38 Studios Interviews

Both Ten Ton Hammer and WarCry have posted their recent AGDC interviews with 38 Studios president Brett Close. AN excerpt from Ten Ton Hammer’s Q&A:

(In general, this industry is all about figuring out how to convey a story,) Brett said. (It’s no different than seeing a great movie or opening up a great book. If you can combine that with the fertile soil of MMOGs, then you won’t just go and hang out with your friends to grind and level up. Now you’ll have a clear motivation why you’re doing certain things and if you don’t go and defend a village, there’s a very clear outcome and you’ll see how the world changed.)

(It’s all extremely interesting,) he continued. (I don’t think we’re the first to say or think of that idea, but we’re probably in the best position to do this, since we have people like Bob Salvatore and Todd McFarlane. Bob’s in house frequently; he lives only thirty minutes away, and he’s a ridiculously avid MMOG player. It’s one of those things and I know it sounds cliché where you get all of these creative and talented minds together, and you simply turn up the heat and watch what happens. Things begin to bubble over and stew, and then stuff just happens.

And an excerpt from WarCry’s Q&A:

Curt Schilling is a high profile person who loves games – specifically his highly public support of SOE’s EverQuest II – but he also realizes his limitations, Close told us. During the season, Schilling concentrates primarily on pitching for the Boston Red Sox. Outside of that, Close tells us that Schilling believes firmly in hiring good people and “getting out of their way”. For example, often the designers will debate something through email. Schilling does not hesitate to chime in with thoughts or ideas and sometimes they’re good, sometimes they’re not. Close added that Schilling does have a “good design sense”. However, when it comes down to the decision, the designers make the choice.

R.A. Salvatore lives near their Maynard, MA office and comes into work three days a week. There, he contributes to the overall story of the game and how it is weaved in, but again, there is a full time employee on site who handles the nitty-gritty details and makes sure people work.

The same goes for Todd McFarlane. He works from Phoenix and comes by the office each month. They even set up a video link, complete with tablet support, so he can sketch things for the team. He sets the high level artistic goals and vision of the project, but an in-house art lead manages the day-to-day operations.