Well here it (almost) is, a Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game (or MMORPG to you and me) based in the world and myth of Conan the Barbarian.
Is it original?
Hmm. A fantasy online game featuring men of legend fighting creatures of legend. Haven’t seen any of those before (Everquest, Everquest 2, Dark Age of Camelot, World of Warcraft, Lord of the Rings online, Dungeons and Dragons online). Ok, so fantasy roleplay isn’t new so what can this game offer that hasn’t been done before?
Well for one thing, an actual plot and story line to follow in a setting that prepares you for the rigors of life among other players (we call it grouping) while moving you along to level 20. Of course at this stage, we don’t know how significant level 20 is but based on other games one might call this a “milestone” level where the character really starts to take shape.
New innovations
A very interesting development is the idea of player owned CITIES. Where previous games have sometimes had player owned houses and the odd guildhall, this concept is massive and lends itself further to realm versus realm player versus player (PVP) combat. Many MMORPG players value PVP higher than player versus environment (PVE) and to them the pinnacle of online gaming is defeating other human opponents rather than the computer AI so this could offer them a great deal.
We feel that it is just as important to reward the PVE player as the PVP player and we hope that Conan Online (as it is bound to be known) will do this. Our experience of other online games shows us that the PVE player is often given a raw deal compared to the PVP-er so time will tell.
Mounted combat
It appears that Age of Conan will be taking the concept of player mounts further too. In games such as Everquest and World of Warcraft, it is most frustrating when playing a heroic knight who charges into combat only to have to get off his horse to fight. Rather silly really. Age of Conan will allow players to charge mounted into fights and battle from horseback very effectively. This is quite novel and will make knights and cavalry actually feel like knights and cavalry (we hope).
Verdict
Promising future addition to the crowded MMORPG (just rolls off the tongue doesn’t it?) market.
Popularity: 15% [?]
