Conan Exiles - Funcom's Tor Egil

MassivelyOP interviewed community manager Tor Egil about various aspects of Conan Exiles, such as the reasons for early access, the world of Conan, and gameplay now and in the future.

On the world of Conan

I’m not personally big on the Conan IP, but it definitely boasts interesting elements: nudity, limb-chopping, and Pokemon-esque collecting of people to bolster my town against my enemies (ignoring the slavery part) is fun. The way it plays out internationally is curious too. For example, perceived American sentiment on nudity means that’s going bye-bye on consoles (cannibalism, slavery, and decapitation made the cut). Andersen mentions the EU is fine with nudity and will have access to all of it. I mention that Japanese anime allows simplified male genitalia on screen, but Conan’s detailed male bits are why it needs to be censored. (Interestingly, when I’d talk to fellow teachers in Japan about what really stood out as inappropriate in American movies, they generally had an issue with decapitation and the loss of limbs more than anything else!)

This is when I decided to ask how Funcom devs decide what aspects of Conan can be shown in the game and which kind are played down or avoided. Cannibalism is OK, but they decided not to go into graphic detail, even though they technically could have players just eating arm meat right from the bone. The description of the meat is enough. This kind strategy – tell, don’t show – with certain adult aspects of IP is how Funcom tries to get around some potential problems with localization, even though the game’s rating is already quite high. Blood and nudity have to be because “they go with the world of Conan.”

And that’s the key. The team will do what works for the IP but it also has to have a purpose. Cutting off arms happens and fits with the world of Conan, so it’s in. Urination, something they considered, didn’t make the cut since they didn’t feel it had a function (clearly no boy scouts on the team). Even as an emote, people would go overboard. It’s funny, but it doesn’t exactly fit with the IP, since it’d get too silly.

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