Xfire to Host Live Premiere of Expansion on Dec. 7

If you've been waiting to catch a glimpse of Age of Conan's first expansion in action, you should mark Dec. 7 on your calendar. That's when Rise of the Godslayer will be making its live broadcast world premiere on Xfire at noon PST.

Funcom developers, including Game Director Craig Morrison, will be giving a one-hour live demo of the upcoming expansion at that time. We wouldn't be suprised if they show off the new Khitan character race, the two new mounts and all of the new content that's coming in Rise of the Godslayer.

Game Director Discusses Patch 1.06 in Letter

Age of Conan Game Director Craig Morrison wrote his November letter to the community in airport lounges while traveling to Korea for the GStar event, and he was able to give players some information on the upcoming 1.06 update. The patch should be hitting the test servers this week, and the team is looking forward to getting feedback on Guild Renown and tier three raiding.

Morrison mentions that patch 1.06 will attempt to balance crowd control and stamina usage between melee characters and casters. Casters will have their crowd control range reduced and will no longer be able to use stamina potions. These changes will be made available on the test servers to make sure the balancing act is fair.

You can read Morrison's full letter after the jump.

Win One Free Year Of Age Of Conan

Apparently Funcom and GiveawayGamer.com are teaming up to give players a year-long subscription, complete with tons of virtual items, like the Mammoth, Rhino, and the Horse mount. According to the GiveawayGamer.com website, players simply need to "share the contest or the GiveawayGamer.com website with the world" in order to win. Once you "share" the link, players can then send in a picture or a link showing how they shared the website. While the contest itself seems to be kind of odd (who takes a video of themselves sharing a website?), if Age of Conan is a game that's been interesting you, you can definitely check out this contest to play it for free for a year.

Also remember to check out ZAM.com's two-part revisit to the Hyborian Kingdoms, where we went back to Age of Conan to see how Funcom has moved past their launch development woes! Part I can be found here, and Part II can be found here.

ZAM's Revisit To Hyboria: Part II

Welcome to Part II of ZAM.com's revisit to Age of Conan's Hyborian Kingdoms. If you haven't already, be sure to check out Part I of our revisit, where we addressed the early stages of the game and gave an in-depth introduction for players who have only heard of Age of Conan by rumours alone. This week we checked out what looms beyond the compelling Tortage story arc and delved into the biggest problem holding back this stunning game.

In last week's revisits, one of the biggest observations we noticed during our play-through was  that these Hyborian Kingdoms are quite sparsely populated, and this serious lack of adventuring fellows made us feel quite lonely - especially once we moved beyond Tortage's awesome solo "destiny" quests. While low populations are a problem for any multiplayer game, MMOs are definitely hit the worst because there are a lot of stigmas involved with joining an established, persistent player base in decline (with little to no fresh blood joining up!).

Funcom Offers Deals for Extended AoC Subscriptions

Starting today, Funcom is offering a wealth of incentives to entice players to either return to the game or extend their subscriptions throughout November. If you're interested in gaining access to The Secret World beta, keep reading. Previously active players get to play free of charge for two weeks to see if they want to come back, and all players get to enjoy double experience for the rest of the month.

Now, let's get to the multi-month subscription deals. Any player who extends their subscription by three months gets guaranteed access to the later stages of The Secret World closed beta. Players who add six months to their subscription get a level 40 helmet with a 10% experience boost and the beta access. Extend your subscription by 12 months and get the upcoming Rise of the Godslayer expansion for free, as well as the helmet and the beta access.

Players who signed up for these subscription plans in October have already secured their rewards. Will you be returning to the game or extending your subscription? Christopher "Pwyff" Tom recently decided to give Age of Conan a second chance, so check out his article to see his current thoughts on the game. Stay tuned to ZAM.com for part two of his journey in the Hyborian Kingdoms.

Funcom Gets Grant to Work on Extreme Sports MMO

GameIndustry.biz is reporting that Funcom has been awarded a $262,000 grant to help create Board with the World, a free-to-play social MMO based around extreme sports. Erling Ellingsen, the director of communications at Funcom, said the game will focus on snowboarding at first, but different sports may be added later.

"We also want this to be a social world rich with different types of media content and pop-cultural elements such as music, video and even fashion," he said, noting that Funcom expects to start working on an initial prototype in January 2010.

Fantasy MMO based on Conan the Barbarian? Check. Upcoming creepy MMO filled with conspiracy theories and secret societies? Check. Free-to-play extreme sports MMO? It looks like Funcom can now check that off their list as well.

Revisiting Age Of Conan: A Second Chance

Stigmas are very common in the MMORPG industry, especially if you've been playing in this field for as long as I have. For example, World of Warcraft has commonly been associated with being "too easy" in the eyes of some MMOers, while Final Fantasy XI has that (somewhat deserved) stigma of being a bit complicated and a bit slow (and a lot of frustration!) in the eyes of other gamers. Of all of these prevailing stigmas that have been floating around for quite some time, however, Funcom and their enduring-despite-the-odds MMO, Age of Conan may have gotten the shortest stick of them all, having been stuck with one stigma that has virtually defined their game in the eyes of gamers and journalists alike (guilty!); that of having one of the worst MMO launches in a long, long time.

Unfortunately, one of the biggest problems with gaming stigmas, especially ones like AoC's, is that companies tend to run into giant brick walls when they try to work their way out of the muck that they've found themselves in. Here at ZAM, we chatted with Craig Morrison, Producer and Director of Age of Conan about the problematic launch of the game, and we've already done some heavy coverage on just what went wrong, but, on the alternative side, I think a lot of the general populace doesn't realize just how dedicated Funcom is to their ailing MMORPG, and just how far this game has grown beyond its inhibiting stereotype. We here at ZAM decided that, with their newest "Rise of the Godslayer" expansion announced and in development, now would be a perfect time to check out Age of Conan and find out what everyone's missing out on. Read on for Part I of II of our revisit to the Hyborian Kingdoms!

Morrison Reveals AoC Knowledge Base in Letter

Age of Conan Game Director Craig Morrison published his monthly letter to players today, and he chose to focus on the topic of community to demonstrate what players can do to help the development team and the game as a whole. He touched on the new recruitment system that launched with update 1.05.6 and unveiled the new Age of Conan Knowledge Base portal, which is "designed to put all the latest news and updates, and indeed previous ones, at your fingertips."

After stating that volunteers are needed to help the Age of Conan community, Morrison said the team is focused on getting the first builds of 1.06 ready for internal testing and is working on the new Guild Renown feature and the new Tier Three raid encounters. You can read the full letter after the jump.

Update 1.05.6 Launches, Kicks Off Halloween Event

Update 1.05.6 is now live in Age of Conan and brings with it the "Night of Lost Souls" Halloween event. It also introduces the veteran reward system, which grants players veteran points for each month they've paid for through their subscription or game cards. These points can be used to purchase various items and rewards.

The patch marks the launch of the new recruitment program for Age of Conan that rewards you for bringing your friends into the game. You can earn free gametime, veterans points and rare in-game rings that increase your character's movement speed if your friends end up subscribing to the game.

In addition, 1.05.6 adds the Iron Tower group dungeon to the game. The full patch notes can be found after the jump.

Funcom Increases Discounts for Long Subscriptions

Funcom announced today that it has increased the discounts for players who purchase multi-month subscription plans for Age of Conan. The three-month subscription now offers a 20% discount, the six-month subscription yields a 30% discount and the year subscription has a whopping 45% discount. According to the post, this is more than twice the discount that was previously offered.

Also, it is now possible to purchase additional gametime and immediately get veteran points, which will be implemented in the next patch. You can read more about the new system in Game Director Craig Morrison's recent letter. Basically, players will earn veteran points for each month they've paid for through their subscription or game cards. These points can be used to purchase various items and rewards.