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Age of Conan is a fantasy-themed upcoming massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG). Funcom has stated the release date is to be March 25, 2008, for the PC version with the Xbox 360 version to follow later in 2008. Age of Conan began internal beta testing in Summer 2006, and opened the beta registration process on April 3, 2007.

Hyborian Adventures is the first installment in the planned Age of Conan series that will include expansion packs hinted at on the official forums. The Age of Conan series is set in the Hyborian Age, a fantasy setting created by Robert E. Howard in 1932. Age of Conan itself takes place within the continent of the Hyborian kingdoms, a year after the events depicted in Howard's sole Conan novel, The Hour of the Dragon. Hyborian Adventures' release will celebrate the 76th anniversary of the Conan franchise.

“Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures” is first and foremost a MMO, which means that you can expect to explore a vast and detailed gameworld filled with content, but it also gives you a unique entry into the world through a single-player experience at the start.

In the MMO world you find thousands of other adventurers, and you can fight them, join them or avoid them. By joining forces with others you can face the dangers of the world together, and thus harvest treasures protected by mighty monsters only groups of players can ever hope to bring down. Besides bringing the most brutal combat experience ever seen in a MMO, Conan also promises to deliver what all fans of MMOs love and enjoy. Vast character customization opportunities, a deep character creation, lots of social opportunities, crafting, a deep and fun RPG system, exciting classes, lots of exploration, and tons of PvP and PvE are some of the ingredients in this powerful MMO.

At the same time, “Age of Conan” advances the genre by adding a single-player experience to the mix. When starting out the first time you go through a deep story-driven campaign with exciting environments and challenging, interactive quests. Starting out as a galley slave you eventually strand on the burning beaches of the Barachan Isles, with nothing but a broken oar and tattered clothes. In the next hours you embark on a story tailored to you, and you alone. That means going through a cinematic and riveting experience that you have never seen in an MMO before! When your character is ready, you will face even greater challenges in the larger Hyborian world.

• * Enter a massive online world populated with thousands of other players
  * Explore Hyboria in groups and guilds or play solo
  * Become a part of the political life on your server, form guilds, construct cities and declare war on other guilds
  * Emerge as a hero from the story-driven single-player experience and embark into even greater adventure in the massively multiplayer part of the game
  * The MMO and single-player experience go hand in hand, so even the start of the game requires you to be online

Massive PvP and Siege Battles

• * Take part in massive and epic PvP battles, and fight for the right to control large battlekeeps in the Border Kingdom
  * Build your own guild city in regions outside of the Border Kingdom, and protect it from computer-controlled invaders
  * Engage in brutal PvP mini-games such as last-man-standing
  * Fight it out in the unique PvP form called drunken brawling -- get drunk, stir up trouble and make mayhem as you crush your enemy with fists, tankards and broken table-legs
  * Earn Blood Money, a separate PvP currency which can only be gained on the battlefield. Crush your enemies and use the riches to acquire benefits
  * Let the catapults sing their merry song of death as you defend your battlekeep with siege engines, or destroy your enemies' fortifications with the same means

In Conan the players will encounter a dark, lush, violent and sinful universe, presented in fantastic graphics and stunning 7.1 surround audio. In a world filled with cruel gods, mythical creatures, lost civilizations and a struggling human race, the mighty barbarian has finally seized the throne as king of Aquilonia. But Conan’s rule is on the brink of chaos, spiraling towards the doom of ancient evils.

In this twisted fantasy world, dark magic and brutal combat lurks around every corner, and each man and woman must carve their own unique destiny under Conan’s reign. In the true vision of Robert E. Howard’s dark universe it’s now time for you to become a messenger of death.

• * Explore Hyboria, the legendary world of Conan, presented in incredible graphics and sound. A gigantic world awaits you.
  * Emerge as a hero from the first hours of the game, where you are served a mix of single-player experiences and cooperative multiplayer experiences, before stepping into the massive online world. The stories found within Age of Conan is created by the award-winning writers behind The Longest Journey, Dreamfall and Anarchy Online so expect a rare treat.
  * Experience Funcom’s revolutionary “Real Combat” engine. A new multi-point melee system allows the players to swing their weapons where they direct it, in real-time, going head-on against the formulaic nature of online RPG combat.
  * Create player-made battle formations, and command both NPC’s and other players in epic multiplayer battles.
  * Build your own player city and watch it flourish as your guild expands.
  * Form guilds and lay siege to hostile castles. Let the catapults sing their merry song of death as the enemy is brutally crushed to a pulp.

Age of Conan characters

Characters in Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures are created via a user account on an online server. Characters created on one server are not usable on another; however, Funcom is planning to have a server transfer process for characters after the game is launched. Players create characters which function as their virtual avatars in the online world of Hyboria. When creating a character in Age of Conan, the player may choose from three playable races. There have been hints of more playable races with expansions.

For the first five levels the player is a "commoner," without a class, but of one of three origins. Then at level five, the player chooses from three of four archetypes (in bold), affected by racial origin. At level twenty, the player selects from two to four class selections for each archetype.