Filed under: Age of Conan

Age of Conan wants your feedback, lots of it

by Jef Reahard Jul 28th 2010 at 6:00PM

Filed under: Fantasy, Age of Conan, News items

If you've ever wanted to make your voice heard with regard to Age of Conan and its future direction, now is your chance. Funcom executive producer Craig "Silirrion" Morrison has posted his monthly Hyborian outlook on the game's official community site as well as the forums, and July's Letter from the Game Director offers players the chance to communicate with decision makers via five separate survey questionnaires.

The surveys are fairly lengthy; filling them all out will probably take you the better part of an hour, and they cover everything from general gameplay, to PvP, to raiding and beyond. In addition to farming opinions, Morrison hints at ongoing tweaks to Age of Conan in the form of Khitai progression (specifically, trophy drop-rates) as well as the upcoming Dreamworld engine revamp.

In our experience, it's fairly rare for a developer to solicit this amount of feedback, and Funcom looks to be committed to giving players even more of what they want going forward.

The Anvil of Crom: Uncommon fun

by Jef Reahard Jul 25th 2010 at 12:00PM

Filed under: Fantasy, Age of Conan, PvE, Opinion, The Anvil of Crom, Guides

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.

One Shots: Om nom nom

by Krystalle Voecks Jul 20th 2010 at 2:00PM

Filed under: Fantasy, Screenshots, Age of Conan, One Shots

When facing off against a bunch of nasty monsters in Age of Conan, there's always a chance that you'll wind up overrun and in deep trouble. When faced with heavy odds, today's One Shots contributor, Vahe, decided to take a moment for a quick snack to restore her power. While we're not entirely sure that it would qualify as a tasty snack, it certainly seems to be nourishing at least. The other thing that amused us is the detail put into the snack item in this screenshot. Vahe writes in to explain:

"What you're seeing here is my Herald of Xotli feasting on the heart of a demon. She gets very hungry in her line of work and to satisfy her hunger why not take a bite out of a juicy heart fresh from a demon." Sounds like the kind of ploy that would get us to rethink attacking someone: rip the heart out of someone and start nomming on it!

Have you captured an image of something we don't normally see here on One Shots? We'd love to see it! Just email it to us here at oneshots@massively.com along with your name, the name of the game, and a description of what's in the screenshot. We'll post it out here and give you the credit for sending it in. Couldn't be easier!

Gallery: One Shots: Gallery II

Massively's Community Detective: The customer service case files, Issue #1

by Jef Reahard Jul 20th 2010 at 12:00PM

Filed under: Fantasy, Age of Conan, EverQuest II, MMO industry, Community Detective

"Glad you made it to Age of Conan, and please, please feel free to look me up if you need any further help or want a group." When that bit of purple private tell text scrolled through the chat box of of our newly created guardian last week, it was clear that we weren't finding what we initially expected when we set out to research the community in Funcom's sword and sorcery MMORPG.

Welcome to the inaugural issue of Massively's Community and Customer Service Investigations. Together we'll be examining all kinds of interesting factoids about both the community and customer service aspects of your favorite MMORPGs. If community is the heartbeat of this genre, we're here to take its pulse, and arm you with the information you need to make informed decisions when it comes time to look for greener pastures. Similarly, a game's customer service record can provide a gauge on everything from the professionalism of the overall operation to the health of the company behind it, and our investigations will put the system through its paces to bring you both hard data and analysis over time.

This week's issue examines two PvE-focused games, one large and one small, in the form of EverQuest II and Age of Conan, respectively.

Join us after the cut to see how the titles fared in terms of community and customer service.

Age of Conan goes F2P in Korea, Morrison talks NA conversion

by Jef Reahard Jul 20th 2010 at 11:30AM

Filed under: Fantasy, Age of Conan, Business models, MMO industry, News items

Funcom's Age of Conan has adopted a free-to-play business model for its entrance into the Korean market, according to a report by MMO Culture. While this isn't exactly news (since basically every game in Korea is F2P), it was interesting to note executive producer and game director Craig "Silirrion" Morrison's response. Morrison quickly doused speculation of any conversion with regard to the North American version of the game, but he did leave the door open to the possibility, citing EverQuest II's vanity items as an example.

"That isn't a 'yes, it will happen' or a 'no, it will never happen,' it's a 'we will always keep our options open and be open minded to business models that will most benefit the project,'" Morrison says in a post on the North American Age of Conan forums.

He goes on to illustrate the differences between the Korean market (where free-to-play dominates) and the U.S., while pointing out that Funcom was one of the first companies to adopt a hybrid business model with Anarchy Online.

The Anvil of Crom: Curing the alt disease

by Jef Reahard Jul 18th 2010 at 12:00PM

Filed under: Fantasy, Age of Conan, PvE, Opinion, The Anvil of Crom

Alas, my poor rangers. Left to rot in the aftermath of the great ranger ~~nerf~~ revamp of 2010. Twisting in the wind like those gruesome impaled corpses Funcom is so fond of sprinkling throughout Age of Conan's various zones. Yes, I've abandoned the class, simply because I don't have the desire to relearn it from scratch, which is what such a complete overhaul requires. To be fair, it's not so much a nerf as it is a re-imagining, and one of these days I'll get around to leveling at least one of them the rest of the way to 80.

For now though, the change has prompted me to return to my original character, rolled way back on the head-start weekend in May 2008. He's an assassin, and I recently got him to 80, though he too has gone through quite a revamp since his original creation. Anyway, once I heard that final, magical ding, guess what I did? Nope, I didn't head to Khitai to partake of the new level 80 content. Nay, I didn't start grinding my perks or faction either. No, I promptly logged back to the character select screen and rolled up a guardian, planting his newbie feet on the beach at Tortage and wriggling his virtual toes in the sand before beginning the process all over again.

Point and laugh after the cut.

The Anvil of Crom: We built this city

by Jef Reahard Jul 11th 2010 at 12:00PM

Filed under: Fantasy, Age of Conan, Opinion, The Anvil of Crom

While we didn't quite built our guild city on rock and roll, we did use the blood, sweat, and tears (not to mention curses) that resulted from several weeks of dedicated resource gathering and guild-bank raiding. Come to think of it, we did use a metric posterior-ton of rock to build it, so the fact that you're now singing Starship's 1980s anthem isn't all for naught. You're welcome.

Anyhow, building a city in Age of Conan isn't for the faint of heart. I've been promising to talk about it for nearly a month now and continually pushing it back because that's about how long it takes for a tiny guild (currently four active members) to build anything worth talking about. Happily, tier two is nothing to sneeze at, and we've now got a satisfying sprawl covering a sizable portion of the southern Purple Lotus Swamp. Our city, resting behind some rather enormous sandstone walls, features everything from a well-fortified keep, to all the crafting facilities and a trader, to a large contingent of NPC guards, nobles, and (because it's Funcom) hookers.

Read on to discover the pai... er, fun that is Hyborian city-building, and don't forget to check out the gallery below.

Gallery: Age of Conan guild city building

One Shots: Beware the wild lands

by Krystalle Voecks Jul 9th 2010 at 2:00PM

Filed under: Fantasy, Screenshots, Age of Conan, One Shots

Been thinking about heading back to Age of Conan? Between the recent announcement that players can check out Rise of the Godslayer free for 10 days and the promise of seeing gorgeous areas like this one, we can see why so many folks are jumping back in. This image of a lovely waterside town comes to us from Pedro A., who has been enjoying his own adventures in the wild lands. He writes in:

"This is a picture of the village of Tesso, in the wild lands of Zelata. It is the point where you start working the quests in this area, eventually ending up in the big temple you can see far in the mountainous distance. The temple is the Sanctum of the Burning Souls: It was a city of splendor in the past, and now is a ruined dangerous place where you can encounter terrible spiders, mad worshipers of evil, and demons."

One Shots needs your screenshots! If you'd like to help us out and send in some screenshots of your recent adventures, the address you'll want to send them to is oneshots@massively.com. Be sure to include your name, the name of the game, and a description of what we're seeing. We'll post it out here and give you the thanks for sending it in!

Gallery: One Shots: Gallery II

Exclusive: Funcom's Morrison explains AoC microtransactions

by Jef Reahard Jul 6th 2010 at 1:00PM

Filed under: Fantasy, Age of Conan, Business models, Interviews, News items

A few weeks ago, we ran an opinion piece speculating about the possible inclusion of microtransactions in Funcom's Age of Conan. The column generated a lot of discussion, and some players felt that because of the bonus items available for purchase with the recent Rise of the Godslayer expansion, Age of Conan already featured a cash shop of sorts.

Funcom's sword-and-sorcery title has featured account microtransactions for a while now, in the form of server transfers and character name changes, but has pointedly avoided introducing a proper item store aside from the bonus expansion items. We went straight to the source to clear up the confusing question of whether Age of Conan does or does not feature an item shop. Executive producer and game director Craig "Silirrion" Morrison was kind enough to answer our questions regarding the Godslayer item packs as well as Funcom's future microtransaction plans.

Read all about it after the cut.

The Anvil of Crom: Filling the leveling gaps

by Jef Reahard Jul 4th 2010 at 12:00PM

Filed under: Fantasy, Age of Conan, PvE, Opinion, The Anvil of Crom

Never let it be said that The Anvil of Crom doesn't exist to serve the readers, as this week, we're taking a step back from our usual industry rantings and ravings to indulge in the creation of a proper leveling guide. There aren't really a lot of such Age of Conan resources on yonder intarwebs (and if you've written any I missed, my apologies but Google doesn't like you).

Anyhow, my guildmates began to flounder about after exhausting their 30-ish level quests, and (after I pointed and laughed for a few minutes) I figured a formal guide was in order. So, join me after the cut as I perform my Hyborian civic duty and clue some of our newer players in to the best places to get their level on. Also, keep in mind this is how I've progressed on several characters across three of the four racial choices and their associated zones, so if you have a more efficient way, feel free to share it in the comments.

Try Age of Conan: Rise of the Godslayer free for 10 days

by Rubi Bayer Jul 2nd 2010 at 3:30PM

Filed under: Fantasy, Age of Conan, News items

The Age of Conan expansion Rise of the Godslayer has been out for a while now, and if you're a former player who hasn't tried it yet, Funcom is eager for you to take a look.

Everyone likes free stuff, so how about 10 free days of Rise of the Godslayer? From now until July 15th, former Age of Conan subscribers are invited to download and play the expansion at no cost for ten days. Of course, Funcom hopes you'll enjoy it enough to buy it, and there is a little bonus if you do just that. If you purchase on or before July 15th, you'll receive the "Tortage Survival pack," a bundle of goodies that includes a pile of starter weapons and ten double-XP potions.

The expansion's trial is available for download now, and newcomers to the game are always welcome to check out the trial of the full game, available on the Age of Conan site.

AoC 2.0.5 revamps rangers, Shrines of Bori

by Jef Reahard Jun 30th 2010 at 7:00PM

Filed under: Fantasy, Age of Conan, Patches, PvP, News items

After several hours of downtime, Age of Conan's servers are back in action and sporting the new 2.0.5 game update. For many players, things will likely remain as they are, but if you play the ranger class or frequent the Shrines of Bori, get ready to relearn the game. The hefty patch upends a number of things, so many in fact that the patch notes are split into two posts on the official boards: one for the Shrines, and one for the rangers.

For the former, the highlights include a relocation of shrines around the playfield (theoretically allowing small guilds to hold one), an increase in the Favor of Bori buff time, and a tweak that now gives sacrifice rewards to the group or raid making the sacrifice (allowing players to form extra-guild groups and still receive credit). Additionally, a new Pyre mechanic has been added, whereby player kills will now reward the victor with a body bag full of dismembered parts which can then be burned atop the appropriate pyre for for PvP XP as well as Glory and Prowess renown.

For the ranger revamp, start wrapping your head around the following tweaks: fundamental changes to class combos, removal of stances in favor of a new mechanic called Advantages, extensive changes to traps, and the unification of bow and crossbow weapon types.

Finally, Funcom has added a fair number of high-level quests to the Paikang and Kara Korum zones. You can check out a comprehensive list of patch changes on the official boards.

Funcom wants your PvP feedback for Age of Conan

by Jef Reahard Jun 30th 2010 at 11:30AM

Filed under: Fantasy, Age of Conan, PvP, News items

Funcom's Craig "Silirrion" Morrison has been a whirlwind on the official forums of late, whether it's chatting with disgruntled players or soliciting feedback. In a new post published this week, he does a bit more of the latter, calling for suggestions and wish-lists in the form of Age of Conan PvP tweaks.

"Now that the expansion is out, and we will get through the summer holiday period relatively soon, I wanted to hear a little about which area of PVP you folk might want us to focus on. We have a number of things 'on the drawing board' and I am interested in hearing [...] your opinion on what you would consider the most important to focus on," he writes.

Morrison goes on to mention that two oft-requested PvP fixes are already in the works, in the form of siege performance and cross-server minigame queuing. "So those two things are being investigated further anyway, and we know they need to be looked at further so they will be, so this topic isn't to discuss them. We all agree I think those would be great additions (hence the further tech investigation into them). Likewise, class issues and concerns are always ongoing, and discussion of class concerns isn't the point of this post," he says.

All that said, everything else is on the table for discussion, whether it be new minigame settings, open-world objectives, Khitai PvP, or even the return of Drunken Brawling. Check out the post on the official boards to make your voice heard.

One Shots: Behind the scenes

by Krystalle Voecks Jun 28th 2010 at 2:00PM

Filed under: Fantasy, Screenshots, Age of Conan, One Shots

Do you know what today is? No? Well, I'll tell you -- it's One Shots number 1000 since we started writing these three years ago! Personally, I love writing these because every day I get to open up our mailbox, look through all the great screenshots and stories from all over the MMO community that come in to us, and pick one to post. Today, I thought it would be fun to share another story from behind the scenes here at Massively, courtesy of our very own Jef Reahard, news writer and resident Age of Conan columnist.

"Figured I'd send in this shot of my Age of Conan assassin in a bit of peril. Sharp-eyed Hyborians can see the Iron Tower as well as King Conan's castle in the background, and if you squint really hard, you can make out the walkway that Aquilonian newbs fresh off the boat from Tortage first experience upon zoning into the huge city. Funcom has added quite a bit of explorable area since I played at release, including this nifty new section of Tarantia called, appropriately enough, Tarantia Commons. It makes the city feel much larger, and much more alive, than I remember.

As for my for the fate of my assassin, well, let's just say that he did his best Richard Kimble impersonation. Whether he lived, well, that's a story for another role-play event."

Would you like to be part of the next 1000 One Shots here on Massively? We think your screenshots would be a great addition to our ongoing archive of images and stories from around the MMOverse. However, you have to send them in to us to take part! Just email them to us here at oneshots AT massively DOT com along with your name, the name of the game, and a description of what we're seeing. It could wind up being the next one featured here.

Gallery: One Shots: Gallery II

The Anvil of Crom: A tale of two Conans

by Jef Reahard Jun 27th 2010 at 12:00PM

Filed under: Fantasy, Age of Conan, PvP, PvE, Opinion, The Anvil of Crom

It was the best of games, it was the worst of games, it was the age of PvE, it was the age of PvP, it was the epoch of skill-based, it was the epoch of gear-based, it was the season of battlegrounds, it was the season of FFA, it was the spring of Wiccana, it was the winter of Tyranny, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way -- in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only.

Whoops. It seems I've gone and butchered another literary quote in service of my column, and while Dickens may not have had a pulp lit-based MMORPG on his mind when he began his opus, his line of thought nevertheless applies to Age of Conan (and really any game that undergoes radical change).

Head past the cut for more on Age of Conan's intriguing duality.

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