But, but, Godager said everything was going perfect! I don't understand!

Originally posted by brostyn

But, but, Godager said everything was going perfect! I don't understand!

perfect to his plan i guess

Thank god

maybe we'll see a concerted effort to fix all the issues and add more content.........

(slaps himself)

Never again, Funcom can just die a horrible death of razorblades and battery acid.

nothing but skyrocketing sub #s could get me even remotely interested in reinstalling this POS on my machine.

Too little too late!

Craig Morrison should have been assigned as Game Director from start!

I really feel for that guy, as he is really the cleaning lady of Funcom. Cleaning up the mess Gaute Godager creates and try fix it afterwards.

Only this time it is really too late. He might get Age of Conan around and fix the core issues (like he did with Anarchy Online), but the massive lost of subs will NEVER be regained.

Too many titles coming out in the near future and one is already released in the form of Warhammer Online.

Shame really! Real shame of what could have been.

Originally posted by brostyn

But, but, Godager said everything was going perfect! I don't understand!

Perfect for his getaway car and escape route!!!

I almost feel like he pulled a McQuaid here.

I'm excited. I think GG didn't have a real connection with the AoConan fanbase, and with the new guy taking the stand; we'll see if Conan can be salvaged or not, I suppose. If it can't, at least we'll know in 6 months.

“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."

To me, this sounds like "I love this game that I made, but since the rest of you don't like it, I'm taking my toys and leaving. Neh!"

If AoC manages to survive the next year or two and actually improve and fix things, then perhaps it may go somewhere. Other MMOs, like EVE and Vanguard, have proven that if a company is in it for the long haul and actually move it in a good direction, then a game can slowly recover from a horrible start. Or it could crash and burn like the majority of them out there when the sponsors stop feeding the starving game.

The fact they listened to their subscribers and are releasing the long awaited PvP patch today which also includes new content and quests for the very dry level 50 areas, along with PvP levels and XP.

Then this news today.

I say

Age of Conan Relaunch - Sept. 17th.

Well, there were so many people wanting them to get rid of the Funcom decision maker for AoC that they should now be happy.  I'd hope for the sake of AoC that this kick in the pants will set them in the right direction. The PvP patch changes too many PvE things for my personal liking so I won't be going back any time soon.  However, I do wish them the best of luck!

Resigns??  More like Who did Godager piss off?  Doncha love it how even Erling can be so cordial about techincally firing Godager.  My question is, how can you "Pour your heart out" on a project like AoC and leave/resign/get fired 4 months later.  Why don't people just be truthful and just say what they mean.  Like rats leaving a sinking ship.  I don't understand why they didn't put Craig on AoC to begin with.  It doesn't matter now because FunCom will never see the launch numbers ever again.

I mean, companies gotta blame someone and look who they blamed.

To me it sounds like he was removed from his position with the option to leave voluntarily. Dunno but that the feeling i got from that statement.

I'm wondering if there's anyone left on Anarchy Online now.   They just keep taking peoples from AO to put them on the AOC crapper.

Moving forward I think the game is in good hands still. Gaute took a lot of flak for lots of decisions made, some right some a bit off I felt. Craig is well known and respected a good candidate for the job. I hope his remarks in the article hold weight as its something Funcom needs to be better at.

This is surely a sign that Funcom has been driven into the ground by the very man who just resigned. I like what Morrison had to say and he reminds me of most of the team at Mythic who are the biggest difference in the world as to why I love Warhammer Online and feel disgusted and repelled by what Funcom and Age of Conan did. It may be too late and Guate sure did leave a big steaming pile of shit for Craig to clean up, but If anyone can save the game, its this guy.  Good-bye Guate.. that was such a noble sacrifice, you realized there was a problem with AoC, and that it was you. Farewell!

He should have been "hanged" (fired) long time ago, at least it's better late than never.  Lets see how things go with this patch and if people cry in tears of joy, then i guess i better reinstall and see if i'll rejoice as well.

At least the person everyone loves to hate is gone, i hope he wasn't just the scape goat but the reason for this mess, else it won't change anything.

Please let there be light and fix AoC finally, the game has a lot of potential.

Is this a whining post?

Can't u see they are taking it seriously. Think this will be a turnaround. New blood is always good.

He's just the public head cut off I am sure more will follow internally. Which means pther people will have to be brought in to come up to speed and that will push things out even farther this patch will be the most you will get for the next 3 to 6 months I bet.

It definitely sounds like a case of "your letter of resignation is expected on my desk by tomorrow".

I'm rather indifferent towards AoC in comparison to being a genuine hater of the game.  Nonetheless, it certainly sounded like Gaute was to blame for a lot of things that went wrong with the game.

What bothers me, however, is his attempt to frame his departure as a statement of principle.  No, you can't do that well after your game is released and that you have held up the impression that all was well with it.  For him to try to claim his resignation is standing up to his game ideals is just an admission that he has been "keeping up appearances" (a nice little euphemism for lying) these past months.

It's a bit like a novelist who participated in every promotional junket surrounding his latest book, claiming it was a modern masterpiece, but who, after it only reached the midlist, publicly repudiates it as an inferior work.  If you do that, return your royalties; otherwise you're just a hypocrite.

 So what would you say if you spent 5 years working on something that you built up to be more than you could possibly deliver, then faced a huge fail when it was released and public outcry? He made some bad decisions, the chickens have finally come home to roost, I wouldn't want to be in his shoes now. I hope the new guy is better, and can get the game on track.

Probably he was given 2 choices:

1. Resign

2. Fired

I honestly did not expect this at all!! this came as a  huge surprise to me! this is big news.

At least for people who have been with funcom for a long time since ao. Craig's involvement will definitely change the game for the better.

I really don't understand the why some of  you guys say its to late for  the game. now I refuse to believe that. they do still have time to make this game better, for a lot of people. and Im sure people will come back if they fix the problems and add the continent people want. so Godager  resigning from aoc is  a good thing, the game needs new fresh eyes on the project and moved things for the better.

Getting Gaute out of there is a bit of a PR dance, seeing as he is one of the company founders from 16 years ago.  I do think they hit the right Donkey on the head, though, and not some scapegoat.

Silirrion has the last 2 years been easily the best GD AO ever had and if FC gives him the resources, authority, and time, he'll put some soul into AoC.  His replacement in AO, former head Dev Means, is an excellent choice there so AO is still holding up well.

At this point I mainly worry that Aas is keeping both eyes on the stock ticker tape when he needs to just put people in the right positions, and chill out for a while and let people like Sil manage the game.

I had this move listed as my number 1 way to begin fixing AoC  post-launch. Craig is a forthwright guy, listens to the community and gets logical changes implemented in a timely manner. If anyone can get this ship off the reef he can.

How Gaute lasted this long I don't know, he should have been sacked after AO's Shadowlands expansion.

If FunCom isn't forced to close it's doors in the next 12-18 months, AoC will become a fun, playable game.

Good Luck Craig, get to work, you got a ton of fires to put out.

Posted elsewhere, but applies here too:

A quote from the release is telltale: "he (Mr. Morrison) has shown a unique ability to tailor development according to the needs and requirements of the players."

Gaute could never do that.   Gaute's "Let them eat cake" style of aloof management from afar and too obviously, proving once again with AoC that he had absolutely no "pulse" on the customer base, I am sure, frustrated the hell out of FunCom. 

Gaute may have actually been asked to resign -- one thing for sure, the folks and FunCom aren't sorry to see him go.  It's the equivalent of hari-kiri career-wise for Gaute, but that's okay, he's been with FunCom for 16 years and I've sure he's taking a good chunk of the company's value with him.

Everything about FunCom has always pointed to "Those who refuse to learn from History are doomed to repeated it."   FunCom, even if Gaute said the contrary,  didn't learn from AO and made many of the same mistakes (and a host of new ones) with AoC.

 What was really annoying the FunCom investors was that AoC was not only underpreforming, it was heading south quickly while Gaute played Nero's fiddle to investors while roleplaying Marie Antoinette to the player community.  

So here we go, history repeats itself -- Craig Morrison to the rescue *AGAIN* ...Craig has a good reputation and track record. He is certainly well accustomed with taking things from a blue funk to harmoniousness with charm and panache, yet in a purposeful, determined way.
 

Originally posted by drarkanex

Resigns??  More like Who did Godager piss off?  Doncha love it how even Erling can be so cordial about techincally firing Godager.  My question is, how can you "Pour your heart out" on a project like AoC and leave/resign/get fired 4 months later.  Why don't people just be truthful and just say what they mean.  Like rats leaving a sinking ship.  I don't understand why they didn't put Craig on AoC to begin with.  It doesn't matter now because FunCom will never see the launch numbers ever again.

I mean, companies gotta blame someone and look who they blamed.

I can only agree with the above.....

Gaute messed up 2 really potentially great games. I mean poor guy, I have no doubt he was living and breathing MMO games, he just didnt have any talent, whatsoever... And then AoC came out and the leadership of funcom finally figure that out.

Craig has a good reputation, sounds to me like he is the right guy to get AoC up and running in about a year....

Kind of funny,  well this is the gist i get at least from reading the article.

Gaute made anarchy online and F'ed it up.  Craig then had to clean it up.  Instead of firing the beaver the first time they gave him a ton of money and let him F something else up.  Now this craig guy has to clean up again.  Why not just of put Craig in charge in the first place.

Originally posted by gotha

Kind of funny,  well this is the gist i get at least from reading the article.

Gaute made anarchy online and F'ed it up.  Craig then had to clean it up.  Instead of firing the beaver the first time they gave him a ton of money and let him F something else up.  Now this craig guy has to clean up again.  Why not just of put Craig in charge in the first place.

Bingo !

Originally posted by AmazingAvery

Moving forward I think the game is in good hands still. Gaute took a lot of flak for lots of decisions made, some right some a bit off I felt. Craig is well known and respected a good candidate for the job. I hope his remarks in the article hold weight as its something Funcom needs to be better at.

He took a lot of flak because ALL decission made on AoC were made by Gaute. The buck, as they say, stopped with him. Not only that but a lot of the "fantastic" ideas that were implemented in AoC were his as well. There is a reason he had to resign Avery.

GODDAGER GOT FIRED!!! Funcom wants to make it look like Goddager left by decision. They also didn't want to make it apparent how horrible the game went to scare future subscribers. Thats how corporate companies do it. I stated during beta that they needed to get rid of the current Conan creators and replace them as they were doing horrible and failed to deliver what was promised. With WAR coming tomorrow  and WOTLK soon, there is no reason for Godagger and Funcom  to pretend there is a future for Conan. Hiring new help to fix it was there only choice, good luck.

resigned? more like was fired...

cashed in his stocks when the AOC hype was in overdrive and is away to buy himself a private island in the caribean

I thnk its a little bit late, and also I think bad decision always include more than one person. Hope AoC can catch up someday.

a rat leaving a sinking ship

I think new leadership is needed when a company makes serious decisions that impact it's reputation in the industry in a very negative way.  It will be interesting to see if new leadership and responsiveness to customer concerns can turn this around.  You only launch once though, so this is a real uphill battle for the new guy.  Maybe this will just put them in a better position for future projects.

LucasArts got new leadership after they and SOE broke and gutted their StarWars game in an attempt to appeal to a different target population.  I'm still waiting to see if SOE will ever get a clue.  A lot of people see John Smedley as someone they never want to do business with again.

EE next please

Clearly something went wrong with the leadership at Funcom to produce this debacle.  Hopefully with some new leadership this game can be turned around.  I think the pieces for a good game are there, it's just getting them implemented that seems to be problematic.

Apparently he saw his own writing on the wall and I wish him the best of luck in his new adventures.

Originally posted by Windlion

I honestly did not expect this at all!! this came as a  huge surprise to me! this is big news.

At least for people who have been with funcom for a long time since ao. Craig's involvement will definitely change the game for the better.

I really don't understand the why some of  you guys say its to late for  the game. now I refuse to believe that. they do still have time to make this game better, for a lot of people. and Im sure people will come back if they fix the problems and add the continent people want. so Godager  resigning from aoc is  a good thing, the game needs new fresh eyes on the project and moved things for the better.

Spoken like one of the herd.  I can believe why people are ney-saying Age of Conan.  I too was one of those ppl backing FunCom up until I started seeing the repetition in those stupid Erlingson vids.  You don't need to be a polished linguist to spot $h~! in those videos.  You get real tired of being told the same thing over and over again and at this point 80% or more of the launch players are not gonna care about jack when they fix all the bugs.   AoC is dead, and don't try to make it sound like it's not.  If you still have a subscription, login and tell me how Old Tarantia is doing and is it bustling with live ppl and not funcom employees and sets?  again, Godager leaving is just like stabbing the pig the last time it kicks.  That'll teach it to wear lipstick.. lol

Remember this as well, AoC was Gautes baby, and him "resigning" is all but both feet in the grave for AoC.  I don't think Craig can save it honestly and he needs to stick with AO, they'll make more money over there.

for the potential AoC had i can't see what's happened as one person's fault. yet, in business and society someone must be sacrificed publicly to try and signify a change. unfortunately for AoC and those of us feeling too burnt to go back, it's too late. my experience with AoC has been so bad i don't think i'll be able to take anything out of Funcom seriously until i see a solid success. not just a, "hey look! now that we got a new guy at the helm this stinking doo doesn't smell quite as bad now."

PR and others can try to spin this in a postitive light all they want but it doesn't change that this is what you see in response to a poor product.    Successes don't have this kind of thing happen. 

This guy was one of the reasons I stopped following AoC in spite of all the cool-sounded features they hyped.    The interviews and videos of the developers inspired no confidence in me that they could pull off what they claimed.     I was less familiar with the other devs but they didn't convince they could either.    If this new person has proven themselves on other games, then that might be what AoC needs. 

It is true this can only help AoC but none of this should come as a surprise to anyone.   The signs of this were clear enough during the game's development if you listened to the dev interviews. 

Originally posted by Alienovrlord

PR and others can try to spin this in a postitive light all they want but it doesn't change that this is what you see in response to a poor product.    Successes don't have this kind of thing happen. 

This guy was one of the reasons I stopped following AoC in spite of all the cool-sounded features they hyped.    The interviews and videos of the developers inspired no confidence in me that they could pull off what they claimed.     I was less familiar with the other devs but they didn't convince they could either.    If this new person has proven themselves on other games, then that might be what AoC needs. 

It is true this can only help AoC but none of this should come as a surprise to anyone.   The signs of this were clear enough during the game's development if you listened to the dev interviews. 

Well stated, you never know, they can turn this game around if they actually try. Hell, even SWG at launch (worse launch than AoC) eventually turned it around.

Good riddance. AOC will never rebound though, it is to far lost and other upcoming MMORPG's are launching soon that will have more attention.

AoC had some great ideas, but they rushed it out. RIP.

Originally posted by airborne519

Originally posted by Alienovrlord

PR and others can try to spin this in a postitive light all they want but it doesn't change that this is what you see in response to a poor product.    Successes don't have this kind of thing happen. 

This guy was one of the reasons I stopped following AoC in spite of all the cool-sounded features they hyped.    The interviews and videos of the developers inspired no confidence in me that they could pull off what they claimed.     I was less familiar with the other devs but they didn't convince they could either.    If this new person has proven themselves on other games, then that might be what AoC needs. 

It is true this can only help AoC but none of this should come as a surprise to anyone.   The signs of this were clear enough during the game's development if you listened to the dev interviews. 

 

Well stated, you never know, they can turn this game around if they actually try. Hell, even SWG at launch (worse launch than AoC) eventually turned it around.

Then look what happened to SWG.

 Resigned?  Doubtful.

AOC will be around for quite awhile, but it will forever be a shell of what was promised.  And for that it will always remain a niche game with a small player base.

It didn't capture me.  I'm a working adult.  I don't have time to invest in a game and hope it turns itself around in 1-2 years.  If it doesn't perform out of the box....it goes back in the box and on my shelf.

Originally posted by Lizante

Posted elsewhere, but applies here too:

A quote from the release is telltale: "he (Mr. Morrison) has shown a unique ability to tailor development according to the needs and requirements of the players."

Gaute could never do that.   Gaute's "Let them eat cake" style of aloof management from afar and too obviously, proving once again with AoC that he had absolutely no "pulse" on the customer base, I am sure, frustrated the hell out of FunCom. 

Gaute may have actually been asked to resign -- one thing for sure, the folks and FunCom aren't sorry to see him go.  It's the equivalent of hari-kiri career-wise for Gaute, but that's okay, he's been with FunCom for 16 years and I've sure he's taking a good chunk of the company's value with him.

Everything about FunCom has always pointed to "Those who refuse to learn from History are doomed to repeated it."   FunCom, even if Gaute said the contrary,  didn't learn from AO and made many of the same mistakes (and a host of new ones) with AoC.

 What was really annoying the FunCom investors was that AoC was not only underpreforming, it was heading south quickly while Gaute played Nero's fiddle to investors while roleplaying Marie Antoinette to the player community.  

So here we go, history repeats itself -- Craig Morrison to the rescue *AGAIN* ...Craig has a good reputation and track record. He is certainly well accustomed with taking things from a blue funk to harmoniousness with charm and panache, yet in a purposeful, determined way.
 

this post nails it to the bone.Pretty much hits the essence of the problems associated with AOC.

sounds like he was "asked" to leave.

anyway how does a journalist who wrote about MMO's have enough experiance to run a whole game?  i know his experiance tells us he is good at managing teams but it doesnt seem like hes as experianced when it comes to games as Godager.  oh well, it can only get better from here i guess

Actually AGE OF CONAN has about 500,000 subscribers that is not a failure and Gaute left for his own reasons and he may have not been the best for the game but he certainly was not the worst so you can pretend AoC is going to die but how can it be dead when it has 50 servers and 500,000 customers???

Originally posted by ILOVEFUNCOM

Actually AGE OF CONAN has about 500,000 subscribers that is not a failure and Gaute left for his own reasons and he may have not been the best for the game but he certainly was not the worst so you can pretend AoC is going to die but how can it be dead when it has 50 servers and 500,000 customers???

Where do you get the 500k from?  Funcom won't tell us how many subscribers they have.  How would you know?

Originally posted by Death1942

sounds like he was "asked" to leave.

 

anyway how does a journalist who wrote about MMO's have enough experiance to run a whole game?  i know his experiance tells us he is good at managing teams but it doesnt seem like hes as experianced when it comes to games as Godager.  oh well, it can only get better from here i guess

I'd suggest looking at Anarchy Online, as that "inexperienced journalist" went from being a player to single-handedly turning AO around. What I seen Craig accomplish in just two years was more than Gaute acomplished in 16.

Edit: To the OP: By the way, it's not "Breaking News" when the users of your site have already reported on and discussed at length the news some 6 hours before this "news" thread was made.

http://mmorpg.com/discussion2.cfm/post/2319032/thread/202285#2319032

http://mmorpg.com/discussion2.cfm/thread/202286/page/1

Good news!!!!

Now we are waiting for the resignation of John Smedley from SoE.....mhhhh that would take a miracle though

Originally posted by xtravert

Originally posted by ILOVEFUNCOM

Actually AGE OF CONAN has about 500,000 subscribers that is not a failure and Gaute left for his own reasons and he may have not been the best for the game but he certainly was not the worst so you can pretend AoC is going to die but how can it be dead when it has 50 servers and 500,000 customers???

 

Where do you get the 500k from?  Funcom won't tell us how many subscribers they have.  How would you know?

i m guessing it was proberbly what he heard from someone in game . every smaller mmo i ve ever played is full of people who think its the best game ever . most actually do have something to offer though i would say to be fair to them .

im not a hater of AOC, but i think this is good for both AOC and FC

I think everyone could see this coming...

A company that defrauds costumer's expectations, selling them a unfinished product (1 million copies sold, they say...), charges them with monthly fees, feeding them with promisses of future great adventures, and other cheap talks...

Trying to sell their costumers an expansion to solve them all their problems and fulfill their dreams... (we all know the buggs and lack of content will still be there)

I just wonder why some people still pay them a monthly fee... are they just kids? are they addicted? don't they feel cheated?
 

Of course this game as no future (I already said it before in 07/10/2007 here: www.mmorpg.com/discussion2.cfm/post/1505908#1505908 , when the game was still in development, and everyone flamed me for making my judgements public) and after all this mess, neither the biggest Producer or Game Director can undo the lack of credibility they managed to achieve.

Originally posted by ste2000

Good news!!!!

Now we are waiting for the resignation of John Smedley from SoE.....mhhhh that would take a miracle though

I am eagerly awaiting the incredibly-long-delayed "Smed Special" game (the one about playing a secret agent). Because I fully expect it to fail magnificently, hopefully finally forcing Smeds to go away.

If Smed does resign, I *might* consider someday giving SOE some of my money again. But they'd have to roll back years worth of bad changes to the games I once played, and I just don't think they will. Too bad, as I really liked old-school Planetside, and I had fun in EQ1 and EQ2 for years. I'd like to revisit them, but omg are they full of drek now :(

About time that he resigns, too bad its a little too late to save the game. Most people have already given up hope on Funcom as a company

I'm guessing he was actually fired.

Craig has done a really cool job with AO. It will be interesting to watch this one fold out in 12 months. 

To all those who re-sub thinking now things will be different. Don't be a sucker!

Granted things may indeed be different but has FC earned that trust? Wait until the game is proven to have been improved before you give FC more money for another marketing ploy.

Originally posted by drarkanex

Resigns??  More like Who did Godager piss off?  Doncha love it how even Erling can be so cordial about techincally firing Godager.  My question is, how can you "Pour your heart out" on a project like AoC and leave/resign/get fired 4 months later.  Why don't people just be truthful and just say what they mean.  Like rats leaving a sinking ship.  I don't understand why they didn't put Craig on AoC to begin with.  It doesn't matter now because FunCom will never see the launch numbers ever again.

I mean, companies gotta blame someone and look who they blamed.

HAHA!  At least they didn't pull an SOE and blame the players for the state of the game!

This would also be the time to add a little trip down memory lane.    History is something that is often overlooked by the MMORPG community.   

http://www.warcry.com/news/view/77595-Jeff-Anderson-Out-As-Turbine-President-CEO

 http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/new-role-for-garriott-at-ncsoft

http://www.playfuls.com/news_10401_Sigil_Games_Online_Going_Down_Blame_Brad_McQuaid.html

Now LotRO did not do all that badly and Tabula Rasa and Vanguard might be able to pull themselves out just like AoC will need to do (quite a few MMORPGs seem to need to do that recently), but people should notice how Kaplan and Chilton at Blizzard are still collecting their paychecks. 

then Age of Conan truely failed, truly

 AOC is in trouble, that's what this story tells me.....nuff said.

First, I think his firing was appropriate.  The game was overhyped on so many different attributes that simply weren't in the game at launch.  That's unnacceptable today.  Maybe 10 years ago you could get away with it, but not today.  I don't think he fully appreciated it.

Second, I think he was infatuated with the combat system so much, that he forgot about making a good game.  I believe he thought customers would just have so much fun mashing different buttons to do combos that it would be the main factor in the game.  He guessed wrong.

Oh well, I don't know if I'll come back to AoC.  Most of the folks I know from that game are gone, my guild left, and I'm having fun in Warhammer.    If Warhammer doesn't deliver, maybe I'll resub back to AoC if I hear things have gotten better under new management.

 I will return to AoC if it improves. I love the Conan story and thought this game has great potential.

 Until then, it's Warhammer for me. And LoTRO. I just need a good Sci-Fi fix.

it's just sad that SWG didn't do the same... lol

but honestly i seen this coming a mile away.   this ship would have sank with such a "politician" as a producer.  Lots of hype and promises but slow results.

maybe in 6 months it'll be worth checking out.

Who cares.

And their not gonna say anything about the huge 250 Mb PVP patch that they released yesterday? people are going back to AoC

 It's a tough industry no doubt.  And Gaute worked hard for a long long time.  No sympathy for sell-outs though, sorry Gaute, I'm glad to see you go.

Originally posted by dkzero

Originally posted by Ugottawantit

Who cares.

Obviously you do, or you wouldn't have posted.

 

.  Just play WAR and have fun.  AoC is a fun game.  So  it didn't come with all the features promised and you feel like you wasted 50 bucks - who cares, get over it and quit bitching.   Poor guy got fired because he didn't realize (or chose to not believe) what a bunch of pompous idiots the mmo community really is. 

He got fired for being a pompous idiot. So, as you say, get over it.

Originally posted by dkzero

Originally posted by WisebutCruel

Originally posted by dkzero

Originally posted by Ugottawantit

Who cares.

Obviously you do, or you wouldn't have posted.

 

.  Just play WAR and have fun.  AoC is a fun game.  So  it didn't come with all the features promised and you feel like you wasted 50 bucks - who cares, get over it and quit bitching.   Poor guy got fired because he didn't realize (or chose to not believe) what a bunch of pompous idiots the mmo community really is. 

He got fired for being a pompous idiot. So, as you say, get over it.

 

 

Kiss blows.

With such a witty repertoire, I wouldn't be surprised to find out you were a FunCom employee. You seem as full of "win" as they do.

Thank God. Best news in years.

I have been hoping this would happen since he gave away in 2002 that he didn't understand how his own game worked. The man couldn't finish a paragraph without using the word "intended," and he almost always managed to insult thousands of people in the process. If not for Silirrion, Anarchy Online would be stone cold dead today, and it's exciting and gratifying that he'll be taking over Age of Conan. Maybe that game can have the bright future it deserves after all.

Fired | resigned... so what?

They could have saved SWG with a similar move. Even it was a smart decision both for FunCom and Goadger. I agree not an easy one.

Also contrary to what some think, AoC will have a second launch with the 360 version and maybe a third launch with Conan movie.

So the game is far from dead, be sure of it.

Originally posted by Qmire

He should have been "hanged" (fired) long time ago, at least it's better late than never.  Lets see how things go with this patch and if people cry in tears of joy, then i guess i better reinstall and see if i'll rejoice as well.

 

At least the person everyone loves to hate is gone, i hope he wasn't just the scape goat but the reason for this mess, else it won't change anything.

 

Please let there be light and fix AoC finally, the game has a lot of potential.

I'm sure he is the scape goat. No one person is at fault. This failure was a team effort. He isn't the programming team.

AOC's fundimental design will keep it from ever being fixed. Too much of a instanced game to ever have that persistant world MMO feel I am looking for.

The only dept I would say did a decent job is the art dept. Shame the programmers couldn't do the art justice. 

Resigned? Bullshit, he was fired and everyone knows it.

I don't know what to make of the "news" on this site anymore. Stradden why not report accurately instead of just reprinting press releases. Geez.

These devs just don't get it, they always over promise and under deliver. When will MMO developers learn that the majority of MMO players don't have the patience to play un-finished and buggy games.
 

Originally posted by dhayes68

To all those who re-sub thinking now things will be different. Don't be a sucker!

Granted things may indeed be different but has FC earned that trust? Wait until the game is proven to have been improved before you give FC more money for another marketing ploy.

Don't forget the power of free play to lure people into giving another shot down the line.  EQ1, DAoC, and even the stillborn AutoAssault rolled out free play by activating all unpaid/suspended accounts in order to give disgruntled or otherwise lapsed subscribers a chance to come back in and see the changes at no cost.

Once new guy comes in and makes some serious changes, FunCom would be stupid not to do this, considering all the players like me who let their subscriptions lapse.  Few may pony up $15 to check out the changes down the line, but a week or two of  play at no financial risk to the player could bring back many more..

I'm thinking of all those level 80 toons in limbo who would suddenly have something to do in the game...

Originally posted by Snivius

Originally posted by dhayes68

To all those who re-sub thinking now things will be different. Don't be a sucker!

Granted things may indeed be different but has FC earned that trust? Wait until the game is proven to have been improved before you give FC more money for another marketing ploy.

 

Don't forget the power of free play to lure people into giving another shot down the line.  EQ1, DAoC, and even the stillborn AutoAssault rolled out free play by activating all unpaid/suspended accounts in order to give disgruntled or otherwise lapsed subscribers a chance to come back in and see the changes at no cost.

Once new guy comes in and makes some serious changes, FunCom would be stupid not to do this, considering all the players like me who let their subscriptions lapse.  Few may pony up $15 to check out the changes down the line, but a week or two of  play at no financial risk to the player could bring back many more..

I'm thinking of all those level 80 toons in limbo who would suddenly have something to do in the game...

Trying Free-play after many changes would be sensible. Re-subbing within a month of this announcement would be foolish.

Mr. Gaute Godager should have never been in front of AOC after the mess he did with Shadowlands, what the hell was FC thinking. At least now thing might get fixed.

 Resigned?  lol, sorry that word has another interpretation in business speak for executives, to us ordinary folk the word is FIRED!

And rightly so!

The problem with that is, it  does not solve the connumdrum that the rest of the development staff is faced with, how to save this game with so many of his goofy ideas heavily embedded in the game.

Originally posted by airborne519

Originally posted by Alienovrlord

PR and others can try to spin this in a postitive light all they want but it doesn't change that this is what you see in response to a poor product.    Successes don't have this kind of thing happen. 

This guy was one of the reasons I stopped following AoC in spite of all the cool-sounded features they hyped.    The interviews and videos of the developers inspired no confidence in me that they could pull off what they claimed.     I was less familiar with the other devs but they didn't convince they could either.    If this new person has proven themselves on other games, then that might be what AoC needs. 

It is true this can only help AoC but none of this should come as a surprise to anyone.   The signs of this were clear enough during the game's development if you listened to the dev interviews. 

 

Well stated, you never know, they can turn this game around if they actually try. Hell, even SWG at launch (worse launch than AoC) eventually turned it around.

SWG eventually turned what around?  The game bled subs because it was broken and missing important game systems at release.  The first game revamp caused a jump in cancellations because it didn't fix and complete the game, it replaced it with a broken attempt to copy WoW.  The second game revamp apparently caused the cancellation servers to crash as more than 100 000 people are said to have quit when the game lost most of its professions, much of its content, and all player progress, as SOE attempted to completely redo the game in 3 months, to copy features from both WoW and Battlefront.

One of the hottest topics currently about this game is what to do with all of the empty servers.  SWG has gone from bad to worse, and from bleeding subs to mass exodus.  I can't imagine what you mean by saying the game has turned around.

The dutch are real stubborn people. Glad to see he's gone and it will make the game better.

Originally posted by googajoob7

Originally posted by xtravert

Originally posted by ILOVEFUNCOM

Actually AGE OF CONAN has about 500,000 subscribers that is not a failure and Gaute left for his own reasons and he may have not been the best for the game but he certainly was not the worst so you can pretend AoC is going to die but how can it be dead when it has 50 servers and 500,000 customers???

 

Where do you get the 500k from?  Funcom won't tell us how many subscribers they have.  How would you know?

 

i m guessing it was proberbly what he heard from someone in game . every smaller mmo i ve ever played is full of people who think its the best game ever . most actually do have something to offer though i would say to be fair to them .

The fact is that FunCom, at Leipzig announced their sales and subscription figures.  Age of Conan sold over 800,000 boxes worldwide and, as of the end of the second quarter (that's 30 June 2008) more than 415,000 paid subscriptions were still active.

Third quarter subscription numbers should be available around 10-15 October 2008.  Whether FunCom decides to release those or not, time will tell.  However, knowledgeable, informed sources estimate third quarter AoC subscriptions to dip well below the quarter million mark (250,000).

Originally posted by ArcAngel3

Originally posted by airborne519

Originally posted by Alienovrlord

PR and others can try to spin this in a postitive light all they want but it doesn't change that this is what you see in response to a poor product.    Successes don't have this kind of thing happen. 

This guy was one of the reasons I stopped following AoC in spite of all the cool-sounded features they hyped.    The interviews and videos of the developers inspired no confidence in me that they could pull off what they claimed.     I was less familiar with the other devs but they didn't convince they could either.    If this new person has proven themselves on other games, then that might be what AoC needs. 

It is true this can only help AoC but none of this should come as a surprise to anyone.   The signs of this were clear enough during the game's development if you listened to the dev interviews. 

 

Well stated, you never know, they can turn this game around if they actually try. Hell, even SWG at launch (worse launch than AoC) eventually turned it around.

 

SWG eventually turned what around?  The game bled subs because it was broken and missing important game systems at release.  The first game revamp caused a jump in cancellations because it didn't fix and complete the game, it replaced it with a broken attempt to copy WoW.  The second game revamp apparently caused the cancellation servers to crash as more than 100 000 people are said to have quit when the game lost most of its professions, much of its content, and all player progress, as SOE attempted to completely redo the game in 3 months, to copy features from both WoW and Battlefront.

One of the hottest topics currently about this game is what to do with all of the empty servers.  SWG has gone from bad to worse, and from bleeding subs to mass exodus.  I can't imagine what you mean by saying the game has turned around.

I'll bring it down to the ground for you, Angel.

What you can't imagine is quite simple, really.  He's talking about the bumpy launch SWG had when it originally launched.  (And the game did turn around nicely a bit after it went live).  *You're* talking about NGE, which happened years later. 

All clear? Good ;)

I sincerely hope Godager will not find job at Blizzard or Mythic to ruin things also there.

Originally posted by pre_mar

I sincerely hope Godager will not find job at Blizzard or Mythic to ruin things also there.

That's the beauty of it. He not only got run out of FunCom, he got run out of the entire industry. Read his "resignation" again.

Edit:

Gaute Godager--

“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.”
 

Craig should have been the first person on the scene, not the guy who's name sounds like a flesh-eating fungus.

I'm actually happy I fought the urge to sell my AoC account and get my money back. I'm going to keep an eye on it now and see if it improves; the game always had major potential but up until now that's all it had. Now it might actually have promise, too.

LOL can anyone say VANGUARD!  It dont matter what you say when the lead guy walks its not looking good. For AOC he is not the LAST or 1st one to make all the decisions. I'm just saying lets not go la la and blam ALL the problems AoC had on ONE guy .

Originally posted by zunarn

These devs just don't get it, they always over promise and under deliver. When will MMO developers learn that the majority of MMO players don't have the patience to play un-finished and buggy games.
 

Because they had a decade of tradition that convinced them that they COULD shove unfinished buggy games and people would pay for them.     That  lovely tradition started with UO and became the 'standard' of the industry for years.   Or don't people remember all those launches?

There were a couple of companies that didn't follow that path but they were the minority.  Blizzard set a new bar with WoW.   Remember when it was released?  In spite of the server problems it was considered one of the most 'polished' MMORPGs ever.  Which simply meant it had a stable engine that could actually be played by most people.  For MMORPGs that was a breakthrough.   

Now things have changed and with MMORPGs entering the mainstream market the over-hype and lack of results that MMORPGs developers dished out for so many year just won't work anymore.     Just another example of the evolution the genre so desperately needed. 

To be honest, the software industry as a whole is not famous by having high commercial standards and honesty. Just look at Windows every time Microsoft is launching a new version. They have to repair it by launching an SP1, SP2, SP3 etc. And Microsoft IS a serious company compared to industry standards...but now just imagine Ford or GM trying to sell a new car with such problems...they would be instantly out of business and a milion of lawyers would knock at their doors...

I'm wondering if this guy doomed all of Funcom first.

I saw him take down AO miserably with disaster after disaster directly attributable to him. When he thoroughly trashed the game and moved to start on a new MMO I knew to stay 10,000 feet away from whatever it was.

The guy is a master of spin and always tries to sell you garbage in his games on a solid gold platter.

Maybe Funcom can manage to turn itself around now. I'd love to see Ragnar Tornquist do a sequel to AO the way it should have been done before Gaute tried to make it EPIC EQ1!!!

Its a small wonder why Gaute Godager has resigned after the numerous failures and the inability of Age of Conan to deliver its overly hyped game features.

I admit, the game does have good potential (at least what was advertised) but sadly they have a poor project management team in my humble opinion; no one with enough sense or balls to steer the game development in the right direction. Instead they blindly trudged on with blinds over their eyes not paying attention to what the users were crying out for, which was (most importantly) fixes for the game's technical problems.

No one wants to sit and look at beautiful graphics forever, you can always take a walk in nature for that. Customers pay money for the ability to play a game. End of Story. So if they can't get that, what do you expect?

I don't know what effects that his resignation will have for the future of the game, only time will tell. But for me, its still too little too late. I am not going to waste any more money on Failcom, not for a very loooog while.

I agree, it may be too little too late.  I put alot of faith in AoC.  I WANTED it to be the only game I played for the next 5+ years.  Then it got here.  Tortage was amazing, and I thought "wow, the hype was all true. I'm home!"  and then ....... it only took two short months for the pendulum to swing all the way from loyal to disgruntled.

I have nothing but best wishes for AoC, but barring some sort of cosmic event, I won't be going back.  I've already moved on.  I suspect that a good chunk of the people that have already ended their subs feel exactly the same way, and no matter how great a game AoC someday becomes, most of those day one people who cancelled won't be back.  Even if it becomes the "perfect" game, by then, they'll already be hip deep in something else. 

As someone already stated, you only get one launch.  AoC will never be the game we all wanted it to be.  It might grow enough to sustain itself for awhile, maybe even turn a profit, but it'll never be the big dog again.

Best case scenario here is, FC can improve AoC enough to salvage some reputation so that maybe they receive more than a lukewarm welcome on any new games.  Of course in order for even this to work, Craig will have to be as good as they say he is, and he better be at the stick when round 3 comes.

Good news, good news.

Is there even anyone that feels sorry for this guy?  Hahaha......

Sil, in his day, ran the largest fansite for AO, was an active member of the AOVault, an active player in a circle of folks that included the then community manager, Daigalean, and a few devs from other games as well.

He later became Community Manager and people found that they were being heard finally.

The list of accolades goes from there...

Gaute has conceptualized two incredibly unique games who were both hurt in product launch by poor balance, bugs, rushed delivery, and a lack of dynamic content.

Anyone who was at launch for AO will tell you the same.

It's one thing to have a great game idea, and another to make it appeal to the masses.

Silrillion has already shown an ability to make that happen, and Gaute has not.

That is no disrespect to Gaute Godager as he (with a good design and development team) will make other games in the future, and they will also prove to be unique in the MMO genre.

Nothing wrong with healthy skepticism, just try and make it informed

Im suprised nobody has made the vanguard comparison. SUPER crappy luanch, horrible game for about a year, and now Vanguard is starting to rebound a bit, and will moreso with its "relaunch" coming up shortly. This loks like a very similar circumstance to me, thou im not really willing to wait a year to play a good, working AoC, theres to much good stuff comeing out in between that time lol

Funcom is definitely coming back to Earth...I wonder how many shares GG will sell when he is allowed to at the start of Q4?  Probably a lot...making Funcom's stock situation look even worse.  Even now it is the ugliest chart Ive seen minus maybe Bear Stearns and Lehman Brothers.

Guess his prime steak is not so good anymore :)

Actually they are still doing pretty well.  Have to wait until next month to see how damaging War has been to them.

I agree with the above poster, have to wait and see how (or if) WAR affects AoC at all.  Hopefully a new guy in charge can keep things going in a positive direction.

Part of the complaints about AoC are probably due to people's standards not living up to the hype surrounding the game.  I enjoy it, servers were stable at launch and steady updates and bug fixes.

It has been a bit silent around AoC for a while, anyone know how they are doing?

They are doing fine.  Not multi-million subs like That Other Game, but turning a profit I'm sure.  They just added some more 50ish content to the game as well as the PvP Consequence system.

I think all the cries of "it's dead" or "Failcom failed again" come from people having unrealistic expectations of this game.  There was a LOT of hype about it before it came out to the point I knew it wouldn't be what everyone was pumping it up to be.  I still play because it meets my expectations of a MMO based off Howard's original pulp stories.