In the latest episode of Hyborian Insider, product manager Erling Ellingsen discussed crafting, city building, and professions in Funcom's Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures. If you want to see the video for yourself and learn more about the topics we just mentioned, head on over to the full article.

So what is it that makes Funcom's upcoming MMORPG Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures stand out against the competition? Well, Erling Ellingsen sat down for an interview and gave the lowdown on the things that make the game a cut above the rest. Catch the video interview after the jump!

By Crom! Ever since siege warfare was announced as a feature in Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures, this barbarian blogger and other fans have been waiting for more information about it. Who better to give us information about this than Funcom product manager Erling Ellingsen.

In a recent Eurogamer interview, Ellingsen explained the implementation of Siege Warfare in the game. It begins with the guilds in the game being given the opportunity to own lands. The options after that are diverse, ranging from the massive battlekeeps of the larger groups to the smaller forts for smaller organization.

However, as with all things in Hyboria, you have to fight to keep what you have. Other guilds who sense weakness might wish to take away your precious resources by attacking your base.

Those on the warpath will be given access to various siege weaponry such as trebuchets and the like. These machines of destruction are directly linked to a crafting skill. As it increases so will the character's capability for designing better and more efficient weapons.

Attacks on opposing forts and keeps are scheduled, set by those who currently have ownership of it. However, the more they put their territory up for grabs, the greater the rewards they will be reaping from it. Ellingsen explained why this mechanic was integrated into the game:

Age of Conan is designed with that very clear idea in mind that it should appeal to both casual and hardcore players. We want you to feel rewarded even if you only have the opportunity to play for a short amount of time each week.

If you want to solo, then go for it. Many of us at Funcom are family men and women, and we know very well that you can't pour endless hours into a game each night. You'll see this reflected in all the different aspects of Age of Conan.

Slated to be out on March next year, Age of Conan looks to be a lot of fun to play as the developers unveil even more game modes to keep the action fresh and furious. If you want to read more on this, feel free to click on our Read Link.

Age of Conan's got DirectX 10. That's one of the most talked-about features of Funcom's upcoming MMORPG. In a recent interview with CVG, Funcom's product manager Erling Ellingsen gave out the scoop on exactly what it brings to the game.

Unsurprisingly, Ellingsen says that the improvements that DirectX 10 brings are mostly cosmetic. Graphics have become more detailed, and the devs were able to push "much more content into each scene" than they were able to do with DirectX 9. It also delivers parallax mapping, improved shadows and lightning, sharper textures, more realistic particle effects, and "a lot of other good stuff."

Other than the aforementioned features, Ellingsen says that "the two DirectX versions will be identical in terms of game play." This brings us to Age of Conan's Xbox 360 version. Ellingsen says that it's "steadily on the way," and just to make sure that things go smoothly, they've put together a separate team with a separate Game Director to work on the Xbox 360 version. Ellingsen also noted that the Xbox 360 version isn't going to be a straight-up PC port, but will be "a tailored version for the Xbox 360."

How do they intend to tackle the multiple interface and input issues that comes with bringing an MMORPG to consoles, anyway? Ellingsen says that while it's a bit early to talk about it, he's confident that with an entire team working on the project, Funcom will be able to put together "a very user-friendly interface on the Xbox 360 version." He gives out pretty much the same answer on inter-platform playability, so it looks like we still have to wait a while before we find out if PC users can play with or against Xbox 360 users.

For the full interview, click on the "read" link below.

When it comes to Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures, developer Funcom started with the MMORPG genre on the PC platform. After months of speculation, Funcom finally confirmed the console version of the game on Xbox 360.

This time, gaming site CVG got to talk with Product Manager Erling Ellingsen and found out that a "cross-platform action" for the game is being cooked up, and the Age of Conan developers are currently toying with many different solutions.

Solutions to what, you ask? Solutions to any problems that might be encountered when PC and Xbox 360 players meet each other online. Ellingsen explained:

There are several issues with mixing people on the same server. Will they be able to communicate well enough with each other? Will the console users be less responsive than the PC users? There are many issues that must be addressed.

The product manager wouldn't go into details, but he mentioned that giving players the freedom of choice is what Funcom is going after. He then revealed that Age of Conan might come up with "shared servers" for players on both platforms but some other servers will remain dedicated for each.