Copernicus
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The world (wide web) of Amalur grows as 38 Studios works on its MMO
With Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning just around the corner and Project Copernicus waiting in the wings, 38 Studios is fattening its golden website for the upcoming feast. The studio has expanded the site devoted to the world that both of these games inhabit, and those looking for hints and portents of the studio's upcoming MMO would do well to seek lore within its pages. Describing the website expansion as a "treasure trove" of new info, 38 Studios has added new landing pages, navigation features, and information about one of the game's races: the Gnomes. The Gnomes are described as "an enigmatic people. They bestow wondrous gifts of knowledge, medicine, and magic to befriend the other kingdoms, yet seldom reveal their plans or intentions to outsiders." It's interesting to note that the Gnomes are divided up into three casts, which does tempt the mind into thinking the word "classes." Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning is the single-player RPG that's meant to fill the role of a prologue -- in both real-world and in-game time -- to the much larger Copernicus MMO. [Thanks to Sketchit for the tip!]
The Perfect Ten: The upcoming contenders
While I'm on board the Star Wars: The Old Republic train (at least until SOE's Star Wars: The New Republic comes out in 2014 and forces SWTOR to shut down), I can certainly sympathize with the frustration that non-fans are feeling right about now. There are few things more annoying than not being into the latest craze -- or hating it outright -- and yet being unable to escape it. So I'm here to say to you today that, like World of Warcraft, SWTOR isn't the be-all, end-all of the MMO field. It's a part of it, but just one part, and there are many, many others in the works as we speak. Mama always told me never to put all your eggs in one basket anyway, so I'm spreading my eggcitement across many cyber-nests. This is the bone I'm throwing to all of you this week: a list of 10 Midichlorian-free MMOs that have me -- and should have you -- extremely buzzed about their development. In putting together this list, I realized that there are so many promising prospects that I divided them into two groups. This week I'm presenting the strongest contenders that should make it to launch with a solid product, while next time I'll list promising prospects that may be more of a long shot. I'm 47% confident that I will not forget your most-anticipated title.
New periodic table element names confirmed, textbook makers sigh in relief
What's in a name? If you're the general assembly of the International Union of Pure and Applied Physics, then quite a lot. It's that bunch who have finally rubber-stamped the names of elements Darmstadtium (110), Roentgenium (111) and Copernicum (112) on the Periodic table. The trio are so named in honor of Darmstadt (where it was first created), Wilhelm Röntgen (discoverer of X-Rays) and Nicolaus Copernicus (explaining the universe since 1533). All three elements are "super-heavy", lab-created substances that rapidly degrade down into less interesting materials -- Copernicium-285 has a relatively long half-life of 29 seconds. The ratification went without a hitch, causing a sigh of relief amongst the textbook makers who have included the elements in the table for quite some time. Although we were hoping that element 111 would have to change its name back to the original, nearly unpronounceable unununium. [Image courtesy of the BBC / Talkback Thames]
38 Studios opens a website portal to Project Copernicus' world
While 38 Studios' top-secret Project Copernicus MMO lacks a proper title or most of its details, at least we can now visit the world that it and its single-player RPG brother, Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning, inhabits. The studio launched a pair of websites devoted to the game world and its first game today. Over on Amalur, 38 Studios has unleashed its loremasters to share with you the stories, features, histories, and settings of this fantasy landscape. And while Reckoning is just a prequel to the eventual MMO, its website contains quite a few lore snippets as well as a world map to pour over while you're planning your future conquests. As part of the twin projects, R.A. Salvatore has created over 10,000 years of fictional history for the world of Amalur, stretching from The Deep Gloam to the Age of Heroes. Reckoning takes place during the Age of Arcana, with Copernicus happening some time thereafter.
38 Studios opens Reckoning/Project Copernicus forums
Forum lurkers rejoice! There's a brand-new board for you to haunt, and it's kinda sorta related to an upcoming fantasy MMORPG. Curt Schilling's 38 Studios has just published its community portal for Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning, and while the title isn't massively (or particularly multiplayer), it is affiliated with 38's secretive Copernicus MMO. When we say affiliated, we mean that the two titles share the same fictional world, so lore junkies will want to bookmark the new boards and set about discussing histories, race lore, and anything else pertaining to the realm of Amalur. There's also the requisite community chat section in case you feel like a bit of the ol' ultraviolence with your fellow Amalurian forumites, so head to the official Reckoning site and register right away!
The Guild Counsel: An interview with The Syndicate's Sean Stalzer on his new book
As you pack your bags for that trip to the beach (or that annual fan gathering) and you toss in that bottle of sunblock (or aspirin), you might want to make some space in your bags for some summer reading as well. Fortunately, there is a growing number of titles, such as Adam Trzonkowski's Guild Leader's Companion, that examine the methods and lessons of running guilds and online communities. To that list we can add Sean "Dragons" Stalzer's sequel, The Syndicate: Beyond the Legend, which is now available at Lulu and soon to be sold at Amazon. In the book, guild leader Sean Stalzer picks up from where his first book left off and gives us even more insight into the MMO industry and his guild leadership philosophy. The book is divided into three parts. The first covers The Syndicate's recent history and continued relationship with several MMO studios as well its job writing guides for Prima Games. In the second part, Sean explains his time-tested philosophy for running a guild, dubbed S.U.C.C.E.S.S. And the last section of the book looks at where MMOs are headed and what's needed down the road. Sean took the time to talk to Massively about his new book, and there was so much to discuss that this interview is split into two parts. In this week's Guild Counsel, Sean talks about the lessons he's learned from his work with MMO studios. He looks back at how it's influenced his leadership approach, and he gives a glimpse of why he's excited about his current work with 38 Studios. Read on for the interview!
Preview the world of Copernicus with 38 Studio's Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning trailer
38 Studios has been in the news quite a bit over the last year despite not having a released game under its belt. While the upstart company still lacks a finished product, it's one step closer with today's release of the first gameplay trailer for Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning. The footage from the upcoming single-player RPG gives fans a first look at the world of Amalur, which 38 Studios will revisit in the Copernicus MMO to follow. In addition to featuring company president (and former World Series MVP) Curt Schilling, Reckoning boasts an impressive array of talent from both 38 Studios and Big Huge Games including lore-master R.A. Salvatore, former Morrowind and Oblivion lead designer Ken Rolston, and Spawn creator Todd McFarlane. The video clip showcases a good look at Amalur's fantasy trappings, glimpses of combat with several creatures (including a big bad), and a 2012 release date. Check out all the details after the cut.
GDC 2011: Curt Schilling talks about free-to-play, or not
Things are pretty quiet on the 38 Studios front. That's rarely stopped Curt Schilling from talking in the past, though, and he recently sat down with the lads at Joystiq during this year's GDC to give everyone an update on the big Rhode Island move. "The team is incredibly excited. It's our building! We have all six floors -- it's our studio and we're alone. It's our space," Schilling enthused. Joystiq also queried the former World Series MVP about whether or not 38 Studios' Copernicus MMO project might opt for a free-to-play business model in order to compete in what has become an extremely crowded game market. "We have an open mind about everything, except the game," Schilling said. "We look at what we're creating and we say, 'What is the best possible guest experience we can create with this product?' And that'll answer your business model questions and your goals and objectives for the game." Sooo, is that a yes-we're-considering-free-to-play or a not-in-a-million-years? It's anyone's guess at this point, but one thing's for sure: With Schilling at the controls, the trip is bound to be eventful (and full of juicy quotes).
PlayStation Move Hack: Tracking the earth's rotation
Sure, the PlayStation Move hasn't had the explosive hacking scene of its Microsoft-branded competitor, but that doesn't mean it's not capable of some mind-boggling secondary functions. Modders at PABR Technologies recently combined the controller, a turntable, and ... a bunch of other tools we've never heard of before to create a Copernitron: A device capable of finding geographic north, determining latitude and measuring the rotation of Earth. There's a lot of nigh-incomprehensible science in the device's video demonstration (which is posted after the jump), but you don't need a Ph.D. in physics to appreciate the complexity of the final result. You may need one to understand what the hell it's doing, though.
38 Studios is looking for a few good men -- and women, too, of course!
38 Studios has kept its Project Copernicus MMO under tight security for a while now; however, we do know that the studio has some big names in its pocket. Comic book giant Todd McFarlane, award-winning author R.A. Salvatore, and baseball great Curt Schilling have already added their talents to the roster. Even the government of the state of Rhode Island is excited about what this team is doing, given the guaranteed loans 38 Studios was offered if it moved to the state. Today, Lead Community Manager Charles Dane tweeted that the team is LFM. He posted, "38 Studios is looking for top tier talent. This is a great opportunity to join an awesome team!" A buzz over to the jobs page for the studio shows that it is looking for an abundance of people. QA, engineering, art, and even finance are on the list of departments needing minions. Who knows? Maybe you are the top-tier talent the studio is looking for.
Copernicus' Curt Schilling talks business models and target audiences
Curt Schilling, former World Series MVP and one of baseball's noted clutch performers, is now firing fastballs at the MMO industry. In addition to forming 38 Studios and spearheading work on the company's cryptic Copernicus MMORPG, Schilling clearly loves games. He also loves to talk about them (and occasionally talk smack) as a new interview at Ugo illustrates. "We're not making a game for everybody either because when you make a game for everybody, you end up making it for no one. I know what we love, I know what we want, and the game that I'm playing is growing into being what we set out to make," Schilling enthuses. When he says "we," he's talking about the all-star roster assembled at 38 studios, including everyone from R.A. Salvatore, to Todd McFarlane, to veteran developers that "have been on every major MMO from Ultima Online." All this talent doesn't come cheaply of course, but Schilling is adamant about making a traditional (albeit well-polished) MMORPG despite the current free-to-play craze sweeping the industry. "We won't launch free-to-play. That makes no sense. [...] Given the feedback that we've gotten and in a lot of focus testing that we've done, people will pay a subscription if they believe that they're getting their money's worth," he says, while also noting that the Copernicus budget is somewhere in the neighborhood of $100 million.
38 Studios set to expand the world of Amalur into merchandising and a newsletter
Kingdoms of Amalur is a familiar name to gamers who are looking forward to Project Copernicus, the mysteriously code-named MMO under development by 38 Studios. If you're finding it hard to wait for more news on this project, 38 Studios has just the thing to distract you. The world of Amalur, created by R.A. Salvatore and Todd McFarlane, is going to begin showing up in the real world soon in the form of comics, toys, novels, and even a few more games. Not a surprise there, amirite? Speaking of other games set in Amalur, you'll see more from Reckoning soon. The single-player game is set to launch fall of 2011, and the game's online newsletter will launch in October. Will all of this activity surrounding Amalur include new information on Copernicus? It seems likely and it's fun to speculate, so here's hoping! [Thanks to everyone who sent this in!]
38 Studios announces official Rhode Island relocation
The lengthy saga of 38 Studios' relocation looks to be drawing to an end, as the fledgling game company has published a press release touting the impending lease of an office building in downtown Providence, Rhode Island. Originally headquartered in Massachusetts, the developers behind the eternally cryptic MMORPG code-named Copernicus were offered a loot bag full of $75 million in loan guarantees by the Rhode Island Economic Development Corporation. The relocation will generate 450 high-paying tech jobs, and state governor Donald Carcieri lauds it as a move that will "provide job opportunities for our college graduates in a fast growing industry, and will attract other interactive and entertainment companies to Rhode Island."
38 Studios relocation loan in jeopardy
Democratic Rhode Island gubernatorial candidate Frank Caprio has flip-flopped in his stance towards a $75 million loan from the state's Economic Development Corporation to fledgling game maker 38 Studios. The development house, founded in 2006 by former Major League Baseball pitcher Curt Schilling, is hard at work on the top-secret Copernicus MMORPG and was offered the lucrative deal in exchange for moving the company's headquarters from Massachusetts to Rhode Island (and bringing a proposed 450 high-paying jobs to the state's economy). Caprio, who currently serves as Rhode Island's general treasurer, is one of several political candidates condemning the deal, a marked change from his views in past weeks, notes the Boston Globe. "I am not going to stand by and watch us gamble taxpayer dollars on a bad deal when there are thousands of small businesses in need of more access to capital," Caprio said in a press release dated August 31st.
GenCon 2010: Fantasy fencing with 38 Studios
One thing is for certain: When you are sitting in the crosshairs of Curt Schilling and R.A. Salvatore during an interview, it's easy to become bowled over by their collective intensity and passion, especially when it comes to their interest in games and fantasy worlds. While GenCon Indy lacked its usual MMORPG presence this year, Massively was able to grab a few minutes of face time with 38 Studios' founder and lead writer as they passed through the convention. It was a bit of an odd interview, however, as two of the biggest topics -- 38 Studios' move to Rhode Island and any solid details about their top-secret MMO -- were off the table for discussion. Do not fret, as that certainly didn't stop us from trying to pry for a few hints along the way. Schilling and Salvatore were obviously eager to spill the beans about Copernicus, but they are still biding their time until the right moment. Happily, the duo didn't mind us fencing with them for facts, and were quite open about their single-player RPG lead-up to Copernicus, their general philosophy of designing the MMO, and why they've waited so long to unveil it to the public. Read on, gentle gamers, for a few ripostes, parries and lunges with two of the biggest figures in the industry right now.
38 Studios moves next door to Rhode Island for 75 million smackers
Two weeks ago we reported that Rhode Island was attempting to woo 38 Studios away from Massachusetts with a tempting $75 million loan guarantee. Today we've gotten word that Curt Schilling's company has indeed taken the bait, and will be relocating to The Ocean State due to this sweet incentive. While there's no definite timetable on the move, Mass High Tech reports that this loan guarantee comes with a few strings attached: 38 Studios will receive partial loan payments only upon meeting certain milestones, and the company has to put all of its assets up for collateral. The loan comes from a special $125 million program to create high-tech jobs in Rhode Island, and the state hopes that 38 Studios will account for up to 450 new jobs once it arrives. Curt Schilling promised to "protect the loan guarantee that's been given by the state with the same passion and interest that I'm protecting my own investment in this company." 38 Studios recently announced that its single-player RPG, Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning, will be published by EA next year, with its MMO -- code-named "Copernicus" -- to follow.
Rhode Island pitches a $75M loan offer to 38 Studios
States are always highly competitive when it comes to luring industries to their neck of the woods to bolster the local economy. From movie shoots to auto plants to hospitals, states tend to be shameless in offering incentives and tax breaks to benefit from an economic injection by these companies. It's interesting to see that MMO studios are being courted as well. Worlds in Motion is reporting that Rhode Island is enticing Curt Schillings' 38 Studios to relocate from Massachusetts in exchange for a $75,000,000 guaranteed loan under relief provisions for high-tech companies -- a provision that Massachusetts does not offer. The loan would represent a significant investment for the company, but Massachusetts is attempting to provide reasons for 38 Studios to stay put, including citing that it has better access to talent in the state. As the MMO genre expands and more studios pop up, will we see an increase in states fighting over these companies in an effort to help their economies? In any event, Copernicus' developer now has a difficult decision to make, especially for this ex-Boston Red Sox pitcher.
Schilling teases possible Copernicus concept art
Details have been sketchy regarding Copernicus, the code-name of the forthcoming MMORPG from Curt Schilling's 38 Studios. Other than the fact that the storyline is being written by noted fantasy author R. A. Salvatore, we haven't heard any concrete information on the game since GDC2010. Now, Schilling has unleashed a cryptic tweet challenging fans to find the Copernicus concept art among the images attached to a new interview with 38 Studios Senior Environment Artist Joe Mirabello. Schilling (under the Twitter handle of gehrig38) drops no hints as to which of the images might be the Copernicus art, but it's probably a safe assumption that it is one of the landscape pieces, given Mirabello's job title. Check out the interview as well as Schilling's tweet. [Thanks Karen!]
38 Studios' Project Mercury to debut at San Diego Comic-Con
It seems that 38 Studios' plan to detail its upcoming MMO in 2010 isn't happening just yet, but 38 Studios-owned Big Huge Games will apparently show off its EA Partners-published RPG – codenamed "Project Mercury" – at this year's San Diego Comic-Con. A listing among the legions of other presenters at Comic-Con was recently spotted by Big Download with the description, "World premiere of the first game from 38 Studios!" The listing goes on to say that folks in attendance will "be among the first in the world to see the video game debut from Curt Schilling's 38 Studios," more specifically adding that Todd McFarlane, executive creator of worlds R. A. Salvatore, lead designer Ken Rolston, and founder and chairman Curt Schilling will be debuting the game for folks. Further, Comic-Con's site claims the panel will unveil more than just the first trailer, but also the project's actual name. And hey, if that's not enough, apparently you'll get a "limited-edition poster" just for showing up. Huzzah! The panel takes place at 1:15PM on Thursday, July 22, but we wouldn't suggest you start lining up just yet.
Big, huge interview: Big Huge Games head Tim Train
When 38 Studios isn't busy hiring former Nintendo execs, Curt Schilling's Massachusetts-based MMO developer is buying up close-to-death development studios -- take, for instance, Big Huge Games. Tim Train, the studio's president, illuminated the near-death experience that Big Huge had in a talk at PAX East earlier this year (slides from said speech can be found below). He explained how, with just a handful of days left and termination letters ready to send out, 38 Studios swept in and saved Big Huge and the vast majority of its staff. We found his story so interesting, we thought we'd follow up with Train and have him explain it once more, as well as speak about other topics. Will Big Huge ever produce another digital board game? Unfortunately, it looks like you could be waiting on that for quite some time. Hit the break for the whole thing. %Gallery-92043%
