ZAM talks to Age of Conan's Craig Morrison
Age of Conan has experienced some remarkable success since going free-to-play. ZAM Editor-in-Chief Chris "Pwyff" Tom sat down with AoC's Craig Morrison to talk the past, present, and future of this MMO.
Last time I spoke to Funcom's Craig Morrison, Age of Conan was just making the shift to free-to-play, and we were all waiting expectantly to see how it would pan out. Of course, everything went according to plan (or even above that!), and the team has already seen some huge population growth. Now, with AoC's recent developer update detailing updates 3.1 to 4.0, I decided that the time was right to catch up with Craig once more to catch up on what's been happening in Age of Conan as well as to shed some light on his big plans for updates 3.1 through to 4.0. Read on for some exclusive new details on AoC's PvP plans, Dreamworld single server technology, and more!
ZAM: Hello Craig! It's fantastic to hear so much good news about Age of Conan's growth since going free-to-play, and thanks for the interview opportunity!
Craig Morrison: Not a problem at all! Always glad to get the chance to chat about the game.
ZAM: Last time we spoke, in June, Age of Conan was just preparing to launch its new adventure pack, "Savage Coast of Turan," as well as making the big jump to free-to-play. In November you announced that more than 600,000 people had played the free-to-play version of Age of Conan since making the shift. How has the team taken the success?
Morrison: It's always good when you execute well on a strategic choice, so I am very proud of what the team accomplished with the transition to Free to Play. It has been a great lift for the team, as it proves that the game will still be relevant for many years to come, and that we can continue to build on it.
ZAM: Have things changed much in terms of development scope or AoC's general direction since seeing the success of free-to-play? I know in our last interview you noted that this F2P shift wouldn't come with big changes to your development cycle or focus, but has this changed at all?
Morrison: Not really. The new business model changes some of the art production pipelines ever so slightly, in order to produce new items for the store, but that is really the extent of the impact. It hasn't really altered what the team needs to deliver to the game, and that is, as always, new content and updated systems to keep providing players with new content, and better systems.
ZAM: On the player side of things, how has the general population been taking to this free-to-play model? Were there any sleeper hits in the store?
Morrison: More players than we expected have taken to using the store regularly. That was what has driven the doubling the revenue on the project, as noted in our latest financial reports. We were on a pretty solid level to begin with, so that has been a great achievement for us. The team had put a lot of work into designing the inventory and providing content for different tastes. So whether it was convenience stuff, like XP potions, bigger bags or travel options, through cosmetic social armors to new mounts, we tried to have something for everyone in the store.
ZAM: Shifting tracks here, you just recently released a November Development Update where you outlined a lot of things going into Age of Conan's future. In broader strokes, what are your key focuses going into these upcoming updates? I know there's a good amount of PvE content on the way, as well as some PvP balancing and platform fixes, but is there one overarching theme to your current development approach that you want to deliver with 3.1 to 4.0?
Morrison: The main focus is on continuing the good work we did this year and continuing to add to the game. There are three major areas we want to develop this year. The first, which is always true, is adding more content. This will be in the form of the new raids coming up, new PVP content, and the new adventure pack in the summer. Then we have two other major areas we want to get done, overhauling our tradeskill system completely, and integrating the new single server technology.
It is also important to give the players these new systems so that we build on those systems that can help the players have longer term goals outside of the pure content. A good solid tradeskill system is something we have been lacking, and is something I have wanted to get done for a while now, but have had to wait until other things were done. Now though, it is time to try and add something to the game that will add a real extra layer of depth for people. Even if you don't tradeskill yourself, you might very well be tempted to buy what the best tradeskillers will make, or be tasked with finding them some resources. It's an area we are looking forward to expanding upon.