Massively http://massively.joystiq.com Massively http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/http://massively.joystiq.com/media/feedlogo.gif Massively http://massively.joystiq.com en-us Copyright 2012 Weblogs, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only. Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/<![CDATA[The Anvil of Crom: Blood and Glory reactions and concerns]]>http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/02/27/the-anvil-of-crom-blood-and-glory-reactions-and-concerns/http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/02/27/the-anvil-of-crom-blood-and-glory-reactions-and-concerns/http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/02/27/the-anvil-of-crom-blood-and-glory-reactions-and-concerns/#commentsFiled under: , , , , ,

So the interesting news that Craig Morrison was hinting at via Twitter earlier this week wasn't free-to-play. It was, in fact, something altogether more surprising. For those of you hiding under a Bori rock and who managed to miss the announcement: Age of Conan is adding a couple of servers, one each to the U.S. and EU game regions. These aren't just any servers, either, but rather hardcore FFA PvP-enabled servers with custom rulesets (tentatively titled Blood and Glory) that make the pre-1.04 bloodletting on Tyranny look like a walk in the proverbial park.

Player looting.

Single character.

No guards.

These are just a few of the choice morsels Funcom has dangled in front of the snapping jaws of its ravenous PvP crowd. Join me after the cut for a bit of discussion on the potential impact of these new shards.

Continue reading The Anvil of Crom: Blood and Glory reactions and concerns

MassivelyThe Anvil of Crom: Blood and Glory reactions and concerns originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 27 Feb 2011 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>age-of-conananvil-of-cromaocblood-and-glorycimmeriacorpse-lootingcraig-morrisonfail-trollsfeaturedfuncomnew-pvp-serversnew-serversopinionplayer-lootingpvepvppvp-serverspvp-shardssilirrionthe-anvil-of-cromtyrannySun, 27 Feb 2011 14:00:00 EST<![CDATA[The Anvil of Crom: The Valley of Death]]>http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/05/02/the-anvil-of-crom-the-valley-of-death/http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/05/02/the-anvil-of-crom-the-valley-of-death/http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/05/02/the-anvil-of-crom-the-valley-of-death/#commentsFiled under: , , , ,

It's been a crazy week here at the Anvil of Crom offices. Ok, I'm not really important enough to merit my own office, unless you count the spare bedroom with a computer and dozens of discarded MMORPG boxes spiraling towards the ceiling. Nonetheless, much Age of Conan playing, researching, and writing has gone on as of late. In addition to my characters on the live servers, I've been exploring the lands of Khitai thanks to the gracious folks at Funcom who have allowed me to take a peek at the Rise of the Godslayer beta. I'll be detailing my experiences with the expansion for you in the next couple of days, so keep your eyes peeled.

I've also managed to find time to advance my rangers a bit, and have played through the entirety of Conall's Valley with the exception of a couple of pesky group quests. At this point, approaching level 40 and having a decent feel for combat, feats, and the game in general, I feel safe in declaring myself a former newb. Certainly it's a big jump to 80 from where I'm standing, but after spending a few days exploring the Cimmerian highlands, it's clear that I made the right choice in returning to Funcom's Hyboria.

Hit the jump for some impressions of Conall's Valley.

Continue reading The Anvil of Crom: The Valley of Death

MassivelyThe Anvil of Crom: The Valley of Death originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 02 May 2010 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>age-of-conananvil-of-cromaoc-zone-impressionscimmeriaconalls-valleyfeaturedhyborian-travelogueloreopinionthe-anvil-of-cromSun, 02 May 2010 16:00:00 EST<![CDATA[The Anvil of Crom: A server conundrum]]>http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/04/11/the-anvil-of-crom-a-server-conundrum/http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/04/11/the-anvil-of-crom-a-server-conundrum/http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/04/11/the-anvil-of-crom-a-server-conundrum/#commentsFiled under: , , , , , ,

Sooo, I recently returned to Age of Conan, not exactly news given the existence of this column, but what is news is the amount of fun I've been having. The game has changed since release, certainly, and when you add content, bug fixes, and polish to a darkly decadent game world that was already the best looking on the MMORPG market, you've got a recipe for good times.

I'm actually surprised by how much there is to do in Age of Conan. At release, I power-leveled an assassin up to 70 on the Tyranny PvP server, and basically ganked and got ganked for a solid month, rarely experiencing much outside of monotonous mob grinding and guild drama. This time around, I'm taking my time, exploring the world, reading the quests, and generally having a blast. As an example, I spent a good week to ten days fiddling around with all of the classes, putting each of them through their paces in the early Tortage levels. After much deliberation, I finally settled on a Cimmerian Ranger, not the most original choice I'm sure, but one that has proved to be great fun through level 21. Choosing a server was an even tougher decision.

Read about Cimmeria versus Wiccana after the cut, and don't forget to tell me what I'm doing wrong in the comments.

Continue reading The Anvil of Crom: A server conundrum

MassivelyThe Anvil of Crom: A server conundrum originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 11 Apr 2010 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>age-of-conananvil-of-cromcimmeriaconanfantasyfeaturedfuncomopinionpvepvproleplaythe-anvil-of-cromwiccanaSun, 11 Apr 2010 12:00:00 EST<![CDATA[E308: Interview reveals name of new AoC dungeon]]>http://massively.joystiq.com/2008/07/16/e308-interview-reveals-name-of-new-aoc-dungeon/http://massively.joystiq.com/2008/07/16/e308-interview-reveals-name-of-new-aoc-dungeon/http://massively.joystiq.com/2008/07/16/e308-interview-reveals-name-of-new-aoc-dungeon/#commentsFiled under: , , ,

At E3, MMO bloggers Keen and Graev caught up with Funcom Product Manager and all-around Age of Conan-spinster Erling Ellingsen. The Vault Network-hosted interview covers a lot of the same ground that we went over in our own talk with Ellingson, but there was one extra bit that we thought was worth mentioning. We know you don't want to miss a thing, so here it is!

Ellingsen mentioned that a new dungeon instance called "House of Crom." He didn't give any information about it apart from the name, although Keen's prose suggested that he was unusually excited about it. We'd like to think that this House of Crom is, in fact, the actual house of the deity Crom, atop a monstrous mountain.

We also find it fun to imagine that the name of that dungeon is basically a curse phrase. Crom's name is rarely invoked except in cursing and swearing in Howard's Conan novels. You don't want to attract Crom's attention, you know. He might kick your pathetic mortal ass.

MassivelyE308: Interview reveals name of new AoC dungeon originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 16 Jul 2008 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>age-of-conanaoccimmeriacimmeriancromdeityerling-ellingsenfuncomgodhouse-of-crominstanceinterviewkeen-and-graevvault-networkWed, 16 Jul 2008 20:00:00 EST<![CDATA[A mighty barbaric Friday AoC update]]>http://massively.joystiq.com/2008/03/28/a-mighty-barbaric-friday-aoc-update/http://massively.joystiq.com/2008/03/28/a-mighty-barbaric-friday-aoc-update/http://massively.joystiq.com/2008/03/28/a-mighty-barbaric-friday-aoc-update/#commentsFiled under: , , , , ,


Six seems to be the magic number this week for Age of Conan. A few days ago our own Kyle Horner brought you six reasons to be excited about the barbaric MMO(one that was not mentioned in that splendid article was the game's drunken PvP brawling, which some of us here at Massively are drooling over!). Now the gang at Funcom has dropped their Friday roundup... which includes six updated topics!

AoC will offer a hoary host of "pick up and play" PvP minigames (such as the aforementioned Drunken Brawling) including Capture the Skull and Team Annihilation. Players join one of two teams with the sole objective of killing everyone on the other team.

Thoth-Amon is the big, bad villain of the game. He's the Earth's most powerful sorcerer and leads the snake god's cult of wackos in Stygia. You would do well to know your enemy before you set out to try strike him down (good luck with that by the way!).

Continue reading A mighty barbaric Friday AoC update

MassivelyA mighty barbaric Friday AoC update originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 28 Mar 2008 18:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>age-of-conanage-of-conan-hyboria...AztelcimmeriaConarch-Villagefuncomhyborian-adventuresKeairarobert-e-howardTeam-AnnihilationThoth-AmonTroglodytesFri, 28 Mar 2008 18:30:00 EST<![CDATA[Age of Conan Product Developer interview, with gameplay video]]>http://massively.joystiq.com/2007/12/14/age-of-conan-product-developer-interview-with-gameplay-video/http://massively.joystiq.com/2007/12/14/age-of-conan-product-developer-interview-with-gameplay-video/http://massively.joystiq.com/2007/12/14/age-of-conan-product-developer-interview-with-gameplay-video/#commentsFiled under: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

On December 5th, I was invited to the Eidos/Funcom Age of Conan press event, where I was privileged enough to be granted access to both the game itself and the development team. I was able to play the opening area, leading into the first town. I sussed out the combat and the conversation interface. I spoke with Jørgen Tharaldsen, the Product Developer, and he let drop a metric ton of knowledge upon my fevered noggin. I reprint here our conversation, interspersed with my handheld-shot video pieces, the first of which is shown above, which is where the game starts, with you as a survivor of a shipwrecked slaver ship. I'd like to thank Jørgen and the entire Eidos/Funcom team, all of whom I found to be gracious, witty, and enthusiastic about their game, which is refreshing to see. My take? The game looks incredible, and it's extremely immersive from the get-go. They say they're on schedule for an early 2008 release, so this is something to anticipate indeed.


More videos and the interview after the jump!

Continue reading Age of Conan Product Developer interview, with gameplay video

MassivelyAge of Conan Product Developer interview, with gameplay video originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 14 Dec 2007 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>5.1-surroundage-of-conananarchy-onlineaquiloniaarcherarchitectarnold-schwarzeneggerbarbarianbreakingcimmeriacommandercromdark-templardidrik-tollefseneidosfeaturedfuncomgameplay-videogermanyguardianhour-of-the-dragonhyboriainterviewjorgen-tharaldsenjoystiqfeatureskushitesmagemammothmarvel-comcsmassivelymitramtvnorwaypictsprestigepriestrobert-e-howardshadowlandssiegestygiathe-longest-journeythoth-amonvanirFri, 14 Dec 2007 12:00:00 EST