MMO Gamers

Bildo talks about the upcoming additions we can expect in the coming months for Age of Conan.  Now don’t get me wrong, I love Age of Conan, but I can’t help but be a bit cynical on this occasion.  We are fast approaching the end of the included play time that came with the box and it just seems like too much of a coincidence that the news should come out now.  It certainly seems like a good marketing strategy, offering a carrot to get people to maintain their subscriptions, but let’s look at it a bit more closely.

PVP EVOLVED – TO THE DEATH

The great combat system in Age of Conan has taken MMO fighting to a new level of fun, and Player versus Player combat plays a major part in this. As a result, a massive new PvP update is planned for late June. Aptly called To the death, this update brings more consequence and rewards to PvP, and an important part of it is the Fugitive system. The more lower level players you kill, the easier it is for others to hunt you down. In addition, ten PvP levels with additional ranks will be introduced, as well as specific gear and weapons for PvP.

Ok, I play on a PvE server, but I do participate in PvP.  The fugitive system won’t affect me, it seems to be a payback system for lowbie ganking which occurs on the FFA servers.  The addition of ten PvP levels and ranks, well, is the PvP XP even turned on yet?  Adding something that’s already supposed to be in the game?

GUILD ALLIANCE WARFARE

Pre-production has started on a MASSIVE free update which will come later this year. Currently titled “Kingship!”, large clusters of guilds will be able to form alliances, and rule and conquer on a massive scale. Everyone in a guild alliance will play a part in this system, and together they can even erect unique looking alliance Battlekeeps. The alliances can also fight over, and build, culture-specific “Wonders of the World”, with a direct link to higher powers! As part of the system Funcom will also facilitate larger amounts of players in massive battles.

Wait, isn’t this the Border Kingdoms PvP?  What’s the difference, more people can participate?  And do they mean later in the year or late in the year?

NEW AREAS AND DUNGEONS

You won’t need to wait for an expansion pack to explore exciting new areas. In the next period, Funcom will include several new areas, as well as evolving already existing areas. This includes a brand new dungeon in Aquilonia, reshaping three dungeons in Stygia, and an entire mountain range in Cimmeria!

Why certainly the official forums may not be the best place to garner information from, but my understanding is that a lot of areas and regions that were supposed to be in the final product weren’t because they didn’t make the release date.  Good to see that they’ll make it into the game but don’t say “we’re giving you new areas” when you mean “don’t leave our game because we’re going to give you the rest of it soon”.

IMPROVED PLAYER-MADE VILLAGES AND BATTLEKEEP SYSTEMS

While the guild alliance system brings a whole new level to the game, Funcom will continue to expand the existing player-made areas and the systems running them. A focus on evolving the massive elements of the game even further continues, ranging from placing NPC’s in the cities to more choices and benefits

Once again, all this was supposed to be in the game already.  Our guild has a Guild Keep, Trading Post, and Temple; all of which do nothing.  We’re still saving up and building, but we are waiting for all these buildings to be “turned on”.

SOCIAL UPDATES

An MMO is nothing without a good social scene. While Conan is all about crushing your enemies, social enhancements are also getting some love. A fun example is the combo-based dancing system which is now coming to the game, and it’s entirely motion captured by professional dance artists.

This is fluff.  Nice fluff.  I like nice fluff.

MORE ADVENTURES

Age of Conan has received tremendous praise for immersion and the great voice-over quests. This is but the start of the adventure, and numerous new quests are coming into the game, spread across the entire world and across the level ranges. Soon 60 additional quests will also get full voice acting, further improving immersion.

More quests equal a good thing.  Voiceovers I’m on the fence at the moment.  It certainly gave the game a more single player RPG feel, but when I left Tortage and got into the serious MMO stuff I was happy to race through the dialogue options and just find out what and how many I needed to kill.  As the game went on I did start to look forward to the few quests that had voiceovers.  It certainly gives the game a slightly different feel from other MMO’s.

I know I’ve come across as cynical and negative, but I’m actually looking forward to seeing Age of Conan evolve.  I’m enjoying this game a lot and there is still so much stuff I’ve yet to do.  Funcom, in my opinion, have released a quality game and are continually improving it.  Just don’t sell me a car and offer the spare tyre as a new feature.