A new developer update for the month of November is now up for the barbarian-em up Age of Conan.

The developers lay out the road map for the next series of updates to the game, covering planned additions as far out as Q2 2012.

First up is the 3.1 update, which is currently being rolled out on the servers. This is mostly a tech update that is not adding new content.

There’s more juiciness in the planned 3.2 update, which will bring the new dungeon “House of Crom”, which Funcom promises will be “one of the most spectacular and atmospheric indoor locations we have added to the game yet”. Besides this new dungeon, update 3.2 will also see the addition of a new raid, the Jade Citadel, where players will fight to nab some nice loot from the Khitan Emperor himself.

Update 3.3 is going to conclude the Khitan raid encounter that 3.2 began, with a new raid instance and two new raid encounters.

3.3 will also bring some new things to the blood smeared PvP table. It will be adding PvP world bosses and a chance to get some new PvP mounts. Funcom is also talking about doing some changes to the PvP mechanics, which may include some significant changes to sprinting and stamina.

Update 3.4 is going to be mainly another tech update. It may also contain some changes to the siege systems as well as adding max level AA balanced versions of some existing dungeons.

Update 4.0 is the last point on the developer update. This is going to be the next adventure pack, which is going to take place in an as yet undisclosed location. Most likely this update will also feature a complete revamp of the trade skill system, which is going to be changed quite fundamentally and hopefully make trade skills more interesting and useful to players.

Update 3.1 is currently being deployed to the servers. Funcom hopes that Update 3.2 can start pretty quickly after 3.1 has been implemented. Update 3.3 is planned for early 2012, probably around February. Update 3.4 is looking at a Q1 2012 release date and the big 4.0 update has a vague estimate of Q2 2012.

Just over a week ago did DC Universe Online went free to play with Sony Online Entertainment bragging about how its player population increased by 1000% in the first few days. Today we learned that over one million new players have registered since the switch, which means the game only had 100,000 players before. So it’s very clear now as to why the switch was made, 100k is pretty horrible.

Today we also learned that Age of Conan: Unchained has gained 600,000 new players since the switch to F2P in July. Not quite as big as DCUO, but AoC is an older game and I’m sure most of the people who were interested in AoC had already tried it at some point.

Lord of the Rings Online, Dungeons & Dragons Online, Global Agenda, Champions Online are just some of the other MMORPGs that made the switch over the last year or two, all with great success.

While the free-to-play business model can be a savior for some games, it’s not the cure all with games like as Lego Universe, Faxion, Mythos and others closing down even after making the switch.

It’s clearer then ever the pay-to-play model is dead as just about every MMORPG announced, with the exception of Star Wars: The Old Republic and maybe The Secret World, going F2P. You can also view our MMORPG list and see that we only have 25 subscription games left of more than 350 games listed and only 5 of those 25 being released in the last 2 years.

With the amount of AAA MMO games now free, STO, EQ2 and Lineage 2 on their way, I don’t see TSW making it as a subscription title and I’m betting it’ll make the switch before the end if it’s first year if they do.

Today Funcom released its monthly developers updated for August which mentions various subjects such as the recent release of The Savage Coast of Turan adventure pack and other upcoming projects still planned for 2011. All future projects planned for 2011 have already been announced such as the PVP world bosses, the massive House of Crom dungeon and the final encounters of the Tier four raid cycle, but Funcom went further giving us a hint as what is to come in 2012 for Age of Conan.

Although no details have been given, Funcom did announce there will be a new adventure pack in the first half of 2012.

They also announced that work has already started “on a revamp of the tradeskill system that exists in the game“.  The crafting system will be completely redone with a new design which Funcom hopes will “invigorate” the crafting community within Age of Conan. More details will be revealed towards the end of the year, but the new system should be in place sometime in the first half of 2012, if things go as planned.

We didn’t want to try and band aid the existing system, so this is more of a substantial update that will hopefully integrate a deeper, more involving system for people to enjoy.

Good news for those players who enjoy crafting.

Today Funcom has revealed the launch date for the Savage Coast of Turan pack as September 8th, although early access will begin starting August 31st for those that purchased the Early Access Bonus pack. The Age of Conan Turan pack costs 1300 Funcom points and the early access pack is 2000 points for premium players, which is about $10.83 and $16.66 respectively. The early access pack also includes an additional level 50 character option and additional character slot.

To celebrate the upcoming launch of the Savage Coast of Turan pack Funcom is also offering the Jewels of Turan pack, which offers 60% off of the combined costs of its content.

There you will find the access to the pack, all the benefits of the Early Access Bonus pack plus a selection of great items, including an exclusive Sand Demon pet that can only be attained through purchase of this fantastic sale pack! You will also get a great vanity armor set styled on Conan’s armor from the recent Conan the Barbarian movie.

If you needed any more proof that the free-to-play model was superior to the subscription model, enter Age of Conan: Unchained.  Today Funcom announced that since going Free2Play, AoC has quadrupled server activity, revenue has more than double compared to that of the initial launch, which if you remember launched with over a million copies sold, so that’s saying a lot.

Funcom also stated that since the switch to F2P about a month ago, 300,000 new players have signed up and entered the world of Hyboria.

“The launch of the hybrid business model has been very successful so far,” says Funcom CEO Trond Arne Aas. “The activity levels on the servers are booming with a fourfold increase in players during July, we more than doubled the revenue generated from the game, and we have experienced a positive development in subscriber numbers. This definitely gives us great hope for the game’s future.

To celebrate the Funcom team is hard at work creating a unique tie-in for the upcoming Conan the Barbarian movie. The new Adventure Pack titled ‘Savage Coast of Turan’ will introduce all new world areas, as well as monsters, characters and player equipment that audiences can experience in the movie as it hits theatres on August 18^th.

It’s official, Age of Conan is now a free2play MMORPG, rebranded as Age of Conan: Unchained.  The AoC website has been completely redone for the re-launch and Funcom has made a list of all the major new content that has been added since the launch in 2008.

To tally up the content that was added since launch we have 6 solo playfields, 9 group dungeons and 9 added features which include,

• Alternate Advancement System
• Factions of Khitai
• Guild Events and Horse Racing
• Guild Renown
• The Mounts of Khitai
• Veteran System
• Regional Fast Travel System
• Offline Character Progression
• Vanity Item Slots

Having played Age of Conan during beta and for the first month after launch, I can’t say I will be going back to give it another shot now that it’s free.  Although the changes made since the launch seem to have been mostly positive.  Feel free to write to us if you have some opinion on how the new F2P Age of Conan compares to the P2P model.

Changes are coming to the land of Hyboria.  Today Funcom announced that Age of Conan will be re-launched this summer as a free to play MMORPG titled Age of Conan: Unrated.  Age of Conan will become free to play, however will retain a premium subscription option that will give players access to extra content.

Aside from the premium subscription, Funcom will also be opening an item store that will allow anyone to purchase exclusive content such as weapons and mounts.

SVP of Sales & Marketing Morten Larssen stated, “Now we turn to another chapter in this story as we thrust ‘Age of Conan: Unrated’ into the world of free-to-play games, a gaming space that is becoming rapidly more popular and profitable across the board.”

The “Unrated” part of the title is Funcom’s way of reaffirming Age of Conan’s position as the sexiest and most savage MMO in the world.

Conan the Barbarian Producer and Paradox CEO Fredrik Malmberg had this to say about the movie tie in,

“We have worked closely with the Funcom creative team since 2003 and carefully crafted a unique look and feel for Conan’s world,”  ”Many of the concepts, locations and designs from the game development were utilized by the film team for consistency, and we are thrilled that many elements of the film, distributed by Lionsgate in the US and UK, will feel familiar to the Age of Conan players.”

Conan the Barbarian movie is set to be released this summer on August 19th, so the content pack should be released around the same time.  The pack adds all new encounters, the massive new area of Ardashir, new dungeons and raids as well as new armor sets and monsters that moviegoers can already observe in the recently released theatrical movie trailer.

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With each passing week, The Secret World is getting a little less secret. This weekend marks the beginning of a consistent offering from Funcom, paving the way for more significant reveals in the months to come. The Secret World’s newsletter covers this week’s new round of screenshots as well as an exciting gameplay trailer.

The official site has received a solid revamp, providing more information and a better browsing experience overall. In order to receive the newsletter via email, prospective players must complete the initiation test, which determines your place in the game’s three societies, the Illuminati, Dragon, and Templars.

Finishing off the letter is a recap of The Secret World’s presentation at the Game Developer’s Conference (GDC) in San Francisco. Unfortunately, MMOCrunch was unable to attend the festivities, but a wide assortment of blogs, press sites and fan sites offered their experiences for us to greedily consume.

Hello again.  Since I started writing this column I look at things somewhat differently, considering sides and options I wouldn’t otherwise give a second thought to. I try to present things from all perspectives even if I can’t be exactly impartial; we all have our own opinion and preference about things, don’t we?

Age of Conan: The Rise of the Godslayer has a component of grind, though not everyone will agree on which part of the content is just Grind or Fun…

Every game can be seen as something fun and dynamic or the most boring “grind” ever experienced. The same game will be perceived by different gamers through their own likings and preferences. That challenge is what MMOs have to deal with.

All of you probably have thought on occasion, “Why does that exist in this game? Why not focus completely on this other facet of the game instead, and not split efforts and resources?” The answer is, in my humble opinion, really simple: because anything can become tedious after a while of repeating it. Well, almost anything I guess. *wink*

In a sense, everything in an MMORPG is a form of grind. Some people find questing boring, some people find PvPing not only boring but futile, some others find factions and the repetitive process of raising them, simply stupid. Everything, from raiding to crafting harvesting, building a city or collecting alts of maximum level is, or can be, a grind. It does have a purpose of course, a goal for each one. It is just a matter of finding the grind that goes with your style. And here is where variety plays a key role, offering the chance to try something different when the claws of the monster of boredom threaten to ruin our enjoyment.

I am not a PvPer; probably because I am more competitive than I like to admit and I am not as good at it as I would like to be. But that doesn’t mean I do not do PvP at all. Recently, I decided to see for myself just how much truth was in the statement about Bori Shrines. On the PvE-RP server that I play on, it has been renamed as Bori’ing. I can only imagine the hell (sorry PvPers, I am biased) it must be in a more populated server, knowing as I know now, that a single game can disrupt and ruin the effort of five others focusing on the altars.

Let me explain, for those of you not familiar with the mechanics of Bori. In the Cimmerian End (CE) of the Border Kingdoms, there are three flags at three camps that can be claimed by anyone (by clicking on the flags.) After some moments the flag is captured by the guild of the character who claimed it. A flag being captured can be contested, that is, someone else from a different guild clicks on it and tries to capture it for their own.

Once the flag has been captured an altar will appear nearby, and there is where the rare resources (aka greens) from the nodes in CE can be “sacrificed” to Bori. Each green sacrificed will add an amount of “units” to the sacrifice; the number varying according to the value of each. Tier 1 resources will add a very low amount, Tier 2 ones higher amount of units while the Tier 3 resources are the most valuable of them all.

When the altar reaches the sum of 666 units Bori will be pleased and each member of the group will receive Marks of Conquest, 9000 points of Glory, PvP experience and also Prowess and Mastery experience (Alternative Advancement points or AA); PvP and Prowess varying according to potions, Volumes of Carnage or possible buffs modifying its gain percentage.

So, basically, what one does at Bori is… yes, you guessed right, mine and chop. In a word: Gathering. Which, in itself, is not really exciting though highly effective towards AA and renown for the guild. This, of course, changes if/when someone enters the area and fights for the right to gather the coveted resources; which is most possibly what developers had in mind when designing and implementing this part of the content.

Do not think I’m criticizing the concept of PvP though. Not at all because, analyzing raiding, there are many arguments to consider it just another form of grind. Let’s admit it, going week after week to the same instances, killing the same bosses for months to get a set of armor is grinding. Sometimes even following tight schedules to adapt our real life, in order to attend all the raid runs, which can become a second job; committing to spend 4 or 5 hours, twice or three times a week is not something everyone is willing to do.

Another example is Housing. Housing is a feature demanded in AoC for many subscribers. Since there is no housing in this game, I will use the systems of other games, from building your own house from scratch, to craft the furniture or get nice items and trophies to place in your house, everything is grind.

Yes, my friends, we all grind, with different goals, for different objectives and in different varied manners. The key is finding the sort of grind that meets our requirements and satisfies our gaming needs of the moment, because the fun we get from it makes the difference from getting bored from wanting to stay just a little bit longer to finish whatever we started.

So, next time do not think so lightly about aspects of the game you don’t enjoy so much, for they could prove the source of fun if you get bored of the one you’re enjoying so much now. And if you disagree, please let your own experience or opinion on the comments; everyone is most welcome.

Hyrkanian Insight updates every Saturday.