Upcoming News for Conan Exiles

Yeah that too, honestly.

This a terrible thing. If it happens - and it sounds like it nearly already has - it’s going to make me regret every cent I have ever spent on Funcom products :frowning:

Also switching the model mid-game after the EA period is really shady.

This is terrible. Tencent is a horrible, corrupt company in bed with a corrupt government.

If you want an example of how terrible they are - they own WeChat, and…

WeChat has a resident internet police bureau dispatched by the Ministry of Public Security (MPS), which polices the platform 24/7 to enforce Chinese law. The regime has free access to users’ personal information. Having WeChat in your phone is much like wearing an electronic ankle bracelet: it monitors all your online activities and collects metadata that can reveal your nearly everything about you. Unlike Facebook or Fitbit, WeChat collects far more extensive metadata because the app covers almost all aspects of daily life, to which the government has access. Essentially, the social media platform is a tool to implement the regime’s censorship and surveillance.

Tencent has been using their money (subsidized and supported by their government) to purchase stakes (in part or whole) of other companies, where they tend to not only ruin them with things like lootboxes but also to demand censorship (such as we saw recently with the Hong Kong protests being censored over many of the companies they’re in bed with.

So yeah, screen Tencent. And I’m done with Conan and Funcom if thi goes through.

Funcom’s CEO’s statement about this is also very disappointing, and shows he’s only looking out for his paycheck, and has zero personal morals.

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I’d rather they finish the first map and fix most bugs first. This still feel very BETA for a game getting an “expansion” in the form of just extra map to explore which will not be accessible for the people owning the game already. For most new players, this is nothing but a confirmation that most things awaited to be fixed will be pushed back for the development of something we will not enjoy until the next steam sale.

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while i understand a map DLC/Expansion is expected to bring in probably a fair amount of money. we were promised early on that the only thing DLC’s would be, would be cosmetic. to me a map if they add it to the current map or not is stepping on the toes of those who bought the game believing new content would be free with the exception of the cosmetic dlc’s … i’m on the fence currently as to where i feel funcom will be headed at this point as i’m sure many players are. the future of the game feels kinda up in the air after hearing and what has been said in this thread and what i took from a quick glace at in the news link… i hope that the game holds true to what it is and the bugs are fixed but we will see how things go in the future if i stay to watch the game succeed or leave as it dies… i hope for the best as i love this game it’s been a go to of mine for a long time

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There are two parts to this news, and I wish to address them in seperate pots. For the first, I am absolutely overjoyed that we are getting a new Map; it will be a day 1 buy for me. Furthermore, I am so happy for Funcom and the continuing popularity of Conan Exiles. You were all but down and out when you released Conan Exiles, but you came out swinging with a true masterpiece. I say it all the time; this was Game of the Year for me. I wish you all success going foward. :raised_hands: :metal:

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I would heart this 50 times if I could.

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I, however, do not feel that a map DLC would be stepping on my toes even though I’ve supported this game since early access. A map is already part of the game. I don’t have to buy a new map and nothing more than “cosmetics” is associated with a new map.

  • There’s no game advantage to which map you play
  • There’s no game advantage to having it or not having it

So to me, a new map is technically a “reskin” to expand the re-playability of the game.

The news about Tencent making acquisitions, however, is disturbing.

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New map raises a lot of questions plus new owners as well. I’ve worked on previous deals with Tencent and whilst they always inevitably state companies are independent etc what almost always happens is a dramatic shift in corporate accountability- ergo the hierarchy power shift does influence behaviours especially once the acquisition moves into “merger” mode (kpi metrics shift etc). This can often lead to either a metric tonne of renewed energy or a slow down … so mindful that this could impact game development and responses to that change.

That being said - new map would surely mean new mechanics, npc behaviours and story lines … as just pushing out a sandbox instance like wow did with panda island is still enough to potentially canabelize existing weapon and thrall acquisition strategies for players. This means they’d need to fix and update the foundations in order to add.

So for example if the new map introduces new weapons above the existing then these weapons become nullified over night due to the lack of linear progression with exiting weapon stars and strategies to get them.

If they don’t do this carefully it could very well make the exiting map and stat system very dormant very quickly - much like for example obsidian or frost weapons are today

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As long this means rework on existing malfunction mechanics, real bug / glitch fixing, better A.I and polishness, I would play even if becomes a subscription model for the right price.

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Not for me.

Subscription = no deal

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As usual, I’m stoked about this leak. In broad general terms, FC has yet to let me down on this game. Paid? Totally fine with this. I have purchased 2 copies of conan, plus all DLC twice. I have logged over 3500 hours in conan. Even with the DLC and purchasing twice, I have never played a game where I got that many hours of entertainment per dollar. Let alone all the relationships I’ve made due to this game. I simply cannot complain about them doing a paid DLC map.

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I understand your preference, but choosing the way the game currently is, or a way better (deserved) shape needing to have a sub fee, I would accept it. Though, there are other ways that work aswell, like cash shop in GW2, GTAO/RDRO.

Did I miss someone officially saying that CE will now definitely become a subscription service? Because if so, please point it out, and if not…

I think a lot of people are (perhaps somewhat predictably) going WAY overboard with the whole “oh noes GAAS” thing. I acknowledge that there’s a risk it’s going to be everything currently bad with the games industry, but it would be pure idiocy for Tencent to buy a (fairly) succesful product only to kill it by doing a 180 on everything that makes it work.

If it goes through I think it’s entirely likely that new games in the Conanverse, and the upcoming Dune game(s), will be more hostile to gamers, but the effort required to change CE into that wouldn’t be profitable. We are all, of course, entirely free (and indeed encouraged) to vote with our wallets on any new offerings, and if they start with the lootbox/MX nonsense, to stop giving them money.

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This game uses Unreal Engine… which is made by Epic.
Epic biggest Shareholder is… Tencent. Since 2012.

You all support Tencent since you started the game.

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New DLC map? So another gigatons of data I will never see?
(offline player, zero DLC bought since today but I’m forced to have all those cosmetics DLC hidden behind the paywall while my game is becoming heavier and larger patch by patch).

I understand the reason behind that: if I play online and meet a player with DLC I have to be able to see him and his structures and while I also understand the marketing point of view (“ohh that guy has a cool building/armor I want it too!”), for me that will never play online, (and I mean NEVER) this is an heavy load of data I will never use but that still “fill up” my game.
If the new DLC map will be another invisible “heavy un-used” giga on the game I will have to definetly cut down the Conan exiles experience.

Why do I have the feeling someone at FUNCOM messed up wording and is talking about DLC release road map, not the actual new game map DLC :rofl:

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What do you mean by “heavy unused”? If you don’t buy the dlcs they are not downloaded and the parts are streamed.

Sounds pretty harsh. Are you sure you don’t want to see what actually happens before going out of your way to start your crusade? Those of us who already bought the game before the deal can still keep enjoying the game we bought, right? Or should I just trash my car, too, if the manufacturer was later bought by a Chinese company?

I understand your suspicion towards Tencent. I’m not their biggest fan either. But if you intend to actively campaign against them, I hope you take a good look at what they own, and share your hate fairly towards all Tencent-owned property. Once a game company goes public, they don’t really have much to say about who gets to buy their shares, so attacking Funcom alone for crimes allegedly committed by Tencent feels unfair.

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Well said. My thoughts exactly.

lol Agree with ya @Mikey. I also didn’t see anything re 100% guaranteed stuff being implemented.

Shareholders generally do not try to lose money so seldom mess with any working formulae. If any players wanted to keep up-to-date with company ownerships/shareholder stakes they would never have time to play games.

Speculation on planned game content, paid content, censorship, etc. is so premature as to still be in its fluid form. In-game purchases, etc. attract a lot of negativity so I would be surprised if this is in any future planning outside of DLC content. Data Theft? Anyone with any of the major social media accounts, a cellphone, a smart device, or logins with any service provider, fast food platforms, delivery service, etc. will have likely shared all of their existing data. Individual countries have their own data-protections (e.g. GDPR).

Lets just watch this space and see how it unfolds. Players vote with their feet.

PS: I do wish that the hyper-real open-world look of recent games could be brought into the Conaverse. Enhancing the Conanverse Landscapes and realism of ‘Read Dead Redemption’, ‘This Land is My Land’ and making it one huge, endless, dangerous, expansive world would be Awe-Some! (in my limited opinion) :stuck_out_tongue:

PPS: But, if they got rid of the existing Art staff and/or original Conan strategy staff at FunCom, or there was a general staff hemorrhage, then I would certainly re-look my 4k hours of play.