If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!

Yesterday I got the chance to play the much anticipated MMO Age of Conan (also known as AOC) and I’ve got to say that while I’ve found some minor annoyances I’m very impressed by the game.

I’ve got a little under 6 hours of game play under my belt right now and my Cimmerian Barbarian is already 14th level with some fairly good equipment, that right there tells you that it takes very little time to level up.

Now before I go any farther I should tell you that I am a devout fan of the Conan universe and I’ve read most of the original books and comics, so keep that in mind as you read on.

Where to start??? well I guess that I should start at the beginning……the very beginning.

The Installation: Well you cant get much closer to the beginning that the installation can you? Fasten your seat belts people because its gonna be a long ride! While most games these days can be fit onto one DVD, this one cannot. This game is so huge that it requires 2 high density DVD’s and a powerful compression because this game is a whopping 25 gigs! Dont worry you read it right! 25 GIGS! After what seemed an hour of installation and three disk swaps later the game is finally ready to launch! (Please note that I said launch not play)

Are you jumping up and down in your seat, saying under your breath “its about DAMN time”? well save your breath and energy because your going to have to wait for the program to download and install a 600 mb patch for about 30 min. Patience my friends, because if you did everything right in this step then the game should be ready to play.

OK! the game is started! Take a moment to pat your self on the back before you continue on.

Character Creation: After you login you are presented with the character select menu, here you see a list of characters you have created already or if you are just starting out, your character roster should be empty. Select a character slot and the server you want him to live in then go! Please note that there are three different kinds of servers PVE, PVP, PVP-RP

• From what I’ve read PVE servers are safer for newer players, I really dont know what that means but I’m thinking that it means there are less PVP areas so you dont get slaughtered by other thrill seeking players.


• PVP servers(thats what I’m playing in) give looser rules about PVP combat and that means that there are more PVP areas. So take my word for it and  watch your back. (I’m speaking from experiance)


• PVP-RP servers offer(in theory) a more tame enviroment so as to make it easier to role play.

In-Game Activity: The moment your character washes up on the shore you really need to just take a moment to look around take in the sights. oh and of course fight off the barrage of tutorials. The games most shining achevement is without a doubt the combat system, and while the combat system has a bit of a learning curve, it keeps things interesting and fun. Another one of the interesting features is the single player aspect of the game, the beach you first land on is all single player and most of the storyline is told at night. so during the day you can travel around the land with all your friends but at night it almost seems like you totally disconnect from the internet.

I know that what I’ve already wrote sounds like a lot but in reality I’ve just barely scratched the surface.

The game may be a long wait to even install but if your a MMO fan or even just a Conan fan then you should really give this game a try.