One or Two Questions About Conan
Well I’ve pretty much made up my mind that I will buy and try Age of Conan but work has decided that it will have to wait. I’m being sent interstate to do a course from the 18th – 24th, then I’m working all weekend, so it looks like I won’t get to play until a few days after that. Typical. In the meantime I have a few questions that I hope some people can clarify.
I understand that Tortage and the early areas are heavily instanced. Is this the same beyond level 20? Is it zoned like Everquest 2 or is it an open world like Vanguard?
There will be three server types; PvP, RPvP and PvE. If it’s labelled PvP or RPvP it’s free-for-all PvP, so outside of the cities you can be ganked. The PvE servers will only allow PvP in the Border Kingdoms (besides mini-games). At least, that’s my understanding based on this information I found on the official website. Does this still apply or has it changed?
So the Border Kingdom is the only place for PvP?
No, there are other areas to engage in player-versus-player combat but the Border Kingdoms are the only place you can take part in siege PvP. For instance, you can play one of our PvP minigames or take part in a drunken brawling minigame where you can slug it out in the taverns. In general, though, other players will not be able to harm you outside the Border Kingdom. Obviously, this doesn’t apply on a PvP server.
And lastly, will Spellweaving make it into the game or has it been scrapped?
If anyone can clarify these things I’d appreciate it.
Funcom Explains Open Beta Client »
Comments
Comment from Graktar
Time: May 8, 2008, 3:26 pm
You’re probably not going to get much of a response to this, as the game is still under NDA for level 14+ content (other than the level 20 pvp stuff). Right now the only people that know are the closed beta testers, and they’re not allowed to say.
Funcom is really cutting it close with their NDA — the game goes live in just a couple of weeks, yet most people still have no factual evidence of what the game contains, just marketing promises.
Comment from Bildo
Time: May 9, 2008, 7:37 am
Well, the press embargo was lifted so anyone considered “press” can say whatever they want. That doesn’t mean me as a blogger, but it does mean me as an employee or Ten Ton Hammer. I’e been trying to spread the word since that dropped.
But I expect the NDA will drop tomorrow when the whole client is opened up in the Open Beta.
Comment from Bildo
Time: May 8, 2008, 7:53 am
I can clarify on all these points.
The game world post Tortage is much more wide open, but zoned like EQ2, not one massive world like WoW. You do see considerably less loading screens in post-20 than you get during the Tortage experience. This is a result of what was once a wholly offline single-player portion of the game being changed to part of the online experience late in development.
Still, Tortage is a lot of fun, even with loading due to the very story-like presentation of the quests.
As for PvP, yep the FFA PvP servers (PvP and RP PvP) will be everyone for themselves when not in a major city zone. You will, and trust me on this, be ganked repeatedly for the entirety of your time spent on these servers. NOT for the faint of heart. PvE for me thanks.
On PvE servers you can play all the Mini-games (Battlegrounds essentially) you want and then still join in on the Border Kingoms later in the game. Though you’ll likely want to be part of a decent sized clan/guild if you want to have your own city in the BKs. Only 8 clans per server at any time can own a battle keep. The othe clans will have to fight to take the keep from the top 8. It’s going to be interesting to see if this is changed later, but right now it favors the bigger and more organized clans.
Spellweaving will indeed make the game, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it came shortly after launch. You can find a nice detailing of the system at PC.IGN.COM. It’s not in the beta yet, which is what leads me to believe it might come either right before launch, or shortly thereafter. But it IS coming.