Earlier this week, Funcom flew me out to Oslo, Norway, to take part in the launch day for Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures.

Age of Conan is Funcom's latest addition to the MMO genre and probably one of the most highly anticipated and praised PC titles of 2008, already the recipient of multiple awards including Best Online Game at GC. Despite the fact that Age of Conan has already had massive amounts of press coverage, Funcom decided that it was time to bring back a tradition that seems lost in the world of gaming - a proper launch day.

On Tuesday May 12th, over 100 people from the worlds gaming media turned up in Oslo, Norway. The day was split up into two distinct events. First, at about 12.00pm we were treated to a hands-on with the game and a presentation at the "posh" harbour area of Oslo. Later on, we were taken via coach to the Holmenkollen ski jump, where we would be treated to one of the most epic and elaborate parties I have ever been to!

The Presentation

At about 11.30am, two coach loads of press as well as other guests that had been invited to the launch day were transported from the hotel to what Funcom called the "posh" district in Oslo - Aker Brygge.

As we entered the venue, we were handed a press release telling us that more than 1 million people have signed up for the beta and more than 5 million people have visited the Age of Conan website since January 2008. It was no surprise then that developers and other members of the Funcom staff were wondering around the gathering, smiling and laughing. After a brief hands on with Age of Conan and drinks, we were shuffled down to the main cinema where the presentation itself would take place.

A giant cinema screen dominated the room flanked by two Age of Conan banners. Eventually, the press settled in to the seating arrangements. On to the stage stepped Mr. Erling Ellingsen -- Product Manager for Funcom -- and after the brand new trailer entitled "Femme Fatal" was played, Erling proceeded to introduce Gaute Godager -- Game Director for Age of Conan. From what we were told, Age of Conan has grown to be something that is much bigger and much better than anything Funcom had hoped to do when they started and we would get to see PvP, city building, combat and a live raid, among other things.

So let me tell you exactly what we were told and shown at the Age of Conan Launch Event Presentation!

Character Creation

This isn't really anything new to anyone who has been following Age of Conan but for those of you who haven't and want to know a bit more, here's what we were told.

Players will get to choose a male or female character from one of three races -- Aquilonian, Stygian or Cimmerian -- as well as what class that character is. At first, the character creation process is rather straight forward, but if you are brave enough, you can go advanced. Once you go advanced, you will notice just how much you can tweak when creating your character. From skin tone to, hair colour -- height to weight; you are even able to endow your avatar with a range of tattoo designs.

This is all pretty straight forward, right? Well, yes it is but there is something that makes the character creation in Age of Conan far more advanced and far more appealing to spend time on than any other MMO that I am aware of.

That something is how much you can customize your characters facial structure. We were told that every single bone in the character’s face is customizable, making the chance of encountering anyone who looks exactly like you very remote indeed. This also gives you the chance to mould your character in the way you want like never before. Players won't have to deal with meeting themselves very often at all, which is a problem games like World of Warcraft suffer from quite a bit.

Choosing a class in Age of Conan is going to take a bit of time and it is probably wise for you to do a little reading before you make that decision. Firstly, there are 4 distinct archetypes in the game: Soldier, Priest, Rogue and Mage. Spread amongst these 4 archetypes are 12 separate classes.

• Mage: Deamonologist, Necromancer and Herald of Xotli
• Priest: Priest of Mitra, Bear Shaman and Tempest of Set
• Soldier: Guardian, Conqueror and Dark Templar
• Rogue: Barbarian, Assassin and Ranger

Of course, each of these classes have their own distinct set of skills and rolls in different situations and players will have to look at these differences in order to select the class they will like the most.

Start of the Game

After you have created your character, you will be taken to a cut scene that shows you washing up on the shore of Tortage - a haven for pirates - after the slave galley you are held on sinks. With no memory of who you are or where you came from, your first task is to find and kill the galley captain as revenge.

We were told that initially the game is simplistic and the first 10 levels are used as a means to introduce you to various aspects of the game and how to work your way around them. For the first 20 levels of the game the main quest line occurs in the single player "night" mode. You can play through this initial phase at your own pass without ever encountering another player. We were told that this was done so that players felt important and powerful right from the get go as opposed to having to wait until they were a higher level before they started to feel "special". You aren't forced into this single player mode however. Players can chose to play during the "day" in a multi-player environment if they want. This means that players can still play with their friends and guilds. Once you hit level 20 you are forced out of the single player world and into the multi-player world and you can't go back.

All in all, Funcom claims there is about 20 hours of single player game play at the start of the game. Once you are done with that, you can start the dramatic climb to level 80, which apparently adds another 230 hours of game play.

Combat

After we were shown the start of the game, things moved on to cover something that has been talked about since it was announced - the active combat system. We were shown 3 separate styles of combat, 1 of which hasn't been revealed in detail before.

Melee combat will feature 6 directional attacks that players can chose to use at any time, although at the start of the game players will only have access to 3 directions. As you level up, you will unlock the other directional attacks. As well as this, an active shield system is featured, which enables both players and monsters to protect themselves from attacks from specific directions, reducing damage taken. Of course, this comes with its downside and in order to add more protection to one side of your character you have to leave another unprotected, meaning the unprotected side is open to more damage.

Ranged combat features a system whereby players can physically aim their bows and release when they want. The most impressive thing about physically aiming is that you can actually hit specific body parts; shoot your target in the leg and it will fall over or in the arm and it will stumble to the side. If the target comes too close however you will have to switch to melee combat with a close range weapon like a sword. Once again, the shield system is in place for both you and your target, so shooting on a side with little too no protection will do more damage than shooting at a side with lots of protection.

The next feature we were shown impressed almost everyone in the audience. Oohs and aahs filled the hall in abundance as we were shown the ins and outs of the act of Spellweaving. Spellweaving is a castable ability that allows a player to build up more and more power over a period of time. In order to do this, the player has to push the right keys at the right times. Things can go horribly wrong if you don't get it right and you are also locked into the process but can still take damage from attacking monsters. You lose stamina at a steady rate as a form of payment for the boost in strength that Spellweaving brings. The end result however is worth the effort as, for a time, the spell casters power is increased massively. The animation for this effect is very impressive; At the start of the process, you are slowly surrounded by avatars and as you get further along the rubble remains of statues begin to fall out of the sky, eventually rebuilding themselves around the player.

The most interesting part of combat in Age of Conan is that it is very proactive and there seems to be little chance that players will ever find themselves becoming comfortable with a set cast sequence. There is a small chance that this will happen but the shield and attack system ensure that standard combat will be varied and PvP should be a very interesting experience at the higher levels. It seems that Funcom really are trying to offer something slightly different to other MMOs in the realm of combat. It certainly presents a refreshing change from the standard slow-passed combat systems in games like Lord of the Rings Online and World of Warcraft.

Mounts

Mounts in Age of Conan aren't just about getting from A to B as quickly as possible. They are much more than that. Each mount has a distinct function and players will most likely end up owning a whole host of mounts to server alternate purposes. At launch, there will be 3 mounts in the game, 2 of which will come as pre-order bonus items - the Horse, the Rhino and the Mammoth. The Horse is fast to turn and move but is very weak whereas the Mammoth is slow but is massively strong, capable of smashing large groups of enemies or city defences into oblivion. The Rhino no doubt sits somewhere in the middle. Each mount will have a series of special abilities that players can use whilst on them and the great thing is that whilst on the Horse, players will still be able to attack other players with their weapons and will also be able to cast if playing a caster class.

One point that was raised was the fact that the Rhino and Mammoth mounts are only available to those who preorder at this moment in time. Godager was quick to point out that content would be added to the game on a continuous basis and we should expect see other mounts serving the same or similar purposes to the Rhino and Mammoth added into the game at a later date. When that would be, he did not know.

Guilds and Player Cities

Guilds will be an integral part of many elements in Age of Conan, such as PvP and trade. Guilds will be able to form for a cost and can then go on to build their own guild cities and structures using resources gathered from specific zones. There are a whole host of buildings that players can choose from: from Barracks to Keeps; Baileys to Trade Posts. Buildings will also take an amount of time to build and players will have to wait until the construction process is finished before they can use them for a useful purpose.

One of the interesting things about the building system in Age of Conan is that Funcom has taken a page from the RTS genre and introduced an upgrade system for player constructions. Each building can be upgraded, going through levels 1, 2 and 3. Each level will cost a particular amount of resources and will introduce graphical extensions to the buildings as well as increasing their strength. Player cities can be freely attacked by other guilds so the benefits of upgrading buildings will become apparent as stronger groups start attacking your city. Other players will also be able to visit your city, allowing for inter-guild trade and politics which may add an interesting element to RP-PvP.

NPC Cities - Conarch

There aren't just player made cities in the game. Each nation has its own capital city and at the presentation, we got to see the city of Conarch in all of its glory. The city was amazingly huge, spanning over 3 separate zones and featuring breathtaking views and architecture! It was a total surprise to see something so gob smacking in a game! The cities aren't just about buying and selling and trolling trade channels however. There are side alleys and vines that can be climbed which may lead to a secret here and there just waiting to be uncovered. As well as that, the cities present a way to add more story for those players that want to delve into the lore and story of Age of Conan. For example, in order to get to see Conan, you must complete a series of quests in the city and beyond. All the while, the city will busy itself with life: NPC dogs will chase cats, children will run around, preachers will cry out their messages into the streets.

It was at this point in the presentation that we finally got to meet the man himself in game. We were shown the mighty palace of King Conan, which towered over the city of Conarch and was quite impressive to behold. It really gave an impression that Conan was a man to be feared even among his own people. Conan himself gave an epic speech but I shan't repeat it for fear of ruining the story for you. If you want to hear him you'll have to play the game. Needless to say, he sounds nothing like Arnold.

The city of Conarch is an impressive site to behold and really doesn't cut any corners on grandeur. We didn't get to see any of the other cities in the game but if they are anything like Conarch, we can expect equally as impressive sites in these areas as well.

Boosting

When we were told about boosting, I didn't quite expect it to go the way it did. Effectively, players will be able to jump in to the game and play at the same level as their friends. What this means is that if you have a friend at level 80 and you are only level 29, you can still play with your high level friend by becoming their Apprentice; you team up with your level 80 friend and your character automatically becomes a higher level character. The level that your character becomes is one level less than your high level friend, so if you were to be boosted by a level 80, you would be level 79. Sadly, you won't be able to raid with them or equip any items you may get at the higher level and you won't magically get access to all of your class abilities. What you will get is a massive boost in power to your existing abilities, meaning that you will still be able to keep up with your high level friend and you will still get lots of experience, meaning that this feature has really been designed for those who want to level quickly.

This was only discussed briefly and didn't present any major revelations. A point that was brought up was the fact that this feature could be abused by gold farmers as items attained at the boost level can be sold to vendors and other players. We were assured that gold farmers would not be able to exploit the system and that it would not enable players to experience high level content without playing through the game.

Raiding

At this point, things became interesting and we really got to what I would say were the juicy bits. The first of the juicy bits was a live raid that was being played by 24 of the QA guys back at the Funcom offices. We were told that a raid would comprise of 24 players fulfilling different roles within the raid group: some would be healers, some DPS and some tanks. This was also split into different types of healer, tank and DPS. For example: caster DPS and melee DPS. We really did get a feel for what raiding would be like, despite the fact that the guys playing were throwing GM commands around like they were going out of fashion; the players couldn't die, for example.

Players will gain access to raid dungeons by completing quest chains. If you don't have these quest chains completed then you won't be able to

We were told that each boss encountered would feature a gimmick that would dictate what tactic would be used for that boss. For example, the first boss we encountered left poison clouds wherever he walked and anyone who stepped into the poison cloud took a large amount of damage. He also summoned minions that had to be dealt with so that they didn't overpower the raid group. We were then introduced to a second boss encounter involving two bosses - a fire based Incubus and a frost based Succubus. The gimmick here was that the closer they got together, the more powerful they became and they would attempt to get to each other throughout the duration of the fight. These encounters really did highlight that raiding in Age of Conan will still be a very much tactic based mechanic and is aimed at the so-called hardcore. The last boss we were introduced to was described as, "a mad sorceress woman," by Godager, who summons endless waves of monsters to attack the raid group from within the safety of a protective shield. Eventually she will come out and attack the raid group and this demonstrates that stages will be prominent in boss encounters meaning that raid groups will have to change tactics half way through a fight in order to defeat some boss encounters. Trash will be a common feature in all raid dungeons in Age of Conan, to act as a policing system. For example, players who die will not just be able to continuously run back to their previous location as they may encounter "respawns" along the way that will prevent this from happening. The collision physics will make player placement massively important as well, as trash will try to box in players to stop them from running away. Sadly, you can't walk through other objects in Age of Conan, so walking through the monsters to get out of these boxes will not be an option. Players will really have to be on their toes.

Each boss encounter will drop 2 separate pieces of tiered gear. Gear will be organized into 3 tiers based on difficulty. This is a system that is standard for end game PvE so it is no surprise that it has been introduced here. One thing that has been of concern to me is armour design. I have always disliked armour that has unrealistic magical effects that make me look like some kind of deformed Power Ranger and to my pleasure, the 3 sets of tiered raid gear we were shown weren't unrealistic, choosing to go for elaborate detail over shiny magical effects.

In total, we were told there will be 18-20 raid encounters spread across the lands of Hyboria, meaning that players won't run out of anything to do for end game PvE very quickly. All of the raid dungeons will be on save systems, meaning that a guild can defeat a boss in a 3 boss raid dungeon and come back 2 days later and not have to face that boss again. Eventually however the dungeon will reset, respawning that boss and forcing the guild to go through the encounter again.

Siege Warfare

We didn't get told much about siege warfare but we did get a peek at what happens during the whole affair. Not only did we get to see it but we got to take it away with us to show our readers! Enjoy!

var FO_104 = { movie:"http://dev.curse-gaming.com/static/flash/flvplayer.swf", width:"500", height:"350", majorversion:"7", build:"0", bgcolor:"#FFFFFF", allowfullscreen:"true", flashvars:"file=http://videos.cursebeta.com/stream2/premium/1545.flv&autostart=true" }; $("#flvplayer_104").click(function(event) { UFO.create(FO_104, "flvplayer_104"); $(this).unbind('click'); });

An Excellent Display

All in all, most of the information we were shown at the presentation was already available but to have it presented to us by two people who have worked so closely on the game really did make it all the more interesting.

In the next article, I'll tell you exactly how epic the Launch Event Party was. Keep an eye out for that which should be out soon!