The Dreams in the Witch House, H.P. Lovecraft 1932
I agree with some of that and there’s a very interesting discussion to be had there, but I’m wondering whether having it would derail this thread completely.
No, it’s not. The problem is that it’s much more feasible to oppose adding something new, than it is to ask for removal of something that’s already there.
Which is why some of us are spending so much effort to argue against the pew-pew magic, because we know that if Funcom gives in and puts it in the game, it’s going to ruin the setting and the setting will stay ruined.
Exactly!
Sure, they could decide that what happens in Conan Exiles is canon and that all subsequent Conan works can reference that and include those elements and build upon that.
Yes, they have the power to decide that, too. For all I know, they might even have the power to change what Howard wrote. I don’t know if they do, and I don’t care, because you’re arguing about legal rights, and that’s a red herring.
I’ve seen this before. Someone brings up the lore. Someone else starts asking for proofs. Someone provides proof. Then the discussion turns to whether that’s proof or not, and what is canon, and what “canon” even means, and eventually we get to the point where someone – “that guy” you didn’t want to be 
– brings up the fact that Funcom owns the legal rights to Conan IP.
In case it’s not clear why that doesn’t matter, it’s because it creates a circular argument: “Funcom could do X” → “yes, but they shouldn’t do X because it ruins the setting” → “yes, but Funcom can do whatever they want, including X”. Not only is this circular logic, it’s also a false equivalence. We weren’t discussing legal rights here. We were discussing why they should stay true to the lore, the way they have done for the last almost-five years.
I don’t disagree with the rest of your post. What you wrote there is technically correct, but it’s much easier to just… don’t have pew-pew magic. You can have combat sorcery without fireballs and butt-lasers.
Or, you could, if it wasn’t for the players 
I’m willing to bet that if they actually introduce combat sorcery, people will either complain about how it’s useless and they should have just added fireballs and butt-lasers like every other game, or they’ll complain about how it’s OP and the new meta. If they do it just right, you’ll see both complaints at the same time 
Exactly — the key being FUN 
Good youtube — cites a number of examples of “combat sorcery” that seem in line with the spells that I’m seeing with the Age of Conan game.
As LostBrythunian points out, the Conan Exiles setting is already far more imbured with sorcery and demons than your typical Conan story (there are monsters and demons all over the place). Why is that the case? Clearly to make the game more FUN.
I will say that one big difference between Age of Conan vs. Conan Exiles is that the former has character classes and therefore they can put other limits on the sorcerer classes (such as the weapons and armor they can wear). That of course is to balance them vs. the non-sorcerers. Not sure if even possible to have such a system in Exiles but I would think there could be other ways to balance (as mentioned in this thread there could be cool downs, etc.). Then again I think that is why they forced players to have high levels of corruption if they use sorcery.
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Not R.E Howard. This is an example of strawmanning data. Why is Lovecraftian lore allowed, bit not Funcom lore (AoC) not. Neither allowing or disallowing is wrong, but subjective to the individual. Fir gameplay sakes liberties will have to always be considered. Why wouod having some sort of offensive spells be so bad, i they walk the line of lore?
I know Howards work mingked with Lovecraft. But Why then is a funcom idea of Asuras based on forum members allowed, Howard did not allow that? So again, if FC is nownthe IP holder, and they allow some of non Howard items in like Arnies armor sets and weapon, but others not because “truists” arent a fan seems very subjective.
Oh no…
Here we go…
This is not a can of worms. It is an ancient canopic jar, sealed with the wards facing inward as well as outward, for to open this is to release a apocalyptic turmoil.
This one will happily laugh into the teeth of this madness, but it is not for the faint of heart.
One bit of information to keep in mind is that for many on the Howard Purist side of the camp, this isn’t primarily about the game, it’s about the works and legacy of someone who was done very dirty. Follow it far enough and this rabbit hole delves into murder, inheritance fraud, the pre-modern equivalence of deliberately shelving a product for a tax write down, and even the ripple of a tragedy that broke one of the great author circles of the day. My own documentary work on Clark Ashton Smith brought me deep into the dark waters around the Howard-Lovecraft penpal circle Iceberg and the mysterious goings on around it’s end.
This one suggests turning back now, for until you have been there, you know not the horrors that await by following this line of inquiry…
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Were they " indescribable"?
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Check out the Shining Trapezohedron:
It was treasured and placed in its curious box by the crinoid things of Antarctica, salvaged from their ruins by the serpent-men of Valusia… ~ The Haunter of the Dark, H.P. Lovecraft
Funcom has decided what lore is in and what lore is not. Fireballs are not in. Well they are. In the form of Orbs and Barrages. They’ve decided to go with a more pure form of REH lore and have technology be the destructive form of magic.
And speaking of technology, much of the ‘magic’ you see in the books are the results of technology. While the Hyborian Age stories and novel are the origin of the Sword and Sorcery genre. As the origin they are not apart of that genre, just the inspiration of such. The genre of the setting in question is that of a Post-Apocalyptic Science Fiction.
It makes more sense to have a Star Trek style food replicator then it does a wizard in a robe casting fireball. In fact if you all read the Slithering Shadow, you might even see where Gene Roddenberry got the idea for food replicators. REH did it decades before Star Trek.
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Lovecraftian lore is allowed simply because it’s already part of the lore as is, you can’t un-add the Shining Trapezohedron. If it were not meant to be a part of the game, we wouldn’t have half of the things we do.
As for Age of Conan, I cannot speak to that too much; but as I recall the Heralds of Xotli get their powers from their demon-god Xotli directly. The sorcery we have, and the sorcery used by other sorcerers in the universe does not come from Xotli, so we do not have his powers. Simple answer to a simple question.
Because unless you want to join a fanatical death-cult who uniquely wields it, nobody else does.
Understatement of the century. Their universes are one and the same in my eyes, Lovecraft just writes about a modern age, whereas Howard writes about the past.
I wouldn’t look to hard at the lore ramifications of adding in NPCs named after community members - there are many even outside of the Chosen of Asura. Asurans themselves are a relatively secretive Hyborian and Vendhyan mainly cult, and nothing in the game regarding them necessarily contradicts the lore behind them.
The Riddle of Steel DLC is purely visual homages, the events of the movies they reference still are not canon. It’s a paid easter egg at best.
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Aye, would to Heaven we had never approached them at all, but had run back at top speed out of that blasphemous tunnel…
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So it seems like this thread is just turning into an argument over the minutia of what is REALLY part of the lore or not. I’d argue that a lot of the Exiles setting is just somewhat representative of the lore. Armies of skeletons, giant scorpions, spiders, undead hyenas, goofy man eating swamp birds, imps, giant turtles, etc everywhere — where in the “actual books/stories” are those supported?
At the end of the day Funcom should do whatever makes the game FUN and bend the “lore” as needed (within reason). For the most part they’ve been successful.
My concern is that Funcom made a big deal of their Age of Sorcery update and got a lot of folks excited about it but what did we actually get? A couple of semi useful spells and none of them are really combat related. Instead of spells to strike fear into the hearts of the barbarians and our enemies we get a floating flashlight and the ability to harvest resources faster?..
Granted the lightning storm did initially strike fear into the hearts of many a player but now it has been nerfed to the point of being a dud lol
And that is the issue…if it is to strike fear in the eyes of pvp vets, it would be overwhelming meta. You simply can’t have it both ways. If it’s not on par with current meta, then it is ignored as cosmetic rp bs and if it is on par with meta, then it is complained about till nerfed because its “not balanced”.
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To be entirely fair, Creeping Darkness literally leaves NPCs cowering in terror for the duration.
In pretty much all of them. Have you read any?
what players got from sorcery update:
but seriously…we’re still waiting
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And you’ll continue to wait, because it’s still not gonna happen.
Yep I have lol — really non-stop monsters and demons at every step you take? Which story was that — love to read it. I mean even the freaking elk try to kill you in this game haha
Ok I put the lightning storm example in there as a bit of humor actually. Yeah that was waaaay too powerful – basically the equivalent of giving everyone tactical nukes and saying “have at it”. Now though sounds like it got nerfed to the point of being worthless (from what I saw in the forums).
meanwhile on modded servers:
Xuthal of Dusk, Scarlet Citadel, Hour of the Dragon, Red Nails, The God in the Bowl. You definitely should read them, because Conan fighting monsters and demons happens way often.
Exactly. My point on what is and isnt allowed to be suggested should not be stifled by bias of what one individual wants.