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KINGDOM COME
Director Gaute Godager Reveals Why Age of Conan - and the Barbarian Himself - Rule
LQGaming Services:: Part of Conan's appeal is that he's a one-man army. How do you make players feel the same way?
Gaute Godager: Our unique, hands-on action combat system has been developed exactly with that emotion in mind. You feel like you're right there on the battlefield fighting. As characters progress upwards in level, their combat abilities will improve, and they will become capable of achieving unbelievable feats. As to whether or not they can match blades with the King himself in one-on-one combat, well. that remains to be seen.
Although our "dance of steel" for melee fighters is unique and very exciting, I need to point out that we have done many of the same things for other play styles. You can also feel like a Shemitan master archer as you (in full first-person mode) aim and snipe at opponents' various body parts. You'll feel like a Stygian Arch Wizard too as you actually weave your spells together in a totally unique mix, to create a completely NEW spell on the fly. You'll additionally feel like an Aquilonian knight as you, in first-person, charge your horse towards your opponent and let your lance lift them into the air or let your lowered sword slice the head off of your enemy.
In previous interviews, we have focused only on the melee combat. But Conan was so much more than just a swordsman. He was a womanizer, a thief, a king, a knight, a leader and an expert archer. All these aspects of his personality, plus the dreaded dark mage, will be modeled in our game in new, unique ways. The spell-weaving, for instance, is a brand new system where players use their spells as COMPONENTS to a larger, more devastating spell effect - perhaps one that's too large for them even. Maybe it might blow up in their face, taking the wizard down in a blaze. That's the dark side of magic truly unique to the Hyborian world.
LQGaming Services:: Wow. that does sound awesome. But do tell - what type of characters/classes can audiences play here? And what kind of skills/powers can they acquire?
Gaute Godager: I would like to talk about that in more detail later this spring, if that is OK?
LQGaming Services:: Hah - do we really have the choice of saying no? Anyhow, you've spoken to this a bit before, but how will Age of Conan truly feel different from all the other fantasy MMOs out there?
Gaute Godager: I think I have mentioned many differences to other online games. First off, this is not only an MMO. We have hands-on action combat. We have single-player, story-driven gameplay. We have first-person archery, spell-weaving, formations, sieges. It would be easier to list the similarities instead, so people won't think that the game is too different!
LQGaming Services:: Is play designed for long-term sessions or quick, 30-minute style encounters?
Gaute Godager: We want both types of gameplay to be available to the player, but have it so that the 30-minute encounters are generated more for solo play, and the longer adventures are geared towards groups or guilds.
"In previous interviews, we focused only on melee combat. But Conan was so much more than just a swordsman. He was a womanizer, a thief, a king, a knight, a leader and expert archer ... "
LQGaming Services:: : In the comic books and novels, Conan's adventures usually begin when he stumbles over some old cave, castle or hidden underground city. How do players pick up quests here?
Gaute Godager: They pick up quests by talking to NPCs, finding areas, killing monsters, solving puzzles and in many other ways.
LQGaming Services:: Will there be any role for crafters/merchants in the title, or is it all about the bloodthirsty warriors and spell-slinging mages?
Gaute Godager: Yes, we have social classes and trader classes. These are available to any player, but only from level 40. Conan has a major focus on action, violence and exploration in the beginning. Getting to level 40 should be fairly easy, though, and once there, people can chose from four different social/prestige classes. Here you can build houses, weapons, armor, jewelry, potions or other consumables.
LQGaming Services:: Player vs. player: What's the inside scoop?
Gaute Godager: We're featuring three different types of PvP combat:
A) Massive sieges, where guilds fight other guilds for status and benefits.
B) Group-focused mini-games and one-on-one arena battles.
C) The unique Conan-only "Drunken Brawling," where you fight not with your normal combat abilities or level, but rather with stools and based on the amount of alcohol you have consumed. This is a totally new and lighthearted approach to PvP that we think many players will love.
We also want to see what fans' interest level is like in different types of free PvP servers, where more areas are PvP-enabled, more level ranges PvP-enabled, etc. Oh, and we have a PvP mentoring system where we "balance out" the level ranges in groups to even the odds as well, giving players access to some of the top-notch powers in their level tier.
LQGaming Services:: Last, but not least - Conan's quite the fashionable type. Just how good would you yourself look in a loincloth?
Gaute Godager: [Laughs] Bad! But maybe I can mention that Hyboria is so much more fashionable in and of itself than simply in terms of the barbarian look. I think I would look quite dashing in the deep blue and leather Aquilonian army gear. We have really spent a lot of time researching the universe's historical references, and where Howard got his inspiration, to lift the graphical quality of the Conan world. In other words: Gone are the cheesy '80s costumes, here be style.
[Ed. Note: Age of Conan's Product Manager would like to note that Gaute is shy and that he and the entire crew would look fantastic in loincloths, but she lost the battle to clothe them this way in the game, sadly.]
- Scott Steinberg
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