Desperate times call for desperate measures. Funcom is looking to gain more Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures subscribers by offering crazy deals to anyone who's played but has since stopped.
If you were at one point an active Age of Conan player, the studio is offering the chance to play again for two whole weeks at no charge. Also, during those two free weeks, you'll get double the experience points.
Remember when I said they are practically giving the game away? I lied. They are giving it away. What's more, Funcom has rewards for any old subscribers who want to get back into the action:
- Subscribing for 1 month gives 7 days extra game time for no additional cost
- Subscribing for 3 months also guarantees a spot in open beta for The Secret World
- Subscribing for 6 months also gives a level 40 helmet with a 10% XP modifier
- Subscribing for 12 months also gives a free copy of the "Rise of the Godslayer" expansion
They really want you back, guys. Click through past the break to see the full press release for all of the intricacies.
Come back to Age of Conan, play for free, and level up twice as fast!
Durham, USA – November 11th, 2009 – Funcom has decided to repeat the successful re-evaluation campaign that went live earlier this year for the best-selling massively multiplayer online role-playing game ‘Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures’.Previously active players are encouraged to come back to the game and play free of charge for two entire weeks. As an additional incentive for players to come back and play for free, they will also receive a double experience boost throughout their free period. Those who decide to continue playing beyond their free period can also look forward to fantastic rewards such as guaranteed access to the beta test for The Secret World, a free copy of the expansion and more.
“We are very proud of what have been able to do with the game since launch,” says Morten Larssen, Vice President of Sales and Marketing at Funcom. “The game has grown and improved at a remarkable pace, and we continue to introduce new content, new features and new improvements. We are introducing these fantastic rewards as we know that coming back to an MMO demands effort, and we want to make sure that as many former players as possible are exposed to the new and improved ‘Age of Conan’.”
Besides receiving an incredible experience boost throughout November, players who choose to continue subscribing to the game after their free period can look forward to a range of exclusive rewards:
Subscribing for 1 month gives 7 days extra game time for no additional cost
Subscribing for 3 months also guarantees a spot in open beta for The Secret World
Subscribing for 6 months also gives a level 40 helmet with a 10% XP modifier
Subscribing for 12 months also gives a free copy of the Rise of the Godslayer expansion
In addition, the rewards for the lower tier subscriptions are also included in the higher tier subscription, which means that you will get all these exclusive rewards if you choose to subscribe for 12 months. This is a time-limited offer only, and is also available to current players. Players who have signed up for these subscription plans in October have already secured their respective reward. The Secret World beta reward includes access to the later stages of the closed beta, and a date for access will be announced later. The free download of the expansion will become available when the expansion launches.
New players are also encouraged to take advantage of these offers. New players who purchase the game now and signs up for one of these subscription plans will also have secured their respective rewards.
Since launching last year, ‘Age of Conan’ has seen a vast number of improvements, new content and new features. In fact, the game has received such a significant make-over that Funcom decided to create a new website that introduces both former players and everyone else about how the game has grown. Previous players will find new content such as the adventure region of Ymir’s Pass, new dungeons such as The Iron Tower, and new features such as the player vs. player notoriety system and a complete re-design of the items and character statistics mechanics of the game. The technology platform has also been vastly improved, allowing for better performance across a wide range of computer systems.
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Contest:
7:20 PM on 11.11.2009
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I'm sure there are other reasons too.
It's as Stephen F Johnston Jr said, they need to be focusing on the current players. If not them, then they need to be focusing on getting new players. I think it's a bad move for them to focus on trying to bring back old players. I mean c'mon! There's a reason why people left in the first place. And I'm pretty sure it's not because they weren't getting enough experience. So unless the beta and expansion kick ass by adding something really new to the table, what's being offered to bring back players kind of sucks.
Once you hit that wall, it hardly seems to matter how much you improve your product. It's sad but true.
The thing about AOC is it had a lot going for it. A well-liked developer, a "hardcore" franchise, a combat system that promised... well, let's face it, more than it actually delivered.
Launching a successful MMO is like starting a successful restaurant. Everyone tries but hardly anyone can really do it, and while you have to make a good meal, that won't guarantee success. Sometimes you have to "hit the vein" as well as be on top of community development, and a hundred of other little factors that are impossible to deliver or predict with any real accuracy.
AOC didn't do all those things for whatever reason, and Funcom is probably under no illusions about how much life is left in the SKU.
In the world of WoW, it seems only licensed MMOs have any chance at maintaining a large subscriber base (think LOTRO). (Star Wars did OK for a while, before it killed itself). Otherwise, you can be one of hundreds of online games that utilize some kind of addictive pay-to-play schema, which only appeal to the kind of hardcore gamer willing to get fleeced for their gear and stats.
That's by Bioware. It can't suck.
I find the image highly amusing.