Table of Contents 1 - General 2 - Character Classes 3 - Combat 4 - Magic 5 - Crafting 6 - Equipment 7 - Single-Player 8 - Guilds 9 - City Building and City Defense 10 - PvP and Siege Combat 11 - Technical Information *Hint* Use your browser's find command to search for keywords. Default hotkey is Ctrl-F. 1 - General What is an MMO or MMORPG? MMORPG stands for Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing game. What is Age of Conan? Age of Conan is a revolutionary MMO based on the world of Conan the barbarian. Set in 10,000 BC in the brutal and harsh world of Hyboria, the game will feature radical additions like FPS-style combat, RTS-style city building and is especially geared for teamwork as players participate in epic struggles as they fight alongside thousands of other players in large-scale sieges and warfare. What is Funcom? Funcom is a Norwegian games developer that was established in 1993. They have created more than twenty games for PC and consoles. The most known products from Funcom are the sci-fi MMO Anarchy Online and the adventure game Dreamfall: The Longest Journey. What platforms will the game be released on, and when will it come out? Age of Conan will first be released for Windows PC and Xbox 360. The launch date is set to October 30, 2007 for the PC and Feburary 8, 2008 for the Xbox 360. Will it work on Windows XP and Vista? Yes. The game is compatible with XP and Vista. Will we have to pay a subscription fee to play? Yes. There will be a monthly subscription fee. The price is yet to be determined, but will most likely be set around $15 per month. The first 30 days of gameplay will be included when you purchase the retail box. Will there be separate servers? How big will they be? Yes, there will be separated servers for PvP and PvE. There will also be servers dedicated to only PC or console players available to join. Just what the upper load on each server will be, has not yet been announced. But it has been stated that upwards of 2000 characters online at once, with peaks of around 4000 players will be expected. What sort of PC is required to play Age of Conan? As of yet the specs are unreleased, but we expect them to be similar to single player RPGs like Elder Scrolls: Oblivion. Check the Technical section of this FAQ for an estimate. What ESRB rating will Age of Conan receive? Currently the game is still pending rating. But when released it is expect to receive an 'M' 17+ rating due to blood, gore, intense violence, strong language, use of alcohol, partial nudity and sexual themes. Will Age of Conan be localized in any countries? Yes, Age of Conan will be localized. At first the game will at least be localized into German and French, with local language, local servers and local customer service. Additional languages may be added. Is there a beta, and can I get in? Closed Beta has began. You can sign up to become a tester here. 2 - Character Classes What races can I choose from? You can choose from one of 3 races: The Cimmerians - the barbarians from the north who are known for their strength in battle; The Aquilonians - cultured and civilized people comparable to Romans and Greeks; The Stygians - known for their magic and are comparable to Egyptians. Are there any advantages or disadvantages between races? Yes. Not all unique classes are available to every race. There will also be significant cosmetic and game story/plot differences. How much can I customize my character? Character customization is very detailed; you can add scars, tattoos, ornaments, etc. You can also scale many portions of the body, arms, calves, even your buttocks and breast size/shape. More than 40 sliders are available just to tweak your face. Will there be gameplay differences between male and female characters? No. Do I pick a class when I start playing? No. You only select your race and appearance at the start of the game. After about level 5 you can select your archtype, and at level 20 you can select further classes. This is to allow players to get a feel for the game before deciding on how they want to play it. Further information is available in the Classes section. What skills will be present in the game? There will be several skills in the game such as hiding, climbing, taunting, etc. Skills are advanced by investing points in them, which are gained from level-ups. However feats, and not skills, will be the main focus of the games. What are feats? Feats are special abilities gained by characters that range from giving new attack moves, to allowing you to wear new sorts of armor. Many feats will be class-specific, meaning that only certain classes can gain them; like for example thievery feats are only available for rouge classes. The feat system will be very elaborate in Age of Conan, allowing you to really customize the business end of your character. How do you obtain feats? Feats become available to you every few levels, however you have to train them before you can unlock them. You can train with computer-controlled trainers who are available throughout the world, who can teach you for a set price. How many levels are there in the game? There will be a total of 80 levels, which you advance through by fighting and developing your character. In addition to that there are also 20 PvP levels, and possible future level-trees for prestige-classes. 3 - Combat How does the combat system work in Age of Conan? One of the key features in Age of Conan is the revolutionary approach to real-time combat. In real combat players are given complete control over their attacks in real-time, and where they aim their attacks. This is a much more hands-on approach to MMO combat, where the players must make strategic decisions regarding how they stand in relation to the enemies they are fighting. What exactly is the Real Combat System? When fighting with a sword, an axe or other melee weapons in Age of Conan, you actually have to direct your weapons in certain directions yourself, in real-time. You have to perform the strikes yourself in one of six different directions. This makes battles much more interesting in terms of action, and you have a far greater control on how your character fights. You can also hit multiple enemies at once, so if happen to slash your sword through two enemies standing next to each other, both of these will suffer damage. What about ranged combat? Rangers will also experience the real combat system. In Age of Conan you will actually have to string the bow yourself, aim and fire manually as you would in a single-player game. Does this mean the character's skills are obsolete? No. Age of Conan has a deep RPG skill system. You will have skills, feats and abilities that make up how powerful and flexible you are. Players will have to raise these through experience points, which they gain through combat. There will also be separate skill evolution in PvP and crafting. The Real Combat System is just a way to add more human skill and interaction to a genre that is known for its rather static and non-interactive combat. What are player-made battle formations? Players will be able to create formations that will increase the participants damage output and defense rating, as well as giving special types of attacks. A formation will have a leader who can designate spots in the formation for players, and the players have to stand at the specific spot for the formation to reach its maximum potential. You can break out of a formation at any time. Many formations work in an almost rock-paper-scissor kind of way. For instance if you have a formation of horse riders thundering down on you, a good pike formation may do the trick in breaking them up. Is it possible to fight while riding on horseback? Yes. You can acquire mounts such as a horse or a camel. Not only is it possible to swing your sword and strike your foe while mounted, but it can actually help you deal greater damage if you plow through your enemies while mounted. Players will be able to equip a lance, a weapon that becomes extremely lethal while mounted if you are able to time your attack right. Will the way you ride determine the damage output? Yes. Your mount can walk, jog or gallop, and the speed at which you travel will determine how much damage you do. At the same time, making a coordinated attack that actually hits while galloping on a horse can be difficult to master. Once you are skilled at it however you can do some serious damage. What level of gore will there be in combat? The gore is described as bloody, barbaric and brutal. How will you actually control your attacks? Apart from the movement and positioning of your character, you will have to use your keyboard or a gamepad to strike in certain directions. There are 6 angles of attack, upper right and left, lower right and left, a swing at the head, and a stab for the torso. Will there be dodging or blocking in the game? There will also be evasive maneuvers in which you can dive out of harms way, and combat stances, which will have various effects on your offensive and defensive capabilities. However you don't actually hit a botton to 'block', the chances of blocking a strike is determined by the skills of the fighters. How is targeting done in Age of Conan? There is no traditional targeting system. Basically if you move close enough and physically hit your enemy, you will cause damage. Will you be able to queue attacks? Yes. But only a few. When you make a strike, the game will put this into queue and perform it when your current strike is complete. So you can line up strikes and attacks automatically. Or you can fight dynamically and perform strikes as they are completed. 4 - Magic How does magic work in Age of Conan? Magic will be handled very differently in Age of Conan. Spellcasting will require special powers and skills of your character combined with an interactive system that will take human skill to master. What is spellweaving? Spellweaving is the art of combining multiple spells into one big spell. The mage enters a vulnerable trans-like state where he is allowed add spells to his spellweave. When finished the mage casts the spellweave, releasing all the spells at once. Are there dangers associated with spellweaving? Yes. Exceeding your mana-pool or adding more spells then your character is capable of casting to a spellweave causes it to fail and backfire. Casting too many spellweaves consecutively without rest may also cause your weave to fail. A backfired spellweave damages and spreads massive amounts of soul corruption to everyone nearby. What is soul corruption? Soul corruption is a level of magical exposure that all characters have. Too much Soul Corruption can have serious consequences. If a player dies with a certain level of Soul Corruption, he will be sent to hell and forced to fight his out before being able to respawn and continue. What is mana? Mana is the magical power of a character. Your mana is drained whenever you cast a spell, but it slowly recovers by itself over time. Your overall mana pool grows over time as your level increases. Will spellcasters be able to summon demons and creatures? Yes. Several spellcasters working together can also create summoning circles by which they can summon special types of demons that cannot be summoned by one spellcaster alone. Summoning circles can fail if they are if not performed correctly, and spread soul corruption to everyone nearby. 5 - Crafting Will there be crafting and trade-skills? Yes. Once a player selects a prestige class, one or more crafting skills become available. What sorts of crafting skills are there? There are 5 crafting different skills that range from allowing you to make items, to constructing siege weapons and entire cities. Further information is available in the Crafting section. How do I craft? Crafting can be performed at specific buildings which are often available at player cities, like smithies. There will also be other requirements, like having certain equipment and the resources before an item can be created. How do I level up my crafting skill? There are six tiers to unlock in each crafting school. Each is unlocked by performing quests for an NPC master crafter. Once all the quests are completed for one tier, you move onto the next tier. Will player-made items be better than other items? Yes and No. Each will have its own advantages. Player-made items are the only ones you can insert gem-sockets into, boosting their capabilities and strengths; while the loot gained from dungeons tends to have its own unique bonuses. Will item quality depend on the resource quality? Yes. The better quality resources and equipment you use will result in better items. Will craftsmen be able to make anything other then items? Yes. They will be able to make siege engines such as catapults and trebuchets that can be used in battles, and those who master the architect skill will also be able to create buildings and place them in the player city. Is it possible to be a craftsman and nothing else? No. You will need to advance in level as well. The Crafter is a prestige class, and prestige classes do not open up until later in the game when you've selected a class at level 20. Of course after that, once you've obtained the prestige class; there is nothing stopping you from just dedicating your life to making things. 6 - Equipment What sorts of equipment will players be able to obtain? Apart from the standard swords and axes, there will be exotic weapons and armor sets for each race. Can anyone use any type of armor or weapon? No. While equipment will not be class specific, it will be feat specific. Meaning if you do not have the associated feat, you will be unable to wield that type of equipment. Will items decay over time? No. Will there be dual-wielding? Yes. Although some weapons will be two-handed. Will players be able to make their own equipment? Yes. Players can craft their own equipment, but some unique items are only available through exploration and dungeoning. Will there be different kinds of item quality? Yes. Quality for crafted items will depend on the resoueces and equipment used to craft it. Quality for found items will depend on their rarity. 7 - Single-Player Can we play single-player in AoC? Yes, in fact it is mandatory in the beginning. Regardless of whether you play single or multi-player, you will always need to connect to the online servers. Even though you are playing alone in an instance in the gameworld you still get the chance to communicate with your friends on the same server. How will single-player work exactly? When you first start you will enter the game as a galley slave. Here you will create your character, and shortly after this a sudden change of events will lead to your character being washed ashore on the on the coast of Zingara. You will have to fight your way through the jungle to reach the city of Tortage, where you will suddenly start seeing other players. From here on you will be able to switch between single and multiplayer. During the day, you're always multiplayer, but during night you're all alone. You can switch between the two by sleeping at the inn. Once you reach level 20, you can leave Tortage, and enter the massive MMO world where you're always multiplayer and where the day and night cycle is dynamic and independent of your actions. What is the point of having single-player? This is to ensure that once you step into the larger world, you will already be an established adventurer with a number of accomplishments under your belt. It also introduces you to the story and background. Furthermore you get to know how to control your character much better, and it also gives you a chance to master a certain skill before you enter the MMO world. Can I return to single-player when I enter the MMO world? No, once you enter the greater MMO world there is no way to return to single-player unless you start a new character. 8 - Guilds Are guilds supported in Age of Conan? Yes, a guild-support system will be incorporated in the game to allow players to easily create and join guilds. However there are going to be requirements that need to be met before a guild can be created; like for example a certain number of members and least a level of 20. However guild-members can join starting from level 1. What benefits do guild-members receive? Players can expect to gain perks such as special resource collecting and crafting abilities only available to guild-members. Players can also take part in large-scale warfare as guilds compete in a special PvP area called the Border Kingdom. Only guilds are allowed to construct and attack fortresses called battlekeeps. These battlekeeps are essentially mini-cities that function as the headquarters for guilds, while also providing a number of services for the guild-members. Will choosing a particular class help my guild? Players can choose prestige classes, which play a critical role in assisting your guild. More information about Prestige Classes is available in the classes section. Can guilds have their own flags, colors and insignia? It is too early to tell, although it is likely some sort of guild insignia system will be implemented. Can players store items and gold in their guild? Yes. There will vaults that allow players to store their valuables, and share items with their fellow guild-mates. Another feature would be a taxation system, which allows the guild leader to set a certain percentage of tax on all the guild-members. Whenever a player gains money in any way, a set portion of the gold will be transferred to the guild treasury. Can guilds build unique guild buildings? Yes. Players can create entire cities with a numerous different buildings. There is also a town hall in each city, which serves as the meeting-place for the entire guild. It is also likely that a fast-travel system will be implemented that allows you to quickly get to your guild city from certain points in the world. Do you have to join a guild to progress through the game? No. Joining a guild is not mandatory to progress through the game; Age of Conan is still very much playable by solo-players. However with that said, there are going to be many features that require large groups and guilds to exploit. Like for example: raids, PvP and boss encounters. 9 - City Building and City Defense Can player build cities in Age of Conan? Yes. Players will be allowed to build battlekeeps in PvP areas and cities in PvE areas. Once a guild is rich and powerful enough, it will be able to purchase land and start building a settlement. It can take all the guild-members working together for weeks or possibly months to complete an entire city. Can cities be built anywhere? No. You can only build cities in specially designated PvP and PvE areas in the world. How many player cities can be built on one server? In PvE areas virtually an unlimited amount of player cities can be built. Instancing will be used to allow every guild an opportunity to build a city. Once a certain area has been filled with cities, the server will automatically create a duplicate area to allow further building. However in PvP areas building space will be limited forcing guilds to compete for prized land. How many cities can a guild build? A guild can build a maximum of 2 cities. One in a PvE area, and one in a PvP area. What is the actual process of building a city? Once your guild has purchased land on which to build upon, you will need someone skilled in architecture to place and construct buildings. Resources will also be needed such as iron, wood and stone. Once the guild-members have collected the required resources, architects can begin construction on the purchased land. What sort of buildings can be constructed? There are numerous buildings that can be constructed in a city, everything ranging from town-halls to smithies, taverns and shops. You can man these shops with computer-controlled vendors and turn your city into a center of trading and business. Eventually you can even build stone walls to further protect your settlement. Can other players attack our city? No, your city cannot be attacked by other players unless it is built in a PvP area as a battlekeep. Instead there will be computer controlled enemies who will periodically assault your city. Once you start building your city, computer-controlled characters will start building another city that is not far from your own. You will see buildings eventually be constructed, and once a barracks is created enemy soldiers will begin attacking your city. Eventually they will grow in size and begin using trebuchets and catapults alongside soldiers. Can non-guild members protect a city? Anyone currently inside your city can help protect it from invaders. The guild can also hire computer-controlled guards that can help protect the city. Can non-guild members visit our city? Yes. Everyone can visit any city unless there are city walls and gates that are explicitly set to deny outside members entrance. 10 - PvP and Siege Combat What is PvP? Player verses Player combat. What is PvE? The opposite of PvP, Player verses Enviroment. Whenever the player is fighting against computer-controlled characters or monsters, he is playing PvE. Where can players engage in PvP? In special designated PvP-only areas like the Border Kingdom. In these areas, players can attack each other openly. Can players fight each other outside PvP areas? Yes. However both players have to consent before fighting. What are the rewards of PvP? No items are looted, instead when a player kills another player a certain amount of the killed player's money is exchanged for 'blood money' and given to the winner. Blood money is separate from regular money and can be used to purchase special equipment and benefits that are not available otherwise. PvP also has a separate advancement system. What happens if you die? Upon death, you gain a temporary stat drain, and ressurect at a temple or other spawn point, assuming you didn't have too much soul corruption. PvP has a separate advancement system? Yes. There are 20 different PvP levels in addition to normal skill levels. You gain PvP levels by fighting other players. Advancing in PvP levels gives you special powers and abilities. Will the Real Time combat system be used in PvP? Yes. Although some limitations may be present to prevent exploits. Are there different modes for PvP? There will be three main PvP modes: siege, mini-games and drunken brawling. Drunken brawling? You can participate in drunken brawling at any tavern. Consuming more alcohol increases how hard had you hit, yet decreases your chance of hitting. Your experience and equipment plays no part in these fights, it all depends on your level of drunkenness and what type of weapon you are using. Border Kingdom? A massive open PvP area where guilds and players can openly compete. Larger guilds can set up battlekeeps, and smaller guilds can capture strategically placed towers. Battlekeeps? Battlekeeps are player built structures that are maintained and protected by guilds. They can only be built in the Border Kingdom and can be captured or destroyed by rival guilds. How can rival guilds capture battlekeeps and towers? Enemy guilds can only attack at specific times. An attacking guild will have to set up a war tent to begin a siege. The defenders are allowed a short period of time to gather their forces. Once the assault begins, the attackers are free to attack the battlekeep with all means possible; including trebuchets and catapults. 11 - Technical Information What graphics engine is Age of Conan built upon? Age of Conan is based on Funcom's proprietary DreamWorld engine. The engine has gone through many iterations since work was started on the MMO Anarchy Online in 1996. Today it appears as one of the most advanced MMO graphics engines in the industry, able to render locations, characters and effects that set a new graphical standard in the MMO industry. What sort of new technology does the game feature? Age of Conan is the first MMO to be released with DirectX 10 technology - the next generation DirectX technology. By using this we are able to go to even greater lengths than before, creating some truly incredible sights and sounds that are unheard of in this genre. Will Age of Conan use instancing technology? Yes. Funcom pioneered the use the instancing technology in the MMO genre in Anarchy Online. Instancing will also be used in Age of Conan, but efforts are being made to ensure that the game world feels large, persistent and massive. It can be used in, for instance, dungeons to make the experience much more enjoyable for the players or to improve performance in areas with many players. Having to fight over spawn points is no fun, and instancing technology can eliminate this problem. Will the game be presented in surround sound? Yes, a 7.1 surround system will be used for Age of Conan. Many of the key computer-controlled characters in the game feature voice acting, and a lot of time has been invested in making some epic scores for the game as well as creating an incredibly realistic soundscape. What music system will be used? A special kind of mixer is in the works, ensuring that while music stays relevant to your location and situation, and you never quite hear the same track twice. Here are the sample tracks that have been released so far. What does it mean to be a Windows Vista launch title? This means that Age of Conan is collaborating with Microsoft in the development to make sure it takes advantage of all the new gaming specific features found in Windows Vista. As the first MMO game Age of Conan will also feature DX10 support, which brings an even more detailed gameworld to the players. The game can also be played in DX9. What are the minimum requirements to play the game? The minimum requirements for Age of Conan have not yet been finalized. The game will be highly scalable so you can adjust the settings according to the performance of your PC. What are the minimum requirements to play the game? Recommended: 3 Ghz Intel Pentium 4 or equivalent processor 1 GB RAM System RAMATI X800 series, NVIDIA GeForce 6800 series, or higher video card Minimum: 2 Ghz Intel Pentium 4 or equivalent processor 512MB System RAM 128MB Direct3D compatible video card and DirectX 9.0 compatible driver 8x DVD-ROM drive 4 GB free hard disk space Keyboard, Mouse Note these are only estimates. Although the game will be highly scalable so you can adjust the settings according to the performance of your PC. How do players communicate with each other? Mainly through chat text which appears in a window on the screen. You are, of course, free to communicate with people through voice chats but this is not an integrated feature in Age of Conan at launch. Players will also be able to carry out a myriad of different emotes, each accompanied with vivid animations that has been motion captured by real people. How many players can play on each server? There will be servers dedicated to only PC or console players available to join. Just what the upper load on each server will be has not been announced, but it has been stated that upwards of 2000 characters online at once, with peaks of around 4000 players will be expected. How many players can be visible on-screen at once? Seeing massive siege battles are such a large part of Age of Conan, but as of yet no information has been released. Are there any console versions planned? Yes. An Xbox 360 version is in the works. Although release for other consoles has not been announced.