Funcom is doing up another Age of Conan re-evaluation with a double experience boost throughout November. As an added bonus, if you continue subscribing after the re-evaluation then you will secure a spot in The Secret World beta test. Oh yeah, the re-evaluation is a two week freebie. w00tage! Other rewards:
Subscribing for 1 month gives 7 days extra game time for no additional cost
Subscribing for 3 months also guarantees a spot in open beta for The Secret World
Subscribing for 6 months also gives a level 40 helmet with a 10% XP modifier
Subscribing for 12 months also gives a free copy of the Rise of the Godslayer expansion
In addition, the rewards for the lower tier subscriptions are also included in the higher tier subscription, which means that you will get all these exclusive rewards if you choose to subscribe for 12 months. This is a time-limited offer only, and is also available to current players. Players who have signed up for these subscription plans in October have already secured their respective reward. The Secret World beta reward includes access to the later stages of the closed beta, and a date for access will be announced later. The free download of the expansion will become available when the expansion launches.
According to EndSights, Funcom will be revealing new information on “The Secret World” at the upcoming Penny Arcade Expo. In fact, they have stated that they will “let quite a few secrets out of the bag” regarding their upcoming MMORPG. Funcom will also officially announce and show off their Age of Conan expansion at the event.
At VE3D, Andrew runs down the details of the latest Funcom financial report. They’ve reported a strong first quarter, revenue has gone up and Age of Conan subscriptions have seen a significant increase. There are currently 120 employees still working on AoC content and improvements, excluding customer service.
Additionally, in-game player time has also increased. Funcom plans to release significant enhancements in the coming months, and they are also developing ways to reduce the size of the game client download, to ease the burden on those wanting to check out the free trial. We’ll see yet another marketing blitz coming from them, focused on bringing back former players.
The Secret World development team is now up to 100 members, and a significant milestone was completed on May 7th. Included was the first iteration of the game’s combat system, character creator, dungeon, 11 near complete zones, content development tools and the first cut-scene.
Funcom also reported that the first Secret World trailer has been viewed by around one million gamers, and that the level of interest in the game is higher than Age of Conan received at a similar stage of development.
MMORPG.com has posted a TSW video interview with Ragnar Tørnquist, while at GDC 2009. Ragnar explains a bit about the concept of The Secret World. In Part I they talk about the setting and character development. Part II goes on to talk about similarities and differences between The Secret World and Age of Conan.
Monsieur AoC Game Director, Craig ‘Silirrion’ Morrison, has posted some job ads in the official forums. Want to be part of team Conan?
Flash / UI Designer
Funcom is seeking an experienced and motivated UI artist to join the ‘Age of Conan’ team. The UI artist will assist in the design, improvement and implementation of the games interface, and will work closely with the design and programming teams, producers and art directors to prototype and iterate new interface functionality.
Expert experience with Adobe Flash and Adobe Photoshop are required. The ideal candidate will possess sound aesthetic design fundamentals, including illustration and animation skills and preferably have good working understanding of intuitive human interface principles.
Want to be a part of the team that builds and shapes the world itself in Age of Conan? Funcom is looking for talented artists to join our team in Oslo responsible for Environment and World-building.
Funcom is seeking a talented designer and scripter to work on the content creation process. Working as part of the design team this individual will be responsible for the scripting of game-play actions and encounters.
NPD has released their list of the top best selling PC games in the US for 2008 (thanks ve3d), here they are!
1. World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King
2. Spore
3. World of Warcraft: Battle Chest
4. Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures
5. Warhammer Online: Age Of Reckoning
6. Call Of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
7. The Sims 2 Double Deluxe
8. World Of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King Collector’s Ed
9. Fallout 3
10. World Of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade
11. Call Of Duty: World At War
12. The Sims 2 FreeTime
13. World Of Warcraft
14. Sins Of A Solar Empire
15. Warcraft III Battle Chest
16. The Sims 2 Apartment Life
17. Crysis
18. Left 4 Dead
19. Diablo Battle Chest
20. The Orange Box
Ten Ton Hammer took some time to track down Fredrik Malmberg, the president and CEO of Paradox Entertainment and spoke with Fredrik about the latest info on the Conan movie and how it might be tied in with the Age of Conan MMORPG.
Ten Ton Hammer: Casting Conan is a real challenge, as he is not just some muscle bound brute in the stories. What traits would you look for in an actor who could possibly play this part?
Fredrik: Errrr… acting capabilities? What I mean is first and foremost, [we look for] a good actor. Second, this needs to be somebody who understands Conan’s character. Preferrably, with a personal depth. Physical presence, a big guy but in my mind but not a bodybuilder. Someone with a rugby-player physique, you know? Ultimately, this is a director ’s choice because the chemistry must work between them.
They are hoping to announce a director in January, and have budgeted the script and looked at locations for shooting. The majority will be done in Bulgaria and some in China, and the film start date is set for June for a summer 2010 release.
In a new interview with Funcom CEO Trond Arne Aas, GameIndustry.biz was informed that both the console version of Age of Conan and The Secret World are both still on track. They also get into the recent Funcom layoffs, and the CEO explains that the need for QA is normally reduced when the first six months of a live project is over.
“The changes in the US Customer Service operations are partly a result of certain functions being moved to Europe as well as adjustments to reflect the current subscriber levels. Improvements in the game have also led to less demand for Customer Service personnel, something we are of course very happy about.”
The evolution of Age of Conan since launch has been useful for the team working on The Secret World, influencing design and providing improved technical assistance, said Arne Aas.
“The development of The Secret World continues and we are expanding the development team at a steady pace.
“This is a very exciting project for us, and the team working on it has been able to draw on the innovations of Age of Conan for quite some time now – especially from a technological standpoint.”
I noticed some Funcom job updates on the Oslo Job Listings Page. They are primarily for The Secret World but also include a 360 programmer and a Text Coordinator for Age of Conan.
Art
Assistant Art Director – The Secret World
Concept Artist – The Secret World
Graphic Designer (Web)/ GUI Artist – The Secret World
