Conference Call

GWJ Conference Call Episode 46

Live From Gen Con!, Crysis, Warhammer Online, An Age of Conan Interview, The Witcher, Starcraft 2 and more!

In what may be one of our best shows yet, we record live from Gen Con! We bring you hands-on reports from some sexy upcoming games and delve into some of what makes Gen Con so cool. We also have an interview with Funcom's Jason Stone, a game designer working on the upcoming Age of Conan MMORPG. Large scale PVP, building towns, bedding wenches (or not) and more. Enjoy!

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To contact us, email [email protected]! Send us your thoughts on the show, pressing issues you want to talk about or whatever else is on your mind. You can even send a 30 second audio question or comment (MP3 format please) if you're so inclined.

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Show credits

Music credits: 

Intro/Outro Music - Ian Dorsch, Willowtree Audioworks

"PodunkStump" Ian Dorsch - 0:22:00
"Los Pistoleros" Ian Dorsch - 0:51:26

Comments

Game of Thrones is simply the best "light" Wargame I own. And Quintin, it's exactly like you hoped it would be when you were 12. I was in the same boat. Plus, get enough GWJ folks together for a room and we can expand the gameplay space dramaticallY!

Tom Cruise? Never heard that one before. An old lady at the Bank I worked at around y2k used to tell me I looked like a young David Duchovny.

The rules are not really that complex it's just I have not been allowed to sort of say A to B to C to D is how it works, partly because any sharing of information generally breeds tons more questions and speculation about whatever it is you could not say.

I made a post ages upon ages ago that I put on our PvP forum about my "pvp curriculum vitae" because I wanted people to know that I have spent a lot of time PvPing in a lot of different games and while I never intended to make Conan siege PvP a clone of Shadowbane or DAOC RvR my experiences certainly were useful in some of the decision making.

However, the reality of video game design is I had originally designed a much more complex system that I had to tone down so we could get it actually into the game but I feel strongly we can still deliver on something that will be rewarding. Almost no solution is without its drawbacks but that is just the way life is.

About Boardgames, I love playing them and have to admit absolutely being thrilled about the fact they are making some for Xbox Live Arcade now too, if only they could take some of the other monstrous ones like Twilight Imperium etc and port them too

I have yet to play Game of Thrones, even tho the books are some of my absolute favorites and we did have it in the office at Funcom in Oslo.

Word, I'm in. Already got it approved with the Missus!

"I rolled another 6, and she played another card. I rolled yet another six but she was out. I commented, "That was a good weapons development roll," and people got it!"

Yes... We are definitely going.

But we are NOT drinking Manhattans. Who the hell are you people? It's like I don't even know you!

Thanks for popping by, Jason! Looks like a lot of Age of Conan community folks really enjoyed the interview, I didn't realize we'd cracked so much new information out of you ;)

But we are NOT drinking Manhattans. Who the hell are you people? It's like I don't even know you!

To be fair, those were mostly for me ... and I often demanded extra cherries.

It's my relentless silence and scary baldness.

The rules are not really that complex it's just I have not been allowed to sort of say A to B to C to D is how it works,

Forgive me. Im hyper sensitive to griefing or abuse of any sort. The scars from UO still bleed. Thankfully, nobody's tried to ressurect the UO notoriety system that was a double whammy for people like me, who just can't play evil no matter how exorbitant the advantage.

Yeah well I wanted to give you guys some new stuff

Athelan wrote:

Yeah well I wanted to give you guys some new stuff :)

You know what would be REALLY new? Beta access

Wouldn't be new for me, I have had it for ages

You win this round.

Clearly the Chicagoland goodjers are going to have to represent next year. We are, after all, the manliest, best-looking, hardest-drinking SoBs in these here forums -- just ask any of us.

wordsmythe wrote:

Clearly the Chicagoland goodjers are going to have to represent next year. We are, after all, the manliest, best-looking, hardest-drinking SoBs in these here forums -- just ask any of us. :D

We need to get that S&T set so we can develop a strict drinking and boardgaming regiment. Be forewarned. Chug somebody else's beer and rabbit will think you're "scary."

I prefer to think of it as not letting beer go to waste.

wordsmythe wrote:

Clearly the Chicagoland goodjers are going to have to represent next year. We are, after all, the manliest, best-looking, hardest-drinking SoBs in these here forums -- just ask any of us. :D

I reckon the British contingent could give you a run for your money

Athelan wrote:

Wouldn't be new for me, I have had it for ages ;)

Someone get this man a prize!

I reckon the British contingent could give you a run for your money

After hearing Duoae's email a few weeks back, I'm willing to bet he can't wait to tell us in person how the Dyson vacuum literally spins the dust right out of existence.

Duoae wrote:
wordsmythe wrote:

Clearly the Chicagoland goodjers are going to have to represent next year. We are, after all, the manliest, best-looking, hardest-drinking SoBs in these here forums -- just ask any of us. :D

I reckon the British contingent could give you a run for your money ;)

We'll let you guys be considered our sister regiment, because the idea amuses me on a couple levels. As soon as I get an excuse to cross the pond again, we'll consider it your audit from the corporate HQ.

wordsmythe wrote:

As soon as I get an excuse to cross the pond again, we'll consider it your audit from the corporate HQ.

Shouldn't that be the other way around, Sonny?

buzzvang wrote:
I reckon the British contingent could give you a run for your money

After hearing Duoae's email a few weeks back, I'm willing to bet he can't wait to tell us in person how the Dyson vacuum literally spins the dust right out of existence. :lol:

I'm afraid i'm not aware of this reference... I'd prefer to be compared to Remmington Steele

I'll see if I can find the commercial... the resemblance was uncanny to me. And who wouldn't want to be compared to 80's Pierce Brosnan?

buzzvang wrote:
I reckon the British contingent could give you a run for your money

After hearing Duoae's email a few weeks back, I'm willing to bet he can't wait to tell us in person how the Dyson vacuum literally spins the dust right out of existence. :lol:

Just to continue the off topic trend, I have to admit I do have a Dyson and honestly it was pretty amazing how much better it handled our pets and the cat hair etc ;p

I cannot profess to be the best drinker, but I enjoy lightweight status, on the other hand you goodjers might need to practice more if you were going to keep up with the Norwegians

AoC is starting to really sound like the next MMO for me. The less canned repetitive PvP the better. WoW PvP kept my interest for a whole 2 weeks maybe and the only thing I still remember as entertaining was AV considering its hugeness/uniqueness compared to other canned instance experiences.

I still hold WAR close to my heart as I played the table top when I was younger but the more open AoC style of concentrating on non instance and non rigid faction PvP is very attractive. Bring on the multi guild wide open slaughter. The potential politic drama between waring guilds could be the type of fuel to make this one crazy game to get involved in.

AoC has been next on my list for quite awhile now. While i also played more than my share of GW game and there's many good things i see about WAR. AoC at least from my point of view seems to be combining all the great ideas from the MMO's i've played in the past and plants them squarely in a world that i grew up reading about. My main concern for games now days is end game, and you having the day to day drama of helping your guild and keep goes beyond actual game content. Something to fight for beyond gold and gear which is perfect in Hyboria.

Could you guys list the board games you played and liked? I remember hearing Cash & Guns? but there was one you said was the game of the show, like FPS board game I could quite catch the name of. Thanks!

Last Night On Earth
Ingenious got a lot of play.

The "FPS game" was Tannhauser.

Interviews like this one with Jason Stone on Age of Conan MMORPG is why I love this site. You guys ask the best questions and do great interviews. I can't wait to get this game on the 360. I hope it comes out next year but I won't hold my breath. This was my favorite interview yet, Keep up the good work.

Well that was officially the most comprehensive and clear interview on a new game and it's details that I have heard without asking a developer questions myself. Very very cool and kudos for Jason Stone for answering all questions clearly and fully. This interview, compared to other developers for AoC where they were short and vague, was amazing. You know I think I might try and get a dialog script for the interview typed up for the community. It's a pretty long interview but thankfully I'm a fast typer. We'll see. Certis were you asking the main questions? Who was the other GWJ person intersecting comments in there once in a while?

For the record that's one of the best shows I've heard since I began listening. The dynamic with all of you in the same room together was very cool. Sounds like a nuclear blast of a good time at GenCon 2007. Maybe one day, hopefully next year, I'll be able to experience my first Gen Con experience. Cheers.

P.S. Let me add before I even start typing this out. Do I have your permission to transcribe this interview into text format? I will not paraphrase but I will also not add things like pauses or repeated words in a sentence string that happen in normal conversation. I can even submit it to one of the owners for approval before posting it.

rabbit wrote:

Game of Thrones is simply the best "light" Wargame I own. And Quintin, it's exactly like you hoped it would be when you were 12. I was in the same boat. Plus, get enough GWJ folks together for a room and we can expand the gameplay space dramaticallY!

So this board game, "A Game of Thrones" is the one based off the George R.R. Martin novels right? It also has two expansions to it? I can see this game be rather entertaining. Obviously I can find it on Ebay right now. What is a fair price for it these days? I found one for $82.00 that includes the core board game as well as both expansions. Being an avid board gamer and collector, a Song of Ice and Fire fan and after reading a Review on it's game play I am very much intrigued by it.
So should I buy it?

BTW how does it compare to other board games such as Kingmaker or Age of Renaissance (sequel to AH's Civilization) or is closer to Samurai Swords or is it in between? Obviously it's no Empire in Arms. Did I mention I was a fan of board games?

It's very solid. Needs 4 players to be really good, but plays 3 OK with a "dummy army" mechanic. I think the game is 50-60 retail so anything under 100 is a decent deal. The expansion is, I believe, neccesary as some of the smaller variants really make the game better. I've never even read the books (waiting for him to finish the damn series) but I love the flavor.

rabbit wrote:

It's very solid. Needs 4 players to be really good, but plays 3 OK with a "dummy army" mechanic. I think the game is 50-60 retail so anything under 100 is a decent deal. The expansion is, I believe, neccesary as some of the smaller variants really make the game better. I've never even read the books (waiting for him to finish the damn series) but I love the flavor.

Well cool then I guess I will go ahead and get it then. BTW if you are holding out to read the entire series only when it's finished, you have a very long time to wait. The closest estimate approximation on series completion is 2011. And that's only if he actually writes at a decent rate. Considering his track record on books (so far an average of 2.5 years per book) it looks like it might be closer to 2013 or 2014. Seriously I'm actually afraid that he might die before finishing them. That worries me.

Certis were you asking the main questions? Who was the other GWJ person intersecting comments in there once in a while?

I was the guy who opened the interview and introduced Jason, rabbit peppered the interview with some excellent questions of his own.

P.S. Let me add before I even start typing this out. Do I have your permission to transcribe this interview into text format? I will not paraphrase but I will also not add things like pauses or repeated words in a sentence string that happen in normal conversation. I can even submit it to one of the owners for approval before posting it.

By all means, feel free. I think someone in the Age of Conan forums did up a bullet point list of new info, but I'm not sure if he caught everything.

I wasn't interested in Age of Conan at all until this interview. Now, color me whatever color intrigued is. There is a real paucity of MMO type game-age on the 360, and this could fill that niche nicely for me from the sounds of it.