Funcom announce that Craig Morrison has been appointed as the new Producer and Game Director for Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures.

http://www.funcom.com/wsp/funcom/frontend.cgi?func=publish.show&func_id=1321&table=CONTENT&item=1004

He's the one who bailed out AO and should have been in charge of AoC from the beginning.

Of course, this now means AO will sink and fall now that they've taken him away.

Edit: HOLY SHIT!! GAUTE RESIGNED!!

"Former Producer and Game Director Gaute Godager has chosen to resign from Funcom after working on Age of Conan since the initial conception, and he leaves the company after 16 years. Godager was one of the original founders of Funcom, and leaves a large legacy, having contributed to making Funcom the largest MMO company in Europe. “I have done my very best making this fabulous game, but I have concluded there are elements which I am dissatisfied with. 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. I have had a fantastic time these last 16 years, and I am very proud of the many things Funcom has achieved. Funcom and Conan will always be a big part of me, but as I now look to new ventures outside the gaming industry I am certain Age of Conan’s future is in the best of hands.”

Ouch, I hear theyre hiring at Gamestop Gaute.

Originally posted by Arcken

Ouch, I hear theyre hiring at Gamestop Gaute.

"but as I now look to new ventures outside the gaming industry"

Nope, he knows even a local mom and pop gameshop wouldn't hire his ignorant ass.

Originally posted by WisebutCruel

He's the one who bailed out AO and should have been in charge of AoC from the beginning.

Of course, this now means AO will sink and fall now that they've taken him away.

 

Edit: HOLY SHIT!! GAUTE RESIGNED!!

"Former Producer and Game Director Gaute Godager has chosen to resign from Funcom after working on Age of Conan since the initial conception, and he leaves the company after 16 years. Godager was one of the original founders of Funcom, and leaves a large legacy, having contributed to making Funcom the largest MMO company in Europe. “I have done my very best making this fabulous game, but I have concluded there are elements which I am dissatisfied with. 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. I have had a fantastic time these last 16 years, and I am very proud of the many things Funcom has achieved. Funcom and Conan will always be a big part of me, but as I now look to new ventures outside the gaming industry I am certain Age of Conan’s future is in the best of hands.”

 

Sounds to me like he's taking the blame and stepping down, I respect that and wish him luck. I must say, this news makes me a bit more optimistic about AOC's future.

Originally posted by Malickie

Originally posted by WisebutCruel

He's the one who bailed out AO and should have been in charge of AoC from the beginning.

Of course, this now means AO will sink and fall now that they've taken him away.

 

Edit: HOLY SHIT!! GAUTE RESIGNED!!

"Former Producer and Game Director Gaute Godager has chosen to resign from Funcom after working on Age of Conan since the initial conception, and he leaves the company after 16 years. Godager was one of the original founders of Funcom, and leaves a large legacy, having contributed to making Funcom the largest MMO company in Europe. “I have done my very best making this fabulous game, but I have concluded there are elements which I am dissatisfied with. 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. I have had a fantastic time these last 16 years, and I am very proud of the many things Funcom has achieved. Funcom and Conan will always be a big part of me, but as I now look to new ventures outside the gaming industry I am certain Age of Conan’s future is in the best of hands.”

 

Sounds to me like he's taking the blame and stepping down, I respect that and wish him luck. I must say, this news makes me a bit more optimistic about AOC's future.

If he were a CEO or some other run-of-the-mill suit, I'd agree.
 

However, he co-founded Funcom. He was an owner of the company. Stepping down would have meant moving aside, giving himself a new title, and letting Craig handle the mess.

With the way the community has backlashed against Funcom and AoC, not just here but everywhere on the damn net including the Official forums, the droves of players who left in a VERY short time, the drastically falling stocks, and everything else points to one thing: the investors ( and more than likely the other founder(s) as well ) gave him a chance to bow out gracefully before they pushed him out publically in total disgrace.

He was forced out.

Originally posted by WisebutCruel

Originally posted by Malickie

Originally posted by WisebutCruel

He's the one who bailed out AO and should have been in charge of AoC from the beginning.

Of course, this now means AO will sink and fall now that they've taken him away.

 

Edit: HOLY SHIT!! GAUTE RESIGNED!!

"Former Producer and Game Director Gaute Godager has chosen to resign from Funcom after working on Age of Conan since the initial conception, and he leaves the company after 16 years. Godager was one of the original founders of Funcom, and leaves a large legacy, having contributed to making Funcom the largest MMO company in Europe. “I have done my very best making this fabulous game, but I have concluded there are elements which I am dissatisfied with. 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. I have had a fantastic time these last 16 years, and I am very proud of the many things Funcom has achieved. Funcom and Conan will always be a big part of me, but as I now look to new ventures outside the gaming industry I am certain Age of Conan’s future is in the best of hands.”

 

Sounds to me like he's taking the blame and stepping down, I respect that and wish him luck. I must say, this news makes me a bit more optimistic about AOC's future.

If he were a CEO or some other run-of-the-mill suit, I'd agree.
 

However, he co-founded Funcom. He was an owner of the company. Stepping down would have meant moving aside, giving himself a new title, and letting Craig handle the mess.

With the way the community has backlashed against Funcom and AoC, not just here but everywhere on the damn net including the Official forums, the droves of players who left in a VERY short time, the drastically falling stocks, and everything else points to one thing: the investors ( and more than likely the other founder(s) as well ) gave him a chance to bow out gracefully before they pushed him out publically in total disgrace.

He was forced out.

I'm sure you're right, I still respect him for having the ability to do it himself. Much better than blindly carrying on, like nothings wrong and causing further embarrassment for  FC.

Originally posted by Malickie

Originally posted by WisebutCruel

Originally posted by Malickie

Originally posted by WisebutCruel

He's the one who bailed out AO and should have been in charge of AoC from the beginning.

Of course, this now means AO will sink and fall now that they've taken him away.

 

Edit: HOLY SHIT!! GAUTE RESIGNED!!

"Former Producer and Game Director Gaute Godager has chosen to resign from Funcom after working on Age of Conan since the initial conception, and he leaves the company after 16 years. Godager was one of the original founders of Funcom, and leaves a large legacy, having contributed to making Funcom the largest MMO company in Europe. “I have done my very best making this fabulous game, but I have concluded there are elements which I am dissatisfied with. 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. I have had a fantastic time these last 16 years, and I am very proud of the many things Funcom has achieved. Funcom and Conan will always be a big part of me, but as I now look to new ventures outside the gaming industry I am certain Age of Conan’s future is in the best of hands.”

 

Sounds to me like he's taking the blame and stepping down, I respect that and wish him luck. I must say, this news makes me a bit more optimistic about AOC's future.

If he were a CEO or some other run-of-the-mill suit, I'd agree.
 

However, he co-founded Funcom. He was an owner of the company. Stepping down would have meant moving aside, giving himself a new title, and letting Craig handle the mess.

With the way the community has backlashed against Funcom and AoC, not just here but everywhere on the damn net including the Official forums, the droves of players who left in a VERY short time, the drastically falling stocks, and everything else points to one thing: the investors ( and more than likely the other founder(s) as well ) gave him a chance to bow out gracefully before they pushed him out publically in total disgrace.

He was forced out.

I'm sure you're right, I still respect him for having the ability to do it himself. Much better than blindly carrying on, like nothings wrong and causing further embarrassment for  FC.

Well, let's face it. When you look at Gaute and his personality/attitude over the years at Funcom, he would not have been able to handle a public humiliation. His ego and pride would never withstand the blow. Soalthough I think he took the offer to save face moreso than to do the right thing, I will give him credit for having at least 60 seconds of sense enough to accomplish the task of leaving.
 

And if I appear to be a little hostile toward Gaute, it's because over the years of AO and AoC, he's always reminded me of that smug-assed mechanic who looks at you like you don't know half of what he does while he fills your oil, only to stalk off and pout when you point out the drain plug is missing to him.

I don't know If Gaute is the source of all this bad management, but something whas needed.

Anyway I unsubscribed the game eons ago. Is too late to me. 

 Gaute was forced out.  His resignation letter reads like it was written by a corporate robot.

Originally posted by Thradar

 Gaute was forced out.  His resignation letter reads like it was written by a corporate robot.

Where do you see his resignation letter?

Originally posted by WisebutCruel

 

And if I appear to be a little hostile toward Gaute, it's because over the years of AO and AoC, he's always reminded me of that smug-assed mechanic who looks at you like you don't know half of what he does while he fills your oil, only to stalk off and pout when you point out the drain plug is missing to him.

Great analogy, sums it up nicely.

Best move funcom has made in a very long time.

I heard that he was going to start a new  MMO company with David Bowman and Brad Mcquaid called  Venture Capitalist online.

Yet another example of  the health of a MMO reflected in the flow of staff to or from it.

Sadly, when they do finally flow from it, they just flow to another mmo dev team and proceed to make all the same bad decisions.

Actually when companies remove CEOs and other key people and replace them often they rebound like when a football team fires the coach and brings a new coach the team often improves it doesnt even have to be the fault of the coach persay.  That doesnt mean Gaute wasnt responsible but lets face it 300 employees and he is one person perhaps he wasnt good at communicating what he wanted or he said the wrong things or maybe he slept with someones daughter these things you never know so perhaps it is best we just welcome Craig and not assume the worst but hope for the best.

Originally posted by ILOVEFUNCOM

... but lets face it ...

keep practicing.

Originally posted by ILOVEFUNCOM

Actually when companies remove CEOs and other key people and replace them often they rebound like when a football team fires the coach and brings a new coach the team often improves it doesnt even have to be the fault of the coach persay.  That doesnt mean Gaute wasnt responsible but lets face it 300 employees and he is one person perhaps he wasnt good at communicating what he wanted or he said the wrong things or maybe he slept with someones daughter these things you never know so perhaps it is best we just welcome Craig and not assume the worst but hope for the best.

Wait a minute...you've been all over this forum the last two days spouting off that there aren't any problems with AoC and there are hundreds of thousands of happy subscribers so why would they need to rebound?

Originally posted by pdxgeek

Originally posted by ILOVEFUNCOM

Actually when companies remove CEOs and other key people and replace them often they rebound like when a football team fires the coach and brings a new coach the team often improves it doesnt even have to be the fault of the coach persay.  That doesnt mean Gaute wasnt responsible but lets face it 300 employees and he is one person perhaps he wasnt good at communicating what he wanted or he said the wrong things or maybe he slept with someones daughter these things you never know so perhaps it is best we just welcome Craig and not assume the worst but hope for the best.

Wait a minute...you've been all over this forum the last two days spouting off that there aren't any problems with AoC and there are hundreds of thousands of happy subscribers so why would they need to rebound?

Well let me describe to you what I meant I meant rebound in the analogous way of describing the need of the New York Yankees to rebound.  Consider this if you have a VERY successful product and it only becomes SUCCESSFUL what you see are high expectations tempered by the reality of regression to the mean.  In laymens terms what this means is that FUNCOM needs to rebound from having 800,000 subscribers to 400 to 500 thousand which are still amazing numbers considering the economic times FUNCOM faced with the collapse of BEAR STEARNS and COUNTRYWIDE FINANCIAL so I hope that clears up that unintended obfuscation!

 now all they have left to do is fire Erling the dough-boy.

Originally posted by ILOVEFUNCOM

Originally posted by pdxgeek

Originally posted by ILOVEFUNCOM

Actually when companies remove CEOs and other key people and replace them often they rebound like when a football team fires the coach and brings a new coach the team often improves it doesnt even have to be the fault of the coach persay.  That doesnt mean Gaute wasnt responsible but lets face it 300 employees and he is one person perhaps he wasnt good at communicating what he wanted or he said the wrong things or maybe he slept with someones daughter these things you never know so perhaps it is best we just welcome Craig and not assume the worst but hope for the best.

Wait a minute...you've been all over this forum the last two days spouting off that there aren't any problems with AoC and there are hundreds of thousands of happy subscribers so why would they need to rebound?

 

Well let me describe to you what I meant I meant rebound in the analogous way of describing the need of the New York Yankees to rebound.  Consider this if you have a VERY successful product and it only becomes SUCCESSFUL what you see are high expectations tempered by the reality of regression to the mean.  In laymens terms what this means is that FUNCOM needs to rebound from having 800,000 subscribers to 400 to 500 thousand which are still amazing numbers considering the economic times FUNCOM faced with the collapse of BEAR STEARNS and COUNTRYWIDE FINANCIAL so I hope that clears up that unintended obfuscation!

It doesn't clear anything up. Either the game is doing fine or it's not. Are you really saying that the game is a success but now it will be a SUCCESS? What does that even mean?