"An icy wind blows westward, from the ocean, and carries with it the tang of salt and death. The patchy grass is flattened to the earth by the breeze and you canter your horse towards a promontory that overlooks the eastern ocean. You stand on the bluff and stare across the steel-grey waters, ten thousand miles from where your journey began, about to overthrow another tyrant."

Age of Conan expands into an all new zone. Get the details.

Age of Conan Game Director Craig Morrison has written written his February letter the the community, and he gives players some details on the upcoming 1.07 update. This will be the final update before the Rise of the Godslayer expansion goes live, so the patch will be comprised mainly of "under the hood" changes.

Morrison did note, however, that update 1.07 will include a couple changes to the game that players will notice. The patch will add more travel options within the playfields and introduce a new offline progression system that will let you accumulate levels over time to give to your characters in character creation. This service will only be available to subscribers. More details can be found in Morrison's letter after the jump.

Getting back to the expansion, Funcom has given IGN a preview of the new Kara Korum zone. It looks like players will have to face "mutant dudes and giant lizards," so get ready for that.

Update 1.06 is now live in Age of Conan, and it introduces the new Guild Renown system, a new Tier 3 raid instance and a token system for raid loot. The patch also brings some changes to the crowd control system and revamps the Assassin class. You can read the full release notes after the jump.

In addition, Funcom has given IGN some details on Gateway to Khitai, the starting area for the upcoming Rise of the Godslayer expansion. The zone acts as "the entry point for existing characters and newcomers from the island of Tortage" and features content for characters level 20-24.

Age of Conan Game Director Craig Morrison has written his first letter of 2010 to the game's community, and it takes a broad look at some upcoming updates that Funcom has in store for the MMO. He quickly confirms that Update 1.06 is almost ready to go live and then jumps right into information on the Rise of the Godslayer expansion and beyond.

Morrison says that players should expect more expansion details to be revealed throughout February and March. Once Rise of the Godslayer has launched, the next update will focus on PvP: "We have been working on some adjustments to improve the stability of the existing massive siege gameplay alongside developing some new PVP systems."

For more details, check out Morrison's full letter after the jump.

Last week, Funcom gave IGN a look at the Chosain Province, which is a new zone that will appear in the upcoming Rise of the Godslayer expansion. As a follow-up, Funcom just provided the site with a sneak peek at the Northern Grasslands, which is the second area Age of Conan players will explore in the expansion after passing through the Great Wall. Here are some details from Lead Designer Joel Bylos:

"There is a mixture of serenity and war in the Northern Grasslands that, combined with the steppe-like environment, creates some unique experiences for the players. Faction gameplay is as important as ever in this region, the opposing groups will divide players as different quests become available."

For a closer look at the Northern Grasslands, check out the new screenshots we just added to our Age of Conan gallery.

MMORPG.com has revealed the new factions that will be introduced in Rise of the Godslayer, the upcoming Age of Conan expansion. The expansion will feature 12 new factions, but two of them will remain a secret until players seek them out. Aligning yourself with some factions will change your reputation with others, and each faction offers rewards like armor sets and mounts.

Check out part one to read about the Brittle Blade, Yellow Priests of Yun, the Scarlet Circle, Shadows of Jade, and the Last Legion. Then head over to part two for information on the Scholars of Cheng-ho, the Children of Yag-Kosha, Tamarin's Tigers, Wolves of the Steppes, and the Hyrkanians.

Funcom has given IGN a look at the Chosain Province, which is a new zone that will appear in the upcoming Rise of the Godslayer expansion. Here's Lead Designer Joel Bylos' take on the area, which is inspired by ancient Eastern culture:

"The story of the expansion is the story of an empire crumbling into chaos. Chosain Province is a region full of war and humanity at its worst, but on the eastern edge of the playfield, the once proud imperial highway still leads east to the heart of the empire. The road is choked with vines and weeds and none dare travel that way anymore. Why? Because it leads into the heart of the darkness."

For a closer look at Chosain Province, check out the new screenshots we just added to our Age of Conan gallery.

According to a post on the official Age of Conan forums, Funcom will be deleting characters below level 21 on inactive accounts without subscriptions to prepare for the upcoming server merge. Players who let their subscription run out at least seven months ago must reactivate their accounts now to ensure that their characters are not deleted.

Accounts with valid, running subscriptions will not be affected by this purge of low level characters from the game. Director of Communications Erling Ellingsen confirmed to Massively that this is being done to "free space in the database." You can read Funcom's full announcement after the jump.

There may be a glimmer of hope for disappointed fans who read the news that MMO developer Funcom (Age of Conan, The Secret World) was forced to sack 20 percent of its workforce, as we reported a few months ago. The layoffs didn't look good for the development pace of The Secret World, one of the most-anticipated MMOs of the coming year. Ironically, reports of the layoffs came less than a month after Funcom expanded its studios to Montréal, Canada. "In addition to strengthening our North American presence, the new studio will take advantage of the great incentive programs offered by the Québec region, incentives that makes Montréal one of the most cost effective locations in the world for developing MMO games," a press release from Funcom announced, back then. "This will in turn allow us to better balance our costs, making it possible for us to continue to expand our investments into the MMO segment."

Just a few days ago, Miguel Caron finally took the helm as CEO of Funcom Games Canada, according to Edge. "Caron will take on leadership of several strategic initiatives for Funcom, in several different areas of the MMO sector," Edge writes in the article. "One of his first mandates will be to lead the growth in employees at the Montreal-based company." Whether you're interested in the finer points of the gaming industry or not, fans of Age of Conan and the upcoming The Secret World should find a bit of solace in the announcement; corporate stability and a proper workforce are vital in both maintaining existing MMOs and the development of upcoming titles, such as The Secret World.

Funcom has kicked off the New Year by posting new pieces of concept art for The Secret World and Age of Conan: Rise of the Godslayer on Facebook. You can view both images after the jump.

The Secret World art is creepy, to say the least. Facebook fans are speculating that it depicts some sort of doll or idol since the person added for size reference is holding something small. What do you think?