Age of Conan goes F2P this summer.

[Swindler]

Was about time I guess
Free To Play FAQ
Free and Premium Content Overview

‘Age of Conan’ soon available in a savage, sexy and brutal UNRATED version featuring a hybrid business model

Durham, USA – May 25th, 2011 – Funcom is excited to announce that the award-winning and critically acclaimed massively multiplayer online game ‘Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures’ will receive a digital re-launch this summer under the new name ‘Age of Conan: Unrated’. As well as reaffirming its position as the sexiest and most savage MMO in the world, ‘Age of Conan: Unrated’ will also feature a hybrid business model allowing anyone to freely roam the vast lands of Hyboria either as free players or premium subscribers with access to extra content.

“With over 1.4 million copies sold, glowing reviews for both the core game as well as the expansion, and a healthy player base ever since launch in 2008, there is no doubt that ‘Age of Conan’ has been a true success story for Funcom,” says SVP of Sales & Marketing Morten Larssen. “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 new business model will give players the opportunity to choose whether they want to play for free or become premium subscribers, and Funcom is also introducing an in-game store to the game where both free players and premium subscribers can purchase exclusive content such as weaponry and mounts. For a full overview of what differs from the free and premium offerings, please view the Frequently Asked Questions now available on ‘Age of Conan’ community website.

‘Age of Conan’ has always been a Mature gaming experience, but going Unrated gives the development team freedom to stay even more true to the original works of Conan author Robert E. Howard, and use even more of the barbaric, brutal and sexy setting that is Howard's Hyboria. Funcom is already in the process of developing new locations, monsters, equipment and storylines for ‘Age of Conan: Unrated’. This includes the movie tie-in adventure pack announced yesterday, that will introduce content and characters from the upcoming ‘Conan the Barbarian’ movie.

“Everyone on the team is excited about opening up our world to an even larger audience,” says Creative Director and Executive Producer Craig Morrison. “The online world of Hyboria is constantly expanding as we continue to introduce new gameplay features and new content, and we truly believe that ‘Age of Conan: Unrated’ will offer something truly new and unique to both new players and to those have already experienced the brutal online world of Conan the Barbarian.”

www.ageofconan.com

[woutR]

"there is no doubt that ‘Age of Conan’ has been a true success story for Funcom"

haha what a joke, why the **** would they have to go f2p if it's such a success
I guess u can have a laugh an afternoon if you try this at f2p, but this is almost as bad as silkroad tbh.

[Scarth]

... and will still be a shitty game.

[Swindler]

"there is no doubt that ‘Age of Conan’ has been a true success story for Funcom"

haha what a joke, why the **** would they have to go f2p if it's such a success
I guess u can have a laugh an afternoon if you try this at f2p, but this is almost as bad as silkroad tbh.

AoC was not a success, but saying "why the **** would they have to go f2p if it's such a success" is kinda stupid. Lord of the Rings Online was quite a successful game with a steady userbase, a little over one million actually and yet they decided to go F2P, just because that free to play is getting way more popular, you get alot higher population and a higher income, which means that they can give the players more content in a faster phase.

[Miguez]

Yep... F2p here is just like a demo who gets poeple to know the game and want more.

[Toasty]

So i'm guessing it isnt worth trying?

[Miguez]

I'll give it a shot just to check it out.

[Swindler]

So i'm guessing it isnt worth trying?

The launch was rather bumpy, IIRC they removed alot of stuff players actually liked and tried to fix stuff that weren't broken. Which in the end resulted that alot of people left. But I think they got the game back on the feet but most of the subscribers had already left. So I guess it's worth checking out.

[Skyve]

I love what's happening in the MMO industry right now. All these P2P games I've dreamed of playing but couldn't afford are going free. Now that I have a job, I don't want to play them anymore

GO F2P SOME MOARR, GW2 IS COMIN' AT YOU!!!!!111111

[SM-Count]

I'll try it since 1 it's free and 2 it's a relaunch and hopefully they will have learned from their mistakes.

[woutR]

"there is no doubt that ‘Age of Conan’ has been a true success story for Funcom"

haha what a joke, why the **** would they have to go f2p if it's such a success
I guess u can have a laugh an afternoon if you try this at f2p, but this is almost as bad as silkroad tbh.

AoC was not a success, but saying "why the **** would they have to go f2p if it's such a success" is kinda stupid. Lord of the Rings Online was quite a successful game with a steady userbase, a little over one million actually and yet they decided to go F2P, just because that free to play is getting way more popular, you get alot higher population and a higher income, which means that they can give the players more content in a faster phase.

Well in this case it's obvious the game failed completely and this was their act of desperation.

[Swindler]

"there is no doubt that ‘Age of Conan’ has been a true success story for Funcom"

haha what a joke, why the **** would they have to go f2p if it's such a success
I guess u can have a laugh an afternoon if you try this at f2p, but this is almost as bad as silkroad tbh.

AoC was not a success, but saying "why the **** would they have to go f2p if it's such a success" is kinda stupid. Lord of the Rings Online was quite a successful game with a steady userbase, a little over one million actually and yet they decided to go F2P, just because that free to play is getting way more popular, you get alot higher population and a higher income, which means that they can give the players more content in a faster phase.

Well in this case it's obvious the game failed completely and this was their act of desperation.

Yeah for AoC it really is, the korean servers shut down just 2 weeks after re-opening it as F2P, even if they made it F2P no new people joined.

[woutR]

AoC really had potential though. Like the starter area was really awesome. Too bad all the rest was completely farked up.

[MrJoey]

The only thing that was a great success for AoC was winning awards for being the fastest mmo to die. Then again, that's what happens when you take too long developing a game, run out of money, and have to release an unfinished piece of shit.

[[SD]Twysta]

Funcom is excited to announce that the award-winning and critically acclaimed massively multiplayer online game

i stopped reading here....

the only awards they got was pre-launch followers.

Farking shit game & devs.

[Love]

Lunching p2p and then switching to f2p is a pretty brilliant strategy if you market your product well.

[[SD]Twysta]

Agreed, it certainly is.

But just the ego these guys have, is still the same as before their launch, and it just kinda feels like a poke in my eye.

[woutR]

I can't believe I leveled all the way to the cap man T_T I had nothing to do, but nothing was almost better than grinding out a million of xp with 1k xp per kill T_T

[Swindler]

Hell, that doesn't sound to bad. In Allods I have to get another 11 million exp to ding 46, I get 136 exp per mob.

[[SD]Twysta]

You think 1 character to the cap is bad? Try 2

Well, almost 2 anyway.

Had potential like many other games. Shame.

[Toshiharu]

http://forums-eu.ageofconan.com/showthread.php?t=166952

I looked at the differences lulwut?

[woutR]

haha lol, u can't do shit as 'free' player
The only two raids available to free players are 1 boss raids

[[SD]Twysta]

Rofl. Saw something like that coming from a mile away.

Funcom...