AbleGamers Gets to Chat with Age of Conan
Jason Stone is a game designer at Funcom, developers of the highly anticipated MMO Age of Conan based on the writings of Robert E Howard. Robert E. Howard was the creator of "Conan the Barbarians" born in the pages of the legendary Depression-era pulp magazine Weird Tales. Jason took the time to have a chat with AbleGamers. While Age of Conan has recently announced that they are delaying its release by a few months, it does nothing to diminish the hype. Expect the game in May of this year.
AbleGamers: Thank you for your time Jason, we are very pleased you could find the time to sit down with AbleGamers.com.
AbleGamers: So, lets jump right into this if you do not mind, I have read every inch of your website and there is nothing there that does not make me giddy, but for our readers that have not combed over your site like I have, what sets your game apart from the countless titles that are live, or in the pipeline?
Jason Stone: A lot of things set Age of Conan apart, but the two most key of those are definitely the fact that we are working with the Conan license and the writings of Robert E. Howard, and the emphasis on a deeper, more action-oriented experience.
AG: If you could just pick one thing, from an impressive list of features, about your game that is just revolutionary, what would you pick and why?
JS: I would have to go with the combat system. It just is so much fun to chop away at multiple mobs at a time performing combo's and maybe getting a fatality. Making the act of play as fun as the achievement and exploration elements.
AG: From the samples you have released so far, Age of Conan will have a truly wonderful and original musical score. Will you also have voice overs for your npc's or other sound cues to help disabled gamers (We call them ablegamers) with visual difficulties play more easily?
JS: Not all NPC's will have voice overs but we do have more than 100 different actors voiced in the game to bring our characters to life.
AG: The reverse of that is; do you have events in the game that are only known because of audio cues? This is a real issue with the deaf gamers.
JS: Most audio cues in the game are also tied to a visual component. This should make it easy on those who have trouble hearing or just choose to play with the sound off.
AG: The prestige class system available to players at higher levels is great for ablegamers. It allows them to choose the class that is the most comfortable for them to play. It also gives them a choice of the way they can best contribute to a group or guild. Can you please explain a little about how the prestige class system works?
JS: You hit the nail on the head. The prestige classes are there to let someone tailor their contribution to a group or guild which is why they come later on in your character's life. It is meant to be another layer of character individualization augmenting who you already are.
AG: Crafting can be an important part of gaming for someone with a disability. When my Multiple Sclerosis flares up I have often turned to crafting. It is usually a "safe" alternative to pass the time as opposed to trying to fight with hands that may or may not cooperate. It can also be one of the ways ablegamers have to contribute to a guild when they are unable to go hunting or group up for battle. That being said, how will the mechanics of the crafting system work in Age of Conan? Will it require the repetitive button mashing to advance that can be found in many other mmorpg's?
JS: The crafting in Age of Conan, while having interesting depth, has been designed around the end product. We wanted to make it easy for the user to actually make something while still making it interesting. Crafting will play an important role in the game and the guild dynamics with player villages, and also the player vs player sieges both in the form of equipment and buildings and siege engines.
AG: Age of Conan adventurers will be using a real-time combat style that involves things like directional sword swing and character placement to be effective. You have already stated we have the option of using the keyboard/mouse or a gampad for gaming. Will you also allow for other peripherals to be used with your game? How about in PvP areas?
JS: Everything in Age of Conan should be rebindable, and using something like a g15 or Nostromo pad should be easy to use, but also not provide an unfair advantage.
AG: Your game is unique in that you basically give the player 20 levels to refine and adjust their character and settings before introducing them into the full-on mmorpg world of Age of Conan. The wide learning curve is definitely going to be appreciated by ablegamers who may need that extra time just to find a way to play that's comfortable for them. Do you think this approach will soon become the standard in mmorpg gaming?
JS: That is really hard to say, I think that the experience we are offering the player in the first 20 levels is a powerful one, and something that will be taken notice of. But to each their own when it comes to what they see as valuable. For us, the immersion aspects and getting the player involved with the story of the world was as important as the tutorial aspects so it was well worth the effort.
AG: Age of Conan will be initially launched as a PC game. (Hopefully VERY VERY soon :) ) But there is also a version of Age of Conan for XBox 360 console gaming in the works as well. Will the console version be flexible enough to make accommodations for players who may not be able to use a standard XBox 360 controller to play?
JS: I am not sure what sort of other peripherals that the Xbox360 supports which would be the primarily limiting factor I imagine. For the PC we have loads of options of joysticks, keypads, keyboards, mice you name it.
AG: Almost done, accessibility is usually an afterthought when making a mainstream game, before this interview, did you think about it much?
JS: As a designer I have always tried to think about accessibility for all types of gamers. Whether it be color blindness, or deafness or any number of other things we have strived to make the game adjustable so that it fits the broader needs of our users.
AG: In the future, no matter where your career takes you, will you think about it more?
JS: Always
AG: Thank you very much for your time, please feel free to stop by the website and say hello...
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I appreciate the question about the learning curve asking if it will become a trend to allow gamers to slowly build their abilities instead of in the beginning having to know all of your abilities which becomes hard for physically challenged gamers like myself. Quadriplegic gamer and game design graduate.
I'm not sure what the crafting system actually can do to benefit able gamers seems like the same system for all mmo RPG now. Is there anyway to get developers to answer more direct questions would be great to see if they really understand the issue....
I'm glad you enjoyed the interview RobertF. 
I would REALLY like to know what the crafting set up is going to look like for AoC. I was hoping to get more info on that in the interview.
I have the feeling they are either still working on putting it into the game OR that they are trying some really new things that they arent ready to reveal just yet. I hope its the latter.
I will try to pry a little more when we get to meet them at GDC. Maybe they will let us add our 2 cents for what that's worth.
The game itself looks great just not sure how playable it will be with one arm. Keybindings aside can everything be controled one handed? Just concerned I will be left in the position of either being able to move or swing my sword but not both at the same time. As one of the previois posters said, it would great if we could get some dierct feedback from the developers on specific issues some of us face.
