Return to Tortage

It's been more or less two years since I played Age of Conan last, and it took the Rise of the Godslayer-expansion for me to return. But my old characters are lost to the winds of time, so when I now return to review the game's first expansion I have to start from scratch - which means returning to Tortage.

Because while a lot of things have changed in Age of Conan since launch, Tortage is more or less the same. New content has been patched in, including brand new zones, and with the Godslayer came a whole new continent. But the game still uses the same starting area and roughly the first 20 levels still take place in and outside the city of Tortage. I had to go through it to get to Khitai, the new continent, so it felt better to get that part of the game out of the way completely before starting out on the review of the actual expansion.

Two years ago, we talked about the Tortage effect - how good and polished the starting area was, while the rest of the game left a lot of people disappointed. It was a good way of getting people hooked with a well-directed introduction, while the moment you left you were met with a sudden lack of voice overs and big content holes while leveling. So how does the return to Tortage feel, two years down the line?

It's a mix of good and bad, at the same time. The magic is gone in many ways, but it should be said that for the first time visitor it's still a cool place. The dialogues work very differently from other MMOs, taking their setup from {Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic} instead of the typical quest texts found in other games in the genre. Running quests for prostitutes and beggars sets the stage for the rest of the game and serves as a good introduction to the harsh world of Hyboria.

That's not to say that all is well in Tortage, though. MMO-design has come a long way during the two years since Conan was released, and it does suffer from classic problems like returning over and over to the same areas. There is the possibility to plan your quests in advance, but that takes previous knowledge of the zone - otherwise the chance is that you will stumble upon a new quest that will take you back to the place you just left. Also, the various zones that are connected to Tortage - White Sands Isle for example - span across a wide range of levels which can lead to annoyance.

Despite the fact that I haven't visited the place in a long time, I wanted to leave as soon as soon as got there. I smuggled myself out as soon as I could, at level 16, and don't ever plan to come back. That's the main problem with Tortage, it lacks replayablity. While the destiny quests, the single player portion of Tortage that takes place during the nights, changes a bit depending on what class you've chosen, it's still the same story over and over again as you try to help the Resistance on the island fight the evil Strom and his Red Hand. First time it's epic. Second time, it has already started to get old...

I lament the fact that Funcom decided against creating a new starter zone, or decided to put priorities elsewhere. For new players it is one thing, but for veterans or returning players Tortage is hardly as fresh anymore. Age of Conan, of course, isn't the only game that settles for a single starting area - but compared to {Star Wars Galaxies}' Tansaari Station, Tortage is just too big and takes too long. Five our even ten levels would have been enough. If nothing else, Funcom would do well to go back and polish up the area more - certain camera angles during dialogues, and some emotes done by the NPCs, could use some extra work.

It's still a cool place, the city of Tortage itself is incredibly well-crafted and filled with amazing detail. But the though of re-rolling a new character fills me with dread, knowing that I once again will have to take up arms against Strom. Seriously, Tortage can burn now - the resistance is on its own. Sorry, Tortage.