MMORPG.com Age of Conan correspondent John Humphrey writes this look at Rise of the Godslayer, the upcoming expansion to Funcom's Age of Conan.

On August 18, 2009, FunCom announced the release of the first expansion for Age of Conan, Rise of the the Godslayer. With FunCom soon to release Age of Conan to servers in Korea, it is very appropriate that the next expansion include elements of the Far East, in the form of Khitai, Robert E. Howard's vision of Hyboria that later evolved into what we now know as China and Korea. This ancient society lends itself well to the feudal, factioned-based warfare that many players have envisioned in Age of Conan, since before its initial release. Expansive regions, brutal faction-based conflict, and political intrigue draw the players into a world of epic storylines and sexy adventure.

New to Rise of the Godslayer is the feature of interconnected zones. When you look over your shoulder, you can see the playzones you just left and you can look into new zones before you cross their borders. If you see a tower in the mountains on the far side of the playzone, you can cross that zone, climb the mountain, and enter that tower. Each playfield will have a tremendous amount of explorable space to a much greater degree than the original Age of Conan experience.

Read Looking at Rise of the Godslayer, Part 1.

I think Funcom needs to be a unanimous choice for a "comeback player of the year" award. They are really trying to right a lot of wrongs. I am excited about the changes and bought 2 gamecards in anticipation of a great release.

Originally posted by bigsmiff

I think Funcom needs to be a unanimous choice for a "comeback player of the year" award. They are really trying to right a lot of wrongs. I am excited about the changes and bought 2 gamecards in anticipation of a great release.

 

 

  

I did the trial last spring and didn't get the game.  however hearing about the xpansion and looking for a unplayed game - I bought it.  This looks workable.

This expansion sounds really really awesome.

Martial arts training too? Shoooot..... I want a Ranger that knows Martial Arts......

Best sounding "expansion" to an MMO I've read about, to-date.

Originally posted by bigsmiff

I think Funcom needs to be a unanimous choice for a "comeback player of the year" award. They are really trying to right a lot of wrongs. I am excited about the changes and bought 2 gamecards in anticipation of a great release.

 

 

  

Shouldn't we wait until they at least make a comeback?

Righting wrongs and making changes are nice, but until players actually come back they are just preaching to a shrinking choir.

I may consider re-subscribing for a month after R of the G comes out, but I am having too much fun playing single player games right now.  It is amazing to see the difference in quality between MMOs and every other style of computer game on the market. I'm not sure how these companies can make any money putting out weak sauce and expecting the unwashed masses to keep paying until they eventually come around to making it release worthy.

For more Rise of the Godslayer Updates, please check out our Pinned Thread:

http://www.mmorpg.com/discussion2.cfm/thread/261370/RISE-OF-THE-GODSLAYER-UPDATES.html

Rise of the Godslayer Video from the XFire Live Feed is Posted

If you missed the exclusive live demonstration of the 'Rise of the Godslayer' expansion, with Craig Morrison, on XFire on Monday December 7th, try this link:

 http://livestream.com/xfire_funcom_priv/video?clipId=pla_5576d602-8a85-4600-8bdc-1a1e54244eff

Several websites have produced articles about the Streaming Video of  the Rise of the Godslayer Demonstration:

•Massively:

http://www.massively.com/2009/12/07/whats-to-come-in-rise-of-the-godslayer/

•Ten Ton Hammer: 

http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/77732

•Voodoo Extreme (IGN):

http://ve3d.ign.com/articles/previews/51875/Age-of-Conan-Expansion-Demo

Tower of the Elephant

by Robert E. Howard

http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Tower_of_the_Elephant/Chapter_I
 

If you found "The Story" section of the article interesting, you should go back and read the original short story "Tower of the Elephant" by Robert E. Howard.  WikiSource has permission to reprint Howard's stories from 1932 - 1936.   The story is really great, so I developed my summary by going to the horse's mouth, per se.  All of Howard's other Conan stories are also published on WikiSource, as well as Howard's only full-length novel about Conan, The Hour of the Dragon.  The events of Age of Conan take place about two years after The Hour of the Dragon, and many events from this novel are referenced in both the game and in the four trilogies of the Age of Conan novel series produced from 2005 - 2006.

For Folks that want to see more Rise of the Godslayer images that are available in Promotional Art and Released Screenshots, please take a look at the Gallery for Rise of the Godslayer that I have gathered so far...  Enjoy...

http://www.mmorpg.com/galleries/Thorgrimm/2272_AoC-Rise-of-the-Godslayer

Come back when 1.06 has launched, it's going to add many many many things to the game.

I played AoC for a year and the real game breaker for me at that time was the teleporting around from zone to zone with no one travelling the world to promote real world pvp aswell as the closed in feeling of the zones in the game. It's great to see that they have listened to people on that and are making changes to hide the fact that the world is split into zones. It's too late for me as I have moved to Darkfall and am never leaving it. :P

But I wish the game well, I hope it becomes a success.

Originally posted by Valentina

Come back when 1.06 has launched, it's going to add many many many things to the game.

Update 1.06 hit Test Live today.  It has been having good reviews, so far...   No estimate on when it will hit the LIVE Servers yet.