With over 500,000 players now registered to enter Beta for Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventure (AoC) the forums are blazing with traffic and discussion, but sifting through all those dramatic posts for that one shiny nugget of good information can be a tedious task. Join us as Ten Ton Hammer examines the top threads of the week to keep you up to date on the top AoC discussions.
Facts from Oslo - compiled list of all reviews
If you are trying to get familiar with some of the latest news and game content for AoC this is a good place to start. This thread was started by C-Mar Uder and it is a compilation of various information relating to AoC. Its a good place to brush up on some of the latest facts about AoC content that came out of the Oslo event. You can also read Ten Ton Hammer's AoC FAQ.
The Age Poll (Now With Steamy Survey Action)
By popular demand, the long running age survey started by AoC community member Sydhart has finally receive an official survey thread of its own complete with a poll. Pharamond took pity on poor Sydhart who had been making constant updates to the thread to provide an accurate age poll of the AoC community. Head over and add your age to the poll and help show the age ranks for AoC.
Correction on North American Rating and Nipples
You read right. There was a bit of miscommunication over the rating and features for AoC, but that was corrected in this thread when Shannon 'Pharamond' Drake,
Community Manager – Funcom, posted the response from the Entertainment Software Ratings Board (ESRB) for Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventure. The game has received an M for Mature rating and to the delight of much of the community animated nipples are in. You can read more in this thread to what features were submitted and approved by the ESRB to acquire the M rating. Join the Ten Ton Hammer Just Say "YES" thread.
On a side note, there were several new threads started and closed by Pharamond relating to this topic over the week. A lot focused on asking who had cancelled their order because of the assumption AoC had been censored. To that I say this. Funcom is a game developer and as such they have to abide by laws and regulations set forth by each country. While we may disagree with those laws and regulations, and in some cases, find them utterly ridiculous, Funcom must still abide by them to have their game launched. Regardless of how we or Funcom feel about those laws, if Funcom did not follow them, there would be no Age of Conan. So blaming them and canceling preorders for something they have no control over is silly. Especially since the information was misstated and has since then been corrected. If you really want to show your displeasure with a law, write your congressman or other government officials, or in Germany's case it may take a strong protest, but don't blame Funcom for the laws of the land.
Age of Conan (AoC) will offer a lot in the form of player versus player (PvP) and some things we have not seen before in an Mega Multi-player Online Role Playing Game (MMORPG). This thread discusses some of the finer points of PvP politics that we will see in AoC such as guilds banding together to fend of Border Kingdom threats from other players and even the mercenary system which will allow players to hire other players through the mercenary system to aid in PvP battles. The discussion has a lot of input from Lineage veterans who know all about PvP.
Blizzard Wins Lawsuit Against Gold Seller
In this thread started by yours truly, the discussion of how Blizzard recently won a lawsuit against a gold seller is discussed. This is a big victory for game developers as it sets a precedent that they do indeed have a legal standing point when it comes to these gold sellers invading their game and spamming their players. Not to mention damage to the game economy. Kudos to Blizzard for taking the first step of what I have said was needed for years. You can also chime in on the Ten Ton Hammer discussion.
AoC Ten Ton Hammer Threads of the Week
Too much talk about the violence and sexual themes...
In this thread started by Ten Ton Hammer forum member JoeBildo, he brings up a concern that everyone is focused more on the gore and sexual innuendos of AoC rather than the true depth of the content the game offers. He even addresses the issue in his Blog. There is a great discussion on this topic and how some people are beginning to see AoC as simply boobies and decapitations as Ralsu points out here. It is important to mention two points. No pun intended. AoC has a lot of deep content and a combat system that will be new to the genre. City building, a great looking world, and an interesting PvP system. There is indeed much more to AoC than blood, guts, and boobies. Even though all those aspects are pretty cool too.
To completely contradict the above thread, we have the official Ten Ton Hammer response thread to the ESRB rating for AoC. Earlier this week AoC was granted an M for Mature rating and some corrections were made on the official AoC site. More specifically it stated...
It has come to our attention that the North American edition of the game was submitted (by Eidos) to the ESRB without any server-side censorship:
-full blood
-full fatalities
-breasts with nipples
-not full nudity
The ESRB reviewed our application and gave us a rating of Mature 17+. The full rating with descriptors has not yet been publicly announced but will be posted on the ESRB web site on 13 February 2008.
Funcom apologizes for this small error (or maybe two small errors.)
Guild of the Week
{Dark Desires} - Prostitution Themed RolePlay Guild.
A new weekly feature that will be involved in the Border Kingdom Cryer is a Guild of the week section. This week our AoC Guild of the week is Dark Desires. This guild stirred up a lot of discussion on the Ten ton Hammer forums when they announced their Role-playing theme which is a prostitution themed Role-play guild. This drew mixed reactions from some due to the adult theme, they have generated a lot of discussion, concerns, and hate O' grams from the community. Whether you like them or not, you have to give them credit for creativity and surviving the initial public assault of the AoC forums. You can view their official AoC forums thread which is growing larger each day here.
This week in AoC Ten Ton Hammer Content
Hyborian Beta Tester Guide
Exclusive Age of Conan Female Ranger Screenshots
Age of Conan Developer Panel Part 2 Transcript
Age of Conan Class Interview #6: The Ranger
Age of Conan Developer Panel Video Part 2
Age of Conan Art Book Preview: Character Classes
Weekly FAQ Update
To read the latest guides, news, and features you can visit our Age of Conan: Unchained Game Page.
