Funcom announces a pile of new stuff for Age of Conan.
Age of Conan launched to big promises which fell flat. After being hyped as a WoW killer, the game initially experienced huge popularity, which rapidly waned as people out-levelled the rich early game content and found the latter game lacking.
As is so often the case with MMOs, it seemed the list of promised features was not exactly a list of launch features. Innovative concepts like the PvP system just weren’t there, and itemisation and dungeon content didn’t match the expectations of a loot-obsessed, post-WoW crowd. It got so bad that the original producer for the game, Gaute Godager, walked away from not only the company he helped start, but the gaming industry altogether.
His replacement has certainly taken charge of the game in a positive way. In his latest update to the community, Craig Morrison outlines a pretty huge raft of upcoming changes, including the once overhyped inclusion of DirectX 10 support.
However, one worries if this flurry of new content and overhauled mechanics comes too late. Despite announcing a pretty wide range of stuff, Morrison indicates most of it wont get to the public servers until early next year. In the meantime, Warhammer Online continues to find its feet (although, it too is suffering from players not having their expectations met) and World of Warcraft enjoys 1000+ prime-time queues thanks to the unstoppable force of Wrath of the Lich King.
It really does seem like WoW has fought off its competitors this year. Realistically, the next big threats it faces are Star Trek Online and The Old Republic, both well-financed games being made by experienced developers using some of the most beloved science fiction IP around. This will provide a much more compelling draw for the audience than another fantasy title that just isn’t WoW.
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