Funcom has revealed that it's including an overhaul of item crafting in the next major update to Age of Conan, along with the rest of its new player-versus-player system.

The news came in a post on the forum for the game's test server; Massively has the details, or you can read the original post copied and pasted onto the regular forum.

Recipes for armour and weapons will now come in base, city and culture versions. Base items are the simplest to make, city items require a guild city, and culture items - easier to make than city pieces - are "high-level lore-related" items for each class, aimed specifically at introducing some more visual variety to the game's avatars. Culture pieces are intended to provide a path to crafting high-level equipment without requiring you to be in an active guild.

Furthermore, alchemy resources are being streamlined, there will be new skinning and weaving recipes, woodcutters will be able to make upgradeable staffs, and all drops related to crafting professions and resources should be easier to come by in a wider level range.

Architects and gem-cutters will have to wait, as their crafting systems tie into massive PVP and item balance, two areas of the game that have more extensive overhauls in the pipeline - "a couple of patches down the line".

The proposed changes have been well-received by the Age of Conan community, aoc gold which has been frustrated with the game's crafting to date. Hopefully, they won't delay the arrival of the much-needed second half of the PVP update, featuring the notoriety system and "shady camps", which is already on the test server.