Age of Conan Trailer

[Bushido]

Funcom (http://funcom.com/) has provided MMORPG.com (http://www.mmorpg.com/) with an exclusive trailer (http://www.mmorpg.com/gamelist.cfm/setview/features/loadFeature/336/gameID/191) from Age of Conan (http://www.ageofconan.com/) that shows off the "Tortage Temple" area of their world. Some extra screenies as well.

Experience the World of Conan!
Age of Conan – Hyborian Adventures is an Online Action RPG scheduled for Windows in 2006. A mix of a deep, story-driven single-player experience and a massive and brutal multiplayer end-game brings forth the ultimate representation of the Age of Conan. Now you can enter the brutal domain of the world’s greatest fantasy hero.
Crom, let this game be good...

[The Iron Weasel]

I saw a video for this a while back, and it looked pretty neat, but with my gaming habits I doubt I could ever get into an mmo.

[Bushido]

If they honor the dark atmosphere and give us lots of blood and gore and no treadmill I will be happy.

[sflufan]

Two words: realtime combat.

HELL YEAH!

[Sion]

Speaking of Conan, Prop 73 passed. Take that social conservatives!

[snubber]

http://www.ageofconan.com/conan/media/screenshots/screenshot0003.jpg

Yo that looks pretty sweet. Not usually into MMORPGS, but I'll keep an eye on how the combat turns out.

Conan was the only comic I read -- well, that and Groo. Every other comic seemed lame to me, but I liked the dark, serious tone of the Conan series, including all the crazy blood 'n guts sword fighting. And the black and white art was amazing, different from the usual comic-book look.


EDIT: Which one is prop 73? I assume you're referring to something that happened in the lovely state of California, where I live, but I've been out of the country for two months, so don't know what the hell is going on.

[thecrazyd]

Conan was the only comic I read -- well, that and Groo. Every other comic seemed lame to me, but I liked the dark, serious tone of the Conan series, including all the crazy blood 'n guts sword fighting. And the black and white art was amazing, different from the usual comic-book look.
That is a very ignorant statement. You should read more comics.

[bean19]

I wonder if they'll actually go Mature on this.

It's Conan. We really should be getting lots of adult themes. . . boobies, whores, blood and gore, etc.

Also, I hope that not all the male playable models are hulking gladiator types. I'm much more fond of the "Young Conan" art.

[snubber]

That is a very ignorant statement. You should read more comics.

Ignorant? What, because you like comics and I don't? There's some sound reasoning. I *have* read other comics, thanks. Many. I didn't like them. Is it ok to have an opinion, or should I step in line behind whatever you think?

[Murtaug]

Ignorant? What, because you like comics and I don't? There's some sound reasoning. I *have* read other comics, thanks. Many. I didn't like them. Is it ok to have an opinion, or should I step in line behind whatever you think?

This is Evil Avatar, take a number, get in line.

[Montgomery_Python]

Yeah another MMO not made by someone that gets it.

A hint: MMO /= fast cash. You have to make it good first. The last good MMO I played was WoW. They got it, until 60.

[thecrazyd]

Ignorant? What, because you like comics and I don't? There's some sound reasoning. I *have* read other comics, thanks. Many. I didn't like them. Is it ok to have an opinion, or should I step in line behind whatever you think?
I doubt you have read that many if you think having a "dark, serious tone" makes Conan special. Not all comics have superheros.

[Bushido]

Conan the comic is one of my favorites. Better than Heavy Metal. See the Game devs dont realize that there is this niche for graphic slave driving, wench whoring, village burning, dark brooding fantasy. Not everyone likes unicorns and butterflies.

[Redline]

Is this the MMO that adds the long sought after 'fun' component?


I'm waiting for the 'I want to play Cooooooonaaaaaan' bitching an moaning to start.

[sflufan]

I wonder if they'll actually go Mature on this.

It's Conan. We really should be getting lots of adult themes. . . boobies, whores, blood and gore, etc.

Also, I hope that not all the male playable models are hulking gladiator types. I'm much more fond of the "Young Conan" art.

The developers have already said that it will be an M-rated game with graphic violence and sexual content to keep in tune with the original Conan novels from the 1930s.

For MUCH more information on Age of Conan, check out these series of articles:

http://rpgvault.ign.com/articles/668/668319p1.html
http://rpgvault.ign.com/articles/668/668434p1.html
http://rpgvault.ign.com/articles/670/670087p1.html
http://rpgvault.ign.com/articles/671/671195p1.html
http://rpgvault.ign.com/articles/671/671579p1.html

[bean19]

The feature list in that puppy is insane!

I really hope they deliver on it. I have to wonder why it seems that it is so hard for developers to deliver high quality in MMOs. Is it a matter of scale?

Honestly, after CoH and WoW, I really expected the "bar" to be set higher. . . and for more MMOs to acheive quality.

Maybe I'm not being fair. . . EQ II was bad, but Guild Wars was good. Maybe this game will be outstanding and deliver on it's promise.

[Inglorion]

Surely they'll carve their own place in the MMO universe by making a "realistic-looking" enviroment, as oppose to WoW's cartoony look which I don't think fancy too many people.

[mister_slim]

The world of Conan (Hyboria?) is pretty interesting, with plenty to explore. Could be pretty interesting, lots of black magicians to kill and virgin sacrifices to foil. I doubt we'll be able to get laid as often as Conan did though.

[Achilles]

Surely they'll carve their own place in the MMO universe by making a "realistic-looking" enviroment, as oppose to WoW's cartoony look which I don't think fancy too many people.Seems like what you're saying is that people are itching for a realistic looking MMO and they don't fancy the cartoony look. If this is the case I've got to say they'd have to sacrifice many a virgin to their snake god in order to get a game that's 1/6th as popular as WoW (which would still put it at about double EQ2). Whatever it was about WoW it's by far the most successful MMO ever made, nothing else is even close.

The mature nature of it will have its draw, but I think the main selling point of it will be if its realtime combat system is any good. Having action that consists of more than tapping in a set pattern on a row of numbers in an MMORPG would really be a step up.

I think I'll give this one a shot.

[alienchild]

Nothing else is even close to WoW? Eh... try "Lineage".

Anyways, as far as I know this Conan game is both single player and multiplayer. At least it was when I read about it a few months back. Gonna have to look through those IGN links when I get home from work.

[Achilles]

Nothing else is even close to WoW? Eh... try "Lineage".Did Lineage have more than 5 million users less than a year after launch?

[mister_slim]

Peaked at about 4 million, though I'm not sure how long after launch that was. Still has better than 2 mil, even with 2 out.

[Inglorion]

Seems like what you're saying is that people are itching for a realistic looking MMO and they don't fancy the cartoony look. If this is the case I've got to say they'd have to sacrifice many a virgin to their snake god in order to get a game that's 1/6th as popular as WoW (which would still put it at about double EQ2). Whatever it was about WoW it's by far the most successful MMO ever made, nothing else is even close.
You don't have to sell as many records as Britney Spears in order to become a successful artist.

[Achilles]

You don't have to sell as many records as Britney Spears in order to become a successful artist.True, but if people didn't like the cartoony look of WoW it wouldn't be the most successful MMORPG.

I'm not saying Conan won't be successful because it looks realistic I'm saying people DO fancy the cartoony look of WoW. They fancy it quite a lot.

[Inglorion]

True, but if people didn't like the cartoony look of WoW it wouldn't be the most successful MMORPG.

I'm not saying Conan won't be successful because it looks realistic I'm saying people DO fancy the cartoony look of WoW. They fancy it quite a lot.
What I mean is that there must be a lot of people who were put off by the usual Blizzard syle--even people who are still playing the game because it supposedly is the best alternative out there. I think the cartoonish look may have drawn some, but I think WoW's success primarily is due to Blizzard's knack for good gameplay, their already big name in the industry and sufficient promotion. If AoC is good enough and has the right appeal, it could became the second most popular MMO out there, mostly due to word-of-mouth.

I think one of the things that made WoW special as a phenomenon and popular was the appeal it had to the not-so-hardcore players out there, because MMO, I think, was a genre which was primarily populated by people who spent most of their time playing video games. Blizzard changed that.

Bottom line is that there's always another market to fill out there, even if it may look dreary.

[bean19]

True, but if people didn't like the cartoony look of WoW it wouldn't be the most successful MMORPG.

I'm not saying Conan won't be successful because it looks realistic I'm saying people DO fancy the cartoony look of WoW. They fancy it quite a lot.

WoW didn't succeed or fail on the power of it's graphics. Not singularly.

What makes WoW stand out from competitors is the incredible polish and great design of nearly every aspect of the game. The missions are compelling, the music is brilliant, the art is stylish and beautiful, the gameplay mechanics are (for the most part) well balanced.

They do a whole lot of things really well in that game and the effect is cumulative.

I look at games that are made for consoles now and of the ones that get scores that are 9 or higher (from reputable and severe raters like Gamespot) and see the same attention to detail, innovation, and skill in the games that is so present in WoW.

This really makes me wonder why more of these truly professional and skilled companies don't try to cash in with an MMO like WoW. My guess is that it is first a matter of funds. . . initial investment into an MMO is very, very high, and that second, it is that netcode seems difficult and there are problems with massive worlds that somewhat prevent true action gameplay. . . at least when approached without doing netcode "tricks". Even with the current set of tricks, developers are finding it difficult to even place in action elements (can't really say anymore on this yet).

Still, if Nintendo was a little less in to themselves and decided to make a Hyrule Online, I'd definitely be interested. :) Or if Bioware decided to do buy up the Fallout license and do an MMO. . . that would be just awesome.

I'm wary of Hideo trying to go cross genre since the peice of shit that was Metal Gear:Acid. My friend played it and beat it, but I played it for an hour and after being behind multiple enemy soldiers and having Snake MISS a guard while shooting him from melee range behind him. . . OMG. An aging retarded cripple in a wheelchair could not miss from that range and this is Solid-Fucking-Snake!!!! I managed to return it to the store, instead of burning it. . . but good God! Anyway, a MGS MMO might be a whole lot of fun if it was done well. . . I can see all kinds of co-op stealth missions in first person mode. Maybe even let people play as like Otacan. . . I think I could have fun "riding" on my friend's back as if I was in a camera above him, but then using my special skills to hack into devices that allow me to pull up intellgience on my screen and relay it to the feild agent through voice chat. Hacking should be really involved and puzzley. . . Hideo could do a good job of that for sure.