Starting in 1996, Alexa Internet has been donating their crawl data to the Internet Archive. Flowing in every day, these data are added to the Wayback Machine after an embargo period.
Starting in 1996, Alexa Internet has been donating their crawl data to the Internet Archive. Flowing in every day, these data are added to the Wayback Machine after an embargo period.
TIMESTAMPS
The Wayback Machine - https://web.archive.org/web/20100609211522/http://conanvault.ign.com:80/
We're continuing to show the weekly renown rankings from CROM, the biggest PVE General server in AOC and provide a brief commentary on the guilds' progress/regress. You can also check numerical stats for current week globally at the official AOC Online Guild Rankings site, http://guilds.ageofconan.com/
Weekly Summary
The fourth week since ROTGS came is over and it's been a heck of a ride. Predator, a "pro" PVP guild transplanted from FURY decided to lay waste to the "noobs" of CROM and participate in a lot of mind-numbing BORI farming (but much safer than the Fury one). This causes some stir in Totals - Predator is thus +3 and 2nd in top 3, while Band of Brothers finally got back into the saddle due to their steady commitment to Valor and Crafting. However, despite the attempt at dethroning the top dogs, neither Predator nor Band of Brothers were able to oust AmbrosiA, who're staying strong for the 3rd week in a row. A big surprise (well, not for us - we've seen it coming last week :D) came in Valor score, too - where Royal Ultima, a Czech/Slovak guild managed to get to the top, kudos guys!
From pure numbers standpoint Valor has dropped quite a lot (5 or more million on average), while Glory rankings remained mostly unchanged - with the exception of The Unforgiven, who continue to gain the most Glory as the (mostly) native guild of CROM. Artistry is still the strongest playing card of the top guilds on the server, with AmbrosiA and BoB still going strong. However, the last of the ABCs - Carnage - doesn't seem to have it anymore in them to come back to the top 3.
See the details and screenshots below!
Total Renown rankings for week 18, CROM EU, May 31 - June 5, 2010
VALOR, ARTISTRY and GLORY Renown rankings for Week 18, CROM EU, May 31 - June 5, 2010
Rankings summary:
TOP 3 TOTAL RENOWN GAINED:
AmbrosiA (763 - 15 more) - 37.8 million points (no change, down by 2.3 million.)
Predator (89 members) - 32.6 million points (+3, managed to only get that high with Glory - not present in Valor nor Artistry top spots!)
Band of Brothers (455 members - 13 less) - 32.4 million points (+1, almost ex aequo with Predator, and an honest, balanced score, way to go BoB!)
TOP 3 VALOR RENOWN GAINED:
Royal Ultima (175 members) - 20.2 million points (+4 and a well-deserved top 1 in Valor!)
CRO Guild (681 members - 3 more) - 18.9 million points (1.6 million less - a drop, but no drop in place for the 2nd week.)
Band Of Brothers (455 members - 13 less) -18.7 million points (no change and very steady score.)
TOP 3 GLORY RENOWN GAINED:
Predator (89 members - 22 more Furians, just what we needed...) - 25.5 million points, 1 million lower from previous week.
The Unforgiven (363 members - 28 more) - 18.5 million points (up by 6 million, great jump - but not enough to compete with Fury's Predator)
Tainted Souls (509 members) - 7.3 million points (grow by 1 and oust S p a r t a n s from their previous 3rd spot)
TOP 3 ARTISTRY RENOWN GAINED:
AmbrosiA (763 - 15 more) - 25.0 million points (down by 1.7 million, no change in position and still dominate the rankings due to growth in Valor)
Carnage (459 members - 19 more) - 18.0 million points (no change, 5.0 million lower score, so no ABCs this week!)
Band Of Brothers (455 members - 13 less) - 14.8 million points (2.0 million points less, no change in spot but this week they finally get back into top 3 due to an overall better involvement into various activities!)
This week's Winners:
Once again Predator shows their commitment to continued disruption of Global chat and PVP balance on the server. However, there're bigger winners still among the Czechs and Slovaks on the server - their Royal Ultima guild managed to gain enough momentum to not only break into the rankings, but also get the 1st spot in Valor. Tainted Souls, while not yet back on the horse looking at overall picture definitely show some positive signs - they gained 3rd position in Glory. Since they're very far removed from both the Unforgiven and Predator, who continue to gather an insanely high PVP score (even not really doing any PVP at times), it's fair to say that TS is one of the guilds that actually compete in PVP and do regular "killin' " on CROM.
This week's Runners-up:
There were no clear Runners-up this week, but several guilds shown some promise. Auditor Fortuna Juvat and Destiny managed to grow somewhat. Let's hope they manage to continue their climb next week.
Check back with AOCVault in a week for new Rankings rundown and commentary, check http://guilds.ageofconan.com/ for the official continuous rankings per server and globally to check how well (or badly) your guild has done in comparison to guilds on other servers!
Update 2.0.4 is Live and contains some minor quest and rewards tweaks, as well as some 'under the hood' tweaks (aggaiiiin....*sigh*) optimizing performance in Khitai. This time it's Paikang. The Update comes along with an announcement of a future Ranger revamp, which spells a new life for the class that has been a bit generic after other classes had a revamp at 1.05 and 1.06. Check the Update notes below:
GENERAL
* Made some changes to improve client and server-side performance. You should notice improved client performance in Paikang in particular.
* Mammoth and Rhino Riding Training are now items that are available over /claim. With these items you will also learn the special abilities for these mounts.
FACTION SYSTEM
* The rewards (Faction Standing, Acclaim Tokens and Imperial Insignias) for quests have been increased.
QUESTS
Silk Road Random Encounters
* Mobs in all random encounters should now adjust their levels correctly to low level characters.
* �Wasting Sickness�: The skeleton, into which a Diseased Sailor can be turned when treated with a wrong potion, will now adjust to the level of the player.
* �Wasting Sickness�: The Crazy Old Hermit will now await players outside his hut so he won�t miss his chance to attack.
Khitai
* You will now be able to pick up the quest �Smoke of the Corrupted� again if you fail it.
Tortage
* An issue has been fixed which under certain conditions made Valerius spawn multiple times in "Tarisha's Sacrifice".
RAIDS
* General Sheng should no longer enrage right from the start of the fight.
* The particle effect of General Sheng�s �Storm of Arrows� should now appear correctly.
* The stats of General Sheng and his helpers have been increased.
PVP
Minigames
* Annihilate Opposing Team: Pet classes should now properly get credit for kills that their pets make.
NPCs/MOBS
* The Dark Legion NPCs in Paikang should now all wear the correct armor.
INCGamers had finally had a chance to give their impressions of the Rise of the Godslayer in a video form. While there's not much new stuff there, check their video (below) for some very basic Gateway to Khitai footage and introductory infos about the area.
May Game Director's Letter is here and in it, Craig Morrison discusses the nearest future of AOC. Apparently, we can expect:
New quests in Khitai
Further polish to existing ROTGS encounters, further performance tweaks
Next stage of T4 Pai-Kang/Kara Korum storyline related raids
Next integration of FC's newest version Dreamworld engine, likely boasting more graphical eyecandy at better framerates. This includes streamlining DX10 and possibly making it actual (and not permanent "test") option. The graphics/engine improvements are slanted to begin soon and take place 'under the hood' while the team works on the additions to content.
Apparently, ROTGS is out of the way now and the team can also focus on player feedback regarding minigames, BORI and other PVP stuff. Potential changes talked about include investigating the technical possibility for the cross-server minis, better queing of the teammates for random matches (likely to exclude 'premades' and improve fairness), and other tweaks and changes that would surely please the most of the PVP community (yeah right...). In short: some folks in the dev team are taking a well-deserved summer break, but it doesn't mean they're slowing down working on our beloved game!
We're continuing to show the weekly renown rankings from CROM, the biggest PVE General server in AOC and provide a brief commentary on the guilds' progress/regress. You can also check numerical stats for current week globally at the official AOC Online Guild Rankings site, http://guilds.ageofconan.com/
Weekly Summary
The third week since ROTGS came is over after a recent patch fiesta continued. There's been several interesting developments, especially on the Totals and Glory front. In Totals, two of the CROM ABCs managed to regain their footing, and thus Carnage and AmbrosiA are once again in the top 3, with AmbrosiA finally claiming the 1st spot and the title of the best guild on CROM. Glory rankings have been shaken for the first time in months by none other than "the guild that's not a guild", Predator. This small (67 members only) guild is keen on bringing Fury's "skills" into the realm of peaceful competition here on CROM and many might find it unpleasant. Aggressive PVP minigaming, a lot of Border Kingdoms skirmishing, and, first and foremost, steady presence in Bori shrines, allowed Predator to gain impressive score and dethrone previous PvR&T; masters, The Unforgiven, from their supreme position. Considering the amount of mind-numbing BORI farming they had to likely do, it's SPARTANS who deserve more praise for reaching for the top 3 with their much smaller - but likely a tad more PVP-oriented - Glory score.
From the numbers standpoint, all rankings except Aritstry were a bit down this week, and in Glory the only high amount was gathered by aforementioned Predator. This means that the server's ABCs have likely devoted themselves to moderate PVE action but invested a bit more time into crafting and - considering PVP scores for AmbrosiA also increased somewhat - some PvP action took place.
See the details and screenshots below!
Total Renown rankings for week 17, CROM EU, May 23 - May 29, 2010
VALOR, ARTISTRY and GLORY Renown rankings for Week 17, CROM EU, May 23 - May 29, 2010
Rankings summary:
TOP 3 TOTAL RENOWN GAINED:
AmbrosiA (748 - 3 more) - 40.1 million points (up by 3 and an awesome total score, the 'A' from ABCs returns.)
Tainted Souls (507 members - 18 less) - 33.7 million points (5.7 million less, but no change, again very very close to 3rd spot.)
Carnage (440 members - 10 less) - 33.6 million points (up by 3 and 'C' from ABCs returns, ousting EzO!)
TOP 3 VALOR RENOWN GAINED:
Tainted Souls (507 members - 18 less) - 27.8 million points (no change, but 4.3 million less, seem to be slowing down!)
CRO Guild (679 members - 3 more) - 21.5 million points (8.8 million less - a large drop, but no drop in place.)
Band Of Brothers (468 members - no new members?) -18.5 million points (almost 10 million points less, but miraculously retain 3rd spot. Does no guild out there do PVE anymore?)
TOP 3 GLORY RENOWN GAINED:
Predator (67 members) - 26.5 million points, highest PVP score so far on CROM, but is it due to actual PVP?
The Unforgiven (335 members - 34 less) - 12.5 million points (despite losing out to Predator, their score increased by more than 1 million, drop by 1 regardless.)
S p a r t a n s (160 members) - 4.2 million points (up by 3, relatively unknown in the top 3, but their drastically lower score than the first two - yet higher than the rest of the pack - confirms their actual PVP application instead of abusing BORI or other methods.)
TOP 3 ARTISTRY RENOWN GAINED:
AmbrosiA (748 - 3 more) - 26.7 million points (up by 6.8 million, no change in position but increase in score boosted their Totals drastically - that's the way to go!)
Carnage (440 members - 10 less) - 23.0 million points (no change, 5.3 million higher score, and that entered them back into CROM ABCs!)
Band Of Brothers (468 members - 9 more) - 12.3 million points (3.1 million points less, no change in spot but they are definitely losing their momentum!)
This week's Winners:
This week's winners are pretty clearly shown in Totals and Glory. AmbrosiA managed to transform their post-ROTGS paradigm of Renown gathering, and instead of doing unproven and not at all reliable PVE in ROTGS, they seemed to go back to their roots and focus more on Crafting and some PVP. That allowed this experienced Ranking-wise guild to fuel their triumphant return to the 1st spot. Carnage followed the similar pattern, increasing their Artistry returns and thus gaining 3rd spot that is almost rightfully theirs... or is it? The 'up and coming' guild-that's-not-a-guild, Predator have managed to break into the Bori and general PVP with a bang, gaining an immense amount of Glory points as a result. Whatever their method, their small size works to their advantage in many PVP situations, even if there might not be actual enemy fighting involved. S p a r t a n s, another smaller guild here, are clear winners of traditional PVP, considering their score is within range of the other competing guilds, yet higher. It will be a truly confirmed success should they remain among the top 3 next week.
This week's Runners-up:
A Czech and Slovak guild Royal Ultima has managed to perform very well this last week, gaining an awesome 11 spots in Valor and thus boosting their position by 8 points in Totals. Considering their regionality and smaller size this is quite a feat. Whether they will be able to transform their PVE prowess into something more than just high rise remains to be seen. One thing is certain, though: should they be able to spare some time to do more PVP and craft a bit, that guild may be poised to force their way up there with the big boys of the server.
Check back with AOCVault in a week for new Rankings rundown and commentary, check http://guilds.ageofconan.com/ for the official continuous rankings per server and globally to check how well (or badly) your guild has done in comparison to guilds on other servers!
There's a ton of nudity and adolescents'-pleasing content in AOC, and - apparently - even amongst mature AOC players (clicking on any of the links above proves you're over 18 though that still doesn't make you actually mature, right?). More so in a recent PVP interview - which starts off Gamezone's fresh new look at Age of Conan.
The article will be pretty interesting to the men (and, likely, some women) of Hyboria as it proves real what so far has only lingered on in some less than savoury dreams... a full-bosomed, fiercely beautiful woman actually playing in a Player vs. Player environment.
Still think girls playing hardcore are only there at Gamecrush? Well, Sharon Hemmings, Penthouse Pet of the month for June 2001 (click only if you're 18 or over!) may make your heart beat faster in the real world, but may rip it out in the virtual reality of Hyboria, trample your K/D ratio and never look back. She's lvl 80 Demonologist PVPer (duh...) and she's revealing a lot more than in her centerfold in regard to her adventure with AOC.
Check back at GameZone for more infos on this particular sizzling hot sorceress...
Update 2.0.3 is Live and brings about the much needed exploit reduction (via introducing cooldowns to many Gloom etc. quests), encounter rebalancing (e.g. Golem) and loot changes (Insignia dropping from dungeon bosses in Khitai in large quantities). Aside from that, ROTGS performance has once again been tweaked, optimizing a few more playfields (Chosain, Grasslands, Kara Korum). There're also a few changes to the smaller but very annoying issues, such as the one with AAXP potions in bonus packs or Sadistic Soul aggroing guards on poor DTs. Check the full notes below:
GENERAL
* Made some changes to improve client and server-side performance. You should notice improved client performance in Northern Grasslands, Kara Korum and Chosain Province in particular.
* Several quests which previously did not have cooldowns will now have them.
CLASSES
Bear Shaman
* The Yag-Kosha Dungeon Rank 3 helm now has the correct buy requirement.
Dark Templar
* Sadistic Soul will no longer perform a hostile action on players unless they have Sadism running.
FACTION SYSTEM
* Players will no longer be prevented from receiving a Faction Betrayal poster quest if they previously attempted to receive the same quest while their quest journal was full.
ITEMS
* The AA and XP potions from the �Tortage Survival Pack� and the �Might of Crom� item pack are now always available for every character on an account. In addition the potions have been reset so also previously used ones are available again.
* Khitai Dungeon Group Bosses now have a high chance of dropping pouches or chests filled with Imperial Insignias.
NPCs/MOBS
* The challenge of the Emperor's Golem has been adjusted to make the encounter a bit less difficult. At the same time the rewards for the encounter have also been adjusted to reflect the difficulty changes.
* Fixed a visual issue with the Golem in Northern Grasslands.
* You will now earn Mastery XP for defeating Air and Water.
* Ymir's Pass - Fixed an issue which caused Skudd to linger in the playfield.
PVP Minigames
* The minigames should properly reward Prowess when a minigame times out.
QUESTS
* Corrected a text error in the quest The Executioner.
* You will now be able to pick up the quest Coward Way again if you fail it.
Podcasting and online radio lovers that play AOC needn't resort to listening to NoobToob or some random radio station during their Hyborian adventures anymore. Conanrocks provides a wide selection of all types of cool tunes via player of your choice. Tune in to http://67.19.49.43:8000 in Winamp or other music app that's capable of streaming radio stations over the interwebs and enjoy your favorite songs while chopping heads off or farming R&T; :D. You can also jump to their site for archived 'casts (tho it's not yet available it seems) to jump to your favorite tracks at once. Don't forget to check their Twitter for latest infos on their airing schedule.
We're continuing to show the weekly renown rankings from CROM, the biggest PVE General server in AOC and provide a brief commentary on the guilds' progress/regress. You can also check numerical stats for current week globally at the official AOC Online Guild Rankings site, http://guilds.ageofconan.com/
Weekly Summary
The second week since ROTGS came is over and the server is riled up still by the new possibilities in PVE that the Expansion offers. The ABCs of CROM are slowly but surely giving way to the guilds that employ experienced beta-testers and generally active players join them since May 12th. In Totals, the last-week's newcomers, Tainted Souls, are staying strong (2nd spot), BoB continues to dominate (the last remnant of the ABCs in Totals) while {EzO} Circle of Eternity is on the up having finally found their balance and way of doing things in the Expansion.
In objective numbers, the Totals have grown by a massive amount (around 10 million points at the top) due to a much more efficient use of farming Valor/Insignia/Mastery PVE in Khitai (which resulted in around 10 million more points in Valor). In Glory the Unforgiven still can't be forgiven for hogging Bori instance all to themselves, but {EzO} and Tainted Souls are now hot on the trail to dethroning PVR&T; bosses. Only in the "old" content-dominated Artistry do the old ABCs (AmbrosiA/Band of Brothers/Carnage) still reign supreme, but it's likely that deterioration in Valor of the last remaining ABCs (BoB) will bring about a complete reshaping of the rankings in the weeks to come.
See the details and screenshots below!
Total Renown rankings for week 16, CROM EU, May 17 - May 22, 2010
VALOR, ARTISTRY and GLORY Renown rankings for Week 16, CROM EU, May 17 - May 22, 2010
Rankings summary:
TOP 3 TOTAL RENOWN GAINED:
Band Of Brothers (468 members - 9 more) - 42.8 million points (another week at the top, they use a very stable combination of Valor + Artistry)
Tainted Souls (525 members - 10 more) - 39.4 million points (no change for second week, seem to go strong but {EzO} gained almost exactly the same amount - ex aequo!)
{EzO} Circle of Eternity - (350 members) - 39.4 million points (ex aequo with Tainted Souls, and may oust TS if continue their rise to power!)
TOP 3 VALOR RENOWN GAINED:
Tainted Souls (525 members - 10 more) - 32.1 million points (no change, stay strong in Valor!)
CRO Guild (676 members - 39 more) - 30.3 million points (up by 1, climbing steadily in Valor, MASSIVE increase on last week - almost 14 million points!)
Band Of Brothers (468 members - 9 more) - 28.2 million points (drop by 1, even though earned quite a bit more than last week!)
TOP 3 GLORY RENOWN GAINED:
The Unforgiven (359 members - 14 more) - 11.8 million points (Yet again MASSIVE score though a tad lower than last week, no spot change - PvR&T; at its best!)
{EzO} Circle of Eternity - (350 members) - 9.8 million points (up by 1, aggresive reach for the 1st place ousting Komodo)
Tainted Souls (525 members - 10 more) - 6.4 million points (up by 1, still finding their proper Renown gathering balance)
TOP 3 ARTISTRY RENOWN GAINED:
AmbrosiA (745 - 21 more) - 19.9 million points (up by 2.9 million, up by 2 but still not enough to regain position in overall picture)
Carnage (450 members - 7 less) - 17.7 million points (focusing on Artistry and apparently that's not enough to mean anything anymore - down by 1)
Band Of Brothers (468 members - 9 more) - 15.4 million points (dropped by 1 but still rule the Totals like last week owing to a superior score from combined Artistry and Valor; a good example for other guilds to follow.)
This week's Winners:
This week's winners are undoubtedly {EzO} Circle of Eternity, as they managed to basically climb in all aspects in Rankings. It's rare for the guild to be actually versatile in their Renown score, since that means splitting the "chosen 50" between menial tasks and stuff that requires genuine work. They have been able to rise by 2 spots in Totals, but that's just a shadow of their actual activity. If you look closely at Valor, you can see their massive +8 increase, if you look at Glory you'll see them rise by 1, and they even managed to gain 1 spot in Artistry. If the guild manages to also clearly dominate at least Valor or Artistry, its future domination is pretty much a given.
This week's Runners-up:
This week's runners up include AmbrosiA - previous member of CROM's ABCs. AmbrosiA managed to regain a little of its momentum, but is far from actually regaining anything in Totals. They dropped by one spot there thus clearly showing defeat among the top 3, but still managed to retain their low rank in Valor (10th) which still means something in the dawn of Khitai. On top of that, AmbrosiA is now also reaching for the PVP crown (+7), and have dominated the Artistry score.
Another runner-up worth mentioning this week is Predator, a very small guild that shows larger giant guilds who's boss in PVP. Only counting 38 members they managed to leave 500+ members' guilds behind in terms of raw anger and cunning deceit on battlefields. No mercy from the Predators - and hopefully, one day they'll grow to actually become a strong, independent guild and force their way up to the top to dethrone The Unforgiven. Good luck, warriors!
Check back with AOCVault in a week for new Rankings rundown and commentary, check http://guilds.ageofconan.com/ for the official continuous rankings per server and globally to check how well (or badly) your guild has done in comparison to guilds on other servers!
Yesterday we have finished our exciting ROTGS contest where you could win daily prizes that included AOC copies and ROTGS access, with some winners gaining nice pre-order items and 30 days playing time. Find the full list of winners below - if you have won something in our contest, you will also be given a unique Title for your Vault Network account - it will show up under your name whenever you post on our Boards. Congratulations, Hyborians and Khitans - see you in the most savage and beautiful world of sword and sorcery!
The Prizes we gave out:
-EU digital download Age of Conan (via code), with 30 days playtime.
-US digital download Age Of Conan (via code), with 30 days playtime included, containing additional:
ITEMS: Bag of Holding, The Enruned Kosalan Ring,The Ring of Acheron, The Amazon Curved Bow, The Drinking Cape(!!!)
MOUNTS: The War Mammoth, Bag of the Mammoth Rider, The Killer Rhino, Bag of the Rhino Rider
-ROTGS full access download (via code) with select pre-order items (Tortage Survival Pack)
WINNERS:
DAY 1:Blond Knight won a US copy of AOC on Day 1 of our contest, congrats!
DAY 2:Oleerik won an EU copy of AOC on Day 2 of our contest, yay!
DAY 3:Friskus92 won an EU copy of AOC on Day 3 of our contest, GZ!
DAY 4:SizzlingKorthan won a US copy of AOC on Day 4 of our contestt - nice!
DAY 5:AxilleasGeo won an EU client on Day 5 of our contest - gratz!
DAY 8:Chiefmcbride won an EU copy of AOC and a key to full ROTGS access, while Bandytaz obtained our last EU key - gratz!
DAY 9:SizzlingKorthan won ROTGS access on day 9 of our contest, while Shirorio won a US copy of AOC.
DAY 10:Gregory_WE won an AOC US copy on day 10 of our contest, and Trazzic was the lucky one to get ROTGS access on that day!
DAY 11:FlamedDark won a US copy of AOC, while IIThePunisherII got a full ROTGS acces on day 11 of our Contest!
DAY 12: On day 12 of our contest, CazeW finally got his ROTGS copy, while knippernborg_s got himself an AOC US copy - gratz!
DAY 13:calorifer and zemn612 won their rewards on day 13 of our contest - big props guys!
DAY 14: The fourteenth day of our competition saw Acelynn win AOC US copy, and Fatman2k44 was the lucky one to obtain ROTGS copy - congratulations!
DAY 15:invisions won a ROTGS copy on day 15, gratz!
DAY 16: On day 16 of our Contest, Blitzhex won ROTGS access!
DAY 17: On the last day of our contest, Sivare won ROTGS access and Dahboog got himself an AOC US copy - GZ!
Stay tuned at Conan Vault - we're not done giving out fabulous prizes in fun and engaging way! Visit us in the coming weeks for more in-depth info on the game and a very special new Trivia contest.
No sooner than our own ROTGS contest ended that Funcom announced their Second Anniversary draw. The rules are even simpler than the ones in our contest - all you have to do is send an email entitled "2 Year Anniversary", containing your name and your current country of residence. The rewards are pretty cool, too!
Prize 1: Original game �Age of Conan� + the Expansion �Rise of the Godslayer� (both digital downloads)
Prize 2: Expansion �Rise of the Godslayer� (digital download) + 30 days free game time
Prize 3: 60 days free game time + Loyal Kappa pet
The contest lasts from May 21 to May 27 and winners are drawn randomly from among all the participants - seven a day, thus totalling 49 lucky winners in the contest. Check the full rules of the contest back at the official site, and start up your (t)rusty email client!
The contest continues! We're continuing with a new series of contests here at Conan Vault with rules that are still very simple:
Each day, look for a news piece announcing Contest Day (similar to this one, this one included), and be among THE FIRST TO COMMENT using the VNBoards comment system. We're currrently on the LAST DAY of the competition - it's the last day when simple comment is enough to win (cause someone forfeited the reward at the last moment again!), and the last day of our Trivia. Both competitions' rules stay the same - One lucky person can win the Stage 1 OR Stage 2 reward today - this day's posting will stay up until both rewards have been claimed!
Important notice:
When taking part in either contest by placing a comment, please make sure you state EXACTLY which reward do you want to win: US AOC copy OR ROTGS access. Due to unforeseen technical issues we're unable to provide both types of rewards at once. If you have won AOC copy during the previous days of our contest, our ROTGS key might not work on it (but it will on any other edition of AOC!). This means that previous winners of AOC US/EU key that only have one account (from that key) ARE DISCOURAGED from taking part in the contest (there's simply no guarantee the key will work for you!).
TRIVIA CONTEST DAY 10!
Apart from continuing with our ROTGS Stage 1, we're also ending the Trivia contest. For the last time, you can add a full Xpac to your digital collection as well! This requires a bit more involved participation on your part - find the full rules here. The first person to answer the question correctly will win full ROTGS access (via key) with pre-order items! Warning: the answer you submit via VNB comment cannot be edited after you posted it (even to correct punctuation!) - as per rules!)
HOW TO VOTE?
To place a vote, find the little "Comment" button to the right of the news title and it will take you to the VN boards' copy of this post. To comment simply "post reply" option and state that you want to win. The 1st user to place random TOS-bound comment under today's Contest post will receive a US copy of AOC. If you wish to participate for ROTGS instead, make sure you provide a full answer to the Trivia question instead of a random comment.
HOW TO PARTICIPATE IN THE TRIVIA CONTEST?
To do that, enter your answer via the small "Comment" button to the right of this news piece title - this will take you to the VNBoards. There, press "Post Reply" option, and if you're the first one to provide a correct answer, you win - but make sure you also indicate if you want or not a US AOC copy if you guess the Trivia answer wrong! You can NOT go for a double whammy (so choose your comment wisely)!
THE REWARDS:
The rewards in stage 2 (this stage) are sponsored by FUNCOM and include AOC US game clients to be won every day (LAST one left!) and full Expansion, Age of Conan: Rise of the Godslayer key for Trivia participants (LAST one left!)!
CURRENTLY AVAILABLE PRIZES:
-US digital download Age Of Conan (via code, 1xUS key LEFT ONLY - state if you want it when commenting or replying to Trivia!), with 30 days playtime included, containing additional:
ITEMS: Bag of Holding, The Enruned Kosalan Ring,The Ring of Acheron, The Amazon Curved Bow, The Drinking Cape(!!!)
MOUNTS: The War Mammoth, Bag of the Mammoth Rider, The Killer Rhino, Bag of the Rhino Rider
-ROTGS full access download (via code) with select pre-order items! (1 left, hurry!)
WINNERS SO FAR:
Blond Knight won a US copy of AOC on Day 1 of our contest, congrats!
Oleerik won an EU copy of AOC on Day 2 of our contest, yay!
Friskus92 won an EU copy of AOC on Day 3 of our contest, GZ!
SizzlingKorthan won a US copy of AOC on Day 4 of our contestt - nice!
AxilleasGeo won an EU client on Day 5 of our contest - gratz!
27th issue of CoC (Clan of Conan newsletter) is out, and in it devs discuss recent launch of Rise of the Godslayer expansion, provide a multitude of purchasing options, show off the Might of Crom digital upgrade, and more!
Read the full issue at the official CoC page. And after you're done...
Check out (and maybe vote) on Sillirion's mini-poll that asks you, ROTGS players, about your current priorities in Khitai. What do you focus on - AA farming, insignia/faction progress, new loot (plus those phat new BOE epicz)? Maybe a bit of all? Vote - US version/EU version (voting open till May 24)!
Tarib posted the full Update 2.0.2 notes, the second fine-tuning patch designed to improve and streamline the Khitan content. Among the highlights - increased overall productivity, better performance in Northern Grasslands, Prowess rewarded per time during minigames (as PVP XP), streamlined a few faction-related tasks such as betrayal via poster or Scarlet Circle insignias. Check the full notes below:
GENERAL
* Made some changes to Improve client and server-side performance You should notice improved client performance in Northern Grasslands in particular.
* Resolved several issues with the XP potions.
* Fixed an issue causing the Quest tracker slider in the option panel to always revert to 0 for any characters that had the quest tracker disabled before the slider was introduced.
PVP
Minigames
* Prowess will now scale based on the duration of the minigame like PvP XP does.
QUESTS
Khitai
* The Magic Harp : Su-yin will now give back the item you need to finish the quest.
* The Forgotten Gods and Milestones quests are now shareable.
* Spawning The Emperor's Gift should now cost three hundred Life Essence
* Receptacle of Acclaim should now give twenty-five Acclaim Tokens.
* Fixed several typos in Expansion quests.
Tortage
* The Battle of Tortage: An issue where Valerius could spawn multiple times has been resolved.
NPCs/MOBS
* Po-Sha and Yun Rau will no longer give experience halfway through the encounter to prevent exploits within the encounter.
* Destroying the Dragon Powder Urns next to the tent of the Wolves of the Steppes faction vendors and faction Herald no longer places them in combat mode.
* Gateway to Khitai: Damage auras will no longer cause Cang Jei to prematurely interrupt the dialog with the player.
FACTION SYSTEM
* A new confirmation box has been added when Faction Betrayal poster quests are offered to the player in order to prevent players accidentally resetting their faction.
* The Scarlet Circle is now correctly giving faction points for turning in twenty-five insignias to the faction vendor.
TRADESKILLS
* Alchemist: A Strange Alloy - The recipe will now craft the correct quest item.
No word yet on when exactly the AA system will be up on TL but we hope it's very soon as promised.
We're continuing to show the weekly renown rankings from CROM, the biggest PVE General server in AOC and provide a brief commentary on the guilds' progress/regress. You can also check numerical stats for current week globally at the official AOC Online Guild Rankings site, http://guilds.ageofconan.com/
Weekly Summary
It's 15th week of Rankings here at the Vault and the first with new PVE content to avail of in the Expansion. While the numbers objectively didn't increase by much, predominantly Valor-oriented guilds are now taking the first places, thus ousting the previous ABCs of CROM (AmbrosiA, Band of Brothers and Carnage) in various aspects. And so, BoB remained at the top with their Valor-related high score, while 2nd place this time went to Tainted Souls, who have been on the cautious offensive for a while now. This caused AmbrosiA to fall in Totals. CRO Guild managed to regain some of their footing in Valor (now 3rd and up by 3). In Glory, The Unforgiven still occupy the BORI and seem to have been permanently locked in PVR&T;, but hot on their trail is Komodo (2nd, up by 1) and {EzO} Circle of Eternity (3rd, up by 1). The smallest changes can be observed in Artistry (since ROTGS doesn't really add anything new in that aspect), where Carnage stronghanded BoB from the 1st place, but the 3rd is still AmbrosiA's domain. The upcoming ranking week will be even more exciting, as more and more people are flooding in to CROM.
See the details and screenshots below!
Total Renown rankings for eek 15, CROM EU, May 11 - May 16, 2010
VALOR, ARTISTRY and GLORY Renown rankings for Week 15, CROM EU, May 11 - May 16, 2010
Rankings summary:
TOP 3 TOTAL RENOWN GAINED:
Band Of Brothers (459 members - 22 more) - 37.0 million points (another week at the top)
Tainted Souls (515 members - 1 more) - 33.9 million points (forced their way into the top 3, up by 2!)
AmbrosiA (724 - 20 more) - 29.7 million points (3rd place, down by 1, 4.3 million less than previous week - you're falling guys!)
TOP 3 VALOR RENOWN GAINED:
Tainted Souls (515 members - 1 more) - 20.8 million points (up by 2, first place and almost twice their previous score!!!)
Band Of Brothers (459 members - 22 more) - 19.6 million points (no change, but a massive jump in score on previous week!)
CRO Guild (637 members) - 16.1 million points (up by 3, welcome back to Valor top 3!)
TOP 3 GLORY RENOWN GAINED:
The Unforgiven (359 members - 14 more) - 13.4 million points (Yet again MASSIVE score, no change - PvR&T; at its best!)
Komodo (446 members - 45 more!) - 7.9 million points (up by 1 once again, up by 1.1 million)
{EzO} Circle of Eternity (345 members) - 7.5 million points (up by 1, finally in top3!)
TOP 3 ARTISTRY RENOWN GAINED:
Carnage (457 members - 6 more) - 18.8 million points (drop in numbers, but up by 1 and the only time they won this week.)
Band Of Brothers (459 members - 22 more) - 17.2 million points (dropped by 1 but still rule the Totals.)
AmbrosiA (724 - 20 more) - 17.0 million points (down by a lot in numbers, no change in rank)
This week's Winners:
ROTGS means that there's now overall lower amount of Artistry and much higher Valor to be gained in similar time. This is why Tainted Souls, primarly focused on actual PVE activity, is the winner this week, even if only 2nd in Totals (it's 1st in Valor though). CRO Guild seems to get its bearings in Khitai as well, judging from its rise in Valor (to 3rd). Carnage has finally (after soooo many weeks, gratz!) been able to get to no.1 in Artistry, but in current ROTGS dominated environment this just means they're missing out on a lot of new content. Komodo continues its crawl to victory, but it's hardly a winning streak - they're simply continuing their long-term strategy.
This week's Runners-up:
S p a r t a n s and The Death Bringers are the only notable runners-up this week. Both guilds managed to rise by a lot in Glory, and this is the first time they've made a blip on the Rankings radar. Hopefully they will go on further in the weeks to come.
Check back with AOCVault in a week for new Rankings rundown and commentary, check http://guilds.ageofconan.com/ for the official continuous rankings per server and globally to check how well (or badly) your guild has done in comparison to guilds on other servers!
Xfire has just started their new ROTGS contest (similar to our very own contest!) in which it's enough to simply play AOC and be part of the Xfire gaming community to win fabulous prizes that include SteelSeries Siberia accesories, full boxed versions of AOC with Expansion, game codes (like the ones we give out on a daily basis), bonus items and gametime (30 days). The rewards will be chosen among those who will log in for the longest in AOC while running their Xfire app - even 1 or more hours online will allow participation in their draw. The catch? You need to log all those hours between today (May 17) and next Saturday (May 29). Check out Xfire's Play2Win AOC contest and - Play To Win!
Despite the servers being up and down like a yoyo today, some reviewers did manage to post their ROTGS impressions, based on their time in beta. Of note is a positive review at NowGamer, UK gaming portal that focuses on online and singleplayer game reviews, previews and news. ROTGS got an 8.6/10 score and a note that says
"We shouldn�t really have to sell Rise Of The Godslayer to loyal fans, but we�d happily recommend it to players that left the game due to bugs and balancing issues. Age Of Conan�s changed much for the better."
The editors explain how the day/night cycles affect gameplay, assess usability of the expansion for lower- and higher-level players, and take into account the grand overall feel of the Xpac. Head on to NowGamer to read the full review while waiting for the servers to come back up again with actual Xpac gameplay available! And if you're not yet in the Xpac, perhaps it's a good time to wait for another instalment of our little Trivia contest here at the Vault? Look for a newspost similar to this one in the hours ahead and be the first one to answer today's Trivia question - and if you're after some US-based AOC fun, we've also got a few AOC client copies left in our giveaway competition (look for the rules in the same post - remember, this one is already over, you have to check back at Conanvault soon to take part in the new day of the contest!)
And so, the Day of the Expansion is upon us, the servers are down and we're all anxiously sharpening our blades, reviewing our spells and oiling down our bowstrings in anticipation of the grand new adventure far into the East. But, perhaps, before you embark, you'd like some Khitan advice? Check out:
Last-minute previews at MMO Sanctuary and ZAM with some details about ROTGS for beginners and advanced players alike.
Stay tuned at the Vault for the rest of the week for an exciting new part of our ongoing ROTGS contest - you can win US/EU game clients as well as fully packed Expansion keys that include a wealth of pre-order items!
We're continuing to show the weekly renown rankings from CROM, the biggest PVE General server in AOC and provide a brief commentary on the guilds' progress/regress. You can also check numerical stats for current week globally at the official AOC Online Guild Rankings site, http://guilds.ageofconan.com/
Weekly Summary
This was the last week before Expansion hits, and top guilds made sure they're remembered as top guilds up to (and likely including) the Khitai. Tainted Souls went aggressively up in Valor (+4), Komodo entered the fray in Glory (+1), and AmbrosiA dropped 2 spots in Artistry (and one in Valor). Following this slacking off, Band of Brothers and Carnage swiftly took the opportunity. In Valor, Brothers keep on fighting: Brothers of Arms took 1st spot, ousting previous supreme rulers, Band of Brothers. But all of these changes were for nought, as Totals were pretty much unshaken by that. Tainted Souls is well placed to assault the top 3, but... they've been there for a long time. ABCs of CROM are here to stay... Unless the Northern Legion, who (judging from their rating in Beta) have been secretly plotting to shake things up, return with the vengeance and show that a little more knowledge goes a long way...
See the details and screenshots below!
Total Renown rankings for Week 14, CROM EU, May 3 - May 9, 2010
VALOR, ARTISTRY and GLORY Renown rankings for Week 14, CROM EU, May 3 - May 9, 2010
Rankings summary:
TOP 3 TOTAL RENOWN GAINED:
Band Of Brothers (437 members - 22 more) - 35.4 million points (another week at the top and it must feel good up there; down by 1.8 million pts )
AmbrosiA (704 - 16 more) - 34.0 million points (2nd place for the 2nd week, 1.0 million less than previous week, and slacking off in Artistry... doesn't bode well.)
Carnage (451 members - 11 more) - 32.3 million points (no change, up by 2.2 million, the most steady going guild in AOC!)
TOP 3 VALOR RENOWN GAINED:
Brothers of Arms (434 members - 10 more) - 11.7 million points (up by 1, at the top after only one week!)
Band Of Brothers (437 members - 22 more) - 11.2 million points (down by 1, down by 1.2 million points, and yet the dominate Totals...)
Tainted Souls (514 members - 9 more) - 10.9 million points (up by 4, grand re-entry into the Rankings top 3!)
TOP 3 GLORY RENOWN GAINED:
The Unforgiven (345 members - 14 more) - 19 million points (Yet again MASSIVE score, no change - PvR&T; at its best!)
Tainted Souls (514 members - 9 more) - 7.8 million points (no change, 0.4 million more, third week at 2nd spot - steady as she goes!)
Komodo (401 members) - 6.8 million points (up by 1 and finally in top 3)
TOP 3 ARTISTRY RENOWN GAINED:
Band Of Brothers (437 members - 22 more) - 25.2 million points (400k less, no change, why do they keep on winning, though?)
Carnage (451 members - 11 more) - 24.9 million points (no change for the 5th week in a row, very close to no.1 now!)
AmbrosiA (704 - 16 more) - 24.6 million points (down by 1.1 million, down by 2 spots, visibly slowing down.)
This week's Winners:
There's been a few winners this week. Band of Brothers claimed no.1 also in Artistry, thus ensuring their position in Totals. Komodo has entered the fray in Glory, and let's hope they're able to hop on Border Kingdoms before The Unforgiven claim it again after a long downtime for ROTGS! In other news: Tainted Souls is coming back. Probably. They're staying strong in Glory and Artistry (altho a bit low compared to others), and increased their earning power in Valor a lot. With a +4 rise here, and continued show of strength in Glory, nothing but Artistry kings stands in their way to top 3.
This week's Runners-up:
Gundermen (a NL/BE guild) are gaining momentum in Valor. With an awesome +10 break in PVE rankings they might threaten the ever-changing state of affairs in Valor. However, it should be noted, that Valor only decides of victory if you are also strong in Artistry and Glory. This is not yet the case for Gundermen - let's see how Gundermen fare in Khitai.
Check back with AOCVault in a week for new Rankings rundown and commentary, check http://guilds.ageofconan.com/ for the official continuous rankings per server and globally to check how well (or badly) your guild has done in comparison to guilds on other servers!
Tarib posted a new community update today, that includes a few interesting infos. For starters, another character slot has been awarded to all veteran players. This increases the base from 8 to 9 slots, and previous veterans now get a total of 10. With 10 additional slots available via purchase, this means that any seasoned player in AOC is able to try out all the classes in the game... and then some!
Good news for retail ROTGS owners; they'll have a much smaller update to download on the Launch day (500-900 mb), as opposed to a huge pack that ALL players will need to download (3 GB) - even those that do not have the Expansion will still require all of the data to be able to display other characters and race as well as mounts etc..
A warning issued to beta testers who wish to conserve bandwidth on release date. If they want to bypass the download by copying beta clients RDB to the original client, they should know that that might cause bugs along the way. Any and all ROTGS updates should be done automatically via patcher to avoid issues.
Jump to the official forums for a full community update. Only 4 more days. Can you wait that long?
Conan Vault
There's a ton of nudity and adolescents'-pleasing content in AOC, and - apparently - even amongst mature AOC players (clicking on any of the links above proves you're over 18 though that still doesn't make you actually mature, right?). More so in a 
