Casual Fridays

I'm planning on buying into this massive multiplayer online game (MMOG) called "Age of Conan." You may be familiar with World of Warcraft, Lord of the Rings Online, Dungeons and Dragons Online, or Everquest. This is another swords and sorcery-based online game, but no elves, dwarves, or hobbits. Also no children allowed - this game involves chopping off heads and leering at scantily-clad slave-women. This MMOG was deliberately crafted for the mature gamer.

I am traditionally a first-person shooter enthusiast, and while there were a good few over the last year, I'm drawn to the idea of just paying a monthly subscription to go into the world of Hyboria and engaging a larger, more unpredictable world. I have not been included in the beta, which just completed last week. However, most of the participants have been very enthusiastic about the graphics and the gameplay. It is a very demanding game; people are saying this requires a download of 13 gigs of data that unfolds into 26 gigs of game. Heavy graphics load as well.

From the website, it appears that there are a variety of characters - four base sets - rogues, warriors, clerics, and priests. Each of these have three speciality branches - for instance, the rogues include assassains, rangers, and barbarians, all fast and agile fighters who can't wear heavy armor. There are three races, the Acquilonians, the Cimmarians, and the Stygians. What's also interesting is how guilds of player-characters can invest in building cities, which upon getting large enough, invite sieges from other players. The game starts Tuesday, and while I am sure there will be lots of bugs to face, this really, really looks good.

So why Age of Conan? I am a huge Lord of the Rings and Dungeons and Dragons fan, but I tried demos of those games, and I just wasn't hooked. I am also a big, long-time fan of the Conan the Barbarian comic book series and the original Robert Howard books. Ah-nuld the Governator brought the role to the big screen, but this was a popular character way before the movies. There's just something about the character and his ready willingness to take on legions of men arrayed against him, to send them wailing before him, and to hear the lamentation of their women. So we'll see where this goes...

Comments

[Andrew]

Nice choice...I played a bit of the beta and have it preordered myself. Playing on the Wiccana PvE server because Free for All PvP sounds like a ganker's paradise.