Age of Conan Offers Free Play for Returning Players

Andy Chalk

One Flag, One Fleet, One Cat
Nov 12, 2002
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Age of Conan Offers Free Play for Returning Players


Age of Conan [http://www.funcom.com/] "re-evaluation campaign" during which anyone with a closed account can reactivate and play the game for two weeks at no charge and with no strings attached.

It's been a rough road for Age of Conan, the Funcom MMOG based on 49 to 18 [http://www.conan.com/], but it also continued working on the game and is now ready to show off the "massive updates and improvements" that have been made.

"For anyone with an inactive account who ever thought about giving it another try, this is your chance," said Morten Larssen, Funcom's vice-president of sales and marketing. "After the hugely successful launch last year we immediately started working on updates that would make the game better and provide more content for players, and that is what we have been doing this past year. With the most recent update just out the door, this is the time to ask players to come back and see the results!"

Those results include the addition of the outdoor area of Ymir's Pass, the "huge dungeon" of Xibaluku and the city of Tarantia Commons, each of which offer new quests, enemies and rewards. A new PvP notoriety system allows players to become murderers and hunt each other down for exclusive rewards, while support for DirectX 10 [http://www.microsoft.com/windows/directx/] technology has also been implemented.

"I think that players have always seen the great potential in Age of Conan and we have put a lot of effort into realizing that potential," said Game Director Craig Morrison. "The game has improved tremendously since launch and we look forward to having players come back and seeing the changes for themselves!"

If the prospect of free gameplay isn't convincing enough, have a look at the list of Ten Reasons to Give Age of Conan Another Look [http://www.warcry.com/articles/view/interviews/6246-Age-of-Conan-10-Reasons-to-Give-It-Another-Look], put together by our friends at Warcry, who said the changes "are nothing short of staggering."

The re-evaluation campaign begins today and runs until July 22, during which time anyone with a closed account in good standing can reactivate and play free for two weeks. The new trial campaign will be temporarily closed, Funcom said, "to ensure the best play environment for all returning players." More information is available at ageofconan.com/updates [http://www.ageofconan.com/updates/].


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uppitycracker

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Oct 9, 2008
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As long as I don't have to enter a CC number, I'm down. Funcom is never getting my money again, after what happened with my account last time. When I bought the game, I had to cancel my account due to lack of funds and bills needing to be paid. So I go to the website, cancel my card, all that jazz, get the confirmation and everything. Then, a week later, they charge me anyway, causing me to overdraft. I email them, say hey wtf, here is the date and time i cancelled, here is the confirmation, i want my money back considering I haven't logged in the game for a month. They respond with "We can see on this day you adding a CC to your account". I respond with "Actually, I added the CC on launch day, that day I was REMOVING IT. Just as this email that I attached says. I want my money back, you caused me to overdraft" and never heard from them again. Be careful, their billing department doesn't have a damn clue.
 

Rhayn

Free of All Weakness
Jul 8, 2008
782
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Only played an hour at a friends house, but I must say I enjoyed it somewhat. It felt refreshing to see an MMO that was graphically eye-candy. Overall, the combat seemed fluent and very responsive.

But then, I hear all these crazy stories. Billing problems, a community support that rivals Blizzards old old one in stupidity, and absolutley ridiculous bugs like the hilarious "female characters swing 50% slower" bug. Bugs I can understand, but not the way they handled it. Banned people from the forums for reporting it?

Sorry Funcom, if you can convince me you've learned your lesson, then I might consider it. Your game was fun, but it was not the game that caused people to leave - it was you.

Edit; To be honest, Funcom has pulled quite the campaign to get people into the game lately. I've seen load of ads, and they've been releasing quite a bit of stuff for the game. Chances are I'll pick a copy up when I buy my new computer, since they seem to be giving them away for money equal of that of a lunch.
 

tendo82

Uncanny Valley Cave Dweller
Nov 30, 2007
1,283
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I've been on the edge of diving into Age of Conan for months now. I just can't bring myself to do it though. Every time I'm ready to give it a try I get nervous about logging into a totally empty game world.
 

Azhrarn-101

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Jul 15, 2008
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Not sure if I want to give the epic 40GB install another go tbh.
Once past level 20 (which is the single player storydriven Island) the appeal drops off very sharply. I made it to level 53 I believe, but only really enjoyed played for the first 30-35 levels.

After discovering I had to basically grind to lvl 60 without quests, or even instances to level in I quit. There was basically a massive hole in the XP layout between lvl 50 and 60, literally nothing there at all. I ran out of stuff to do anywhere at 52.5 or so.
 

Flying-Emu

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Oct 30, 2008
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The_root_of_all_evil said:
Hrrrm....seems as though the trial version doesn't count as a reactivate.
Aww, Root. See, this is why you never delete anything.

EVER
 

Sevre

Old Hands
Apr 6, 2009
4,886
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Flying-Emu said:
The_root_of_all_evil said:
Hrrrm....seems as though the trial version doesn't count as a reactivate.
Aww, Root. See, this is why you never delete anything.

EVER
What about those incriminating photos of you at last year's Christmas party?
 

Flying-Emu

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Oct 30, 2008
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Sevre90210 said:
Flying-Emu said:
The_root_of_all_evil said:
Hrrrm....seems as though the trial version doesn't count as a reactivate.
Aww, Root. See, this is why you never delete anything.

EVER
What about those incriminating photos of you at last year's Christmas party?
Those? Pasted all over the internet.

Exhibitionist for the loss.
 

Headwuend

New member
Oct 27, 2008
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Yup, biggest downer was the gaping chasm you stood before after hitting 50. Incidently, Funcom asked me to go play my level 50 Herald of Awesome for free. I can't see why not.
 

uppitycracker

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Oct 9, 2008
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Rhayn said:
Edit; To be honest, Funcom has pulled quite the campaign to get people into the game lately. I've seen load of ads, and they've been releasing quite a bit of stuff for the game. Chances are I'll pick a copy up when I buy my new computer, since they seem to be giving them away for money equal of that of a lunch.
They also had ads everywhere before and when it launched, tried REALLY hard to get everyone all over that game. Unless they took out the tedious nature of the grind, the 40 gigs required install space, and fixed their support, I wouldn't recommend doing anything but picking up the trial to start off with. And keep in mind, the first 20 levels in no way dictate how the rest of the game plays out.

edit: and don't get me wrong, it was a fun game. but after level 20, the grind was pretty horribly ridiculous, and the lack of balance between classes for pvp made wandering around pretty painful at times.
 

Nargleblarg

New member
Jun 24, 2008
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...how about they try no more fees then they would sell more copies of the game...but then again warcraft somehow has 50 bagillion (ok 11 million or so) players that all pay.
 

Slycne

Tank Ninja
Feb 19, 2006
3,422
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I quit the game with my assassin at level 78, might as well get him to the level cap.
 

Abedeus

New member
Sep 14, 2008
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I played the trial for about 3-4 hours... The only MMOs that bored me faster were WoW (3 hours) and EVE (got the trial and never played).