AoC just keeps getting darker and darker the more you explore.

In AoC The Dafari are : "...followers of Yog and take part in vile ceremonies involving human sacrifice and cannibalism in his name."

They further "are cannibal warriors with sharp, filed down teeth. They are fierce, aggressive hunters and have started moving upwards through the Black Kingdoms towards the heart of Stygia"

It seems they are taking over Hyboria and it will be your job to clean them out.

You can read all about them at the official site

One of the things that is so interesting about AoC is the depth they go to stay gritty. Take AoC's tank, The Dark Templar.
From the AoC site:

"...the Dark Templar will go as far as to trade his very humanity to any dark being who will offer him a piece of the corrupted power that they possess."

That is some pretty evil shit. It kind of makes World of Warcrafts shadow priest look like a cartoon. The official site continues, "...the Dark Templar is also quite a sadist."

There is more information about the Dark Templar at Ten Ton Hammer

From that interview it seems like AoC is at least attempting to balance the need for a tank with a tanks desire to do damage. Jørgen Tharaldsen, Product Director for Funcom says "The Dark Templar can also remove his shield, and instead focus on holding magical talismans in the offhand, which will give him additional combat effects like bonus damage or procs" and "we have a mode in the game called Frenzy, and a Dark Templar going into this mode can deal around 150% extra damage, [but you take] three times the damage if someone hits you."

Sounds sweet. Ten Ton Hammer will have a class review every two weeks, stay tuned for more.

The hook for me about Age of Conan is that it seems to be a lot about technology.

World of Warcraft is about time sink and grinding. Now, I'm sure there will be some of that in AOC, but based on what little beta I have seen it is going to be more technoligists vs primatives.

What I mean by that is, the people with metal swords vs the people with wood clubs. As I mentioned before, this looks to be a serious departure from the old grind it out style.

I look forward to it.

Looks like the beta is progressing along. There is a new post up at the official site describing how you start out in the game, and it sounds sweet. It seems more natural that a lot of the traditional kill ten rat MMO's out there.

They are still hyping up the Pvp, which gets me excited, I hope it delivers.

Here is the first pvp screen I have seen:

I can't say I am super impressed. Apologies to Dane Cook, but it kind of looks like a bunch of monkeys fucking a coconut. It's beta though, I'm sure the graphics will improve.

You can read the whole news item here

I have been a long time MMO player, most recently with World of Warcraft.

I signed up for the Age of Conan beta and plan to play that, mostly for Pvp.

This site will have tips, tricks, and beta news for Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures