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Nexon unveils Vindictus' EU website

Justin Olivetti — Fri, 29 Jul 2011 11:30:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, News items, Free-to-play, Vindictus

European players eager to get their hands on Vindictus have a good reason to get pumped up today, as Nexon Europe has launched the Vindictus EU teaser site for the upcoming MMO regional release.

The gorgeous website boasts both English and German language options, has an overview of the game and characters, and is prepared to inject fans with screenshots, wallpapers and a rocking trailer to keep the excitement level high. Players looking to put in for extra credit may sign up for the game's newsletter and Facebook page as well.

Seeing as how incredibly popular Vindictus has been in both the Asian and North American markets, Europe should prepare to fall in love with the fast-paced action MMO. Vindictus will launch in Europe sometime in the fourth quarter of this year, and is prepared to make a splashy appearance at next month's Gamescom in Germany.

Nexon unveils Vindictus' EU website originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 29 Jul 2011 11:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Guild Wars 2 necromancer revealed

Rubi Bayer — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 16:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Screenshots, Video, Classes, Wallpapers, Guild Wars 2

This is not your ancestor's necromancer. Much like the ranger, the necromancer in Guild Wars 2 is bigger, badder, and deadlier than her Guild Wars counterpart.

The Guild Wars 2 necro was officially revealed today, and though we've pretty much known it was coming since Killeen made fallen soldiers dance in the sewers of Ebonhawke, it's still nice to see descriptions, videos, and screenshots straight from ArenaNet.

Follow along after the jump as we take a look at the necro and all of her glowy green skills and abilities.

Continue reading Guild Wars 2 necromancer revealed

Guild Wars 2 necromancer revealed originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 25 Aug 2010 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Two blades are better than one: MapleStory announces dual blade class

Justin Olivetti — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 18:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, MapleStory, Classes, Free-to-play

When it comes to weapons, the general thought process in pop culture goes, "One is definitely good, but two is twice as good, not to mention really, really cool looking." Let's be honest -- if people had three hands, we'd be seeing Hollywood movies full of triple-wielding gunslingers, and we'd love it.

MapleStory knows this, which is why their latest class strips away pretensions and plays it like it is. Dual blades are a subset of the thief class, specializing in melee weapons to lay down a double-whammy on the bad guys. The new class also comes with an interactive backstory, as they're accepted into an organization of secret thieves (as if thieves advertise) who are out for revenge against the Dark Lord. With a name like Dark Lord, you know he isn't just selling Girl Scout cookies, so he probably deserves what's heading his way.

Nexon's set up a special site for the new class that includes a trailer, three contests for impressive prizes, and a handful of dual blade wallpaper downloads to spiffy up your desktop. You can check out all of MapleStory's double-wielding action here.

Two blades are better than one: MapleStory announces dual blade class originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 23 Jul 2010 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Cats invade Star Wars: The Old Republic in this week's Fan Friday

Larry Everett — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 15:00:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-fi, Fan art, New titles, Wallpapers, Star Wars: The Old Republic

The community of Star Wars: The Old Republic did not quite make the Twitter and Facebook goals, so the developers decided to punish us by announcing another species that we will not be able to play. (Just kidding, it wasn't punishment.) In addition to spotlighting fan art and video, this week's Fan Friday column mentions Cathar as being another species players of SWTOR will bump into on their travels across the galaxy. The feline species from the planet bearing the same name was first mentioned by name in Tales of the Jedi: Dark Lords of the Sith, but gamers are probably more familiar with it from the other BioWare game, Knights of the Old Republic. Although the devs did not say where or how the players will run into this highly anticipated species, fans are hoping for a Cathar companion character.

As mentioned above, the social media goal was not reached. Even so, the community team did give the fans some gifts. The Fan Site Kit has been updated with more digital goodies. New avatars, screenshots, and biographical images can now grace your SWTOR fan site. Not to mention, the team has included six new desktop wallpaper images straight from the exciting "Hope" trailer.

Be sure to check out all of this and the amazing new fan art on the official SWTOR site.

Cats invade Star Wars: The Old Republic in this week's Fan Friday originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 23 Jul 2010 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Live it up at LotRO's Summer Festival!

Justin Olivetti — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 12:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Lord of the Rings Online, Events, in-game, Guides

The halcyon days of summer are upon us, and between trips to the beach and leveling up our cooking skill at the grill, it's a perfect time to celebrate the outdoors. Of course, Lord of the Rings Online is all about the outdoors -- the hobbits have yet to perfect internet access -- and to encourage players to sample the lazier side of the season they've brought back the Summer Festival. Earlier this week LotRO Europe announced the festival's return, so it's great to get confirmation that Eastern-earth (aka Northa America) was going to see it as well.

This annual event encourages the Free Peoples of Middle-earth to take a break from the grind and engage in a few of the languorous activities that the game has to offer. Horse races, fireworks displays, fishing for tokens and scavenger hunts are all par for the course! There's also regular festival events that pop up at the four big yearly celebrations which include learning new dances and boosting your rep with either the Ale Association or the Inn League.

Hit the jump for a few links to help you plan your Summer Festival fun!

Continue reading Live it up at LotRO's Summer Festival!

Live it up at LotRO's Summer Festival! originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 29 Jun 2010 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Fan-run EVE competition offers prizes for best wallpaper

Brendan Drain — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 12:00:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-fi, Screenshots, EVE Online, Contests, Wallpapers

EVE Online player Xiphos83 has teamed up with our friends over at Crazykinux's Musing to make an EVE competition that's definitely worth entering. Always on the look-out for a new desktop background, for this competition he wants to see your best attempt at a visually stunning EVE wallpaper. With all the graphical upgrades EVE has received over the years, it's always kept its spot as one of the most visually stunning MMOs out there. It lends itself spectacularly to taking awesome screenshots and making dramatic videos. Entries must be at a minimum resolution of 1280 x 1024 and should fit into either an "Action" or "Scenic" theme. Anything from well-posed snaps of your favourite EVE planet to full-on PvP shots are in with a chance to win.

Entry costs 10 million ISK and the winners will split the entire pot between them, with an additional 175 million ISK contributed by donors. Judging by the number of comments the competition has received so far, there could be a lot of ISK in that prize pot up for grabs. To enter, simply email your screenshot to crazykinux [AT] gmail [DOT] com along with your EVE character's name and wire your entry fee to character "CrazyKinux" in-game. Entries must be in by March 26th and to be in with a chance to win, make sure you read the contest rules.

Fan-run EVE competition offers prizes for best wallpaper originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 15 Mar 2010 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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EVE spaceships artfully designed into nature

Kyle Horner — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 22:00:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-fi, EVE Online, Culture, Wallpapers, News items

Regardless of whether or not you play EVE Online, this is something you have to see -- especially if you're a lover of either science fiction or pretty things.

This Russian blog has a whole lot of cool spaceships from EVE Online that have been turned into all sorts of cool pieces of art. And yes, not all of them are necessarily "nature" art, but most are more or less -- with the major exception of a robot and alien from, er, Aliens. There's one that's even a sneaker! Although, we're personally fans of the apple, eagle and Star Wars images. They come in wallpaper format for your laptop or desktop and honestly, there's not too much more to say about them besides praise them. Mmm.... beautiful wallpapers.

EVE spaceships artfully designed into nature originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 14 Jan 2010 22:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Begin 2010 with Turbine's wallpaper calendars and more

Rubi Bayer — Sat, 02 Jan 2010 16:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Screenshots, Dungeons and Dragons Online, Lord of the Rings Online, Wallpapers, Free-to-play

Happy New Year from Massively, and from Turbine! Whichever of their two popular games -- Dungeons and Dragons Online or Lord of the Rings Online -- you prefer, Turbine has just the thing for your desktop to ring in the new year.

Both games are offering free quarterly wallpaper calendars featuring some of the gorgeous screenshots that Turbine is known for providing to its fans. Three different choices are offered for each game, depending on your preference: flashy new Siege of Mirkwood, or good old dependable Gollum? Close-up character shot or faraway landscape shot in Dungeons and Dragons Online?

If a calendar's not really your thing but you still love the artwork from Turbine, some nice alternatives are offered on each site. A full Siege of Mirkwood shot is available with no calendar, or you can try the three different pieces of concept art from DDO. An extensive archive of past wallpapers is available too, if this is new to you, or if you missed any. You can get the LotRO wallpapers here, and the DDO wallpapers here. Enjoy!

Begin 2010 with Turbine's wallpaper calendars and more originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 02 Jan 2010 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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EVE Evolved: Postcards from EVE: Reader Submissions

Brendan Drain — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 18:00:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-fi, Galleries, Screenshots, EVE Online, Culture, Wallpapers, Hands-on, EVE Evolved

As a tribute to EON Magazine's "Postcards from the Edge" feature, last week I started this two-part series of postcards from all around EVE Online. In last week's first part I presented a gallery full of postcards from my own travels in EVE. I then asked readers to email in any of their own screenshots that they wanted to appear as postcards. This week, I finish the series with a mixture of reader submissions and my own remaining postcards. As with last week, they're all high-resolution shots suitable to be used as widescreen backgrounds. Feel free to save them out from your browser to get them at full resolution.

Thanks go to Massively readers "Mike", "Mark Pittam" and my corpmate "Retalus" for their submissions. Included are some shots of the new planets coming with the Dominion expansion in December and a lot of pictures from Sleeper space. Hope you enjoy!

Gallery: EVE Online Postcards, part 2

EVE Evolved: Postcards from EVE: Reader Submissions originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 01 Nov 2009 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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EVE Evolved: Postcards from EVE: Wish you were here!

Brendan Drain — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 20:00:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-fi, Galleries, Screenshots, EVE Online, Culture, Lore, Wallpapers, Hands-on, EVE Evolved

Whether you love EVE Online or hate it, there's one thing people tend to agree on - it makes for some great screenshots. EVE has a history of players producing some amazing videos, screenshots, artwork and fiction. YouTube is filled with intense PvP action videos and over four hundred players write the stories of their travels on personal blogs. People have even created some incredible papercraft ship models. Because we all love eye candy, screenshots from EVE even make a regular appearance in Krystalle's daily MMO screenshot column "One Shots".

EVE's Official magazine EON runs a regular feature called "Postcards from the Edge" where players write in with a screenshot and a short story about it. As a tribute to EON, who I wrote for before coming to Massively, this week and next I present galleries full of postcards from my own travels in EVE. They're all high-resolution shots suitable to be used as widescreen backgrounds, feel free to save them out from your browser to get them at full resolution.

Gallery: EVE Online postcards part 1

Do you have a particularly awesome screenshot you'd like to see as a postcard? Email it to me at brendan.drain AT weblogsinc DOT com along with a few words describing its contents and I'll make it into a nice postcard for next week's second part of this gallery piece.

Continue reading EVE Evolved: Postcards from EVE: Wish you were here!

EVE Evolved: Postcards from EVE: Wish you were here! originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 25 Oct 2009 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Earthrise wallpapers show Eastern Gardens denizens and tamed mutants

James Egan — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 10:00:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-fi, Galleries, New titles, Wallpapers, Earthrise

Masthead Studios just got in touch with us and sent over two new wallpapers for their upcoming post-apocalyptic game Earthrise. One image shows off a group of kabuki-masked ~~freaks~~ denizens of the Eastern Gardens, one of the more outwardly utopian zones to be found in Earthrise's island setting of Enterra.

Continue reading Earthrise wallpapers show Eastern Gardens denizens and tamed mutants

Earthrise wallpapers show Eastern Gardens denizens and tamed mutants originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 28 Jun 2009 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Aion enters open beta in Korea

Shawn Schuster — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 12:30:00 EST

Filed under: Betas, Fantasy, Video, Aion, Business models, Culture, Events, real-world, MMO industry, New titles, Wallpapers

NCsoft has just announced that the highly-anticipated Aion: The Tower of Eternity MMO will be entering open beta in Korea on November 11th of this year. Not only is this exciting news for Koreans, but also for the rest of the world, as it means our betas are drawing near. NCsoft addresses this in a recent press release: "We are currently in the process of localizing and culturalizing the game for the western market in order to reach the same level of quality that the game provides for the western world, and are in heavy planning for our testing phases in North America and Europe. We are taking the utmost care in the localization process and we're dedicated to releasing the very best product in NCsoft West territories. With the ball now rolling, expect to hear much more, and see much more out of Aion in the coming months."

To help us get even more excited about this game, they've sent along 2 new videos and a ton of new wallpapers in our gallery below. The first video is a CG cinematic (second video down), and the next video is an amazing 4-minute walk through some breathtaking in-game footage. This game is obviously much more than just winged combat, as these videos will prove.

Gallery: Aion Wallpapers 1920x1200

Aion enters open beta in Korea originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 29 Oct 2008 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Star Trek Online wallpapers are 75% generic, 25% gorgeous

Samuel Axon — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 11:00:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-fi, Screenshots, New titles, Wallpapers, Star Trek Online

There's been a dearth of Star Trek Online news or information these past few weeks. We've been upset about it. Cryptic just broke radio science at long last, though: four Star Trek Online wallpapers have been posted at the game site. We've got all of 'em here for you to see, but head over to the official gallery for the full breadth of resolution choices.

One of them is a rare in-game glimpse at a planet surface. It looks gorgeous, although we're suddenly worried about the minimum system requirements. Hopefully those nice lighting and shadow effects will scale back for low-end desktops and notebooks.

Gallery: Star Trek Online Wallpaper Gallery

Star Trek Online wallpapers are 75% generic, 25% gorgeous originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 08 Oct 2008 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Take a visual tour of EverQuest II: The Shadow Odyssey's new dungeons

Samuel Axon — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 20:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Screenshots, EverQuest II, Expansions, Wallpapers

EverQuest II's The Shadow Odyssey expansion is set to launch this November. In addition to heritage quests and the shard reward system, the expansion will add an EverQuest classic -- the dungeon of Guk. And in the days leading up to the launch, EQ2 players will get to start exploring another dungeon: Veksar.

To build up anticipation, SOE is rolling out articles, screenshots, and concept art related to the two new dungeons. For Guk it put together a series of lore-oriented postcards and images explaining what the place is all about, culminating in some concept art wallpapers. The Veksar article is a little more traditional in its presentation, but the substance is all there. We've put together in a gallery all the images from both of those tours.

SOE also released concept art for guild halls, which will be implemented soon. Guild halls date back to Meridian 59 and text MUDs before it, but for some reason they've been out of vogue in the 21st century.

Gallery: EverQuest II: The Shadow Odyssey Dungeons

Well met, fellow Norrathian! Make sure to check out all of our coverage of the next EverQuest II expansion, The Shadow Odyssey as well as Seeds of Destruction, the next expansion to EverQuest!

Take a visual tour of EverQuest II: The Shadow Odyssey's new dungeons originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 30 Aug 2008 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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New batch of LotRO calendar wallpapers sneaks peak at Book 14

Samuel Axon — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 19:30:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Lord of the Rings Online, Wallpapers

For some time now, Turbine has been releasing very pleasing wallpaper calendars based on The Lord of the Rings Online. The wallpapers feature well-framed screenshots from the game, accompanied by three small calendar pages -- one for each month in the quarter.

The last batch will soon expire, as its wallpapers only track up through the end of June. Fear not, though; the Q3 2008 calendars are here! There are three different versions -- one of which depicts the Ring-forge of Eriagon, an area that will go into the game in Book 14.

Gallery: Lord of the Rings Online Wallpapers

New batch of LotRO calendar wallpapers sneaks peak at Book 14 originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 25 Jun 2008 19:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Closed beta registration for German version of Stone Age 2 begins

William Dobson — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 08:30:00 EST

Filed under: Betas, Historical, Launches, New titles, Wallpapers, Free-to-play, Stone Age 2

Joining the English Stone Age 2 closed beta that we saw earlier in the month, a German version of the prehistoric free-to-play MMOG now also has a registration page for a closed beta. The registration can be completed at a newly launched German website for the game -- which is being handled by company Frogster Interactive in this territory, as opposed to Aeria Games -- where you can also find a community forum and a desktop wallpaper.

At this stage it doesn't look as though there will be any significant differences between the German and English versions of SA2 -- well, apart from that really obvious one (duh) and the fact that they seem to prefer to leave out the spaces in the German title, making it StoneAge2.

Closed beta registration for German version of Stone Age 2 begins originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 23 Jun 2008 08:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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New Champions Online wallpapers feature wider pixels

Kyle Horner — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 10:30:00 EST

Filed under: New titles, News items, Champions Online

It wasn't very long ago that there were only two Champions Online wallpapers to plaster across our pixel-powered screens. Now Cryptic has been kind enough to add Menton and Ironclad to their desktop background selections, bringing the total to four wallpapers. We hope this becomes a regular thing as they reveal more NPCs, as we're very certain that some of the coolest characters are still beyond the lore horizon.

Thankfully, Cryptic has seen fit to make their wallpapers fit widescreen monitors as well. Which is something we -- and apparently a lot of you -- asked for the last time Cryptic was nice enough to offer us these things in the first place -- so thank you Cryptic. Now would you kindly keep working on bringing our utmost superhero fantasies to life? Thanks, we owe ya one.

New Champions Online wallpapers feature wider pixels originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 23 Apr 2008 10:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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LotRO quarterly calendar wallpapers updated for Spring '08

William Dobson — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 16:30:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Lord of the Rings Online, Wallpapers

Time to switch over your desktop wallpaper, just as your old Lord of the Rings Online calendar is starting to look decidedly past its prime. The Spring 2008 calendars are ready for downloading, covering the months of April through June. We have added the new calendars to our ongoing LotRO wallpaper gallery, and you can get them in ultra-high resolutions from the wallpapers page on the official site.

Gallery: Lord of the Rings Online Wallpapers

LotRO quarterly calendar wallpapers updated for Spring '08 originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 10 Apr 2008 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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First Champions Online wallpapers appear

Kyle Horner — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 15:00:00 EST

Filed under: Super-hero, New titles, News items, Champions Online

If you're looking to spruce up your old wallpaper with some of the nifty Champions Online artwork then head on over to Cryptic's official website for the game. The two new -- as well as first -- official wallpapers feature the Defender and Doctor Destroyer and coming in a variety of resolutions. The only downside is that there are no resolutions offered for those using a wide screen monitor. We understand that wide screen is in the minority, but we like to be loved to you know Cryptic -- especially on a cold April morning like this one.

All right enough of that, we'll just remain hopeful that in the future our wide screen needs won't be forgotten.

First Champions Online wallpapers appear originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 01 Apr 2008 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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LotRO quarterly wallpapers available for January through March

William Dobson — Sun, 23 Dec 2007 18:15:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Galleries, Lord of the Rings Online, Wallpapers

We're approaching the end of December, and if you downloaded the Lord of the Rings Online calender wallpapers last quarter, then you may be worried about what you're going to do when the clock strikes midnight on December 31st, rendering your wallpaper obsolete.

Thankfully, Turbine has come through for you once again, releasing 3 brand new wallpapers with overlaid calender for you to start the year off on the right foot. As with last time, the old wallpapers can now be downloaded sans calender, so that you can continue to enjoy the imagery without looking like a behind-the-times slacker.

We have added the new wallpapers to our LotRO wallpapers gallery, and you can download all wallpapers past and present in ultra-high quality at the official wallpaper page.

Gallery: Lord of the Rings Online Wallpapers

LotRO quarterly wallpapers available for January through March originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 23 Dec 2007 18:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Age of Conan artwork for your drooling pleasure

Akela Talamasca — Fri, 14 Dec 2007 12:15:00 EST

Filed under: World of Warcraft, Fantasy, Galleries, Screenshots, Age of Conan, Game mechanics, Lore, Previews, Wallpapers, News items, Hands-on, Races

To follow our earlier post about the Age of Conan press event, here is a Gallery full of artwork given to us by the AoC artists themselves. We're talking screenshots, renders, and concept art, all of which look outstanding. It's clear that one of the mandates for the art direction was to go for a core of realism in all things, from building design to creature physiognomy. Certainly the fantastical elements are in force, but they're tempered by a solid aesthetic that really appeals to those who aren't into the cartoony, oversaturated palette of World of Warcraft and the like.

And, in fact, I'd be willing to bet that the artists took some inspiration directly from the pulp novels themselves. There's an almost indefinable quality here that hearkens back to those great old covers. This is a well-executed strategy that will keep players fully immersed in the world, and it's all absolutely gorgeous. Without further ado, have at it!

Gallery: Age of Conan Artwork

Age of Conan artwork for your drooling pleasure originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 14 Dec 2007 12:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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