Age of Conan's PvP developer interview

by Eliot Lefebvre Oct 11th 2009 at 8:00PM

Filed under: Fantasy, Age of Conan, Interviews, PvP

Age of Conan didn't have the smoothest launch, and its first year has been spent in no small part dealing with the aftershocks. Now, however, the game is cleaning up quite nicely, and it's focusing on core areas that keep people in the game and engrossed. The strength of the game's PvP was always one of its core selling points, which should make it even more interesting to fans to see MMORPG.com's recent interview with PvP developer Tim Donks.

The interview is very frank -- Donks comes out and says clearly where he feels that PvP is hitting its mark, and what places he thinks it's still falling short of target. He's pleased by and large with the game's "murder point" system that discourages high-level players demolishing weaker (although some players aren't), but he's not wholly happy with how the PvP advancement system in the game is working and talks a bit about how he wants to improve it. There are also a few stories that highlight some of the little changes that can have a larger impact on the overall direction of the game, including how something as small as altering NPC patrol routes can encourage PvP.

If you're curious about the direction that Age of Conan's PvP is going right now, both in the near future and with the upcoming expansion, the interview should provide a meaty read. And if after that you feel the urge to pick up your sword and go find someone unsuspecting to test it on, well, so much the better.

Tags: age-of-conan, age-of-conan-hyborian-adventures, aoc, funcom, interviews, pvp

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Jess said on 8:28PM 10-11-2009

They need to reign in the dregs of the gaming community: griefers. I don't care if being anti-FFA means I'm a "carebear"; some fat internet nerd who get's their jollies by being an online bully can call my RL martial artist, ex-infantry self a carebear behind their safe computer screen all they want. At the end of the day I'm the one who knows how to use demolitions and kill someone with my bare hands.

The fact of the matter is FFA PvP relegates a game to a niche market. The PvP servers in AoC need to be way more restricted. Last I checked when reading Conan, Priests of Mitra didn't go around ganking people and eachother. AoC's PvP servers needs to focus heavily (way more than said in the interview) on the Border Kingdoms and reign in the quest zone PvP. It makes a mockery of the lore and keeps AoC a refuge for the dregs of the MMO community. AoC was supposed to be THE MMO of the decade and almost was. 800,000 subscribers in the first few months is insane.

The bugs and lack of content was the wound, and the griefer-friendly PvP is the bleeding.

Pingles said on 9:23PM 10-11-2009

Please, friend. Go get some counseling. I'm worried about you.

Jess said on 9:33PM 10-11-2009

haha, no worries, I just hate FFA PvP with a passion and it is my opinion that it put a heavy taint on AoC's PvP servers.

starmonkey said on 9:45PM 10-11-2009

Jess, I enjoyed FFA PvP because it made the game world "dangerous".

I tried Lotro after AoC and it was so boring because there were no surprises out in the wilderness.

Some of my best memories are of tangling with griefers in the wilderness :)

What used to annoy me was when another player would fixate on me (for no reason) and keep tracking me down and getting me.

Jess said on 9:50PM 10-11-2009

Everyone is welcome to their opinion, and I've heard all the excuses for people liking FFA before. It doesn't change the content of my above rant :)

Ronix said on 11:45PM 10-11-2009

I always saw open PvP as a bother sometimes. There isn't much reward for killing a player, plus you don't lost much in these games these days. So there isn't anything "heart pounding" about it.

ferv0r said on 2:43AM 10-12-2009

Most of my best memories of AoC come from the FFA PvP. Random encounters...big battles near populated areas...guild vs guild and alliance vs alliance...There was a lot of player-created tension and storylines. When FFA PvP works, it's great.

Unfortunately, when FFA PvP doesn't work, it can really suck. Griefing, hating, endless guild politics that go wrong and create a lot of bad feelings and experiences.