Joel Bylos Describes His Idea of What Survival Means

During a recent Twitch stream with the good folks over at Gamasutra, Joel Bylos spoke about Conan Exiles. One of the key points was the difference between Age of Conan and Conan Exiles -- essentially the difference between an MMO and a survival game with RPG elements.

Conan Exiles is, according to Bylos, a more open experience. Players can take on a role they can't anywhere else, for instance.

"I think the social dynamics that come out in these games, you know the fact that you can threaten someone, make them come back to your camp, put them in a cage and make them dance or whatever. It's freedom right. And the person who's the captive isn't necessarily not enjoying themselves either. That's the thing. There's something nice about it. It's fun."

Age of Conan, Bylos opined, is a more scripted, directed series of events. Conan Exiles, on the other hand, is more open where players can explore and experience how they wish. 

Figure out how you're going to enjoy it. Are you going to build an arena? Are you going to knock out slaves, put them in that arena, and tell other players to come and fight your best slaves for cash? How are you going to play the game? It's just this open world that lets players run wild with a set of tools.

It's a pretty cool interview so be sure to head over to the link above to check out the two-part series.