takes a side in a war between street gangs, and stops to take in some of the new exotic armor sets that have been included in response to player demand. Quests are set to become more interesting and branching, allowing characters to make moral choices rather than simply go off on errands to kill ten of something.The tour then checks out Black Castle, the mantis-infested stronghold in the south of Khopshef Province, which is 'completely revamped' in the new version, the main focus being on Indiana Jones style traps that require ingenuity and co-operation to tackle. Ellingson explains that Age of Conan is deliberately borrowing from World of Warcraft in its reworking of boss fights, to produce encounters that require specific tactics to beat; we're glad to hear it, as bosses right now are a bit too much of the bag-of-hit-points kind. Next stop is Ymir's Pass, a Cimmerian zone under bandit onslaught, featuring one of the hugest bosses we've seen. We also hear about upcoming level 80 dungeons and the PvP consequence system.One thing you'll hear Ellingson say repeatedly is 'we listened to our players'. That seems to be the message Funcom is most keen to send out right now. Check out the video after the cut. 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!
