Funcom product director J?rgen Tharaldsen moved to assuage player fears about what the upcoming server merge might mean for Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures. The future of the massively multiplayer online game is unclear despite an outstanding debut.

In an interview with Strategy Informer, Tharaldsen said the merge is meant to make it easier for players to find groups and participate in PvP. From the interview:

"I think that people who are playing Conan are actually very happy about the news, and indeed, it's been one of the most requested things from our player base. The essence of any MMO is the social experience, and right now people are spread out a bit too thin across the servers. Wow Po The merge will hence improve the overall fun-factor and will make it easier to team and fight with and against other players."

Tharaldsen readily admits that the server merge isn't the answer to all of Age of Conan's problems. aoc gold It will help out existing players, but is only the first step in attracting new ones.

"In and by itself a server-merge won't be a be-all end-all solution to get players, it's not primarily a mechanism for that. It just helps to reinforce the fun and social factors for the many players in the game right now, which in itself is positive of course."

Funcom will have to live up to its promises to provide new content and maintain high standards of customer service to keep subscribers. More players may come aboard when Age of Conan finally makes it to the Xbox 360 sometime next year. Hopefully it won't be too late.