Besides aiming to create a great representation of the sexy, savage and brutal Conan universe, one of the main goals with Age of Conan was to improve the MMO formula and take the genre in an innovative new direction. Funcom has focused on taking the best from past and current MMO games while creating innovative and fun new systems. Playing Age of Conan should feel new, fresh, and exciting. One of the key features of Age of Conan is the unique combat system, which is a huge leap forward from both a technological and gameplay standpoint. Fighting in most MMOs involves targeting by clicking something, clicking auto attack, then occasionally clicking a special attack, but fighting in Age of Conan centers around something we call the Real Combat System. In this innovative approach to MMO combat, you don¡¯t pick a ¡°target¡± and focus your attacks on that target. Instead, you actually move up to your foe and start swinging your weapon in different directions in real-time, using direction keys or even a gamepad. In this combat system, you can unleash devastating combos and even brutal finishing moves. Fighting feels dynamic, exciting, and most importantly, hands-on and real. In ranged combat, you can actually string your bow and aim manually from a first person or over-the-shoulder viewpoint to strike your enemies, a first for any MMO. Spellcasters can combine a series of spells in what we call speallweaves, like combos for melee fighters, which unleash devastating results and fatalities. In addition, Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures features mounted combat, where players can battle from the backs of everything from horses to mighty mammoths. Age of Conan is also one of the first MMOs to feature a Mature rating, giving us the freedom to create truly brutal battles, providing both a visceral and satisfying gaming experience while staying completely true to the Conan lore and story. Age of Conan will not only showcase all the features you would expect from a triple-A MMORPG, it will also feature a limited single-player portion at the beginning of the game. Here, you will advance through a deep and involving story, where the focus is on you, your character, and your place in the world. After a few levels to learn your way around the game, you will start meeting other players and adventuring with them, but you will be able to switch between single-player and multiplayer content during the first twenty levels of your character¡¯s life. This is a brand new approach to leading MMO players into a deep and engaging world, and it means we can focus on telling an exciting and meaningful story with widely interactive quests, while making sure both solo and group-focused players always have something to do. Finally, Age of Conan also features deep and engaging guild systems. Guilds can build and maintain entire cities and fight with other players for control of cities and resources, engaging in massive PvP battles to defend their homes (or destroy their enemies¡¯ homes!).