First Age of Conan Expansion On the Way

Funcom announced today that they are working on the first expansion to Age of Conan, titled Rise of the Godslayer. In addition to high-level content, it contains new objectives for lower levels as well, in an effort to fill out the leveling process. It also introduces new factions that are at war with each other: "Faction gameplay plays a large role in Rise of the Godslayer, presenting the player with choices that earn them both allies and enemies in Khitai. Through questing and adventure players can advance through faction ranks, rewarding them with treasures such as epic new armor and weapons. Players can choose to continue their adventures with existing characters, acquiring new combat abilities and spells through a robust alternate advancement system, or start over again as a Khitan — an all-new culture." A brief trailer has been posted, and Eurogamer has a more detailed preview of the new content.

Comments

This just in!

[tnok85]

Remember that pile of crap I left on your doorstep a year ago? Remember that? Yeah?

Well guess what! I crapped a little extra and put that ON TOP of the old pile of crap! Why don't you come take another look? It's way more awesome, I promise!

great news

[omgarthas]

I guess that those two that still playing will be thrilled!!

Re:Ah, yes...

[fractoid]

They don't bounce. THEY DON'T BOUNCE. /oh teh horrorz.

Actually the worst flaw that I heard of was them tying the combat system directly in with the animation system, so that (for instance) female players did lower DPS because their swing speed was slower, and combat mechanics changed whenever the art team adjusted a model. The lead designer at Interzone quit for that reason, I remember him complaining about it. :P

Re:So what's the game like now?

[JaredOfEuropa]

Does it still have problems? What's the game like now?

From a technical point of view (i.e. client and game stability), the game has vastly improved since last year's summer. For those who weren't there, the game at launch was ok-ish, there were some issues but nothing really game-breaking. But subsequent patches and updates made matters much worse, to the point that the client would almost invariably crash after a hour of playing or sooner, with frequent disconnects and clients freezing when loading a new zone. People left the game in droves, not because AoC was a bad or boring game but because it was rather unplayable at the time.

Those problems are mostly gone. There are some very minor issues and the occasional crash, but I'd say the game's stability is more than sufficient, if not quite on par with the industry standard. They've also added some content in free updates since then... If you liked the game itself back then, it's well worth taking another look (though I think you've just missed the recent 2 week free trial offer)