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Post-Godager interview with Funcom in Norwegian paper VG - translated

AranStormahAranStormah Member Posts: 278
in Age of Conan: Unchained

Please pardon my bad grammar and spelling, but the article had a few comments that I've not seen in english interviews so I thought it'd be worth translating.

--------------------------------------------

Conan's director resigns.

(VG Nett) Gaute Godager resigns as producer and director of the game "Age of Conan".

As stated by Funcom in a recent press release. The company writes that he is quitting in favour of finding new options outside of the gaming industry.

Gaute Godager was one of the founders of Funcom, and has been with them for 16 years.

Godager will be replaced by Craig Morrison, who according Funcom has alot of experience as a producer and game director of the online game "Anarchy Online".

According to "Age of Conan" product manager Erling Ellingsen, neither Gaute Godager nor Craig Morrison wishes to adress the media today. But Ellingsen can still shed som light on this decision.

- Gaute is dissatisfied with certain elements in the game, and wishes to take the consequences of that. That's why he's leaving Funcom, says Ellingsen to VG Nett.

- He has also worked long in the gaming industry and wants new challenges. In addition he feels that "Age of Conan" needs new, fresh eyes to meet the challenges the game is facing, he adds.

- That he's leaving the wheel of "Age of Conan" to someone else is understandable, but it's dramatic that he's also leaving both Funcom and the gaming industry. Has the Funcom management tried persuading him to say with the company?

- I can't comment on that, says Ellingsen.

- Why is Morrison the right man for the job?

- We have great faith in Craig, he has a long experience as a director for "Anarchy Online", but he also has a long experience as a leader for online communities, and has in addition written for IGN, says Ellingsen, who adds:

- That experience comes in handy in a time like this, alot of the work now consist of listening to the players and acting on that, and we believe Craig is especially wellsuited for that.

- Alot of the criticism you get these days is that you're not listening to your players, does this mean that you're accepting some self-criticism at this area?

- We feel we're doing a good job of communicating with the players as well as we can, but there is definitly room for improvement and this is an area where we wish to become better. Communicating what we're working on and what we wish is a challenge, as we have to be careful not to be too detailed incase something has to be change before an update is done, says Ellingsen, who also feels the criticism against the game is not unexpected.

- There's alot of people who've looked forward to "Age of Conan" over several years. It goes without saying that there's many feelings and wishes going around, and if the players aren't satifsfied it's only natural that they react to it, says Ellingsen.

- This is pretty common when games of this magnitude are released, also to a degree with "World of Warcraft" before Blizzard did the many improvements they've done over the last years, he adds.

- There's no doubt that you have a job ahead of you to turn this negative trend. What are you doing about it, concretely?

- What we'll do is improve the game based on the feedback we recieve. We'll add new content. We'll fix the problems with the game, and a key focus in all this is our desire to communicate these changes with our players, promises Ellingsen, who adds:

- What's most vital to us is meeting the players demands whenever possible and to improve "Age of Conan" together with our players.

"Age of Conan" is Funcom's big gamble for online based gaming.

According to Dagens Næringsliv (economics/stocks-newspaper) the game looked like it was going strong when it was released this spring, but it's suffered a substantial loss of players. DN writes that the game is criticised for having a solid start, but not much content as you progress from there.

Online games gets the major part of their income from subscriptions, and not on the box sale of the game itself. So this development has lead to an immense fall for the Funcom shares, after the release-optimism.

Original article

Comments

  • AzrileAzrile Member Posts: 2,582

    This is pretty common when games of this magnitude are released, also to a degree with "World of Warcraft" before Blizzard did the many improvements they've done over the last years, he adds.

     

    ugh.. why do they keep comparing themselves to WOW.  The only real problem WOW had was that it didn't have enough servers to support the demand it had.   How can you compare these games..  Wow is like st.... er.. nevermind.

  • AranStormahAranStormah Member Posts: 278

    Well, yeah, but then again it's only natural to bring up someone that people have heard about for sake of comparison, and in that regard it's better to refer to  WoW than a random MMO (seeing as pretty much everyone between the ages 10 to 60 has at least heard of WoW once in their life).

  • FischerBlackFischerBlack Member Posts: 573

    Thanks for translating the article.

    I hope Gaute does an interview or releases some kind of statement to tell his side of the story. I'll bet its very different to Ellingsens spin.

  • SceptrumSceptrum Member Posts: 37
    Originally posted by FischerBlack


    Thanks for translating the article.
    I hope Gaute does an interview or releases some kind of statement to tell his side of the story. I'll bet its very different to Ellingsens spin.

     

    Ofc. You think Mr.Godager is going to say he screwed up and was a bad boy? I would not be surprised if other Funcom employees in a few months time begin blaming Godager for AoC's problems.

    RIP Blackguard. May a resurrection come.

  • lumachelumache Member Posts: 314
    Originally posted by AranStormah


    Please pardon my bad grammar and spelling, but the article had a few comments that I've not seen in english interviews so I thought it'd be worth translating.

    --------------------------------------------
    Conan's director resigns.
    (VG Nett) Gaute Godager resigns as producer and director of the game "Age of Conan".
    As stated by Funcom in a recent press release. The company writes that he is quitting in favour of finding new options outside of the gaming industry.
    Well I hate to kick anyone when they are down. But this is the guy that was behind the fascist tactics that led to my complete and utter disgust with this company.  So short of kicking him in the NUTS for this horrible MMO and the horrible treatment Ive suffered at the hands of his band of unpaid fanboi forum moderators, Ill offer this olive branch to GUATE:
    www.mcdonalds.com/careers
    Gaute Godager was one of the founders of Funcom, and has been with them for 16 years.
    Godager will be replaced by Craig Morrison, who according Funcom has alot of experience as a producer and game director of the online game "Anarchy Online".
    According to "Age of Conan" product manager Erling Ellingsen, neither Gaute Godager nor Craig Morrison wishes to adress the media today. But Ellingsen can still shed som light on this decision.
    - Gaute is dissatisfied with certain elements in the game, and wishes to take the consequences of that. That's why he's leaving Funcom, says Ellingsen to VG Nett.
    The communities feelings about him and the game and are mutual
    - He has also worked long in the gaming industry and wants new challenges. In addition he feels that "Age of Conan" needs new, fresh eyes to meet the challenges the game is facing, he adds.
    By this he means someone that cares about their customers enough to listen? This obviously wasnt his strong point, to say the LEAST
    - That he's leaving the wheel of "Age of Conan" to someone else is understandable, but it's dramatic that he's also leaving both Funcom and the gaming industry. Has the Funcom management tried persuading him to say with the company?
    Im going to guess that they didnt - they probably gave him a nice cash settlement and showed him the door.... I mean how long can they just utterly ignore and ban people to cover their failures as developers before someone NOTICES? Answer (5years in beta with the beta crowd, who by the way should be ashamed of themselves) + 4 months. I constantly wonder what the beta testers were doing? Now I can accept that after the treatment I received as a paying customer, its POSSBILE that the beta crowd was muffled when they complained as well. But really I often wonder what the hell the beta was even about... So many basic things seem so broken!
    - I can't comment on that, says Ellingsen.
    - Why is Morrison the right man for the job?
    - We have great faith in Craig, he has a long experience as a director for "Anarchy Online", but he also has a long experience as a leader for online communities, and has in addition written for IGN, says Ellingsen, who adds:
    - That experience comes in handy in a time like this, alot of the work now consist of listening to the players and acting on that, and we believe Craig is especially wellsuited for that.
    Because yea this is a really tough thing to do... Read the forums and instead of BANNING people listen to them and carry some of the more common complaints into the meetings with the developers???? This is hard why? Why does this require an 'especially well suited' person for that? Isnt that what Guate and Erling have been hearing from DAY 1? Stop banning us - start listening to us?
    - Alot of the criticism you get these days is that you're not listening to your players, does this mean that you're accepting some self-criticism at this area?
    - We feel we're doing a good job of communicating with the players as well as we can, but there is definitly room for improvement and this is an area where we wish to become better. Communicating what we're working on and what we wish is a challenge, as we have to be careful not to be too detailed incase something has to be change before an update is done, says Ellingsen, who also feels the criticism against the game is not unexpected.
    This really REALLY pisses me off, as if they think for ONE SECOND they are doing a good job. The director resigned because they took such a bad stance dealing with the growing unsatisfied player base.  I mean they did this to themselves and here he is AGAIN painting poop to be roses! Not unexpected? Why the hell didnt you just listen in the first place?
    - There's alot of people who've looked forward to "Age of Conan" over several years. It goes without saying that there's many feelings and wishes going around, and if the players aren't satifsfied it's only natural that they react to it, says Ellingsen.
    Only natural that we have been banned EN MASSE, by Erling and his unpaid forum moderators. Fanbois as community relations? How did that work out for you guys? Oh the game director had to resign from the company? HMMMM
    - This is pretty common when games of this magnitude are released, also to a degree with "World of Warcraft" before Blizzard did the many improvements they've done over the last years, he adds.
    Actually, when world of warcraft released the main complaint among users was the inability to access the servers for the game they desperately wanted to play. In fact, they stopped selling the game boxes for a while due to the overwhelming demand for the game!
    Which at first AOC had to deal with, except the part about stopping the sale of the game.  They did add servers and on this ONE THING, Ill give them a little credit.  However they then proceeded to ruin more than they fixed and then BAN those coming to the forums for answers.
    - There's no doubt that you have a job ahead of you to turn this negative trend. What are you doing about it, concretely?
    - What we'll do is improve the game based on the feedback we recieve. We'll add new content. We'll fix the problems with the game, and a key focus in all this is our desire to communicate these changes with our players, promises Ellingsen, who adds:
    Does this mean that the FORUM moderators that are little more than good little fanbois not even being paid for their services will go away?
    - What's most vital to us is meeting the players demands whenever possible and to improve "Age of Conan" together with our players.
    Does this mean that you are going to unban us all and perhaps even offer a month of free play when you finally do get the game to a point where you are no longer utterly ashamed of it?
    "Age of Conan" is Funcom's big gamble for online based gaming.
    For a big gamble, you sure treated your customers like shit! Do I hear IM SORRY?
    According to Dagens Næringsliv (economics/stocks-newspaper) the game looked like it was going strong when it was released this spring, but it's suffered a substantial loss of players. DN writes that the game is criticised for having a solid start, but not much content as you progress from there.
    Online games gets the major part of their income from subscriptions, and not on the box sale of the game itself. So this development has lead to an immense fall for the Funcom shares, after the release-optimism.
    A fact someone needs to IMPRINT ON Erling Ellisons FORHEAD - so he NEVER FORGETS THIS AGAIN - ?EVER - Subscriptions were the underlying reason that GUATE had to leave ERLING!
    DOH , I mean how long does someone have to be involved in an MMO project before they get this fact? So the whole treating people like shit on the forums and banning them and then letting unpaid players (FANBOIS) moderate your forums with the understanding that they should move, delete, and attack posts that brought negative attention to utterly BASIC issues with the game, was a BAD IDEA?
    NO kidding, REALLY??? I hate to say this but I told you so on YOUR AOC FORUMS, but you deleted MY POST!
    Original article



     

     

    -Lum

  • ImjinImjin Member Posts: 366

    Thank you for the translation. Im sure Avery will be here soon to retranslate it for us but until then thank again

    Fungerer som det skal

  • Dodo385Dodo385 Member Posts: 12
    Originally posted by Azrile


    This is pretty common when games of this magnitude are released, also to a degree with "World of Warcraft" before Blizzard did the many improvements they've done over the last years, he adds.

     
    ugh.. why do they keep comparing themselves to WOW.  The only real problem WOW had was that it didn't have enough servers to support the demand it had.   How can you compare these games..  Wow is like st.... er.. nevermind.

     That made my day, Thank you

  • ILOVEFUNCOMILOVEFUNCOM Member Posts: 94

    Hi what this interview really shows is that despite being essentially canned Gaute really sees a bright future for AoC and he did not have to leave on such good terms but he obviously now that he can be objective sees what a quality project it still is which is like getting an insiders view on the whole thing.  This bodes very well for the success of AoC and FUNCOM so I hope to see soon all the subscribers play more now that they arent getting skewered by OP Guardians all the time especially with heals stacking allowing for more flexible group modes so kudos to Funcom for covering all their bases for the PvP release!

  • lumachelumache Member Posts: 314
    Originally posted by ILOVEFUNCOM


    Hi what this interview really shows is that despite being essentially canned Gaute really sees a bright future for AoC and he did not have to leave on such good terms but he obviously now that he can be objective sees what a quality project it still is which is like getting an insiders view on the whole thing.  This bodes very well for the success of AoC and FUNCOM so I hope to see soon all the subscribers play more now that they arent getting skewered by OP Guardians all the time especially with heals stacking allowing for more flexible group modes so kudos to Funcom for covering all their bases for the PvP release!



     

    Im sure if I RE-READ this post a half dozen times, I might understand it. Seriously, could you at least try at some punctuation.... Reading your thoughts, as painful as they can be, streamed in text is just impossible.

     

    -Lum

  • TrashcantoyTrashcantoy Member Posts: 827

    at least Erling is right when saying that Craig is the best man for better communication.. Craig has always been very active on the AO forums where patches are made with the help of actual players.. like the new profession nanos that are inc in the latest patch, they are being tweaked by listening to the players

    MMOs currently playing: -
    About to play: Lord of the Rings Online
    Played: Anarchy Online (alltime favorite) and lots of f2p titles (honorable mentions: 9Dragons, Martial Heroes, Dekaron, Atlantica Online)

  • AlienovrlordAlienovrlord Member Posts: 1,525
    Originally posted by lumache

     - This is pretty common when games of this magnitude are released, also to a degree with "World of Warcraft" before Blizzard did the many improvements they've done over the last years, he adds.
    Actually, when world of warcraft released the main complaint among users was the inability to access the servers for the game they desperately wanted to play. In fact, they stopped selling the game boxes for a while due to the overwhelming demand for the game!

    Excellent point Lumanche.

    Statements like that are had made me lose any confidence in the AoC Devs a whie ago. Do they really expect people to be stupid enough to not remember that WoW *never* had a drop in subscribers?

    Like or hate it, (and I quit the game) there is no denying WoW had constant growth from day one. And yet Erling is actually suggesting AoC is anything close to that situation?  PR spin is one thing but this is really something else.  And it's the same thing Gaute was spewing during the game's development. There's really nothing new here.

     

  • lumachelumache Member Posts: 314
    Originally posted by Alienovrlord

    Originally posted by lumache

     - This is pretty common when games of this magnitude are released, also to a degree with "World of Warcraft" before Blizzard did the many improvements they've done over the last years, he adds.
    Actually, when world of warcraft released the main complaint among users was the inability to access the servers for the game they desperately wanted to play. In fact, they stopped selling the game boxes for a while due to the overwhelming demand for the game!

    Excellent point Lumanche.

    Statements like that are had made me lose any confidence in the AoC Devs a whie ago. Do they really expect people to be stupid enough to not remember that WoW *never* had a drop in subscribers?

    Like or hate it, (and I quit the game) there is no denying WoW had constant growth from day one. And yet Erling is actually suggesting AoC is anything close to that situation?  PR spin is one thing but this is really something else.  And it's the same thing Gaute was spewing during the game's development. There's really nothing new here.

     



     

    Yes this interview puts a GIANT damper on what otherwise might have re-piqued my insterest in this game.

    Its like Gautes gone *but* heres this liar to ruin the moment.

    -Lum

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