Age of Conan

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Age of Conan - Hyborian Adventures
AoC logo.png
Studio Funcom
Publisher Eidos Interactive
Erstveröffent-
lichung		 PC May 20, 2008 May 23, 2008
United StatesUnited States
European UnionEuropean Union
platform PC ( Windows XP , Vista )
Game engine Dreamworld
genre MMORPG
Subject Fantasy
Game mode Multiplayer , single player
control Keyboard , mouse
system advantages
preconditions		 Processor with 3 GHz clock frequency, 1 GB RAM, 3D graphics card with 128 MB and Shader Model 2.0, 32 GB hard disk space
medium DVD
language German , English , French , Spanish
Age rating
USK from 18
PEGI recommended for ages 18+
information 400,000 active accounts (as of May 2008)

Age of Conan - Hyborian Adventures is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) released on May 23, 2008 for Microsoft Windows XP and Vista . The release for the Xbox 360 console was announced by game director Craig Morrison , but not implemented.

The game is set in the world of Hyboria, invented by the novelist Robert E. Howard , in which the plot of his fantasy stories about the title hero Conan the Cimmerian take place, which were filmed as Conan the Barbarian in 1982 . The video game distributed by Eidos Interactive on DVD-ROM was developed by the Oslo- based game manufacturer Funcom and appears in Europe in German, English, French and Spanish. The Norwegian musician Knut Haugen was responsible for the soundtrack of the game , who brought in the singer Helene Bøksle to support the vocal parts.

In Germany, the game was not approved for young people by the self-monitoring entertainment software in accordance with Section 14 JuSchG. In the first five weeks, the publisher sold more than a million licenses of the game.

Pawns

Cosplayers dressed like the Hyborians in Age of Conan

When creating his character, the player can choose from three races of Hyboria: Aquilonians , Cimmerians and Stygians , and with the "Rise of the Godslayer" expansion, the Khitai . He can make visual adjustments such as body type, hair color, tattoos, facial features and gender.

There are also 12 character classes to choose from, which are typically divided into the four archetypes soldier , villain , priest and magician . The choice of people restricts the character classes that are available for selection. The subclasses of the individual archetypes differ from one another in terms of the damage dealt, the ability to wear armor of different weights or the efficiency of healing spells.

  • Soldiers can carry heavy armor (from lvl 30) and plate armor (from lvl 60) more attacks than other classes.
    • The conqueror has skills that raise the fighting attributes of his own allies, and at the same time can reduce the effectiveness of his attackers, as well as revive allies in battle. He can wield two-handed or two-handed weapons.
    • The Dark Templar drains hit points , mana and stamina from his opponents , which he can distribute to his own group; he builds magical protective walls between himself and his attackers and lowers their defenses with unholy spells. Armed with a talisman instead of a shield, he can sacrifice his protection for more damage.
    • The Guardian , more than any other warrior class, is geared towards surviving even the toughest attacks and, as a tank, to attract the attention of opponents. To do this, he uses a one-handed weapon and a shield or a two-handed polearm.
  • Rogues can do a lot of damage with weapon attacks from ambush.
    • The assassin ambushes his target with poisoned dagger blades or unholy power.
    • The barbarian uses brutal force to crush his opponents with two-handed or even with two one-handed weapons.
    • The ranger is primarily designed as a ranged fighter with bows or crossbows, but can also defend himself in close combat.
  • Priests primarily keep themselves and others alive through healing spells, but they can also deal a lot of damage in the process.
    • The bear shaman is a healer who acts in close combat with two-handed hammers or clubs. With the help of his manifestations he can trigger various effects on his opponents or on his allies.
    • Mitra priests use sacred magic to purify their opponents or to protect their allies.
    • Enforcer sets use the power of lightning to crush their opponents and to aid their allies.
  • Mages attack their targets with spells or summoned creatures.
    • In addition to his attack spells with lightning and fire, a demonologist has the option of calling a demon helper into battle.
    • Heralds of Xotli are hand-to-hand fighters who can turn into demons for a short time in order to burn their enemies with their unholy fire.
    • The necromancer summons and commands undead that weaken and attack his targets. To do this, he can use spells of unholy magic and deadly cold.

From level 20 the player is able to learn the six available resource gathering professions. You can choose from lumberjacks , weavers , fur traders , stone cutters , prospectors and miners . You don't have to commit to certain collecting activities, you can learn all of them. Learning takes place by solving quests , whereby learning the collecting skills for raw materials of higher quality is linked to the character level of the player.

From level 40 it is possible for the player to take up two of the five existing trades. Selectable professions, the profession of arms blacksmith , the Armorsmith , the architect , the alchemists and jewelcutting . In these professions, too, learning new recipes and increasing handicraft skills is done by solving quests (e.g. making a set of medium armor).

With the expansion Rise of the Godslayer , an additional skill system has been introduced with which the character can be further specialized through alternative advancement points in the categories of talent, mastery and competence. New special skills that can be used particularly tactically are introduced via the so-called discount system.

particularities

The battle system of Age of Conan has some peculiarities that distinguish it from other genre-typical games .

To be more realistic, all melee attacks in Age of Conan are designed as open attacks . This means that they hit all enemies that are within range of the weapon. In close combat, a distinction is made between five different directions of attack, which in their execution hit the opponent from different sides. This is important because the NPCs adjust their defense very quickly to the preferred direction of attack of the player. Furthermore, to activate special attack skills in close combat, a single selection of this skill is not sufficient, but then a successfully executed strike combination.

For the character classes who prefer to work with magical attacks, this directional attack method is also available in close combat, but only reduced to three attack directions and not when using spells. In return, these classes get the ability later in the game to increase the effectiveness of their spells through so-called spellweaving or magic weaving, of course for a price. There are 6 levels of magic weaving, with a random penalty on the magician or priest upon reaching a new level within 10 seconds.

There is also a special feature in Age of Conan when it comes to healing other characters. All healing spells are not related to a selected target, but heal all friendly targets that are in a certain area in front of the healer. As a result, it is also necessary here that the healer and the other members of his group pay attention to their positioning in the fight.

On the software side, Age of Conan actively supports the use of two processor cores for the computational processes involved in multi-core processors. Since 2009 Age of Conan also has the long-announced DirectX 10 support.

Monthly charges

There are currently two payment models for Age of Conan. There is the possibility to play the game for free or to subscribe to a premium.

A monthly fee is required for the premium version, which can be paid via credit , debit card or direct debit . This is around 15 euros per month, with discounts being granted for immediate payment for a longer period of time. The purchase price of the game includes a free month of game time, which is activated by specifying a payment method in the user account. When using a prepaid card, payment is made before the free month is activated.

The free-to-play model has been available since July 1, 2011 . The game is now also financed through an in-game item shop. For F2P players there are some restrictions in the selection of the available races, classes and access to instances.

criticism

Criticism has been raised both within the Age of Conan - Hyborian Adventures community and from the press. The game had many bugs when it was released, which were only fixed bit by bit long after the release. However, some errors still exist today. Among other things, the player-versus-player system ( PvP ) and the crafting system were not yet fully implemented or did not work properly at the time of release . The independent games magazine gamona.de judged: “It simply cannot be that a promising product with so many problems is published. Not even if it is an MMOG. "(Rating 75%)

Funcom announced several extensive bug fixes and improvements, which so far have mainly been implemented with the release of the revised PvP system and new areas such as the Ymir Pass and the servant district.

Critify rating (average rating of all known magazines and internet portals): 84

Awards

Age of Conan received a lot of attention even before it was released. The game was named the best MMOG at the fair both at the Electronic Entertainment Expo 2005 by the editors of the Gamespot website and in 2006 by Yahoo , Gamespot and Gamespy . It was also named the best non-stop online game by IGN Entertainment . After its presentation at E3 2007, the title received three more awards. In the same year, the game was presented at the Games Convention in Leipzig and recognized by German press representatives as the GC's best online game .

German version censored

In contrast to the uncut European version, which also contains the German voice output, the German version of Age of Conan is censored. In the game, four of the “finishing moves” have been removed and many more have been censored. It is no longer possible to cut off the head or limbs of opponents. The censorship is activated as soon as you enter the German CD key during registration.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ computerbase.de : message from May 27, 2008 (accessed on May 28, 2008)
  2. ↑ Announcement of February 22, 2010 on the Xbox 360 release date ( Memento of the original of February 28, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (German, accessed April 9, 2010) @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.giga.de
  3. ↑ http://www.usk.de/64_Pruefdatenbank.htm?id=64&s=search&title=Hyborian+Adventures&publisher=&genre=0&system=0&freigabe=0&s.x=0&s.y=0&s=search Genealogie {Dead Link | url = http : //www.usk.de/64_Pruefdatenbank.htm? id = 64 & s = search & title = Hyborian + Adventures & publisher = & genre = 0 & system = 0 & approval = 0 & s.x = 0 & s.y = 0 & s = search | date = 2018-08 | archivebot = 2018 -08-22 10:06:46 InternetArchiveBot}} usk.de (link not available)
  4. ↑ Preliminary Announcement of Results for the 12 months to 30 June 2008 ( Memento from December 31, 2015 in the Internet Archive )
  5. ↑ Spieleflut.de refuses to review
  6. ↑ Test at gamona.de, 75%
  7. ↑ http://pressreleases.cnetnetworks.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=67325&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=716034&highlight=phia {Dead Link | url = http: //pressreleases.cnetnetworks.com/phoenix.zhtml? C = 67325 & p = irol-newsArticle & ID = 716034 & highlight = | date = 2018-08 | archivebot = 2018-08-22 10:06:46 InternetArchiveBot}} (link not available)
  8. ↑ yahoo.com ( Memento of May 15, 2008 in the Internet Archive ): Review of E3 2006 (English, accessed May 5, 2008)
  9. ↑ gamespot.com : Review of E3 2006 (English, accessed May 5, 2008)
  10. ↑ gamespy.com : Review of E3 2006 (accessed May 5, 2008)
  11. ↑ http://community.ageofconan.com/conan/frontend/ageGate/index.html?dURL=https://web.archive.org/web/20081203023737/http://community.ageofconan.com/wsp/conan /frontend.cgi?func=publish.show&template=content&func_id=1740&table=CONTENT (link not available)
  12. ↑ http://www.gc-germany.com/index.php?page=166 registersToter Link | url = http: //www.gc-germany.com/index.php? Page = 166 | date = 2018 -08 | archivebot = 2018-08-22 10:06:46 InternetArchiveBot}} gc-germany.com (link not available)

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