Profile: Mordria
Send PM  Forum Posts  Forum Topics 

Recent Forum Posts [more...]

• • Want to be crafty?

  •  

     Necro Alchy sounds awesome!

    I haven't decided what I want to try first... so hard to choose lol

  • Posted: 5/11/08 11:50 PM
    Age of Conan
• • Aquilonian Night Life

  • Originally posted by MaeEye
    

    Awesome screenshots. 

     

    From the looks of it, you had the plauge of the textureless characters at times too.  I hope this will be fixed.

    Thanks!

    I was messing with the settings allot to see the differences in screen shots.

  • Posted: 5/11/08 11:23 PM
    Age of Conan
• • Want to be crafty?

  •  

     Age of Conan Community Website 

     

    community.ageofconan.com/wsp/conan/frontend.cgi

  • Posted: 5/11/08 11:18 PM
    Age of Conan
• • Want to be crafty?
  • Crafting & Economy in Age of Conan
    Posted: - 01.02.2008
    
    It's time to take a better look at the crafting system in Age of Conan, and how you can make a bit of money on something that does not involve killing people!
    
    

    Ask any adventurer journeying through the lands of Hyboria for advice on how to survive the brutal realities of the world, and they'll tell you to get a good sword as soon as possible. If it's not demons haunting you at night, clawing at your back ready to rip out your eyes, it's the treachery of man you must defend yourself from. Unarmed you will not get further in Hyboria than the nearest graveyard.
    
    But there is one thing that can be just as persuasive as the sharp end of the sword: cold cash. Tin, copper, silver and gold – they flow through the cities of civilization like blood flowing through the heart of man: the Stygian merchant, whose commodity is death, hiring assassins to slay his competitors for a few pieces of gold; the Aquilonian noble fuelling political conspiracies with the promise of silver; the Cimmerian chieftain trading his last copper pieces to feed his starving tribe.

    For you, as the player, there are numerous ways in which you can acquire some currency. You can head out into the great unknown to perform quests for people in need. You can murder innocents and loot their bodies for valuables. Maybe you would prefer hunting for game and selling the skin?

    Either that or you can pick up a trade – a craft – using your hands to make something others want!

    Becoming a craftsman

    In the world of Hyboria there are certain locations where craftsmen (and women!) congregate to form societies where they can practice their trade. These are commonly called resource and gathering regions as they are areas with a special abundance of resources needed for crafting, and here you will also find many who are more than willing to learn others how to practice their trade.

    Upon reaching the required level needed to start crafting (which is currently set to level forty, but that might change during the beta process) you need to seek out a crafting trainer who can teach you his or her trade. This will be your mentor on the long road ahead, sending you out on various quests where you need to prove your worth as a crafter. The important thing to remember is that you can only have one crafting profession, so choose wisely before dedicating yourself to your mentor!

    Here are the different crafting professions in Age of Conan:

    • Weaponsmithing: Picking up this trade allows you to craft various types of weaponry, from swords to staffs, from daggers to crossbows. Everything needed to kill your opponents!
    • Armorsmithing: If you wish to go the completely opposite route from the weaponsmith, try picking up the armorsmithing craft that allows you to craft various types of armor pieces.
    • Alchemy: Do you enjoy mixing things into vials and seeing how the result affects people? Then you should try your luck at alchemy, allowing you to make various types of potions.
    • Architecture: City-building is an integral part of Age of Conan, and you will need someone skilled in the arts of architecture to draw up the plans needed for the different buildings.
    • Gemcutting: Monsters tend to drop rough gems that the gemcutter can turn into powerful enchantments, and these can be placed into other crafted items to make them more potent.

    We have tried making it so that crafting is as intuitive as possible, while still maintaining the level of challenge that makes progression so entertaining. When you’re ready to start crafting something, all you do is bring up your recipe book and click on what you want to create. If you have the required resources in your inventory, the item will be created for you. There are certain exceptions to this, as some of the top tier recipes will require that your guild is in possession of certain types of structures within the guild city. Some of the top tier alchemy recipes will, for instance, require your guild to have an alchemist’s workshop constructed within the guild city.

    Once you have chosen a crafting profession you will start out small, with little knowledge of how to create anything at all, much less anything of real use! Now it’s time for you to prove your worth to your trainer, allowing you to craft more and more advanced items over time.

    
    (click HERE for a larger version of this image)

    Collecting resources

    Integral to crafting is, of course, resources. It’s what you have to pour into anything you create, whether it is a basic sword or an entire tower structure for your guild city. In order to collect a specific type of resource you will need to learn how to master the resource gathering profession that is associated with that resource. Note that you can master all of these professions at the same time.

    Here are the different resource gathering professions you can master:

    • Mining: This profession will allow you to gather resources such as copper, tin, iron and more. You can also find rare ones like aurichalcum and blue iron.
    • Prospecting: This profession will allow you to gather resources such as silver, electrum, gold and more. You can also find rare ones like illustrium and platinum.
    • Skinning: This profession will allow you to gather resources such as different types of leather, some of which are rare ones like the grained leather and the whorled leather.
    • Stonecutting: This profession will allow you to gather resources such as sandstone, granite, basalt and more. You can also find rare ones like adamant and obsidian.
    • Weaving: This profession will allow you to gather resources such as cotton, wool, flax and more. You can also find rare ones like bloodflax and cottonwisp.
    • Woodcutting: This profession will allow you to gather resources such as ash, yew, oak and more. You can also find rare ones like soulwood and amberwood.

    The alchemist doesn’t actually go out and gather resources for his potions. Instead the different ingredients required will drop from defeated enemies, just as with the gems used by the gemcutter. One of the reasons why we are doing this is to create a certain level of dependency between crafters and adventurers, making it a bit more interesting for everyone involved! Another way we’re creating dependencies between the two is making it so that only crafted items can have gems embedded, so the adventurers will be running back to the crafters with the gems they just picked up in some dark dungeon, asking the weaponsmith to make a weapon for them and the gemcutter to put the gems in! Using gems you can customize items, while dropped items can’t be customized.

    One central element of the resource gathering system is the rare resources. When gathering a resource there is a small chance that you may collect a rare version of it. Using rare resources when you are crafting will allow you to make a special version of an item. These items will have additional bonuses, such as allowing gemcutters to put more gems into them. This allows crafters to make some incredibly potent and unique items by using several special gems and rare resources!

    The primary reason for us allowing you to master all resource gathering professions is because of how important resources is to so many different aspects of the gameplay in Age of Conan. As an example you will need to pour resources into your guild city in order to pay for its upkeep!

    Progression

    In stark contrast to similar games out there, progression within your chosen craft is not done by simply producing items or gathering resources over and over again until your skill improves. In Age of Conan you do not have a numerical crafting skill listed somewhere – instead you progress through different quests whose rewards allows you to craft better items and gather more advanced resources. This means that progression is entirely tied up to quests that you do for your trainer.

    Progression is split up into tiers. You start with the first tier, involving basic items/resources, and you will have to be a certain level before you can move onto the next tier. Each tier consists of various quests that will reward you with new recipes for items to make, and resources to gather.

    As an example, when you first start out in the alchemy craft your trainer will teach you how to craft what we call crude remedies. One of the first quests requires you to make a set of crude remedies for your trainer, and in return he will show you how to make common remedies. Within the first tier, currently starting at level forty, you will learn how to make crude and common potions. As you reach level fifty you will be eligible for tier two quests, rewarding you with refined potion recipes. It’s the same with resource gathering: the stonecutter will start gathering sandstone while he’s in tier one, but will quickly move up to adamant and basalt when he complete quests in higher tiers.

    One of the reasons why we have chosen to make progression quest-based is to eliminate the feel of going through a grind. Instead of producing one hundred basic potions just to learn how you make something a bit more interesting, you will actually progress through a storyline that will also reward you with a healthy amount of experience points which will count towards your next level!

    Hard work pays off

    Sooner or later once you have started to master a crafting profession (and/or resource gathering profession) you will want to get paid for the hard work. There are several ways to flog your items (and resources collected). You can stand in front of Conan’s castle in Tarantia, screaming your lungs out for someone to please buy your wooden crossbow – or you can seek out the tradepost.

    Tradeposts are Age of Conan’s equivalent to the auction house that you find in most other games of this genre. Tradeposts can be found in cities and player cities, and using them brings up an interface that combines your bank, your mail and a marketplace where you can buy and sell items. To sell something you have crafted you simply put it on your bank and tag it for sale with the appropriate price. Someone in need of it will eventually come along and buy it from you.

    One important aspect of the tradepost is actually that it is not an auction house. There is no auctioning, there are no bids. You put something up for sale with a set price and either someone purchase it or not. It certainly makes things interesting and the market much more fast and furious!

    At the end of the day you can finally head home with a few gold pieces in your pocket, proud of the fact that you once again managed to make a solid living – without cutting off someone’s head!

  • Posted: 5/11/08 11:11 PM
    Age of Conan
• • Player Cities and PVP keeps - questions -

  • I copied and pasted this from Averys' post :

    Thanks Avery  :)
    

    Constructing a Guild City
    Posted: - 09.05.2008
    
    A guild city is a major commitment, requiring a massive investment of blood and treasure to create and maintain.
    
    After battling your way off the beach, you’ve carved your own place in the world of Hyboria with grit, determination, and steel. Now you’re part of a hardy band of warriors and the time has come to claim your own chunk of the Hyborian Dream. After all, what is a guild without land and a mighty fortress standing atop it, telling all who come near of the power and glory they possess?
    
    A guild city is a major commitment, requiring a massive investment of blood and treasure to create and maintain. With a great price comes a great reward, however, as the benefits for owning one extend beyond lording over your greatness to one and all. In addition to power and prestige, there are concrete benefits to land ownership in Age of Conan.
    
    A player city provides a central gathering point, meeting hall, role-playing center, and socializing hub for your guild. Instead of trying to herd people across the world into the same place at the same time, simply tell everyone to get back to the city, and if someone insists on telling Chuck Norris jokes in the middle of tense role-play sessions, boot them out of the guild and leave them to the wolves.
    
    Some buildings are there to support crafters and grant access to upper-level crafting recipes, as it’s impossible to build a siege engine without the mighty Engineer’s Workshop.
    
    For more concrete benefits, several of the buildings grant benefits to all members of a class or archetype in your guild. Build a Temple and your priests will all grow tougher, while a Thieves’ Guild will help all your rogues get sneakier and stabbier.  “But how?” you cry.  We’ve consulted with the darker powers in Development—Jayde—and he gave us some detailed info on how some of these buildings will work.
    
    The most common bonus available to players through the player cities will be the passive and/or feat based statistical bonuses for owning a Keep or other “archetype” buildings. These include: The University (Magic Rating), the Temple (Magic Resists), the Barracks (Defense Rating), and the Thieves’ Guild (Attack Rating). Additionally, the Keep building will have a generic bonus to Health Points, Mana Points, and/or stamina points.
    
    Furthermore, these bonuses will increase based on the tier of each building, so a guild that puts in the effort to build a massive, powerful city will receive massive, powerful bonuses, the better to lord it over their friends and enemies.
    
    
    Requirements and Locations
    
    To book a city spot, you yourself need to be the Guild Leader, level 40+, and have 24+ members. If you meet those requirements, you can simply choose to reserve a piece of land in one of the so-called “resource and gathering areas”.

    • Laceish Plains — The bleak, snowy, and mountainous Laceish Plains are where Cimmerians may feel most at home.
    • Poitain —The “smiling sun-washed plains and blue lazy rivers” of Poitain will remind many Aquilonians of their homeland.

    • Purple Lotus Swamp — Dark and mysterious, but also green and full of life, the Purple Lotus Swamp is where Stygians may gather to do their devious deeds.

       

    
    Upgrading your city

    
    Finally, and perhaps most importantly, if you want to crush your foes and drive them before you, you must have a Level 3 Player City before you can claim a Battlekeep for your own. It’s a long way to the top if you want to rock and roll, but the view is spectacular! And by then, you already know how to construct a settlement.
    
    It is possible to upgrade all buildings and there are three levels in total. Upgrading a building will not only make it look better, it will also provide improved benefits!
    
    So, what are you waiting for? Start the city planning!
    
    
    All the available player buildings are described below:

     

     

     

    Alchemist’s Workshop

    

    
    The Alchemist’s Workshop is usually where potions and food are made. With cauldrons, alembics, and a scent of esoteric substances, this construction offers mystical surroundings. The alchemists in the guild will benefit from having this building in your village.

     

    Armourer’s Workshop

    

    
    The Armourer’s Workshop, like any forge, is a robust building. In its center is a large forge and many instruments to make the most enthralling armors. The armorsmiths in the guild benefit from having this building in your village.

     

    Barracks

    

    
    The Barracks, with its walls scarred by marks of swords and axes, is home to the mighty soldiers. Here, through studies of war, they have gained a certain invulnerability and higher capacity to protect themselves against physical attacks.

     

    Blacksmith Workshop

    

    
    The Blacksmith’s Workshop is a sturdy building, where the clanking of hammers and anvils and the smoldering heat from the forge belongs. The blacksmiths in the guild benefit from having this building in your village.

     

    Engineer’s Workshop

    

    
    The Engineer’s Workshop is rich with the smell of sawdust. With mallet, nails, and good designs, engineers all over Hyboria have created siege machines and plans in this kind of workshop. The engineers in the guild will benefit from having this building in your village.

     

    Keep

    Tier 1:  

    Tier 2:   

    Tier 3:    

    The Keep is the heart and soul of the village. This building must be built to claim an area as yours, and, without it, no other buildings can be raised. It is vital to protect the keep during sieges. You may lose your entire village if your keep is destroyed in battle. The keep is upgradable, providing many more benefits as you put more resources into it.

     

    Temple

    

    The Temple is a sanctuary for all those who have devoted themselves to the gods. In here, among hushed voices, wise priests have learned how commitment to their deity protects them in battle and grants certain invulnerability to harmful magic.

     

    Thieves’ Guild

    

    
    The Thieves’ Guild is shrouded in mystery and it is never easy to tell how many eyes are studying you within its walls. Here, the rogues of the guild have honed their skills and found out how to achieve more physical damage in their attacks.

     

    Tradepost

    

    
    The Tradepost serves as the village access point to the global trade market. A local merchant stands ready to help guild members and guests to buy and sell their goods.

     

    University

    

    
    The University is the home of clever mages far and wide. Among shelves of books and desks to study, mages of the guild learn the fine details of their craft, gaining a higher effect of destructive magic.

     

    Wall Gate:

    

  • Posted: 5/11/08 8:18 PM
    Age of Conan