Funcom would like to wish everyone in the Age of Conan community happy barbaric holidays! Thank you so much for 2008 and we hope to see you again in 2009!

(Tip: you can download a hi-res version of this greeting card here)

It's been an exciting year for Age of Conan – launching, and all! During the past few months we have strived to improve the game by adding more content, adding more features, improving on existing content, enhancing performance, and of course incorporating player feedback.

Among the things we have done to the game is employ the new PvP consequence system – expanding greatly on the game's PvP aspects – and introduce the vast Ymir's Pass adventuring area that added a lot of content for mid-level fifty players.

Next year will be even more exciting, and we will be kicking off with what we call Update 4. Read on for a preview of some of the additions coming in Update 4!

Developers are now in the process of wrapping up one of the coolest dungeons we have done for Age of Conan so far. Xibaluku is an instanced, level eighty, group dungeon set in Thunder River. It introduces countless more hours of challenging gameplay, epic encounters and, of course, lots of valuable loot. Explore this terrible home of a tribe of savage Picts and unravel a story that will surely chill you to the bones!

(Read more about Xibaluku)

While we are working on finishing up the dungeon for you, we have put together a trailer to give you a glimpse of what to expect when it goes live.

(Check it out the Xibaluke trailer)

In addition to the Xibaluku dungeon we are also adding a new level eighty, solo dungeon known as The Slaughterhouse Cellar. Also located in Thunder River, The Slaughterhouse is actually the key to gaining access to Xibaluku. Players will need to go into Thunder River and locate the right farmhouse and perform a series of quests within the narrow and haunted corridors before they can descend into the darkness of Xibaluku.

(Read more on The Slaughterhouse Celler)

With the introduction of Xibaluku we will be adding a new, exciting loot reward: your very own undead! Battle your way into the deepest depths of the dungeon and fight the darkest creatures you can find, and perhaps you have a chance of actually obtaining one yourself. We are kicking off with two social pets: the Corrupted Self (pictured above) and the Ancestral Spirit. They are both rare drops and they are only available in Xibaluku. Both of these social pets will follow you around, spreading gloom and dreadfulness!

It is a known fact that player vs player gameplay is very important in
Age of Conan and recently we introduced numerous features to enhance this part of gameplay, such as PvP consequences, PvP levels and PvP equipment. The next update will feature even more enhancements, such as the new PvP resources system and improved mini-game search functionality that will make PvP even more meaningful and easier to
get into.

(Read about the upcoming PvP enhancements)

To shed some light about the upcoming Update 4 and all the content it will provide, game director Craig Morrison has taken time to talk to some of the gaming media out there. Craig sat down to talk to IGN (US), Buffed (Germany), 3D Juegos (Spain) and MondesPersistants (France) about what players can expect from the update, as well as discussing in general the future of Age of Conan and what has been done up till now.

(Read the IGN interview)
(Read the Buffed interview)
(Read the 3D Juegos interview)
(Read the MondesPersistants interview)

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