Age of Conan at Ten Ton Hammer - Taking MMOG Gamers to the Next Level!

Ten Ton Hammer: Do you predict large guilds will reach renown level 20 very fast, and conversely, how long would it take a smaller guild of 10 or so players to progress?

Craig: Larger guilds will of course progress quicker, but we want [satisfying progression] to be achievable for the smaller guilds as well. We are currently balancing that during testing and there will most likely be some form of weekly contribution caps to ensure the gap isn’t too extreme. But, as I said, that’s something we will fine tune during testing.

Ten Ton Hammer: Valor renown can be earned by killing monsters and completing quests. As there are a finite amount of quests in the game, will it be of significant advantage to start new characters to earn renown through all the low level quests again, or will it be easy enough to gain valor renown on a veteran character who’s already done a lot of the content?

Craig: I don’t think [there will be an advantage to starting a new character.] There are also lots of repeatable quests and we are also going to be introducing a lot of new content in the expansion with lots more quests for people to work on.

Ten Ton Hammer: Without spoiling anything, could you give us a small taste of the kinds of fights players will be experiencing in Thoth-Amon’s Stronghold?

Craig: I really don’t want to spoil anything there, but as we have hinted at in the promotional material, players will find that King Conan himself is taking an interest in the attempts to battle his old foe. I think the team has done a great job making the encounters interesting, and continued the trend we have tried with recent updates of hiding special extra challenges within the encounters, effectively offering an optional ‘hard mode’ for additional rewards.

Ten Ton Hammer: The loot in the dungeon is the best gear seen yet. Will players be able to get by here if they haven’t raided before, or would it be more recommended for seasoned raiders?

Craig: Players will have to have worked through some of the existing raids first. [The Stronghold] is adding a new tier of challenges above what already exists so players will have to have experienced the existing raid content first before trying to take on Thoth-Amon

Ten Ton Hammer: Players will be able to fight alongside Conan in part of this expansion. Is this a new story arc or will it tie in from something else previously hinted at?

Craig: Well, Thoth-Amon is one of Conan’s best known adversaries, and the King will take a keen interest in your attempts to take him down. The story does tie in to some of the elements the players have already experienced through their destiny quest as well.

Ten Ton Hammer: Is there anything else you’d like to share about the Update at this time?

Craig: Just that I hope players enjoy the new content and features when they reach the live servers, and remind everyone that the update will be available for public testing very shortly as well. We look forward to seeing what the players make of the new additions to the game!

We would like to thank Craig for taking time out of his busy schedule to speak with us regarding Age of Conan;  with the new expansion looming we can imagine all the folks at Funcom are burning the candle at both ends. What do you think? Can the Rise of the Godslayer breathe new life into the game? The new features certainly look exciting and ambitious, but will they be enough to return interest to pre-release levels? Only time will tell for sure.