GridStream Productions

Hello everyone out there in AO land and GSP!! I am not sure if any of you have been following along with the progress of Age of Conan, but this year's E3 had a ton of movies and interviews which all look phenomenal! You can read all of the official news over at http://community.ageofconan.com or you can head on over to my fansite www.templeofcrom.com

This game is supposedly entering beta soon and when this game releases it is going to be one hell of a game!

**Time for my shameless plug**
I have also started a guild even though the game is not in beta yet, but we do currently have 18 members and we plan on adding a ton more in the future. Age of Conan will surely benefit from having a large guild! So, I will display a little info about the guild, but non the less if you guys and gals think I am nuts and haven't been reading up on Age of Conan you really should start!


The Acolytes
If you are interested in making a difference in the world of Hyboria once Age of Conan goes live (or beta) then the Acolytes are for you! Below is our backstory and I will have links at the end going to various places. The Acolytes are coming! We hope you decide to join our ranks!

Hyboria. The land we reside on. Someday we will truly be able to call Hyboria home. Someday…a day that is fast approaching due to the efforts of all the founders and members the Acolytes. This is their story.

The Acolytes weren't formed overnight at the whim of some hooligans dissatisfied with their way of life. Before the Acolytes were formed they were enslaved to mine the iron deposits in the hills. The regulations at this time were many and the penalties harsh. This in and of itself was not a problem. The rules were needed for everyone’s safety. No one questioned it. As the planet became further developed, the rules should have been changed to suit the new environment. Hundreds of years passed but the rules didn’t. One place where the rules were the strictest was in the iron mines. Any mistakes and a cave in or explosion could kill you and your fellow miners. However, many of the rules just didn’t make sense after the initial decades of operation. All the prisoner were worked hard and all were equally tortured and some driven to their deaths by overwork. If the prisoners just would not cooperate at all they were sent to prison camps. Children born in the camps had no life to look forward to. It seems the “sins of the father” would ensure a life of slavery for these children. There was little hope for anyone working the mines.


News of the world outside the mines was scarce. Sometime a new inmate would be brought in and all the old prisoners would pick their brains for current events. Light began to shine in the darkness of the mines. After years of struggle it seems that the prisoners had enough of the mistreatment! The people who knew only oppression, toil and heartbreak began to plan their escape.

After several years of planning, training, scrounging weapons and explosives, bribing guards was about to pay off. Many of the older miners and those old before their time decided to make the ultimate sacrifice for the younger inmates who were often their children. At least 60 if not more of these older miners, the parents and grandparents of many Acolyte members, led the attack on the guards at their prison mine. The guards, having grown fat and lazy, were taken totally by surprise. With suicidal bravery they bought enough time for their children and grandchildren to escape. Unfortunately, it is believed that all of those elderly volunteers were killed in action as no word was ever heard from them again. Their
sacrifice was not in vain. A very young Redruum led the able bodied miners and all the children throughthe fences that were blown open by carefully hoarded explosives. Patrolling guards killed many as they fled the compound. They killed at least a dozen youths as they scrambled for freedom. Redruum led his bloodied band through mile after dangerous mile of hostile territory to freedom.

The going was hard and several members were lost due to the hostile wildlife that infests Hyboria. They decided to make camp and a memorial service was held for those that lost their lives. Tears flowed freely among all involved and many an oath of revenge was spoken that night. They were determined to become followers of war until their thirst of revenge was satisfied, hence the Acolytes were born!

Early the next morning they arose and noticed they were surrounded by the guards that they tried to escape from the previous day. The children were caught off guard and were not expecting the guards to chase so far, so there was nothing they could do but surrender. As they were being dragged away they all agreed that they shall somehow reunite to carry on their destinies!

Years of continued slavery have passed until one day they find themselves in the bowels of the slave ship. By the luck of the gods their shackles are torn lose when the slave ship gets rammed by a another galley, in the midst of a massive storm, the Acolytes gather with other slaves and start swinging their chains and kill the tormentors holding them captive on the ship. The Acolytes jump off of the ship as the devastating storm starts to sink the slave vessel. The monstrous waves throw them in all different directions until screams are no longer heard. The next day, the Acolytes wash up on to a beautiful beach, but they are all spread so far apart on the beach no one else is in sight. They all start to take their own individual trek inland to try and reunite with their brothers once again. When the Acolytes reunite together free at last, Hyboria is not going to be the same...........all hell is going to break lose!

Be warned the Acolytes are coming!

Recruitment Video
http://www.templeofcrom.com/test/mov/acolyte.html

Acolyte Charter and Guild Structure
http://www.templeofcrom.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=15

Come on by and visit our Forums
http://www.templeofcrom.com/forum/index.php

Hope to see you soon!

Redruum
Warchief of the Acolytes

hehe i know you from the AoC forums O_O

Yeah. Age of Conan and Huxley (Basically AO meets Planetside) look to be the most refreshing MMORPG's in the upcomming future. I have likely forgotten to name a few, but many still abide by the old dogma of EQ-like gameplay. I think I'll be playing a Stygian, though any of the races are great - They don't abide by the old bullshit of medieval european knights. There's the barbarians like Conan, evidently some sort of of civilized roman group (I think?) and the Stygians, who are a bit like egypt or any middle eastern group.

I just hope I can play a warrior or a warrior-priest type, because I heard the stygians might not get warrior.

I'm glad that people are getting into Age of Conan.

oh and BTW ...

Exalted === Pwnage Guild in AoC.
I'm looking at a ranger ATM, most likely Aquilonian.

Master Thief may be a nice option for an alt depending on how well looting gets implemented.

What i'm really debating on though would be my prestige class, each of them seem to really have an upside.





Eitherway good luck man and I hope to see you in AoC.

I think I'll do Aquilonian for one of my characters as well - The stygians lack a heavy infantry type character. If I can make a rogue into a dexterous sort of light infantry guerilla, then I'll stick with it, but I'd probably just go and make a dark skinned Aquilonian soldier for one of my mains.

Ichyro wrote: If I can make a rogue into a dexterous sort of light infantry guerilla, then I'll stick with it

Sounds like Barbarian is right up your allie.




But ya, my goal I put on myself, is if I can't get a city for the org before AoC is released, then my AO days are done, and its 100% AoC devotion.

Negs wrote:

Ichyro wrote: If I can make a rogue into a dexterous sort of light infantry guerilla, then I'll stick with it

Sounds like Barbarian is right up your allie.




But ya, my goal I put on myself, is if I can't get a city for the org before AoC is released, then my AO days are done, and its 100% AoC devotion.

See, the problem is, I have a real wet dream when it comes to non european /non japanese influences and styles (I treat the mediterranean ancients like greece, rome, and Spanish Iberia as non european, which basically is celtic/germanic onward), so I am far more inclined to play Stygian or Aquilonian instead of Cimmerian. My characters tend towards dark skin and middle eastern or mediterranean influences. So barbarian won't be for me unless I can make a Aquilonian like it.

Ichyro wrote:See, the problem is, I have a real wet dream when it comes to non european /non japanese influences and styles (I treat the mediterranean ancients like greece, rome, and Spanish Iberia as non european, which basically is celtic/germanic onward), so I am far more inclined to play Stygian or Aquilonian instead of Cimmerian. My characters tend towards dark skin and middle eastern or mediterranean influences. So barbarian won't be for me unless I can make a Aquilonian like it.

Barbarian isn't limited to just Cimmerian. Anquilonians can be in the barbarian class.

http://www.ageofconan.com/classList/classList.html

Thanks. I have to say I didn't expect it to be a rogue. Seems more accurate that way.

I did have an epiphany recently in wanting to do a horse archer (if that is possible), so I might opt for a class which benefits the ranged component. Something like a Ranger might do the trick, but only if I know I can relatively easily aquire a horse and can fire on it's back. It'll be that for my Stygian and a Zealot for my Aquilonian, most likely.