Loading... Age of Conan Goes Gold

Welcome to the 814th Edition of Loading...

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Daily Column

Loading... Your morning MMOG train wreck. You don't want to look, but you can't help yourself.

First, the Ten Ton Pulse, your finger on the beating heart of the MMOG industry.

If the Top 10 isn't enough, we now show the Top 20 and Top 50 lists as well, available to everyone on our homepage. (What is Pulse?)

Age of Conan - 200 BPM
World of Warcraft - 54 BPM
Lord of the Rings Online - 20 BPM
EverQuest 2 - 16 BPM
Lineage 2 - 12 BPM
EVE Online - 12 BPM
Warhammer Online - 12 BPM
Guild Wars - 10 BPM
Vanguard - 9 BPM
Dungeons and Dragons Online - 8 BPM

Welcome to your Wednesday Loading...

More Age of Conan beta keys will be coming down the Ten Ton Hammer pipe this week. We will be delivering an undisclosed number each day until they are gone. We also have 200+ Wonderland beta keys left .

Funcom is ready to roll, having posted their investor update which includes information like,

The game will be priced at $59.99 US
The monthly subscription will be $14.99 US
They are prepared to handle 500,000+ subscribers at launch
The game has officially gone gold.

"“Even though it feels like this great adventure is coming to an end, it’s really not at all. The launch is just the beginning” says Game Director/Producer Gaute Godager. “I believe we have created a game that will stand the test of time by its own accord, but we are already busy planning future features and expansions. We want to continue expanding Conan’s world for many years to come, and we have great ideas on what to do!”"

No surprises there, especially the box and subscription pricing. It's important that we put the 500,000 subscribers at launch number in perspective though. According to our esteemed community abacus watcher Sir Bruce of MMOGChart.com 500,000 subscribers would put AoC into the top four or five titles right out of the gate.

We don't have numbers on how many pre-orders have been sold, but we do know that it is currently #8 on the Amazon best seller list. It also sits in the #3 spot on EBGames.com behind Grand Theft Auto IV and the Warhammer Online Collector's Edition.

I'm looking forward to the game. I will be enjoying it with our staff and our readers, which though exhilarating, doesn't help cover the fact that I can't play it with my son. The 'M' rating is there for a reason folks. You can't have everything!

Does anyone else have misgivings about the 'M' rating? The The Loading... forums await you.

Do you feel the need to contact me personally with naughty pictures or derogatory comments? Here's my E-mail.

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