Age of Conan

Before you are able to create a character in Age of Conan, you must first decide which server you want. Like most MMO's there are 4 types: PVE, PVP, RP, and RPPVP. Let's find out which one is for you.

PVE: Player vs Environment is for people that just want to play the game without looking over their shoulder every 10 seconds to see if someone is coming to "gank" them for no apparent reason. This is definitely the best choice for new players, but offers little satisfaction for experienced players due to the inability for general world PVP.

PVP: Player vs Player is the most common choice for AoC players due to the almost veteran nature of the target demographic of gamers. The usual player of AoC has been playing online games for years (assumption based off forum posts and blogs) and love the opportunity to assert their dominance on lesser beings (other players). This can be annoying at times, but FunCom is limiting their enjoyment by enacting penalties on "griefing," the act of ruining someone another player's day by killing them (usually griefers are much higher level, presenting the target with no chance.)

RP/RPPVP: RolePlay servers are the same as they are in other MMO's, a misnomer. There is no roleplaying online in MMO's when put on a massive scale. Many players tend to go to these servers to hide from less mature players, but this rarely works.

After this distinction is made, you should shoot for a server with a light load time. This will ensure that you won't have to worry about server queues.

Now go play!

You start the game on a slave ship heading to the Pirate town of Tortage, a dinky little port town. This sets the scene for the first 20 levels of your game experience, a haven to introduce players to the game without the fear of high-level characters lurking to pick them off.

Your first 5 levels are an introduction that leads you through the jungles towards the city gate. This is very easy for a player of any skill level. This is the time you begin to truly learn the point of AoC, and that point is gore and violence. While fighting beasts, crocs and apes at this point, the fighting will seem to be missing something, and for good reason. The fatality system and combos are what the game has built its name around, and seem lackluster against beasts. However, when a new player first pulls off that wicked fatality on a humanoid, something new and visceral is exposed to the player. Decapitations and throat-slitting is not something MMO players are used to seeing. This will most certainly help to keep your interest for at least the next few levels...which bring their own fun.

Once you get to Tortage Harbor, and do the pre-quest to brake your manacles, you will be exposed to yet another oddity for an MMO, the single-player option. Conan is based around story, and the player drives the story by completing individual quests. These provide a ton of experience, leveling you much faster than you will throughout the rest of the game. Each archetype (soldier, rogue, priest, caster) has a different perspective of the quest line, and all are interconnected. This is a great idea as it doesn't force the player to try to accomplish grueling tasks in often overpopulated starting zones.

The potency of the single-player starts to dwindle about level 13 or so, and you will be forced to enter the world with the rest of the playerbase. However, the game still is balanced in regards to the solo and multiplayer experience, and you will not suffer based on your preference.

Your choices at this point are the Acheronian Ruins, Tortage Underhalls, and Whitesands. There isn't really much difference between the three in terms of quests/rewards, so pick a zone and clear it out. Rinse, Repeat.

After a few more levels, and one or two more single-player quests, you'll be able to start the final encounter at level 19. This is not an overly easy quests, especially for squishy casters and priests, but it is easily doable. Lots of experience, lots of magical items, and a few really nice quest rewards get you ready to go for the real challenges ahead.

Of all the MMO's that I've played, this introductory experience is in the top 3. Easy to follow, not too much walking (I'm looking at you WoW), and generally pretty interesting endeavor. I'm interested to see what the next 20 levels will be like, and will update this once I get there.