Second Life vs Conan Exiles

For a long time, we have felt that role-play in second life would be significantly improved by a "game to play". One that brought the world into focus by providing the ability to interact with the world with things such as; game economy, needed resource gathering, crafting, expanded PvP options including the ability to damage buildings and more. Conan Exiles offers a nearly perfect game setting for the world of Gor.

Second Life is a sandbox virtual chat room which means it has a lot of custom items (millions in fact) but very little game play. This means that the options for avatar customization and decoration is extensive and far exceeds almost any other "game". Additionally, as it has a very usable programming (scripting) language it has a lot of items that are interactable and animated, especially ERP items. However, it has almost no functional crafting, game economy, resource gathering or combat systems. If you wish to restrict your time to Gorean sims, there is very little to do other then role-play.

Further, all Second Life sims are small in comparison and have very little area to explore. It is not a vast land peppered by towns, but rather a series of towns with nothing in between. These sims are expensive and thus often difficult to justify their continuation if not successful, often before they even get a chance to build a player base. Players on a sim are allowed to decorate a home but not build one -- building is typically reserved for sim owners. Items in Second Life are purchased for real life money.

Conversely, Conan Exiles which is also defined as modifiable and a sandbox is far more a game then Second Life is. It has a sophisticated and immersive "survival game" where players must collect resources, craft food, gear and building parts. This allows players many things to do when there is no role-play to be had, as well as things to generate role-play such as having to go collect berries or rare resources. You don't just "keep house" in role-play, there are actual actions needed to grow plants, harvest wood, repair buildings, feed (NPC) thralls, defend your town from (NPC) attackers, as well as a simple but functional combat system for both PvP and PvE.

The game and items are essentially free. The game can be purchased for less then $10 (at this time) and the server owners (that's us) has to pay to host the game - but its a lot less money for much more room and many more people.

However the avatar customization, clothing options, decoration items and so on are far more limited than Second Life. While the options to build your own home, clan base and town are far easier and more sophisticated. There is a functional ERP system that works for almost everyone, as well as items such as collars and cuffs. In addition (NPC) thralls can be captured and put to work crafting or defending your home. The map is large with places to explore, creatures to hunt and special items to discover.

While nothing may compare to an active Gorean sim on second life for role-play and interaction, Conan Exiles offers smaller groups a real opportunity to build their village in an very immersive world, keep players entertained when role-play isn't available, as well as be part of a larger world with other villages and towns.

Further, a private Conan Exile server allows for both PvP and PvE to be implemented at different days and times. Player raids can be restricted to certain days and or days and times, restricted to only when a clan's players are on line. The NPC attacks on a clan only happen when players are online and can also be restricted to particular days and times. The scale of difficulty can be adjusted to keep the game interesting. It is extremely flexible.