June will see the beginning of some new improvements to the fast-selling Age of Conan. Further additions to Funcom’s game will come later in the year to coincide with EA Mythic’s Warhammer Online full release and Blizzard’s World of Warcraft expansion, Wrath of the Lich King. We have been looking over the details of what Age of Conan players can expect and here are our thoughts.

To The death

To begin with, a PvP content update is on its way, aptly named To The Death. With it comes more consequences and also rewards for the players who take part in the PvP element of the game.

Ten PvP levels (plus additional ranks) will also be introduced, along with weapons and gear specific to PvP.

What might excite Age of Conan players the most is a new part of the whole PvP experience, namely the Fugitive system. This system will aid against those players who gank lower level players continuously and think they can remain anonymous. Making it easier for players to hunt down this type of PKer could be a welcome tool for all involved in PvP within Hyboria.

Hopefully Funcom have done their homework here and made sure there’s no exploits to the Fugitive system.

“Kinship!” and Powerpoints

Later this year, a Powerpoint system will be rolled out that could look to emulate a similar character evolution and reward system contained within the forthcoming Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning (see Tome of Knowledge unlockables).

Rewarding active in-game behaviour, “power” points are gathered by the player through numerous methods including winning PvP matches, being active in a guild, and owning a Battlekeep.

How this will be presented to the player in Age of Conan has yet to be highlighted but as current MMOs go, a tabulated book interface could be in with a strong chance.

“Kinship!” is currently in preproduction and will be a free update concerning guild matters. Allowing the formation of alliances between guilds, it will allow alliances to battle each other to rule and conquer on a massive scale. Battlekeeps and “wonders of the world” can be constructed within allied guilds, allowing huge scope for battle between opposing alliances.

So it seems that Funcom are addressing areas of game mechanic that could keep players active in Age of Conan for a long time to come. It could also mean that the predicted two horse race between World of Warcraft and Warhammer Online has just become a more likely three horse marathon.

Is it a good time to get into playing an MMO? Well, the choices and battle lines are being drawn. Remember, there’s nothing better for the customer than game publishers in healthy competition!

Source: Funcom