AoC Commonly Asked Questions.

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www.ageofconan.com

When is the Beta? And how do I get in?
Closed beta is currently due sometime this summer, the devs have not as of yet announced just what someone has to do to get in.

When will the game be released?
It currently is on schedule for December of this year, third party sites that list a different time should be taken with a grain of salt.

Will there be separate servers? How big will they be?
Yes, there will be separated servers for PvE and PvP rulesets, precisely what rulesets will be available has not yet been decided. 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. Numbers obviously open to change.

What about the combat?
Combat will be a mixture of realtime and automated, while you cannot actively block incoming attacks, you control every swing and its direction. 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. Followthrough is highly important, as linking your blows together in a logical way will allow you to attack faster and more effectively than if you just kept spamming one or two buttons. see Here for gamespy's review of the combat and other aspects of the game.

Well, thats nice, what about bows and other ranged attacks?
Ranged attacks, both bow and magic, will be handled in a close up third person view, nicknamed "parrot vision" Two of the screenshots found Here show an archer plying his trade

What lore will AoC be based on?
Content within this game is taken from a wide variety of sources, but by far the biggest contributions to this take on the world of Hyboria are from the original Robert Howard books, The Hour of the Dragon in particular

What classes will be available for play?
Currently we have four classes: Mage, Warrior, Priest, and Thief, each class has a set of unique Archetype choices that your character can take on, following each link will bring you to a brief description of the respective list.

What Races?
Currently we have three playable races to choose from, the developers may add more at a later time, but for now we have the Cimmerians, a barbaric people of the north, they are known for their strength and prowess in battle, King Conan is descended from these people. The Aquilonians, a more “civilized” people, culturally resembling the Romans, Conan himself rules Aquilonia, although his throne is in danger as of late. And finally we have the Stygians, followers of the death god Set, as of right now, only a Stygian can become a mage.

How much can I customize my character?
Character creation is very detailed, you can add scars, tattoos, ornaments, etc. You can also scale many portions of the body, arms, calves, even your arse and breast size (for females). More than 40 sliders are available to tweak your face. Don’t want to take the time? There’s a random appearance generator button you can hit.

What about death and resurrection?
The developers are still keeping the details hidden, probably because they are still toying with ideas. The tidbits they have let out do indicate a couple of things, no permadeath, no full looting, there will be penalties to both stats and items for dying, but nothing permanent. As to onsite resurrection, it has yet to be confirmed or denied.

Heres some additional links for your pleasure:
Compiled list of developer quotes here

Various fansites all with useful information: Temple of Crom, By Mitra, The Eminence, Conan.ch, Age of Conan Wiki site,

Official community portal, screenshots, exclusives, demo videos, its all here! Clicky

ps. if this information was posted already, I do apologize. I just wanted to let everyone else in on the details on mmorpg.com