Not many of us live underneath rocks, but in case you do, this is a good time to tell you that Funcom this month put out the beta sign-up application form on the Age of Conan website. This is your chance to play the game before release – if you’re chosen! So far well over 100,000 people have signed up, and we’re proud to have reached as many as 50,000 applicants in the first 24 hours. Thanks for your support!

(sign up for the beta here!)

The Aquilonians are a people divided behind a front of unity, and threatened behind a show of dominance. Their kingdom, the so-called Flower of the West, is the unrivalled jewel of Hyboria. It is a land of prosperous cities, great wealth, enlightened culture, with a king-sanctioned order of religious freedom, where no faith shall be oppressed. (read more...)

Summary: The Races of Hyboria
With this newsletter we have arrived full-circle in our article series about the races of Hyboria, or rather, the races that will be playable at launch. Take a moment to look through the newsletters of the two previous months for information about The Cimmerians and The Stygians.

Nestled in a valley and sheltered from the harsh winters of the region, the Wild Lands exemplify Aquilonia’s untamed eastern frontier. It is a place for people with the desire to start afresh, to begin anew — to establish a life away from the bustling metropolis of Tarantia or any of Aquilonia’s other majestic, chaotic cities.

(read more...)

The latest threat to the peace of Aquilonia comes from no natural source. It is not the thunder of a Nemedian army’s march, or the howling cries of a Pict tribe running to battle. Instead, the Wild Lands and the frontier villages scattered throughout its reaches are bedeviled by the presence of creatures earning the name ‘Dark Beasts’ from the lips of terrified peasants.

(read more about the Dark Beasts and the Grols)

Funcom is proud to present the Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures comic magazine! Created by the talented people over at Dark Horse Comics, it tells a story that ties into the game perfectly. The magazine has been produced in several hundred thousands copies, mostly bundled with various gaming magazines, and we will now start putting them onto our website. We've added seventeen pages to the PDF so far (including the front page), and we're adding another three pages today, making it a total of twenty pages so far!

(get the updated comic book here!) (PDF - 10MB)

Every month website MMORPG.com will interview one of the many talented people that work on Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures here at Funcom to create a developer profile, which is then posted on their website. For this month, AI Designer Haluk Diriker is featured. MMORPG.com sat down with him to pick his brain about everything from his childhood to what he does at Funcom.

(read the developer profile)

Every month we try to bring you some selected press coverage from
Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures. If you find something you would like to tell us about, please drop us an email. This is some of the coverage over the last couple of weeks:

25.04.07 — Onlinewelten: Impressions from RPC (German)
24.04.07 — Gamona.de: Interview with Erling Ellingsen
24.04.07 — Looki.de: Impressions from RPC (German)
24.04.07 — PCGames.de: Impressions from RPC (German)
24.04.07 — 4Players.de: Impressions from RPC (German)
23.04.07 — Gamona.de: Impressions from RPC (German)
22.04.07 — Buffed.de: Video presentation from RPC (German)
20.04.07 — CNN: Mention in article on Windows Vista
19.04.07 — Adressa.no: Conan stole the show (Norwegian)
12.04.07 — Warcry: Editorial on the beta test
11.04.07 — Eurogamer: Age of Conan beta hysteria
03.04.07 — Mmorpg.gr: Interview with Erling Ellingsen
02.04.07 — CVG: Best looking game world ever?

More news on the Community Site!

Every week we give you an update on Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures by posting our special Friday Update on the community website. Here are some of the Friday updates we've published recently:

27.04.07 — The technical beta kicks off!
20.04.07 — New lore updates
13.04.07 — New video developer diary!
03.04.07 — Beta sign-up goes live!

More news on the Community Site!

Take a look at this month’s exclusive screenshots! We’ve added five screenshots of the Wild Lands of Zelata region. This is a region of diversity, from the craggy mountains to the pastoral farmlands. You’ll see farmers tending to their crops and their sheep, but you only need to deviate a little from the beaten path to find yourself smack in the middle of a dangerous territory infested with Dark Beasts, Grols and bloodthirsty packs of wolves.

(check out the new screens)

This month we’re featuring an in-game location video from the Wild Lands of Zelata. A higher level Guardian character has decided to ride into this mysterious region in search of the mysterious Dark Beasts, and upon finding his mark he faces a great challenge as he will need to slay it using some of the most powerful combination moves available to him.

(The video will be available exclusively at Gamespy, Jeuxvideo, Gamigo, InsideGamer, Goha and Juegaenred until next week when it will be posted on the community site)

This month we bring you an exclusive wallpaper themed according to this newsletters’ primary focus: the Wild Lands of Zelata. The wallpaper comes in four different sizes.

(check out the new wallpaper)

Just because we are such incredibly kind people here at Funcom, we have decided to give away free loot every month. All you need to do is send us an email and hope for the best. Every month we pick out three people who will be sent a bunch of exclusive loot such as inflatable Conan swords, the Age of Conan comic, games and even hardware.

These three people will also receive a guaranteed place in the
Age of Conan beta test!

If you want to be one of the lucky three who gets Funcom loot delivered in the mail, you will need to send us an email and include your full name, your home address, and your telephone number in order to be eligible. You must also keep the subject of the email "Age of Conan April Newsletter Sweepstakes". Those who enter and get picked out will have the opportunity to receive one or more exclusive prizes such as:

•  Concept Art print signed by the artist
•  Dreamfall: The Longest Journey PC game
•  Full-colored Age of Conan comic book
•  Inflatable Age of Conan toy swords

Send us an email by May 23th and you might get lucky!

No purchase necessary. Prizes are three (3) inflatable swords, three (3) comic books, three (3) copies of the Dreamfall PC game and one (1) Concept Art print signed by the artist. Odds of winning dependant on number of entries. Competition open to residents of the following countries: Austria, Belgium, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Sweden, Switzerland, U.K., and U.S. (except Rhode Island and Puerto Rico). Drawing will be made by random draw in Oslo Norway one day after the entry deadline. Any applicable taxes or customs fees are responsibility of winner.
Entry to this competition is void where prohibited by local laws.

This month we want to feature two sites for the community site of the month. The two Age of Conan Wiki sites www.wikiaoc.com and www.aocwiki.org are in the process of building up their own databases with a wealth of information surrounding the game, and we fully expect them to explode in size when the game is released. Many of us at Funcom are great fans of Wiki sites, and we acknowledge their fantastic ability to grow in size and their ability to quality control themselves thanks to the thousands of users that contribute to them and continually strive to make these sites better and better. Keep it up Wikis, we’re cheering for you both as your article count continues to rise!

www.wikiaoc.com
www.aocwiki.org

Have a suggestion for Community site of the Month? Email us now!