Future Age of Conan updates detailed

2:40 PM on 06.13.2008   |   Justin Villasenor

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Funcom sure does have a lot to be happy about with their new MMORPG, Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures. Having already shipped over a million copies and enjoying generally favorable reactions from reviewers, the game certainly is off to a good start. Heck, it’s already gotten its own clothing line.

All is not sunny in the virtual world that Robert E. Howard built, however. Players that are much better at power leveling than I could ever hope to be were quick to point out that there was a huge lack of mid-to-high-level content. To address this issue, Funcom has brought word on several large updates that will be released in the coming months.

First off, PvP will be receiving some tweaks with the implementation of the Fugitive system, which makes it easier for other players to hunt you if you’ve been killing their lower-level friends. New ranks and PvP specific equipment will also be added.

The update that will probably most excite fans of large-scale battles is the ability to form guild alliances. These alliances will allow players to control far more territory than they would on their own, and should add in something of a political element as guilds team up and betray one other to advance their own causes. They will also be able to construct alliance Battlekeeps and “wonders of the world,” which they can then kill each other over as they fight to possess them.

Hit the jump for the rest of the updates.

This fall, Funcom will also be adding in the Powerpoint system. This system rewards active characters by giving them points that can be spent on special feats, equipment, and faster experience gain. There are said to be a number of ways to get these points, even by just being part of a guild or having an active subscription.

One update I’m glad to see is that new areas will be added, while a few current ones will be revised. It’s nice to know that Funcom won’t be making players buy expansions for every new location.

More quests are promised to be continually added, with 60 currently getting full voice acting.

And while killing other players on the battlefield is all well and good, everyone knows that there is no greater victory than that gained on the dance floor. The upcoming combo-based dance system will contain moves that are fully motion captured from professional dancers. Truly, there has never been a better opportunity to humiliate an adversary by loudly declaring that they “Got served!” after schooling them with your sweet moves.

Do these updates look like they’ll help cement your interest in the game, or attract it if you haven’t yet given Hyborian Adventures a chance?