MMOsite: Many players are interested in the new class Conqueror. Can we say Conqueror is like a paladin tank? What are the differences between Conqueror and Barbarian? Do you have any plan to add more new classes in the future?

Erling Ellingsen: I would definitely consider the Conqueror somewhat of a paladin. He can also be compared to the captain in The Lord of the Rings Online. He is someone who can inspire his men to do great (or foul) deeds, and using a set of spells he can strike fear into the heart of his enemies. The biggest difference between the Conqueror and the Barbarian is probably that the Barbarian can not use any spells, and is much more of a Rogue character than the Conqueror (who is a part of the Soldier archetype, making him able to take more damage).

We would love to add more classes after launch, and it would be natural for us to do that in expansions. There is a world of Conan lore that could inspire great, new classes! We are actually planning on bringing classes from Anarchy Online into Age of Conan, and I am looking especially forward to the Bureaucrat who will fit right into the cutthroat world of bookkeeping in Hyboria. I am, of course, kidding. Or am I? *mysterious look*

MMOsite: As we know, Age of Conan features a unique "real-time combat" system. Instead of continuously clicking the mouse, we have to attack the enemy through making strategic decisions. We can even target at different parts of the enemy to achieve different attack results. Can you give us more details about this system? Does it require high speed Internet and less Internet latency?

Erling Ellingsen: This is really one of the things that set Age of Conan apart from all other massively multiplayer online games out there. It basically turns MMOs away from the auto-attack process where your just watch your character fight, and replaces it with what should have been introduced to the genre a long time ago: a reactionary combat system where you swing your weapon in "real-time" as you press the combat keys. You swing your weapon yourself, and your weapon damages whatever enemies it impacts. You can damage different parts of your enemy's body, and he will react to your blows and try and shield himself accordingly. It adds a whole new layer of depth to combat in MMOs!

Our code is clever enough to work on an average Internet connection today. If you can run World of Warcraft on your Internet connection, Age of Conan will work fine.

MMOsite: You have been making improvements to the siege battle system in Age of Conan. What does the system look like now? What are the most important improvements you have made to the system?

Erling Ellingsen: We certainly have, the siege system is shaping up to be an incredible experience. Just today I was looking through some of the current interface implementations for the siege system. This might not be what we end up with in the final build of the game, but right now it's basically this calendar where you choose when your battlekeep is vulnerable and other guilds will be able to come in and attack your battlekeep in that timeframe. Your guild will get points based on how their siege is going. Kill an enemy player and you might get one point. Burn down one of their buildings and you might get fifty! It's an incredibly intense and rewarding experience, and it's very social. Well, social in the way of killing each other brutally and dancing on your enemies corpses while you get dead drunk.

MMOsite: Please talk something about the equipment in Age of Conan. Some players say in closed beta, they can wear level 20 equipment up to level 80 effective. Is that true? What an important role does equipment play in Age of Conan? Will there be many equipment for players to choose?

Erling Ellingsen: We are constantly balancing the game and in this part of the development phase there are so many changes going in that it's difficult for me to comment on that one incident. But there is really a ton of equipment in this game. We're talking over one thousand armor sets! The game offer so much diversity and freedom in how you want your character to look, it's like The Sims meets World of Warcraft meets something else very cool (insert favorite game here). People who like to dress up will fall in love with Age of Conan for sure!