Just when I thought I had escaped writing about Age of Conan, something as superb as THIS knocks on my electronic front door. The infamous Gaute Godager, Game Director for Age of Conan and of Steak and Wine fame, has ‘resigned’ from Funcom. For those that don’t know what ‘resigned’ means, it means that they told him to resign or they’d fire him.
I can’t help but feel a little responsible for all this. Sure, my scathing review of sorts of Conan probably didn’t help his cause – but I think I’ve been too hard on the guy. I’ve called him out multiple times, not only for his Steak and Wine quote (man I love that) – but also possibly one of the weirdest ‘welcome to the game’ messages ever created. He managed to include slave whipping, confuse it’s players on whether they are riding a ship or driving it, use the phrase “nature launches” and even use the word “bumpiness”. I’m almost tearing up re-reading that announcement. It seemed so long ago we were so naive of the ways of Funcom and had such high hopes for the game.
While I wish Gaute the best of luck in his new career – and speculation on where that will be will only cause fear in the collective MMO community – I think it’s safe to say that MMO’s probably aren’t your forte. That might be a bit harsh, but for those keeping count, that’s 0/2 for Mr. Godager – Anarchy Online and Age of Conan. At least Richard Garriott has Ultima Online to reminisce about as he shoots off to the Moon or whatever.
Adieu, Mr. Go Danger, your savvy wit and cheeky quips will forever be remembered.
This is massive in my opinion. And the news could not come at a better time for people who enjoy AoC but hate what Funcom was doing.
I think a lot of people said the same thing and asked Gaute to leave.
Especially with the PvP patch finally hitting servers today, this is really a huge story.
Now, how will things go?
September 17th, 2008 at 11:56 amWaiting to find out.
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A little biased, are we? This is jounalism at it’s finest, people.
September 17th, 2008 at 12:29 pmQuote
I totally agree that his leaving is a blessing to CrapCom and to the MMO community as a whole. His game, moaning…AoC, is a pure piece of crap and he’s responsible for it. Find something safe to do like gardening plastic dwarfs and stay out of our territory.
September 17th, 2008 at 6:41 pmQuote
Instant karma, folks.
September 17th, 2008 at 7:52 pmQuote
I find it sad, yet oddly amusing at the same time. Sad in that the poor sod lost his job, but amusing in regards to the fanbois in complete denial of what is happening with this company. They’re less 50 percent of their subscriptions, and that figure is falling. Plus their stocks are in the shitter, bigtime.
Some people may say this write-up is biased, however I think this particular write up, as well as the one before here on Crunch in regards to AoC have been right on the money. I find Rob’s frankness refreshing, myself. I would definitely much rather read something from someone who is candid, someone who gets to the point without beating around the bush, than reading the same old crap about how AoC is doing fantastically and all of that nonsense.
Good job on all of the coverage mate! *salute*
September 21st, 2008 at 11:14 pmQuote