Heads up! If you haven’t already noticed, the buddy codes that came with the collector’s edition are since a couple of days ago ready to be used. It is “recommended” though that you lend your game discs to your friend at the same time, so he or she can install the game without having to download the trial client. Which, by the way, costs $2.99.
There is a new PvP (player versus player, you knew that) system in the works, having already been outlined in the system notes on the official forum. However, Massively has got a few nifty little tidbits on how the new system works on the Testlive test server right now. Some highlights include:
Many players had assumed killing an Innocent of your own level would result in Murder Points, but it doesn’t. The research actually shows that you can gank players of up to two levels below you (and any amount of levels above you) without any penalty other than being temporarily flagged as Criminal.
Criminals will get a crossed swords icon over their head, while Murderers will get a skull. It also appears that becoming a Murderer will be pretty easy, with every innocent kill “awarding” you with at least 10 Murder Points, with 100 meaning you’ve got your devious status.
Also:
PvP XP amounts have also been clarified. You get 100 XP for a kill (to a maximum of 150 XP for a target 5+ levels above you), divided among the group. You lose 300 XP for a death even if you are grouped.
Read the full story on Massively if you want details.
Crazy Yahtzee is bawling about Age of Conan in his latest video review over at The Escapist. Spot on or not? You be the judge. A lot of fun guaranteed no matter what!
It appears that Funcom investors show lack of faith when it comes to the stickyness of Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures. The stock, traded on the Oslo Stock Exchange (Funcom is a Norwegian company), reached an equivalent of $54 on launch day (May 20 this year, people), is now at $24, Massively reports. I think this is the key though:
On the flip side, it should be noted that the price of Funcom stock had been fairly steady, around $25, for several months prior to March of this year. A sharp increase in price coincided with the release of X-Play pre-order statistics for AoC about two months before boxes hit the shelves. That was followed by a distinct downturn just a few weeks after the game’s drop date and the slide has continued since, returning it back to familiar price territory just this past week.
In other words, no need to fret, especially if the game keeps its players around, as I’m sure it will. After all, I’m still here aren’t I?
Now you can buy Age of Conan via download, weighing in at a whopping 15 GB. However, at least in Europe, it is more expensive to actually download the game, compared to picking it up in stores!
EUR € 49.80 Incl. VAT ‡
GBP £ 39.67 Incl. VAT ‡
USD $ 49.99
Crazy. I’d go with the boxed version, still.
So this is cool, 700,000 player accounts is massive. Eurogamer compares:
To put that in perspective: long-running space-trading cult EVE Online is known to have around 250,000 active player accounts, while World of Warcraft famously has 10 million. Korean hits Lineage and Lineage II are thought to have around a million subscribers apiece.
However, although Funcom can celebrate, I think it is a bit premature. Trial accounts are still numerous, if the game’s sales are anything to go by (and it is, of course), and the true attachment rate after 30-90 days is a much more interesting number. Still, nice to see.
It’s been a bit quiet here. That’s due to amazingly good weather, vacations, and staffers waiting for a REAL design for our page. The latter is close now, and the vacations are ending for some of us, so expect more action shortly.