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Age of Conan: Interview with Craig Morrison

Craig Morrison, a Community Manager for Funcom's upcoming mature MMOG Age of Conan drops by to answer a slew of questions from Staff Writer Garrett Fuller.

image MMORPG.com: Can you talk a little about Spellweaving and how casters will be able to take advantage of this style of play?

Craig Morrison: The spellweaving system allows for some truly awe-inspiring effects to be invoked. This allows the caster to tailor a specific incantation best suited to their current target. Whether it is combining debuffs or enhancing your damage, or even a combination of the two - the spellweaving system will allow casters to adapt their strategies to the situation at hand!

Throw in the fact that there are potentially dangerous side effects to performing the more complex weaves and we think we will have a system that the players will find fun and engaging when it comes to using this powerful magic.

The whole Q&A is here.

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

Comments

  • WakizashiWakizashi Member Posts: 893
    PWNAN TEH LOLBARIAN!!1!!1!1!!!!1
  • RazephonRazephon Member UncommonPosts: 628

    Meh pretty much old info. I wonder why MMORPG.com asks such old/repetitive/redundant questions though. =

     

    Currently waiting for the MMO industry to put out something good.
  • LumsterLumster Member Posts: 230

    And I wonder why people are disrespectful and not intelligent enough to make constructive feedback. And then they keep bitc...moaning about how a site sux but yet they are coming back everyday.

  • Distortion0Distortion0 Member Posts: 668



    Originally posted by Razephon

    Meh pretty much old info. I wonder why MMORPG.com asks such old/repetitive/redundant questions though. =
     



    MMO did just fine. It's the AoC Devs that dodge questions.
  • zwarriorzwarrior Member Posts: 46

    ^_^ As for AoC console goes. I have a feeling that they would choose the 360 over all. It has the best online based service compared to Sony's Ps2 (not sure aobut Ps3 online) and Nitendo's Wii isn't exactly....a stable online, especially when AoC is based on MMO.. hence the online part ^_^. Though I am a huge fan of the ps3 and I would like it if it were on there, but if AoC wants perfermance, especially online, they'd go with the Xbox 360.

  • HalkiHalki Member Posts: 10
    I would be shocked if it isnt the 360 they have in mind.  The game is already going to be a Vista showcase game, so there is obviously some working relationship with Microsoft right there.

    The information is a rehash, but only if you have been following the game closely.  These are common questions that are constantly asked, not just by news sites, but by new folks on the official forums.  I dont think its out of line at all for mmorpg.com to have asked these questions.  I visit very few news sites, but I keep a close eye on AoC.  If not, this would have been all new or mostly new to me.

    It would be nice to see some probing questions answered, but for all we know they could have tried and were shot down.  But questions that were rejected dont make for a very interesting article.
  • ekspertseksperts Member Posts: 49

    "We aren't going for the larger worlds model that we used in Anarchy Online" - to bad for me. I realy like concept of AoC, but look like game going be more local not realy MASSIVE online game :(

  • MesopoliesMesopolies Member Posts: 51
    i agree eksperts, I really like the larger worlds.
  • VallenarVallenar Member Posts: 124

    Does anyone think a port to the consoles will be a crutch?  I have heard the FX11 port wasn't that good and didn't take off at all.  I could be wrong though.

    There is only one game play mechanic I am really looking forward to this game and the effect it will have on other games.  MOUNTED COMBAT!  I think other MMO's really overlook how cool mounted combat can and probably will be.  Plus AoC's ability to create enemy player cities near guild cities is a really cool feature.  I love to see how MMO's are developing.  I think we are almost to the point where technology is going to help us as players interact with the world we play in.

  • JeroKaneJeroKane Member EpicPosts: 6,965



    Originally posted by Vallenar

    Does anyone think a port to the consoles will be a crutch?  I have heard the FX11 port wasn't that good and didn't take off at all.  I could be wrong though.
    There is only one game play mechanic I am really looking forward to this game and the effect it will have on other games.  MOUNTED COMBAT!  I think other MMO's really overlook how cool mounted combat can and probably will be.  Plus AoC's ability to create enemy player cities near guild cities is a really cool feature.  I love to see how MMO's are developing.  I think we are almost to the point where technology is going to help us as players interact with the world we play in.



    Well, mounted combat isnt that all new tho. EverQuest 2 had it from the start. And it's indeed a very cool and more realistic feature to be able to attack on a mount, then constantly having to unmount first like WoW and SWG for example.

    I'm keeping an eye closely on AoC as well. It's very promising, but so is Hero's Journey. As I'm more looking towards the RP aspect.

  • NubziNubzi Member Posts: 93

    Originally posted by eksperts
    "We aren't going for the larger worlds model that we used in Anarchy Online" - to bad for me. I realy like concept of AoC, but look like game going be more local not realy MASSIVE online game :(
    I'm quite sad about that.  Smaller doesn't always mean better.  I loved the way they had AO setup, you could always find people on at anytime, you can't say that for a game like WoW, at least not your server.  The community was the best community I was apart of in a MMO too when I played.  I can't say that for WoW.


  • SketchSketch Member UncommonPosts: 337
    When I looked at the hi res screenshots for this game, it started to look more and more like an updated version of the tired ass AO engine.. Some aspects fo this game look really nice, but considering its a new 'from scratch' project, and the abundance of fantasy based MMO's I would have LOVED to se them make Anarchy online 2 rather then this (I still love AO, except the game lags like hell despite the fact I get over 120fps..but I still think its one of the most feature rich MMO's around, of course it does have a high learning curve compared to most)... As for the companies track record for bugs.. AO STILL has bugs that have been in the game since launch over 4 years ago... So before I even consider trying this one I'll be waiting for the reviews.

    image

  • ChaosasChaosas Member Posts: 129
    From what I've read, it will be massive. There will be PvE and PvP player cities, and massive siege battles for them. Also, raid content against NPCs.
     Well, maybe less players per server, but I expect 3k+ :)

    Originally posted by Mesopolies
    i agree eksperts, I really like the larger worlds.

  • AntiocheAntioche Member UncommonPosts: 132

    Originally posted by Vallenar
    Does anyone think a port to the consoles will be a crutch?  I have heard the FX11 port wasn't that good and didn't take off at all.  I could be wrong though. There is only one game play mechanic I am really looking forward to this game and the effect it will have on other games.  MOUNTED COMBAT!  I think other MMO's really overlook how cool mounted combat can and probably will be.  Plus AoC's ability to create enemy player cities near guild cities is a really cool feature.  I love to see how MMO's are developing.  I think we are almost to the point where technology is going to help us as players interact with the world we play in.

    If you read up on their combat system it actually works very well with a console type controller. The only real struggle would probably be communicating with other players. There were a few questions in there that I haven't seen before, and some new answers. Thanks for doing the interview.

    It is pathos we lack, and this lack of pathos makes the worlds we explore quite stale.

    http://www.mmorpg.com/blogs/Antioche

  • SturmrabeSturmrabe Member Posts: 927

    Argh! Just release it already jerks!

    Go back to No-wai and code you monkeys!

    imageimage
    Of all that is written, I love only what a person has written with his own blood. -Nietzsche

  • TzetothTzetoth Member Posts: 67

    Yeah, it's going on the 360 for certain. They even have screenshots of people doing playtests with a 360 controller hooked to the PC.

    I don't think it gets much clearer than that. Heh.

    EDIT: Oh, and as far as communication... headset. Most MMOers use headsets these days anyway. The Xbox kiddies are used to shouting "NOOB" rather than typing it anyway.


  • parmenionparmenion Member Posts: 260
    Disappointed to hear it's going to be console compatible, means the gameplay is likely pretty seriously dumbed down to fit with the limitations of controllers, and expectations of console games etc.


  • EndemondiaEndemondia Member Posts: 231
    another great genre given the WoW coat of paint - boring fantasy grind class system. Porting it to consoles just about kills it for me but I may play the first 10 levels as it is free!
  • dippitydodahdippitydodah Member Posts: 130
    I wonder why they even bother doing interviews with these companies sometimes, not MMORPG.com but all these sites all we ever get is bland generic answers that I could do myself.   Seriously I could have answered all these questions just as vaguely as they did, it's like there's a universal PR marketing school that all developers go to so they can learn how to give lame answers to every question no matter what question it is.

    I'd have to agree on the combat if it can port to console controllers, if the combat can fit within the limits of a controller easily that means very few skills you'll have the option of using at any given time.   Look at FFXI, you could play that game while you were half asleep and with one hand, lamest crap ever for gameplay.



    image
  • anarchyartanarchyart Member Posts: 5,378
    Bah, site ate my post! Anyways, looking good Funcom! Really happy for them. I loved AO when I played it years back and this game is going to be a blast to play. And the spellweaving system is looking quite innovative(TM).

    image
  • Scott762x51Scott762x51 Member Posts: 42

    I was really looking forward to Warhammer online but I just saw the in game video they released and I am now 100% behind AoC.  Warhammer looks like WoW but worse.  This game has all the really cool ideas that are needed to make a great game like the mounted combat and the way they have you taking over areas and the combat system seems much better than anything else out there.  By far the best mmo game coming out in 2007.image

  • Aetern-eAetern-e Member UncommonPosts: 77
    The developers have thrown a spell on me. I'm magically bound to this game! I'm getting it on Xbox, since I just got it for christmas! The real-time combat system and mounted combat just cannot go wrong..!
  • checkthis500checkthis500 Member Posts: 1,236
    Originally posted by parmenion

    Disappointed to hear it's going to be console compatible, means the gameplay is likely pretty seriously dumbed down to fit with the limitations of controllers, and expectations of console games etc.



    The gameplay was designed for controllers.  It's no accident that the directions that you can swing your sword can be activated with the number pad, or a gamepad's directional buttons.

    Sometimes after looking at the way the game is going to be played with the FPS style ranged combat and the D-pad style melee combat I wonder if it wasn't designed for a console first and foremost.

    It's not very surprising that the world is going to be smaller than AO's.  The AO world still lags on the best of computers and with the quality of those backgrounds I was kind of expecting the world to be relatively small compared to other MMOs.

    The areas with player-made cities are instanced, as well as the areas for PvP.

    ---------------------------------------------
    I live to fight, and fight to live.

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