Age of Conan is taking a smaller but faster approach to content gating by releasing its major 2.1 update in staggered phases, with the initial content landing this December. AoC developer Funcom said this will provide better pacing than dumping all the content in “one mega update.”
The first leg of the 2.1 update will bring a new PvP mini-game called “The Call of Jhebbal Sag”. Funcom said adjustments have been made to the new PvP mini-game to prevent abuse and facilitate fun. These include tweaking the amount of capture points, the duration of the mini-game and the scoring mechanics in general.
Age of Conan will also see a new Winter festival filled with quests that “help the Aesir celebrate the winter solstice.” And like previous seasonal events, there will be rewards for successful completion of these quests when you help the guard the festivities from disruption by the troublesome Vanir.
By early 2011, raiders will see more action-packed content in the form of new six-man instances in Pai-Kaing, new encounters in the Jade Citadel, and even low-level auto-content dungeons that scale in difficulty depending on the level range of a character.
The Paikang storyline revolves around the machinations of Emperor Yah-Chieng as he tries to crush the Insurrection against his terrorizing regime. Meanwhile, the Jade Citadel storyline delves into the epic assault on the Emperor himself and his cadre of minions, including a living Zodiac.
Finally, class changes are underfoot to ensure questing and raiding are enjoyable for all players. The focus is on balancing class damage and other core abilities, but the most interesting change seems to be the possible use of PvP specific stats. Nothing is final yet, according to Funcom, but the inclusion of separate stats for PvP could bring a whole new dimension to builds in the 2.1 update.