Ten Ton Hammer interview with AoC's Craig Morrison

@double9s - That's exactly the point I was making yes. What the team and I focus on now is improving the game and providing the best experience possible for our loyal community.

@Iokthemonkey - Of course you are welcome to think that about what we say in public, if it's your opinion I possibly can't change your mind. I do think though that if you look at the interviews I have done since coming aboard I have never once denied the game had issues that we are working on resolving. I think I have been very open and honest about the games issues, and more importantly how we intend to resolve them :)


I never have any issue with constructive criticism, which is why I am happy to poke my head into the occasional thread like this as the discussion is honest but (mostly) not hostile. I have always believed in fostering constructive discussion, as long as it remain constructive all is good :)

"I hope it's working out for you and you're having a lot of fun."

"No, you don't."

----

Sure I do. What motive would I have for wishing a complete stranger - whose gaming habits don't effect me one jot - didn't play a game I thought was bad?

I dunno which is worse, the AoC fanboys or the WoW ones....

----

"I applaud them for that."

----

And this is the entire problem. People are giving credit to Funcom for "fixing" AoC and all their efforts in making it a great game. Well, here's an idea: next time, maybe they could, I dunno, launch a product that actually does what it's supposed to, has the content they promised and that actually, you know... works?

No, that's a silly idea, isn't it? I mean, paying for a service and expecting to get what you've paid for? What a stupid notion!

But as I said above, Craig - you wouldn't be in this mess had you actually delivered on what you'd sold us. I'm not talking about people getting some "OMG BEST GEAM EVAR!!!111" expectations or some projection of their wishes/fantasies onto the game. No, what I'm talking about is the fact that AoC was shipped without the features we were told would be present.

I've made the analogy before, but it's like buying a CD that promises 11 tracks, tracks the band spend a long time talking about and discussing and that are listed on the back of the CD case. But then when you get it home, it turns out the CD only had 3 tracks. And 2 of them are corrupted. So you complain and the band turn around and explain that the tracks were only something they were THINKING about and that the CD case isn't really accurate anyway, but don't worry, because if you give them another $15 they'll ship you a new CD that will - honest! - have the new songs. Except when it arrives - six months late - there's only another 2 songs and now the original ones won't play.

Look, I understand how deadlines can knock features out and how you have to sometimes make calls on stuff, but c'mon... Look at the "Would you go back to AoC if it were free" thread and you'll see that a lot of people feel you mislead us.

Take the DX10 issue. It was promised as a launch feature. But just a few days before launch, a press release about the pre-order sales is issued and - hidden away at the bottom - is a comment about DX10 not making it into the game.

Now surely your team delivered the Gold code a good month before that. And now, 10? 11? months after release, DX10 still hasn't been fully implemented. So how can the removal of a feature that's a year overdue be announceed just a week before release? That's not due to a technical issue.

Do you see why people find it hard to believe anything you say and - more importantly - why people feel angry about being essentially ripped-off?

You post in every single AoC story trying to convince others that the game isn't worth their time. We get it, you don't like the game. Go away.

----

It's called "having an opinion." Unlike you, I have no issue with others voicing their views on anything. You however seem to have problems with somebody offering perfectly valid criticism and raising issues when official sources publish BS statements about how wonderful everything is.

You ask why I keep posting? Because AoC was a piece of broken, unplayable shit at launch. Is it now? Maybe not. But maybe it is. I'm expressing my opinion in an attempt to say to others, "Look, be ready for it to stink. If it doesn't, great - have fun and enjoy it. But the game had a poor launch, isn't a AAA-class MMO and you may be disappointed, so think long and hard before you invest."

----

"GIANT WALL OF TEXT DISCUSSING THINGS OTHER PEOPLE SAID LONG BEFORE YOU."

----

For one, I'm sorry you have the attention span of a gnat (which probably explains why you enjoy Aoc) and are incapable of digesting an argument.

But maybe these queries are raised again because we've never actually got an official answer on that. Might I ask you go ask your paymaste- I mean, "Funcom" - to explain why a launch feature was pulled a week before launch and still hasn't appeared, 10 or so months on?

Maybe it's because it never was going to be there and Funcom knew over a month before they announced it would be pulled that it wouldn't make it.

So if you can't see why that's a Bad Thing, then I think you, Funcom and AoC are well-suited and I wish you every happiness together.

But some people prefer to support companies that actually respect their audience and are transparent in their dealings.

I'm actually disappointed Craig hasn't returned to answer my point, as I'll give him credit for at least popping in to "address" my earlier comment (even if it didn't.) Too bad he hasn't returned to answer the DX10 issue...

We should all be thankful that we have someone like you around to tell us when something sucks. You're a real humanitarian, dude.

----

Well, somebody has to address the *ahem* "marketing" spouted by Funcom and its lackeys.