E308: Erling Ellingsen talks patch timeframes for Age of Conan
by Michael Zenke 
Jul 15th 2008 at 4:45PM
Filed under: Fantasy, Age of Conan, Patches, Massively Interviews
Earlier today we sat with Age of Conan product manager Erling Ellingsen. Due to the development cycle Conan is in right now, Ellingsen didn't really have anything in particular to show us - but he did have some things to tell us. Primarily we were there to find out about some lessons learned from the first months of Conan's launch-life. The man himself offered up:- Timeframes for the addition of new high end content like Imir's Pass.
- The welcome news that the female avatar DPS bug will be squished much sooner that the 'few months' we'd previously heard.
- Confirmation that the DX10 version of the game should be viewable at next month's Leipzig event.
- The news that fan (especially male fan) favorite Keira will be an important quest NPC in the Imir's pass zone. The dealy assassin will offer important quests to all heroes of the appropriate level.
How do you feel about Age of Conan's launch, now that it's a few months down the line?
Erling Ellingsen: It was a fantastic launch. Technically it was perfect, servers stayed up whole time, billing, logging was great. There were of course a few bugs when we launched, but I think that's true with all MMOs. The game was perfectly playable, polished. It was just the launch that we wanted. Especially considering Anarchy Online, we were biting our fingernails.
Do you have any recollections from launch day, any memories that stand out?
We had a huge screen set up in the office that tracked the number of people logging in across the servers. We sat there, all dressed up and watching the numbers rise will drinking champagne. "Oh, the US just woke up." It was a magical experience.
How do you feel about the transition from the Beta to Live experience? It seemed as though those final patches changed a number of things and smoothed things out.
A lot of people were saying that we put in "miracle patches", and it really feels that way. Even for us at Funcom, the last couple of weeks was a real turnaround. We knew we were on track, but the last few weeks before launch everything just came together. That's the thing about MMOs, though, they can look unfinished for so long and suddenly all the pieces of the puzzle fit together. Thank god!
You mentioned earlier some bugs, which we know the community has found frustrating. Were there any that you've fixed that you were particularly frustrated with?
Ooo, you're asking me to point out bugs? [he chuckles] There were a few bugs with sieging where the framerate wasn't as good as it should have been. After the first one we fixed that immediately, and performance has improved something like 300%. That's the thing with MMOs, right? You see what works and doesn't work and you fix things right away.
What we want to focus on now is the itemization experience, more graphical diversity with items, make statistics more meaningful - we know there is room for improvement there. And PvP, we want to make PvP more important. That's why we are going to be rolling out a new patch all about PvP soon. PvP levels, PvP experience, PvP items. That sort of stuff.
Some of the changes to classes deal with serious issues, but in some cases new issues have cropped up as a result of the initial changes. Do you have any sort of plan in place to deal with these ongoing problems?
We have a team just specifically working on class and class balance. There will always be the case where fixing one thing breaks something else. That's just the way MMOs are, they're very complicated. The way we fix that is just by crushing it right away, as fast as we can. We have a patch process though, right? It doesn't happen right away. Patches have to go through development, QA, the test server, and then back to QA, and then out to the live server. There's sometimes a lag there. It takes some time, but we're constantly working on issues like this.
The one bug that we know is still a concern for the community is the female DPS problem - people are definitely still talking about that. Is that patch process one of the reasons it's going to take a while to reach the players?
Rick Reynolds: That's very complicated, because it's not just one animation per attack. It depends on what weapon they're using, other circumstances as well. The animations were all given a lot of attention, to make sure they looked really good. Remember, it took a long time before women were playable in Beta, they just didn't like the way they looked. Then they found that the animations did affect your DPS. They can't just go in and trim off a few seconds from every animation. If we had just fixed the timing issue at the cost of how the animations look, that would have been its own problem.
They've been working to get them done at all levels, putting the animations in on the test server, working with QA, and getting them done at every level. The customers have asked to see what Funcom is working on before it goes live.
So that fix is on TestLive right now?
Ellingson: A part of it is. It might not be all of it. It at least addresses the problem.
That's interesting, because we had noted that you said the fix could take months. It's great the update is coming so much sooner.
Reynolds: It's tricky, because sometimes the Funcom people see something on their internal test server, and it's hard to recall whether the public can see a fix or not.
Ellingsen: It's a complex project, that's for sure. [laughs]
It seems like you are working to address some content that just wasn't in the game when it went live. The new dungeons, the new quests, the new zones, what's the timeframe on that. Is that moving to test soon?
Ellingsen: There's definitely a lot, there's a lot that we really wanted to get into the game, but because of time we just weren't able to put it in. We held off, saying "it's not good enough." There are almost 60 new quests with voiceovers, the continuation of the important lore quest. There are 30 quests that were cut before launch that are back in. They're scattered around the game but many of them are in the Eiglophian Mountains. We know that the content at 55 and higher is a bit thinner than the rest of the game.
We're also adding a new zone called Ymir's pass. That's also plus-level 55. A lot of new content for the endgame now, several dungeons coming in.
Which of these additions are going to be coming our way first?
I don't want to put a date on it, but I think we'll see Ymir's pass live in August. That new zone should be out next month. That's a huge new outdoor zone. It's in Cimmeria so there are lots of mountains and snow. Snow giants, lots of monsters, and Kiera - Conan's assassin. She's going to play a big role in the zone. She's going to be an important quest NPC in the area.
There are not that many MMO developers at E3 this year. You're here with Eidos, but we were wondering: why are you here this year?
Primarily to talk with sites like Massively - we know we don't have a lot to show right now, but we wanted to talk about things exactly like this, the new content, the bugs. We're planning a much bigger presence at Leipzig. We're going to have something good to show there. DX10. The DX10 version of the game.
Is there anything in particular about the DX10 version of the game that you enjoy? Any graphical element you really like?
The water looks really pretty? [he laughs] That's not really what it's about. It's just generally better in the details. More realistic smoke, sharper textures. It's not going to be a huge revolution, it's just going to look prettier.
We know you folks were thinking of expansion content before the game came out. When do you expect you'll be able to put the launch behind you and step up to the new content, enjoy the live game?
I don't think that's ever going to happen. We're gonna keep on going really strongly. Updating the game, patching it, making it better. The road map we have internally is long into the future. We're definitely going to be patching and improving. We're of course working on an expansion, though we're not really ready to talk about that now. We do think it will launch early next year, though. We'll start leaking more information about that soon, though.
Thank you very much for your time, sir. Have a good show.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
pufonthis said on 5:13PM 7-15-2008
How do you feel about Age of Conan's launch, now that it's a few months down the line?
"Technically it was perfect"
Nobody bothered telling this guy that a great many of his users crashed constantly and the game has huge memory leaks?
"The game was perfectly playable, polished."
I guess having no bank or mail system at launch, female characters doing less damage, whole instances that were broken and many quests that couldn't be completed means polished in Norway. Is this guy for real?
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pufonthis said on 5:17PM 7-15-2008
When I see this guy talk all I hear coming out of his mouth is "The United States Marines are not in Baghdad."
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Arabica said on 5:33PM 7-15-2008
^
Unmitigated win. I like AoC, but that was hilarious.
starbolt said on 6:14PM 7-15-2008
Nice interview! Looking forward to Age of Conan´s evolution.
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nicholsml said on 4:28PM 7-28-2008
Evolution? So how does it feel being the only person on your server hahahahaha....... AoC is a sinking ship and you're that guy in the band pretending it isn't happening, so hurry up and get in the lifeboats with the rest of us because we are casting off dude!!
Jeromai said on 11:38PM 7-15-2008
Ugh. Please check your spelling when you transcript an interview. Puzzling out their accents may be tricky, but there are tons of third-party sites on the web with zone lists.
At least you fixed the Imir's Pass = Ymir's Pass here (though it turned up in the feed reader.)
Some things you missed:
"Sumeria" => "Cimmeria"
"Glovi Mountains" => "Eiglophian Mountains"
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Michael Zenke said on 11:57PM 7-15-2008
Good point, Jeromai. Fixed, and my thanks.
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anahka said on 4:04AM 7-16-2008
"It was a fantastic launch. Technically it was perfect, servers stayed up whole time, billing, logging was great. There were of course a few bugs when we launched, but I think that's true with all MMOs. The game was perfectly playable, polished."
Oh come on. Does he even know what game he's talking about?
"a few bugs", "technically perfect", "servers stayed up"
and the best one:
"polished"
AoC is the posterchild of a game that is NOT polished.
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mikejl said on 9:30AM 7-16-2008
Issues or not .. I have having a blast playing and if things can only get better.. well that makes me a happy barbarian.
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Brainiacrk said on 9:50AM 7-16-2008
I have occasionally seen comments (here, Shack, elsewhere) where people complain that they did not get DX10 implemented and that this was a blatant sign that the game wasn't ready to ship yet.
(I mention this because there is a question related to DX10 in the article above).
I'm glad they will have it implemented soon but, um... this game, visually, looks absolutely amazing. DX10 support is a nice bonus, but who really cares?
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Bad Mojo said on 7:10PM 7-16-2008
This guy can't be serious. The game is STILL broken, plagued with memory leaks, crashes, and patches that break more stuff than they fix (bosses hitting for 2,000+ damage at a part in the game where at most you have a few hundred hit points anyone, and at a point in the game that is entirely solo anyone??). The launch was one of the poorest in MMO history by most accounts.
Granted they seem to be working hard to make things right, but their communication sucks (to get any info, head to the EU forums, because they rarely tell the US forums anything), their patches come out feeling amazingly like they were never tested in house, and the player base is getting pissed (Just the other day fully half the threads in their general discussion forums were "I quit" - now they get locked and/or deleted).
In 6 months, this game will be a contender, right now it seems the only reason to play is to have a high level character when that happens.
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Bobby said on 1:26PM 7-16-2008
This guy has to be insane. Is he talking about the same product I have played and terminated my sub on? FunCom is a disaster of a company and AoC is a reflection of that mess.
Customer Service is the WORST that I have ever experienced in any MMO. Bugs galore. The game simply doesn't work, from core performance issues, to core gameplay issues. Itemization that absolutely sucks and makes no difference what so ever. Feats that didn't work. Classes that are still broken.
Little testing in house of any of the changes and fixes since release have introduced a myriad of new issues.
The "Massive" sieges to this day that this game revolves around for PvP to this day still do NOT work. They are borked and turn into AoE storms with the attackers unable to even damage the walls.
Reviews from other sites have called out what a bunch of morons the FunCon developing team is for having such a shitty, unstable game that is supposed to include massive PvP battles and sieges, and how this game simply can't handle it. Good luck with the 48vs48 with your fps hovering around 1-2 fps.
They got me for $50 and one paid month before I cut my losses. There is just too much fundamentally wrong with the core engine and the company for them to make this product great. So much promise but they ultimately blew it in my opinion.
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Bobby said on 1:44PM 7-16-2008
Is he talking about the same product I have played? You sure that he was speaking of AoC? If so, see below.
Customer Service is the almost non-existant. Bugs galore. The game simply doesn't work, from core performance issues, to core gameplay issues. Itemization that absolutely sucks and makes no difference what so ever. Feats that didn't work. Classes that are still broken. Crafting is still funamentally broken.
Little testing in house of any of the changes and fixes since release
have introduced a myriad of new issues.
The "Massive" sieges to this day that this game revolves around for PvP to this day still do NOT work. They are borked and turn into AoE storms with the attackers unable to even damage the walls.
Reviews from other sites have called out what a bunch of morons the FunCon developing team is for having such a poor, unstable game that is supposed to include massive PvP battles and sieges, and how this game simply can't handle it. Good luck with the 48vs48 with your fps hovering around 1-2 fps.
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Dass said on 1:46PM 7-16-2008
AoC is a good game with good ideas that go way begone the WoW clones that come out in the pass. But they just are not ready yet (grrr I hate beta releases versions) I think in a year time this game may be one of the best Morps out there!!
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Auutumn said on 2:35PM 7-16-2008
Erling is a complete and utter (f) idiot! I hate to swear but this guy is a total joke, a lier with a fairly tale he wants to spin again to all the people just to get their money and continue the beta testing of the game! I've been in since launch and I can't wait til lvl 80 when I quit the game for good, never to return.
He looks like a (f) up dough boy that couldn't get his act together because he was too busy eating dough nuts and making up false schedule & time tables. DON'T trust this guy ever...don't buy AoC or if you have, cancel your subscription immediately!
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Harry said on 6:15PM 7-17-2008
Just to let you guys know, if you have a WOW symbol next to your comment dont expect people to take your comment seriously. I play both games, yeah AOC has a few bugs, but its much better than having to put up with the extremely low maturity level on wow. If you actually enjoy RPG and dont just use questhelper or hit 1 1 1 on AOC when getting a quest, then AOC is way better.
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Harry said on 6:19PM 7-17-2008
oops, lol. just sick of hearing wow players talk shit about age of conan when they dont even paly it.
nickpick said on 6:28AM 7-18-2008
A lot of mixed reactions. Let's just try being somewhat objective here:
- AoC did not have a very smooth launch in regards of content: unlike WoW there was still a plenty of basic features missing a month after the release, a significant portion of present content requires polishing, promised features are nowhere to be seen, no voice-acting outside of Tortage, etc. Overall, a somewhat mediocre release resembling a late beta-stage.
- It -did- however have a rather successful launch technically, which is exactly what the guy is babbling about. The servers kept running, you could create your account and, limited as it was, the game was playable out of the box, for people who had the right hardware. If you couldn't run it on your 2-year-old gfx-card without crashes (myself included), you might want to reconsider using that idiotic third-party online test utility, telling you that it will work just fine on your configuration. From a technical point of view, the launch was sound.
- Age of Conan is NOT a SINGLE-PLAYER GAME! Quite a few people seem to miss this point. As almost any MMO, its release version is far from being the end-product. It'll be improved, refined and polished up as the feedback keeps coming in. Alternatively, you could release AoC a year later. The question is, would it still have the appeal it has today in terms of graphics, combat system, etc.
The main point is however: AoC has potential. World of Warcraft doesn't. The developers are inventive, skilled and unafraid to try out something new, which in the end (providing the team plays their cards right) will make it the better game, no matter how buggy it is now.
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Toad said on 9:24PM 7-23-2008
Did you actually play WoW at launch? I don't particularly like AoC, but WoW's launch was aboslutely horrendous, servers barfing left and right, login servers crashing, instances crashing left and right, it was an abomination. What set it apart from the WoW wannabe AoC is that with each patch WoW got better and better. Sure there were a few botched patches, but EVERY patch from AoC has been a bomb in one form or another.
Siro said on 8:20AM 7-20-2008
Is this guy on drugs? Seriously this is so funny.
Technically it was perfect, servers stayed up whole time, billing, logging was great. = FALSE. Severs were down for several hours at times, many people could not log in due to errors.
The game was perfectly playable, polished. = FALSE. For many people, they would crash before 5 mins due to memory leaks, bsods, and other errors. It was still beta, it was not polished at all. A vast majority of stuff promised was not there, the game ran like a vast pile of turd.
There were a few bugs with sieging where the framerate wasn't as good as it should have been. After the first one we fixed that immediately, and performance has improved something like 300%. = FALSE. Seiging is still a lagfest and they have no idea whats causing it.
The one bug that we know is still a concern for the community is the female DPS problem = Current fix = NERF ALL SWING SPEEDS. 1h weapons now swing slower than 2h weapons, GJ.
We have a team just specifically working on class and class balance. There will always be the case where fixing one thing breaks something else. That's just the way MMOs are, they're very complicated. = There is NO class balance, EVERY patch brings MORE bugs. Name an mmo where each patch has successfully broken more things.
This is pure PR bullshit.
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