Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures

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Funcom: From MMOGs, with love

Interview: Age of Conan developer discusses the increasingly popular MMOG genre

Words: Stuart Bishop, CVG UK

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What's gone right for the genre, and where has it gone wrong over the years for the MMO?

Ellingsen: Things have definitively been moving in the right direction for the genre. We've seen a tremendous progress, and while there have been certain mistakes, I think they were necessary in terms of making sure there was a healthy evolution for the genre. The market has expanded dramatically thanks to World of Warcraft and more people are aware of these types of games today than when, for instance, Anarchy Online launched.

With Age of Conan we're trying to take the evolution of the genre a step further by introducing features and concepts that earlier developers didn't have the opportunity to do. It's a bold endeavor, but we feel that we're on the right track and we're proud to push the technology further.

In terms of what's been done "wrong," I think some developers should have dared to push these boundaries even earlier, instead of going for the tried and true. We think players are ready for something new and exciting.

Do you think the genre is expanding too rapidly at the moment?

Ellingsen: Look at the genre four years ago, when the biggest western massively multiplayer online game was EverQuest. It peaked at about 500,000 players and people were saying that there couldn't possibly be more room for another game of this type. Then World of Warcraft launched and it has soared to over eight million subscribers, several millions of them in the western market, shattering some of the darkest prophecies the critics delivered.

But while I do not think it's expanding too rapidly, I am worried about some developers releasing half-hearted games that can't live up to the high expectations the marketplace now has for these sorts of games.

Not necessarily because they're not talented enough, but because they're going into the genre with limited means. Creating these games takes a tremendous amount of resources, both people-wise and money-wise, but especially in terms of using the right technology. These games are hard to make.