Massively^™

The next Clan of Conan newsletter is finally here, and as promised by Jørgen Tharaldsen in a recent forum post, it goes a long way towards clearing up some Age of Conan pre-order confusion. First things first, the 3-day early access: the newsletter confirms that this is exclusively for pre-orders, and that your retailer should provide you with an early-access key. However, to actually get that head start, you'll need to take that key to the Funcom website, and pay $5 / €5 (depending on region) to activate it on your account. This was already known by some, but it's important to really get it out there in a fashion like this so that people aren't disappointed later.

As well as this, the dates for access vary around the world. North Americans will be able to download the client early on May 13th, and start playing early from the 17th. For Europeans the early download will be May 16th, and the early access itself starts on the 20th. This is because the North American release date is also 3 days earlier, with the rest of the Europeans joining the head-starters on the 23rd of May.

The other half of the newsletter looks at pre-order bonus items, and the Collector's Edition contents (which we covered a few months ago). Pre-order bonuses will differ depending on which retailer you go with, so do your research to end up with the items you want. Possibilities for in-game items include a War Mammoth with extra inventory bag, a Killer Rhino with the same bag, and an Amazon Curved Bow. Some retailers may offer other extras that are not in-game, like full-color guide booklets. To get a list of pre-order retailer choices, hit the official AoC website, go through to your region's version, and click the pre-order link to see an updated list tailored for your area.