Age of Conan FAQ

Community Founder Joined: Jun 30, 2005 Posts: 3401

What is Age of Conan - Hyborian Adventures ?
Age of Conan is an Massively Multiplayer Online Game (MMO) set in the Conan universe as created by Robert E Howard.

What exactly is an MMO?
An MMO, or Massively Multiplayer Online Game, is a gaming universe where thousands of players can connect to a vast 3D online world. In this world they can play with and against other players on servers hosted by a game developer.

Does the game have single player elements?
The first sections of the game will be played just like a single player title as you develop your character through an involving storyline, as you prepare for even greater adventures beyond. The whole game will always be played on online game servers.

Is the game turn based or real-time?
The gameplay will be very action orientated, and while you will find the standard RPG skill sets in there, from thieves with nimble fingers to pick the stoutest locks to Demonologists torturing the souls of their enemies, the system itself will be very much based around fast reaction gaming.

With our unique control systems though we hope that players of all skill levels will be able to dive right into the meat of the combat and allow them to wade into the field of battle, alongside the gaming veterans who will be able to take our combat system and make it their own!

What type of gameplay features can we expect to see?
Everything from enthralling quests (you won’t be sent to kill the local rat population in Age of Conan, we promise!) through exploring dungeons all the way up to large-scale multiplayer battles and siege situations!

The beginning of the game will be played alone as you begin your journey through the world of King Conan, then once you have earned your power and ability to survive, the world opens up again to a whole new range of exciting adventures that can be experienced alone or as part of a huge online community!

So you will need an Internet connection to play the game?
Yes, you will require an internet connection to play Age of Conan.

Is the game level based or skill based?
The game is based around a level progression, as you grow stronger more adventures will open up to you, and you will be able to take part in epic battles with other players in many diverse regions of Hyboria.

How many playable classes will there be?
For the first five levels you are a “commoner”, without class, but of Cimmerian, Aquilonian or Stygian origin. Then at level five you choose your base class from four archetypes: Mage, Priest, Thief or Warrior.

At level twenty you get further three to four class selections for each archetype, which branches again into two specialized classes for each selection at level sixty.

Will there be PvP options?
Yes PvP, or Player versus Player will be a central part of the gameplay in Age of Conan, and we are truly focusing on this part of the game to make fun, brutal, action filled and fair. There will be three main forms of PvP:

Drunken brawling is a hilarious, unique and very “Conanesque” PvP form where every player, regardless of their level, can fight it out in the bars and taverns of the world. Your fighting ability here depends on how much you drink, and what you drinkJ The more you drink the more pain you are able to endure, but the less chance you have of hitting!

PvP mini-games is a selection of mini-games, like Last man standing, King of the Hill and so forth (as you know from FPS games), but with a unique Conan twist, of course. These fights will take place in areas of the world dedicated or designed for PvP combat. To level out the fact that many friends have different abilities and levels, we also have a PvP-leveling system where we have divided the 80 levels into 4 PvP tiers, where you will be auto-leveled up to the max level of that tier during the PvP fight.

Massive epic battles – This is the ultimate large-scale PvP form where guilds and coalitions of players can build their own cities in the border kingdoms, and fight it out in massive battles. Just think of it! Engines of war, mounted warriors charging on horses and camels, formations of players struggling for every inch of land, tearing down walls or breaking through the formations of the enemy!

How does the action combat system work?
There are actually three main aspects to the action sections of the game; each will provide a very different and dynamic gameplay situation for the player.

So what is "Real Combat"?
This is our revolutionary multi point melee system. This unique aspect of this system is that you swing your weapon where you direct it. This system will let the players direct, and combine, the swings of their weapon to create fancy, brutal and effective slashes and thrusts, or combine them in combos or special attacks that do additional damage. You should really “feel” the power of your character when you fight, feel the power of each and every blow.

"Real Combat" is easy to learn, and allows for a very different experience to both the slow studious nature of RPG combat and the ‘twitch’ nature of a first person shooter. When you pick it up the first time you might not even notice it as you happily slash and thrust away. With experience you might see certain attacks swinging better together. As you learn to string it into combos you become a dancing machine of brutal death. The same multipoint system is true for ranged combat and spell casting. In both cases the Real Combat engine allows you to string hits or spells together to form new fantastic effects.

The Real Combat will also work with mounted combat.

What do you mean by Formation Combat?
This is a completely new, aspect of multiplayer gameplay. In previous RPGs with indirect point-and-click movement you have seen party based formations, as in the “Baldurs Gate” series for instance. In Conan you can for the first time not only have a formation, but be in direct control of both your character, NPC’s and other players..

The leader of the formation can decide on different formations and the degree of freedom the various players and NPC’s can have within the formation. The formation also serves as a cooperative travel system, yielding beneficial effects to the team as the collision of the formation itself protect the members at the rear. Formations yield beneficial bonuses to members, and offer a new type of depth to a RPG. In some cases it will be essential to pick the right formation to survive.

What about Siege Combat?
As a player you can cooperate with other players in building cities, with walls, towers and keeps, protecting softer targets like houses, inns and merchants. In the same regions you will have the forces of evil like the Picts not only building their own city, like a real-life Real Time Strategy AI, but with the ability to mount sieges against your city. With ample warning you must return home to protect the walls of your city against enemy catapults and hordes of monsters swarming through the breaches.

Yes, the only true way to combat this oncoming evil is to gang up with your friends and take the battle to their walls. Lay siege to their towers, blow them up and see the vermin scream for mercy when your catapults sing their merry song of death and destruction. Naturally, mercy is unheard of in the Hyborian time. A swift death would be the extent of friendliness offered by (or to) your foes. Massive battles hide almost any form of cruelty or chivalry.

The World of Conan
When in the timeline of the Conan Universe is the game set?
The setting is chronologically directly after the Robert E. Howard book “The Hour of the Dragon”, in the era when Conan was king of Aquilonia. This novel is heralded by many as one of Howard’s strongest, and gives us a great entry point into Howard’s world.

Will I be able to ‘be’ Conan?
No, Conan will not be a playable character, rather you will be playing in King Conan’s world. You can in some way see the journey through the game as many alternate ways of sampling Conan’s history, and getting to know him. This will gradually bring you closer and closer to the grand King of Aquilonia, to his royal court and who knows, maybe even joining him at this top table!

How true to the original writings of Howard are you intending to be?
The world that Howard created was a dark and gritty place and we certainly aim to very true to that feeling and atmosphere. Obviously Howard wrote the original works in the 1930’s, a long time before world war two, Martin Luther King or the 60’s sexual revolution, and some of his themes and characters are very much creations of their time that do occasionally jar our modern sensibilities, so Age of Conan will not be done in a tasteless, exploitative manner. Rest assured however that the world of Conan will never, ever, be politically correct and we hope that the game will capture all the elements of Howard’s creation that make it what it is!

What rating do you expect the game to have?
Although the game is not yet rated we are certainly expecting for the game to be rated as ‘Mature’

What platforms is the game being released on?
The game is currently being developed for Windows.

Will the game be subscription based like MMOs or free like online FPS or RTS games?
The game will be subscription based, and you will need to pay a monthly fee to play the game.

Posted: Fri Apr 18, 2008 1:36 pm

For an excellent FAQ rundown, visit here.

AoC Faq Click Me!

Joined: Nov 21, 2007 Posts: 622

but what it doesnt say is what spec your computer needs to be to run it? well not that I can find

Community Founder Joined: Jun 30, 2005 Posts: 3401

I posted the specs here...

Age of Conan PC Specs

cheers
|2es-mrix

Joined: Nov 21, 2007 Posts: 622

must be going blind Laughing

Posted: Fri Apr 18, 2008 2:04 pm

All those dates you keep going on with Mistress Palm and her 5 lovely daughters Wink

Joined: Nov 21, 2007 Posts: 622

Im Married what more would you expect Laughing

Joined: Oct 04, 2005 Posts: 480 Location: Kent

At what level do you get a noob tube?

ElGordo

Consoles Moderator Joined: Nov 05, 2006 Posts: 1137

|2es-ElGordo wrote:

At what level do you get a noob tube?

ElGordo

conquering tube of gordo that can work as a book.

Posted: Sat Apr 19, 2008 9:51 pm

I've not really looked into this one.
Sounds good and to my taste, but I could never spend enough time to make previous mmo's worth it, and Pirates seemed to die very quickly.
Do you guys, knowing my situation think its worth a shot, or is it too time committed for me?

Advice welcome.
Question

Community Founder Joined: Jun 30, 2005 Posts: 3401

Quote:

Do you guys, knowing my situation think its worth a shot, or is it too time committed for me?

Well I can never spend too much time on these games myself but this too good to miss out on Very Happy

come on its Conan! Very Happy

cheers
|2es-mrix

Posted: Sun Apr 20, 2008 6:00 am

|2es-BedlamBob wrote:

I've not really looked into this one.
Sounds good and to my taste, but I could never spend enough time to make previous mmo's worth it, and Pirates seemed to die very quickly.
Do you guys, knowing my situation think its worth a shot, or is it too time committed for me?

Advice welcome.
Question

MMO's, if very good and to your liking, can be real time/life stealers. They are gaming crack cocaine!!! One warning bob, if you dabble and like be prepared to become obsessed !!!

AoC has always looked like a quality game, trying to shake up the MMO fantasy genre so I think (hope!) it will be a huge success. This game hasn't been rushed out and already has a huge community behind it. PoTBS on the other hand was a mere diversion, it had some nice original elements but at the moment these are outweighed by it's many flaws.

Joined: Oct 04, 2005 Posts: 480 Location: Kent

I have exactly the same view/question as Bob - i'm concerned that i wouldn't be able to put enough time into it but i'll prob still give it a go if enough Res do also

ElGordo

Community Founder Joined: Jun 30, 2005 Posts: 3401

Just sign up for the beta when its released Wink

give a fair go and see how you get along Very Happy

Thats the true test me thinks Very Happy

cheers
|2es-mrix

Joined: Aug 13, 2007 Posts: 547 Location: Birmingham

Theres are usually plenty of trial keys floating around Res so when its released in a couple of weeks and you are not sure just grab a key from someone Smile

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