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The Anvil of Crom: It's the Bear Shaman (barely)
Well, the people have spoken, and it seems like I've got some new marching orders when it comes to Age of Conan. If you've been following the column for the last little while, you'll know that I'm running a miniseries that borrows heavily from Massively's Choose My Adventure pieces. Every so often I'll offer up some polls relating to various gameplay choices, giving you the reader the opportunity to vicariously explore aspects of Funcom's fantasy title that may have lacked previous coverage. I'll report on my character's adventures on a regular basis, with the long-term goal being a pretty comprehensive record of what it's like to play AoC from 1 to 80, as well as a deep look at endgame. In addition, it's a public character, so anyone who wants to group for dungeons, PvP, or general shenanigans can hit me up in game. Preambles aside, head past the cut to see the results of last week's polling and a glimpse into the future.
Age of Conan readying new hardcore PvP servers with corpse looting
Hardcore killas rejoice! Funcom has heard your cries of injustice and is in the process of putting together a new server ruleset for the old-school PKers in the audience. Age of Conan game director Craig "Silirrion" Morrison unveiled the news in his most recent monthly dev update, and while a few things remain up in the air (chiefly a release date and official server names), it looks like most everything else has been hammered out. In a nutshell, Funcom will be adding one new server to both the US and EU versions of AoC, each featuring the new PvP ruleset (tentatively titled Blood and Glory). The new realms will require players to start fresh -- i.e., there are no character transfers. The hardcore shards will also restrict players to one character and will lack NPC guards. PvP will be re-enabled in the Underhalls and White Sands portions of Tortage, and a player looting system will take effect (though details on this are scarce at the moment). Funcom hopes to have the new shards deployed in early May, with some version of the ruleset making an appearance on the test servers prior to that date.
The Anvil of Crom: Tortage in four hours (or less)
So you've just created another Age of Conan alt and you're dreading a second (or third, or fourth) Tortage run-through. Maybe you've come back to the game after a long absence -- or you're completely new -- and your friends are waiting for you to get off the island in a hurry and join them in Hyboria proper. Regardless of the reason, many people prefer to zip through Age of Conan's newb levels once they've experienced the story a time or two (it does vary somewhat based on your class archetype, but in the end, you're still the liberator of Tortage, Strom's bane, yada, yada). Since Funcom has yet to implement any skip-the-island functionality for those of us with multiple toons and plenty of Tortage experience, the only thing left to do is grin and bear it. Happily, though, The Anvil of Crom is here for you in the form of the Tortage Speed Run guide. Join me after the cut to see how I went from the character creation screen to stepping off the boat in Khemi with a level 16 Necromancer in a little under four hours.
The Anvil of Crom: Of stealth nerfs and feature removal
Sigh. I guess I shouldn't be surprised at the spectacularly epic fail that Funcom pushed to the live servers last week. If you subscribe to any sort of yin/yang theory, whether it be balance in the Force or simply the law of averages, you had to expect some sort of mini-debacle, given the amount of good news flowing from the Age of Conan developers regarding new content as of late. In case you haven't heard, last week Funcom decided to remove the ability to PvP in the Underhalls and White Sands portion of Tortage. If this isn't enough to irritate you in and of itself, how does the fact that the nerf "managed to sneak itself into [an] update" grab you? While my initial thought on the stealth removal was basically an eye-roll at the thought of more PvP-focused whining, upon further reflection it occurred to me that in this case said whining is entirely justified. Turn the page for pigs flying, honest politicians, and yours truly taking up for PvPers.
Revisiting PvP in Age of Conan
Fantasy MMO Age of Conan launched to one of the most successful MMO sales sprees in recent memory. People were hungry for a new MMO to deliver something different and Age of Conan seemed to offer just that. After record pre-orders, huge launch sales and a month or two of what seemed like solid performance, the game suddenly took a turn for the worse. Players left the game in droves and reports of the game's quality turned into poor reviews and negative blog posts. What happened was simple - the game wasn't finished. It was released too early and once most players left the polished and irrefutably high-quality starting area of Tortage, their game experiences were usually ruined.Back when AoC launched, I got a good taste of its PvP and wrote an in-depth article comparing its PvP system to EVE Online's. It's now been over a year since AoC was launched and with talk of huge new developments in the game, some of us at Massively have decided to avail of their free two-week re-trial offer. With a year of post-release development under the belt, what's changed in Age of Conan's PVP and what is it still doing wrong? Join me for this hands-on opinion piece where I examine Age of Conan's PvP system, how it's changed in the past year, what it does right and what it still fails at.
The Digital Continuum: Reentering the Age of Conan
When I decided to come back and check out Final Fantasy XI, I'm fairly certain that I was in the small minority of people returning in that moment. With Funcom offering previous subscribers a chance to take a second look at Age of Conan, I somehow doubt I'll be in a minority this time around.So here we are, coming back to the digital realm of Hyboria just past a year since everyone first ventured into its lush and deadly landscapes. What will I find? What will I think? These are just a few of the many questions that go through my mind as I boot up the game for the first time in a while.
Urban exploration in Age of Conan
Free running and urban exploration in virtual worlds have both taken off significantly in recent years. Players can be seen clambering around buildings and jumping between the rooftops in games from World of Warcraft to Everquest 2 and Funcom's Age of Conan is no different. Like a lot of players, I found myself eventually having to make my own fun after a while. For me, that meant finding my way onto the rooftops and jumping between them like a maniac. In this visual article, I find myself on the rooftops and back alleys of two cities in Age of Conan and see things from a perspective that most players will never see first hand. Age of Conan Freerunning Gallery %Gallery-32334% 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!
Urban exploration in Hyboria (part two)
Hyboria's other cities may hold more interesting finds. Despite its failings, one thing Age of Conan did well was providing breathtaking landscapes. When I got bored with quests and monsters, I looked for ways to make my own fun in Age of Conan.
The Tortage effect: unravelling the magic of the early AoC levels
Age of Conan, like any MMO, has its fans and its haters. Even its fans still find plenty to criticize, and even the haters tend to admit that it does some things really well. When fans and critics collide, one of the questions that's almost always thrown at the fans is 'Okay, you love it now, but what level are you?' The clear message is that the early game can give such a good impression of AoC that it distorts what the overall game is really like. We might get a little tired of Tortage after the third or fourth run-through, but it's still arguably the game at its best - which is presumably why it's the first bit you see.So why is it that Tortage works so well? What's different about that setup that vanishes after level 20 or so? One obvious factor is the voice acting. Age of Conan features some of the best voice acting in any MMO to date, and it can be a shock to finally get off Tortage and find all your quest-givers are suddenly silent. A level of immersion that was there before is gone, and it's odd how much you can miss that kind of thing. The quality of dialog writing, as we've investigated in the past, is also extremely high.
Player vs. Everything: Age of Conan's newbie blues
I've been playing Age of Conan a fair amount over the last week, trying to figure out if I like it well enough to continue paying for it on a monthly basis after my free month expires. The problem is that it's going to be my second MMOG -- the one I play when I'm not busy farming or raiding with my guild on World of Warcraft. Even for someone who writes about videogames professionally, when you start stacking up multiple subscriptions, things get pricey pretty fast. Usually, I keep two subs active at a time and write about what I'm playing. Anyway, I've been trying to make this decision and I have a problem: I hop classes a lot. When you're talking about a 250 hour investment, you want to make sure that you pick a class you enjoy playing. To figure out what you enjoy playing, you really just have to try the classes out -- especially when the classes are as unique as the ones in Age of Conan. I've leveled two characters to the high teens in Tortage, and several more to the 10ish range. What I've decided, after doing all of this poking around with the classes, is that AoC's first 20 levels are about as frustrating as they can be once the initial sheen of "new game wonder" wears off. If you didn't notice it your first time through, just wait until you make your first alt.
One Shots: The body on the wall is a nice touch
Anyone who has spent any time playing Age of Conan over the last few days has probably run to this location. This is the front gates of the city of Tortage, and the gentleman in the center (unless you count the dead guy) is Laranga. The gent to his right is Itoao, who sent in today's One Shot from the Age of Conan "tutorial." Itoao writes: Just a quick pose with Laranga outside the main gate of Tortage. I so need a new video card. I love the body that is hung from the fort wall. We certainly think that's a good add to the ambiance as well -- and what a great guy, that Laranga. Have you been spending time in AoC? Do you know of another location with folks hanging from the rafters? (They can be partying, mind you!) Whatever world you find yourself in, we want to see it. Just send those screenshots along to us here at oneshots AT massively.com. %Gallery-9798%
Keen and Graev's AoC podcast makes its first transmission
MMO bloggers Keen and Graev have published the first episode of their Age of Conan podcast. Well, it's the first if you don't count the open beta special they did earlier this month, anyway.In this episode, they talk about their impressions of the game during its Early Access period, from Tortage to the Wilds. They also describe the performance and stability improvements Funcom has managed to make since the rather troubled open beta event. It sounds like the duo generally has positive feelings about AoC's post-launch existence so far, but a few criticisms are raised about things like the user interface and the way the game's world is pieced together.The conversation is an honest intro to the state of Hyboria at the moment; it's worth a listen whether you're already playing AoC or still sitting on the fence.
Age of Conan beta guide: Your first steps in Hyborea
When you create your character in Age of Conan, you'll end up the tutorial area of Tortage. In typical MMO fashion, you start off with almost nothing in the world, washed up on the beach without a shirt on your back. However, it isn't long before you've stabbed and sliced your way to bigger and better things, as you progress through the jungle towards the city. Join us as we make that journey, and even glimpse the inside of the city itself, in our look at the opening levels of AoC.%Gallery-21870% Can't wait to get into Hyborea? Massively has your early ticket. Check out all of our Age of Conan Beta guides starting on May 1st and continuing throughout the month!
Peering past the NDA to Age of Conan's Hyborea
If we take a peek past the Non-Disclosure Agreement, peer past the curtain, we can just see the world of Age of Conan there on the horizon. Some folks have better telescopes that we do, though, and today there are couple of great previews of what we can expect when Conan enters Open Beta later this year. We had the chance to feel out the game's starting moments a few month's ago, and other sites have explored the intimidating island of Tortage. Warcry's look at the newbie experience, though, seems to be unique - it's the first in a series of Beta Journal entries that will be going up regularly on the site.Meanwhile over at IGN their 'Hyborean Adventures' series continues with a broad look at the Thunder River zone. The series entry is in the form of a letter from an Aquilonian to King Conan himself, discussing a terrible battle that happened in the area. The details are all very vague - a cave network, a fortress, and island of prisoners, a savage race of warriors. It sounds very Robert E. Howard, though, and evokes the noble spirit of Hyborea. By Grom!
