Anarchy Online: Shadowlands Wrap Report

Lessons Learned Marius Enge: When you are working on a project like Shadowlands, the only thing that's for sure is that you will learn tons of new stuff. You will gain lots of new knowledge, and you will evolve as a game developer. Most of the developers of Shadowlands were really experienced, but still, I think the entire company learned a lot.

That said, we were also able to learn a multitude of specific things. Among them, we learned even more about how to do proper beta testing, implementing design with more focus and better tracking. We also learned to create even better tools (and next time will be even better), and more about how to optimize our world (traffic, bandwidth, databases, etc., etc.) and so much more. All in all, I think we have improved in every level of production and marketing due to Shadowlands.

Looking Ahead Marius Enge: My primary goal for the future for Anarchy Online would be to continue the tradition that Funcom has made for itself, where we are able to deliver new, innovative, quality gameplay and content to our players, as well as not being afraid to look back and make changes where we and our players feel there are elements that aren't all that fun. I believe in listening to the player base. They are the people who play the game. They are the people who spend time in the world. They deserve to be heard and I take great pride in being a person who listens to them.

Of course, there are some cases where I need to do things the players don't agree with since my primary task is to keep the integrity and protect the vision of the game, but I think players understand and respect this. There lies, of course, a great challenge in being able to come up with new, innovative ideas and solutions to both concerns, and also when it comes to future content like an expansion pack. There are many quality games out there, and we at Funcom want to be the spearhead of the industry when it comes to new, fun and creative gameplay.

Personal Thoughts Marius Enge: Personal thoughts... for favorite locations, it's tough to choose. I love the underwater world of Adonis, the snowy Penumbra and the fiery Inferno - I guess all of the extreme areas. My favorite enemies would have to be the Eremites. These things, giant worms, burrow under you, and you're never quite sure where they'll re-appear to strike at you next. They still scare me when playing, but also make me smile.

For what else I'd like players to know, most important is that we appreciate every one of them and will continue to do our best to show our appreciation by our ongoing dedication to make the worlds fun, unique and immersive. We're not done yet and the best is yet to come!

Marius Enge Game Director, Anarchy Online Funcom

Gaute Godager Game Director, unannounced project Funcom

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