"Let me be very clear about this; as opposed to our last pushback in August we are not about redesigning parts of the game this time around. Now we are on the final stretch, with the goal plain in sight. I have assured you before, but we are neither the first nor the last gaming company to add more development time to our game in the last stretch. That is not an excuse though, but ultimately it's the quality which matters. That is the only yardstick which truly matters. This additional time is about hope. In only four more months you will know if we made the right move. I feel confident we have!" - Gaute Godager, Letter from the Game Director, January 21, 2008
If I could refer back to the plane landing analogy for a moment: I'm not sure if any of you keep up with international news, but this week, the pilot of a Garuda Indonesia Airline flight that crash-landed in March of last year, killing 21 people, was charged with manslaughter after evidence showed that he ignored 15 automated warnings and the advice of his co-pilot to abort a fast-landing at Yogyakarta airport (source). Crash and burn, and with disastrous results. Funcom are in the cockpit with 'Age of Conan' at the moment, and they could have landed between March and May of last year, and they could have even landed on October 30 of last year, but what would have been the price of that? So at this point they're circling the airport looking for the right time to land and with the best possible conditions. It was looking like they were going to land on March 25 of this year, but it seems they have heeded those "automated" warnings and warnings from their co-pilot(s). A release in 2007 might have meant a crash and burn; a release on March 25, 2008, might have meant bumpy landing leaving many of the passengers irate and disgruntled (even the ones flying first or business class); but a landing on May 20, according to their judgement and the advice of automatons and the co-pilot(s) will warrant a nice, smooth landing that is controlled and calculated, and will hopefully result with the passengers in economy class applauding the efforts of the very skilled pilot.
I can understand the scepticism of many fans even at this point in the game's development, even having after said all that; once bitten, twice shy, after all, and there are those [few] within the community that speculate another delay. Let them doom-call, leave them to it. Anyone that has flown before will understand that from take-off to landing, your fate is tied to the hands of the pilot; you're just along for the ride. What ever Funcom do between now and the game's release is up to them, and after having seen Mr. Godager speak about 'Age of Conan' in person and really believing him, I can see what is driving this game: the people behind it.
'Age of Conan' is going to rock, and I say that as a fan very, very confidently.
Until next fortnight, this is Stephen "weezer" Spiteri,
Out.
Want to contact me? Then email me here.
© Stephen Spiteri, February 2008
