Update 5.6 has gone live on all servers today and brings with it the launch of the “Night of the Lost Souls” seasonal event, the Veteran Rewards system, and the new high-level Iron Tower dungeon.

Funcom has announced today new discount rates for multi-month subscribers of Age of Conan. Customers who opt for a three month subscription will receive a 20% discount, six month subscriptions will receive a 30% discount, and 12 month subscriptions will see a whopping 45% discount.

Nights of the Lost Souls has been announced for Age of Conan as this year’s Halloween event, and it is scheduled to go live following the release of Update 5.6. The event will consist of several new quests that will pit players both solo and teamed against three Lost Souls. Defeating these Lost Souls will earn brave adventurers a number of interesting rewards. my favorite of which is the “Undead Backscratcher,” which is basically a large bone handle with a detached arm affixed to it by

Funcom has released these three new, exclusive screenshots from their upcoming Age of Conan expansion, Rise of the Godslayer.

Funcom has announced the return of their seven day free trial program! Gamers who haven’t yet given the game a spin, or those who’ve not been back in some time are encouraged to check out the update notes section of the website and see what they’ve done with the game since they launched it in 2008.

MMORPG.com’s Garrett Perkins recently spoke with Tim Donks, the developer in charge of PvP for Age of Conan. Some players might better know him as “Didek” from the test live forums, about the past present and future of PvP in AoC.

Yesterday, we reported on a 20% cut to staff at Funcom that also came with the comment that Funcom’s upcoming horror themed MMOG, The Secret World, would indeed be delayed several months due to these changes. The report left many of us wondering if these changes would also have an affect on the release of Age of Conan’s Rise of the Godslayer expansion, and today, a Funcom spokesperson speaking to Jamie Davey of Strategy Informer reassures us that the recent cuts will have “little to no effect”.

Game Director Craig Morrison updates us on the state of Age of Conan with this month’s Letter from the Game Director. Much of the letters subject matter centers around the oft talked about Veteran Rewards system. This time, we’ve got solid details on how the system works and what you can expect to earn for your loyalty.

Recently, we brought you news of an Age of Conan machinima project called The Last BAstion. Today, MMORPG.com AoC Correspondent Garrett Perkins brings us an interview with the director of that series.

Carolyn Koh was at PAX. While there, she met up with Funcom’s Craig Morrison to talk about the upcoming Conan expansion, Rise of the Godslayer.

Game Director Craig Morrison addresses the Conan community in this latest issue of the “Letter From the Game Director”. This month’s topics include the recently announced expansion, “Rise of the Godslayer”, the 1.06 update schedule, the House of Crom, Veteran Rewards, Tier three raiding, and more.

After Funcom’s reveal of their new expansion, Rise of the Godslayer, MMORPG.com’s Jon Wood spoke with Erling Ellingsen about the announcement.

Eight screenshots of the upcoming Rise of the Godslayer expansion to Age of Conan have surfaced, and we’ve got ‘em for your viewing pleasure!