On top teasing the first Age of Conan expansion, Funcom has shown off some of the forthcoming free content updates to its fantasy MMO Age of Conan at Leipzig. You can check out all the screenshots here.
Funcom highlighted two new zones, new and revamped dungeons and itemisation, and the graphical updates to be expected from the game's future DirectX 10 support.
Ubiquitous Funcom mouthpiece Erling Ellingsen said Funcom intended to answer the criticisms of players of the game who feel the game is too light on content in the second half. "We're really serious about adding content," Ellingsen said. "We agree that content thins out after level 55."
Ellingsen demonstrated the Commons district of the capital city Tarantia, expected soon. This mid-level slum area allows players to pick a side in a gang war between street bandits and the rulers of the rooftops. Questing will include thieving, exploration and stealth gameplay as well as combat, and complex storylines with moral choices.
Attention then moved on to the Black Castle dungeon, which is being extensively revamped. Originally a basic dungeon aimed at solo players, it will soon be a more sophisticated group dungeon featuring traps and puzzles reminiscent of the Legend of Zelda - shooting an eye with an arrow to kill a giant snake, or standing on pressure pads to allow your team-mates to pass flame-throwers.
Tongue-in-cheek tributes to Indiana Jones and Frankenstein had players fleeing from a boulder and piecing together a monster from body parts. There's also an attempt to give boss fights more personality (Ellingsen mentioned World of Warcraft's strength in this area), an epic feel, and superior loot drops. Ellingsen says Funcom is conscious that it needs to improve the quality of loot throughout the game, and is overhauling its entire loot distribution table.
The new outdoor area Ymir's Pass, for level 55 players and above, was shown. This beautiful Cimmerian mountain region has "dozens of hours" of content and a striking, ruined-amphitheatre dungeon. The Frostfather - a giant familiar from Robert E. Howard's stories - was shown imprisoned here. In a nod to the 1980s Arnold Schwarzenegger Conan films, Ymir's Pass also features the Wheel of Pain.
Ellingsen also showed screens and concept art of two top-level dungeons that are in development, but a little further off. The first, in an advanced stage of development, will be a group instance in Thunder River. The second, in the early stages only, will be a "huge" Cimmerian dungeon called the House of Crom, a social group dungeon where several groups can adventure at once.
Video was shown of the game running under DirectX 10, but Ellignsen refused to date this patch, saying that Funcom was taking its time to get it right. The DX10 version of Age of Conan will feature HDR lighting, ambient occlusion (more subtle shadowing), physics acting on grass and foliage, extravagant radial blur on fatality effects, volumetric lighting and fog, specular reflections on water and beautifully diffused underwater light.
On the anticipated update to the game's player-versus-player systems - originally expected some weeks ago - Ellingsen would only say that it was expected "relatively" soon. (In fact, he said "very soon", and then corrected himself.)
by Adrian Bott Aug 23rd 2008 at 8:00PM
Filed under: Fantasy, Video, Age of Conan, Previews
Courtesy of German gaming site
onlinewelten.com, we're able to bring you a presentation of upcoming
Age of Conan content
by Erling Ellingson, straight from the Games Convention in Leipzig. The
presentation takes us on a tour of the Tarantia Commons, a slum area in
which your character takes a side in a war between street gangs, and
stops to take in some of the new exotic armor sets that have been
included in response to player demand. Quests are set to become more
interesting and branching, allowing characters to make moral choices
rather than simply go off on errands to kill ten of something.
The tour then checks out Black Castle, the mantis-infested stronghold in the south of Khopshef Province, which is '
completely revamped'
in the new version, the main focus being on Indiana Jones style traps
that require ingenuity and co-operation to tackle. Ellingson explains
that
Age of Conan is deliberately borrowing from
World of Warcraft
in its reworking of boss fights, to produce encounters that require
specific tactics to beat; we're glad to hear it, as bosses right now
are a bit too much of the bag-of-hit-points kind. Next stop is Ymir's
Pass, a Cimmerian zone under bandit onslaught, featuring one of the
hugest bosses we've seen. We also hear about upcoming level 80 dungeons
and the PvP consequence system.
One thing you'll hear Ellingson say repeatedly is '
we listened to our players'. That seems to be the message Funcom is most keen to send out right now. Check out the video after the cut.
Everybody who has purchased a Collector’s Edition can now invite up to five friends, who can try the game for seven days without purchasing a retail box.
To all current Guild Members, we have posted on a few forums that the Legion of Order is recruiting members. Some of the NEW recruits may not have purchased the game and may ask for a Buddy Key Code. When the Buddy Programs opens up to the Standard Retail Box, please let Lenthor know you wish to sponsor a new member with your Buddy Key Code.
The invitation process is easy. You need to log-in to your account pages (https://register.ageofconan.com), and choose “Buddy program”. Follow the on-screen instructions, and then write a personal message to your friends or recruit if you so desire. An e-mail address will be required so Funcon can send them the key code.
We recommend that you lend your install DVDs to your buddy to get him or her ready to play as fast as possible. Alternatively your buddy will be offered a $2,99/€2,99 client download with 3 additional days of playtime to cover the download time.
While this offer is only for Collector’s Edition accounts for now, we will soon open up for the Buddy key found in the standard retail box as well.
