Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning Visionaries Q&A: Ken Rolston, Part 1

38 Studios and Big Huge Games are offering a community Q&A with “visionary” Ken Rolston with most of the questions focused on Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning and its development, and other subjects ranging from the changes in the RPG genre during the year to Rolston’s own favorite RPGs. Here’s a snip:

It would interest me to know how big the visionaries’ influence was in the (making) process of the ideas, and if the visionaries just (work out stuff on their own) or if they sit down, brainstorm and discuss things or anything of the like. By Wolfhorde

Ken: I work out stuff on my own … and then document it for broader distribution. I don’t sit down and discuss and brainstorm that much. I did have a very important, early meeting with Bob where we discovered that we had a lot of the same basic setting design impulses and references; after that, I felt very comfortable with Bob’s work, knowing he shared my basic rules for building settings on sound foundations. And I relied mostly on the documentation of the Amalur setting that Bob and the 38 Studios design team developed. That was eloquent and detailed. I’ll never know how much of that was Bob, and how much of it was the 38 Studios design team. And that’s the way it should be. An RPG setting is a collaborative creation.

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Many of us would like to know, what specific involvement has each of you had with Reckoning? (and Amalur as a world and MMO, if possible) We want details! By iluspook

Ken: For Reckoning, I mostly served as a role model and lonely beacon of wisdom and restraint … as living proof that vast narrative RPGs could be designed and implemented by mere human beings. I didn’t do any honest work or writing or implementation. Heavens forefend! I did a lot of cheerleading and made Venerable Sage speeches. And sold the hell out of the basic concepts, internally and externally.

Additionally the Reckoning forums let us know that the second part of the Q&A with the “Internationally Celebrated Game Designer” will come out in two weeks.