R. A. Salvatore Speaks about the New Fantasy

Source: GameDaily BIZ: R. A. Salvatore Speaks about the New Fantasy

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"World Domination Through Gaming."


That's our mantra at 38 Studios, and it's not so much a statement of hubris as it is a realization that something monumental is occurring regarding entertainment, information and communication. Obviously the Internet has changed our world in everything from politics to medicine to the proverbial "15 minutes of fame." You don't have to look back very many years to see a very different landscape – and that landscape continues to grow and change at a tremendous pace.

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But let's get back to the here and now. I knew my job as a novelist, as I said before. I invite you the reader to adventure along with my characters on some epic quest. In a video game such as the one I'm now working on with 38 Studios, that job changes profoundly, because the most important character in this adventure will be, has to be, the one you, the player, creates. You don't want me or any other author writing your adventure for you; you want to "write" it yourself, through your adventuring. My job, the designer's job, then, is to make a world both fantastical and believable, a world that makes sense. Think of it like weaving a gigantic carpet, and I maintain that the deeper the threads – the history of the world, of the races, their relationships and conflicts – the more consistent and enjoyable your journey will be.