Age of Conan developer profile: Heidi Schmidt
It’s time again to take a close look at the guys and gals behind Funcom‘s exciting new MMORPG Age of Conan. This time, we bring you a little something on Funcom Content Designer Heidi Schmidt.
Born and raised in L.A., Heidi is now in Norway, working primarily on the lore of Age of Conan. With her background as an Intelligence Analyst for the U.S. Army, it seems like handling the lore behind an IP as vast and well-known as Age of Conan is just the thing for her.
Anyway, let’s take a look at some of the key points in Ms. Schmidt’s developer profile, straight from MMORPG.com’s interview with her.
On her job at Funcom. “I am a content designer, specifically a quest designer, and the Lore Wench, for the Age of Conan MMO. I spent a lot of time on the TestLive test server for Anarchy Online, helping the developers by testing new content. I also delved into creating a huge in-game map for the community, which I really enjoyed working on (it was the perfect excuse to explore every meter of Rubi-Ka).”
On the videogame industry at large. “Right now I think this genre is sort of stuck in a trap of its own making. It’s brain-locked on a certain formula and I think a lot of companies, because of how much it costs to make games, are very afraid of taking risks, afraid to take creative chances. I truly hope this will change–but it might not happen until the number of games in this genre using the same formula reaches a critical mass, first.”
On working on an IP as strong as Conan. “Delving into the rich and vast lore of Hyboria has been exciting. There’s so much wonderful material from which to draw–from wild adventures and fierce battles to bawdy tavern tales and luscious wenches. Age of Conan isn’t your typical fantasy MMO. It’s dark and gritty. Harsh and brutal. Sensuous and alluring. It’s sword and sorcery!”
For the full interview and profile, click on the ‘read’ link below.
It’s time again to take a close look at the guys and gals behind Funcom‘s exciting new MMORPG Age of Conan. This time, we bring you a little something on Funcom Content Designer Heidi Schmidt.
Born and raised in L.A., Heidi is now in Norway, working primarily on the lore of Age of Conan. With her background as an Intelligence Analyst for the U.S. Army, it seems like handling the lore behind an IP as vast and well-known as Age of Conan is just the thing for her.
Anyway, let’s take a look at some of the key points in Ms. Schmidt’s developer profile, straight from MMORPG.com’s interview with her.
On her job at Funcom. “I am a content designer, specifically a quest designer, and the Lore Wench, for the Age of Conan MMO. I spent a lot of time on the TestLive test server for Anarchy Online, helping the developers by testing new content. I also delved into creating a huge in-game map for the community, which I really enjoyed working on (it was the perfect excuse to explore every meter of Rubi-Ka).”
On the videogame industry at large. “Right now I think this genre is sort of stuck in a trap of its own making. It’s brain-locked on a certain formula and I think a lot of companies, because of how much it costs to make games, are very afraid of taking risks, afraid to take creative chances. I truly hope this will change–but it might not happen until the number of games in this genre using the same formula reaches a critical mass, first.”
On working on an IP as strong as Conan. “Delving into the rich and vast lore of Hyboria has been exciting. There’s so much wonderful material from which to draw–from wild adventures and fierce battles to bawdy tavern tales and luscious wenches. Age of Conan isn’t your typical fantasy MMO. It’s dark and gritty. Harsh and brutal. Sensuous and alluring. It’s sword and sorcery!”
For the full interview and profile, click on the ‘read’ link below.
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