Funcom's new mmorpg

[Eldron]

WARNING: Lurker making a post here :) Just stumbled over this at the AO board and havnt seen it mentioned here

http://www.ageofconan.com/

Experience the World of Conan!

Age of Conan – Hyborian Adventures is an Online Action RPG scheduled for Windows in the first half of 2006. A mix of a deep, story-driven single-player experience and a massive and brutal multiplayer end-game brings forth the ultimate representation of the Age of Conan. Now you can enter the brutal domain of the world’s greatest fantasy hero.

In Conan the players will encounter a dark, lush, violent and sinful universe, presented in fantastic graphics and stunning 7.1 surround audio. In a world filled with cruel gods, mythical creatures, lost civilizations and a struggling human race, the mighty barbarian has finally seized the throne as king of Aquilonia. But Conan’s rule is on the brink of chaos, spiraling towards the doom of ancient evils.

In this twisted fantasy world, dark magic and brutal combat lurks around every corner, and each man and woman must carve their own unique destiny under Conan’s reign. In the true vision of Robert E. Howard’s dark universe it’s now time for you to become a messenger of death.

    * Explore Hyboria, the legendary world of Conan, presented in incredible graphics and sound.
    * Emerge as a hero from a story-driven single-player experience and embark into even greater adventures in the multiplayer part of the game. The branching single-player story is created by the award-winning writers behind The Longest Journey, Dreamfall and Anarchy Online so expect a rare treat.
    * Experience Funcom’s revolutionary “Real Combat” engine. A new multi-point melee system allows the players to swing their weapons where they direct it, in real-time, going head-on against the formulaic nature of online RPG combat.
    * Create player-made battle formations, and command both NPC’s and other players in epic multiplayer battles.
    * Form guilds in the multiplayer game and lay siege to hostile castles. Let the catapults sing their merry song of death as the enemy is brutally crushed to a pulp.

Age of Conan has a plethora of additional features, as is expected from a Funcom online game. A presentation of the game, including more information about its features, will be held at E3 in May.

Some nice pictures at the site,. but im worried about anythign funcom  names "revolutionary Real Combat”

Seems like the first levels are going to be played offline and then move onto online play.

[schmoo]

FAQ here:

http://www.ageofconan.com/conan/faq.html

What do you mean by Formation Combat?

This is a completely new, aspect of multiplayer gameplay. In previous RPGs with indirect point-and-click movement you have seen party based formations, as in the “Baldurs Gate” series for instance. In Conan you can for the first time not only have a formation, but be in direct control of both your character, NPC’s and other players..

The leader of the formation can decide on different formations and the degree of freedom the various players and NPC’s can have within the formation. The formation also serves as a cooperative travel system, yielding beneficial effects to the team as the collision of the formation itself protect the members at the rear. Formations yield beneficial bonuses to members, and offer a new type of depth to a RPG. In some cases it will be essential to pick the right formation to survive.

Hum, I can control other player's movement?  Sign me up.

So what is "Real Combat"?

This is our revolutionary multi point melee system. This unique aspect of this system is that you swing your weapon where you direct it. This system will let the players direct, and combine, the swings of their weapon to create fancy, brutal and effective slashes and thrusts, or combine them in combos or special attacks that do additional damage. You should really “feel” the power of your character when you fight, feel the power of each and every blow.

"Real Combat" is easy to learn, and allows for a very different experience to both the slow studious nature of RPG combat and the ‘twitch’ nature of a first person shooter. When you pick it up the first time you might not even notice it as you happily slash and thrust away. With experience you might see certain attacks swinging better together. As you learn to string it into combos you become a dancing machine of brutal death. The same multipoint system is true for ranged combat and spell casting. In both cases the Real Combat engine allows you to string hits or spells together to form new fantastic effects.

The Real Combat will also work with mounted combat.

I want to be a dancing machine of brutal death!  Sign me up now!

[Riggswolfe]

Well, we've all heard promises before. That said, I'm going to watch this one. The screenshots looked pretty cool. They had a certain dark gothic feel that I liked.

Funcom can tell a good story (The Longest Journey is proof of that) and after its horrible start AO isn't a half bad MMO. Hmmm...yep. Gonna keep an eye on it.

[Miasma]

Anarchy Online was the first MMORPG I played at launch.  I think I still have scars from that.  Problems logging on, registering, crashes on both client and server, horrific lag, disconnects, no communication, and an online payment process that required you to send your credit card number through an unsecure clear text http site.

I still harbor an awful lot of hate for funcom over that, this game would have to be absolutely brilliant and run flawlessly for a couple of months after release before I even considered signing up.

[kaid]

I played ao at release and had to reformat my hard drive because  of it. I also tried it again about 8 months later and it turned out to be one of the best MMRPG on the market at that time. I liked it alot more than I cared for SWG.

Funcom also has some good experiance making an excellent single player story. So color me interested I will be keeping an eye on this one.

kaid

[AOFanboi]

Having the same system for melee and ranged can work, but might also lead to the AO curse where melee == short ranged without ammo.

Thulsa Doom as mission boss anyone? "My name is Conan. You killed my mother. Prepare to die."

[HaemishM]

Frontpaged, by Crom!

Seriously, it all SOUNDS great. And the screenshots are nice. But past history has not been kind to Funcom. Prove it with beta slots, bitches.

[Spoonbender]

I've always had a soft spot for Funcom. They're such a brilliant example of wasted talent. They have some awesome storytelling skills, they can make up brilliant worlds and settings the way id makes up 3d engines, and then they go and produce an EQ clone... 
AO would have made a brilliant singleplayer RPG. it's got the storyline, a deep, detailed setting and everything, but because they decided to put it in a MMO, they're stuck thinking up new items to patch in, and  can't really evolve the storyline or universe.

This Conan one looks interesting though... Whatever it's supposed to be... Singleplayer-MMO-hybrid? Why not....

[schild]

Seriously, it all SOUNDS great. And the screenshots are nice. But past history has not been kind to Funcom. Prove it with beta slots, bitches.

I didn't want to admit it. But yea, Conan looks good. What are the odds.

By the way, your frontpage links are borked fixed.

[stray]

What's the endgame? Finding the answer to the Riddle of Steel?

If so, count me in! I've said before that I generally hate fantasy, but this is the one franchise I could really get into.

[AOFanboi]

What's the endgame?

You meet Crom and he asks if you want to take the red pill or the blue pill.

(Or maybe: Endgame to appear in a paid expansion as per Anarchy Online?)

[stray]

Another thing I'm wondering: What will magic be like in this game? I'm not familiar with anything but Howard's books and the two films, but is there any room for "common" magic users? As far as I can tell, they're either super powerful or basically just mind controllers (Thulsa Doom).

Also, it seems like the powerful ones aren't even "magic users" per se, as they are just priests of some sort. It's tied to channeling/praying, while games like D&D give magic a more "scholarly" bent...Which works easier for a game.

[sidereal]

What's the endgame?

You crush your enemies, have them driven before you, and hear the lamentations of their women.

Alternately, you lose and get to contemplate your sins on the Tree of Woe.

[stray]

What's the endgame?

You crush your enemies, have them driven before you, and hear the lamentations of their women.

Alternately, you lose and get to contemplate your sins on the Tree of Woe.

Heh, if this game doesn't have PvP, then it'll be the biggest injustice to a franchise yet.

[schild]

Heh, if this game doesn't have PvP, then it'll be the biggest injustice to a franchise yet.

Neg, I don't even like Star Wars and I'd put a Star Wars game without stars or wars above that on injustices.

If you can't lop off limbs and the game isn't rated M, for Much Raping and Pillaging - it'll be an injustice to Conan, the likes of which have never been seen.

[kaid]

The end game in conan would have to be dying going to croms version of heaven where you wander endless grey foggy stone plains with only those you killed to keep you company. Thats why conan keeps shouting fror crom to count the dead.


kaid

[Velorath]

Fuck, this is the first time in quite a while I've actually been excited about an upcoming MMO.  I'll definately be keeping up on this one.  Like most others here I'm not sure that I have a lot of faith in Funcom, but I'll allow myself a little optimism here.  Wonder if they just plan on using the REH written stuff, or if they plan on using anything from the later books/comics.

[Sobelius]

Take two seconds to read their FAQ.

They're aiming for a "mature" rating.

There will be PvP.

You will be able to hunch over the body of your foe and eat his intestines...oh wait...that's WoW....

[sinij]

I'm curious about whole "emerge as a hero from a story-driven single-player experience", is it going to be glorified tutorial? Will they take advantage of ‘prolonged tutorial’ to make game involved from the start? How about multiplayer advancement? Will they charge fee for single player?

[ahoythematey]

It's about goddamned time we get a Conan game, nevermind it potentially being good.  The original Howard stuff is some of the best fantasy literature I've ever read.

[Fargull]

Another thing I'm wondering: What will magic be like in this game? I'm not familiar with anything but Howard's books and the two films, but is there any room for "common" magic users? As far as I can tell, they're either super powerful or basically just mind controllers (Thulsa Doom).

Also, it seems like the powerful ones aren't even "magic users" per se, as they are just priests of some sort. It's tied to channeling/praying, while games like D&D give magic a more "scholarly" bent...Which works easier for a game.

Magic in the Howard universe was influenced to a great degree by Lovecraft, they were friends.  Thus most of the practitioners in the stories where diabolical and bent by evil.  In the RPG, magic is best used by NPC's, as it is ritualistic and does not lend itself to quick paced combat.  For the most part, Howard's vision was one of blood and steel, not Magic and Elves.

[AOFanboi]

Magic in the Howard universe was influenced to a great degree by Lovecraft, they were friends.  Thus most of the practitioners in the stories where diabolical and bent by evil.  In the RPG, magic is best used by NPC's, as it is ritualistic and does not lend itself to quick paced combat.  For the most part, Howard's vision was one of blood and steel, not Magic and Elves.

In the comics at least, Conan hates/fears magic, though in the Destroyer movie he did /invite a magican. Why would he need that when he had Grace Jones' crazy Nubian warrior by his side?

How magic is handled will probably be the great test on whether Funcom can manage to balance respect for the source material with the "1ightning b0lt!" expectations of the unwashed masses.

(Privately I also wonder how much of the abandoned Midgard MMO has been used as the basis for this game. I know a programmer at Funcom but he's on Dreamfall, not this one.)

[WayAbvPar]

Why would he need that when he had Grace Jones' crazy Nubian warrior by his side?

What's a Nubian?

[HaemishM]

[ahoythematey]

In the comics at least, Conan hates/fears magic, though in the Destroyer movie he did /invite a magican. Why would he need that when he had Grace Jones' crazy Nubian warrior by his side?

Probably because the wizard played by Mako(who also narrated the two movies) healed him back to life and fought on his side in Conan the Barbarian.

[schild]

Why would he need that when he had Grace Jones' crazy Nubian warrior by his side?

What's a Nubian?

Bitch, you almost made me laugh.

[AOFanboi]

Probably because the wizard played by Mako(who also narrated the two movies) healed him back to life and fought on his side in Conan the Barbarian.

Right, I had forgotten that.

And "Nubia" is the Conan Universe land where the black people live. Hence "Nubian". Conan himself is a Cimmerian, from the land where the bronze people live?

[Sobelius]

Try this for Nubia.

[WayAbvPar]

Sigh.

At least Schild was with me.

[schild]

BLACK RAGE.

[Furiously]

Like in the back of a volkswagon?

[schild]

Like in the back of a volkswagon?

Not even the same movie.

[ahoythematey]

Ahh, but they both had Affleck, who was the bomb in Phantoms, yo.

[Yegolev]

I still harbor an awful lot of hate for funcom over that, this game would have to be absolutely brilliant and run flawlessly for a couple of months after release before I even considered signing up.

they would have to do much more for me in order to get me to forget about AO.

[Yegolev]

Try this for Nubia.

A good read until they misused the apostrophe.  I'm pissy today.