face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"> face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"> face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"> face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"> src="http://www.tentonhammer.com/image/view/39072" alt=""
name="BKC" id="BKC" border="0" height="175"
width="640">

face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">(Note:
If you don't understand something I have said or abbreviated, get
caught up on the terminology href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/21987" target="_blank">here.)

Since this will be the last Border Kingdom Cryer before the holidays I wanted to take a moment and wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy Holiday. May the Green Santa be kind to you this year.

color="gold">Official
AoC
Forums

It's time for more server merge info.

With the server merger delay that took place earlier this month people have been anxious to learn more about when this will definitely occur. In other words, the natives are getting restless. This week this little thread picked up and got some responses from Funcom's US Community Manager Glen 'Famine' Swan and Funcom Game Director Craig 'Silirrion' Morrison.

As I mentioned already, the downtime this week is for preparations for the merges and we will announce more information about the merges themselves early in the new year. There won't be any additional updates until that time.



It is important that the holiday period is uninterrupted (both because players have more time to spend in game and I think its important there is not excessive downtime during that period, and we also have holiday periods to account for here) than rushing something out prior to the Christmas period.



There will be a full update on the plan for the merges once the holiday period is over in January.



Character transfers will not be activated until after the merge process is completed. - (Silirrion)

Development of Roleplaying Functionality

There have been a lot of ideas tossed around by the community on how to best improve the game. One thread focuses on improving roleplay functionality, but there are some aspects of this that will benefit everyone, not just the roleplayers. Funcom US Community Manager Glen 'Famine' Swan dropped in to name off one in particular that the community has been calling for since launch: Guild Functionality.

Well one of the things the guys up stairs have to do is prioritize changes in matter of importance. Thus I would have my bet on guild functionality improvements first before anything else. Only because the community has requested it the most out of the things listed and it's something the developers also agree on. Guilds are a major part of the game and any improvements there will be well accepting. - (Famine)

src="http://www.tentonhammer.com/image/view/51805" alt="Santa" width="200" height="285"
style="border: 0px solid ; width: 200px; height: 285px;" />

In this time of Christmas cheer, it's the Green Santa that you must fear.

Game of the year

The Age of Conan Hyborian Adventures community has been rallying behind their game and they have turned out in droves to help push it up to number three on Voodoo Extremes 2008 Game of the Year award that is voted on by the gamers themselves. Show your support and cast a vote here now.

How the notoriety system has hurt the game

The Notoriety System has been live only a short while, but not everyone feels it has improved the game for the better. Terraero opened this thread to discuss why he feels the system has hurt the game. There are a few clashing opinions in this discussion, but it makes for a good read as both sides explain their take on this new system. What do you think? Has the Notoriety System helped or hurt the game? Tell us here.

There was already a system in place that protected lower level players from those who enjoyed the antisocial aspect of PVP. Higher level guildmates responding to the call of there brethren being ganked. There was a time in this game where you could log your level eighty in a lowbie zone for the protection you needed. If you were questing, and some jack ass ganked you, you just log onto your eighty and get your revenge right there. Or you send a tell to your level eighty buddy to come teach the ganker a lesson in manners. All of that is gone, and I miss those days.



Nobody in this game is a murderer, the consequences are so severe that it pretty much stops ganking altogether. Not the brutal world I envisioned when I first decided to enter Hyboria. It is sad really. Questing in lower level areas is so safe now, it has no risk, your not afraid of the ganker around the corner, because he isn't there. An element of the game is gone, and is gone forever.



You don't see the bitter cries on global anymore from lowbies who just got ganked, swearing there revenge on those that just ganked them, swiftly followed by those who respond by asking where the ganker is so they can go kill them. We had justice back then, justice we made for ourselves. Sometimes the ganker gets away, sometimes he doesn't, that's Hyboria, that's the way hyboria should be, it should be a ruthless dangerous place, it isn't anymore.



The notoriety system would work better if you left it up to the players to enforce Hyboria's laws. When a player is marked as a murderer, let him roam freely, let the consequences of his actions come when another player kills him, and not the restrictions imposed by the game itself. Players who kill murders get there gear and collect rewards ingame from "the murderer",murderers should be fully lootable, (With the exception of a means to protect himself a default weapon) if you kill one, you can take everything he has, leave him naked if you have the free space in your inventory to do so. Murderers get access to all areas of the game with no restrictions, the only threat should be from other players. Being flagged as a murder tells other players in the game that one your a lowbie killing jerk, and two, there is a big reward for killing you. There would be no need for guards to enforce Hyboria's laws. As it is now the game has become too care bear, too safe, and boring. Bring back the gankers. (Terraero)

color="gold">AoC
Ten Ton
Hammer Threads of the Week

Ten Ton Hammer Stocking Stuffer Contest

With the holidays just around the corner Ten Ton hammer has kicked off another contest to give away a few gifts to some lucky gamers. Read up on Ralsu's list of rules and enter to win yourself some cool swag. Who knows, if you look hard enough maybe you can find all the Santa Gorts.

Ten Ton Hammer is feeling the holiday spirit, and our own red-suited gift giver (Santa Gort) wants to deliver some presents to a couple of nice readers. What's it take to get on his nice list? Why, just read the terrific articles produced by Ten Ton Hammer writers the week of December 15!



We'll be hiding pictures of Santa Gort stuffing stockings in random articles on our main site and the community sites for Age of Conan, Warhammer Online, and World and Warcraft. Your job is to find them and send an email to Ralsu with the list of articles where you found Santa Gort.



Prizes will include games, apparel (including hats and tees), and game-related memorabilia from the Ten Ton Hammer prize vault. For details, check out the contest page.

Initial feedback

In case you have been living under a rock this week you might have missed the fact that the latest version of Ten Ton Hammer's new chat program called Voon is now available. You can download this fun little program and join in on Ten Ton Hammer events and chat with others. If you haven't gotten it yet download it for Windows here and Mac here.

The 2008 Ten Ton Hammer Forum Awards!

Though not official, Mikes, our beloved World of Warcraft Moderator, has decided to hold open a thread for nomination of forum awards to the community. This year has been a big year for Ten Ton Hammer so it's always good to show some lovin to the community.

color="gold">

Weekly Funny with the Tuk

face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"> style="font-weight: bold;">(The Weekly Funny is not
reflective of the views of Ten Ton Hammer. That said, they are of mine.)

I guess I should be ashamed of myself for enjoying someone else's pain induced by an act of stupidity. For some reason though, I'm not. This week we have another collection of not so bright individuals who manage to bring themselves great pain by performing things no intelligent person would do in this little montage I like to call...

DOH!!!

color="gold">This
Week's
AoC Ten Ton Hammer Content

Ten Ton Hammer has
rolled out a ton of new content, videos, and guides since launch and
the content train is still rolling. In case you missed it here is all
the great content from this past week.

face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"> class="style6 style8">

class="style7">Guides

• Gemcutter Recipes - Tier 2
• Weaponsmith Recipes - Tier 4
• Armorsmith Recipes: Tier 3
• Field of the Dead Ultimate Boss Guide

class="style7">Class
Information

• Assassin Feat Tree Calculator Updated
• Mage General Feat tree Updated
  
  

face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"> class="style6 style8">

class="style7">Other Content

• 14 New Exclusive Screenshots - Cradle of Decay