Massively multiplayer online game Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures has a new producer and game director, after previous incumbent Gaute Godager resigned from publisher and developer Funcom.
Godager was one of the original founders of Norwegian company Funcom but has resigned over issues with Age of Conan and is now pursuing new opportunities outside of the games industry. He will be replaced by former Anarchy online producer and game director Craig Morrison.
"I have done my very best making this fabulous game, but I have concluded there are elements which I am dissatisfied with," said Godager. "I have decided to act on this, and as a result I have chosen to leave Funcom. It is time to get new, fresh eyes on Age of Conan, and I wholeheartedly support the appointment of Craig."
Morrison has also previously worked as operations executive at the UK Telegraph media group and as associate editor at IGN’s Vault Network – where he managed dedicated websites for several massively multiplayer online games.
"Taking on the position as producer and game director on Age of Conan is a great challenge but also one I welcome. I have a clear conviction I can lead the further development in a good way, evolving Age of Conan into something even better. My main priority now is therefore to listen to, and act on, player concerns, while ensuring we add additional great content to the game," said Morrison.
"At heart I will always be a gamer, and the coming changes and additions to Conan will always be done with the gamers in mind. Together I am certain we will shape an amazing future for Age of Conan."
We all knew it was comming. He didn't listen to the playerbase and blatantly lied about the feature set of the game multiple times to various media outlets. Then his decision to release an expansion pack after the initial product failed. No wonder players felt gouged and left like rats on a sinking ship.
The problem was over-hype. They built so much hype over the game that players had the expectations of it being the best game in the world. When it was released it failed being that game, but succeeded in so many ways. They did not stop their, they even tried building hype on a expansion!!! The game wasn't even out for 4 months. The industry needs to learn from this mistake.
I haven't bought/played Age of Conan for one primary reason: a friend who did said there were "invisible walls" and that you couldn't just go "wondering around" to see what's there (even if it meant getting killed). So, no. Get rid of the invisible walls and let me wonder where ever I want, regardless of my 'level', and I'll buy.
