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.

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.

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.

Funcom today announced that the upcoming Conan the Barbarian movie will tie in directly with new content coming to Age of Conan.  The new content pack titled The Savage Coast of Turan finds players being sent by Conan, now King of Aquilonia, to aid his old ally Artus.

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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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…

Continued…

Greetings fellow adventurers, and welcome once more to this corner of FunCom’s Age of Conan world. Last week I could not update Hyrkanian Insight due to technical problems which, incidentally, are not yet really solved; only patched temporarily. Whatever, here I am, back with renewed energy.

Today, I want to bring to your attention some of the work being done by the AoC Team, what’s new inside and outside the game, through the community updates from last week and the one published yesterday. Some very interesting things can be extracted between the lines along with a lot of speculation and guess-work.

Come aboard for some rumors and facts…

Continued…

Hello again. As you may know, last week, in the first part of The Art of Healing, we were talking about the different healer classes in Age of Conan and their particularities, differences and resemblances. Today, we’ll continue our examination of the healing process and explain the work of those devoting their time to keep their comrades alive.

Understanding how healing works is not only important for the gamers playing a healer, but also for those playing other classes, if only to make the healing job a bit easier and let them know what to expect from them. So follow me after the jump and let me tell of you of the days of mending. *winks*

Continued…

Well, hello my fellow Hyborians and Khitans. Welcome to another week of Hyrkanian Insight. This time we will be discussing the Art of Healing in FunCom’s Age of Conan; reviewing the differences, but also the similarities, of the three healing classes: Bear Shaman, Priest of Mitra and Tempest of Set (listed by alphabetical order, not by personal preference.)

So if you enjoy keeping your brothers in arms alive, or if you are curious about the mysterious ways of those in whom you trust your life, sit down and grab an argossean red, or maybe a good Cimmerian stout while I share my humble knowledge of the healing art with you all.

Continued…

Have you ever wondered how a guild grows in level? Are you one of those who, maybe, believes it impossible to grow a small guild? Then allow me to contradict you. Oh yes, things have changed since launch, and even though some might complain that it is unfair to lower certain requirements, the truth is, building up a guild city and raising the level of a guild could both use a good thorough revision.

Hello again and welcome back to Hyrkanian Insight, where you’ll find all sorts of thoughts and facts concerning the game Age of Conan, which we love (and sometimes hate) with a passion. As you may have guessed we will be talking about renown in its various forms and how to acquire it. Come with me, stranger or friend, to see about work and fun…

Continued…