Funcom suggests you allow your friend to use your game DVDs, as that not only allows you to spend quality time together, but also helps them avoid the $2.99 charge they'll incur from downloading the trial client (though they do get an extra 3 days to make up for the cost).

Yahtzee plays through the first 30 or so levels of the game as a naked Stygian woman, and if that doesn't give you the complete Age of Conan experience, I don't know what will.

Zero Punctuation [The Escapist]

So I posed he question to him. "When will Age of Conan be complete enough for a full review?" His answer? "About a month."So there you go folks, directly from the product manager. Age of Conan should be review ready in a month, when the PVP portions are firmly in place.

I really sympathize with Erling here. To have to stand there and admit that your game - already on retail shelves for nearly 2 months - will be finished in a month? This is why he makes the big bucks. Well, that and his awesome hair.

UPDATE: Eidos contacted me this morning to give their side of the story, so in all fairness, here it is. According to them, they were responding to a question about when the PVP update would be implemented, and not my question about when I should review the game. I posed both questions separately and would not have posted the story if I felt there was a question of validity.

While 700K is nothing to sneeze at, it's still a great deal less than a million. Just something to ponder the next time you see one of those snazzy shipping number press releases. Speaking of press releases, hit the jump for Funcom and Eidos loving on some sales charts.

Age of Conan continues to dominate retail charts

- The best selling PC game of May continues to hold the #1 spot in most markets - - More than 700.000 gamers have registered an Age of Conan account so far -

Durham, USA – June 30, 2008 – Eidos and Funcom are proud to announce that Age of Conan continues to dominate the PC sales charts in all markets where the game is available. Over the last few weeks it has remained the overall #1 PC game in most European markets, whilst also performing tremendously well on several all-format charts. In the US, Age of Conan impressively conquered the #1 PC spot for the first two weeks of available NPD data. Due to the amazing interest surrounding the game, more than 700.000 gamers have now signed up for an Age of Conan account. In the second month after release it is also clear that Age of Conan has taken the position as the undisputed #2 subscription MMO in the western world.

When Age of Conan stormed into retail stores as what we believe to be the most pre-ordered original PC game in history, it instantly became the best selling PC game of May. The pace at which Age of Conan sold made it one of the fastest selling PC games of all times, and Funcom and Eidos are therefore very satisfied to see the positive sales trend continue. As all countries report sales differently, it is not possible to get a complete overview of the exact box sales at the time of writing, but Age of Conan remains the top selling PC game in most all released markets. This includes being the #1 overall PC game in June in the Nordic countries, Oceania, Germany, France and Spain, as well a top three contender in all other markets where the game is out. No substantial sales data for June is yet available from the US market, but Age of Conan was the #1 PC game in the latest official NPD update.

“That Age of Conan remains #1 in retail stores several weeks after release is of incredible importance to us, and proves that the game has a large potential beyond the early adopters,” said Morten Larssen, VP of Sales & Marketing in Funcom. “With more than 700.000 accounts created so far we have a fantastic platform to build from, and we will continue our marketing spend to further drive numbers in the months to come. It also means that Funcom can dedicate significant development resources on evolving the game even further, naturally giving us a great hope for the future of Age of Conan.”

“We are incredibly pleased to see Age of Conan turning into an MMO phenomenon,” said Gaute Godager, Game Director on Age of Conan. “As an MMO company we know that a good start is just the beginning for a virtual world. All we care about now is to make Age of Conan into an even better game, and we have extensive plans to ensure that Age of Conan remains a top MMO alternative for many years to come.”

For more information about the game or to sign up for the community, please visit www.ageofconan.com

"But you know... I'm going to be a bit cheeky now, but if you've been to McDonald's for four or five years, and had your burger and your Coke, sometimes it's great to just have a great steak and a glass of good wine.

"I think that's what we're trying to do. It's more expensive, it's not for everyone and perhaps it's not as easily accessible as WOW is. But it could be more meaty," Godager finished.

At least when I order from McDonald's 9 times out of 10 they put everything I ordered in the bag, Gaute. Hit up the link the see Godager explain why "playing it safe" caused his steak to be served raw without the wine. Gordon Ramsay would have completely lost his shit.

Funcom's Gaute Godager [Eurogamer]

It all starts out later this month with a major PVP update, which they are calling "To The Death." The update will institute consequences and rewards for engaging in PVP battles, including the promised PVP leveling system and a Fugitive system, that will make it easier for other players to hunt you down the more lower-level characters you kill.

Other planned updates include guild alliance warfare, allowing guilds to team up and even form alliance keeps while fighting over "wonders of the world" that grant special powers, a system of in-game achievements called Powerpoints that will reward players for completing various tasks with points they can spend on special gear and powers, new areas to quest in, and a combo-based dancing system motion captured from professional dance artists. Joy! Hit the jump for more details on the evolution of Age of Conan.

Funcom and Eidos Announce Massive Evolution Plans for Age of Conan

- Massive PvP Update in June – New Areas and Dungeons – Powerpoints and Guild Alliance Warfare to Come –

DURHAM, N.C.—(BUSINESS WIRE)—After the incredible initial success for Age of Conan, a whole world of MMO players are eagerly anticipating the future plans for one of the most popular online games ever released. While Age of Conan has already evolved massively since launch, numerous expansive additions are yet to come. Funcom and Eidos are therefore proud to lift the veil on Age of Conan’s promising future, and today the two companies reveal selected features which are now in production.

“While we have enjoyed the initial success for Age of Conan, we know that a solid launch is but the start when it comes to the MMO genre,” said Gaute Godager, Game Director on Age of Conan. "As we look ahead we are preparing a huge amount of new content, and what we are presenting today will evolve Age of Conan even further. It’s naturally an incredibly ambitious update plan for a live MMO game, but we are certain our players would want nothing less.”

Without further ado, here are some of the cool things to expect in the months to come:

PvP evolved – To the Death

The great combat system in Age of Conan has taken MMO fighting to a new level of fun, and Player versus Player combat plays a major part in this. As a result, a massive new PvP update is planned for late June. Aptly called To the death, this update brings more consequence and rewards to PvP, and an important part of it is the Fugitive system. The more lower level players you kill, the easier it is for others to hunt you down. In addition, ten PvP levels with additional ranks will be introduced, as well as specific gear and weapons for PvP.

Guild Alliance Warfare

Preproduction has started on a MASSIVE free update which will come later this year. Currently titled “Kingship!,” large clusters of guilds will be able to form alliances, and rule and conquer on a massive scale. Everyone in a guild alliance will play a part in this system, and together they can even erect unique looking alliance Battlekeeps. The alliances can also fight over, and build, culture-specific “wonders of the world,” with a direct link to higher powers! As part of the system Funcom will also facilitate larger amounts of players in massive battles.

Powerpoints

This fall, a unique reward and character evolution system called Powerpoints will be introduced. This rewards active in-game behavior, and allows for gathering points through numerous methods, including owning a Battlekeep, playing the end-game at level 80, winning PvP matches, or simply being an active guild member or subscribing to the game. There will be many ways to obtain Powerpoints, and numerous rewards, ranging from exclusive Powerfeats to weapons, armor and potions. Powerpoints may even allow you to level faster!

New areas and dungeons

You won’t need to wait for an expansion pack to explore exciting new areas. In the next period, Funcom will include several new areas, as well as evolving already existing areas. This includes a brand new dungeon in Aquilonia, reshaping three dungeons in Stygia, and an entire mountain range in Cimmeria!

Improved player-made villages and Battlekeep systems

While the guild alliance system brings a whole new level to the game, Funcom will continue to expand the existing player-made areas and the systems running them. A focus on evolving the massive elements of the game even further continues, ranging from placing NPCs in the cities to more choices and benefits.

Social updates

An MMO is nothing without a good social scene. While Conan is all about crushing your enemies, social enhancements are also getting some love. A fun example is the combo-based dancing system which is now coming to the game, and it’s entirely motion captured by professional dance artists.

More adventures

Age of Conan has received tremendous praise for immersion and the great voice-over quests. This is but the start of the adventure, and numerous new quests are coming into the game, spread across the entire world and across the level ranges. Soon 60 additional quests will also get full voice acting, further improving immersion.

Embracing community feedback

Since launch several enhancements and fixes have been implemented to Age of Conan, and Funcom has continuously staffed up the service departments to improve customer satisfaction. This has already resulted in a better game experience, but the work will continue. At the heart of all of this stands the Age of Conan community. A lot of the upcoming improvements to the game will be based directly on community feedback, and the wishes and concerns players have when it comes to the future of the game will always be taken into account.

By reading the community websites, official forums and the monthly Clan of Conan newsletter you can expect additional information about upcoming features and released updates, as well as an arena to give your feedback. A new Clan of Conan newsletter is also going live today, with more detail on the upcoming features. http://funcom.cachefly.net/WebFiles/Newsletter/Issue17/

That's Turbonegro in the pic above, by the way, sporting spooky eyeliner and a crossbow. Oh-kay!

The first disc has the in-game orchestral tunes, or at least the ones Avenstroup Haugen considers to be "the very best." The second CD has more orchestral music plus the Turbonegro tracks, and the announcement mentions that the band's lead singer Hank Von Helvete says he's read "every Conan comic." How many comics are there, guys? I actually don't know.

Helvete's result is apparently a "rock-anthem of Imotephian evil." I don't know what that means, either. Plenty of info on these musicians follows the jump; the announcement doesn't specify the soundtrack's release date, but says it will "soon be available at music retailers across the Western hemisphere." Plus, the first disc is already available on iTunes, so have at, iPodders.

Funcom Announce Age of Conan Soundtrack

Special Cooperation with Scandinavian Punk Rock Legends Turbonegro Leads to Brand New Conan Song

Launch Event RED Video Now Available – CD 1 Already for Sale on iTunes

DURHAM, N.C.—(BUSINESS WIRE)—In the wake of the wildly successful Age of Conan launch, Funcom is proud to announce the release of a special Age of Conan soundtrack CD. Published by Grappa Music and composed by Knut Avenstroup Haugen, the 2CD soundtrack sends the listener on a spellbinding musical journey throughout Hyboria, while diving into the darkest, deepest dungeons of Vanaheim along the way.

The first CD focuses on the in-game orchestral music, and the captivating score delivers something for all moods, ranging from the lush and serene to the primal and decadent. These are the very best tracks from the game, as selected and produced by composer Knut Avenstroup Haugen. Several great musicians have contributed to the score, among others the amazing Helene Bøksle and a large choir including members of the Norwegian State Opera Choir and other prominent musicians and singers. This allows for tremendous variation in the musical experience, and will soon be available at music retailers across the western hemisphere.

“It has been a great honor to create the score for Age of Conan. To provide musical content for a universe that is so vast, so varied and so rich has been a huge undertaking, but an experience that never ceased to be immensely enjoyable,” said Knut Avenstroup Haugen, producer and composer on the Age of Conan soundtrack.

As an added treat the soundtrack also comes with a special bonus CD, which includes eight more orchestral songs from the game. Not only that, it features no less than three songs by infamous rockers Turbonegro. After their legendary performance at the Age of Conan launch event, Turbonegro shifted into creative high gear and recorded a brand new song dedicated to their favorite barbarian, appropriately entitled “Destroy All Monsters”. With lead singer Hank Von Helvete claiming to have read “every Conan comic”, it’s clear that the creative partnership goes well beyond the ordinary, the result being a rock-anthem of Imotephian evil, capable of kicking any ancient Hyborian beast out of their thousand year long beauty sleep. Turbo-connoisseur's should also note that this is the very first recording the band does with their new drummer Tomas Dahl, hence the thunderous drum rolls opening the song. In addition to brand new “Destroy All Monsters”, the bonus CD also includes two additional songs from Turbonegro.

“It’s just perfect that Age of Conan is supported with a song from Turbonegro – the two hardest rocking pieces of entertainment to ever come out of Norway,” said Hank Von Helvete, lead singer of Turbonegro. “As a huge Conan fan, I am proud to be part of this statement against modern life boredom and common life impotency. Heads must and shall roll.”

During the last few years, Turbonegro has significantly increased their public appeal, and their fan-club now boasts more than 2600 world-wide chapters! The band has been featured in numerous feature films and TV-series, most notably CSI, Jackass (MTV-series + both feature movies), Wildboyz (title song), Viva La Bam and Dirty Sanchez, as well as the game Rock Band II. As a result of their incredible music and independent attitude, two tribute albums have been made, where bands like HIM, Queens Of The Stone Age, Therapy, Satyricon and others have given tribute.

You can already purchase CD1 of the soundtrack on iTunes, while CD2 will become available during June. The physical version of the soundtrack CD will become available across Europe in June, and is expected to be released in North America shortly after. Please visit www.ageofconan.com for more info about the game.

Should you wish to hear an excerpt from the orchestral part of the soundtrack, you can now download the official trailer from the Conan launch event. The video was made using multiple RED cameras, thereby utilizing the best available camera technology. You can download the video from the media section at http://community.ageofconan.com

About Funcom - Funcom is an independent developer and publisher of online games for PC, consoles and mobile platforms. Funcom has provided outstanding entertainment since 1993 and continues to expand its track-record of more than twenty released games. Recent titles include 'The Longest Journey', 'Anarchy Online' and 'Dreamfall: The Longest Journey'. For corporate information please visit www.funcom.com. For information about Funcom games visit www.anarchy-online.com, www.dreamfall.com, www.darkdaysarecoming.com or www.ageofconan.com. Funcom is listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange under the ticker FUNCOM.

About Turbonegro – formed in 1989, and are Turbonegro are now one of Scandinavia’s leading mainstream rock bands, and at the same time international punk rock legends! Based on a musical blend of hardcore punk, metal and classic rock, they created a monster entirely to their own specifications and let it loose upon the world with unforeseen success. During the last few years, Turbonegro have significantly increased their public appeal, their fan-club now has more than 2600 world-wide chapters, and the band has been featured in numerous feature films and TV-series, most notably CSI and different MTV-spinoff’s like Jackass, Wildboyz (title song), Viva La Bam and Dirty Sanchez. Visit www.turbonegro.com for more information

About Knut Avenstroup Haugen – Knut was educated as a composer and pianist at the conservatories of Kristiansand (Norway), Utrecht (The Netherlands) and the University of Oslo. In addition to game music, his works include orchestral music and chamber music. Last fall, two large orchestral works were commissioned and performed at the Oslo Opera Festival. Knut has been involved in the Age of Conan project for more than three years and has composed, arranged, mixed and produced the score.

About Conan Properties International LLC - Conan Properties International LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Paradox Entertainment Inc., controls rights to Conan, many associated characters and the Hyborian world, as created by Robert E. Howard and various rights expanded upon by many acclaimed authors and artists. Many consider Conan the world's best-known fantasy character. For more information about Conan Properties International LLC, visit www.conan.com. For information about Paradox Entertainment Inc., visit www.paradox-entertainment.com.

The names of actual companies and products mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners.

Contacts

Is this Age of Conan or Lemmings?

AoC Good Times with a Horse [YouTube]

“Sales data shows that Age of Conan is the biggest MMO launch since World of Warcraft,” says Funcom Vice President of Sales and Marketing, Morten Larssen. “The numbers are very promising, and we are very proud to be one of the fastest selling PC games ever in a launch month and the biggest simultaneous Europe/US MMO launch in history.”

I honestly never thought Age of Conan would do this well. Before I actually got my hands on the game all I had seen was some rather under impressive videos and a few lovely screenshots, but now here we are. Now let's see if they can get the promised features like PVP leveling turned on and get the bugs ironed out before they lose a good chunk of that million.

Age of Conan reaches one million milestone

- Standard edition sold out in numerous territories, hundreds of thousands additional copies now shipping - - Officially number one on the charts in all major markets -

Durham, USA – June 6th, 2008 – Funcom is proud to announce that Age of Conan will pass the astounding “One Million Copies Shipped” milestone, in less than three weeks after the launch of the game. Due to overwhelming demand Funcom’s retail partner is now re-supplying retail boxes rapidly while also including new markets to the mix. As a result of the tremendous interest from gamers, Age of Conan has for the past few weeks been claiming number one spots on the sales charts across the western world – including the US, Germany, France and the UK – while receiving glowing review scores from gaming media.

“Sales data shows that Age of Conan is the biggest MMO launch since World of Warcraft,” says Funcom Vice President of Sales and Marketing, Morten Larssen. “The numbers are very promising, and we are very proud to be one of the fastest selling PC games ever in a launch month and the biggest simultaneous Europe/US MMO launch in history.”

In the US, Age of Conan has a strong # 1 chart position and is now moving past the 500.000 shipped mark. Meanwhile the attention for the game is growing across the globe, with over 8 million unique visitors from over 200 countries to the Age of Conan websites so far in 2008. The community surrounding the game is also growing fast, with over 800,000 signing up as members of the Clan of Conan fan club.

Age of Conan was launched May 20th in the US and May 23rd in Europe, receiving critical acclaim from media across the globe. “Age of Conan has raised the bar,” wrote US gaming website Gamezone, giving the game a score of 94 out of 100. Gamespot, one of the world’s leading gaming websites, rewarded Age of Conan a 8,5 score calling it “one of the finest online RPGs available”. The game is also receiving acclaim in Europe, where a broad range of early reviews gave an average score of over 90 percent. Funcom is committed to continue to expand and improve on the game by adding more content, features and fixes in order to make Hyboria a favorite place for gamers across the globe, and players can expect some exciting news in the weeks and months ahead.

More information about the game can be found on www.ageofconan.com

Funcom can confirm that some of the female models in the game have had the size of their breasts changed. This is due to an unintended change in data that was introduced in an earlier patch, data which controls the so-called morph values associated with character models and the size of their respective body parts. We are working on a fix for this and your breasts should be back to normal soon.

Sometimes the world makes me very, very sad.

Botched boob job [Age of Conan Forums - Account Required - Thanks Henry!]

Here is a response from someone more senior than the GM who pleaded with the Goons to play nice. According to the Funcom customer service lead, that GM "made the honest mistake of giving out his personal opinion that maybe keeping a lower profile might be handy in avoiding a negative reputation."

Like SA ever gone out of its way to avoid a negative rep.

Anyway, here's the clarified position on what is and ain't OK.

PvP is acceptable in all shapes or forms. We have built-in mechanics that allow the player being killed to find a way out of it.. When those mechanics fail or do not function as intended we will step in. Until then we will be as hands off as possible.

Now, we have a lot of players, a lot of servers, and a lot of petitions, as you may know. We do get a lot of petitions on Deathwhisper about "griefing". When do we take action? When it crosses the line. You can camp someone until the next day if you want. More power to you.

What you cannot do is verbally threaten them or use inappropriate language. You cannot use exploits or bugs to kill other players, or for any reason, for that matter. The game is rated M, but that does not mean you can use racial slurs or issue personal attacks.

In this case, the GM was seeing a lot of reports of griefing with regards to SA's guild. He didn't say you couldn't pvp. He made the honest mistake of giving out his personal opinion that maybe keeping a lower profile might be handy in avoiding a negative reputation. Obviously, it was a mistake. If you feel like it, bring all 300 of your friends, enemies, or whatever and beat each other senseless.

It seems that our policies are not clear cut enough, and we will make every effort to clarify them so that there is absolutely no question as to what is appropriate and what is not.

Wow, that's such an after-school special denouement. I feel like we all learned something today. Knowing is half the battle, and that's one to grow on.

Funcom Responds to PvP Issue on AoC [Age of Conan Forums, via reader Allison]

The GM more or less asks them to not engage in Player-versus-Player in groups of more 5, and no more than three groups, but "if you guys are planning a mass event, we support it ..." Well, then, make every event is a mass event. Plus the pleading tone of this just makes it sound like an absolute joke. That, and "There are Anonymous among our ranks."

I have yet to play AoC, this is more Fahey's territory, but I can spot a lot that's laughably wrong with this, and not just a request to ask SA to comply with anything. One of Age of Conan's major touts was its large scale PvP — unless you get griefally profiled by a GM, in which case you're asked to take it down to reg'lar size.

And while it's a bitch to get repeatedly attacked in unwanted PvP encounters, sure, the game also has mechanisms through which players can avoid them. But when someone complains, they're not advised to switch instances or move to another server. Instead the guild, playing on a PvP server, gets warned and threatened.

So let's assume all this applies to y'all too. Do not attack in groups of more than 5, or with more than 3 groups. You might get a talking-to. Or something.

No More PvP on this Server, Guys. GMs Said So [Age of Conan Forums, thanks reader Allison]

Yes, some folks in Europe had bad key codes in their boxes, which they are taking care of. Yes, Funcom wasn't prepared for the massive influx of players and so not everyone go into the early start, which led to some understandable grievances. The buddy code system has been postponed until they get the severs stable for the paying customers.

I'm also aware that this sort of shit is going to happen, and there is nothing we can do about it.

Look, Funcom has done an admirable job so far with the game, considering their only other real MMO is Anarchy Online, which has been running for years with three servers (one in German, if I remember correctly). For a company going from running a game with tens of thousands of players to suddenly having to contend with 400K+ players they are doing a good bit better than most other companies would.

What really gets me is the conspiracy people, who have somehow made issues with the game into plots that effect them personally. The buddy codes aren't activated to force players to buy the game before they know how "horrible" it is. The forums require a registered copy of the game so you have to buy it to see anything.

My favorite? When folks point out that the forums are filled with negative comments, and that no one is enjoying their giant failure of a game. Perhaps the only people who feel they need to use the forums right now are the people with technical issues? I'm too busy leveling up my Bear Shaman (ding 31!) to bother hopping onto the boards to drop a friendly letter of thanks. I assume there are more out there like me.

We do get it, though. Big MMO launches are going to have problems. It is the nature of the beast. I don't particularly see the need or use in having someone write 20 paragraphs to me about how they are beta testing the game on us because they have to tweak the servers when the main population arrives. This happens in every MMO, whether or not you choose to remember.

Calm down. Relax. If your issues get resolved, they get resolved. If they don't, you might have picked the wrong game. Either way, we are well aware, and we will update you the moment Funcom or Age of Conan begin biting the heads off of live infants.

I know some of you will be disappointed that I am not fervently taking up the anti-Funcom banner, but an MMO like Age of Conan is a different experience for everyone, and in the end the only experience I can go off is my own.

Age of Conan one of the fastest selling PC games of all time

Over 400,000 gamers have entered game - First 20 reviews with an average review score above 90%

Durham, USA - May 26th, 2008 - Funcom is proud to announce that Age of Conan is one of the fastest selling PC games of all time. More than 400.000 gamers have entered Hyboria over the last few days, with almost half coming from the North American market. This amazing figure for a PC game shows that the positive pre-order trend has transferred into actual sales, and people from all over the world are now flocking to the most savage, sexy and brutal MMO ever created.

Over the weekend an astounding amount of concurrent gamers were logged on to the game, making Age of Conan one of the busiest MMOs in the western hemisphere. With stock flying out of several retail chains, Funcom expects the number to increase in the days to come. In addition to the many gamers logging in, there was also substantial traffic to the Age of Conan websites, with more than 2,2 million unique visitors during the last ten days.

As a result of the great launch, players and press have been raving about the unique qualities of the game, and the first 20 reviews give Age of Conan an average score above 90%. The first US reviews are also live, with Gamezone.com giving the game an Editor's Choice Award, a 9.4 of 10 score, while heralding Age of Conan as a "Benchmark MMO". Sci-Fi.com was also an early mover and gave the game a straight A, stating that "If Robert E. Howard had been a game designer.., this is the Conan he would have invented."

"The initial sales and reviews are very encouraging, and it's great to see that so many are enjoying Age of Conan," said Funcom CEO Trond Arne Aas. "This is just the beginning, and we already look forward to massive updates and cool new features. We believe our focus on making Conan unique and groundbreaking is a key reason for the initial success. This is a focus we will keep and reinforce, and players can expect continued quality and innovation as we enter a new era for the game."

For more information about the game, please visit www.ageofconan.com.

What I like best about him is his no-nonsense approach to his work. He isn't a male poultry facilitator, or a rooster entitlement manager. He's the Cock Handler, and by gum he's proud of it.

I just wish that he could come with me on my adventure instead of being stuck in one place all the time, but he's happy there, and I'm happy out there killing hyenas. It's the natural order of things.

I'll never forget you, Cock Handler. You taught me so much.

More than just people having sex in costume, "Rage of Bonan" actually recreates the very first quest in the game, which involves rescuing a bound, scantily dressed woman by killing a nearby enemy for the key to her shackles. Granted the woman in the game was blonde and it doesn't actually end with a sex scene...though I am sure it did in the minds of many of the males and not a few of the females who played through it.

Hit the jump for a gallery of pics from the clip that isn't very safe for work at all, as well as information on how you can be a part of Whorelore's new Conan fixation.

The actors in the above gallery are AVN Performer of the year Evan Stone and his real life girlfriend, Syren (possibly not her real name), so those of you who enjoy your pornography with a little personal involvement between the participants should get a kick out of that.

The Whorelore folks are so excited about Conan (you could tell before the NSFW fish showed up) that they've created their own guild in the game. They are currently taking applications at www.whoreloreguild.com. From the website:

Whore Lore is a guild of dedicated gamers with years of experience in MMOs and other games. We will be focused on both PVP and PVE and crushing content.

Not sure how I'd feel about having WhoreLore over my head everywhere I went in game, though I'm sure I've had worse.

Be sure to check out Crecente's exhaustive feature on all things World of Whorecraft / Whorelore related in case you need to figure out how exactly we got to this point. They recently released the episode featuring the "Holy Paladin" from those initial shots, though I've a feeling her holiness will be coming into question over the course of the story.

Whorelore Season 2 Episode 4 [Official Site]

This is not a review. You cannot review an MMORPG on day one, or two, or three, and expect to have experienced even a slice of what the game has to offer. Games change from beta to retail. Tweaks are made, the population grows, servers get strained, etc. No, this is simply my impressions of the beginning of the game, at the beginning of its life as a full, retail product.

How much have I experienced so far? I've played every character class to level 10, with my choice of main - the Conqueror - played to level 20, the point you escape the newbie island and are thrust out into the open world. I'll look at the mechanics, the story, and the performance as it stands right now, and take from that what you will.

Setting The Scene

Age of Conan is of course based on the classic work of Sword and Sorcery master Robert E. Howard. His fiction is set in the fictional Hyborian Age of Earth, a lost time of dark magic before the rise of civilization as we know it. There is nothing cute or cuddly about the world of Conan. Animals are vicious, savages are brutal, and even the flora can take the life of the less wary traveler. Funcom has managed to capture the gritty feel of that mythical age quite nicely, creating a world that feels real and menacing at the same time.

Mature Content

Like Howard's works, sex and brutality are everyday subjects in Age of Conan, neatly earning it's M rating. The second NPC you meet in the game is a whore, abused and left chained in the jungle to die. Female characters can even take off shirts and go topless...luckily my main is on an RP server where this doesn't happen too often.

The Classes

The game launched with twelve classes available between three races, all variations of humans. You get three warrior classes, three healer-types, three rogues, which includes the classic Barbarian, and three caster types. Since I have only played each class to 10 out of 80 possible levels, I can only give you the slightest of opinions.

The warrior classes all start off feeling relatively similar, but soon roles emerge as new powers are learned.

Of the priest types the only real boring class I encountered was the Bear Shaman, who is nothing more than a weaker Barbarian with a heal over time spell for the first several levels, only coming into his own around level 10.

The assassin class most closely resembles the classic rogue archetype, but perks and talents soon set them apart from the pack. Barbarians are rogue warriors, and nothing hurts quite like a sneak attack from a two-handed battle axe.

The mage classes are perhaps the most interesting of the lot. Demonologists function like warlocks from World of Warcraft, eventually getting a topless succubus to stare at. Necromancers command hordes of the undead, and their pets are just extremely creepy. Probably the most interesting of all is the Herald of Xotli class, fighter mages who can change their form into that of demons.

Leveling

Funcom has crafted a leveling system that combines the skill point allocation of Anarchy Online with the talent system of World of Warcraft.

Skill points are awarded at every level that can be distributed to various non-combat skills, such as perception, endurance, running speed, climbing, and hiding. The interesting bit comes when you realize that you can redistribute points at any time, taking away from one to heighten the other. If you find a rock face that needs a certain amount of climbing to ascend, simply swap your points around and make it happen. If you know you've got a long journey ahead, pump points into endurance and run speed to help get there faster. Honestly it is a bit flaky from a mechanics standpoint, but if you imagine it as a hero tapping into his inner reserves to focus on a task it works, in a way.

Feats are like talents in WoW, with each class having two different disciplines to choose between. At first they don't make much difference, but after looking through the various skills that become unlocked it is easy to imagine that two level 80 assassins could have two completely different play styles based on how they spend those points.

Combat

This is where the game really shines. Rather than having a simple button for attacking, characters have three...left, right, and center. In combat, enemies have lines around them that represent their defenses. Hit them from the left, and their defenses will shift to the left. Same with right and center.

Then come combos. Combos are special attacks that require you to activate them and then attack in a specific direction to set them off. Have a particularly devastating combo that finishes on the left side? Attack the right or center until the opponents defenses shift there, and then hit them where it hurts with a combo attack.

There is no simply standing back and watching your character attack in AoC. You don't hit the attack buttons, you don't attack, period.

One of the best aspects of combat is collision detection. If you are grouped and the casters are behind you, you are literally blocking the enemy's way. They cannot go through you, so forming a wall of muscle to shield the magical minds in the back row becomes a completely viable tactic.

Particular lovely for melee classes like myself, is the fact that you don't have to target a creature to hit it. If you are swinging your weapon in a wide arc and there are four creatures crowding up in front of you, you are going to hit them. Position is vital in the game when taking on large groups of enemies. If you are being attacked by four things and aren't hitting at least two of them at a time, you aren't positioned right.

Combat is by far and large my favorite aspect of the game. Sometimes I found myself spending an hour killing creatures half my level, simply for the joy of combat.

Story Mode

The first 20 levels in Age of Conan are half MMO, half single-player action adventure game. During the day you fight alongside however many other players there are on your server, but the prevailing quest line takes you into the Island of Tortuga at night, where it's just you against the enemy.

The plot revolves around bringing down an evil tyrant who has taken over the island, with your character aiding the city's resistance fighters while trying to learn the skills that were lost along with your memory during the opening shipwreck.

Funcom didn't half-ass this mode either. Each of the four archetypes place a unique and different role in how the story progresses. A caster might solicit an evil sorceress to become her apprentice, thus revealing her plans to the resistance. The plans revealed, a rogue character must sneak into her mansion to swap out a magical scroll with a fake, while the warrior must fight his way up an active volcano in order to swap out the virgin blood used in a ritual with whore's blood. While the warrior class frees an NPC from pirates, the priest class must gather the remedy for the poison afflicting said NPC.

If you were to take the MMO completely out, those first 20 levels would make an excellent, if somewhat short single-player RPG. That's really the highest praise you can give an MMO. I would buy a single player game that played like this.

Performance

The game staggers a bit performance-wise, but a great deal of that is due to the age of my system than the game itself. On max settings, my 2.13GHz Core 2 with 2GB of RAM and a Radeon x1950 Pro will run the game, but the frame rate is just terrible. Medium settings are playable, and medium settings with shadows turned off seems to be the sweet spot for my system. Low settings are playable, but you lose a lot of view distance in the process.

There are plenty of bugs and glitches to be had as well, but nothing that has completely ruined my experience so far. I've frozen a few times, but that is extremely rare. Sometimes instances take longer to load than other times, seeming to choke at the end. There are some clipping issues, notably with an NPC in Tortuga who has breasts too big for her modeled shirt.

As of this writing, Funcom was dealing with an issue with a zone that was trapping characters inside of it, which I am sure they will fix as soon as possible.

Other than those problems, the game runs rather smoothly, thanks to Funcom instancing the hell out of everything. While it can be a bit of a pain trying to find out what instance your friends are in, it mostly works to the player advantage. All the quest mobs in the area being slaughtered? Pop into another instance where they aren't. \

Yae Or Nay?

I'd say that Age of Conan is a game that any mature MMO player should at least try out, either picking up the game yourself of borrowing a friend's buddy code, once they go active. They've managed to take the world's most generic fantasy setting and create a very compelling game around it. I was worried that this would be just another cookie-cutter MMO, but I am happy to report my worries were for naught.

Just keep in mind that these are initial impressions. If the end game ends up being crap on a stick, don't come whining to me. Not my fault.

Word in the OOC channel indicates that between the beta test and the game launch, the devs at Funcom worked some kind of programming magic, resulting in a game that runs much better than it did mere weeks before.

My early thoughts on the game, pre-full impressions? I'd definitely recommend you try out the game if you are looking for something a bit more mature and visceral in your MMO diet. It's dark...it's brutal...it's Conan.

Mind you, this will completely spoil the beginning of the game for you, but if you're anywhere near as alt-crazy as I am you'll soon be sick of it anyway.

Character Creation

Anyone who has played Anarchy Online knows that Funcom is a big fan of story-infused character creation, and Age of Conan is no different. Character creation takes place on a slave ship, with you choosing either a male or female slave from three races and then selecting their class. There are twelve in all, three each in the four standard MMO class designations of warrior, mage, priest, and rogue. I choose the female slave this time around, because if we are going to be running around taking screenshots for you we might as well have something pretty to look at. See what I did there?
Having avoided the priest classes, I decided to create Priestess Of Mithra, and I named her, appropriately enough, Kotaku, which is more than likely against naming conventions and will have to be changed, but for now enjoy the embodiment of the website using holy powers against the forces of evil.

After you finalize your character the ships is attacked, and a cutscene shows you sinking to the bottom of the sea, only to have a mysterious force lift you out of the water, depositing you on a sandy beach, where you awake to meet... ...this guy.

Let The Game Begin

The NPC who finds you on the beach explains that you are a slave who has landed on the Island of Tortage, where you will be spending the better part of your first 20 levels or so. The slave master escaped into the jungle, and you have to find him and kill him to earn your freedom before he enters the city.

After he wanders off I check out my powers and weapons...the spell Smite and a broken bottle. Great. Off to a fine start! I head up the path towards the jungle and am greeted by one of the most traditional Conan sights...a woman in chains. Not only is she chained, but somehow this waifish lass is blocking the entrance to the jungle. She instructs me to head to the beach, where the scavengers picking at the wreckage hold her key, and I am off on my first quest. The mob for the key is right on the beach, but I would highly recommend doing a full circuit of the area to help get your level up. There's a crocodile boss down the way with a treasure chest behind him, and money is always a good thing. By the time I returned to the chained woman I am level three, and upon unlocking her I get a new quest to escort her through the jungle to the city. Unlike escort quests in WoW, the enemies won't attack your new companion. She just stays behind you and cheers every once in awhile.

The Long And Winding Trail

What follows is an exercise in killing. There are two bosses right up front, killed easily with my simple smite spell, and soon I am looking a lot more dressed than I was initially, though not by much. The path to the city gate is filled with various hunters, poachers, and some pictish tribesmen, but soon enough I am ready to confront the disgusting slave master, who apparently abused me on the ship. They don't just come out and say rape, but he does tell me I knelt plenty of times for him, so take from that what you will. I dispatch him readily and take from him some pants, but the key to the gate lies through a Pictish village, in a temple guarded by a demon. It's never easy, is it?
One of the neat features of the game is killing blows. Playing a melee fighter you might plunge your dagger into an enemy's chest. A demonologist sets his foes aflame, screaming and gurgling as their corpse blackens. The priest? Well they make the bad guys levitate and glow blue. Goody! At this point I've hit level five and gotten several new powers, including a stamina buff and a heal-over-time spell, so I just tear through the Pict camp and the demons aren't a problem at all. Key in hand I head back to pass through the gate into the land of the monkeys.

They're Called Gorillas, Dumbass Okay, gorillas, but still. These foes are a bit tougher than the ones I had encountered so far, making we work to win. Encountering two towards the end nearly kills me, but my HoT ticking away manages to save my ass. Not sure why they decided to put the gorillas before the final gate, but there they are.

Into Multiplayer Land Finally we arrive at the city gates, and my dumb blonde friend thanks me for my assistance, promising some sort of reward other than money or items should I catch up with her later. Oooo. The loading screen appears, and I enter the Island of Tortage proper. As for what happens next, you'll have to wait for my full early impressions later this week!

Wait, what?

Buried in the last few paragraphs of the press release, Funcom...well I suppose it still counts as revealing despite being buried at the bottom...Funcom reveals that the DX10 version of the game needs more work, and will now be premiered at Games Convention in Leipzig this August. The extra time will be used to add in new features and focus on "building a DirectX 10 version worthy of Microsoft's great vision for the future of PC gaming". We'll be looking forward to that then. Hit the jump for the full press release. Remember to scroll all the way down.

Age of Conan Collector's Edition Completely Sold Out

- Historical pre-order and ship-in numbers for 2008's most anticipated MMO - - Early access offer oversubscribed � First review of game gives a 9 out of 10

Durham, USA - May 19, 2008 - Funcom is proud to announce that the Collector's Edition of Age of Conan is now completely sold out in all markets. The exclusive edition was announced in January, and has since topped retail charts at numerous retailers. In some markets, the Collector's Edition has been sold out for weeks, and as a result additional boxes were made. These are also sold out, and the total print run stands at 111.000 units. Lucky customers may still find some copies on retail shelves, but no re-orders are available.

Additional retail figures for the standard edition of Age of Conan are also highly impressive. In total, Funcom is shipping around 700.000 copies of Age of Conan on day one. This impressive figure for a PC game is powered by equally impressive pre-order numbers. As a result of the tremendous interest and recent order increase, Funcom has not been able to fulfill all orders of Age of Conan in several markets due to current server capacity limitations. Extra orders of servers are now in place to facilitate for handling of more customers.

"Everyone in Funcom is delighted and humbled with the historical pre-order numbers for Age of Conan. If the information we have is correct, they represent the highest pre-order number for any global launch of an original PC game, ever, including the original World of Warcraft launch," said Morten Larssen, Funcom's VP of Sales & Marketing.

More than one million unique visitors visited the Age of Conan websites last week, and as a result of the great interest in the game, Funcom's early access offer was swiftly oversubscribed. The three day early access program was a limited offer reserved for pre-order customers. While Funcom scaled the servers above anticipation, player demand surpassed expectations. As the Early Access servers launched last night, the servers and game held up exceptionally well. As the game launches properly later this week, Funcom expects additional large numbers of customers to enter the game.

All the positive signals are naturally not equal to eventual success, but early indications from the press points out that the game boasts unique qualities. The very first review for the game gives it a 9 out of 10 score from Game Reactor, the Nordic regions largest gaming magazine.

While Funcom is thrilled with the early success of Age of Conan, and proud of the game launching this week, the company regrets to inform gamers that the DirectX 10 version of the game will not ship with the initial launch. As Microsoft's DirectX 10 is undoubtedly the future of PC gaming, Funcom has decided to ship only the DirectX 9 version at launch, giving the team more time to focus on building a DirectX 10 version worthy of Microsoft's great vision for the future of PC gaming. This postponement will let Funcom include even more features in the DirectX 10 version of Age of Conan than originally planned.

The DirectX 10 version will be premiered at the German Games Convention in Leipzig, Germany, August 20 - 24, 2008. A special preview showing off the advanced graphics made possible by DirectX 10 technology will be unveiled this summer at nVidia's NVISION event in San Jose, California, August 25 - 27, 2008.

Age of Conan launches 20th of May in North America / Oceania and 23rd of May in Europe. More information about the game can be found on www.ageofconan.com

New games releasing the Week of May 18:

Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures (PC)
Haze (PS3)
Wii Fit (Wii)
Dracula: Origin (PC)
Penny Arcade Adventures: On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness (PC, X360)
UEFA EURO 2008 (X360, PS3, PS2, PSP)
Theatre of War (PC)
Dr. Mario Online RX (Wii)
SingStar (PS3)
The Immortals of Terra: A Perry Rhodan Adventure (PC)
Star Soldier R (Wii)

New Game Releases [Gamespot]

No dice. Sold out. Funcom had to cut things off because of the logistics involved with having too many people trying to download a 12.59 GB file all at once. It might tick some folks off, especially those that preordered the game and didn't get the code, but look at it this way...you saved $5.

Needless to say, if you haven't preordered your copy of Age of Conan yet, you aren't going to be playing until the game launches in the middle of next week, so you can spend your entire weekend wondering how far those damn early birds are getting in the game while you...I dunno, log in to World of Warcraft and halfheartedly stab at murlocs. I'm right there with you.

More than 1 million people sign up for the Age of Conan beta!

- More than 5 million unique visitors to the official Age of Conan website in 2008 -

Durham, USA - May 13, 2008 - Funcom and Eidos are proud to confirm some of the impressive figures powering the Age of Conan launch, and the two companies are happy to reveal that the Age of Conan Beta has passed 1 million sign-ups! As one of the most anticipated MMO's ever, the 1 million mark confirms the amazing interest in the game.

"Funcom has not been able to find any higher beta numbers for MMOs in the western world," said Morten Larssen, VP of Funcom Sales and Marketing. "We believe it represents the largest ever beta sign-up figure in the history of the genre."

In addition to the incredible beta numbers, Funcom confirms that almost 800.000 gamers have signed up for the Clan of Conan newsletter. The hundreds of thousands following the development of the game have moreover resulted in a rapidly growing forum community. Last week Funcom registered over 115.000 posts on the official forums, across four languages. This comes in addition to Age of Conan discussions on external forums and in other languages.

In 2008, Funcom has also seen a tremendous growth in the amount of people who visit the official Age of Conan websites. Since January 2008, Funcom has registered more than 5 million unique visitors, from more than 200 countries. Last week alone over 725.000 unique visitors came to the Age of Conan sites.

The coverage and interest on external gaming sites has skyrocketed as a result of the growing anticipation. Age of Conan has topped numerous charts as the most read about, most popular and most anticipated PC game in development. As an example, GameSpot.com has Age of Conan as the #1 most read about upcoming game over the last month, on any format. The game has seen a similar interest on genre specific sites, including being the #1 most popular MMO over the last 12 months on MMORPG.com. Print gaming publications have also covered the game widely, and the game now has over 20 covers, including the coveted cover of PC Gamer US.

"How all of our strong figures convert into later sales and subscription figures is still unknown," continued Larssen. "But our pre-order numbers in some important retail chains track as among the highest for any MMO launched."

Age of Conan launches 20th of May in North America / Oceania and 23rd of May in Europe.

GamesRadar has two videos up of Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures, which releases for the PC on May 20. It's due for Xbox 360 sometime by September. The first shows combat and the character classes, with some dry narration about succubus boobies and a not-really apology if anyone's offended. The second covers the dungeon crawl.

Edit: I tried to embed these but it dint work the thang's broked stupid embed code etc. Best to just visit the GamesRadar site. They're still pretty slick to watch.

Two Exclusive Age of Conan Videos [GamesRadar]

Pretty nice results if you ask me. Check out the full post for plenty more pics of Ping-Pong laden horses and neato graphics.

A Horse Covered in Ping Pong Balls — The 'Age of Conan' Mo-Cap Shoot

"We are committed to providing a new level of game experience through the use of local game masters, community managers and customer support. For years we have waited for the right MMO game to come along and now it is here, in our hands."

Polish version of Age of Conan coming in second half of 2008

- The highly anticipated MMO scheduled for fully localized Polish release as CD Projekt enters Service Partnership Agreement with Funcom -

Durham, USA - April 24th, 2008 -Funcom and CD Projekt are delighted to announce the signing of a Service Partnership Agreement for a Polish version of Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures. According to the agreement CD Projekt will fully localize voice and text and operate local customer service, communities, websites and in-game support for Age of Conan in Poland, while Funcom will take care of back-end technology, server infrastructure and continuous development of the game.

"It is with great pleasure and satisfaction that we are announcing this partnership, one that proves to be yet another milestone for our company - releasing the first subscription MMORPG fully localized into Polish." said Michał Kiciński, joint CEO of CD Projekt. "We are committed to providing a new level of game experience through the use of local game masters, community managers and customer support. For years we have waited for the right MMO game to come along and now it is here, in our hands."

"CD Projekt has an impressive track record both as a developer and distributor, and they have done excellent localization and distribution work on other Funcom titles such as The Longest Journey. Escalating our collaboration to a whole new level is something we truly look forward to," said Trond Arne Aas, CEO of Funcom. "We believe a key aspect in making Age of Conan successful around Europe is to work closely with great local partners such as CD Projekt. In many countries it is essential to release in the local language to truly succeed, and Poland is definitively such a territory. CD Projekt is through its agreement with Eidos the chosen partner for retail distribution, sales and marketing in Poland so it's a perfect match. Together we aim to make Age of Conan a great local success."

Age of Conan is consistently mentioned as one of the most anticipated PC games in development. At launch the game will have received more than thirty covers on high-profile gaming magazines across the globe and more than fifteen major awards, including numerous "Best MMO of E3" awards and the official "Best Online Game" award at the Games Convention 2007. Age of Conan is a key title in Microsoft's Games for Windows line-up, and a showcase title for nVidia. Age of Conan launches 20th of May in North America / Oceania and 23rd of May in Europe. The release date in Poland is still to be set.

For more information or to pre-order Age of Conan - either in English, German, French or Spanish - visit the official website at www.ageofconan.com where you also can access the respective community websites.

AoC Briefing [TenTonHammer via Maxconsole]

"The IGN and FilePlanet audience has consistently told us that Age of Conan is one of their most anticipated games of the year, and we are very pleased to partner with Funcom and Eidos on the Open Beta," says Senior Vice President of Consumer Products at IGN, Jamie Berger.

Heads Will Roll as Age of Conan Moves into Open Beta - Open Beta exclusively available through FilePlanet.com and partner IGN sites -

- 50,000 aspiring barbarians may enter Hyboria on May 1st -

DURHAM, N.C.—(BUSINESS WIRE)—Funcom, Eidos and IGN are proud to announce that Open Beta for Age of Conan will start on May 1. The Open Beta will be hosted exclusively by IGN's popular game download site, FilePlanet.com, as well as being offered through partner IGN sites such as Gamespy.com, Tentonhammer.com and Warcry.com. The application pages at FilePlanet.com are now open for registrations, and gamers from across the world can sign up. As 50,000 gamers prepare their Hyborian assault, rivers of blood are about to flow, and it's exclusively available through FilePlanet and IGN partner sites.

"When we started development of Age of Conan four and a half years ago we truly wanted to move away from the standards of the MMO genre. We wanted to bring something new, exciting and fresh to the gamers," said Gaute Godager, Game Director on Age of Conan. "As we get ready to show everyone what Conan's savage world is all about, we need final stress testing. Teaming up with the Beta Masters at IGN was a perfect opportunity for us! We simply couldn't ask for a better partner for this crucial stage of our Beta."

"The IGN and FilePlanet audience has consistently told us that Age of Conan is one of their most anticipated games of the year, and we are very pleased to partner with Funcom and Eidos on the Open Beta," says Senior Vice President of Consumer Products at IGN, Jamie Berger. "The Funcom team has developed a truly unique, visceral gaming experience that players will have to see to believe."

Funcom would like to point out that the primary function of the Open Beta is to stress test Age of Conan prior to launch. This means that Funcom will not make the entire game available to the Open Beta testers, and a level 13 cap will be applied. The Beta experience will still give hours and hours of entertainment, and complete class and culture variety, while at the same time giving Funcom the needed focus for an Open Beta.

You are required to be a FilePlanet member in order to sign up for the Open Beta. Preloading of the client will start prior to the launch of the Open Beta, and applicants will receive more information should they receive a beta key. The Open Beta will start on the 1st of May at 1500 GMT / 0900 EDT.

Age of Conan is consistently mentioned as one of the most anticipated PC games in development. It has received more than twenty-five covers on high-profile gaming magazines across the globe and more than fifteen major awards, including numerous "Best MMO of E3" awards and the official "Best Online Game" award at the Games Convention 2007. Age of Conan is a key title in Microsoft's Games for Windows line-up, and a showcase title for nVidia. The game is set to launch in several territories on May 20th, 2008.

For more information on Age of Conan - either in English, German, French or Spanish - visit the official website at www.ageofconan.com where you also can access the respective community websites.

AGE OF CONAN GETS READY FOR LAUNCH

Pre-order programs now available in all Western territories offering three day head-start in Hyboria

DURHAM, North Carolina - April 16, 2008 - Funcom and Eidos today announced that Age of Conan pre-order programs are now fully available in all major territories including USA, Germany, France, Spain, UK, Oceania and the Nordic countries. Conan fans and MMO gamers are already raving about the incredible pre-order items, including the War Mammoth and Killer Rhino, and today Funcom goes one step further to confirm that pre-ordering Age of Conan will grant players early access to the land of Hyboria.*

Ever since Funcom and Eidos started the first pre-orders in early 2008, the program has received great feedback. The exceptional Age of Conan Collector's Edition has topped the charts in numerous online retail chains for weeks, including being #1 on several all-format lists. The most eager fans are therefore urged to order their copy of the Collector's Edition immediately as it only comes in one print-run.

Funcom now also confirms an early access program which will give customers a chance of a head-start in Age of Conan. Funcom reveals that American, European and Oceanic players may enter Age of Conan as early as the 17th of May. Mere weeks away, early adopters can now live, fight and explore in Hyboria, as well as getting an essential head-start before the hordes invade.

"We are very pleased with the reception Age of Conan has had in retail and we naturally hope that the early interest and our early access programs will materialize in an eventual success," said Morten Larssen, VP Sales and Marketing of Funcom. "The positive indications are naturally an honor, but they also bring a great responsibility. As we prepare the roll-out, we know our servers will be put to the test. We therefore hope potential players will aid us by signaling their interest as soon as possible so we can scale our servers and services accordingly."

Age of Conan launches on May 20 and is consistently mentioned as one of the most anticipated PC games in development. It has received more than 25 magazine covers and more than 15 major awards including numerous "Best MMO of E3" awards and the "Best Online Game of Show" award at GC 2007. Age of Conan is a key title in Microsoft's Games for Windows lineup, as well as a showcase title for nVidia.

Visit www.ageofconan.com to join the thriving community or to sign up for the Beta

For a list of participating retailers or to get more information about the game, please visit: www.ageofconan.com

* The early access program is only available with certain retailers; a participant list can be found on the official Age of Conan website. The early access is entirely voluntary and opens up on the 17th of May for Oceanic and North American gamers and on the 20th of May for European gamers. Pre-loading of the client will commence in advance. You need to pay a nominal 5 USD / EUR fee to take advantage of the offer, which includes client download and 10 days of subscription. When the early access offer expires you must enter the physical retail box gamekey to continue playing.

FUNCOM, EIDOS AND GAMESPOT REVEAL UNIQUE AGE OF CONAN PVP WEEKEND

15,000 gamers get exclusive Age of Conan access from April 18th to April 20th

DURHAM, NC - April 9, 2008 - Eidos and Funcom are proud to announce a unique beta partnership with GameSpot.com, one of the world's biggest gaming websites. In a highly exclusive event, 15,000 gamers from across the world can log in and play Age of Conan, non-stop, from Friday, April 18th to Sunday, April 20th. The unique PvP weekend allows lucky gamers to test a limited part of the PvP functionality of Age of Conan, and the two different PvP mini-games Capture the Skull and Team Annihilation will be available.

To make the weekend even more interesting Eidos and Funcom are also including the engaging Age of Conan character creation system, allowing players to create avatars with strong personalities. All 12 classes in the game, including the barbarian, can be picked and tested, with Funcom transforming each character into a fully specced, level 20 death machine. In PvP lobbies players can then chat and socialize, prior to entering PvP matches. Participants are urged to test different classes and offer any feedback on the forums. There will also be forums on GameSpot.com where people can talk about the event, and Funcom staff will be present to gather feedback.

"The battlefields of Hyboria are craving new, fresh blood," says an enthusiastic Game Director/Producer Gaute Godager at Funcom. "Throwing newcomers into a fully specced, level 20 PVP character is naturally a challenge in this most unforgiving of all MMO environments, but I am confident the players will rise to this challenge. We have spent years fine-tuning the combat system in Age of Conan, and allowing GameSpot readers to be the first to get a small glimpse of this is something we really look forward to."

The unique PvP weekend marks an escalation in the stress testing for Age of Conan, and aspiring barbarians can now sign up on GameSpot's website. The 15,000 lucky winners will be then contacted by email on Wednesday the 16th of April, and then they can then start downloading the game. The servers open at 4 p.m. EST Friday the 18th of April and close at 4 p.m. EST on Sunday the 20th of April. Funcom would like to point out that the PvP weekend is still part of the beta testing process, and that it is a part of the planned stress test escalations towards launch. As such, it is not fully representative of the final product, and players are asked to treat it accordingly. Stress traffic issues may occur.

Age of Conan is consistently mentioned as one of the most anticipated PC games in development. It has received more than 25 covers on high-profile gaming magazines across the globe and more than 15 major awards, including numerous "Best MMO of E3" awards and the official "Best Online Game" award at the Games Convention 2007. Age of Conan is a key title in Microsoft's Games for Windows line-up, and a showcase title for nVidia. The game is set to launch in several territories on May 20, 2008.

For more information on Age of Conan - either in English, German, French or Spanish - visit the official website at www.ageofconan.com where you also can access the respective community websites.

To sign up for the unique PvP beta weekend please visit http://www.gamespot.com/test/ageofconan/