If it has not sunk in just how incomplete a game Age of Conan is, then look no further than its crafting system, or rather, its lack of one. One of the major professions, in some degree the profession of Age of Conan, Gem Cutting, was bugged to a point that, during the first month, it would crash your client to even have a socketed item in your possession. Most of the tier 1 and tier 2 items are completely useless for most of Age of Conan’s professions, and in some cases, there are even items which cannot even be created due to a lack of materials present in the game. The prices of store-bought material for crafting progression are so high compared to money earned by the average player, it makes one wonder if there was even a developer overseeing the development of the game’s economy.

So just how did Age of Conan get such raving reviews and why? I believe many reviewers must not have leveled past 20 and did not experience how incomplete a game Age of Conan becomes. It’s understandable, considering how good Tortage, the game’s starting area, is, with well-developed characters, exciting quest chains, and top-notch voice acting. The graphics in Age of Conan, even without DirectX10, are absolutely breathtaking. The mighty stone buildings of Torentia, the dead swinging from the trees of Connalls Valley with ravens circling over head, running from rabid Picts through chest-high grass as it swayed in the calm winds of Poitain are all images I will not soon forget. Let’s not even begin to talk about the water effects and reflections, or we could be here for days.

Another thing Funcom handled especially well was the mature content. The nudity in the game was all within context (some Howard fans would claim tame in comparison to his vision) and the violence level was appropriate to the Conan theme. The guys at Funcom also had a great launch, with server stability at a high level for the first month.

If there was ever something done perfectly in an MMO, it would have to be the sound in Age of Conan (minus the waterfalls). From the ambient sounds to the beautiful voice of Helen Bøksle serenading you as you run through the Eglophian Mountains, it is simply amazing. It would be a tragedy if Knut Haugen does not receive some type of award for his composition.

The worst aspect of Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures, for an adult gamer like me, is that its dwindling community will be blamed on its mature content and free-for-all PvP by future developers, when in reality, it’s the fact gamers are no longer willing to pay for an incomplete game and the promise of future fixes. Tabula Rasa should have been a warning sign for the industry, so let’s hope the guys at EA Mythic get the message from Age of Conan while working on Warhammer Online. If not, who knows? In a few months, maybe Funcom can deliver on its promises, but there’s always that guy on a frozen throne; I hear he’s itching for a fight.