I’ve been a little occupied the last month. Not only have I had my share of exams (thankfully that’s over), but I also got the new MMORPG from the Norwegian developer, Funcom. Age of Conan is based on the Conan franchise originally created by Robert E. Howard in the 1930s, and later continued in countless graphical novelles over the years. Even a movie was made in 1984 featuring Arnold Swarzenegger.
The Conan franchise is an epic story about Conan the Cimmerian and his adventures in the ancient world, Hyboria. In Age of Conan, Conan have become the king of Aqueloni
a, the most successful country in Hyboria. Now the story is about the players, and their adventures through the magical world.
What makes Age of Conan distinguish itself from other MMORPGs is the different combat mechanics used in the game. Traditionally the genre have used a static turn-based system for their melee combat. This system should be known to everybody who have been playing any MMORPG the last ten years, or even other RPGs like the Baldur’s Gate series. Age of Conan on the other hand uses a more dynamic system where the player can avoid attacks, and attack in real time.
Putting that aside there are more awesome things to see in the game. Hyboria is an exiting world with a lot of fantastic areas to visit. Riding around on my totally awesome rhino and admiring the sights is part of what makes me want to go back to the game. Like every other MMORPG it is nice to be part of a community and stuff like that.
If you want to contact me in-game my character’s name is Gusj and I’m on the pvp server “Soulstorm”. And yes, the fantastic fanart of the game is drawn by me, on the back of an envelope. I am actually thinking of making a web comic based on the game, at least a few strips. This is some really rough drawings of my character.
