Age of Conan - preview and anticipation thread

[Yog]

<font color=red>Between the years when the oceans drank Atlantis and the gleaming cities...
there was an Age undreamed of, when shining kingdoms lay spread across the world like blue mantles beneath the stars...
Hither came Conan, the Cimmerian, black-haired, sullen-eyed, sword in hand...
to tread the jewelled thrones of the Earth under his sandaled feet.</font>

<img src=http://www.mneh.org/pics/games/aoc/banner1.jpg>


By Crom! Welcome to the <a href=http://community.ageofconan.com>Age of Conan</a> anticipation thread! I followed this game very closely since E3 2005. It's a widely expected next generation MMO based on <a href=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_E._Howard>Robert E. Howard's</a> Conan the barbarian and the <a href=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyborian_Age>Hyborian universe</a>. AoC swept the floor for awards at E3 for a couple years now. Age of Conan is made by Funcom, and is scheduled to be released 30'th of October. It is currently in technical beta.

<a href=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jp6FLU7ADbc>Quick video preview</a>



<a href=http://www.mneh.org/pics/games/aoc/tortage1.jpg><img src=http://www.mneh.org/pics/games/aoc/tortage1a.jpg></a>
The City of Tortage. Click for bigger image




The Lore
70 years of books, comics and movies set a solid foundation for the lore. It's approaching the scope of Tolkien and borrows the grim horror atmosphere of <a href=http://kingsofthenight0.tripod.com/mythos.htm>Lovecraft's writings</a>. Unlike Middle Earth, Hyboria is a much more sinful, brutal and violent world, some 10,000 years BC, before the rise of known civilization. There are no elves, dwarves, orcs or wizards with pointy hat in this world. It's a more dark and realistic setting, with paralels to ancient and medieval cultures like the Egyptians, Greeks, Romans, Vikings, Celts etc. Slavery, drugs, mercenary, thievery, wars, and scantily clad women are prevalent. Magic is for those willing to risk playing with the demons of hell. Problems are most frequently solved with a sword if you are strong, a dagger if you are sneaky, a poisonous cup if you're cunning, a bag of jewels if you are wealthy or with seduction and betrayal if you're one of those scantily clad women..

<a href=http://mneh.org/pics/games/aoc/hyboria1.jpg><img src=http://mneh.org/pics/games/aoc/hyboria1a.jpg></a>
(Map of Hyboria. Click for full size image)



Regions
The game launches with 3 regions, Cimmeria, Stygia and Aquilonia. These are split into 30 zones varying in size from 1x1 - 4x4 km. There is also The Outlands which contain the border kingdoms, areas for free-for-all siege battle and PvP. The Cimmerians are like the Germanic and Norse. They tend to live in huts in the mountains and are barbaric and crude, much like Conan himself. The Aquilonians are much more civilized and cultured, like the Romans and the Greek. Their capital is <a href=http://www.mneh.org/pics/games/aoc/tarantia2.jpg>Tarantia</a>. The Stygian are similar to the ancient Egyptians. They are interested in dark magic and worship the great snake god Seth. The Stygian capital is <a href=http://www.mneh.org/pics/games/aoc/khemi1.jpg>Khemi</a>.

<a href=http://www.mneh.org/pics/games/aoc/tarantia1.jpg><img src=http://www.mneh.org/pics/games/aoc/tarantia1a.jpg></a>
Tarantia. Click image for bigger size




Starting your character
The setting of the game starts with you as a slave on a Stygian galley. If you are a man, you're shackled to an oar rowing. If you are female, you're chained to the back doing other "services". Anyway, this is the point where you create your avatar in what is probably the most detailed character customizer in any MMO yet (sorry CoH). There are some 30 different sliders. Individual control over face, body, hair, age, race, tattoos, scars, piercings etc. There are even sliders to adjust the size of your "cheeks" if you catch my meaning (women in double sense). Do you want to look like a couch potato, an ugly crook nosed brute, "Ahnold" the Barbarian or Xena the warrior princess? Fat or slim? It's all up to you. This allows every character to look unique.

<img src=http://www.mneh.org/pics/games/aoc/galley1.jpg>
Life on the galley..


Stranded..
Nevertheless, at some point you get washed up at a tropical shore, disoriented, with little memory of whom you are. Clad only in loincloth and armed with a broken oar for defense, with no gear and no skills.. yet. Soon, you are to learn the workings of combat (more on this later). You will also discover that quest givers actually have spoken dialogue, with range of emotion.

<img src=http://www.mneh.org/pics/games/aoc/kalanthes1.jpg>



<a href=http://community.ageofconan.com/wsp/conan/frontend.cgi?session=gqkski1km4kox1us16v76k0y2t7m1 z&func=publish.show&template=content&func_id=1332&sort=PRIORITY&table=CONTENT>Levels and Classes</a>
Unlike other MMO's the first 20 levels is a full fledged single player game. It's action oriented melee, with adventure type story line, and cut scenes with dialogue trees. This is to immerse you into the story and the world better, and give you a chance to learn the basics of the game. There are 4 major story arches running through the game, depending on the archetype you chose at level 5: Rogue, Soldier, Priest, Mage. From level 20-80, you are in MMO mode, and subscription kicks in. At this point you can choose between classes, of which there are 14 in total. There are also independent class systems, like prestige classes at level 40 (crafting and other special abilities), PvP levels (independent ladder), and hundreds of 'feats' which all give a large amount of customisation to your characters.

<a href=http://www.mneh.org/pics/games/aoc/beach1.jpg><img src=http://www.mneh.org/pics/games/aoc/beach1a.jpg></a>
Click image for bigger size


Combat
Now for the most unique aspect of this game: The combat system. Normally in MMO's you either have a turn based or a spam x skill button / wait for cool down type system. Not so in Age of Conan. You actually have to swing the sword, aim your bow and line up the lance while riding on a horse. It's a real time combat system where you control the direction of attacks relative to the position and weaknesses of your enemy, and form up combos based on these moves. For example, combining a slash with your sword from the left, top and diagonal right might execute a special move that makes more damage. There are also fatality moves that may for example impale or even <a href=http://www.mneh.org/pics/games/aoc/decap1.jpg>behead</a> (NWS) your enemies. Yes, this game is going for a mature rating. I will try use discretion for screenshots.

<a href=http://www.mneh.org/pics/games/aoc/combat1.jpg><img src=http://www.mneh.org/pics/games/aoc/combat1a.jpg></a>
Click image for bigger size</a>

In order to create this combat system, they teamed up with martial arts experts and medieval historians. The flow of combat movements is much like the figure eight movements of a kendo stick, which may combine for a combo attack. The animations are motion captured. Weapons and armour are rendered in great detail and with respect to realism.

<img src=http://www.mneh.org/pics/games/aoc/combat3.jpg>
Sword fight


Player Cities
Guilds may build player cities, where you can store your items, craft equipment, gather resources or meet up in the tavern. There are normal cities (for PvE), where NPC AI builds neighbouring villages, and try attack your town periodically, and you have to build defenses and fight back in a Real Time Strategy inspired system. And there are also battle keeps (for PvP), which rival guilds may try to siege, burn down buildings or maybe even capture.

<img src=http://www.mneh.org/pics/games/aoc/city1.jpg>
A player city


PvP
There are 3 major forms of PvP. 1. Drunken brawling, which is like a casual fun type of fist based fighting in taverns. The more drunk your character is, the harder he swings, but it's easier to miss. If breaking a chair or a bottle over people's head sounds like your idea of fun, this is for you. 2. Arena battles, duels, Team vs. Team, capture the flag, and other objective scenarios etc. This is the standard stuff you might expect. 3. Siege battle. The most innovative and interesting end game PvP. You fight for territory and conquering or destroying other guild's battle keeps. Massive battles with hundreds of players with catapults and siege equipment. If you die in PvP, your slayer can take your blood money, which is a currency for titles and PvP gear. There is a PvP skill ladder, with levels and skills exclusive to PvP.

Siege battle and Formation combat
You can siege player owned battle keeps with catapults, mammoths, trebuchets, horses and various siege equipment. Also, battle formations is in the game. For example, you might find a spear head formation effective for breaking up a group of archers, or use cavalry to outflank infantry etc. Formations also have an important role in raid encounters, fighting bosses.

<a href=http://www.mneh.org/pics/games/aoc/siege1.jpg>
<img src=http://www.mneh.org/pics/games/aoc/siege1a.jpg></a>
Click image for bigger size


Artificial Intelligence
The AI is based on the theories of psychologist <a href=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abraham_Maslow>Abraham Maslow</a>. The AI system has the Maslow pyramid at its foundation, which states that everyone has certain base need they must get fulfilled in order to get a “good” life, or survive if you will. Thus the NPCs get hungry, tired, restless and sociable depending on their mood. This behavioural pattern, affects their whereabouts, movements, actions and emotions. The NPC's also have line of sight, hearing, sense of smell, varying degree of hostility depending on the mood, and caution depending on how dangerous a potential enemy is (gear and skill). This means there is no fixed agro radius, and you may be able to sneak up on hostiles. And finally, there is some thought into the design of NPC camps. You may approach it in various ways, like charge it directly and getting the whole camp attacking you, or poison the water and food supplies, knock them out in sleep, ambush in stealth, or try and see if it's possible to talk to them, to name a few examples.

<a href=http://www.mneh.org/pics/games/aoc/camp1.jpg><img src=http://www.mneh.org/pics/games/aoc/camp1a.jpg></a>
Click image for bigger size

Thievery and Climbing
Thievery and climbing is possible in the game. You can climb mountains, buildings and scale rooftops. In Tarantia, there is a section of the city called the Nobel District with quests for stealing from rich people. Sneaking into people's houses and steal treasure may become a popular and profitable profession for some..

<img src=http://www.mneh.org/pics/games/aoc/burglar1a.jpg>
Burglar at night


Magic
Magic is a dark power not used lightly. In AoC, you can combine spells to form more powerful spells. This is called "spell weaving". The more powerful the spells, the more soul corruption is inflicted on you. If you try forming spells too powerful for your abilities, you may actually harm yourself or get killed. If your soul is too corrupted, you may have to fight your way out of the very flames of hell..

<img src=http://www.mneh.org/pics/games/aoc/magic1.jpg>




Raiding and dungeons
PvE raids may be up to 25 members in size. There will be instanced dungeons as well as outdoor non instanced boss encounters. Formation combat plays an important role in raids, to break the typical holy trinity setup with tank, DPS and healing. Mages and priests are much more melee oriented than in similar games. Something around 30 instanced dungeons have been suggested. Bosses may have clever AI, and they might be up to 100 feet tall.


<a href=http://www.mneh.org/pics/games/aoc/boss1.jpg><img src=http://www.mneh.org/pics/games/aoc/boss1a.jpg></a>
Click for bigger image


<a href=http://community.ageofconan.com/wsp/conan/frontend.cgi?session=3x8d2cryjgwrw06bu58ydgwzyq8pq l&func=publish.show&template=content&func_id=1338&sort=PRIORITY&table=CONTENT>Crafting</a>
The crafting professions are weaponsmith, armorsmith, gemcutter, alchemist and architect. You gain access to crafting through prestige classes at level 40. Crafted items are on par or better than raided items, although, in order to get the best crafting materials, and gear enhancements like socketable jewels, these may be low percentage drop or only accessible through difficult PvE encounters (raid and groups). The prestige classes are Lord, Commander, Crafter, Master (where crafter has access to all crafting trees).

<img src=http://www.mneh.org/pics/games/aoc/house.jpg>



Environment
Weather effects and day / night cycles are in. Trees and vegetation uses the SpeedTree engine, as seen in Oblivion. Grass, bushes and tree branches sway in the wind and look realistic.

<img src=http://www.mneh.org/pics/games/aoc/night1.jpg>


Graphics
The first thing you will notice is the detailed and beautiful graphics. It's a leap forward compared to other games in this genre, and to some extent for games overall. Case in point, AoC is one of the few games in production with DX10 support, and is a showcase game for Windows Vista along with Crysis. Volumetric clouds, animated water, enhanced field of view, multiple particle systems, colision detection, trapezoid shadows, high defenition textures, dynamic light sourcing, volumetric bumpmaps, multibone meshes etc. Funcom has a tight collaboration with nVidia to push the boundaries as far as technically possible. This of course, makes the system requirements rather hefty. Rule of thumb is, if you can play Elder Scrolls Oblivion, you can also play this.

<a href=http://www.mneh.org/pics/games/aoc/dx10-1.jpg><img src=http://www.mneh.org/pics/games/aoc/dx10-1a.jpg></a>
DX10 screen. Click image for larger size


Sound
The sound system contains of spoken dialogue for the important NPC's. There is also an epic orchestral sound track with chorus and with a medieval / ancient theme. Music depends on situation, and changes dynamically in battle. There is an abundance of sound effects and ambient sounds for maximum immersion in 7.1 channels. Here are some samples of the sound track:

http://community.ageofconan.com/wsp/conan/frontend.cgi?session=gqkski1km4kox1us16v76k0y2t7m1 z&func=frontend.show&func_id=1023&template=inc_media_listing&selected=1023


Special Features
- Advanced character customisation
- Real time combat system
- Formation combat and Siege Battles
- Single player portion
- Spoken dialogue for important NPCs and cutscenes
- Player Cities
- Optional DX10 graphics
- Climbing and thievery


Links
* <a href=http://community.ageofconan.com>Official Homepage</a>
* <a href=http://forums.ageofconan.com/showthread.php?t=15749>A collection of AoC videos</a>
* <a href=http://community.ageofconan.com/wsp/conan/frontend.cgi?session=gqkski1km4kox1us16v76k0y2t7m1 z&func=frontend.show&func_id=1036&template=inc_images&selected=1036>Image Gallery</a>
* <a href=http://www.conan.ch/conanonline/screenshots.htm>Some older and harder to find screenshots and concept art here</a>
* <a href=http://community.ageofconan.com/wsp/conan/frontend.cgi?session=3x8d2cryjgwrw06bu58ydgwzyq8pq l&func=publish.show&func_id=1029&table=PUBLISH&template=news_no_feature&selected=1029>Official Game FAQ</a>
* <a href=http://aoc.gamona.de/index.php?seite=devquotes> Developer Quotes</a>


Hope you enjoyed this preview, and will hopefully see some of you at launch. I'll check back to this thread from time to time when there are major updates. Feel free to discuss and add comments :)

[Dasquian Belargic]

WOW. This looks freaking sweet!

I was looking for a good reason to cancel my WoW subscription and this could be it.

[Figrin D'an]

Age of Conan does have a lot of potential. They are planning on implementing certain things I'd like to see in WoW.

I'm a bit cautious about how ambitious they are making the PvP system, though. It sounds really cool on paper, but the complexity has huge imbalance potential, and could end up nerfed pretty quickly.

I'm somewhat skeptical of the roles classes will play on raids as well. It's different, but whether or not it's different in a good way remains to be seen. There's going to have to be a very creative and distinct differences between classes to make them desirable to bring along if the combat is going to be a lot more melee and physical damage-oriented.

Craftable items being the best available in the game is fine, as long as the materials needed to craft them come from the most difficult to conquer zones/instances. WoW is going through the craftable gear problem at the moment, as some of the craftable items, with relatively easy to obtain materials, were actually better than top end raid and pvp gear for a few classes. It has to be about risk vs. reward. If you want the best gear, be amongst the best players than can beat the hardest content.


AoC looks much better than some of the other MMOs that are on the way, like Warhammer and Vanguard. I'm not sure if I'll try it myself... I doubt I'll have time... but I do look forward to seeing how it competes.

[Kaast Dulli]

this game is coming to 360 as well right?

[Yog]

this game is coming to 360 as well right?

Yes, but not at launch. The PC version has priority now. I would guess a release around 6 months after PC launch, although no date has been announced yet.




I'm a bit cautious about how ambitious they are making the PvP system, though. It sounds really cool on paper, but the complexity has huge imbalance potential, and could end up nerfed pretty quickly.

PvP balance is always a big issue for every MMO. Although, I have good faith because that's something they have been testing right from the start, and they are very serious about getting it right. Age of Conan has an advantage in terms of balance over most MMO's, because PvP is less focused on gear and skill sets, and more on tactics, strategy, gameplay experience, teamwork and your actual performance in a fight. It's not a question of having the best gear and spamming the same specials. A group of 5 well-organized players on TS, can match a group of 10 poorly organized players (being the same classes, the same gear and weapons).

The PvP system is separate from PvE in the sense, you gain special feats which you can only use in PvP (in contrast with WoW, this could be used to buff classes rather than nerfing their PvE talents). There is a separate PvP levelling system where you gain these feats. The best PvP gear is gained through PvP, and vice versa for PvE. In WoW, you have these systems mixed up causing all kinds of balance issues.

Finally, PvP actually has meaningful consequences, because it determines control over territory and the most powerful battlekeeps. It's not a simple faction zerg grind fest, or x number of Alliance wins over y number of Horde. The battlekeeps are fought over by guilds and allies, which makes for a far more interesting endgame. I foresee scenarios where you either collaborate with or backstab other guilds, and diplomacy becomes a factor.




I'm somewhat skeptical of the roles classes will play on raids as well. It's different, but whether or not it's different in a good way remains to be seen. There's going to have to be a very creative and distinct differences between classes to make them desirable to bring along if the combat is going to be a lot more melee and physical damage-oriented.

Funcom has experience in class balancing since 2001. They are one of the veterans in the field. When they are being creative about class design, it's not something they just throw out and pray it works. It's based on years of knowledge of what works and what does not. Focusing on HOT over burst heals, allowing priest archetypes to engage in melee, is part of what they learned. That way, the healers are not restricted to spamming heal spells in raids from distance, and they can engage hands on in more versatile roles. The other reason is, it's a sign of poor dungeon design when you have to give a boss 1 million hitpoints in order to make the encounter difficult. I give funcom credit for thinking out of the box.

And yes, the classes are unique and different. Have you read some of the class descriptions?




Craftable items being the best available in the game is fine, as long as the materials needed to craft them come from the most difficult to conquer zones/instances. WoW is going through the craftable gear problem at the moment, as some of the craftable items, with relatively easy to obtain materials, were actually better than top end raid and pvp gear for a few classes. It has to be about risk vs. reward. If you want the best gear, be amongst the best players than can beat the hardest content.

I agree about risk vs reward. Although, like I said, this is a far less gear centric game.

The crafting system in this game is supposed to be deep. It factors in drops from monsters and bosses, crafting stations you must build in your guild, gathered items, resources extracted in the area your guild has built its home base etc. I am not sure how the actual crafting design system works. But I guess we will hear more about it in the months ahead.

A deep crafting design system can in some cases more than compensate for "risk vs. reward" considerations. One example of this was in SWG, where a crafter could spend years learning the intricacies of their profession, what match of materials would yield the best results, and how to best combine them. Easy to learn.. very hard to master.




AoC looks much better than some of the other MMOs that are on the way, like Warhammer and Vanguard.

It's not hard to look better than those.

Warhammer looks like a WoW ripoff (an expansion pack almost), with focus on PvP. Every time I see the game director, he talks about "WAR! Arghhhh! Battle! Arghh! Orcs with axes! Arghhh!" but very little in terms of innovation, features and content. And where is the end game PVE? I don't see the point. I would rather get lobotomised than playing another high fantasy MMO with elves and dwarves. LOTRO could have been excused since it's Tolkien, but the game does not interest me.

Vanguard is already out, and its a disaster to be honest. Sigil (the makers of VG) spent 5+ years and $30M to make the "next generation" MMO, when it really is an Everquest clone with nothing new on the table (except diplomacy), and every feature is done equally good or better by already existing products on the market. Then Sony Online Entertainment ("the destroyers of MMO") enters the frame buying the entire project. SOE marketing decides VG should launch in the middle of the beta full of bugs, halfway finished content and game breaking imbalances (SWG anyone?). The level progression is a horrible grind, and high-end PVE encounters are camped to death due to the "seamless world and no instance design". This design direction can't easily be patched or changed after launch, and it's the primary cause of the intolerable lag issues the game is suffering from.

Other than that, what looks interesting? I thought the Star Trek Online MMO project looks interesting, cause it's a refreshing setting and some innovative ideas on how to approach the genre. It also looks visually appealing. But this is far down the line and it remains to be seen if it's going to be any good.

AFAIK, no other major MMO is releasing the fall 2007 (competing MMO's are delayed), which leaves the marketplace wide open for AoC.




I'm not sure if I'll try it myself... I doubt I'll have time... but I do look forward to seeing how it competes.

I know, MMO's take so much time. The designers keep talking about making the game friendly for casual players and people with busy schedules. In theory, you should be able to log in 2-3 hours, and have a fun time playing.

[Figrin D'an]

Have you read some of the class descriptions?

Yeah, I have. The core design concept seems neat, I'm just cautious about the implementation. There are certain core classes that are pretty easy to see with some of the chosen paths... druid, shaman, holy priests, shadow priests in the "Priest" archetype; tanking warrior, dps warrior, paladin types in the "Soldier" archetype, etc. The caster choices are a little strange... I hope it's simply the descriptions not doing them justice, otherwise they sounds a little bland, like choosing between 4 different warlock-type classes.




... because PvP is less focused on gear and skill sets, and more on tactics, strategy, gameplay experience, teamwork and your actual performance in a fight. It's not a question of having the best gear and spamming the same specials. A group of 5 well-organized players on TS, can match a group of 10 poorly organized players (being the same classes, the same gear and weapons).


I hate to say it, but you can probably pull a similar quote from just about every MMO made since EQ about said game's PvP design concept. This type of line has been regurgitated so many times by countless designers in the industry that it's hard to take it seriously anymore. Maybe AoC will actually have something new and fun in it's PvP subset (things like sieges on player controlled territory does sound fun)... I'm just not going to have big expectations until I actually see/read about the actual content.





I know, MMO's take so much time. The designers keep talking about making the game friendly for casual players and people with busy schedules. In theory, you should be able to log in 2-3 hours, and have a fun time playing.

I think most MMOs in the post-EQ era have claimed to have a design focus on making their product accessible to the casual player. Most have failed miserably in this respect, so I tend to take such comments from game designers with a large grain of salt. We'll know more about the path they intend to push the game once the first few rounds of buffs/nerfs occur.

[Dimitri Vojslav]

I'm very excited about this, and this thread is the first I've heard about it, so thanks go to Yog for posting this :)

I'll definitely keep an eye on this one. I miss the freedom of SWG, a missing element which is the only thing preventing me from playing WoW constantly. Hopefully the developers will deilver on the points made and I'll find what I've been looking for in this game.

[Morgan Evanar]

I hate to say it, but you can probably pull a similar quote from just about every MMO made since EQ about said game's PvP design concept. This type of line has been regurgitated so many times by countless designers in the industry that it's hard to take it seriously anymore. Maybe AoC will actually have something new and fun in it's PvP subset (things like sieges on player controlled territory does sound fun)... I'm just not going to have big expectations until I actually see/read about the actual content.No, it works in EVE until Titans showed up :(

[Yog]

New part of the developers video diary is up. Looks great:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s8hRgb0WTt4
(Not Work Safe, for brief 3D model nudity)

.. if you have the bandwidth, watch it in high resolution (recommended)
http://stage6.divx.com/Age-of-Conan/video/1244373/Age-of-Conan---Developers-Diary-#3

There is a slightly NWS scene in the video with a 3D model of a nude succubus creature, so watch at your discretion.


Some other good places to find videos:
- ftp://ftp.funcom.com/media/Age_of_Conan/videos
- http://stage6.divx.com/Age-of-Conan/videos/
- http://forums.ageofconan.com/showthread.php?t=15749
- http://www.youtube.com/results?search_type=search_videos&search_query=age%20of%20conan&search_sort=video_avg_rating&search_category=0

[Yog]

Huge update today!

Newest edition of Clan of Conan newsletter is out, and it's an excellent one. <a href=http://community.ageofconan.com/conan/frontend/files/NEWSLETTER/issue08/index.html>Click here</a> to view, it's a very good read.

Now watch this brand new video. I think you may agree Funcom is aiming for a level of immersion simply not seen in any online games before:
http://www.jeuxvideo.com/videos_editeurs/0001/00012009/age_of_conan_hyborian_adventures_f1q1.htm
(remember, this is ALL INGAME!)

For example, you get to see this guy in motion.. he looks hungry!
http://community.ageofconan.com/conan/frontend/files/CONTENT/frostswamp_1.jpg


Also check out these high quality screenshots of some armor, weapons and clothes in the game. The detail level of these models are running circles around previous generation MMO's:
http://www.wikiaoc.com/Equipment_Screenshots

The screenshot gallery has been updated with some new images from the Frost Swamp:
http://community.ageofconan.com/wsp/conan/frontend.cgi?session=f1vwz14gmnmfvhtbzgy7kek7pygn4 p&func=frontend.show&func_id=1036&template=inc_images&selected=1036

And here is a video showing the equipment system in the game. Notice items are enlarged and spinning in 3D as you hover over them, a sneak preview of the item stats, and how you can combine and mix different gear to give an unique look. You can even have two different gear for one body part. For example, a kilt and leg armor at the same time, and a shirt and plate armor at the same time etc.
ftp://ftp.funcom.com/media/Age_of_Conan/videos/01jun07/Age%20of%20Conan%20-%20Inventory%20System.wmv


This week, some of the computer gaming press was allowed to play it, and the reactions so far have been very positive. The combat system and the graphics in particular are mentioned as refreshing and groundbreaking. Also the latest word on the technical stage of beta is, it's progressing well with no major issues, and Funcom is on target for their scheduled october 30 release. Currently, there is a lot of polishing and making sure all the envisoned content makes it to launch.

[Yog]

<a href=http://community.ageofconan.com/wsp/conan/frontend.cgi?session=r80t35ezx6u1mizpqbz8kzm7zf1ik v&func=publish.show&template=content&func_id=1699&sort=PRIORITY&table=CONTENT>Update</a> today on The Black Ring Citadel, a 24 man instanced raiding dungeon. This dungeon will be showcased on E3 2007 a few weeks from now.

<a href=http://www.mneh.org/pics/games/aoc/blackring2.jpg><img src=http://www.mneh.org/pics/games/aoc/blackring2b.jpg></a>
The Black Ring Citadel. Click for larger Image

[Yog]

Brand new video! :D

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720p High Definition (86.8MB) <a href=http://www.pub.goha.ru/games/conan/june_07/Video/Location_Atzels_720P.wmv>Linky clickety click</a>

[Yog]

A lot of videos, screenshot and articles were released the last couple days, because of a hands on presentation to video game journalists.

A page with links to all the new material can be found here:
http://forums.ageofconan.com/showthread.php?t=30847

[Yog]

E3 Cinematic trailer was released just now, and holy crap is it good! :D

http://www.gamespot.com/video/927504/6173826/age-of-conan-hyborian-adventures-official-trailer-9

[Yog]

It's been a while since I posted an update, but not because updates were lacking, heavens no. You guys should check out the official site. there are tons of new videos, screenshots and interviews. Details on siege combat and mounted combat were particularly interesting.

As you probably know, the launch of the game was delayed from 30th october to 25 of march next year. This was done to ensure a high quality launch and tweaking the combat system making it more intuitive.

Anyway, we are now in december with less than 4 months to launch. The beta testing has gone from technical to general stage, and it's starting to open up for more people. Time to get excited about the game again!

Today, what I would describe as the best Age of Conan video so far was released. Heck, it is probably one of the best game trailers I seen, period! What makes this video so amazing (apart from the fact it is totally awesome!), is how most of the footage is ingame video, non scripted and non pre rendered. Those are ingame combat animations, magic and emotes put very well together so it looks like the trailer of an epic Hollywood movie. If anything, it should tell you a lot about the production qualities of this game and how high of a bar Funcom intends to set for the MMO genre.

Enjoy! :cool:
http://www.gametrailers.com/player/28580.html
(Warning: scenes of violence within. Heads WILL roll!)

[Yog]

Feel like talking to myself. No one longer interested in this? :(

The official website had a facelift. Looks fantastic:
http://www.ageofconan.com/aoc/

There is more I could tell about this game, except, I am hesitating due to something alluring and mysterious that has to do with "N" and a "D" ending with an "A". Am I talking about the country of Canada? Maybe?

Will post a review or something once the game launches. Until then, this will be my last post on the subject until 25th of march or open beta sometime that same month. Hope to see some of you guys in Hyboria then.

[Rod Stafford]

I have to admit, I was excited when I first heard of this, but having quit WoW some time ago, I looked this up in some depth and I found it quite underwhelming. I think it's part to do with the whole MMO genre becoming stale for me but also because I honestly don't find myself very impressed by what I'm seeing. It's just more of the same, really.

Contradicting myself, the only MMO I imagine I will play in the future will be a Star Wars one, if we get one.

[Atreyu]

Feel like talking to myself. No one longer interested in this? Well you talk so well Yog that none of us wants to interrupt you. :p

I'm kind of in the same boat as Rod though - I played WoW for most of last year but have since gotten sick of it and let my subscription lapse, and as such not overly excited about the MMO scene at present. :\

[Peter McCoy]

I'll wait and see what it plays like. I might give the trial a go if one is available, and if I like it enough to subscribe then there you go :)

If it delivers on what is featured in your opening post then I'm sure I'll love it.

[Aran Solan]

Game is out, and it wasn't what was promised. The PvP was broken, the clients were unstable, there are continued issues with memory leaks, and they have been nerfing classes/items like a kid eats candy.

On top of that, they're ignoring the player community (on the forums, specifically), aren't focusing on issues that are important (such as memory leaks and client stability), and seem to have lost whatever direction they were headed.

Also of note, would be that from level 1 to level 10 is great fun, being in the small locale of Tortage, the rest of the game is by far largely unfinished; multiple broken quests, multiple broken instances, and a lot of buggy bosses/items. Not to mention there is near to no end game content, and the higher level item drops have (on average) worse stats than some of the earlier items...

My level 75 (yes, I played for a while) is still wearing level 50 gear, as it's better than the 70 gear.

But, following a good few months of 'giving Funcom time', I've decided to stop paying them for broken promises, and patches that do more damage than good - I've lost count of the amount of times they've updated one thing, only to break three things at the same time.

Honestly? I'd hold off buying the game until 6-12 months down the track - and that's even if the game is still around, as the player base has dropped to below around 100,000 subscribers recently.

Another concern to note, is that Funcom have already announced 'another' MMO they're working on, which indicates to me (and a few others) that they aren't going to be spending half the time making Conan what they said it was going to be.

My advice: Stay away, save your money, and buy a console game - Force unleashed, Fable 2, Too Human, etc.

EDIT:

Just to mention:

- Funcom are billing credit cards of players who have cancelled their accounts.
- The PvP patch, which was due 3-4 weeks ago (as they promised), as been delayed 'until further notice'.
- DirectX 10 capabilities were taken out.
- The Raiding/Battlekeep sieging is broken beyond immediate repair.

[Barton Henning]

Wow. For something that seemed so promising intially, they really messed this up.

[Figrin D'an]

Funcom made the same mistake that other MMO producers have in the past... they pushed the game onto shelves before it was in a legitimately playable state. Until someone realizes that you can't drop these games onto shelves in half broken states, none of them will have a chance to even come close to WoW. WoW was so successful because it was tremendously polished out of the box. There were issues, yes, but at least the character classes mostly worked, 95% of the content was playable and not buggy and the client itself was pretty stable.

Age of Conan was a tremendous concept, and were it done right, it could have been hugely successful. Now, it'll be just another footnote in MMO history. I have not played the game, but everything I've read indicates to me that Funcom will never really fix a lot of the issues with the game.

[Yog]

I have been playing since launch, and have a level 80 demo (Valandil - Deathwisper), and working on leveling a Priest of Mitra. I have not posted any updates, because as has been pointed out, the game has many issues and is lacking in end game content.

I do think the game is receiving too much criticism though. Far more than it deserves. And I am not referring to Solan's post, but the countless ragequit, trolling posts and drama posts that is infesting the Internet. Yes, it disappointed in many areas, yes there are bugs and balance issues, yes the game feels unfinished. Hell, you will probably be bored of it after 2-3 months if you start subscribing now. But no, it's not worse than other MMO's launched, and it has tons of potential. The combat system, the immersion, the graphics, the setting, it all makes for a fresh change of pace from WoW, which I am bored to death with.

As for the game becoming a footnote in MMO history. AoC currently has 415,000 active customers per august 14 (some box owners on 30 days, but vast majority are subscribers, say 350K+). Aside from WoW, it is the biggest MMO in the western world. The retention rate is not great, but it will have a sizable market share, along with Warhammer Online and LOTRO. It will obviously never beat out WoW, but was never expected to. The footnotes in MMO history are Vanguard SOH, Tabula Rasa, Hellgate London, Pirates of the Burning Sea etc. You can read more details in the Funcom Q2 presentation (http://www.funcom.com/funcom/frontend/files/CONTENT/Funcom_Q208_presentation.pdf) and the report (http://www.funcom.com/funcom/frontend/files/CONTENT/Funcom_Q208_report.pdf)

Regarding pushing AoC out before it's finished. Yes, that's what happened. But Funcom did not have much choice in the matter. About $30-40M was spent on developing the game, and the costs were escalating fast as launch approached. Investors wanted a product out on the market, the fans were growing impatient with all the delays, and the marketing had set for a May launch. Unless you're filthy rich and have a huge fanbase like Blizzard, you can't afford delaying the game for another year. On a production level, developing AoC is like making 5 single player games simultaneously. It's very complex and costly.

The launch itself was very good actually. It had excellent sales, good reviews and player feedback, the servers were stable, and there were only a few hours downtime per week. I experienced no problems with the client, and had a great time. Compare that to WoW, where you depending on the server could not log in for the better part of the first month, then insane server queues for subsequent months.

Anyway, to end this long rant, I'd like to quote something I agree with completely:

I'd hold off buying the game until 6-12 months down the track
This is what I recommend, not only for AoC, but for MMO's in general.

[Aran Solan]

Indeed; waiting is good, especially as it allows them to work out the initial bugs.

However, unlike yourself, Yog, I was prone to the client crashes, the lagged out pings, and the constant prime-time patches taking out large chunks of gaming time for my timezone. As you can imagine, being in Australia, where gaming time was during US 'down time' (when the patches and client was taken down for 5 hours+), especially when it was at the 2 patches a week, meant that not only would be miss out on complete nights of play, but were got the worst lag despite being on 'Oceanic' servers, and having some of the fastest internet access in this country...

It was horrid.

It meant constant downtime after work, constant PvPing with 500+ mS difference between myself and my opponent, and a lack of options in regard to offering solutions to a supposed oceanic server - a lot of us pressed for the 'oceanic' servers to have their patching time altered by a few hours, so that they would happen either earlier or later, as opposed to during our prime-time. But, alas, Funcom didn't care or respond, as slowly became their custom following launch.

So, as it stands now, I've decided to put the game on the shelf, give it some time, and perhaps come back to it in a number of months. For the moment I have gained access to the Warhammer Online Open Beta, so I'm going to try that and see how it goes in a few days (when it becomes available) - and from the sounds of it, it could be quite good; especially given that Warhammer Online is giving us Australian-based servers, which means our pings will be very, very good.

Failing Warhammer's release (should the worst happen, within reason), I can always just go back to my good ol' Xbox 360; there's some decent games coming out soon, what with Force Unleashed and Fable 2.

[Yog]

I have been in the beta of Warhammer Online since september last year. I suppose it is something to consider if you like WoW and want more of the same, while actually being inferior to WoW. Without going into details, I am not enthused by it. The whole MMO scene is in a depressing state. Of the current stuff being in beta, Jumpgate Evolution looks like it might be interesting. Further down the road, it's Secret World, KOTOR MMO and whatever next MMO project Blizzard is working on. I have little interest in the expansion pack for WoW. EVE Online is fun if you are in a good corporation (read: goons), but I played that for a year, and the stupidity of Titans and fleet lag caused me to put that game on hold for now.