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Age of Conan Game Update 5 Interview with Craig Morrison and Erling Ellingsen
AmazingAvery
Age of Conan AdvocateMember UncommonPosts: 7,188
www.tentonhammer.com/node/70519
Over at TTH:
Ten Ton Hammer: How much new content will the Tarantia Commons bring to the game? Will there be new dungeons or raids in the area to explore?
Erling Ellingsen: Tarantia Commons District is the newest outdoor playfield for level 75 and up. You will be able to experience countless more hours of content with a whole new series of quests, outdoor boss encounters scaling from the high rooftops of the district to the dark mysterious graveyard, and the addition of a single-player as well as a 6-man grouped dungeon.
Craig Morrison: The location really adds a lot of new very dynamic game-play elements. We have really focused on adding interesting and exciting elements to the design for these new play-fields and the urban environment of Tarantia Commons has actually added to it even further, street riots and rooftop game-play really brings some new dimensions into play in a way I think players will really enjoy.
Ten Ton Hammer: Can you tell us about the revamps you've made to RPG system?
Craig: That would actually be an interview all in itself I think. There have been a lot of changes in this update, but the premise is straightforward. What we have achieved with this update is to make the item and statistics in the game a deal more meaningful to the players’ progression. One of the major issues many players had with the game when it launched last year was that they didn’t feel a goods sense of progression, and this update addresses that.
You can find all the details of the changes on our community site article.
Ten Ton Hammer: How will the revamped itemization of gear effect gameplay for both PvE and PvP gamers when it goes live?
Craig: As above it means that players can now improve their character more through items. When a player finds different items through their gameplay the choices of what to equip now mean more, and offer many more options for customization. Hopefully players enjoy it much more now that the relative merits of different items are clearer and more obvious for them. So far the feedback seems to be positive.
Erling: I’ve been getting feedback from players who claim that their experience has completely changed with this update. It’s quite interesting to see how much of an effect these changes have had. Being able to understand more clearly what an item does to your character makes a big difference for players, and having more meaningful statistics on your weapons and armor I think makes obtaining items a lot more rewarding.
And we all know that in RPGs finding good loot is a big part of the fun.
Lot more over at the link at top of page.
Comments
I follow Craig's notes with interest and think he is a major gain for AoC, but please....please never ever again come up with anything said by Erling.
It would be better for FC if they give this member of the former liar-triangle a job in which he is absolutely isolated from anything their customers may ever get in touch with.
no more "+0.00% immunity" ?
ya, Erling is epic fail! they need to remove him from the company period!
AoC seems to be making a serious come back..i'm gonna have to re-sub or wait for them to offer us previous players a chance to come back.
FunCom has made innumerable decisions that can at best be described as questionable, but letting Ellingsen out into the public is just mind blowing. Every time his name is mentioned it is a reminder of FunCom's blatant dishonesty. While the state of the game is certainly not his fault, he was the public face of it and will forever be associated with Age of Conan being a Scam.
Whoever is running the show at FC is either an empty suit, a head trauma survivor or intentinally trying to tank the company.
ed: Sp
What kind of come back have they made? This is one interview from one of the industries biggest @$$ faces and mentions things that should have been in at launch this game still blows and will probably never do more than that.
but yeah, to call this game Fantastic is like calling Twilight the Godfather of vampire movies....
What kind of come back have they made? This is one interview from one of the industries biggest @$$ faces and mentions things that should have been in at launch this game still blows and will probably never do more than that.
Well it is now a complete game, its not buggy or full of glitches, the way stats work has been changed to a trickle down effect on other skills and secondary stats.
Yes this all should have been included at launch, if they would have launched this month instead of over a year ago, you would be singing a diffrent tune.
So in that respect, yes they have made a comeback.
Also im sure they will offer a comeback at some point (mabey wait a month after aion is up, lure some people away?) If you really want to try it out, getting far enough to get a feel for how things have changed shouldnt take more than a few days. Youll have tons of content right up to 80, plenty of players to play with, and crashes and bugs/glitches are kind of rare (but still exist).
Thing is, if you didnt like the game over instancing, how you level/how fast you level, didnt like the mechanics, or just dont like this type of mmorpg....your not going to like the game ever.
Or you can hold a grudge against a mmorpg company over getting suckerd at launch, and miss out on what you wanted a year ago.
Crafting is still shallow, the PvP System is lacking and Mounted Combat is pointless.
The game is far from complete, they will be trying to sell you an expnasion way before the things I listed are fixed.
Being a Non Advocate why am i reading a interview for TTH on a MMORPG site. Not that its gonna make Funcoms attempt at re-hypeing any less. Am i outta line here?
MAGA
Crafting is still shallow, the PvP System is lacking and Mounted Combat is pointless.
The game is far from complete, they will be trying to sell you an expnasion way before the things I listed are fixed.
Right, they went from a contentless game, full of bugs and glitches on an unstable client to lacking in mounted combat and crafting. Mounted combat and crafting are there but not really a huge deal....if your avoiding a game for those reasons then your super picky.
I would much rather have an expansion i have to pay for than to not and have a reworked craft system...as for mounted combat...i can fight on a mount...what else is there to it really?
and i believe the plan is to add more endgame content next patch, so your sht out of luck on a better craft system/mounted combat/housing or whatever side dish frills your demanding they make to your liking.
Those aren't 'frills' they are ADVERTISED game features. Having a game client that runs without crashing, isn't exactly brag worthy 1 year after launch. The 'added content' was hardly a triumph, it was all product too incomplete to be included at launch that they finally got around to finishing. And the bugs are hardly gone, read the forums, they introduced many news ones last patch, my favorite is fall damage, something they still, 8 years later, have turned off in Anarchy Online because they cannot make it work correctly.
Attempting to brag that the game doesn't suck as bad as it did is a far cry from being able to claim it is now complete.
Those aren't 'frills' they are ADVERTISED game features. Having a game client that runs without crashing, isn't exactly brag worthy 1 year after launch. The 'added content' was hardly a triumph, it was all product too incomplete to be included at launch that they finally got around to finishing. And the bugs are hardly gone, read the forums, they introduced many news ones last patch, my favorite is fall damage, something they still, 8 years later, have turned off in Anarchy Online because they cannot make it work correctly.
Attempting to brag that the game doesn't suck as bad as it did is a far cry from being able to claim it is now complete.
The thing is those advertised features are in game and working. 'Added Content' is personal opinion which I would love to hear exactly what you have tried out and how you personally feel about it - honestly. The bugs are no more for me than in any other mmorpg I play.
Crafting has gone through many iterations to a point where things are a lot better now, the baggage of too many gems has gone, now leaving statistically pleasing ones, building city order that can be changed for architects craft, gem disolvers to save trashing items, pots that can be 'crated', Cultural crafted gear that is in demand and very few people can craft all the different types which means they sell well, applying your trade as a crafter in this area bring fruition and profit which is the point of being a crafter as well as fame. If I was going to go into a game that has been out a while and I am into crafting I would look at the what is the hardest thing to make and how do I get there. There is PLENTY of scope in AoC for this. On the flip side there are also some other professions which have had not as much love and updates to as others.
I got my first tast of mounted combat (at the hands of) couple weeks after launch before I had a horse. A guy rode past where I couldn't get to attack him because the speed of the mount and he wore me down. I envied that guy all the way till I got my own horse. Since then some minor mechanics have been adjusted, but it has always been there and always worked. You ride past someone, can cast some spells, can range, can melee with diff weapons with different attack arc's and still have the active defenses. Different mounts have different bonus' and so on.
It seems you look at bad points from such a long time to go where things have changed significantly and made decent progress, no one is saying perfect, but my mounts and my crafting professions are every bit viable as they are in LOTRO, VG and other recent mmorpg's played amongst others.
I can make a living in game from crafting, it can subsidise my other purchases and can be rewarding. Mounted combat is simply fun for some and not for others, I have a blast running around.
Every Bug is your Favourite BUG in AoC isn't it...
That depends if you have the premise of viewing it as an attempt to re-hype or an attempt to put across information to those interested. Taking your post here puts you in the former maybe, however, showing that you have an interest enough in the game to post, which is also pertaining to option one by 'hyping' the topic up further. Depends on your views again I guess. Either way something potentially inadvertent happened
What ever happened to reading the content and just commenting on it if it provokes a response for friendly conversation?
Again there is some information relating to crafting and the gem update in the interview:
Ten Ton Hammer: Can you tell us about the new gemcrafting system? How different is it from its previous incarnation and how different will the new gems be in comparison to the old?
Craig: Again, that’s pretty much an interview in itself and there is an in-depth article on the changes on our community site. At a top level though, just as with the RPG system changes the new system means that the players now have meaningful changes for their gems, and the system is far more flexible in terms of meaningful additions.
You can find the detailed article here.
Does any of that interest you?
Or what about the plans briefed up for the short term future of the game with focus on endgame being one area?
Craig: In terms of the next update, as I outlined in the community letter we have three main focuses.
The first focus, and the major feature addition, for the next cycle will be guild gameplay. As we have mentioned before one of the major focuses for this next set of content is improving our guild functionality and the purpose and role of guilds in the game. I will explore this in more depth, and reveal a little about the direction these changes will take, in the next community letter.
In addition we will have new content as we move on to looking at the addition of new high level content for both groups and raids in the majestic halls of the House of Crom. The team is preparing some really fantastic gameplay suitable for such an epic location. Continuing to add even more high level content is an important goal for us and this location plays a huge part in that. As the next major content addition you can look forward to hearing much more about this over the summer months as we prepare the challenges and encounters that await you in this most imposing and deadly of dungeons.
Then we also have the ongoing task of adding more goals and objectives to the Borderlands PVP playfields. This is something that we are busily planning and working on already and hope to be able to add to over the course of the next update cycle.
Now that is exciting welcomed news for me, atleast
I always find it interesting that when current known issues and criticisms (ones that can be regularly found posted on the Official Forums) are brought up on this forum you claim they don't exist anymore. You either don't actualy play the game or the glare from your Plastic FunCom badge is blinding you from the obvious. FunCom has long dropped the "everything is fine, the problems are your imagination, nothing to see here" damage control tactics when Morrison took over. Maybe you should get on the same page with them if you are going to act as a Rep ... the denial thing hasn't been working for almost a year now.
Sorry, but they need to shut EE up.
Norwegians just don't understand the bullshit of the beast do they?
At this point the word he should have used was MANY
countless just brings back the old memories.. and we know about those
Just when you think you have all the answers, I change the questions.
So, I'm just curious... How much input is it that you think someone in Ellingson's job actually gets about what he / she says to the public? I don't know the specifics about how it works at Funcom, but here is the way that PR has worked at every other major studio I have dealt with:
The PR department is told what to say, what the "message" is and their job is to take that message and deliver it to the public. At no point does the PR person actually have a choice in what they say or how they give information.
So, if that's the case at FC as well, you're basically calling for the job of someone because you don't like what his bosses told him to say.
Cheers,
Jon Wood
Managing Editor
MMORPG.com
So, I'm just curious... How much input is it that you think someone in Ellingson's job actually gets about what he / she says to the public? I don't know the specifics about how it works at Funcom, but here is the way that PR has worked at every other major studio I have dealt with:
The PR department is told what to say, what the "message" is and their job is to take that message and deliver it to the public. At no point does the PR person actually have a choice in what they say or how they give information.
So, if that's the case at FC as well, you're basically calling for the job of someone because you don't like what his bosses told him to say.
lol the PR isn't just a robot, they have their own perceptions and personality that they add to the mix, and the infantile way EE presented (and apparently still presents) the hype (i.e. "Oh how glorious of glories the new content brings!")
the inherent self-mockery is as apparent as george bush!
No, they need a new face. EE should have left with gaute, or at least given a different job, and they should have hired a more talented pr guy, one that knows how to present a 'message' to a given audience
EE acts like a robot though, I'll give you that. He would probably act the same way no matter what the audience was. Thats not good pr.
Just when you think you have all the answers, I change the questions.
personally, I blame socialism
Just when you think you have all the answers, I change the questions.
So, I'm just curious... How much input is it that you think someone in Ellingson's job actually gets about what he / she says to the public? I don't know the specifics about how it works at Funcom, but here is the way that PR has worked at every other major studio I have dealt with:
The PR department is told what to say, what the "message" is and their job is to take that message and deliver it to the public. At no point does the PR person actually have a choice in what they say or how they give information.
So, if that's the case at FC as well, you're basically calling for the job of someone because you don't like what his bosses told him to say.
lol i am not suprised Stradden coz nowadays players will complain almost everything... even when something's screwed up with their own ISPs but they will still blame the game for lagging bad.
So, I'm just curious... How much input is it that you think someone in Ellingson's job actually gets about what he / she says to the public? I don't know the specifics about how it works at Funcom, but here is the way that PR has worked at every other major studio I have dealt with:
The PR department is told what to say, what the "message" is and their job is to take that message and deliver it to the public. At no point does the PR person actually have a choice in what they say or how they give information.
So, if that's the case at FC as well, you're basically calling for the job of someone because you don't like what his bosses told him to say.
I think where the problem comes in Jon, is that regardless of who told EE what as far as what to say or not say, it's EE's face and voice that get's remembered .
Public perception is everything when it comes to a company-to-public relationship. Someone watching an interview with EE and hearing the lies and spin coming from him isn't thinking "Oh, he's just a mouthpiece". They're thinking "That lying snake son-of-a-bitch."
If FC wants to start putting the past behind them, they need to start with where the company meets the public. That means removing EE and putting in someone fresh ( as in not Famine or any of the other known mouthpieces ).
This is IMHO very true. Even if EE isnt to blame for the errors commited by Funcom, he sends out the wrong signals
Originally posted by BishopB:
Are a lot of the trolls just angry kids with old gaming hardware?
I can't believe they still have EE doing PR after all the past issues with him.
People aren't calling for his job because of the fact that he presents a message from his bosses, far from it, those of us with likeminded opinions of this individual are calling for his job because he is incompetent in terms of the way that he chooses to present the message from his bosses.
As we have all seen in the past EE has a real problem with sticking his foot in his mouth, and then backpedaling hard after it is apparent he has done so. Just having him employed in this position has hurt the game in the past, and will continue to do so until they replace him with a face that hasn't left the negative impression on the playerbase that he has.
So, I'm just curious... How much input is it that you think someone in Ellingson's job actually gets about what he / she says to the public? I don't know the specifics about how it works at Funcom, but here is the way that PR has worked at every other major studio I have dealt with:
The PR department is told what to say, what the "message" is and their job is to take that message and deliver it to the public. At no point does the PR person actually have a choice in what they say or how they give information.
So, if that's the case at FC as well, you're basically calling for the job of someone because you don't like what his bosses told him to say.
He may have gotten his "input" by a PR department, may have delivered his own message (though less likely, i agree) or both. Yes, we don't know about any background of that whole PR stunt they pulled at release.
But the point remains the same: People got burned hard and do connect his name with the spin, empty promises and also straight lies -without further questioning which level the original information came from. Same goes for Gaute: for the folks out there he was and will forever be connected with the (almost) complete downfall of AoC aka "how to lose 800k in a month" -even though that story may have had it's own backround as well and it wasn't all his personal fault.
But with Craig they have the perfect example at their own hands: a new card in the game can work wonders.
I'd suggest them doing the same with EE...putting a new face with a different tone on that position will be mandatory if FC want's to regain people's trust again.
"They were just following orders" is bait for a classic 'Godwin'. (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Godwin%27s_law).
PR and Marketing folks are often required to walk a fine line. But when your Boss comes to you and wants you to publically perpetrate fraud, do you smile for the camera and cash the check? or do you say "Sorry, I'll clean out my desk by the end of the day". I can't make that call for Ellingson, but I have put in very similar situations myself, and I have always chose to keep my integrity (and lower my liability to possible civil and legal action) and walk. It can be expensive and a serious hardship to live with integrity, but you never regret it.
So if Ellings is now branded with a "Scarlet Letter", that IS his own fault, NOT his Bosses. I just hope he feels that he has been well compensated for what he had to give up 'taking one for th team'.
"They were just following orders" is bait for a classic 'Godwin'. (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Godwin%27s_law).
PR and Marketing folks are often required to walk a fine line. But when your Boss comes to you and wants you to publically perpetrate fraud, do you smile for the camera and cash the check? or do you say "Sorry, I'll clean out my desk by the end of the day". I can't make that call for Ellingson, but I have put in very similar situations myself, and I have always chose to keep my integrity (and lower my liability to possible civil and legal action) and walk. It can be expensive and a serious hardship to live with integrity, but you never regret it.
So if Ellings is now branded with a "Scarlet Letter", that IS his own fault, NOT his Bosses. I just hope he feels that he has been well compensated for what he had to give up 'taking one for th team'.
Guess this is a first but i fully agree with you here Unfinished.
Good read about Goodwin. Didnt know about this "law".
Originally posted by BishopB:
Are a lot of the trolls just angry kids with old gaming hardware?