Before I get to this story I just wanted to say that we all stand on the eve of the birth of a new IP. I had wanted that birth to be the MMO that 38 Studios had originally start out to create and instead it will be Reckoning in just over 2 weeks time. It’s been fun to champion 38 Studios when there was so much doubt but after seeing and getting to play Reckoning at BHG I knew this was going to be a big hit. EA has been going all out and the marketing machine was in full spin and it simply became a bit much to stay on top of it all. With the confidence that Reckoning would be a big hit I decided to sit back, relax and wait because I knew once it has been lauched then we would finally start to hear more about the MMO world that the team at 38 Studios has been working on for all these years.
This article by R A Salvatore does a fantastic job of explaining it all, of how the world of Amalur came to be and how it changed to be more then just the MMO. As a fan its my hope that soon we will know and experience both the world of Reckoning from the team at BHG and the MMO world 38 Studios has been working on since the company was founded. Exciting days lay ahead my friends, exciting days indeed!
The following article is written by fantasy author R A Salvatore on his work on the Kingdoms of Amalur games:
World-building is, mostly, an exercise in philosophy and logic.
Every culture has creation and destruction myths; building a world means exploring these and, perhaps, determining if one of them might actually be true.
In any case, these myths, or religions, are often shaped by the environment, both political and physical, and they, in turn help shape cultures.
Mark Twain once noted that history doesn’t repeat itself, but it sure rhymes. If you study history, you see the truth of that. Cultures follow a pattern, human needs demand certain systems, and there is a beautiful symmetry to be found in putting one culture beside another.
So take our own human history viewed through an honest prism. Now turn that prism just a bit to the side — for example, pretend that one of the more primitive creation-destruction myths is actually true (consider the 2012 Mayan craze currently hitting pop culture). In this skewed vision, add in elements to fit the new “truth” of history, the way Dan Brown did in The DaVinci Code, (and many others did before him) and you’ll find yourself amazed at how well those elements “fit” into the question of what really happened versus what we know from textbooks.
This is the secret of world-building, whether you’re recreating or reinterpreting our world history, or creating an entirely new entity. And a second secret: it’s a blast. I mean that. You are, in effect, concocting a gigantic conspiracy theory, and admit it or not, people love conspiracy theories.
Gamasutra reports that 38 Studios has joined the Entertainment Software Association.
38 Studio’s CEO Jennifer MacLean was invited to speak at the Monthly Providence Geeks meeting on Wednesday. Check it out!
Curt Schilling was asked to speak at an awards dinner sponsored by the Providence Business News in Rhode Island. He promised the audience that 38 Studios was on it’s way to becoming a multibillion dollar enterprise in Rhode Island. Now I know Curt has always had a big vision for 38 Studios but man that’s a very bold statement to be making. Either Curt has been drinking his own kool-aid or the company is sitting on the next big thing in MMO’s. Now the fact that 38 Studios has been so tight lipped about it’s MMORPG code named “Copernicus” compared to other companies, I am leaning towards the later. What do you think?
