Age Of Conan: Rise Of The Godslayer

I was looking for a new MMO having played a lot of them over the last few years. All have their + and - points but they all seem to be rounded in 'high fantasy' where swords glow, magic is abound and you can play some weird and winderful creatures.
Now I have never read the Conan lore but I am familiar with it (Arnie films anyone) and thought it might be time to give this a go since the post release reviews are now fairly glowing. Well that is one year down the line and the developers have corrected many of the bugs.
I started playing about a month ago prior to the expansion and I must say I was impressed. The game world is utterly gorgeous on DX10 (you do need a PC with some poke though). There are no weird races to play just 3 human (4 with the expansion) and obviously the assorted classes that are no different from any other MMO.
The setting is 'low fantasy' so no glowing fantastical weapons and armour. It all looks what LotR online 'should' have looked like in terms of setting. Although there could be a little more variety in colour and design of some kit to be honest. That said the starting location is one of the best I have seen. The tutorial is rather nice and there is a distinct lack of what I would 'feel' as grind...although it is there it is masked by great locations and a decent quest system.
The combat system is Conan's main strong point. Whilst some people may berate it I actually thing is is a nice alternative to button mashing. Basically you can block and attack different locations (left / right / top / under cut) with the AI enemy dispalying their blocks.It is simple but does make you think about your next attack and where it would be more effective. A nice alternative to just keep mashing the same button over and over again.
So what about the expansion itself. Well it is having some teething problems with some players having a fair few crashes (although not experienced it yet). It has a new Alternate Advancement system that rather than add 5 more levels to the original level cap of 80 it adds a skill tree to improve you character (much better in my opinion for long term longevity). On the whole though it is a nice addition with some interesting stuff I am still yet to explore.
So whilst there are more 'polished' MMO's out there such as WoW and LotR online, Age of Conan has a feeling of much more maturity. It is more like a Whisky to WoW's bubbly Cola or LotR vintage wine. It may not have the 'fun' content of these other MMO's but in my own opinion it has a stronger focus on exploration and lore.
So as an experienced MMO player who does still enjoy WoW and LotR online I find Conan rather refreshing with a 'realistic' world and some great quests. There is still much need of polish in Hyboria but the community is great and the focus is on adventure rather than how sparkly and colourful your weapons are.
Want a different MMO experience. Try the free unlimited (to level 20) trial that is on offer. I did and I am now hooked on the stunningly realised world.

One of the best, if not the best MMORPG out. Great Graphics, even better gameplay. The new expansion adds alot of new features to make a good game even better.

This has become the best MMORPG on the market, and the expansion has a lot of great eastern content with violent new quests.