Age of Conan: Developer Profile - Elliott Kingdon

Tell us a little about your childhood. How did school and where you live influence your choice to join the video game community?

Fantasy gaming has been part of my life since I was twelve years old. A book called Warlock of Firetop Mountain came out and soon after I discovered Basic Dungeons & Dragons. I've been playing D&D ever since. At school I organized a lunchtime gaming club where we played the Dune boardgame, Judge Dredd boardgame and Nuclear War cardgame incessantly.

I got into PC's because I wanted to play X-Wing and went on to a degree in Information Systems but I spent a lot of my time at university playing Command and Conquer, King of Dragon Pass and Alpha Centauri, as well as Call of Cthulu and good old D&D.

I'm from the UK but was already resident here in Norway when I got the job at Funcom. It's the only job I ever saw with 'dungeon master' in the candidate requirements. I moved across the country to work here and it's been well worth it.

Besides games what other influences brought you into your career? Whether it is books, movies, or artwork everyone has different tastes, tell us about yours.

It's great working in an environment where a taste in cult movies, sci-fi films, classic comic books and passion for gaming is an asset. Being able to riff ideas off incarnations of the Avengers, a Star Wars scene or show a Frank Frazetta image to embellish an idea is awesome.

Can you remember your first video game? How often did you play, what other games had an influence on you?

After Pong came a ZX Spectrum. Horace goes Skiing was one of the first, Jetpac was one of the first greats followed by the Way of the Exploding Fist and Elite. I've always played far too many computer games from consoles like Playstation to arcade games like Street Fighter 2 or my personal favorite Marvel Super Heroes. I'm a strategy fan on the PC with the occasional space fighter sim (ever since The Last Starfighter movie), RPG or FPS. I'm a sucker for Star Wars games.

I've always played pen and paper RPG's, they're a great way to meet people and I currently run a D&D campaign here at Funcom.

I'm a loremaster here on Conan. I look after continuity on the game and act as a resource for designers. I started off as a quest designer and because of my English skills I'm currently working on the character class descriptions, writing about how they exist in Hyborian society

Empty. I'm an early starter and have the aid of a baby son who loves waking up at 5am. I get a lot of work done in those few hours of quiet. My work involves a lot of writing plus reading and researching huge amounts of Conan material from pastiche novels and classic black and white comics to the modern Dark Horse graphic novels.

At my first evaluation here at Funcom I was told they were pleased with my progress but felt I needed to play more computer games, particularly MMO's. I finally had a legitimate reason for my girlfriend to let me play more video games; it was actually good for my career.

Innovation continues and exciting new genres are created. I want Age of Conan to become one of those well-respected long term persistent games like Anarchy Online or EvE. Playing in a game that has developed along with the players is very satisfying; it makes me as a player feel part of the creative process because often the greatest epic events are community made.

It's been great to see it develop and really fun to watch people play. I've sat in on design reviews and just been blown away by some of the sweeping epic landscapes, half buried ruins or tropical jungle. You can almost feel the cold as the north wind blows snow particles down a ravine or feel the humidity of the cannibal infested rainforest.

The IP is great for any adventure fans. Robert E Howard was an exciting, dynamic writer and the Conan character has a life of his own.

I hope you'll savor the experience of exploring the world of Conan because it's a rich and awe inspiring place. I've been playing the game for a long time and I'm still regularly blown away by the spectacle and majesty of this MMO Hyboria. Throw danger, action and sorcery in too and it's a heady mix of high adventure.