Age of Conan - Hyborian Adventures Preview

VideoGamer.com: I know you're not disclosing exactly how many active subscribers you have for the game, but is it meeting internal expectations? Are you personally happy with the number of subscribers that Age of Conan has currently?

EE: The initial sales have definitely met our expectations, but the longevity of the subscribers hasn't been as good as we had hoped. Improving upon that longevity has been one of our main goals these past months, and what we're seeing is that there are positive trends right now. People are really reacting well to the updates that we're doing, and we're seeing both returning customers as well as better longevity. We will continue with the updates, and there's a lot of exciting content in the months ahead that I hope will have a positive effect on the player base.

VideoGamer.com: Not too long ago, on January 9, you announced details of server mergers. Firstly, what was the reasoning behind that? Secondly, there's been a lot of talk of the server mergers as evidence of the decline of the game, and some are concerned that it won't exist for much longer. What do you say to those concerns?

EE: The game is definitely going to exist. As long as enough people are playing we're going to keep it running. The server mergers are actually something we're doing to improve the gameplay for the people who are already playing. One of the things that can be quite detrimental to an MMO is when there aren't enough players on each server, and we launched with a very high number of servers for Age of Conan. So for us it's now just a matter of making sure that all the servers have a healthy population number. This is improving gameplay radically for the people who are actually playing on these servers. We have started the server mergers now and the reactions we are getting are very positive. People appreciate the fact that there are more people to play with now and it's easier to get into groups. The community on each server feels more alive. The most important ingredient in an MMO is, after all, the players themselves and the interaction between them!

VideoGamer.com: Some commentators have suggested it's the beginning of the end for the game. You would deny that then?

EE: I would deny that, yeah. It's definitely not the beginning of the end at all. It's an opportunity for us to improve the gameplay for the people who are already playing and hopefully that will generate a more positive word of mouth. When the people who are already playing are entertained, are enjoying themselves, I think that's going to have a positive effect for people to come back and try it again, people who have already cancelled, even new players. Word of mouth is very important for an MMO such as Age of Conan and by merging servers, and by making gameplay more entertaining for those playing, I believe it's going to have a very positive effect.

VideoGamer.com: We're you disappointed by ex-game director Gaute Godager's comments he made after he left Funcom (He said: "I have done my very best making this fabulous game, but I have concluded there are elements which I am dissatisfied with.")?

EE: I don't want to comment too much on that, but I definitely understood his concerns. On a general basis I can say that Gaute did a brilliant job with Age of Conan and he worked with Funcom for over 15 years. He was one of the founders of the company. I was very sorry to see him go of course, but I think he made the right decision. The game director that we have now is definitely taking the game to new heights, and it was necessary to get some fresh eyes on the game.

VideoGamer.com: What's the latest on the Xbox 360 version of Age of Conan? Will it ever be released?

EE: We are still working on it and it's very much going to happen! We don't have any dates for it, we've never set any specific dates for the Xbox 360 version. The only thing I can say is that we are still working on it.

VideoGamer.com: Is it something you can say might come this year in 2009, or will it be 2010?

EE: I wish I could, but I can't give you any dates regarding the Xbox 360 version. What I can tell you is that I think it's going to be fantastic on the console!

VideoGamer.com: Can you talk about some of the design challenges you're facing translating the PC MMO experience to the console?

EE: The positive thing is that Age of Conan, I think it's a game that will work very well on a console. First of all because of the action-oriented real-time combat. It's not so much about just clicking on icons and looking at your character fighting, which will be a combat system that doesn't necessarily translate very well to a console. The way that combat is handled in Age of Conan already, it just lends itself very naturally to a game pad. I think it's going to be well received with a console audience. But of course some of the challenges that we're facing is obviously the interface. It is an MMO so there's a lot of clicking on icon skills, even though it's not an interface-heavy MMO. So there are definitely a lot of challenges that we have to face there, and of course also the matter of whether or not we're going to allow cross-platform play on servers. So there are a lot of challenges we have to face, but we're working through them.

VideoGamer.com: What's the latest on The Secret World? We know next to nothing about this project...

EE: We don't want to talk too much about that either. We want to take our time and make sure that we start talking about The Secret World when the time is right. Right now it's very important for us to focus on Age of Conan and making sure players understand that it's our number one priority. But it's very much in development. The team is growing and the game is too. I was looking at recent builds internally and the game is looking absolutely beautiful. I can't wait to start talking about it!

VideoGamer.com: Do you have any idea when you'll be ready to start talking about it?

EE: I'm pretty sure that we're going to have a lot more information some time this year.

VideoGamer.com: Finally, what message have you got for current Age of Conan players and those who did play it when it first came out but aren't playing it now and are maybe considering coming back to the game in 2009?

EE: For the people who have played it and cancelled, I urge you to come back and try the game now, most importantly because of the radical improvements that have been made to the game since launch. Even by going to the official forums I think you will see that the tone is starting to change within the playing community, and things have turned around quite dramatically .I really hope that people will give the game another chance and I believe those players will be impressed with the improvements that have been made.

For the people who are already playing I just want to say thank you so much for still sticking with us. I believe 2009 is going to be a strong year for Age of Conan and the Conan license in general, and we have a lot of really good stuff coming up through our updates. We also look forward to start shedding some light on the expansion. I was just looking through some of the art for the expansion lately, and I was completely blown away with what I saw. I can't wait to show it to you all!

VideoGamer.com: Thanks for your time.

Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures is out now for PC.