It’s my honor to help introduce Charles “kieron” Dane, the new Lead Community Manager at 38 Studios. As part of his offical duties he will be hanging out on our forums and doing his best to help answer any questions and being a part of the community here at 38 Gamers. Be sure to sign up on our forums and help grow our community and know your thougths and opinons are being heard by 38 Studios. Welcome to 38 Gamers kieron!
Greetings! My name is Charles ‘kieron’ Dane and I am the new Lead Community Manager at 38 Studios. As one of the primary points of contact for the Amalur community, one of my responsibilities is to interact with the fans of 38 Studios and our games, such as 38 Gamers.
I’ve had my eye on this site since early in the year and have watched it grow into perhaps the most informative news source for anything related to 38 Studios. That’s a great service to the Amalur community and one I look forward to supporting for many years to come.
I can’t go into detail about Reckoning, Copernicus or Amalur at the present, and no, you can’t have my stuff, but I will certainly answer questions or forward comments as I am able.
Looking forward to a long and fun relationship with the community.
Found this video interview with Curt Shilling from SyndCon 2010 by Ten Ton Hammer.
Curt Schilling talks Reckoning, Copernicus, and the ongoing evolution of online gaming
A lot of buzz has been circulating around Curt Schilling’s game company, 38 Studios, and their upcoming projects: Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning and Copernicus. Schilling has long been an avid gamer, playing wargames such as Advanced Squad Leader (which he now owns), RPGs, and online games from Ultima Online to World of Warcraft. Ten Ton Hammer’s own Ethec sat down with Curt Schilling at SyndCon 2010 to talk about 38 Studios’ upcoming projects and gaming in general.
I especially liked these comments which echo my sentiments.
General Treasurer Caprio’s effort to kill the proposed the Rhode Island Economic Development Corp.’s deal before it even gets final approval, caused Republican candidate John Robitaille to say, “He is basically saying to our EDC board, which is comprised of the best and brightest and most successful business people in this state, that he doesn’t trust them. I think that sends a horrible message and will hurt economic development in this state going forward.”
Fellow Republican Victor Moffitt said Caprio overstepped his bounds.
“As General Treasurer he should stay out of financial issues. I believe he’s doing this just for grandstanding,” he said.
Moderate Party candidate Ken Block agreed.
“At this point, I consider this a nasty political stunt — to insert oneself and go right to the rating agency and try to affect their behavior. I significantly question the wisdom of that and I question the propriety of that, for sure,” Block said.
Just when I thought it could not get any stranger we now have another candidate for Governor of Rhode Island trying to stop the $75 million dollar loan guarantee to 38 Studios in exchange for moving to Rhode Island and creating 450 jobs. I guess the part that angers me the most is not the fact that Caprio has now changed his position, it’s the fact that two unelected candidates feel they can stop a deal made by people who actually have been elected to make such decisions. I have no problem with them voicing their opinion its when they actually take steps to try and stop it that I feel they have crossed the line and are showing no respect to people who have actually been elected.
The Job Creation Guaranty Act Program was created to provide loan guarantees for intellectual property-based investments, including the interactive video gaming industry. The General Assembly overwhelmingly supported the Job Creation Guaranty Act, passing unanimously in the Senate, and 66 – 1 in the House. The RIEDC Board, after months of due diligence, voted 11 to 1 to move forward with the 38 Studios deal after several public hearings on the issue. Where were these two individuals when all this was going on? Where were their objections then? The Job Creation Guaranty Act was voted on and passed. The RIEDC did their job and have acted in good faith and at this point the state and the RIEDC have a legal, business and moral obligation to execute the terms and conditions of the agreement.
PROVIDENCE – R.I. General Treasurer Frank T. Caprio said Tuesday he is attempting to block the state’s $75 million loan guarantee promised to Curt Schilling’s video game company, urging the rating agencies reviewing the deal to hold off until a new administration is in office.
Caprio, the Democratic gubernatorial candidate, said he voiced concerns about the loan guarantee to Moody’s Investors Service on Monday and to Standard & Poor’s on Tuesday morning. Both agencies have been commissioned by the state and Schilling’s 38 Studios to issue bond ratings on the deal for institutional investors.
He also raised questions in an article Tuesday in a bond industry publication The Bond Buyer. Caprio said he was hoping to attract the attention of potential investors.
In a statement, Caprio warned that the deal jeopardizes the state’s “financial stature” by creating a “risky moral obligation for the state” that could lower the state’s bond rating.
While we have know about the loan guarentee for awhile now, this is the first article with a quote from Jennifer MacLean, President and CEO of 38 Studios.
PROVIDENCE, R.I. — The Rhode Island Economic Development Corporation Board of Directors approved a $75 million loan guarantte for Curt Schilling’s video game company in July, helping the company expand its business and relocate from Maynard, Mass. to Rhode Island.
The guarantee will assist the company in obtaining private financing to bring 450 highly skilled, high-wage jobs to the state, RIEDC said in an released announcement.
“This investment in our economic development has the potential to spark the expansion of a new industry in our state and generate additional new business growth. I welcome 38 Studios and am confident Rhode Island will provide the environment and workforce to make the company a leader in the interactive entertainment and video game industry,” said Governor Donald L. Carcieri.
“Today is a major step in moving us toward our goal of relocating our headquarters to Rhode Island. In doing so, we will support an interactive entertainment industry cluster that will bring thousands of high-paying, permanent jobs to Rhode Island. 38 Studios already has a number of Rhode Islanders and graduates from many of the local educational institutions on our team, and we look forward to recruiting more talented Ocean State residents to build the kind of careers that will be integral to our continued growth and provide the needed opportunities to keep local talent in state,” said Jennifer MacLean, president and CEO, 38 Studios.
Legislation enacted in June established the Job Creation Guaranty Program which led to 38 Studios’ loan guarantee. The program authorizes the state to support critical economic development projects by backing private loans for innovative companies with primarily “soft” assets – like patents, intellectual properties and licenses.
“38 Studios is the first of likely many companies that will use the Job Creation Guaranty Program. The RIEDC is moving the economic needle forward, and we are ready to work with other innovation-driven businesses to bring highly skilled, high-wage jobs to Rhode Island,” said RIEDC Executive Director Keith Stokes. “This program was designed to create Rhode Island jobs, generate entrepreneurial activity, accelerate growth in existing small businesses and help attract new businesses to Rhode Island.”
I for one can’t wait for this deal to close and for the politicians to find some other issue to politicize. This will allow 38 Studios to focus on moving to their new home, creating new jobs, great video games and proving all the critics wrong.
PROVIDENCE, R.I. — A top Rhode Island economic official said Thursday he expects to close by mid-September on a controversial $75 million state loan guarantee for the video game company of former Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling.
Keith Stokes, executive director of the state Economic Development Corp., said that’s a bit later than the Aug. 31 closing date that was anticipated when the deal with 38 Studios was approved by the group’s board on July 26. A specific closing date has not been set, but he said such a process typically takes 30 to 60 days. He said there’s nothing unusual about the delay, which happened within the past week or so because of the complexity of the deal.
“We’re within that Aug. 31 timeframe,” he said.
The loan guarantee requires 38 Studios to relocate from Maynard, Mass., to Rhode Island. The company has promised about 450 jobs — with an average salary of $67,500 — by the end of 2012. As the company meets certain benchmarks, money will be released to the company in installments.
I was going to write something about how selecting my age to access the new reckoningthegame.com site really made me feel old as it spun and spun before hitting the magic number. Thankfully this has been changed to a more standard login format and I can go back to thinking I am a younger than I really am!
Looks like R.A. Salvatore is expanding his influence in the gaming word by writing a new Neverwinter trilogy that will be the backdrop of Cryptic’s New Dungeons and Dragons Game, Neverwinter. It’s rather fitting that such a prolific fantasy writer is influencing multiple fantasy RPG video games including 38 Studios own Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning and their un-named MMORPG code named “Copernicus.”
Found this video interview from Gamer Live TV with Curt Schilling, you can sure tell he is pumped to be able to talk about the game! Tell us more Curt…tell us more!
Found this video interview with Curt Shilling from SyndCon 2010 by Ten Ton Hammer.
Just when I thought it could not get any stranger we now have another candidate for Governor of Rhode Island trying to stop the $75 million dollar loan guarantee to 38 Studios in exchange for moving to Rhode Island and creating 450 jobs. I guess the part that angers me the most is not the fact that Caprio has now changed his position, it’s the fact that two unelected candidates feel they can stop a deal made by people who actually have been elected to make such decisions. I have no problem with them voicing their opinion its when they actually take steps to try and stop it that I feel they have crossed the line and are showing no respect to people who have actually been elected.
