The latest edition of the Age of Conan: Unchained Development Update has arrived on the official site. The letter begins with a look back at the momentous year AoC had in 2011, particularly with regard to going "Unchained" or F2P/hybrid back in the summer. From there, the post springboards into 2012.

The "roadmap to 2012" will begin with new tier four raids with much of the balance of the first half of 2012 focusing on a "systems driven focus". In particular, the team is hard at work on the trade skill system and hoping to deploy it by summer. The overhauled system is, according to the letter, "trying to capture the feeling of the more complex systems that you saw in the first generation of MMOs rather than the 'point and click' nature of modern crafting options."

In addition to crafting changes, the team is also putting classes under the microscope and will be working to make some significant changes to classes and abilities. The team will also be laying the artistic groundwork for the next adventure pack.

Check out the full development update letter on the Age of Conan: Unchained site.