Age of Conan

[WiGgLr]

Videos & Screenshots

Here (http://community.ageofconan.com/wsp/conan/frontend.cgi?session=ciq3pqwwqhngo0ur2x0135no3a9oj 1&func=frontend.show&func_id=1036&template=inc_images&selected=1036) enjoy, the Castle/Fort ones look superb.. i definatley needed a tissue after looking at them.

This is (http://www.gamevideos.com/video/id/7981#) a video showing the UI and how the game will play. Its 3mins long and looks ever soooo sexy, the textures look amazing.

Developer Interview Video (http://streamingmovies.ign.com/pc/article/751/751152/conan_vidinterview_121406_wmvlowwide.wmv) has some nice shots of the game and some of the magic, they also discuss some of the features and especially for Lean it has a short bit with a drunk guy throwing punches and flailing wildly.

Leaked PvP Movie (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bEndk3fElu4&mode=related&search=) not sure which game mode it is, i think it may the be the Capture The Flag mode. As you can see its fast paced.

Dev Commentery (http://streamingmovies.ign.com/pc/article/709/709317/conan_devcommentary_051806_wmvlowwide.wmv) has to be watched 20mins of explaining all the key points in the game and to show it off, even the player cities and mounted combat.



Previews and Reviews

IGN Preview (http://uk.pc.ign.com/articles/751/751055p1.html)

Quote:
Originally Posted by IGN
The opening cutscene brings the player view flying over a slave ship at night. Not only does it offer the opportunity to show off the wonderful lighting and reflections on the water, but also sets the scene in the hard world of Hyboria quickly. The view moves down into the galley of the ship where players can then pick their characters. After gender and race have been selected, players can fiddle with the appearance sliders, which offer an incredible range to select from.

Gamespot Preview (http://uk.gamespot.com/pc/rpg/ageofconanhyborianadventures/news.html?sid=6163211&mode=previews&tag=previews;story;1)

Quote:
Originally Posted by Gamespot
Godager transported his character (now dressed in fancy armor and armed with a gleaming sword) to a distant valley to battle a bunch of barbarians. The combat system in Age of Conan is more like one found in an action game than a typical massively multiplayer role-playing game. There is no autocombat, where you simply click on a target and watch as your character attacks until the target is dead. Instead, like in an action game, you have to control your character's strikes. You can execute combination moves, so instead of a simple jab, you can try a mighty swing to behead your opponent.

Team Xbox Preview (http://previews.teamxbox.com/xbox-360/1502/Age-of-Conan-Hyborian-Adventures/p1/)

Quote:
Originally Posted by Team Xbox
Conan starts with a standard Create-a-Character editor that features loads of sliders you can use to customize your persona’s look. Funcom is also going for high realism, with facial hair, wrinkles, scars and other elements available to “paint” onto the character to make it unique. With the intention to create what Gaute Godager, Conan’s game director at Funcom, calls a “mature MMO” that’s “dark and evil,” this kind of character editing will surely help.

Vault Network (http://vault.ign.com/View.php?view=Articles.Detail&id=8)

Quote:
Originally Posted by Vault
Another PvP aspect looks like it’ll bring some humor to the experience. Product Director Jørgen Tharaldsen demonstrated some of what will make up the drunken bar brawling players can engage in. Though you can catch a few winks at a town’s inn, we suspect that more players will choose to drink and get rowdy, starting massive fights with other patrons. Though it sounds like it’ll be a simple free-for-all, Tharaldsen noted that what you choose to drink will affect your character in different ways, diminishing some skills while enhancing others. One thing that will be a constant across all players is the animation: Tharaldsen cycled through a few of them, and all appear to be variations on the stumbling and wild flailing that you’d find at closing time in any real-world bar should the customers pair off for some fisticuffs.

Voodoo Extreme - Includes Pics (http://ve3d.ign.com/articles/750/750993p1.html)

Quote:
Originally Posted by Voodoo
Age of Conan was designed to be Rated M from early on. As such, the designers have obviously had fun with some more "mature"-oriented content, such as wenches running around in skimpy thongs. (Sorry girls, but there were no dudes in elephant trunk undies that we noticed.) Lack of clothing aside, there are several aspects of gameplay we saw and heard about that caught our eye. As you would expect from a game called Conan, the combat is very physical, gory and gratifying. You learn combat feats, which include stuff such as active positional attacks and styles.




Race Information


Aquilonian
Classes: Rogue, Priest, or Warrior
Starting place at level 20: Tarantia
God: Mitra

Aquilonia is considered the mightiest kingdom of the west. it has a high level of civilization and a rich cultural diversity. The climate is temperate and pleasant. In war, the Aquilonian rely on heavily armed cavalry and a strong infantry.


Cimmerian
Class: Rogue, Priest, or Warrior
Starting place at level 20: Broken Leg Glen
God: Crom

Cimmeria is in the cold, northern reaches and is the homeland of Conan himself. They are known for their strength and ferocity throughout the western world. For the Cimmerian's war is the only known way of life, but they have a strict code of honor and loyalty. They usually live in tribes in the dark woods of Cimmeria.


Stygian
Class: Rogue, Priest, or Mage
Starting place at level 20: Khemi
God: Set

Stygia is known as the Serpent of the South. It is an Egyptian-like area that is home to many enemies of Conan. Their society is dominated by the priesthood, and goverened by fear of Set. It is death for someone who is not a Stygian to enter the land of Stygia. The only exception to this rule is the harbor-city of Khemi, in which merchants are allowed to enter during the day to sell goods.

[WiGgLr]

Class Information


Soldier

Able to wear heavier armor than any other class, the Soldier is able to soak up damage like no other. The heavy armor also allows the Soldier to resist knockback attacks more than any other class. Later specialization classes gain a defensive and offensive stance, the Soldier is able to decide whether to hunker down when under attack, or go into a battle frenzy and significantly increase damage output while lowering defense.

Sub-Classes:

Guardian
Encased in the heaviest armor and carrying around a shield, the Guardian focuses on powerful directional attacks that temporarily damage armor and protection, increasing the amount of damage the enemy takes.

Specialties: tank, heavy armor (including full plate), shield, one handed edged, directional damage mod

Halberdier
Encased in the heaviest armor, the Halberdier specializes in pole arms, trusting in evasion to avoid enemy attacks, rather than a shield to block them. Although limited in the amount of damage they can inflict, the Halberdier does focus on inflicting multiple hits in rapid succession in an area of effect.

Specialties: tank, heavy armor (including full plate), pole arm, multihit Area of Effect

Conqueror
With a standard strapped to their back, the Conqueror leads the charge into battle. Wearing heavy armor and using 2-handed weapons, the Conqueror relies upon evasion to avoid enemy attacks. The standard being carrier around provides a boost the Conqueror team, typically increasing damage. In times of need, the Conqueror is able to take the standard and plant it into the ground in a devastating attack.

Specialties: tank, heavy armor (not full plate), two handed edged, two handed blunt, banner for one group buff.

Liberator
While the standards the Conqueror uses typically increase damage, the standards of the Liberator renew and augment the team in other ways. Wearing heavy armor and dual wielding, the Liberator relies upon evasion to avoid enemy attacks. In times of need, the Liberator is able to take the standard and throw it in a devastating attack.

Specialties: tank, heavy armor (not full plate), one handed edged, one handed blunt, dual wield, banner for one group buff

Zealot
Wearing heavy armor and carrying a shield and blunt weapon, the Zealot has a small amount of priestly ability. Able to augment the team with a single aura, the Zealot is the only class not in the priest class that has healing spells.

Specialties: tank, heavy armor (not full plate), one handed blunt, aura for one group buff, team heal

Dark Templar
Wearing heavy armor and carrying a shield and blade, the Dark Templar drains the life from enemies while attacking. Like the Crusader, the Dark Templar is able to augment the team with a single aura. While able to transfer life to the team, the Dark Templar suffers for this, although with life draining abilities this is rarely a problem. However, the Dark Templar is susceptible to soul corruption effects more than most other classes because of powers they traffic with.

Specialties: tank, heavy armor (not full plate), one handed edged, aura for one group buff, team life transfer, lifetap



Rogue

Unconventional and devious fighters, characters in the Rogue Archetype are those intent on causing maximum harm to their opponents through any means necessary. These classes are not the disciplined soldiers of the warrior archetype, but cunning and often vicious opponents that their enemies would be unfortunate to meet in one of the many dark corners of Hyboria. Capable of dealing great amounts of damage to their victims, they typically wear lighter armor for the sake of mobility and secrecy. Rogues use a variety of weapon combinations based on situation and necessity, dispatching their enemies in a brutally efficient manner.

Sub-Classes:

Reaver
The Reaver is a rabid combatant, harnessing the anger and heat of battle to unleash a devastating flurry of blows. Trained in the art of using multiple weapons simultaneously, Reavers are less concentrated on powerful single attacks as they are on hitting their opponents many times in quick succession. Mostly unconcerned about their own personal safety, they wear light armor for the sake of mobility and speed.

Specialities: One-handed blunt, one-handed edged, dual-wielding, armor debuff, berserking, multi-hit combos and light armor.

Barbarian
The Barbarian is a muscular combatant, focusing on a combination of pure strength and panther-like agility to overcome their enemies. Specialising in using a two-handed weapons for maximum impact, almost all of the Barbarian's attacks are area-of-effect. Having a mastery of sweeping and wild swings, the Barbarian relishes the opportunity to crush as many opponents as possible in a single blow.

Specialities: Two-handed blunt, two-handed edged, stun, evasion debuff, multi-target combos and light armor.

Defiler
Lurking in the shadows and trained alongside those studying the dark arts of necromancy, the Defiler utilizes more unnatural means to dispatch those he intends to assassinate. Whilst not as deeply enshrouded in magic as the Stygian Mages, Defilers are able to consume some of the essence from the spirits of the fallen. Sacrificing this power in strange and dark rituals, the Defiler can be granted unnatural powers temporarily. Defilers do not use conventional poisons, instead relying on the dark energies flowing through their strikes.

Specialities: Dagger, dual-wielding, unholy attacks, draining soul essences to use with special attacks, damage-over-time combos and cloth armor.

Lotus Master
Typically found with both daggers dripping with lethal poisons, the Lotus Master focuses on fast attacks in order to inflict a quick and painful death. Trained with teachings shrouded in mystery, this assassin utilizes various forms of lotus extract in order to cause harm to his enemies or aid himself and his allies. Although a crafty and resourceful fighter, the Lotus Master prefers to let his poisons disorient and ultimately incapacitate anyone unfortunate enough to be his prey.

Specialities: Dagger, dual-wielding, damaging, disorienting, and slowing poisons, restorative elixirs, multi-hit combos and cloth armor.

Master Thief
The Master Thief is the epitome of a dirty fighter, throwing kicks, elbows, and other cheap shots to disorient his foes. With the goal of gaining every advantage they possibly can in a fight, they are known to use many tactics deemed "unfair" by some. Not a poison user, the Master Thieves rely upon precise, powerful attacks to inflict damage as well as land blows that reduce the fighting abilities of their victims.

Specialities: One-handed edged, one-handed blunt, off-hand dagger, damage debuff, snare, blind, damage-over-time and light-armor.

Ranger
The Ranger is a bow-specialist, preferring to stay out of melee combat and dispatch his foes from afar. Relying on accuracy and precision, Rangers are less concerned with mobility and more with self-preservation and maintaining an element of surprise. Masters with their bows, they are able to provide essential ranged cover for their allies, be it through blanketing areas in arrows or sniping vulnerable targets that may be cowering behind the front lines.

Specialities: Bow, high rate-of-fire, volley attacks, sniper attacks, damage-over-time and medium armor.

Waylayer
The Waylayer is a crossbow-oriented marksman, taking advantage of the higher damage and slower firing rate of his weapon when compared to Rangers. Like the Ranger, Waylayers prefer to stay out of melee combat to maintain a high level of survivability while dispatching enemies from afar. The power of their mighty crossbows has been known to rip right through opponents, plunging their bolts into opponents standing or hiding behind them.

Specialities: Crossbow, piercing attacks, knockdown attacks, damage-over-time and medium armor.



Priest

Priests draw on the strength of their faith and their abilities are derived from the power of their respective deities. Each god provides unique aspects to their followers, from the lethal poisons of the snake god Set to the elemental powers of nature itself harnessed by the Stormcaller. The priests of Hyboria can be broadly split between those that follow the shamanic path and those that dedicate themselves as high priests of a deity. Trusting in their respective deities to preserve their lives priests largely wear light armor, and need to avoid direct melee confrontation wherever possible.

Sub-Classes:

Priest of Mitra
With powerful healing abilities and dedicated to Mitra, these priests are able to call upon the power of Mitra to throw back those that would confront them, keeping the Priest safe from harm.

Only Aquillonian and Cimmerian priests may follow Mitra

Specialities: healer, one handed blunt weapons, repulse area of effect ability

Scourge of Derketo
Another excellent healer, the Scourge is dedicated to the god Derketo, calling on the gods power to bring the woes of fire and brimstone to their enemy. These attacks focus on area-of-effect damage spells

Only Aquillonian and Stygian priests may follow Derketo

Specialities: healer, two-handed blunt weapons, area of effect damage

Scion of Set
Dedicated to the god Set, in addition to their excellent healing power the Scion of Set has been blessed by the snake god with the ability to inflict damaging poisons upon their enemies.

With the ability to take a lethal snake form the Scion is not a foe to be underestimated.

When they are faced with the enemy they prefer to wield their sacrificial and ceremonial daggers

Only Stygian priests may worship Set.

Specialities: healer, dagger, poison

Druid
Rather then following one particular deity the Druid is at one with the power of nature. The Druid can call upon swarms of bees and hornets to kill enemies, and has natural healing remedies and abilities to keep their allies standing in battle.

Any race may become a druid

Specialities: healer, damage over time abilities

Bear Shaman
This type of shaman has a powerful mystical kinship with bears and is able to call upon and be infused with the strength of a bear, and even become a bear themselves, providing great melee prowess. While still having good restorative abilities, the Bear Shaman prefers to rend and maul the enemy. The Bear Shaman is also the only priest class that is able to wear medium armor.

Only Aquillonian and Stygian priests may be bear Shaman

Specialities: healer, two-handed blunt weapons

Stormcaller
Masterfully in touch with the elements themselves, this shaman can control and call upon the power of weather to hinder and attack their foes, calling down lightning and creating storms.

Like their fellow shaman their knowledge of restorative remedies and abilities is not to be underestimated.

Only Cimmerian priests may become Stormcallers

Specialities: healer, electrical damage, summon storms and hurricanes



Mage

The mage class is based around inflicting damage from range. In their cloth armor, they are unable to withstand much direct conflict. Given the demonic sources from which some of the mages draw their power, the mage classes in Age of Conan will be able to call on dark powers to help them on occasion even when the enemy gets closer! Through the use of spellweaving, mages will be able to create some staggering attacks.

Sub-Classes:

Herald of Xotli
Some demonologists are either too weak minded or venture too far down the path of demonology to remain untainted. The Heralds are those that bargained with the demon god Xotli and paid the ultimate price, becoming a host to true demonic powers. In battle, the Herald transforms into a demon, preferring to melee opponents and feel the enemy's flesh tear rather than rely on spells, although they retain a fearsome arsenal of spells to call upon as needed.

Specialties: melee mage, two handed edged weapons, summon weapons, demon form

Demonologist
The Demonologist bargains with demons for power, binding them to his will. While able to use certain magic without the aid of demonic powers, the Demonologist is not as studied as other mages, having a need to make blood pacts to reach full potential. Still, the Demonologist is powerful enough to bring demons to this realm and bind them to service.

Specialties: fire or electrical Direct Damage, demon pet, short duration buff to increase casting abilities

Necromancer
The master of unholy magic, the Necromancer animates the dead and corrupts the living. Looking down on the Demonologist for needing to strike bargains for power, the Necromancer needs no such crutch, relying on his own master of death of kill his enemies.

Specialties: Cold or Unholy Direct Damage, undead pets, lifetap

Lich
Where the Necromancer animates the dead, the Lich embraces and joins the dead, if only for a period of time. By fusing with the bones of the dead, the Lich gains impressive physical strength and resilience. In this form the Lich prefers to wade into battle and club enemies to death, although retains access to their full array of spells.

Specialties: melee mage, two handed blunt weapons, summon weapons, undead form

[WiGgLr]

Graphics

Whilst graphics are very unimportant in the grand scheme of thing, people do play what is pretty. The most important factor here is that AoC is a DX10 game. Now your thinking "Whuupdeedoo fannysticks!" but let me tell you that is a huge advantage.

With AoC being DX10 out of the box the devs have had more time to tweak the textures and all the renderings to take full and absolute advantage of the benefits of the DX version. The game will look better, move better and hopefully play better than a DX9 version. Your going to have a game that will stretch your Video card to its limits and give you a lush, vibrant world which feels alive (Something the current MMO's dont do, everything feels placed) and literally buzzes with life, take the sound and graphic of flies buzzing around, mosquitos skitting over ponds of water. Games like WoW, EVE and Everquest 2 will have to devote substantial developer time into porting for DX10, in fact CCP (EVE's creators) have been working on a DX10 version for months, but still they wont be ready until its almost time for AoC to be released.


Combat System

Combat in AoC isnt going to be your run in the mill MMO combat. The game isnt totally reliant on the D&D Rulesets to calculate hits and such. What it does use the "Dice" for is to calculate hit damage and spell resistances. Everything else is player skill controlled. There is also no way to select your target, you cannot for example click on an enemy have him targetted and launch a spell and have it track him cuz you still have him selected.

Melee combat will work in a similar way to Oblivion or the Jedi Knight games, you manually attack an enemy. There are no Combat Arts as in WoW or EQ2, no Heroic Strike and no Backstab. There is no Auto Attack function, you sit there at the controls guiding every strike via an interesting control system.

When you engage in combat a small circle will appear at the bottom of your UI with up to 6 directional pointers. These pointers represent where your weapon will strike from and by using a combination of positioning and movement you can guide exactly where your weapon will strike the target.
Also another part of this system is that if you are fighting two opponents directly in front of yourself and they slash at one but your blade "Model" passes through part of the other enemy it will count as a hit rather than the system of WoW where you have special abilities to strike multiple targets. Basically, if the weapon passes through and NPC it does damage, even if you were not specifically attacking them.

Ranged combat will work to similar principles. As screenies have shown, you will have a crosshair so expect to treat it like an FPS of sorts.

I dont know about Spell Casting i would assume its similar to Ranged combat. One thing to note about Spell Casting is the Spellweaving skill. Basically its a way of casting a bunch of spells together and combining them into one powerful spell, but be warned if you go a bit to hardcore with the spells it can back fire and blow up your face! Certain Mages can use so many dark spells they begin to polymorph into a demon themselves, there is even a chance you could go to Hell when you die and you have to get yourself out of there, not sure how that works yet.

Mounted Combat looks very interesting but there are very few details, from what i could glean it will be very similar to the other types of combat, but ofcourse you will have the advantage of speed and shock. That said, im hoping for a Schiltrom Formation to eat Cavalry for breakfast.


Guilds and Player Interaction

Guilds are going to be a major focus in AoC. There will be player cities, player Battle Towers and player Castles. The latter will be a focal point of PvP.

If your guild has a Castle then a rival guild can lay siege to it, resulting in a time and date set for the defense of the castle. The castle will be like a mini city with huge walls and all the defenses you would expect. It can be used by Guild Members to sell wares and can even be fortified with NPC's.

Battle Towers are smaller versions of castles for much smaller guilds.

Player Cities are slightly different. Rather than being besieged by a Player Guild, you will have an NPC city set itself up near by which will slowly grow and expand and raid your town, at its highest level it will even have access to Siege Equipment, thing Trebuchets, Catapaults and Ballistas.

Groups are not left out tho, they get a lovely thing called "Formations".
A Group Leader with the right abilities can set a group formation, which will give the group bonuses to Damage, Resistence and Armour etc etc.
To gain these bonuses the group members must stay in formation, to show the players where to be there will be small markers on the floor to give them an idea of where they are to position themselves in the formation.

[WiGgLr]

Based on the race you pick, at level five you choose a class. Aquilonian and Cimmerian can choose among Rogue, Priest or Warrior. Stygian can chose among Rogue, Priest or Mage. Classes will be restricted to armor/weapon access and feats based on the nature and balance of the class.

At level twenty, you get to choose between three or four branching classes, and this becomes your main class. You keep your main class all the way to level sixty, when you chose your specialization.

At level forty, you choose from a set of four different “guild” classes which can freely be picked by any class. The guild classes are like an overlay class, with mostly social functions. Among these are a path of manufacture specialty, tactical expertise, strategic expertise, and lordship.

At level sixty, you choose your specialized class. There are two specializations for your base class. In total, there are around 40 different class choices available for the player.

At level eighty, the final level, you gain access to the “elder feats”. These are specialized powers that boost your character in various ways.
http://www.gameamp.com/modules/core/user_gallery/9800_gallery.jpg



As for the levelling being mind numbing...

I cant see that being the case as the control method lends itself to being more involving than the current crop of MMO's, also if your bored jump on your horse and engage in some Bronze Age Ride-by Shootings and maimings


I'll post more stuff as my WoW guildmate posts it (hehehe)

[Alrus]

Is there a beta for that game soon, looks quite good =)

[WiGgLr]

it's in closed beta now... expected release date is March -> May

[Alrus]

Okay, will let me some time to upgrade my comp and buy vista so I can play it =P

[Archaos]

yeah I was looking into this game for a while.

when does beta come out ? I need to sign up.

[WiGgLr]

yeah I was looking into this game for a while.

when does beta come out ? I need to sign up.

it's in closed beta now... expected release date is March -> May

see above

[Damascus]

It's coming out for PC and 360 innit? Wonder if they'll use the same servers. Wouldn't surprise me, with the amount of connectivity between 360's and PC's.

[Zelandra]

OMG IT'S COMING FOR THE 360? lol thought i'd have to upgrade my comp....awsome :D

[Archaos]

whatta you guys guessin on specs ?

[Damascus]

Something close to costing your soul, and all the beer you've ever consumed.

[Archaos]

thats not so bad.

[Damascus]

Yeah, I've had worse.

No seriously, I have. :(

[Zelandra]

If a 360 can play it, then go for a 360's specs :>

I really hope the 360 version gets released with it, and has the same servers as the PC version :>

[Archaos]

I don't really wanna imagine pvping with a controller on an MMO instead of a mouse and keyboard.

seems like it'd be a lot harder to me.

[Zelandra]

I don't really wanna imagine pvping with a controller on an MMO instead of a mouse and keyboard.

seems like it'd be a lot harder to me.

Since AoC has that whole "you have to be active during combat" it'll just be like PvEing, only against another person. I'm quite sure that all the buttons on a controller can suffice for the necissary commands for a mmorpg.

[Damascus]

Yeah it's pretty easy from what I've seen. When you fight you're got 6 slices of a pizza to choose a move to do, and then you choose another slice to chain moves into combos. Could easily do that with a 360 controller I reckon.

Theres no targetting, you swing in a direction and anyone caught in your arc is hit.

[Zelandra]

Yeah it's pretty easy from what I've seen. When you fight you're got 6 slices of a pizza to choose a move to do, and then you choose another slice to chain moves into combos. Could easily do that with a 360 controller I reckon.

Theres no targetting, you swing in a direction and anyone caught in your arc is hit.

I'm really pumped for it since it's like the only mmorpg out there for the 360 (phantasy star universe barely count ~_~). Anyways, yea, excitement.

Seems like there might be a 2 mont hdelay between the PC and 360 version....I still hope they'll be on the same servers.

Kinda hard to chat w/ a 360 though....maybe they'll have voice implementation so you can actually hear anyone within shouting distance or something :O

[Archaos]

that'd be pretty cool if they did the voice system that way.

it could also be very annoying.

[Damascus]

I'm really pumped for it since it's like the only mmorpg out there for the 360 (phantasy star universe barely count ~_~). Anyways, yea, excitement.

Seems like there might be a 2 mont hdelay between the PC and 360 version....I still hope they'll be on the same servers.

Kinda hard to chat w/ a 360 though....maybe they'll have voice implementation so you can actually hear anyone within shouting distance or something :O

Lol it'd be fucking retarded having some muscly barbarian sounding like a 12 year old pre-pubescent asshole. Unless they add a special filter to make everyones voices deep and manly!

[Alrus]

Lol it'd be fucking retarded having some muscly barbarian sounding like a 12 year old pre-pubescent asshole. Unless they add a special filter to make everyones voices deep and manly!

Well look at Lineage, you have cute elfs and queer Dark elfs with deep voices and Orc males with feminine voice (and even Dorf male played by female :P) so I don't think it would change much from any mmos TS/Vent server =P

[Damascus]

True, but at least in L2 you aren't forced to put up with hearing their voices. Just the retarded typings... "gtfo jewslut lawl rolled"

[Alrus]

Hope they will put some of system that allow you to choose the people you'll listen to, elseway this game is gonna be awful lol =P

[Zelandra]

I'm just saying, either they need a keyboard attachment or a voice implementation for chatting.

[Archaos]

usb keyboard ftw ?

[Damascus]

May as well get it on PC then! OMG OMG

They'd probably just set up a channels system whereby each party has it's own channel...if the game has parties...and where you can direct voice chat with people. Maybe certain locations would have local chat...but that'd be huge on bandwidth probably, and would make the PC servers seperate from the XBox ones. Which would suck. :(

[Zelandra]

May as well get it on PC then! OMG OMG

They'd probably just set up a channels system whereby each party has it's own channel...if the game has parties...and where you can direct voice chat with people. Maybe certain locations would have local chat...but that'd be huge on bandwidth probably, and would make the PC servers seperate from the XBox ones. Which would suck. :(

I think the extra time they take to release it on the 360 is just to work shit like this out...Microsoft set it up to be a copy+paste sort of thing between the PC and the 360 due to the framework they use.

[Damascus]

Thank god for Microsoft.

[Alrus]

Hehe yeah I didn't think of the typing with pad issue. Typing with a pad is the worst thing I had to do on an online game (PSO), I bought a Gamecube ASCII pad just to avoid that =P

[Zelandra]

Hehe yeah I didn't think of the typing with pad issue. Typing with a pad is the worst thing I had to do on an online game (PSO), I bought a Gamecube ASCII pad just to avoid that =P

You'd think they come up with a way to make it easier for you, but nooo.

[Typhus666]

Looked good till I saw it was for the 360. :/

[Damascus]

Looked good till I saw it was for the 360. :/

And PC.

[Zelandra]

Looked good till I saw it was for the 360. :/

If you don't have a 360 you don't have a soul :'(

[Damascus]

I have a 360 and no soul. But I still have a dick, so I guess that there is what defines a 360 owner.

[Zelandra]

I have a 360 and no soul. But I still have a dick, so I guess that there is what defines a 360 owner.

Fact: My penis size trippled the day I got my 360.

[Damascus]

Mine would have, but I put it in the 360 and it got caught in the laser. Now it's wireless.

[Zelandra]

Mine would have, but I put it in the 360 and it got caught in the laser. Now it's wireless.

Wireless penises rock!

Anyways, I call mine Goliath, and I had to order special strechy-pants for him.

[WiGgLr]

it's been delayed:

Originally Posted by Ageofconan.com
Durham, USA – January 25, 2007 – Funcom and Eidos announce a new release date for the hugely anticipated MMO ‘Age of Conan - Hyborian Adventures’. Widely heralded as one of the most innovative and best looking games in development, co-publishers Funcom and Eidos have now decided to further hone the qualities of the game. The new release date is set to the 30th of October 2007 and will further ensure an online experience with truly stunning impact.


“Age of Conan” brings something brand new and highly innovative to the MMO genre’ says CEO Trond Arne Aas. “Age of Conan” today looks and plays fantastically, as countless press previews and industry feedback attest to. Even so, we believe that by spending even more time and effort into polishing and enhancing the game we will ensure that the game reaches its full potential in terms of quality and subscriber base. We are confident that our fan base will appreciate this commitment to quality. The prolonged development time reflects our ambition to meet and exceed the expectations of our fans for this game.’


“Age of Conan is truly a labor of love for Funcom and I am proud and amazed at the accomplishments of our world class development team. The extra development time on Age of Conan will enable us to deliver a truly awesome MMO gaming experience – with next generation MMO-combat and a lush and vibrant world to live in, said Gaute Godager, founder of Funcom and Game Director on ‘Age of Conan’. “Now we can pack even more punch into the brutal world of Conan, and, by Crom, I feel certain that we will deliver a game that will appeal to a broad range of players as we introduce new features to the genre.’


‘Age of Conan’ is currently in closed beta. Funcom will soon announce a unique chance to secure a spot in the open beta of the game. If you are, or will shortly become, a part of the ‘Age of Conan’ community you will have a unique chance to influence and impact the ‘Age of Conan” game as it approaches its last stages of development.



‘Age of Conan - Hyborian Adventures’ is one of the most anticipated PC games in development, and is a key title among the Games for Windows lineup for Windows Vista. The game won ‘Best MMO of E3’ awards from IGN, GameSpot, GameSpy and Yahoo. More information, newsletter sign-up, forums and a welcoming community portal can be found on the official website www.ageofconan.com (http://www.ageofconan.com/) . Following the release of the PC version a dedicated console version will be released for the Xbox 360. The game is co-published with Eidos.



But here are two dx10 videos to wet your appetite
http://www.fileplanet.com/172749/170000/fileinfo/Age-of-Conan-CES-Trailer-%5BHigh-Res%5D
http://www.fileplanet.com/173153/170000/fileinfo/Age-of-Conan---DirectX-10-Trailer

[Damascus]

Fuck.


...interlude, here I come.

[WiGgLr]

http://ve3d.ign.com/articles/774/774968p3.html



I've never been a huge fan of MMOGs, especially those ones with elves and beards, so how about one about a dude who decapitates his foes and takes no shit from anyone, would that pique my interest? It sure would!
Running in DX9 mode on Vista at the event was the game, though those in attendance were only allowed to observe, so I'll simply run down a list of observations: - At present the game will ship on 3 DVDs
- The unoptomised install footprint is 20GB
- Expected PC release date October
- May install onto the Xbox 360 hard drive to avoid disk swapping
- 360 version not out before Mid 08
- No exclusive content for 360 version as previously reported elsewhere
- Game starts with avatar on a slave ship that is attacked or crashes into rocks. Avatar wakes up on a beach with no memory (where have I experienced that before?) and a mysterious tattoo. Must hack 'n' slash way off island
- First hour is spent online, but in a completely instanced zone where you are the only player
- Then till level 20 you are an instanced version of the island with a small number of other players (100-200)
- Once off the island the entire world is available to explore
- 4000-5000 people per area at this point. All can group together in one spot if desired, though it'll likely crash the server
- World so big that loading between zones had to be implemented
- Some sections of each zone 4x4km
- Draw distance is infinite, so no fogging unless it's meant to be there. Details like trees and rocks will be LOD'd out
- Main quest line will take players through to level 80, though there are of course other side quests and quest lines
- As part of the main quest players will meet Conan. Not voiced by Arnie or even someone with an Arnie accent
- Other main NPCs will be voiced, rest will be text
- Multiple dialogue choices similar to those in Knights of the Old Republic. Example - you come across a farmer whose wife has been eaten by a croc and he requires her remains to bury and save her soul. Players can tell him to suck it up, and go get a new wife, blow him off completely, be sympathetic, or offer to help by gutting the crocodile and returning whatever parts of his wife haven't been digested
- This is no Teen rated game
- Game will be different in Germany due to the USK Rating Board and their dislike of excessive violence. Whether Germans can play on the same server as the rest of Europe remains to be determined
- Combo fighting system relies on hitting attack directions. First move lights other directions and by hitting those before a timer bar expires initiates the combo. Successfully stringing the combo for long enough creates a fatality attack
- Fatality attacks were not meant to be shown in case German sensibilities were hurt, or the USK sent German special forces into the conference room
- They were however, accidentally
- Fatalities consist of the avatar chopping heads off (cue arterial spray), impaling enemies with swords before head butting them off, and other such fun things
- Each weapon has a different number of possible attack directions, and fatality moves
- If equipped with a shield avatar can select a block icon during combat if it's displayed. Blocking successfully will temporarily open enemy up to attack
- Combos difficult to do with mouse as each icon has to be clicked. Easier to do with numpad or some other keyboard layout, or the 360 controller that has to be supported for GFW certification
- Magic also in game. There's basic magic that takes the form of clicking the icon and clicking the enemy, and more advanced magic that has to be comboed like melee attacks. Screwing up a difficult, lengthy combo may cause avatars to pass out or be struck by their own magic, opening them up for attack by the enemy
- Guilds can own land in special sections of the world and build armouries and such that apply guild wide bonuses to their members, such as improved weapons
- These lands, which will typically be defended by player/guild built castles, can be attacked by rivals with siege equipment. If the attackers are victorious they will take all land, and all buildings that weren't destroyed, instantly boosting their guild. Castle will however be damaged and will have to be repaired quickly or the evicted guild can quickly retake what used to be theirs
- Horses easy to come by; no mounted combat at present
- Limited beta test presently scheduled to be in late Spring to early Summer. Will eventually expand to open test

[Damascus]

Toooo long to wait. T_T

[Archaos]

Thats looking pretty nice

[WiGgLr]

http://beta2.ageofconan.com/beta_application/

need I say more?

[Damascus]

Applied. Be nice to get in - I told them in my extra comments that I'm strong so heres hoping!

[LinnEva]

o_PXKLFrX84

[Damascus]

This game has me raging, I want it noooow :(

[Caddyshack]

http://beta2.ageofconan.com/beta_application/

need I say more?

I signed up for it myself, looks and sounds like a good game or at least a game worth trying.

[Talorth]

i hope the controls aren't awkward...

[Archaos]

I still haven't gotten in !

this is rubbish, clearly I'm the best beta tester candidate, do they don't take wearing pink shorts into the equation when making these decisions ?!

[Grog]

they thought pink shorts were a bit to gay for a game where big muscly men beat other muscly men off

[Damascus]

I left them a comment in the extra comments thing - "I am strong".

I should be in any day now.

[Zelandra]

I played many of the MMOs on their list....just how many do I need to play before they let me in? My friend used to get into alphas and shit very early, and he used to get me accs.....but they never ask me if I was in any alphas D:

[Archaos]

They still haven't gotten back to me either.

[Talorth]

They still haven't gotten back to me either.

Was the pink shorts. scared em off.

[LinnEva]

http://community.ageofconan.com/wsp/conan/frontend.cgi?session=x4bvve2067byaub6oquhguydq21x0 l&func=publish.show&template=content&func_id=1664&sort=PRIORITY&table=CONTENT


http://r095.d1.funcom.com/conan/frontend//bearshaman_blessedclaws.wmv

[LinnEva]

oh yes, bear shaman looks good

[Archaos]

did the beta start yet ? WTFZ no invite :<

[Talorth]

Im sensing that this game may be very dissapointing.

[Damascus]

What gives you that impression? It's an MMO that has drunken bar fighting, sieges, open pvp, mounts, and the combat isn't just /target /attack.

[LinnEva]

he thinks it will be dissappointment because there is no gay bars

[Talorth]

^agree with above.







Honestly, im just not feeling it.

[Damascus]

THEN GO TO HELL