While some games have double XP weekends to attract more players, Age of Conan is having none of that silly thing, it’s got a full double XP month, which lasts until the end of November. Publisher Funcom also announced new incentives to sign up for the game, for instance, subscribe for one month and get 7 extra days, or six months and get a level 40 helmet with a 10% XP modifier (that’s right, 10%! /sarcasm). Full press release here.

Contradicting the “face tech” announcement made a couple days ago, developer Funcom today denied any current plans to bring such technology into Age of Conan.

"While Big Stage may be planning to implement the technology in games soon, it is not currently slated for implementation into Age of Conan," said Funcom.

The confusion seems to have originated from miscommunication and tricky word play. Big Stage had put up a trailer demonstrating the technology with Age of Conan assets, telling viewers to look for it “in-game soon”, but interestingly did not specify if the game would indeed be the violent MMO.

Quite possibly revolutionizing the MMORPG industry, Big Stage Entertainment, GGL Global Gaming and Funcom have announced that players of Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures will soon be able to bring their own faces and voices into the MMO.

This is made possible through user-provided digital images, which when used with Big Stage’s web-based technology creates a 3D “@ctor”, which can then be customized with accessories. GGL is handling promotion for the feature, with prizes for those who share their “@ctor” the most.

The technology is currently limited to videos and images on the web, though they promise that the “@ctors” users create today will be supported in-game soon.

Taking a tip from Blizzard, Funcom is now giving players a chance try out Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures for seven days, free of charge. If you decide to register for the trial via FilePlanet, you’ll grab another seven days of gametime, along with an exclusive in-game item.

Players who register also get a chance to win one of ten lifetime accounts, and one year accounts for the game. So even if you already play the game, signing up wouldn’t be a bad idea.

You can register for the trial at FilePlanet or on the official website.

The economic crisis has hit Funcom hard, as the Age of Conan developer today announced a fourth quarter loss of $23 million, with an overall 2008 net loss of $33.8 million.

In even more bad news for the company, Olav Sandnes, its chief financial officer, has resigned.

The worst news is yet to come: Age of Conan boasted 700,000 subscribers following its May 2008 release, but Norwegian financial group DnB NOR Markets now estimates that subscriptions to the game have fallen below 100,000. This is in line with previous word that Funcom had shut down 63% of the MMO’s servers in January, reducing the game’s worlds from 49 to 18.

The upcoming server mergers for Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures, the much-hyped MMO, will result in a total of 18 global servers, down from 49 worldwide. This comes after the initial merger of the Bloodspire and Hyperborea servers on January 17; the developer saw no issues and has unveiled the next phase.

The mergers were announced soon after the game’s original director left due to dissatisfaction with the project. Craig Morrison, the new director, has said that the mergers would “ensure the best gameplay experience.”

Funcom notes in this forum post that it hopes to merge the European servers in one go and the US servers in another. No timeline was provided, though.

Bearing bad news for Age of Conan fans, Funcom today confirmed that it has indeed laid off a number of its US employees. The developer cited “ongoing cost-based efficiency and performance initiatives” to be the reason of the layoffs.

While the company didn’t reveal the scale of the layoffs, many are speculating that about 70% of the company’s workforce has been cut, with the custom service and quality service divisions seeing the most job cuts.

The company’s recent blockbuster MMO Age of Conan has been going through some tough times, seeing a sharp decrease in subscribers. Additionally, the game’s director left the project in September, citing dissatisfaction with the title. However, the new director has focused on responding to subscriber feedback, recently releasing a large, free update.

Developer Funcom has revealed that the long-promised DirectX 10 support for Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures will be a part of the “next major game update” for the MMO.

"We have been determined that the new DirectX 10 functionality would not just be a ‘gimmick’ addition to the game and would add visual quality to the game," wrote new game director Craig Morrison. "We feel that the version we are preparing now for testing does achieve this and in a way that will find the right balance between visuals and performance.”

While no release date was provided, Morrison did note that the next update will feature two new dungeons for high-level players and more.

A huge new update for Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures has gone live for the MMORPG. It adds the entirely new Cimmerian outdoor region that offers new quests, new characters and a new storyline to enjoy.

The update also adds a new dungeon – the Amphitheater – as well as an “epic monster” that has to be defeated. All game clients will be automatically updated once they login.

As for the future of the game, director Craig Morrison wrote an open letter, stating that they are currently focusing on DX10, more dungeons, item revamps and more.

As revealed on the game’s forums, Funcom’s Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures will have its servers merged, meaning that all players in the same geographic region will play together instead of on several identical, but discrete versions of the same game world.

This is happening in both North America and Europe, allowing “more healthy populations” and “healthy communities for the game in the future.” However, the move is very complex, and the studio hopes to release more information soon.

Age of Conan recently went through a major change, having brought on Craig Morrison, its new game director, who has claimed himself to be more “player centric” than his predecessor.