According to a press release sent over by Funcom today, AOC has become the world-first game to employ the server-side Nvidia(r) Physx(r), as part of a series of tech updates that the Dreamworld engine (the tech that powers both AO and AOC) has undergone recently. Here's what they say:

Durham, USA – March 30th, 2011 – Funcom and NVIDIA have announced that Funcom’s proprietary Dreamworld 2.5, a leading game engine for massively multiplayer online games (MMOs), is the first game to incorporate server-side NVIDIA® PhysX®. This unique implementation into the Dreamworld engine results in more than a doubling in the speed-of in-game physics processing vs. traditional client-side PhysX technology, delivering realistic collision effects within the online gaming environments.

Dreamworld currently powers two of the world's most popular massively multiplayer online games: ‘Age of Conan’ and ‘Anarchy Online’, with a third, ‘The Secret World’, currently in development. The updated Dreamworld Engine 2.5 with server-side PhysX is now live in ‘Age of Conan’.

"We are excited to be working closely with NVIDIA to integrate PhysX technology into our Dreamworld 2.5 engine," said Rui Casais, Chief Technology Officer at Funcom. "Server-side collision using PhysX will allow us to add a new level of realism to our online worlds, and we look forward to implementing other enhancements as well, including NVIDIA APEX clothing and destruction, to make our games even more interactive and immersive."

Recently, Funcom also introduced an entirely rewritten render engine to ‘Age of Conan’. You can download a video teaser that provides a look into the new improvements from the Funcom FTP site.

"We are also proud to have launched a fully rewritten render engine for ‘Age of Conan’, yielding major performance increase on high-end systems and enabling several new visual features for lower end machines”, said Casias. “We have been collaborating closely with NVIDIA in continuously improving the quality of the Dreamworld Render engine, resulting in fully new effects such as shader-based anti-aliasing techniques now being implemented in ‘Age of Conan’. The launch of the new engine is a major milestone towards the high requirements for visual performance in virtual adventures required for ‘The Secret World’."

This is a part of a larger effort to update and upgrade the way AOC looks, runs and functions (especially considering the Physx implementation will allow for superior collision detection, incredibly important for e.g. PvP calculations). See what other elements have undergone changes in Update series 2 in a video below!

Today Funcom announced a new Web series based on AOC's game engine entering production. The series is to be directed by Mike Fasolo (creator of "Robot Chicken" series on CN). No air date has been given, but the Web series are produced by Paradox Entertainment, who are also making a film based on REH's Conan the Barbarian, set for the theatrical release on August 19, 2011. Check what FC had to say on the subject:

Emmy-award winning writer Mike Fasolo (“Robot Chicken”) working on web comedy series utilizing the “Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures” game engine

Beverly Hills, CA (December 17, 2010) – Paradox Entertainment is happy to announce the production of the first episode of “Age of Conan: Hyboria!,” a comedy web series set in the legendary Conan universe. The web series will utilize the characters, locations and graphics engine from the hugely popular and best-selling massively multiplayer online PC game “Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures,” developed by Funcom and released in 2008 to raving reviews. The episode is written by Mike Fasolo, the award-winning writer of “Robot Chicken,” the number one rated show on Cartoon Network’s “Adult Swim.”

In addition to Mike Fasolo, several other renowned stars are joining the web series project. Comedian Harland Williams of “Dumb and Dumber” and “Half-Baked” will lend his voice to one of the characters. Dan Milano, who has voiced characters for “Greg the Bunny,” “Robot Chicken,” and “Titan Maximus,” and who also directed multiple episodes of “Greg the Bunny,” and MTV’s “Warren the Ape,” will both be directing the first episode and voicing one of the characters.

“Collaborating with Funcom on the web series is a great experience,” says Fredrik Malmberg, President and CEO of Paradox Entertainment. “We are lucky to have the unique blend of Mike Fasolo’s edgy comedic talent set in the spectacular world of one of the most successful MMO games released in recent years.”

“We are very excited to be working with Paradox Entertainment on realizing this web series,” says Funcom’s Vice President of Sales and Marketing, Morten Larssen. “Our online rendition of Hyboria has been praised for its amazing graphics and its unsurpassed level of atmosphere, and there is no doubt that the game lends itself perfectly to this project.”

Producing the series at Paradox Entertainment, alongside Fredrik Malmberg, is Gudrun Giddings, Producer and Vice President of Business Development. In addition to the new web series, Paradox Entertainment is also working with Millennium Films and Lionsgate on the new feature film “Conan the Barbarian” which is currently in post-production and slated for a US theatrical release on August 19, 2011. The movie is directed by Marcus Nispel and starring Jason Momoa, Ron Perlman, Stephen Lang, Rachel Nichols and Rose McGowan.

Sounds cool!

Posted from Test Live:
"GUARDIAN CLASS CHANGES

When we first started to look at the Guardian we went through feedback from the community and compiled lists of what the players did and did not like. We decided to do it a bit differently this time around by not introducing any big changes to the Guardian's playstyle.

One thing we saw from the feedback gathered was that the Juggernaut feat tree was clearly inferior to that of the Tempest in the eyes of the community. While these trees still are centered on different weapons, we wanted the Juggernaut tree to be a more viable choice for Guardians. The tree should be able to have a similar threat potential in groups as a Tempest, and it should also offer a viable build for PvP.

A few examples of the things we have changed :

Stratagems, Tactics and Maneuvers have undergone a change. We decided to reduce the amount of these abilities, while making the remaining abilities more interesting.

* Stratagems have been removed from the game.
* Tactics are still a lasting choice, but keep the positive effects from the old maneuvers.
* Maneuvers are now short term abilities that grant a bigger bonus.

While using these maneuvers the guardian will now also gain the Recently Used Maneuver effect that can be enhanced by two new feats.

Bloody Vengeance

Bloody Vengeance has been changed into an innate combo. Since the combo was designed for both types of weapons we chose to move it out from the feat trees. It will now gain a smaller buff from the Vengeance counter, and will also consume the entire counter when used.



Juggernaut

New Feats :
* Shield Mastery and Improved Shield Mastery. Shield Mastery grants the player two new combos, Shield Strike and Shield Slam, while the Improved Shield Mastery improves these. Shield Strike is a stun combo. This is improved by lowering the cooldown of the combo. Shield Slam is a combo that does low damage, while generating a high amount of threat. This is improved by further increasing the threat produced.
* Brutal Opening - This feat gives The Overreach, Dulling Blow, Guard Destroyer, and Counterstrike combos a higher change of a critical hit on the starter move.
* Savage Strikes - This feat grants the Guardian Combat Rating while the Recently Used Maneuver spell is active.
* Ability - Maneuver: Wall of Steel - This maneuver gives the guardian increased evade chance for a short time.
* Call to Arms – Grants the guardian a higher amount of hate generated when active, while the team gains a boost to their damage.
* Ability - Powerhouse - This ability increases the guardian's Weapon Damage and Critical Rating. While this effect is active the guardian's critical hits will also increase his Critical Bonus Damage for a short time.

Feat Changes :
* Savage Counterstrike - Increase to the retaliatory damage of Counterstrike has been changed to 5/10/15/20/25 %. Up from 2/4/6/8/10.
* Battle Cry and Ardent Battle - The stamina regain effect from this ability will now tick 4 times. Up from 3.
* Morale Boost - Increased the team effect of stamina drained by Plexus Strike.
* Cry of Havoc - Cry of Havoc has been moved further into the tree. This ability now gives a lot more threat when additional ranks are feated.
* Brutal Overreach – This feat grants an ability that gives your next Overreach higher damage, and a higher chance of hitting critically.
* Brutal Blows - The Critical Chance has been increased to 5%. Up from 2.5%. Now also includes the Dulling Blow and Overreach combo lines.
* Stand Your Ground - The Stand Your Ground ability now allows guardians to knock back full plate targets, while also making them immune to such knock backs for a short period of time. The snare component has been removed.
* Improved Dulling Blow - The duration of the Evade Chance effect has been increased to match the debuff effect of the Dulling Blow combo.
* Titanic Smash - Titanic Smash has been changed to be a high damage combo. It also has an increased chance to perform critical hits.
* Juggernaut - Juggernaut is now a purely defensive ability. While active it grants the user CC resistances, Armor, Protection, and a small amount of health.

Feats Removed :
- Bloody Vengeance - Bloody Vengeance has been changed to an innate combo. This is granted at level 50. (See below for more details on this).
- Forced March
- Drive them Back
- Sacrifice
- Bleeding Counterstrike
- Bleeding Dulling Blow



Tempest

New Feats :
* Ability - Intimidating Shout. This ability places a bleed effect on the guardian's target.
* Mental Guard. This feat gives the Guard combo line bonus protection in addition to the armor it already gives.
* Precise Attacks - This feat grants the guardian Armor Penetration while the Recently Used Maneuver spell is active.
* Ability - Maneuver: Enduring Regeneration - This new Maneuver is available at level 40, and gives the guardian back some stamina for the duration.
* Fatal Strikes - This feat gives 1% Critical Bonus Damage per rank.

Feat Changes :
* Disarming Aggression - Damage gained increased to 4/8/12%. Up from 3/6/9%. Hate Reduction increased to 10/20/30%. Up from 10/18/25%.
* Skewer - Further ranks of this feat will now increase the duration of the Skewered effect by 1.5 and 3 seconds.
* Defiance - Defiance will now do 2 ticks for 5% of the Guardian's health. Up from 4 ticks of 2%.
* Vengeance is Mine - Vengeance is Mine will now also have a 10% chance per rank of triggering the Vengeance effect when the guardian does a critical hit.
* Lightning Reflexes - This feat will now give 5% Evade Chance increase passively. Up from 2.5%. The ability will now also include Overwhelming Shout in the list of cooldowns it resets.
* Sweep the Field - Feat changed to be 2 points. Down from 3. This combo now increases the distance the Stagger combo line knocks back a target.

Feats Removed :
- Eye for an Eye
- Bleeding Revenge
- Redoubt
- Combat Mastery Stratagem



Combo Changes

* Storm Strike - Storm Strike has had it's cooldown lowered, and now also has an increased chance of critically hitting the target.
* Riposte - When the guardian has the combo Riposte trained he will now see a particle effect played when he evades.
* Overreach - Two new ranks of Overreach are now given out at levels 44 and 68.
* Bloody Vengeance - Bloody Vengeance is now innate at level 50, and still usable by both classes. The animations have changed so that pole arm and sword and shield will be closer to each other in damage. Bloody Vengeance will now consume the guardian's Vengeance Stack. Gains from the Vengeance stack have been reduced.
* Counterstrike - The retaliatory damage done by Counterstrike has been increased. Additionally any targets that were not hit by the original combo will still be hit by a lower amount of retaliatory damage when hitting the guardian.
* Guard - The amount of Armor gained while the Guarded effect is active has been slightly lowered when using lower ranks of this combo.
* Disable - Disable will now in addition increase the guardians Fatality Chance for a short time after being used.
* Dulling Blow - Dulling Blow now decreases the targets Hit Rating instead of Combat Rating.
* Strike and Guard - Removed the Stun from this combo. The stun is now utilized by the combo Shield Strike. Increased the Damage Deflection gained when the effect from this combo is active.
* Plexus Strike - Increased the stamina drained.



Ability Changes

* Stratagems - The Stratagems have been removed from the Game
* Maneuvers - Old Maneuvers have been renamed to Tactics, and the negative effects have been removed. These now give +mitigation/+hate/+damage

Tactics
* Old Tactics have been renamed to Maneuvers
* These are now short term clickables, also with no negative effects.
* Maneuver: Elusive Daring and Maneuver: Mental Barrier are innate and granted at level 40
* Maneuver: Wall of Steel can be feated in the Juggernaut Tree at level 40.
* Maneuver: Enduring Regeneration can be feated in the Tempest Tree at level 40.
* While any Maneuver is active the guardian also receives the Recently Used Maneuver spell. This can be further increased by Hurting Strikes in the Juggernaut Tree, and Precise Attacks in the Tempest Tree.

Reckoning
* Reckoning is now an ability that affects the outcome of the guardian's next pole arm combo.
* This ability can be activated at any time, and will only go on cooldown when used by a combo. (1 second cooldown on activating to prevent double clicking.)
* Combos gain the following effects :
- Flashing Arc: Increased damage
- Disable: Disable will now give the guardian back an amount of the stamina sapped from the target.
- Guard: Big amount of Armor removed after one hit.
- Storm Strike: Increased damage, and increased radius of hit.
- Stagger: Allows Stagger to knock back heavier targets.
- Riposte: Increases the guardians Evade Chance for a short amount of time.
- Skewer: Decreases the cooldown of skewer"

It's that time of year, folks - Nights of Lost Souls Halloween event is almost upon us. Prepare to be (very mildly) scared and for a (barely useful) host of quests to be there for groups and solo players. The event runs Oct 22 through Nov 2 and can be started as usually, via the /claim command (select "Partially Translated Page" and right-click it to start the quest chain).
Here's what devs prepared in terms of carved out pumpkins and crudely made costumes:

With two solo quests, and an additional team quest, players will have to track down and defeat three Lost Souls. The quests will take you to places you thought you knew, but this time of year casts a shadow over things you once found familiar. As with last year’s events there are some fantastically fun seasonal items to acquire. Those that seek out the Lost Souls will find themselves facing the true dangers that lurk just beyond the firelight.

These new rewards also mean that even if you braved the Nights of Lost Souls in the past, you will be able to get some brand new grim and macabre social items.

Don't expect anything of real use of course. Listed as "social" there's a pet, a weapon and armor peice to be obtained, all for looks and status-confirmation only. Could be a nice addition to an Unholy Backscratcher and pet Devourer...

Update 2.0.7 (previously known as update 2.0.8 on TL) will go live tomorrow. It's a minor update that among other things aims at improving NG framerate in Khitai. Will it also reduce the dreadful loading times? We'll see tomorrow. Check the update notes below:

RAIDS
Thoth-Amon's Stronghold
* Players should no longer be able to fatality the Acheronian Soul.
* Precognition of Doom and Shadow surge are now "world particles".

GENERAL
* Northern Grasslands has had some optimization done and should run more smoothly!
* The Jade Citadel now has a lobby with a rez pad, which will hopefully help alleviate long loading times when resurrecting.
* Fixed a problem where resources were not downloaded even though they were selected in the patcher options.
* Some items that previously had +Health have had their +Health bonuses restored.
* Abyss of Kun Whu - Hardmode should now be triggered correctly.
* Resolved an issue where your preferences would sometimes get too large to be saved on the server, and another issue where this message would pop up for no reason.

CLASSES
Dark Templar
* Any Rank of "A Soul for Our Feast" can now overwrite any other rank of this buff. The lower ranks of this buff still provide their normal amounts of effect.

Ranger
* Ranger directional buffs should now be applied more reliably.
* Deft Stabs with one or no directional bonuses should now do more damage.
* Exhausting Traps now lasts for 6 seconds with double tick burst effect.
* Fixed an issue that prevented Leghold Trap from initiating the Master Trapper buff.
* Pin Down now has an increased snare effect.
* Incendiery Shot should no longer break from its own damage.
* Vigor should now restore slightly more stamina when an advantage is used.

September Game Director's Letter is here, and with a vengeance! A lot of cool new stuff is promised and explained, starting with a new PVP minigame, new PVP activity type and changing the team-enrolling rules for the minis (to avoid premades):

<sup>The new minigame is known as - The Call of Jhebbal Sag - and takes place in the Pictish Wilderness, where players will fight over control of a strategic region of the wilderness.

The new Conquest mode plays out in a different way to the existing mini-games. We really tried to aim for something more dynamic that would concentrate on the combat. In this rule-set, each side starts with a certain amount of resources. Resources are then lost for each capture point that the enemy holds for a certain time or if your allies fall in battle. If a side runs out of resources they can not continue and their opponents are victorious and they are forced to retreat, to attempt to fight for this region another day.

Each side in this minigame has two teams. So the battle is a 12 versus 12 encounter. Victory is defined by forcing your opponent down to zero resource points. There are several capture points on the map that you have to fight over. The more points your side holds more resources the other team loses every ‘tick’ of progression. The points will have different resource values depending on their location and proximity to a respawn point. The further afield you venture the greater the gain.

Players can also bring their mounts to this mini-game, which will add another different mechanic to the area that you haven’t seen in the other mini-games. Finally there are also random buffs/debuffs located around the mini-game that can tip the tide of battle. Each node though is not guaranteed to be beneficial. Will you receive the blessing of Jhebbal Sag or his curse? Hopefully it will all add up to a pretty exciting new game mode that will also come with a suitable selection of associated quests.

Lastly, and this is something we know players have wanted, we are also taking the opportunity to address how the sign-up queue works. We will be ensuring that single teams cannot dominate a queue and that the new sign-up queue always evenly distributes players between the teams, regardless of whether they were in a group when signing up. That will apply to all the old mini-games as well.</sup>

Of note are the new rules (Conquest), ability to avoid premades (enrolling with a group doesn't mean that group will end up on one side of the conflict), 12v12 paradigm, and the ability to use mounts (which, presumably would also enable siege mounts and combat pets like Moon Child or Loyal Kappa etc..). However, PVPers are not the only ones to get some lovin' with Update 2.1. As shown before, roleplayers and guild-oriented players will have (finally and actually for the first time) something aimed squarely at them - Guild Events and Horce Racing.
Here's what FC say about the Events:

The Guild Events are new social mini-games held in guild city taverns ("outdoor") or in the guild city cultural retreats ("indoor"). There are five Event types introduced in this patch:

• Treasure Hunt - (outdoor only) Pick up randomly scattered treasures across the zone for the highest point total.


• Demon Hunt - (outdoor only) Find your compatriots that have become demons and catch them for points. As a demon, survive without being caught for points.


• Ymir's Hunt - (indoor only) Freezetag! Run away from the Ymirish or you'll be frozen. Survive or unfreeze others for points.


• Storytelling - (indoor or outdoor) Take turns telling a story and vote for the finest storyteller over multiple elimination rounds.


• Insult Contest - (indoor or outdoor) Skillfully insult a given target using the theme provided and vote for whoever you feel is the best at slinging the proverbial mud to give them points.

The game of tag and storytelling will appeal to both hardcore and casual RPers, but it's safe to assume that if the events are easy to start, even regular "raiding" PVErs might find it interesting. The drawback is that your Guild has to be high enough level to have access to the Arbiter of Honor NPC in order to get those events rolling and sponsor gold prizes.
And here's a snippet about horse racing:

^{Horse Racing is for groups in Old Tarantia. Some of the more observant amongst you may have noticed the area being prepared some time ago! Any group may pay Marcellus, the racetrack owner, to use his course for whatever race they like - it is up to the group to decide what kind of steeds (if any) to use for their race. We expect the typical race setup to be three laps with a random assortment of obstacles and speed boosts, but players may also choose one-lap or no-obstacle variants. Keep an eye out for barrels, sticky mud, and horse-spooking adders - and stockpile carrots and sugar sold nearby to keep your steed up to speed.}

It's especially interesting to see such a non-interactive feature as horse (where horse doesn't actually exist anywhere up until summoned to be ridden) to be updated on. But wait, there's still more interesting immersion-building stuff to come, check it:

^{Renowned players can learn the dances of other races by seeking out quests across the world. Old Tarantia hosts a "VIP Area" on the rooftops near the tradepost, complete with drinks, dancing, and fireworks, accessible only by members of the top-ranked guild and their guests. In addition an assortment of over 30 new city decorations is also available in Khitai, from a few different sources.}

It seems that once again FC have not been wasting their time - we're on the verge of another great content update, hopefully appeasing some of the most neglected folks out there, from RP and PVP realms.

Despite the rough beginnings (and its first year and a half), AOC has been revamped, rehashed and reworked into a staggeringly pretty and mature title it strived to be. Even though it can't boast becoming a WOW-killer, it's now arguably in its best shape as a game, and possibly, worst as far as populace goes. The road so far and reasons for which you should retry it are given in the newest video review by GameOlio. Watch the vid below, or check out their revisit back at GameOlio!


^{This video (c) GameOlio. Check the video back at Youtube or directly at GameOlio.com}

Aaaaand Update 2.0.6 is finally here! It's that "small little update with tweaks" promised early in the summer that's been rotting (or perhaps cooking...) on TL for a long while. A lot of additional tweaks have been added - basically it's about total rebalancing of the Thoth-Amon's Stronghold encounters (T3 raids). Some other stuff (like the possibility to utilize some of the Khitan trophies in a more meaningful way or nerfing the OP "interrupted comboes" of the rangers) has been changed as well. All in all a nice little patch that will no doubt anger PVPers anyway since it doesn't really cater to most pressing PVP issues (aside from the rebalancing of single-hit comboes and forcing rangers to actually use upper/lower strikes bonuses). Full notes below!

CLASSES
Rogue Archetype
* Cheat the Reaper should work more reliably now.

Assassin
* Cover of Dusk will now be removed if a soldier switches to frenzy stance.
* Cover of Dusk should no longer affect characters that have Distraction running.

Demonologist
* Cursed by Hell should be more reliable now.

Necromancer
* Chill Rank 6 can now trigger Set's Pestilence, as intended.

Ranger
* Hunting Hawk should now properly go on cooldown.
* Reduced the proc rate of the Shred Armor feat.
* Exhausting Traps will now refresh the duration on any running debuffs in PvP, while keeping the same mechanic with one debuff per Ranger in PvE.
* Rebalanced all ranger combos, lowering damage on most combo lines. The combos should now also properly reward those who get the upper and lower attack bonuses.

COMBAT
* All one step combos have had their damage rebalanced.

RAIDS/GROUP INSTANCES
* Significantly increased the AA XP gain for killing Tier two and Tier three raid bosses.

Crow's Nest
* It is now possible to choose between Normal or Epic mode when going back to Tarantia Commons using the ladder.

Den of the Crowmen
* The Royal Hatchling will now drop loot in Trial of the Godslayer mode.

General Sheng
* Reduced the radius of several large AoEs, increased the time between aura pulses, and increased enrage timers.
* Increased the time it takes before the second wave of enemies aggroes.

Enigmata of Yag
* Fixed an issue which caused the quest "Unraveling the Undone" to not update in Trial of the Godslayer mode.

Leviathus
* Fixed an issue which caused the "Sanguinary Guardians" to not despawn correctly.

Thoth-Amon's Stronghold
* Reduced the health of trash mobs.
* Grim Demonic Lancers should now properly despawn after a wipe.
* Reduced the chance of Thoth-Amon spawning hazards on trash pulls significantly.
* Made the trash slightly more vulnerable to melee attacks.
* Renamed certain spells in the tier 3 crafting encounter.
* The target of "Set's Curse" will no longer be teleported for the "Mark of Acheron" event.
* Arbanus : Blood Draw cast time has been increased by 1 second.
* Favored of Louhi : Unholy retribution proc rates have been adjusted.
* The Hollow Knight will no longer target pets
* Shawabti in Thoth-Amon's Stronghold now sells a very rare shard in exchange for simple relics.
* The Keeper of Artifacts:
o The singing swords will now despawn after killing the boss.
o Reduced the HP of The Keeper and the Hollow Knight.
o Made it less likely for the same type of artifact to arrive two times in a row.
o Increased the damage of Bore.
o Decreased the DPS of Searing Armor, Searing Heat, and Blaze.
o Demolish now ignores line of sight.
o The Hollow Knight should now correctly display target's target.
o Hollow Knight's target now receives a stamina regen buff if the target can't use stamina potions.
o Increased the Singing Sword melee vulnerability.
o Fixed a bug which caused the Demolish particles to not be visible.
o Reduced the power of Demolish.
o Fixed an issue that prevented The Keeper of Artifacts from summoning his artifacts.
* Thoth-Amon:
o Acheronian Soul is now immune to fear and charm.
o Adjusted the health and resists of the Acheronian Soul.
o Reduced the health of Thoth-Amon.
o Decreased the spawn rate of the adds.
o Reduced the amount of adds players need to take down to trigger the next phase.
o Thoth-Amon is now slightly more vulnerable to melee attacks.
o Added particle effects to better visualize the next phase triggering.
o Added particle effects to better visualize where the adds spawn.
o Reduced the range of the adds spells.
o Thoth-Amon will now teleport to his target.
o Reduced the amount of pressure plates in the encounter.
o Thoth-Amon now loses some health when you solve one of the puzzles.
o Fixed an issue which caused the puzzles in the Thoth-Amon encounter to not reset properly after a wipe.

GENERAL
* Corrected several issues with collision that could result in the player becoming stuck, and issues that were impeding gameplay.
* The Trader of Fortunes now offers Simple Trophy Receptacles in her shop.
* The Trader of Fortunes can now exchange for Marks of Acclaim as well.
* Increased the drop rate on all combo/spell books.

FACTIONS
* Faction quests in Kara Korum and Paikang have had their amount of Mark of Acclaim tokens increased.
* The amount of faction gained from faction quests has been increased. Higher ranked quests will give even greater amounts.

QUESTS
* Chosain Province: "Neglected Duty" quest will now update after setting fire to the tents.
* Tarantia Commons: For the quest "The Tarantia Tea Party", all of the barrels should now be located on the Tarantia Commons side of the river.
* Players with Insurrection quests completed can now progress with RotG storyline quest ’Allied against the Darkness’.

NPCs/MOBS
* Brutish Jang's Iron Skin will now be removed by the Finely Honed ability.

GUI

* Readded command parameter expansions (%t for current target and %m for player name) to the following commands:
/afk
/ignore
/invite
/petition
/reply
/target
/tell
/who

It's this time of the month again, and before releasing the new GD Monthly letter, Sillirion decided to provide a very concise and informative guide to the upcoming changes in the game. Aside from the previously explained Dreamworld engine changes and T4 raiding, Craig had a real prepared several real treats for social players, PVErs (Pai Kang is now more open for group exploration apparently) and hardcore PVPers out there.

The social or roleplaying guilds can count on new in-guild mechanics, such as storytelling contests or demon hunts. Hardcore PVPers should rejoice at the sound of the new minigame type and map to come - the one that supports 12v12 matches!

The pvp changes are a direct result of the summer survey. They're still not enough to convince many post-Bori ex-PVPers to come back, but it's definitely a step in the right direction. They've also promised to tweak mini-game rewards and progression, possibly tweaking equipment level brackets so that Bori-farmers don't get all the PVP gear.

Endearing additions to the RP aspect of the game are not really that new - at least regarding the rooftop parties and "the ponies". The racing track has been there in AOC since Februarya, and the new NPC changes have been noted by the eagle-eyed Slith quite some time ago. It'll be especially interesting to see the new "demon hunt" and "storytelling competition" features on TL, though.

Check the notes for the upcoming update (with "Cool Marketing Name Pending") below or at the official forums:

Dreamworld Technology Integration
I talked about this at length in the June letter, so won’t go into the details again here, but it is coming, and it helps improve our infrastructure and tools.

New PVP content
Mini-game fans can rejoice, the focus for PVP fans in the update series will be both adding a new mini-game (most likely a 12v12 map). This option came out on top in the summer survey, and as an area that hasn’t really been added to since launch we have decided that this will be the new content addition for 2.1. We will also be taking a look at what tweaks and pokes we can do to improve the progression through mini-games as well.

New Raid content
Tier four raiding will continue as the next set of encounters will be released to the live game. There will definitely be a whole new instance with the next three encounters. There is also a final instance with the last climatic set of encounters for Khitai planned, which is currently in-between updates, so those additional encounters might be part of the 2.1 series, but they may also end up in 2.2. You will though at the very least get the next three tier four encounters in the 2.1 series.

New PVE content
Players will get to explore a little more of the city of Pai Kang itself, as two districts of the imperial capital open up for group exploration.

New Social and Guild content
Lastly but by no means least, we also have some cool smaller additions coming for guild and social play.

Guilds will be treated to some cool new NPCs that allow for having some specific guild social events. This addition will allow you to hold certain new events amongst your guild, like a treasure hunt, a storytelling competition or a demon hunt.

Then we have a new social feature of horse racing. Players will be able to sign up for some new ‘just for fun’ horse races at a track near Old Tarantia, or you might just fancy going along to watch.

The rooftops of Old Tarantia are also now home to an exclusive venue that only most esteemed of guilds can reach, as a little extra fun reward for topping the rankings.

Irinir, a well-known conqueror residing on EU server CROM put together a nice, basic guide for factions in ROTGS, pointing out the gear dependancies, possibilities of betrayal, faction quests and Golem raid/group encounter. Check the guide in its full here, or see an excerpt below!

There's a few factions that are not present in grasslands.

The Timarin Tigers and the Scholar’s of Cheng-Ho - These are present in Chosain only and you can get the quest started to make a choice between them right at the entrance of the playfield.

The Jhian Chi and the Insurrection - These factions are a exception compared to all the others, none of them have a enemy faction, and you are not given a quest to reach a faction speaker, you need to discover how to reach and befriend them. I advise you to do both quest lines, the jhian chi in Kara Korum (hint hint) have very interesting things to sell and the storyline is very interesting, the same goes for the insurrection in Paikang (hint again) with the added bonus of giving you follow up quests that lead to T4 raiding.

Funcom has just announced their new gametime purchase camapign. In it, you can obtain a lot of goodies for the duration of the campaign if you purchase additional gametime. The bonuses range from XP/AAXP pots to teleport items and offer additional levelling options (up to 15 levels). Check the list below or click the image below to go directly to your account - the Warlord's Cache looks EXTREMELY enticing!

• 6x Refined Elixir of Ingenuity (increase experience gain from killing monsters by 20% for 4 hours): Duration does not count during off-line time, survives death. Level 20 required.


• 6x Major Elixir of Accession (increase Alternate Advancement experience gain from killing monsters by 20% for 4 hours): Duration does not count during off-line time, survives death. Level 20 required


• 3x Scrolls of Teleport to each of the main cities of: Stygia, Cimmeria and Aquilonia.


• 3x Scrolls of Teleport to each of these dungeons: Fire beacon lookout (Field of the Dead), Hunting Lodge (Eiglophian mountains), Iron Tower (Tarantia), Kheshatta City, Prison Colony (Thunder River), The Lair (Atzel's Approach).


• 6x Excellent Roast Capon (Level 40 superior hit point buffing food): increases your hit points upon consumption. Level 40 required.


• 6x Excellent Witchwater (Level 40 superior mana buffing drink): increases your spell points upon consumption. Level 40 required.


• 6x Excellent Amrita (Level 80 superior hitpoint buffing food): increases your hit points upon consumption. Level 80 required.


• 6x Excellent Etherdew (Level 80 superior mana buffing drink): increases your spell points upon consumption. Level 80 required.

Remember to activate your items via /claim command in-game!

Haven wrote:

GENERAL
* Corrected several issues with collision that could result in the player becoming stuck, and issues that were impeding gameplay.
* Quest : Chosain Province - "Neglected Duty" quest will now update after setting fire to the tents.
* Crow's Nest: It is now possible to choose between Normal or Epic mode when going back to Tarantia Common using the ladder.
* Quest : Tarantia Commons - For the quest "The Tarantia Tea Party", all of the barrels should now be located on the Tarantia Commons side of the river.

CLASSES
Rogues
* Cheat the Reaper should work more reliably now.

Ranger
* Hunting Hawk should now stop silencing players more reliably.
* Reduced the proc rate of the Shred Armor feat.
* Exhausting Traps will now refresh the duration on any running debuffs in PvP, while keeping the same mechanic with one debuff per Ranger in PvE.

Assassin
* Cover of Dusk will now be removed if a soldier switches to frenzy stance.
* Cover of Dusk should no longer affect characters that have Distraction running.

Demonologist
* Cursed by Hell should be more reliable.


RAIDS/GROUP INSTANCES

* Den of the Crowmen : The Royal Hatchling will now drop loot in Trial of the Godslayer mode.
* General Sheng: Reduced the radius of several large AoEs, increased the time between aura pulses, and increased enrage timers.

* Significantly increased the AA XP gain for killing tier 2 and tier 3 raid bosses.
* The Trader of Fortunes now offers Simple Trophy Receptacles in her shop.


Thoth-Amon's Stronghold

* The target of "Set's Curse" will no longer be teleported for the "Mark of Acheron" event.
* Reduced the health of trash mobs.
* Grim Demonic Lancers should now properly despawn after a wipe.
* Reduced the chance of Thoth-Amon spawning hazards on trash pulls significantly.
* Made the trash slightly more vulnerable to melee attacks.
* Renamed certain spells in the tier 3 crafting encounter.
* Arbanus : Blood Draw cast time has been increased by 1 second.
* Favored of Louhi : Unholy retribution proc rates have been adjusted.

* The Keeper of Artifacts :
-The singing swords will now despawn after killing the boss.
-Reduced the HP of The Keeper and the Hollow Knight.
-Made it less likely for the same type of artifact to arrive two times in a row.
-Increased the damage of Bore.
-Decreased the DPS of Searing Armor, Searing Heat, and Blaze.
-Demolish now ignores line of sight.
-The Hollow Knight should now correctly display target's target.
-Hollow Knight's target now receives a stamina regen buff.
-Increased the Singing Sword melee vulnerability.
-Fixed a bug which caused the Demolish particles to not be visible.
-Reduced the power of Demolish.

* Thoth-Amon:
-Acheronian Soul is now immune to fear and charm.
-Adjusted the health and resists of the Acheronian Soul.
-Reduced the health of Thoth-Amon.
-Decreased the spawn rate of the adds.
-Reduced the amount of adds players need to take down to trigger the next phase.
-Thoth-Amon is now slightly more vulnerable to melee attacks.
-Added particle effects to better visualize the next phase triggering.
-Added particle effects to better visualize where the adds spawn.
-Reduced the range of the adds spells.

* Enigmata of Yag - Fixed an issue which caused the quest "Unraveling the Undone" to not update in Trial of the Godslayer mode.

* Jade Citadel - Increased the time it takes before the second wave of enemies aggroes

Guild Rankings Are Up!

We're continuing to show the weekly renown rankings from CROM, the biggest PVE General server in AOC and provide a brief commentary on the guilds' progress/regress. You can also check numerical stats for current week globally at the official AOC Online Guild Rankings site, http://guilds.ageofconan.com/


Weekly Summary

It's almost August but the servers seem to be still in a lull. CROM has seen a rather visible drop in all activities across the board (save for PVE), and this week has thus some pretty surprising guilds among the top 3s. Tainted Souls managed to climb to the 3rd spot in Totals, despite losing speed in Valor and Glory due to somewhat higher amount of Artistry. The Unforgiven concentrated fully on PvR&T and PVE and it paid off - they're now 2nd. However, the biggest surprise was seeing Carnage climb all the way to the top. Yes, it's that persistent guild that went through pure-PVP to pure-Crafting transformation in the last few months and was seemingly content with staying at the 3rd spot in Artistry for almost as long a time. However, an overall decrease in productivity on the server meant that their contuing, stable performance granted them a noticeable boost - to no.1. There's a few more surprising moves on the rankings aside from the top 3 Totals. {EzO} managed to finally gain on Tainted Souls and BoB in Valor, becoming no.1 PVE guild. In Glory, the Northern Legion managed to gain the 3rd spot. And finally, Tainted Souls had been propelled to no.3 in Artistry owing to an overall decrease in crafting.

The lull in activity is very visible in numbers. Artistry has gone down the drain, considering only two of the top guilds even managed a score remotely close to the previous weeks. While Valor had even grown somewhat, Glory and Artistry - and thus, Totals - have been shown neglect. This will change as the holiday season is drawing to a close, but until then - CROM is surprisingly silent.


See the details and screenshots below!

<sup>Total Renown rankings for week 25, CROM EU, July 18 - July 25, 2010

VALOR, ARTISTRY and GLORY Renown rankings for Week 25, CROM EU, July 18 - July 25, 2010</sup>

Rankings summary:

TOP 3 TOTAL RENOWN GAINED:

• Carnage (519 members - 14 more) - 33.4 million points (up by 3, first time at the top!)


• The Unforgiven (386 members - 5 more) - 31.1 million points (2.7 million less, but gains 1 spot - even though dropped one compared to last week!)


• Tainted Souls (489 members - 12 less) - 28.3 million points (up by 2)

TOP 3 VALOR RENOWN GAINED:

• {EzO} Circle of Eternity (364 members - 2 more) - 21.1 million points (4.1 million more, back at PVE top, +2)


• Tainted Souls (489 members - 12 less) - 20.3 million points (almost exactly the same score as last week, but ousted by {EzO} nonetheless, -1)


• Band Of Brothers (519 members - 48 less) - 18.6 million points (similar score to last week, but still dropped by 1, ousted by TS who were ousted by {EzO})

TOP 3 GLORY RENOWN GAINED:

• The Unforgiven (386 members - 5 more) - 18.8 million points (1.3 million less, still dominating Glory.)


• Predator (176 members - 6 more) - 16.2 million points (2.1 million less, continues to slow down but no change in place.)


• The Northern Legion (562 members) - 5.1 million (first timers in Glory top 3, up by 2 and ousted TS)

TOP 3 ARTISTRY RENOWN GAINED:

• Carnage (519 members - 14 more) - 22.7 million points (1.5 million more, and owing to other guilds' slowdown in Crafting thus gain no.1 in Totals too!)


• AmbrosiA (688 members - 12 less) - 16.2 million points (almost 5 million less, no change - no competitors in Crafting aside from Carnage and AmbrosiA anyway...)


• Tainted Souls (489 - 12 less) - 5.6 million points (ousts BoB and finally in crafting top 3, up by 2)

This week's Winners:

Carnage continues the winning streak this week. After last week's progression, this week's gain is very visible as Carnage went for no.1 in Totals, not just crafting.

Carnage are not the only ones that go from strength to strength. Tainted Souls managed to gain a position in top 3 owing to diminishing Crafting efforts on the server, and even they dropped slightly in Valor and Glory, their superb score in Artistry propelled them to no.3 in Totals this week.

This week's Runners-up:

This week's significant runner-up is, without a doubt, SolidLine. This pretty experienced guild usually shies away from the spotlight, but they managed to sneakily increase their overall power by breaking into Valor and Artistry top 10. This resulted in them showing up at the very bottom of the top 10 guilds of the server (Totals), but their achievement is there nonetheless. In Valor, SL managed to gain 6 spots (9. position) and in Artistry they grew by 5 spots (5. position). This last gain is owing to the overall decrease in top guilds' Artistry efforts, since the 10+million earners are simply not there to take the first few spots. Should SL manage to turn this further to their advantage, they might rise quite high in the Totals as well.

Check back with AOCVault in a week for new Rankings rundown and commentary, check http://guilds.ageofconan.com/ for the official continuous rankings per server and globally to check how well (or badly) your guild has done in comparison to guilds on other servers!

Guild Rankings Are Up!

We're continuing to show the weekly renown rankings from CROM, the biggest PVE General server in AOC and provide a brief commentary on the guilds' progress/regress. You can also check numerical stats for current week globally at the official AOC Online Guild Rankings site, http://guilds.ageofconan.com/


Weekly Summary

The summer is in full swing now and the hotter it gets the less inclination there is to be super competitive in AOC, it seems. Last week saw the incredible drop in Totals numbers, and a relatively unmitigated march to no.1 from the Unforgiven. Previous top 3 guilds have all been down by at least 1, with the exception of Carnage who were able to pick up the Artistry flag amidst the slowing down server activity, and BoB who managed to regain one spot in Valor but still lost to the Unforgiven in the Totals.

Numbers this week are pretty odd. The scores were dropping left and right except Valor, but the competition in Totals seemed to be very balanced with top 3 sharing not only the podium but also the numbers themselves - 33 million each, the top guilds (at Sunday's counting) only differed by minute amounts. Valor scores did increase somewhat promising a return to the basics (i.e. raiding, doing instances, grinding factions) on the server. With Komodo guild disbanded/gone, the situation on the server might be unstable for a few weeks as previous Komodo members find their new homes in other guilds.


See the details and screenshots below!

<sup>Total Renown rankings for week 24, CROM EU, July 11 - July 17, 2010

VALOR, ARTISTRY and GLORY Renown rankings for Week 24, CROM EU, July 11 - July 17, 2010</sup>

Rankings summary:

TOP 3 TOTAL RENOWN GAINED:

• The Unforgiven (381 - 67 less!) - 33.8 million points (up by 3 and this week's winner!)


• Band of Brothers (567 members - 12 more) - 33.3 million points (6.4 million less - you're slowing down, guys! Dropped by 1.)


• AmbrosiA (700 members - 16 less) - 33.0 million points (3.3 million less, down by 1.)

TOP 3 VALOR RENOWN GAINED:

• Tainted Souls (501 members - 9 less) - 19.1 million points (almost exactly the same score as last week, steady no.1 PVE on the server.)


• Band Of Brothers (567 members - 12 more) - 18.0 million points (2 million higher and up by 1.)


• {EzO} Circle of Eternity (362 members - 5 more) - 17.0 million points (1.2 million more but lost out to BoB dropping by 1.)

TOP 3 GLORY RENOWN GAINED:

• The Unforgiven (381 members - 67 less!) - 21.1 million points (1.9 million more and finally able to oust Predator from no.1 spot.)


• Predator (170 members - 19 more) - 18.3 million points (3.8 million less, drop by 1)


• Tainted Souls (501 - 9 less) - 5.7 million points (2.6 million less but holding still at 3.)

TOP 3 ARTISTRY RENOWN GAINED:

• Carnage (505 members - 24 more) - 21.2 million points (6.1 million more and thanks to that finally no.1 in Crafting after weeks at 3rd spot!)


• AmbrosiA (700 members - 16 less) - 21.1 million points (3.4 million less, no change.)


• Band of Brothers (567 members - 12 more) - 14.7 million points (almost 10 million points less and that's what caused them to lose no.1 in Totals!)

This week's Winners:

The biggest winner this week (as of Sunday's counting) was the Unforgiven, a usually PvP/PvR&T guild. They managed to rise not only due to Glory score, however, as they managed to rise somewhat in Valor (almost breaking into the top 3) and have a minute presence in Artistry. Their win is not only the result of them increasing their overall score, however. This week top guilds had a slower pace than usual, resulting in all top 3 Totals being separated by mere thousands of points. This means that should top guilds regain their footing and find some time to do somewhat more of PVE and crafting, the situation among the top 3 might change.
Another winner this week is Carnage - a guild that seemed to be deadlocked at no.3 in crafting finally managed to get there to the top, with a higher score than last week.

This week's Runners-up:

There were no significant runners-up this week. {EzO} managed to rise by 3 in Glory, but fell by 1 in Valor. Destiny gained 5 in Valor, but failed to reach above no.10 in other rankings. Auditor Fortunata Juvat seemed to get a high increase (+9) in Totals, owing to their increase in Artistry (+5) and held no.10 at Valor, but still lost momentum in Glory (-2). It's not clear if someone is indeed gearing up for the top 3 - we'll have to wait till Saturday night for that to become a little more obvious.

Check back with AOCVault in a week for new Rankings rundown and commentary, check http://guilds.ageofconan.com/ for the official continuous rankings per server and globally to check how well (or badly) your guild has done in comparison to guilds on other servers!

Guild Rankings Are Up!

We're continuing to show the weekly renown rankings from CROM, the biggest PVE General server in AOC and provide a brief commentary on the guilds' progress/regress. You can also check numerical stats for current week globally at the official AOC Online Guild Rankings site, http://guilds.ageofconan.com/


Weekly Summary

Last week brought not only heat waves, but also some changes to the overall situation in the top 3s. In Totals, BoB is still ruling supreme, but hot on its heels come AmbrosiA - who are finally regaining their ground, and Tainted Souls - who are dominating all the rankings except Artistry, where they just can't seem to move above 4th spot. Cracks are beginning to show in the Band's facade as they are dropping continuously in Valor and seem to only excel at Artistry these days. Still, it's summertime, many people are absent and those who aren't may not be operating at full speed owing to the pervasive heat.

From the numbers perspective, CROM saw a slight increase in overall achievements, with Valor leading the field. It seems that Tainted Souls is on the road to earning the most Valor while also having a notable presence in Glory and Artistry. The Glory numbers are also on the slight up and its probably owing to continuing struggle between the top dogs, Predator and the Unforgiven.


See the details and screenshots below!

<sup>Total Renown rankings for week 23, CROM EU, July 4 - July 10, 2010

VALOR, ARTISTRY and GLORY Renown rankings for Week 23, CROM EU, July 4 - July 10, 2010</sup>

Rankings summary:

TOP 3 TOTAL RENOWN GAINED:

• Band of Brothers (555 members - 37 more) - 39.7 million points (almost no change in numbers but definitely slows down.)


• AmbrosiA (716 members - 19 less) - 36.3 million points (9 million more on last week! Consequently, up by 1.)


• Tainted Souls (510 members - 8 less) - 33.4 million points (up by 1 and seems to be leading the assault on all fronts at once!)

TOP 3 VALOR RENOWN GAINED:

• Tainted Souls (510 members - 8 less) - 19.2 million points (4 million more, after ousting Royal Ultima last week now they have won over BoB proving themselves the best in PVE)


• {EzO} Circle of Eternity (357 members) - 15.8 million points (back in top 3 and seem to be quite keen on dethroning whoever is ruling PVE! Increase by 2!)


• Band Of Brothers (555 members - 37 more) - 15.7 million points (400k lower and seem to be gradually losing out. Drop by 2!)

TOP 3 GLORY RENOWN GAINED:

• Predator (151 members - 9 more) - 22.1 million points (up by 1)


• The Unforgiven (446 members - 18 more) - 19.2 million points (4 million less again, drop by 1)


• Tainted Souls (510 - 8 less) - 8.3 million points (1 million less but reatin their spot for another week!)

TOP 3 ARTISTRY RENOWN GAINED:

• Band of Brothers (555 members - 37 more) - 25.4 million points (up by 800k and still no.1 but slowing down in PVE!)


• AmbrosiA (716 members - 19 less) - 24.5 million points (almost 7 million more but no change!)


• Carnage (481 members - 13 more) - 15.1 million points (Carnage is the most stable guild in AOC at this point, proving steady 3rd position in at least one ranking for almost half a year now!)

This week's Winners:

There were two winners this week - AmbrosiA, who are keen on regaining their former glory and recreating the CROM ABCs with BoB and (possibly though unlikely) Carnage, and Tainted Souls, who are trying the jack-of-all-trades approach to the rankings. Surprisingly effective so far considering their continued improvement in PVE (in fact, 1st spot this week!) and decent PVP rating (3rd position) as well as stable 4th in Artistry. AmbrosiA, on the other hand, is slowly regaining confidence in Glory (+1) and Valor (+1) but still far from performing as universally as TS.

This week's Runners-up:

There were no super-big surprises this week. Awakening managed to gain 10 spots in Totals (+8) but at a cost to their Glory spot (-3) and with slight increase in Artistry. The more intriguing runner-up is the Unforgiven - a mostly PvR&T guild that usually only dominates Glory ratings has apparently branched out into the world of PVE and this week grew by 4 spots reaching a respectable no.5 in Valor. It's going to take more than those increases in various rankings to threaten the current winners, though.

Check back with AOCVault in a week for new Rankings rundown and commentary, check http://guilds.ageofconan.com/ for the official continuous rankings per server and globally to check how well (or badly) your guild has done in comparison to guilds on other servers!