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General : 38 Studios Comic Con Panel
Posted Jul 23, 2010 by Suzie Ford
Comic-Con 2010 has kicked off in San Diego and MMORPG.com correspondent, Carolyn Koh, had the opportunity to sit in on the 38 Studios Panel discussion. 38 Studios' Curt Schilling, author R.A. Salvatore, Ken Rolston and Todd McFarlane were on hand to discuss the just-announced RPG, Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning. Of course, KoA has implications for the MMO Copernicus, as the two games reside in the same game universe.
The first information and trailer of Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning was revealed at Comic Con at a panel made up of Curt Schilling, the President & CEO of 38 Studios, R.A. Salvatore, Ken Rolston and Todd McFarlane. Curt started off by telling a couple of stories, describing himself as a hard-cord gamer. “I’d be looking at the time and thinking that if this inning ended by eleven, I’d be able to still get in the raid at 12:30,” he said, telling us that in his last three contracts before he retired from baseball, that he had high-speed internet access written in so he could play still play EverQuest while on the road.
Read the rest of the 38 Studios Comic Con panel report.
Although the teaser did leave me a little cold, the passion these guys have makes me feel good about both projects. I am interested to see how things play out and look going forward.
This looks like it was an interesting panel. Everyone on the team seems highly devoted to the project. I especially enjoyed what McFarlane had to say about making the combat both melee and magical look real. This quote in particular got me excited too: “We will kill somebody in the game better than anyone else has been killed in video games.”
“We will kill somebody in the game better than anyone else has been killed in video games.”
is a great quote, hope they can live up to it. I'm intrigued to find out more, it has a solid team, it's been a long time coming and at last we get a tiny bit of info for Project Copernicus (it will use the same lore).
The trailer ... kind of sucks to be honest. I'm not sure Todd McFarlane is a good choice for directing cinematics. He seems to be better at still frame art as opposed to animation.
I'd have to agree that, compared to Blizzard and Bioware cinematics, this teaser reel left a bit to be desired, especially after reading that Todd McFarlane was interested in making the combat and modeling appear more realistic. Did anyone else find the combat to be lacking physicality, or to be inadequately visceral, within the video? To be fair, though, cinematics don't make the game, and I'd also agree that there seems to be a great deal of passion behind the title. I'm more interested in seeing in-game footage, which I realize will probably take some time, but the screenshots made me more excited than the trailer.
It sounds cool, the music and atmosphere are incredible. I agree that the trailer could of been a little more exciting, possibly by being just a little bit longer and adding some smaller details, but over all I'm pretty excited to see what they have to offer in the future.
Epic !! Can't wait :)
Heres to hoping that these guys are more passionate about gaming than profit and by doing so it turns out to be a financial success so that we all win !!!
About the trailer: It was a 'teaser' if I'm not mistaken, so they would'nt want to show off too much, now would they? =D
I think what they presented looks and sounds fantastic. Talking about immersion and home has me intrigued and excited. But I'm tempering my excitement because the MMORPG could still turn out to be another level grind game, which loses immersion very quickly due to the features of such games. As far as the single player game, leveling up is the way to build those, but again, I hope they can do it with much less levels and much more "plot". So I'm not sure we'll get any definitive clues to the MMO on that.
I don't normally play single player games much. But this one might be a "must have" for the lore in the MMO. For a foundation of excitement to build on
Damn, Curt, I hope to hell you guys are building a "worldly" game with much closer gaps in "levels" (or better yet in skills) and abilities for community development among players.
It's just a cinematic, we dont know how the game will be from it. Is it good? well, as a cinematic is good enought to promote a game but... as I already said is just a cinmatic, nothing to do with the real game. Actually, I dont understand why the developers spend resources on cinematics, I find them kind of useless, show actual gameplay footage or dont show anything at all.
Yup.
I was hoping for even just a snippet of in-game footage. Overall, the entire thing made me yawn. Dude fighting undead...seen it. Cliched narrative. And, again, no gameplay footage. As mentioned earlier, the enthusiasm of the developers are what keeps this game on my radar. They truly seem like a group who enjoy what they do, and a paycheck is merely a perk.
I appreciate their passion and I'm not going to bad-mouth the game, but I was a little disappointed by the cartoonish weapon sizes in that video. That mallet head was as big as the guy.
I'll hold off for now until we see a bit of in-game footage to see if that spills over into the game. Things like that are really immersion-breaking, and as a result game-breaking, for me.
EIther way, I wish the folks at 38 Studios the best of luck.
Fall 2011...
Which makes project copernicus release 2013 or even later...
Leaves time to enjoy some other games first
Okay, clearly these guys have a lot of passion and enthusiasm, and I'm still interested in their product, but.... the trailer sucked! Where was Todd's art style as shown in the promo poster? Secondly, the animation kinda sucked too. Although I don't think it was as much of a direction problem as a technical competency problem. I could see Todd's flourishes in some of the animation, and that was good. But otherwise, something seemed quite "off" about the whole thing. From the colors, to the setting, the whole thing was a little boring and cliche' and really dropped my interested in the game.
Okay now for the positives. I liked generic bald-guy rising out of the well of souls on chains; that was kinda dark and cool. The magic lightning arm-blades was a very cool moment- saved the whole thing for me. Lore-wise I was left wondering what that highlander-esque type moment was all about. Lastly, the music was absolutely killer.
I'm not sure whether to be thrilled or saddened that the real in-game screenshots look 10x better than the CGI. Completely opposite of Bioware's SWTOR CGI to in-game comparison. I'll have to wait to see some in-game animation, but overall I was hoping for a bit more of Todd's art-style to come through, which doesn't look like the concept art at all. And I thought I had read somewhere once before Curt said the game is actually going to look like the concept art, a kind of disney-esque stylized realism. He could have meant that strictly for the MMO, though.
Like I said, still interested- it's easy to be a critic; I was just overall let down by the CGI.
I got my hopes up.
Watched some videos of people talking.
http://www.truveo.com/38-studios-mmog-project-untitled-videos-x360/id/3189244869
With R.A Salvatore on the team there will hopefully be a solid, believable world.
He got a good vision and know how to spin a good tale even if the protoganist is not the typical heroic stereotype. Some good examples of this is the cleric/priest Cadderly and the assassin Artemis Entreri.
Caddely being the goody-goody priest that dont like to fight, and wont fight with the clerical weapon of choice: the staff.
Entreri being the calculating, pragmatic killer thats pretty much the anti-thesis to Cadderly.
Tod McFarlane is a pretty good artist, at least for the spawn comics.
I dont know how much his vision of things will impact the game, but it will be interresting to see. My understanding is that hes doing artwork, and Salvatore is the guy directing that creativity.
Dunno much about the Ken Rolston guy. It should matter alot to have someone who got experience.
Iam a bit dissapointed by the video. Its like a typical teaser, not really showing anything relevant to the game.
The things iam really curious about is what sort of systems the game will have.
- What sort of character progression.
- The number of skills/abilities.
- Will the game have classes and levels?
- Is there instance grind?
- Is it a stats game?
- Is it a point-click game or do the player have to dodge incoming attacks etc..
- How will the death system be?
- Will the MMO and the other game be similar?
- Whats these hints about the magic system?
- Is there the typical mechanics that serves no purpuse other than harass the player?
Iam wondering, and its prolly good that i dont know. When people make promises about features they often betray the expectations later.
My hopes are that these people have the vision, balls and skills to make a great game that is really entertaining.
Quite frankly the only thing disappointing I found in this thread is the lack of enthusiasm for this IP being developed and the amount of negative comments. Both R.A. Salvatore and Todd McFarlane are masters in their fields. That's not being a fanboi btw, it's a fact. Any project they are working on is bound to be amazing to say the least. Sadly, it just goes to show how few gamers actually read a novel or comic book these days.
This could just be my opinion, but...
Not disappointing:
A+
Quite disappointing:
C-
All said and done, it's just a CGI, there are terrific games with poor CGI's and crappy games with terrific CGI's. I still have hopes for the game; quite frankly I enjoy McFarlane, Salvatore, and Rolston's works quite a bit.
Don't mistake negative comments about the Trailer for negative comments about the IP. Jeez. I personally love Drizzt Do'Urden and other Salvatore lore and I'm a big fan of Schilling(Philadelphia Phillies baby!). I however, am not a fan of Spawn artwork, but I think McFarlane did some Spiderman art which is good, I like Spidy a lot.
That being said, I am a huge fan of cinematics and this one just left me wanting more and hoping the end product is nothing like it. I'll still be playing these 2 games on launch day, no doubt about that.
I have a feeling that the game world and the inhabitants will have great depth with vast ammounts of content and variety.
The trailer is just that and is not necessarily representative of the game, it just gives a feel. And the feeling I get from this is gameplay as a priority and the same from the panel. I just hope beyond hope that R.A'ss association and that they really follow the D&D variety with respect to NPCs both human and Non.
Yeah, ridiculously disproportionate weapons really bug me but I want to give these guys the benefit of the doubt for now. And this is for the single player game so maybe the art will be a little different and less out of whack in the mmo? I hope.
I just hope there isn't too much of that sort of thing because like you said it is immersion breaking. I mean, imagine a world war II movie like Saving Private Ryan. Now imagine that everything else is the same but instead of authentic looking weapons they were carrying around giant, plastic, toy guns larger than their own bodies. Same story, same actors, same dialogue but that one stupid thing would have ruined the whole movie.
If this is all they went to comicon for then they wasted their time and everyone elses.
This is friggin awsome. This is an A team lineup. The lead designer of the best sandbox RPG of all time imho, an actual best selling author, and one hell of the greats in fantasy art.
Being a McFarlane fan, Oblivion fan and a R. A. Salvator fan this is the dream team for me. I'm fairly speechless.
I'm impressed lots of big names with great imaginations. I've yet to find an RA Salvatore project that I thought was bad. If any group of people can combine their tallents to create a great immersive game it's these guys.
Anyone notice th EA logo at the bottom of the site?
Reckoning is a single-player epic role-playing game that combines a lush open world adventure with thrilling, heart-pounding action combat.
What is Project Copernicus?
A: Project Copernicus is the codename for 38 Studios’ MMO, which is currently being developed by the 38 Studios team in Maynard, MA. Copernicus will take place in Amalur at a different point in the world’s history. No details have been announced for the game, but more details will be revealed at a later date.
Caught this in the FAQ. Could be a long while for the MMO still.
Drizzt Do' Urdens dad is helping to create a game world?
I'm in.
Huh oh, so it's not a MMO, then I guess EA doesn't have muc say in it lol.
lol, if it had SOE, Funcom, NcSoft, Atari I'd be a bit worried.
To me it's more like it's going to be hard for this thing to NOT do well. Todd McFarlane, R.A. Salvator, and Ken Rolston + a publisher such as EA spells win for me.
Not only that but they are seeding a player base. Novels, Comics, Toys, and a PC game that will proceed an MMO on top of the marketing that EA can dish out.
Yeah....... I'd rethink that ftl lol.
Great team, incredible passion, these games are going to be remarkable. The teaser trailer thing was fine, I don't care how well any cinematic is done, if it doesn't include game footage then it's just something flashy to look at anyway.
Can't hardly wait, getting very excited already :)
CG trailers mean nothing to me, waste of money...
Just look at warhammer and SWTOR CG trailers and then you think ok thats nice but you watch it once or twice and forget it. not a wise investment in ones money imo.
Trailers are suposed to make you intrested.This looked good to me.Been following 38 studioes for while on its devlopment.Hope to see the rpg in 2011 look as good .Smart rpg 1st to get you into the world then a mmo to play in it wiht others.
Intresting to see how this develops im a fan of ken and elder scrolls:morrowind.
Funny how some are dissapointed about trailer and comepare it to blizzard or bioware what ajoke you guys are, i would say go to your beloved blizzard/bioware then if you dont like it.
As far as i know a trailer is just atrailer a teaser nothing more eventually its all about gameplay and you can't deny it Ken Rolston made morrowind and oblivion seems in good hands then right?
Well I think its a really cool thing this ip/company. I hope they do well and wish them the best. The flash site is amazing, I really liked it. Reminds me almost of how mmorpgs used to be when the community matter to everyone. A great feeling from there site, a nice site indeed. Lets hope there game is as good. Good luck 38 studios! youl need it.
Absolutely,
You know the story is going to be amazing with Salvatore, and Tom is a legend in the fantasy artwork world, hell, both are legends in their respective fields, they paved the way for modern fantasy story telling and art. Let's just hope these guys aren't taking up too much of the resources and the actual coding doesn't suffer.
One thing caught my eye that got me excited in a Vanguard pre release hype way. The talk of the first time running through the Lake of Ill Omen in EQ and running into a Drachnid. He also mentioned the key word consequences. Curt gets that I think. He was there in the early EQ days. He understands that without any consequences, who give a crap about that Drachnid? But when you are forced to be careful and have to decide whether to fight or flee with serious risk... as in having to actualy talk to other people to get you out of a bind... Knowing you will have to ask some friends for help to deal with the Consequences of your wrong decision, you get that real thrill of excitement and immersion. Repair bills and being completely self sufficient in an MMO just doesn't bring that same thrill.
I just hope EA doesn't force them to slap the WoW solo EZ mode on the game. It seems all new games end up pandering to the folks who just want a risk free, pain free journey with no surprises or fear. Doesn't anyone get off on being scared shitless in MMOs anymore?
Until more is actually revealed about the game, I call this a "wait and see" maybe follow the progression of the game.
1 BIG Question:D
Its pay to play?:D
lol, this is about the PC game, the MMO will come later. And when the MMO comes out with Oblivions Lead Designer, R.A. Salvator and Tom McFarlane working on it, it damn well better be pay to play. The item mall needed to cover the salary of Salvator and McFarlane would probably be more than I could bare or afford lol.
its a good choice tho, atleast from my point of view, singleplayer working as sort of a singleplayer trial, and more important gives a more solid funding for their "real" project...hopefully they wont have to push out a half finished product, keeping investors and more important the big bad EA happy.
The trailer wasn't anything amazing, but R.A. Salvatore is my favorite author and a true MMORPG gamer. I remember reading his EverQuest novel where he recalls in the prologue his first MMO experience and how he loved it. I'll check out this game so I can get a feel for the lore but I'm more excited about the MMO.
What's funny about it? Why are people "a joke" for commenting that they didn't like a mediocre teaser? If you observe forums for some time, there are few things you can do in discussions: 1) Critisize the critics, worst case attacking them personally. Belittleing is fairly popular (like laughing about someone else) 2) Downplay the information they critisize as being not important. 3) Shifting the focus to something else, like red herring. Great, utmost obvious example you gave for all three.
It was a lackluster, mediocre trailer. I remain interested because of the great names behind the project.
I cant wait for their MMO.
Maybe finally a good single player RPG!! :D
They'll have to contend with God Of War 3 for that. The first boss finisher still makes me shiver, just from the way they handled it. And my god, everyone should of seen this from E3 as it was totted a lot, but it doesn't do it justice to just see Kratos ripping off Helioss head, you have to experience for yourself.
It should be noted though, that the Kingdom of Amalur game is listed as a 360/PS3/PC release, not just PC.
Why such hate? I think the combat style shown in this clip (even if not actually game footage) is more 'real' than most MMO's. I don't need fake overdramanization, silly colors, and impossible movements. A little 'real' would be a change of pace.
First, you used the word "hate" in the wrong way. Criticism is not "hate". Second, how did that feel more "real"? The very physics of the animation were completely lacking any "realism". Third. This is a teaser for the single player RPG not the MMO. Fourth, "you don't need fake overdramanization, silly colors, and impossible movements" and yet that is what we are trying to say here, is that the colors, cliche dramatization, and impossible movements are what make the trailer fail.
That all being said, I will buy the game, just not based off of the trailer but based off of who is making it.
Sums it up!
Wow, I don't think you undestand. Most of us saying that we didn't like the trailer went on to say, "HEY, BUT WE'RE EXCITED FOR THIS TITLE REGARDLESS" (I put that in caps so you'd actually read it this time). Most of us even said that the trailer doesn't really matter, and that even though Bioware and Blizzard do a better job with cinematics, which only a crazy person would dispute, this title is still on most of our radar's. Way to take something and blow it out of proportion. Anyone who finds a large amount of negativity in this thread needs to go back and re-read all of the posts in full detail. I see largely positive things being said. I'd say most people posting here, myself included, are excited for what 38 Studios is working on, and that's just from actually comprehending what people are writing.
I was amazed by the beautiful trailer!!!!! It made me want to get in there and experience that game!! Right now!! For myself, I want to experience it with others. So, looking forward to the MMORPG
I love this quote from Todd McFarland
“We will kill somebody in the game better than anyone else has been killed in video games.”
Seriously people, you guys are complaining about using a sword to kill an undead because a few years ago DnD decided that undead should be killed with blunt weapons.
And what if 38 studios wanted to do it their way? it's their IP,thier world and their RULES.
What does reading a novel or comic book have to do with anything? Okay, so we have a great baseball player who's only contribution is money and an addiction to Evercrack, a great writer, someone who worked on the Elder Scrolls games,and a great artist. None of whom have EVER made an mmo before, and only one of which has ever made a game period.
If they were making a graphic novel, I'd be excited.
Making an mmo, I'll wait until I see something REAL, not CGI trailer crap, before I get excited in the least.
Well to be fair, this is the single-player RPG, its based within the same world as the MMO though.
And I wouldn't put them down just yet. Bioware was founded by two doctors, yet look how it turned out.
What are you talking about? McFarlane hasn't been relevant to comics ever since Spawn, and Salvatore is a C-lister who got lucky with a single character, Drizzt. It's good to have people that have worked on successful IPs, but neither of them are masters in their field, and one of my worries is that they push them so much as if it guarantees an awesome game.
The trailer was underwhelming. When your whole idea of a bad-ass fantasy weapon is an over-sized meat tenderizer, its cause for alarm. Hopefully we'll see better from them later on.
Hey! My favorite weapon in God of War 2 was an over-sized meat tenderizer! I beat the entire game with just that!
The game looks promising, and I like the overal art direction. My only problem so far is that the weapons are way over sized, but its not a show stopper for me. I'll watch this develop and see what it looks like at release.
McFarlane looks kind of like Steve Vai, king of guitar wanking. Not that that has any relevance to anything.
Anyway, I'm not familiar with McFarlane's or Salvatore's work so that doesn't woo me much. A team with Frank Herbert and Jean-Leon Gerome would. Unfortunately they're both dead.
Ken Rolston is a plus. Morrowind is one of my favorite games of all time. Oblivion bored me to tears with its cliche ridden intro and I haven't managed to drag myself back. But I suppose Rolston's influence is more in gameplay and less in story. He won me over when he mentioned "open world" for the Amalur IP. Woot.
Something about the background in the screenshot with the guy swinging the oversized hammer at the crystal monster is impressive. I guess its the lighting, and the depth of field, and the range of colors. Not a fan of ridiculous weapons though. Or the slight cartoonyness of the art style but I pretty much expected that from looking at the portfolios of artists who work at 38 and Big Huge. The armors in the screenshots are uninteresting. Skeletons and crystal monsters are a little played out. The skeletons seem to be more like skeleton-golems though, with limbs constructed of bundles of bones. So at least there is a little twist. But nothing really makes this IP stand out right now is what I'm getting at. Looks like standard fantasy with a common art style and design sense.
I agree with the sentiment that cinematic trailers are a waste of time and money but I guess there must be a demographic out there somewhere that gets off on them. And really, if you want to advertise on tv, gameplay footage would probably look boring. I always liked EVE Online's cinematic trailers. They are a little closer to in-game footage... a little.
I don't understand why some people are disappointed by the trailer. I thought it was very well done, and has had a serious positive impact on my view of the game.
But more encouraging, in my opinion, is their confrontation of death. I have long thought that one of the most immersion breaking things about MMOs was your instant resurrestion at a shrine with no (or very little) consequence. I like the idea of writing into a story a reason for why it is happening, and then having consequences in the real world.
Don't give Ken Rolston too much credit - he joined Bethesda when most of Daggerfall (the 2nd Elder Scrolls game) was already done. He was just around when the series got really popular (on consoles) and the original designer has much more grandiose plans for the series (which never materialized, instead it got dumbed down for consoles).
So basically the gameplay (and back history of the series) was already well established when he came on board.
For me the concern is the scope and feel that the panel and trailer left me with. The size of the studios, people involved and numbers being tossed around had me looking for something game changing. I prefer gameplay videos personally, but a nice cinematic can set the tone. An average cinematic for a "groundbreaking" new IP, well leaves you feeling the same or worse than knowing nothing. The models and animation look like something Blizzard was doing 10 years ago. It makes me curious if this is a way to generate some revenue prior to the MMO since Big Huge was working on something to begin with. MMO aside, if I have 60 or 120 bucks to put on a game or two next year about the time this comes out what is going to make me pick this over Bioshock 3 or another great title out at the time? I hope there are some cool things under the hood that will be forthcoming.
It sucks that RA and Todd have to get in with that tool Shilling now I'm going to actually have conflicts as to whether to give his company my money or not.
Do we even need CGI trailers? I mean what do they really add? Kurt started off wanting to make an mmo. I wonder how the single player verson came about. Also I recall last week 38 studios was looking for a loan for 75 mil to move to RI instead of MA. Like RI developement council was going to maybe grant them 75mil loan. They got 100 employees now and want to have as many as 500.
eeew todd i will skip this one lol.
What exactly is wrong with Curt Schilling?
It's just a CGI but still.
My disbelief was not really suspended watching a guy jump around with a 100 pound hammer hovering on his back, killing skeletons by stabbing their empty rib cages with a 6 foot sword :-/
hope gameplay is better.
Here's some G4 coverage videos to watch:
http://g4tv.com/videos/47662/38-Studios--Adam-Sessler-on-Kingdoms-of-Amalur-Reckoning/
http://g4tv.com/videos/47658/Kingdoms-of-Amalur-Reckoning-Todd-McFarlane-Interview/
I had no idea Todd Mcfarlane was art director for this game/studio, that alone puts this game waaaay up to the top of my list.
I know the proof is in pudding but Im really excited about this company and its upcoming MMO
I just think with the people involved they can't go wrong :)
Youres? Kinda like that :)
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Maybe this ip will be like the rest?
Didnt Curt Schilling put his money on the line for this ip? Thats sounds alot better than the people behind the curtain that only shuffle numbers. While he may not be a visonary or a developer, it takes dedication and balls to put all youre money on a horse.
Ill forget my typical "cynicism" and wait for this one. If for no better reason than hope.
Looking at the people involved i gotta say iam optimisict tho.
If i could wish for something with this title, it would be that the people involved were intimately familiar with game mechanics.
It doesnt really matter if the story or art is superb, if the game mechanics is horrible.
Havent had these expectaions in a while, and i really want it to experience a game that lives up to them. So i hope for a single-player game that is only a taste of an truly mesmerizing MMO that MAKES me wanna play.
Trailers mean nothing. When am I not going to see a CGI trailer where an iron-man warrior is carrying a sword his size with a warhammer as big as he is strapped to his back, decked out in plate armor, jumping around like a weightless jack-rabbit without a care.
Anyway, good luck getting the asians to play this, as that is what distinguishes the success of the top 3 mainstream mmo's, WoW, Lineage, and Aion.
Im a fan of all of them but this trailer makes me wonder...
Full Video of Comic-Con 2010 38 Studios Panel
Hour long video of the Comic-Con panel. Watching this has me much more enthusiastic about the game and overall universe than the trailer. Although it was a tad disappointing but understandable to hear Rolston say he's not building a 'world simulator' lol.
Having watched the trailer a couple more times, my opinion of it has increased a bit, but still parts of it remains disappointing.
I am very much looking forward to game-play video because those in-game screenshots look really good. I'm hoping the PC version is not simply another half-assed console port and has increased graphical detail, customized controls, NO MOUSE SMOOTHING, and overall built to feel right on the PC.
Interresting watch.
Thanks for linking it ForceQuit.