Leipzig Interview with Erling Ellingsen, Part One - Age of Conan: Unchained Videos

Narshe writes: Lots of apologies.. Thu Sep 04 2008 7:15AM Report

Meyithi writes: 8 minutes and forty six seconds of "Sorry, we will fix it". Which is fine I guess, they can't do much else about it. Thu Sep 04 2008 7:15AM Report

Tsnow writes: WOW!! I realy don't trust anything this guy says...at all.. Thu Sep 04 2008 7:22AM Report

alien1984 writes: Age of Crap. Thu Sep 04 2008 7:38AM Report

Mattissimo writes: Thanks Mr. Wood, good interview! Thu Sep 04 2008 8:00AM Report

Rohne writes: Nice interview Jon, unfortunately for Erling and Funcom they have no credibility and with WAR only 14 days away they really have no chance of getting many players back. They gambled with releasing an unfinished product at release, failed and it's taken way too long to put out any fix with substance. Thu Sep 04 2008 8:13AM Report

tp1hobss writes: They read "ALL" the comments on the forum? I doubt not...if they had, they would understand what an immature community exists there and the abuse of the forum moderators in response to the said community. Thu Sep 04 2008 8:16AM Report

actionfitz writes: I'd like to invite mr Ellingsen to cordially go attempt reproduction with himself. people like him put the Fail. in failCOM. we listened to his BS pre-launch, not hearing anything he has to say anymore - is he sorry enough to refund half the cost of AoC to everyone? since we only got half of what was advertised... Thu Sep 04 2008 8:34AM Report

Ghist writes: Sorry but most of the rats have left this sinking ship. If this was months ago and Funcom wasn't calling its dung steak, then this might be an effective press release. But now that they are facing a population 1/3 of what originally bought this game, this is nothing but cheap damage control. Thu Sep 04 2008 8:37AM Report

Gorilla writes: An apology wow who would have thought it! Still spinning things but finally back pedalling furiously. Thu Sep 04 2008 8:39AM Report

MicrobeX writes: they don't delete forum post? WTF he been hitting the booze early? I had a guildmate not only get his post deleted but is forum account BAN... for suggesting that FunCom gives the players base that was __still__ playing a week/month off for the silly fiasco of one of the fubar patch. Personally I don't care anymore... I moved on into my next MMO Thu Sep 04 2008 8:50AM Report

Deto123 writes: Were sorry we want to make sure it s done right, were sorry blah blah blah. Heres an idea wait till it was ready before game launched? Wow is all i can say. Thu Sep 04 2008 8:54AM Report

david361107 writes: LOL, it only took them 4 months to say they were sorry, what a joke Thu Sep 04 2008 9:02AM Report

Hardas writes: man no one is this self delusional...he is full of shit the AOC was bigest dissapointment in MMO history...also moved to another MMO , since I installed this piece of crap on my PC I kept crashing in any game, since I removed it havent crashed once... Thu Sep 04 2008 9:16AM Report

gestalt11 writes: Anyone who says "completely" "everything" "whole team all the time" "Not true at all" is full of crap. Obvious tell for lip service and disregarding of reality. Thu Sep 04 2008 9:37AM Report

Daedren writes: American sunshine, Erling. AMERICAN SUNSHINE. /American sunshine. Thu Sep 04 2008 9:49AM Report

Lieven writes: @Deto123 I think you mean: We is sorry we wants to make sure it are done right, we is sorry blah blah blah Thu Sep 04 2008 10:16AM Report

gotha writes: Got suck being the pr guy for a company like funcom. He looks like he is about to snap. Thu Sep 04 2008 10:17AM Report

dshots100 writes: all I'm hearing is blah blah, less talking more update, i'm slowly losing interest in AoC, i havent played in like 4 weeks Thu Sep 04 2008 10:33AM Report

vala2008 writes: if the PVP isnt a major feature for him why is he working for a PvP game...the entire pvp was a no go and gank fest...thats not my game and as most people i think we will all move over to WAR is coming out in 2 weeks so who is gonna do PvP AoC or WAR? I be honest...i was worried about the pvp system coming out as the amount of serious system failures due to this game makes me think what could happen with the pvp system? Thu Sep 04 2008 10:33AM Report

craynlon writes: even tough we heared the answers over and over now the questions really rocked. my deepest respect for mmorpg.com and jon wood for asking these questions to a company that obviously spends a lot of money on ads these days Thu Sep 04 2008 10:35AM Report

Rebn77 writes: Alright Jon! Great interview on your part, no softball questions! Next time could you interview Thorbjorn Olsen? He isn't as annoying to watch. Thu Sep 04 2008 10:38AM Report

Ephimero writes: I wonder why they didn't announce the lack of DX10, you can't play with your players like that and then apology saying the boxes were already printed, I understand the boxes were already printed, but reading everything about the game, you couldn't find anything about that lack of DX10, thus why people consider it as a dirty tactic to sell boxes. It's quite obvious that the game was rushed and people are and were paying for a beta version, naming it in a different manner for such a community as MMORPG.com's won't work out. Thu Sep 04 2008 10:47AM Report

Bazanko writes: blah blah blah, Erling is like a school boy sat out side the headmasters office, obviously had a spanking after his last interview. Now being in his possition in the company he speaks for the company in interviews and demos its his job. so now coming back saying it was his own opinion is bollocks. also as another poster stated the box went to print it was to late to change them so why did you keep quiet?? same goes for the date`s missed. but as soon as the interview goes to up coming content the tone of voice changes and the bulls**t starts flowing freely. sorry once a liar always a liar! Thu Sep 04 2008 11:02AM Report

Punkins1234 writes: FAILCOM! Thu Sep 04 2008 11:14AM Report

ToFyZer writes: Guys instead you say something about this (video), go here http://www.massively.com/2008/08/23/new-age-of-conan-video-showcases-coming-content/ and See THIS video Thu Sep 04 2008 11:25AM Report

DarkPony writes: I almost start to feel bad for Erling. Wouldn't wanna be in his shoes ( and even less in a dev's shoes); working in a team for years on a great mmo game and seeing it blow up in your face after launch. I hope they will get over it and over time, get the chance to make a great game out of AoC. (And get rid of instanced public zones in the meantime). Then I might just give it another shot. Thu Sep 04 2008 12:35PM Report

Sepulcher writes: Well at least he completely understands the concerns. (only said that like 50 times) Too bad they won't be doing anything to aleviate those concerns. Thu Sep 04 2008 12:36PM Report

CarnageKnight writes: Should of delayed the game about a year. They worried about people being upset about it but make them more upset on a half done job.It just shows, dont rush things. Thu Sep 04 2008 12:38PM Report

Unfinished writes: Great work Jon! Nice to see you asking hardball questions. Thu Sep 04 2008 12:38PM Report

Elmoren writes: Well, this one certainly went better then the last one. But lets see. You don't feel PVP was a major feature on a game you openly admit has a shallow leveling curve (at best). What else should I do at level 80 (after I get there in 2 weeks) aside from not siege buildings and pvp? I'm happy you're sorry and sympathize with the community on DX10, that doesn't change much though. You're right you should have not pushed DX10 into the game if it wasn't ready (especially if somehow the DX9 version would have been worse). Delay the launch again, fix it. Not moderating your forums for negative content? I never experienced negative customer service of any kind the 2 weeks I played the game, so I'll go ahead and throw out the hypothetical "everyone but you is lying" situation. Funcom probably doesn't have the resources to monitor every thread at every moment, so there's negativity on there - like you said. Duh. But with this many people saying their posts are disappearing? I'm going to end my hypothetical situation here and say you're both probably lying. Delaying launch would have lost some interest, and possibly generated more. However now you've released a game that has the worst reputation on the MMO market, with features still missing 3 months later, and you've swung the nerf bat and struck out more than the mighty Casey himself. AOC will never be the game you wanted it to be because of all that, you shouldn't have released it in the shape it was in. Your stock is even telling you that. If you were running out of money, you shouldn't have made an MMO. Don't do something halfway and push it out the door. Vanguard, Tabula Rasa, Pirates of the Burning Sea, and many other failed titles should have provided plenty of warning for what happens when you do this. AOC's going to bleed members and sit around on the MMO graveyard gates until someone finally pulls the plug. However I doubt that'll be anytime soon. Look how much other junk is still around. Thu Sep 04 2008 1:18PM Report

CujoSWAoA writes: Sepulcher..... "they won't be doing anything to aleviate it"? Are you serious? You think they're just sitting at their desks sucking on cigars and laughing at everyone? My god man. Patch after patch has already hit the game. Patch after Patch are GOING to hit the game every passing week, month, year. Age of Conan will build on what it has and it'll polish itself out as the ball rolls on through time. Christ, get over your unreasonable angers, they're unbecoming of your intelligence. Thu Sep 04 2008 1:23PM Report

Windlion writes: You guys really have to relax on that hate you have for people you don't know even know personally. Yeah the game has issues but really, what game doesn't have problems?? I am not going to mention any games but how many times have developer's mentioned that they would add a certain zone or feature and it never made it in. but anways nice work Jon. Thu Sep 04 2008 1:31PM Report

Rebn77 writes: Windlion - 12 years of playing MMOs has taught me something .... NOT all MMOs launch with MAJOR problems, MAJOR content missing, MAJOR moderation by extremists on official boards, and MAJOR PR spins and lies. You guys need to find a better defense. Thu Sep 04 2008 1:48PM Report

theniffrig writes: Good interview Jon. Someone needs to ask those hard questions! Thu Sep 04 2008 1:50PM Report

Enigma writes: Erling kept on stating "which is normal for MMOs when they first come out." Wrong, Erling. That was the case 4 years ago. That excuse is not valid today. Sorry. Thu Sep 04 2008 1:56PM Report

Eveeldour writes: too late! lawlz Thu Sep 04 2008 2:18PM Report

GalvanizeX9 writes: im not going to lie, this video felt like a breath of fresh air when he admited that they messed up with dx10 being put on the box because that was a big issue over on the main sites forums about being lied to from funcom. furthermore, it is nice to hear that erling ellingsen talked about what they are doing for progress with the team and how they are doing it. not just saying "hey were working hard stuff will come soon!" but actually saying hey this is whats going on this is what happened were sorry for everything" Really nice to hear Thu Sep 04 2008 2:27PM Report

Vallador writes: They are fixing the bugs? AoC world is about 15% size of what I would expect from the mmorpg world. On the top of that it is all instanced and invisible walls everywhere turn this mmo into simple arcade game with character development system. How are they plan to fix that? Thu Sep 04 2008 2:34PM Report

chryses writes: Ok we have all worked out that AoC needs * content * deliver on DX10 * deliver more pvp content Personally I am getting tired of reading and watching videos with the same questions over and over. The interview is 8 minutes long and I would prefer to see Jon ask questions like 'WHAT content are you working on? WHAT PvP content are you going to roll out soon? WHERE do you see AoC in 1 year?' etc etc. Hardball questions are good but really when you keep asking the same questions we are just going to get 8 minutes of sorry this and sorry that. Lets hear what is being done and when its coming out please! Thu Sep 04 2008 2:35PM Report

donoak writes: Well what I got from that is that Funcom can make all the promises they want and if they later think it is not "in the best interest of the game" they can then break any and all of those promises. In other works you can't believe a word we say!! Thu Sep 04 2008 2:49PM Report

Hamrtime2 writes: blah blah blah...oink oink oink Thu Sep 04 2008 2:52PM Report

Player_420 writes: I think the big part was it sounds like they were making EVERYTHING to production in open beta, so the beta client was on discs. Then they were just working on a little patch for launch day, but wait in open beta they only let you play tortage! LOL also people are getting banned from their forums left and right, its a real mess and by completely BSin is all about it wont help. Thu Sep 04 2008 3:10PM Report

MephistoXV writes: I'm just waiting for one of his interviewers to snap the public barrier of speech and ask agressively "Why is this shit still missing?" Or just for Erling to slip and just admit directly to the camera that they screwed the pooch and they know. Thu Sep 04 2008 3:21PM Report

Hathi writes: Whole lot of "I understand your concerns.." Who is he? Clinton? All you had to do was be upfront with your stuff. Keep communication lines open with your fans and they will forgive your missteps. Thu Sep 04 2008 3:23PM Report

LoboMau writes: Too late to say "Im sorry"... Thu Sep 04 2008 3:27PM Report

Zoulz writes: I think it's strong to admit the game have problems. I wish AoC the best of luck. I doubt it will survive the onslaught of WAR and WotLK though. The game industry is a harsh business. Thu Sep 04 2008 3:29PM Report

jaxsundane writes: The answers to these questions are still generally vague the truth of the matter is it's only the first time they have admitted anything went wrong up to this point they have been touting this "successful launch" by who's standards? Only a shareholder because if the game is as bad as this game has been on so many fronts it certainly doesn't do anything for the customers you constantly put last no matter what you say. So now he finally addressed the players concerns? I still don't see it I haven't heard an announcement about anything they are going to finally get around to with the exception of DX10 which ironically only improves one of the games only strong points which are it's graphics. I won't directly question anyones point of view over what is being said and done with regards to this company and this game but for me I only see alot of the same old bad management/direction. Thu Sep 04 2008 3:48PM Report

jadan2000 writes: At this point, i dont really care why things werent there. i want to know that they ahve made changes to make sure things dotn go missing anymore. i want to see prgess that they can make deadlines. and people can believe in what they say. Thu Sep 04 2008 3:52PM Report

zechz writes: i have bought the game played and quit so since you claim you read this here is my small piece of advice to you. no ammount of work you do at this time will work to bring people back. they just dont trust you. wait for all the releases this year, war, aion, WoW. and just work on a major patch, a big allmost expansion like patch in witch you will have to modify some game mechanics and improve on the existing ones, and ofc add lots of other content aswell. dont announce this major game update because you will just miss the date and piss people off. stop saying stuff like your working on a expansion, no one wants to hear that when the game is in a poor state. none will pay for your expansion unless you recover some serious ground. People will not return now even if all the bugs were fixed and all the features promised implemented. You just have to trick them into returning, use words like "revamped" "revised" "reworked" in the newsletter annoucing the above mentioned patch. Conan could work out in the end you people just have a bad way of doing things. The interview was quite good, personaly i wished he asked about actual curent active subs. Thu Sep 04 2008 3:52PM Report

IAmMMO writes: looks like they need to set their sights on AOC for consoles. As that's their last chance to have any great success for the game and reduce the Pc one to a niche MMO. Thu Sep 04 2008 4:03PM Report

mindw0rk writes: Nice interview and important questions being asked. While AoC didnt meet my expectations, I'd like to see it improve with time. Maybe Funcom should hire some MMO industry vets who know better about good design? Because at current form game has lots of flaws Thu Sep 04 2008 4:19PM Report

Paragus1 writes: Jon, thank you so much for holding him accountable for and pressing him on the issues. Why I find his answers to be unsatisfactory and some bordering on outright lies (forum moderation), I have to say you represented the concerns of this community very well. I am glad someone else besides me is a big believer in accountability. You make them squirm and it is a joy to watch. Thu Sep 04 2008 4:44PM Report

AngleWyrm writes: Bravo, Erling, and keep up the good work. Age of Conan is cutting edge, and of course that means a little bleeding edge. Looking forward to your updates. Thu Sep 04 2008 4:59PM Report

ZeroKORE writes: Over 400k "Active" players my arse. Hopefully other development teams will learn from funcoms mistakes and not release such unfinished products while making it worse with each patch. When someone pays hard earned money for a product, they simply expect their investment to work. Or reap the consequences. You will never have what you could have had. And believe you me, this is not only effecting AoC's numbers - this will pass on to that one other MMO funcom is in the making of. You already sealed its fate. Thu Sep 04 2008 5:06PM Report

EduardoASG writes: total BS.. they only read the forum people able to post.. they just ban the negative posts. He is lying about the forum.. i know several people including myself and 2 friends of mine who were banned for posting legit complains about the game and the bad service provided. Tahitoa is prolly the worst forum moderator ever and AoC bad comunity and nazi foruns reflect it in Europe at least. Thu Sep 04 2008 5:11PM Report

mackdawg19 writes: The forums are not bad at all. It's funny how alot of the valid post's or threads people talk about, were actually spam threads. You nows ones that start with "OMFG, FIX your GAMEWTF???" or "Famine, fix your game". Most of your were pointed to the Social Guidelines, but instead of reading them you decided to post anyways. This goes for alot of you who think you read the dam rules. Now that I have said that, this game sucks. :) Thu Sep 04 2008 6:27PM Report

landfall writes: This ladies and gentlemen is the perfect example of who not to pick as a spokesman. The guy can barely speak english... but then again if I worked for funcom and was confronted I'd pretend I couldn't speak english too. Thu Sep 04 2008 6:44PM Report

UberKnot writes: Great job dont worry about those who dont want to play. Keep working on the game and making progress. Some of them WILL be back. Thu Sep 04 2008 6:48PM Report

PapaLazarou writes: Dunno about you but I could understand him perfectly and if you don't think thats English then you need to get off the drugs. Thu Sep 04 2008 7:01PM Report

PapaLazarou writes: Also mmorpg stream sucks and when I post a comment I don't want it to refresh my page........ Thu Sep 04 2008 7:02PM Report

AmazingAvery writes: Good interview - Erling so long as you appreciate that you customers are not only giving you money but paying so for the thing they love best. As gamers yourselfs at FC - relating to us not just as customers but gamers to and understanding the issues and putting yourselfs in our shoes when issues occur, go such a long, long way. Continue to prioritize, continue to have the philosphy of having content as ready as it can be for launch and continue to have a decent roadmap and some people will be drawn back. Its a good basis and needs to be fleshed out more. Good luck, many people are watching and thanks for the time you have taken to address this communities concerns. Thu Sep 04 2008 7:15PM Report

Selencia writes: You can't help but feel sorry for the PR guy and the programmers working on the game. I highly doubt it was their choice to make the game as linear and boring as it really is. You can probably thank the top executives at Funcom and the shareholders for that. Thu Sep 04 2008 7:27PM Report

solareus writes: If he would of just did this before launch , he would of saved face but it is to late for me at least. Just sounds like a tap dance now and he will need to really prove it with solid game updates and no nonsense from here on out when talking to the games community. As far as boxes at print, you can print 50,000 boxes every 5 hours. Now that everything is computerized, changing the type is no big deal. They could of easily recycled the printed boxes and had 500k boxes reprinted in a few days. The only way that they wouldnt of been able to repackage is if they had the entire product assembled in warehouse storage. Manufacturing snafu's are just an excuse for something else and would just say that "hey it was a mistake on our part" instead of going into a long manufacturing explanation cause a lot of people work or worked in that particular industry. :) Thu Sep 04 2008 7:41PM Report

PapaLazarou writes: Seems to me that everyone whose bitching is trying to bitch about the smallest things....... who buys a game for DX10? nonoone. Promised content not in at launch? Yeh cause what mmorpg has ever launched with all the promised content? None of them have. Thu Sep 04 2008 7:43PM Report

Kilrain writes: Some of the most childish people I have ever had the pleasure to read comments from, I for one am very happy I wont be seeing any of you in game anymore. Oh wait, I bet you bitch and whine then log on and kill someone. As for warhammer, here's something that is more familiar to your speak.. OMFGWARISGOINGTOSUCKBALLS! Thu Sep 04 2008 8:05PM Report

solareus writes: LotrO launched with all items listed on the box. :D Thu Sep 04 2008 8:05PM Report

Sinent writes: you guys are seriously tuff and please stop stating warhammer is coming I personally could give a rats azz about warhammer but i did like aoc and id love to see them polish and make it a great game. Thu Sep 04 2008 8:12PM Report

Asturiano writes: lies... lies and more lies... I can accept they decided to take of DX10 before launch to work on better performance.. and of course cant stop box priting.. But if you do this a month before launch you have 1 month in wich you know DX10 will not be on release.. if you wanna be legal . you can say it on forums o web before launch.. But of course money takes it all.. Very sorry for my english.. not my native... Thu Sep 04 2008 8:46PM Report

Mithrandolir writes: Way too little, too late imo. I wish it wasn't the case, but it is. The game will obviously survive, but with a small, niche player base that is minuscule in comparison to what it was at launch, and what it could have been. Good job Jon in sticking to this con artist. Thu Sep 04 2008 8:46PM Report

freakworld writes: In hope they are really reading this. Please put out server transfers. Also, give the people on PVE server a chance to move there alts to PVP servers. Normally I would be against it. But when I and many others made our toon. We did not know about murder points. If we had, We would have went to a PVP server. I want to play the game and PVP. But just did not want to be in or have any part of old players ganking new players. Ya I get I did not have to be a part of it. But you know at least 90% of the guild has at least one loser doing it. Thu Sep 04 2008 9:19PM Report

cbas writes: "We really understand"... repeat many times. Yes he's sooo sorry that advertised features could not be in the game. So very sorry QQ... Well I tell you what I wish I could pay you full price for this game, but I can't. I really really wanted to but you know I had to make a choice and I decided you were only worth $15.95. How's that? Is that good enough for you Funcom? How about you Erling? I didn't think so. Thanks Jon for a good interview. Thu Sep 04 2008 9:23PM Report

Crackbone writes: They had until August. WAR is launching in a week. -End of the line for AoC. Thu Sep 04 2008 9:43PM Report

SBE1 writes: Too bad it seems a lot of people at Funcom considered PvP a "minor" issue. Since most folks played on a PvP server, I guess it wasn't so minor. However, the vast majority of players have quit (including me) because of the PvP "minor" issue. Totally unbelievable. You sold a lot of boxes on false promises, congrats! You lost a lot of subscribers, and Funcom deserves it. Thu Sep 04 2008 9:54PM Report

unknown writes: I made two Lv80 Characters in 2 weeks on PvP Fury server and seen about 80% of raiding content in this game. So this comment is coming from someone that knows what he is talking about. There is no hope for this game, the basic and fundamental mechanism of this game for PvP is broken and flawed, (One example: Gem system) and raiding experience is horrible, the Boss mobs reset for no apparent reason and most can be glitch killed. (Example: you can walk under the floor to kill the boss) Worst game I ever played, do not bother buying this game. If you are looking for Raiding game go play WoW, if you are bored of WoW and want something new with more PvP, play WAR. I am so disappointed about this game, that I had to make an account just to warn people about trying this crap of game they call AoC. Do not do it, believe me, it is not worth your time when you have better alternatives on the market. Thu Sep 04 2008 10:16PM Report

krazymagic writes: I just would like to see them address the abysmmal Server populations that are now the Number 1 killer for this game in my opinion.... Some servers toppping out at just 300 or 400 players at peak times. This is a HUGE problem that isnt getting any attention. Thu Sep 04 2008 10:25PM Report

Talemire writes: Wow... I really don't know what to say to put a finger on my exact feelings about this. All that comes to mind is not only how much of a clown he was put out to look like, but also how much damage control was involved. After watching the interview, I really really wanted to believe this guy. It's just that... after 2 years of really watching this game, I can't bring myself to take him seriously. I'm sorry Erling, but I cannot believe this until I personally see it. Thu Sep 04 2008 10:29PM Report

Sortran writes: Thanks for the interview JW, One thing that seems to bug me the most is that people accept these launches instead of saying "if you continue, we wont play your game" Im still baffled at how they could make PVP pretty much a boring enterprise. They touted the pvp more then alot of people think, and as a result players are mad. Dont know why they thought certain aspects of it were minor. Thu Sep 04 2008 10:58PM Report

unknown writes: Talemire, you have a good reason to not believe this guy, I don’t claim to be expert on body language reading but have look at his hands and the direction of his head movement during this interview when he is answering questions. He is clearly not telling the truth especially about the DX10 that was advertised on the box. He is keep looking at floor when answering question which is clear sign of not telling the truth (basically lying). Thu Sep 04 2008 10:59PM Report

fletch89 writes: After I heard Erling Ellingsen comment about how they don't censor negative comments on their forums, I lost all hope for honest answers. However about one week ago the moderators stopped closing any thread with negative comments. So Erling Ellingsen could have earned some respect back by stating that, yes they had been censoring negative comments on the forums but have recently changed their policy towards negative forum posts Thu Sep 04 2008 11:09PM Report

BlackWatch writes: His body language is actually more 'humbled' than anything. You can tell that his words are somewhat 'scripted', but he's probably been flogged to within an inch of his life. His hands are clasped, not pointed or steepled. His posture isn't authoritative... he's nearly lower than the presenter, not upright. He's trying to look the interviewer in the eye. As for the words coming out of his mouth, I won't defend him there at all because I have no idea. I think the game is crap, imho. But his body language early in the interview gives the message that he's trying to get some level of forgiveness, if at all possible. Thu Sep 04 2008 11:16PM Report

shyguy101 writes: They didn't fail there game... Everyone just wants to be a dick... Fri Sep 05 2008 12:12AM Report

arctarus writes: Thx JW for this interview. To Erling, this game is tauted as a pvp game. Its not how you feel that we want to hear! Its what being promise that this is a pvp game!!! Fri Sep 05 2008 12:50AM Report

Esquire1980 writes: I didn't even make it to the PVP side of the game. Way too many nerfs to professions to even make it all the way to 80. Canceled at 75. If I wanted that junk, I would have stayed with SOE's SWG. Did they hire some1 from SWG to manage this game? Fri Sep 05 2008 1:24AM Report

afoaa writes: The main problem with the "please forgive us" attitude we now see is that it STILL IS NOT COMMUNICATION with the customers. If FunCom has bothered to actually talk to their beta testers and later their players in an honest way then they wouldnt be in the mess they are today even with the bugs and problems in the game. But they seem to be utterly unable to understand that the key is communication and that a MMO is created through a community. Fri Sep 05 2008 1:27AM Report

Mattius writes: what happens if that community is a bunch of douchebags? cause per square forum inch, ive never seen a greater concentration of a$$hats. I would have asked Erling another question. "Whats the chances of you guys having an official forum for your next mmo?" Answer "You cannot be serious!" Fri Sep 05 2008 1:36AM Report

Mattius writes: and btw the pseudo science of body language is so easily faked its laughable. The guy looks comfortable to me, an easy going interview that i found enjoyable to watch. Fri Sep 05 2008 1:40AM Report

Xenosaiyan writes: Dang, I feel sorry for this guy, but I really feel sorry for myself, people were hyped from the very beginning about this game, it was the Warhammer Online counterpart, meaning Warhammer and Age of Conan were going to be the 2 next gen MMORPGs, WoW is dominant, but Age of Conan and WAR were going to take the throne, but Age of Conan failed, dang, I feel sorry for the people. At this point, they need to sell Age of Conan, and their company and start working on the next MMORPG lol. Fri Sep 05 2008 1:55AM Report

hbosman writes: Well.. its more then just bugs, really. The players do understand MMO's isn't easy to make. But really.. the DX10 part of the interview says it all, 1 month prior for launch the DX10 features werent ready, not even for a long shot! And thats strange because its the graphics engine where you begin with when making a game. So they used the DX10 hype when they didn't even started on the DX10 version! Basicly the shareholders and managers made the decision to lie to its costumers and launch the game! One thing I learned from previous MMO launches is NOT to pre-order games and wait 2 months before buying it. It saved me from this crap! Fri Sep 05 2008 1:59AM Report

hbosman writes: Well.. its more then just bugs, really. The players do understand MMO's isn't easy to make. But really.. the DX10 part of the interview says it all, 1 month prior for launch the DX10 features werent ready, not even for a long shot! And thats strange because its the graphics engine where you begin with when making a game. So they used the DX10 hype when they didn't even started on the DX10 version! Basicly the shareholders and managers made the decision to lie to its costumers and launch the game! One thing I learned from previous MMO launches is NOT to pre-order games and wait 2 months before buying it. It saved me from this crap! Fri Sep 05 2008 2:00AM Report

afoaa writes: Mattius the community decended into that state because of the way it was treated by funcom. If a company ignore and stonewall complaints from its customers then the tone can only go down over time and lesser and lesser things become game breaking in the minds of the customers. If funcom from the start had talked honestly with their players (like mythic does right now) then people would become constructive and forgiving. Instead they just created hate and anger because of their attitude. And they still cant seem to understand that they have to engage in a meaningful DIALOUGE if they want to turn around the anger into something productive. Fri Sep 05 2008 2:01AM Report

dred79 writes: I think they made the right decision on not providing directx 10. Look at other mmorpg's where really low end video cards can run WoW or LOTR. AoC has some serious performance issues. Most people still use DX9 so it makes sense to get that optimized first. It has been proven that DX10 is often a performance hit not to mention in this interview he said that DX9 will incorporate some new effects as well as adding DX10. There only mistake was putting it on the box and like he said once there printed you can't take it back. LOTR was not DX10 out of the box and now it works great. give it another 2 months. We will have DX10 by then. The real issue is the pvp updates and add more end game content. Fri Sep 05 2008 2:26AM Report

Warchain writes: I played to level 40 and got bored a waste of my money so i quit I had high hopes for this game I dont think I will go back to it Fri Sep 05 2008 3:22AM Report

munja writes: Yea there a lot of apologies but i can understand to an extent, 90% percent of MMo's were launched faulty. I played allot of MMO's and I must say really like this game. It will take some time to make it perfect but i think for now there are more than enough content and features to satisfy me and keep me busy. So I'll stick with it because i think i will get much better real soon. Fri Sep 05 2008 3:45AM Report

Melfuaru writes: I'm glad it failed, this game was horrible in beta, I'm surprised anybody who was in the Closed beta or tried the Open beta even BOUGHT IT! HORRIBLE. Fri Sep 05 2008 4:04AM Report

Balthaazar1 writes: This guy can't be serious!Bile comes out of his fat f*ck face every time he speaks! "holding over 400k subscriptions" "Age of Conan is a Great Game!" "We had an amazing launch" "I don't feel that pvp was a major part of the game" This guy is single handedly pissing off every single person who knows the truths to these lies and trying to lure new customers into a rotting fly trap.. Fri Sep 05 2008 5:27AM Report

cosimusta writes: The first question should have been. "Why should we believe anything you say in this interview?" They still aren't ready to fess up I see. Fri Sep 05 2008 5:31AM Report

zhale writes: You stupid fat hobbit! You ruins it! Fri Sep 05 2008 5:32AM Report

Stradden writes: Hey guys, popping in to clear a few things up. Not saying you shouldn't be critical, but a few things seem to have been taken out of context: First, I don't recall him saying anything about PvP not being important in the game. We were talking about PvP Experience (XP)(which is somewhat different). Second, some of you are latching onto "body language" in the video. I should point out that we were sitting on a curb and I didn't notice any body language that wasn't normal for Erling in an interview or not. Third, English isn't his first language, he's from Norway, hence the accent and occasional pause for words. That's it for me. Please continue with your analysis :) Fri Sep 05 2008 5:47AM Report

cosimusta writes: @EVERYONE who said that he ever apologized at all about anything in this video. Watch it again, and tell me where you hear the world "apology/apologize," or "sorry". "I compleeetely understand where those people are coming from" "We know...we know....we know" Sorry kids, that's not apologizing. That's me punching you in the face and then saying..."I compleeetely understand you didn't enjoy being punched in the face, and I never meant to insinuate that I am perfect, I was just doing my best." Fri Sep 05 2008 5:55AM Report

MuggyD writes: I was watching in hope. I was disgusted that the only time he seemed confident and fluent was when he was talking about the planned updated graphics. FFS, funcom, don't you get it, the graphics are awaesome, everyone can see that , the gameplay is just shite, in every area. Take all the guys off DX10 and off graphical tweaking and put every fucker you can into re-think the combat, the PvP, the crafting, The economy, sieges, pointless instancing etc. FIX what matters not what doesn't Fri Sep 05 2008 6:02AM Report

Zertyr writes: Atleast they admit to having problems, many other MMO makes don't even admit that. So it's a start, now comes the questions if they will fix all the stuff and if they already ruined their name. Fri Sep 05 2008 6:37AM Report

Mitara writes: I have said it before.. and Im saying it again... Jon Wood is SO sexah!! Erling though.... ugh... why dont they have more knowledgeable people at funcom? The game... I actually found it way better than WoW, which is was a very good copy of. Im just wishing that someone out there would do something new for a change. Fri Sep 05 2008 6:41AM Report

Sithrimir writes: I'm sick of the lying. Funcom needs to take a page out of the Mythic playbook and just be open and honest about what's done and what's going to be done with the game. EE mentions that Direct X wasnt going to be in at launch but it was too late to let anyone know since it was printed on the box. Is there no way to communicate with the player base besides the box....no forums...no website....no mmorpg.com? They could have simply said what he did in the interview at the outset instead of pulling a bait and switch. Also, EE says that he didn't count PvP among the list of important items that would be fixed soon. Since a large amount, if not the majority, of the player base rolled PvP at launch and they have open PvP zones on all servers, does anyone seriously believe that they missed that PvP was important. Either EE and Funcom are just blatantly lying about these and other issues or they are so incompetent that they shouldnt be running a MMO. Frankly, I wouldn't play AOC again even if it went F2P. Fri Sep 05 2008 6:53AM Report

Reborn17 writes: Never have so many been lied to so often for so long. The man is a virus and his "game" a blight. Fri Sep 05 2008 8:03AM Report

Azor1990 writes: "Sorry for this...sorry for that" How many times did he said that? Fri Sep 05 2008 8:39AM Report

ed515 writes: what a load of shit. fix your game and stop lying so maybe some of the fans would come back. Fri Sep 05 2008 10:01AM Report

cluetocalo writes: I dont give a damn about what he say anymore. War is comming and that fat ass might as well eat a dick. Fri Sep 05 2008 10:17AM Report

redderick writes: There are several things that need to be said, first off the game had very good points and the combat was very enjoyable. However, when there are large issues that are said to be noted and they wait for the entire week to go by to even drop a hotfix will destroy a players view on the developers. One situation was Purple drops on normal characters in Poitain. The market got flooded, and everyone and their mother had purple weapons. They said they knew about it in the beginning of the week and then they waited the entire week to "HOTFIX" the problem. Then, the gem duping has gone everywhere and it is still not fixed. So now, not only does everyone have purple dropped weapons, they now have full damage gem'd armor and everyone gets one shotted. The tank should never be able to do more damage and still be able to take more damage then almost everyone (besides gemmed xbow rangers). Oh well, luckily there are more fish in the sea. Fri Sep 05 2008 10:28AM Report

Zatoichee writes: Why are they working on the graphics (which are already good) rather than working on overall gameplay (which could use a LOT of work)?? Oh well, OB for W;AR starts sunday! I can't wait :) Fri Sep 05 2008 12:14PM Report

Mrbloodworth writes: @Zatoichee, He didn’t say that at all, in fact he said the exact opposite. And he was answering QUESTIONS he was asked. Fri Sep 05 2008 12:53PM Report

games001 writes: There it is! --- "We sold over 800,000 copies of the game, BUT we have ONLY 400,000 accounts active players." Lost 1/2 of your players in less time than it would take FunCom to put out one hotfix... PITIFUL Fri Sep 05 2008 1:30PM Report

cosimusta writes: @Azor1990 not once. If you were being sarcastic i missed it. Fri Sep 05 2008 5:36PM Report

rsreston writes: If one month before release they saw they couldn`t get the DirectX 10 right, it means that what really shipped was the beta version of the game. When we stop "pre-ordering betas" developers will start delivering polished and final games. Fri Sep 05 2008 10:51PM Report

zazz writes: So he admits he knew about DX10 1 month before launch but didnt inform the community, thats just a scandal in itself. Sat Sep 06 2008 5:17AM Report

knacck writes: The whole thing is they new a month ahead of time on alot of stuff but not once did they ever come to the forums and tell us. Sat Sep 06 2008 6:10AM Report

dukeston writes: well dont give a toss, iv cancelled wont be going back Sat Sep 06 2008 11:17AM Report

Krogan writes: I'd just like to ask him why they didn't put out a press release saying that dx10 wasn't in at launch? Or any press release telling people the hundreds of features they had promised that weren't/aren't in the game Sat Sep 06 2008 11:44AM Report

finnmacool1 writes: He doesnt saying anything about being sorry, simply that he "understands". He admits to nothing more than what everyone who played the game already knows. My favorite part was him explaining how great the launch was and how no mmo launch/game is perfect. Untill devs change their mentality that releasing half finished products is "great", expect more of the same. As long as sheep continue to pay to play these half finished betas, that mentality wont change. Sat Sep 06 2008 12:56PM Report

CatAtomic99 writes: I'm a Funcom fanboy, and MMORPG fanboy, *and* a Robert Howard fanboy... and they eventually drove even ME off. Funcom's got to be feeling it in subscription counts now if they managed to lose a guy like me. It's just tragic because I think the core gameplay of AoC-- the combat-- is the best on the market. They just launched way too damn early and then pretended everything was perfect for months, so people would buy boxes. It felt like a scam. That's an absolutely stupid move for the managers of a long-term product like an MMO. Sat Sep 06 2008 1:05PM Report

Asturiano writes: As zazz said some posts before me... [ # zazz * So he admits he knew about DX10 1 month before launch but didnt inform the community, thats just a scandal in itself.] He is admiting he had 1 month to advise comunity the game will no have DX10..and he did nothing.. you must have a face as long as your back to came here to apologice for that.. ¿¿must we belive more lies?? Sat Sep 06 2008 2:05PM Report

einexile writes: On a possibly related note: I just canceled my AO account because I've stopped playing the game. This is nothing new for me; I reopen my account once or twice a year, I play a bit, I get sick of it. This time the cancel screen assured me that my characters will be kept on their servers for 3 months. Sat Sep 06 2008 4:24PM Report

sigamon writes: EVIL! Sat Sep 06 2008 6:44PM Report

odinsassassi writes: wow im amazed the guy actually believes the shit hes saying lol this game and experience has made me boycott funcom forever worst game experience ever and thats not even why i boycott their customer service was a joke thats why ill never go back to them they screw ya over any chance you get Sat Sep 06 2008 9:35PM Report

Falc410 writes: he is admitting that the forums are completely full of negative feedback - lol that is like admitting defeat. Sun Sep 07 2008 4:45PM Report

DthRevan writes: FAIL!!!!!!!! Sat Sep 13 2008 9:45AM Report

Woodcock writes: @cosimusta Clearly you're a deaf piece of shit I hear 'sorry' now for the first time so please keep your mouth shut cause poo is coming out of it allright? Sun Sep 14 2008 4:30AM Report

Tingtong1 writes: Fields of Disconnect will live in infamy... Performance was good from beta to launch? Was beta a Slide show game? lol I'll be sure to hit up your game 3 years from now when you make good on your actual promises... oh wait I won't Thanks for the laugh FailCom Mon Sep 15 2008 10:54AM Report

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Age of Conan: Unchained Videos: Leipzig Interview with Erling Ellingsen, Part One (8:46)

While at the Leipzig Games Convention Jon Wood had the opportunity to sit down under a tree and follow up on the conversation he had with Erling Ellingsen at ComicCon, where they discuss DirectX 10, forum censorship, and Age of Conan's issues after launch.