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Age of Conan: Dev Profile: Heidi Schmidt

DanaDana Member Posts: 2,415
in News & Features Discussion

Heidi Schmidt, a Content Designer for Funcom's Age of Conan, talks about her unqiue path to her first job in the industry: keeping the lore.

image MMORPG.com: What is your job at Funcom? How did you get your foot in the door?

Heidi Schmidt: I am a content designer, specifically a quest designer, and the Lore Wench, for the Age of Conan MMO. I spent a lot of time on the TestLive test server for Anarchy Online, helping the developers by testing new content. I also delved into creating a huge in-game map for the community, which I really enjoyed working on (it was the perfect excuse to explore every meter of Rubi-Ka). When Funcom was looking to hire new people, I knew I had to apply. I had been so impressed with the artistic and creative talent behind Anarchy Online, and I wanted to be part of that amazing team. I applied as a designer, was interviewed, and hired, all in the matter of a few weeks. I moved to Norway from the U.S. just a few weeks after that!

The full Q&A is here.

Dana Massey
Formerly of MMORPG.com
Currently Lead Designer for Bit Trap Studios

Comments

  • ZapaniZapani Member CommonPosts: 23
    image



  • ArconaArcona Member UncommonPosts: 1,182
    Originally posted by Zapani
    image
    image


    Age Of Conan will get lots of subscribers since its released a year before Warhammer image
    (Conan april 2007, Warhammer april 2008 image)


  • GreenneutronGreenneutron Member Posts: 45
    image  Good stuff. 



  • DarkjinxterDarkjinxter Member Posts: 174
    I do hope this woman has actually read (and understands) RE Howard's works. Doesn't sound like it to me.
  • ericolmericolm Member Posts: 2

    "Right now I think this genre is sort of stuck in a trap of its own making. It's brain-locked on a certain formula and I think a lot of companies, because of how much it costs to make games, are very afraid of taking risks, afraid to take creative chances. I truly hope this will change--but it might not happen until the number of games in this genre using the same formula reaches a critical mass, first. Perhaps then, this genre can grow and become much more than it's been allowed to be thus far."

    Doesnt it seem like shes saying that Age of Conan wont bring that much new to the table?

  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 0
    The user and all related content has been deleted.

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  • thunderathundera Member Posts: 16
    Originally posted by Fion
    This is a great interview and from various things the interviewe says, I think she's Dovve from Anarchy Online, author of the most famous mod for the game, Dovve's Maps. Very cool that she's now working on Age of Conan with Funcom directly. Every old AO player should recognize the name.
    She is actually Nepentheia, she made the HugeMap for AO. http://travel.to/rubi-ka


  • ZorvanZorvan Member CommonPosts: 8,912

    Originally posted by thundera

    Originally posted by Fion
    This is a great interview and from various things the interviewe says, I think she's Dovve from Anarchy Online, author of the most famous mod for the game, Dovve's Maps. Very cool that she's now working on Age of Conan with Funcom directly. Every old AO player should recognize the name.
    She is actually Nepentheia, she made the HugeMap for AO. http://travel.to/rubi-ka


    Cool. I figured it was either Hugemap or Spheremap she was talking about. 'Course, features wise, I think CSP map is actually bigger.

  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 0
    The user and all related content has been deleted.

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  • darkentreesdarkentrees Member Posts: 1

    Cool interview!  Really enjoyed getting the inside scoop on the Lore master - always wondered what the reality of content editing for a roleplaying game entailed.  I also enjoyed reading about your early forays into Tempest, Myst, and healthy obsessions with Anarchy Online - it made me laugh to remember my own experiences from days of gaming gone by. image

    Pay no attention to punk remarks from the lamer who decided to use this forum to take a cheap shot - some people believe they demonstrate their intelligence through such displays of ignorance - however that works image  

    I'm sure you know your lore, or Funcom would hardly have appointed you to the position.  It would take a very keen mind to sort out the myriad of detail spun through Howard's tales - and so much more was written after his death - are you also drawing on later stories of Conan written by authors like Robert Jordan?  Or are things staying strictly within the original stories?

    I've been reading Conan stories since I was a kid, and I won't say how many years ago that was, but I"m REALLY looking forward to an online interpretation.  Reading your interview gave me some faith that things are headed in a good direction, and that an adherence to the world Howard envisioned is being taken seriously.

    Good luck in your work! image

  • EndDreamEndDream Member Posts: 1,152
    shes hot i wanna do her

    Remember Old School Ultima Online

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