General Discussion

MMORPG.com Managing Editor Jon Wood had the opportunity to ask new Age of Conan Game Director Craig Morrison a little bit about himself and his philosophies on gaming.

MMORPG.com:

How does your vision for the game differ from your predecessor's?

Craig Morrison:

I’m not sure there are all that many core differences there in terms of the game-world and what Age of Conan represents. I think the game has a fantastically realized game-world and an experience that is genuinely different and sets us apart from other MMO titles. We really have already captured that brutal energy of the Conan universe and it is reflected in the very action orientated combat system and the lush vibrant game-world. I think it would be foolish to not be proud of that and to strive to extend it even further.

The areas that I will be focusing on in order to achieve the ambition of take the game to the next level are two fold really. Firstly, as I have discussed with the community in my first letters to them, there are some fundamentals to the progression systems (in particular in relation to itemization and statistics) that have to be addressed and we are doing that. Then beyond that I really want to focus on the community aspects of what makes an MMO community shine, improving the PVP systems, improving the guild functionality and support systems and introducing ways that players can feel even more involvement in the world we have build up already.

Read the interview here.

Very encouraging indeed.

While I know this really isnt this new directors fault, but an apology for being IGNORE, DELETED, MOVED, and outright BANNED from the forums for attempting to bring things like, THE MEMORY LEAK issues, Crashes, grouping issues and others to light on the forums would be a good place to start.  Furthermore, assurances that the forums will become a place where these types of issue are handled, addressed and OPENLY discussed rather than shot down and dealt with punatively would be even better. 

As long as I continue to see people like Rihnlann or whatever on the forums with disclaimers that while he can ban posters and move posts, his views might not be those of FUNCOM, I cant give them my gaming dollars. Well, they already have them until december, however I dont sign in or play the game.  The first few months experience really put me off Conan and FUNCOM in general. 

Where is the new game director to say 'Hey, we know some stuff wasnt done right and we aim to change that." ?  When I receive an apology email and a free month (after december), MAYBE I might be pursuaded to return to this game.  Now dont misunderstand me, I NEVER expect this will happen, though nothing short of this will do for me.  I suspect there are many more out there that feel the same way, most of whom dont post here or anywhere else. 

I wanted Conan to be the place I landed every evening after work and the place I found myself late saturday night smashing away on someones skull. I wanted a place to come and leave the outside world behind, but what I got was something quite different.  I still see this new game director claiming they have a wonderful world etc.... I dont see him admitting the game was a disaster at launch and should have been handled differently.  I dont feel like this guy is fully admitting the extent of the issues with the game and that they understand they alienated alot of folks.

At this point, I think thats the LEAST they need to do to start rebuild the relationships with their customers that they so carelessly and wantonly discarded in the opening months of this game.

Thats my 2Tin.

I ...feel jipped...i bought a collector's edition had problems right from the git-go, and it really didn't turn out to be a fun game AND nothing like what I thought it would be. I echo those sentiments above, I should have cancelled my subscription though at the end of the 1st month and saved myself some more gaming dollars then what I did, I stupidly forgot to cancel it and let it run, nearly 3 months before turning it off.  I would only come back after 6months to a year after launch to see if all the performance, crashes and other issues are fixed.

1 day is what I would give it, if it didn't make me feel part of the world and fun I would never return ever again.

I have learned some things though, on what not to do with a game....that's good for my part.

The hell with you all.  I'm a merchant of doom! (I knew there was a label to describe me somewhere)

Seriously, though -- I do have a couple of friends who still play AoC so I'd love it if Funcom can somehow turn the game around.  I wish Morrison & crew the best of luck doing so!

A lot HAS been done, things are looking up.

If you don't like the game, move on with your life, you will be much happier in the long run.

Merchants of Doom.. perfect

Originally posted by 3on1

Originally posted by Superstition

im afraid its too late for aoc and the damage has already been done and substantially at that

 

next time read the interview before saying such non-argumented things ;)

I'm not speaking for Superstition or anything but...

I, for one, did read the interview and do think the damage has been done.

However, unlike many others -- I would love to be proved wrong. I think that a turnaround would be a good thing for the MMO community in general. The only thing that would concern me about this becoming a success story would be if it somehow made other developers believe they could get away with a similar situation.  Let's face it, there's plenty of crappy MMO's on the market and I'd personally rather not see more crap clutter it up and get fixed after.  I think AOC's issues were not in launch (which went very smoothly for me and my guild) but in the weeks directly following it. Change after change, nerf after nerf -- this all convinced me that balance and design just didn't meet with the proper testing and/or programming prior to going live. Change A and I'll move on and concentrate on B. Change B and I'll try to salvage things and work on C. Change C so drastically that there isn't really any point in A through C and I'm done messing with things. (substitue in whatever mixture of classes, powers/abilities, crafts you want -- for me it was the repeated gem changes prior to the PvP patch. Yeah, they were pretty unbalancing before but everyone had access to the same. I didn't PvP in AoC so I took that final kick to my boys and canceled.)

AoC might not be so bad to a newcomer who hasn't seen or been through what many of us have. I have great respect for those with the patience to persist with it. I'm just a merchant of doom and AoC's window to impress has passed for me.

It was meant in the most possible of cynicism.  But honestly, Funcom should just shut their doors and admit they messed up.  I and quite a few of the AoC launch people are saddened and griefed by Funcom's demise.  AoC could have been something new and revolutionary, but in turn we get the usual "It's your fault for buying it" routine.  Funcom deserves every cynical response they can get and i'm not stopping until they fess up that they messed up royally.  I want an apology, a formal apology.  Not some washed up, gleaned over response from Erling.  I want the faces we know from Funcom to formally apologize to EVERYONE for their mistakes.   But until then, they will get nothing.

Originally posted by pjcarmen

A lot HAS been done, things are looking up.

If you don't like the game, move on with your life, you will be much happier in the long run.

Merchants of Doom.. perfect

No, I paid $50 for a game and was lied to.  And for that, I'm not going to move on.  I will stay locked in on this subject until I get a formal apology from Funcom stating that they messed up and HOW they messed up.

Sure, I'm playing my WoW and have WotLK on Pre-Order so in essence i have "moved on", but this is a wound left open by me paying $50 for a product that never delivered. ya dig?

Originally posted by 3on1<