Curt Being Curt

[Hannar]

Curt Being Curt



01-16-2012 09:21 PM
http://forums.reckoning.amalur.com/s...0408#post40408

I haven't seen anything outlandish by any means really, certainly not compared to most other forums I roam in.

Problem is you should, if possible, understand a few things about making games before bashing imo. Most of which have to do with how they are made.

First, nothing you rant on in these forums is going into Reckoning anytime soon The game was locked awhile back, and actually even longer from a features standpoint. That happens, has to, months before going gold as you have to pass console certification, which can take months in some cases (not this team though! They passed both on the FIRST TRY!!)

Next, commenting about features you don't like and gameplay you don't like is fine, hell it's asked for when it's well laid out and thought out. But imo that is really REALLY hard to do before you play even 60 seconds.

We can certainly expect more given how much we've shown, but still.

Lastly, if you don't like the game, Reckoning specifically, I would imagine there are forums you can post to of games you do play and you do like, because we don't have any other games out, so I find it hard to understand why anyone that doesn't like our ONLY game that HAS NOT been published yet, posting here, a bit odd.

It's certainly appreciated if you are a gamer and have interest in our MMO or the visionary guys or something, but I can't fathom why anyone would post in a companies forums that have not shipped a game, and they don't like the game the company IS shipping....

Enough though, our first game demo is about to go live, and this is opening day version 2 for me, I'm going to sit back and enjoy this as best I can, it's been 5+ years in coming.

01-16-2012 06:44 PM
http://forums.reckoning.amalur.com/s...0323#post40323

Made a pretty BIG BET on that very thing happening. For us to compete, to truly get on the playing field, we need Reckoning to sell like crazy.

My bet is that the lack of awareness and first day sales will get made up by word of mouth after launch. We believe the game is that good.

We banked on it

01-16-2012 03:47 PM
http://forums.reckoning.amalur.com/s...0199#post40199

One thing guys.

I think most people are here because they are fans of the game, or us, or both. That's awesome and you hopefully understand how cool that is for us.

We've also made it very clear our mission is 'World Domination through gaming" and that our mindset is to do it better than its ever been done before. That pertains to EVERYTHING, including our forums.

We will NOT be forum nazi's, and we don't want our fans to be either.

If you love us, and our games kick ass, don't post yourself and the forums into the same place every other fan forum goes. Our games, and our fans/players, will speak for themselves. In quality and conduct.

Yes you can bash trolls, we'll try to remove the inappropriate stuff, but we absolutely MUST have the detractors and dislikes here. We as a company HAVE to hear things we are missing, or possibly missing, and there are times when that will join up with a post by someone who hates us/me/our game(s).

That's cool, because heated exchange = passion, and generally people aren't passionate about things they don't care about.

The analogy I always told young players was that you 'don't get booed in Yankee stadium if you suck because Yankee fans don't care about you. Getting booed there means you're good, and you've done something to make them dislike you in competition'.

Same thing here, as we become the best game company in the world we WILL get haters and people that don't like us, that's part of becoming #1, and we can live with that.

I'd ask a favor of you, the players as well, say and do what you want to here, but if at all possible keep it adult and with some integrity. You win dissenters through awesome games and kindness Or they'll just have to settle for missing out on the best games around!

01-16-2012 01:26 PM
http://forums.reckoning.amalur.com/s...0130#post40130

This is an open world, every bit as much as any other open world, as the real world really. I can go anywhere I want in Providence, but buildings preclude me from walking there in a straight line...

If by open world you meant you should be able to go anywhere in a straight line, ya, it's not an open world.

You won't likely EVER walk in a direction more than a minute or two without seeing SOMETHING to do or SOMEONE to talk to, because it's a game. If we had wanted to make "Marathon 2012" where you just started running in a direction until you were bored, we'd have tried that.

I hear what you are saying, and if the demo doesn't convince you that the 2-300 hours of gameplay available at launch, 100% handcrafted, isn't worth your hard earned money then we wish you the best and hope to see you at the launch of Copernicus!

All the best!
Curt

01-17-2012 06:24 PM
http://forums.reckoning.amalur.com/s...1326#post41326

There is no MP for a very legitimate reason. Just ask the Bioware guys. It's appearing in ME3 because players have demanded I guess, but given the choice you would NEVER include it in a single player game since it's almost an entire game on itself. The amount of work to add multi-player, from what I have heard from engineers, is not insignificant. We were intent on focusing on our initial game and goals this first time around, more than anything.

01-18-2012 04:21 PM
http://forums.reckoning.amalur.com/s...2763#post42763

It will stand out when you play it, be stunned if it didn't. The access to combat is so severely limited by the demo, we had no say in how that played out. You got a taste, I would argue you 'saw' maybe 5% of what combat becomes.
That being said, hey, if you still feel this way after you buy it, I'll again agree to disagree.
The 'big deal' is likely more personal to me, 5+ years of my life, the investment financially, the commitment to 400+ people and their families to build what I want to become the next great entertainment company in this industry, that makes it a HUGE deal to us.
It's very personal to us. During the worst economy of our lifetimes we created 400+ jobs and have a new game company, and this is our first game, so ya, it's kind of a big deal around here.
The other challenging part, and it's 100% understandable from your guys view, is being here, these forums. Our devs, most of them, read this stuff. They see their hard ass work, after YEARS and YEARS of commitment, being spat on by nonchalant posts about this 'sucks' and that 'sucks' and it's likely they remember the meetings and hours spent creating said feature.
I think honestly I post here as much for them as anything. I need my team to know I got their backs in a manner of speaking, and I do.
They nailed it, imo, and that's all I can ever ask for.
Can't begin to explain the pride I have in them today.

01-18-2012 04:32 PM
http://forums.reckoning.amalur.com/s...2785#post42785

To be clear, for the most part we did NOT reinvent the wheel. What we did, what you will see if you play, is that for the first time ever (imo) we actually succeeded in taking the best parts of our favorite games and combine them.
Most that have done that have tried to be all things to all people and ended up nothing to anyone.
I think this team did it, taking the best of the best and creating an entirely new type of game in a new world, a new IP that we have plans for multiple games across about every genre you can imagine playing.

01-19-2012 07:06 PM
http://forums.reckoning.amalur.com/s...4504#post44504

The difference is Michael puts himself out there, right or wrong he takes a stance. You can like/dislike him all you want, but you NEVER question where he stands or what he thinks.
I like that and happen to think he's right about Reckoning

01-19-2012 09:54 PM
http://forums.reckoning.amalur.com/s...4662#post44662

Ease up guys. Life's too short to spend on forums berating and arguing with people you'll never meet over a game you both hopefully love.
The internet, as I have found at work, is the ABSOLUTE WORST medium to communicate with people you KNOW much less ones you don't.
Spend your time playing awesome games and come here to talk to us about what we can do better, or what you guys love.

01-20-2012, 06:55 AM
http://www.fohguild.org/forums/other...ml#post2260314

It's huge. Publishers will predict, based on many factors, day 1 ship numbers, pre sell is the first time they receive concrete feedback and legit data on how a game will perform at launch.

More pre orders = more shipped copies = potentially more pre launch advertising spend.

Obviously vendors like Amazon, Gamestop, Best Buy etc. will make their orders up based on player interest and pre order numbers.

Given that we are a new IP, combined with the previous 6 or so months of releases, anything we can do to create more awareness is better.

We believe if you try it you'll buy it, so it's about creating as much awareness as we possibly can pre launch.

It's the reason we, thanks to my incredibly awesome PR person, are working to line up pre launch, and post launch, TV. Working to do the rounds on Kimmel, Conan and Fallon etc.

01-20-2012 12:04 AM
http://forums.reckoning.amalur.com/s...4783#post44783

A large % of posts like theirs is personal opinion, top to bottom. I try to look at posts here, in our forums, all in the same light. Good/Bad/Angry/Excited every single one is from one of our players, our leading, cutting edge, front line players. We, meaning us posting here, are the 5%. The other 95 lurk or don't post at all.

The 5% here are posting because, again good or bad, they care, they care a lot more than most. That's awesome. It sucks when they complain, rant, rave or gripe but hey, we "wanted' this when we set out to make games right?

I don't agree with much of that, I do think the UI on the keyboard and mouse works just fine in the final build. It's VERY VERY hard to tell what and why so much is or feels different in the demo because the gold master version I have played I didn't see or notice most of this (especially the camera stuff).

That doesn't mean it's not fixed, I haven't played all platforms, so far just Xbox and PC.

But again, short of true bug reports you guys post here your opinions and your feelings, and it's exactly what we want.

The problem many times is that folks try to 'argue' right and wrong over opinions.... That leads to irrational name calling and epeen contests, which suck.

He doesn't like our UI, thinks some design decisions suck, and is also playing a version of the game that is NOT the final build.

The even more sucky part is a demo IS SUPPOSED to represent the EXACT product you are asking people to buy and it's clear the bugs are going to keep you guys from seeing the final awesomeness that the team created

Hopefully it shines through enough that you see it. I had a 100% bug free demo on my PC, not ONE bug, which was stunning after all I have read.

And if you think through it the PC build is INSANELY crucial to us since our MMO is PC based. We want EVERYONE that buys Reckoning to WANT to play our MMO, but we certainly want/need/hope the PC players fall in love with Amalur enough, or non RPG players that are MMO players hear enough, and see enough of Reckoning to WANT to buy it to get introduced to the Amalur universe!

BTW you guys see the updated Amalur site today? Curious to know how the updated look and feel is going over, and what you guys think of meeting the gnomes

01-20-2012 09:22 AM
http://forums.reckoning.amalur.com/s...5058#post45058

Here's my problem with this post. I think we've been pretty clear that we want opposing opinions and debates, should they exist, to go on here. It certainly is something that benefits us if it's done well and done right.

But you can't have it both ways imo. If we are going to go out of our way to allow people to come here and blast us, the game, whatever, to allow give and take in the forums, then the people bashing this, us or it can't do things like this. I would bet if we went to a forum you frequent for a game/company you like/love, we'd fine the same population of posts from/by you.

Even then I have always had trouble understanding why someone would belittle someone else for something they like or are into? that makes no sense to me, why people insist on making other people feel weak and meaningless, or why they aim to discredit people they don't know.

Obviously there is bias here, it's our forums, we love our games and we love our players and fans, if you like neither my guess is if you ARE going to post to forums there are games and companies you like that would benefit far more than us from your presence.

I want dissenters and people that are mad about features, always will, but I don't want people that come here just to get into pointless pissing matches over a game they themselves are never going to play.

I'm not saying you're on either side, but I am saying I think it's wrong that we would reach out to defend and ask for patience from fans of the game, vs posters obviously NOT for the game, and then see those same folks turn the argument into "Why are you a loser fanboy".

That's lame.

01-20-2012 09:38 PM
http://forums.reckoning.amalur.com/s...5812#post45812

Can't even begin to tell you guys how excited I am to read this review in progress. Especially considering he's doing this on final code, and on the PS3. Hopefully that will help quell concerns from the demo. But it's exciting to see one of the 2-3 biggest and most important reviews coming out so positive.

01-21-2012 12:46 PM
http://forums.reckoning.amalur.com/s...6350#post46350

I've been a lifelong customer/fan of Disney. Pretty much everyone at this company will tell you they've heard me say "The Disney Touch" more than once.
I've asked for it in everything we do, from every web page to every game screen, it's going to ALWAYS be about the little things if you make a game fun.
This thread makes that point very clearly that you guys, are exactly like us, and vice versa. In any game I am in, some more than others, I'll have 'idle time', and when I do I look around, no different than when I am in line at Disney. That's when you realize every sightline, from every ride line, is built for a purpose. That's when you realize you will NEVER see a garbage can out in the open, or litter on the ground. Park guides ALWAYS point with 2 fingers not one. Why? Because it's rude to point with one.
Life is always awesome in the little things, when they exist.

01-24-2012 11:57 AM
http://forums.reckoning.amalur.com/s...8969#post48969

There was a 'first' group of people that read the Hobbit, the LotR trilogy, there was a first for Harry Potter as well. There were people in those groups that helped them, in addition to the awesomeness that was the content, become what they became. I honestly like to think we are now in the same place as a few time tested IP's, on the cusp of something incredibly new and immersive, and that millions of people will want to be a part of.

01-24-2012 09:15 PM
http://forums.reckoning.amalur.com/s...9473#post49473

TOTALLY got me. TOTALLY!
Personally I am hoping for something in the high 9's.
I believe in my heart of hearts this game deserves it, the team deserves it, and what a way to come out of the gates with our first game.
And fwiw we don't, and never will pander or pay for anyone or anything to rate/review/critique our games. I don't think many, if any do anyway. After 5+ years in this industry I am sure there are people that have, and have tried, but my bet is it's far fewer than people think.

01-24-2012 09:17 PM
http://forums.reckoning.amalur.com/s...9476#post49476

And one more thing. While forum posters tend to be the hard core bleeding edge out in front type, very pro-active, and that means you rate games on your own, most of the world doesn't. Care about the numbers, VERY MUCH because everyone you can't reach and can't tell, well most anyway, WILL be impacted and possibly act/not act, on those very numbers.

01-25-2012 09:56 PM
http://forums.reckoning.amalur.com/s...0539#post50539

That doesn't have to be. I was told when your company reaches a certain size you lose that close knit culture, I called BS. Southwest Airlines, Raytheon, a bunch of HUGE companies keep it, and we have to. At least I believe we have, you'd have to ask people that work here.

Same goes for this. As our early adopters and most loyal fans and players, these forums will be what you make them, and what we allow them to be.

We won't filter good or bad eggs, but we will work hard to keep the BS out. Whatever this becomes will be what you all choose to make it.

No need for knee jerk rabid 'you suck this is awesome' stuff, that happens too many places.

Have fun, be passionate but above all else try and stay above the fray.

This is going to be an insane, fun, incredibly awesome ride and we're just pulling out of the station now...

01-26-2012 07:27 PM
http://forums.reckoning.amalur.com/s...51366#post5136

To be clear, MP is not an option or a feature from a design and tech perspective, it's an entire game unto itself. It's cheap in neither dev time or money and a huge project for a single player RPG. Ask the Bioware guys what they think about it.

I can't even fathom how much longer and deeper ME3 would have been had they not had to do it. I am 100% speculating but I would bet you they would have much preferred polish and more content for ME3 than having to do MP.

That being said apparently they felt enough audience pressure for MP that it was that important, which is awesome because it means they listen to their fans.

01-26-2012 07:53 PM
http://forums.reckoning.amalur.com/s...1400#post51400

What is GAF and where is the thread?
I want the company to get to a place we can hold our own 'Con' and fill the Providence Center...
Up to us to make the games, provide the experience, up to you guys to game and tell your friends!
Drinks on me to everyone on this thread when it happens
(And yes Biz Dev and community snoopes reading this, I know what I just did)

01-26-2012 10:38 PM
http://forums.reckoning.amalur.com/s...1542#post51542

I'm a glutton for punishment. This GAF is apparently an ENORMOUS gamers forum I completely missed, no idea how. So I am on page 24 of like 50 something, determined to read every post before I respond (not to mention I am waiting for the approval email from the Admin) but damn if these aren't some hard core, committed and passionate gamers and also am just blown away by the folks who had no idea of the game a week ago who were convinced to buy day 1 even WITH a buggy arse demo.

There are haters and detractors, none of which can be blamed if they were turned off by a demo that will play nothing like the gold master bug wise, but totally understandable.

Very cool to see such a huge group talking about our first game.

01-26-2012 11:24 PM
http://forums.reckoning.amalur.com/s...1575#post51575

I actually spent the entire flight tonight reading the thread, almost 6 hours worth. Players, when you get past the initial emotion both good and bad, can be incredibly insightful. This forum proves that.
But the most awesome thing is there's a 50+ page thread created by players because they give a RATS ASS about us and/or our game, and that's epically cool.
Waiting on my consent to post
Going to try to answer 50+ pages with one post there, incoming epically long winded Curt post...

01-27-2012 02:31 AM
http://forums.reckoning.amalur.com/s...1691#post51691

At the end of the day you guys will tell us. If this game or any game we make needs a feature that the players ovewhelmingly feel is needed, we'll either add it or not make the game I would imagine.

Being able to have things work like that is something I want us to always have control over.

01-27-2012, 10:40 AM
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthre...=#post34614450

Holy crap.
1) I had NO idea this forum existed, and I am and have been on the internet, and a gamer, for a pretty long time.
2) I've read every single post in this thread since taking off last night from Boston to get to LA. (LA Times, G4 and Kimmel today for the Reckoning launch, Kimmel skit, I think, is hilarious).

I founded 38 Studios over 5 years ago and as much as I'd like to tell you guys this thread is cool, it's way way more than that. That you guys have created this much traffic since our demo is flat out stunning, incredible.

Ya I wish there'd been 52 pages of SOLD!! Day 1 buy here! I totally get it.

Let me start by apologizing. The demo? Ya, it is way way WAYYYYY more buggy than anything ANYONE should ever release, much less a demo.

A demo is supposed to be a DEMONSTRATION of the game. In some ways, for you without buggy demos, it sort of is, but it's just impossible to convey the depth of breadth of a game that has anywhere from 40-50 hours (main quest line play) to 2-300 hours (for completionist) in it at launch. It's like saying you hate baseball after the 1st pitch in the top of the 1st inning.

That was EXACTLY why we argued EA in favor of not having the demo. It's also exactly why I was wrong, and EA was right. Yes there are people that were on the fence who now will not buy it, there were people who weren't buying it anyway, who still aren't, but the massive awareness and the insane amount of 'had no idea about this game, now it's a day 1 buy" and "Was on the fence but am now sold" posts mean EA hit this one perfectly in INTENT.

The demo has been a God send, especially when I realize even in this thread, how many people became aware because of the demo.

In a partnership there is a lot of give and take, and I believe in my team, they are world class, but when you have a publisher there are things happening you'd rather not choose. Shipping old code out 3 months prior to gold master to a 3rd party with no stake in the demo success can be problematic. I am sure they made the best demo they could but as a studio packed to the gills with gamers, we refuse to believe code has to be unplayably buggy at launch, it doesn't.

So to those that have had a horrid demo experience, I'm sorry, it's on us, our name is the name on the box we care about.

I promise you, my word, that demo from a bug perspective is in NO WAY representative of the final code or product.

That is not going to change your demo experience, that is likely not going to make you buy it if you decided against it, but you spent your time (which is every bit as valuable to us as your money) playing something we made, and we owe you that much.

Couple things about me up front. I have thick skin. 10 years in Philly and the last 7 in Boston, I'm a big boy, I've heard most everything. I have a 12 year old son with Autism, the word retard offends me, deeply. I'm married to an insanely beautiful woman (so far over my ski's it's embarrassing) and have 3 other kids, 16, 14 and 9. The boys (3 of them) are gamers, oldest is a hard core gamer/athlete (like dad) and a ranked SC2 player.

I was a gamer LONG before I owned a game company, just like I was a fan long before i played in the big leagues. I so desperately WANT to post as a gamer and fan, but understand it just isn't going to happen.

For that my PR and Marketing folks have each other on speed dial, and sweat constantly...

I've lived my life being very open and very honest, and that's been as good as it has been bad. It's usually pretty easy to tell where I stand.

The thing that has changed over these past few years is that when I post in forums like this, FoH, Tribal Wars, our Reckoning forums, is that I represent over 400 people and their families, and that's a pretty huge deal.

Generally people that post the real bad stuff about me are Democrats and Yankee fans, and that's cool, I get it. But you Yankee fans, keep hating, that's cool, I understand. Please don't come here and post 'You" have 27 or 28 rings or whatever, unless your Derek Jeter because YOU have none, I have 3, I was honored to play with 3 very special groups of men and be a part of 3 World Championships, and that made some folks mad...



I keed. In all seriousness this forum, this very place, like FoH and the others, is where 38 Studios becomes the next great gaming company, or not. Everything we become is literally 100% dependent on you. You'll either love our stuff and want it bad enough to buy it at full price (pre orders and week 1 sales are EVERYTHING to a company like ours) or you won't, but there will be no BS here.

We're a studio of 400 hard core gamers who want to make awesome games we want to play, for gamers. That's our secret sauce, that's the thing we MUST hold onto as long as we can. When that stops i'll likely walk away.

It's why, even though it's painful, reading the good WITH the bad is essential. If you don't listen to players you stop making games players want to play, and that sucks.

It's also why I have finally come to grips with the fact that in a forum like this one post can start "Art sucks, hate it, derivative..." to "Amazing art, the world is vibrant and alive!" and both can be right. It's 100% subjective. Even though I watched this world come alive and I have seen the personal sacrifice hundreds of people have made over hundreds of thousands of hours, some people aren't going to like it.

What I can assure you is there was and never will be one short step, or short cut, to ANYTHING we do or make. People that bought our CE and SE are going to realize that even more, as both are way beyond anything, quality wise, I've ever purchased.

Quality trumps all, saying that after the demo may sound hollow and you might call BS on me and us for it, but I promise you where we control 100% of the work we will set a bar that will be insanely challenging to meet, and continue meeting it as long as we're around.

So again, thanks for this, this thread took up my entire flight out, 6 hours and 11 minutes, but it was worth it because we're prepping for a new sort of 'Opening day" and threads like this don't pop up for games people aren't interested in. It's the same thing I told young players walking into Yankee Stadium, be good enough to get boo'd because Yankee fans are highly intelligent, they don't boo players that suck.

I'm sure we'll be chatting more, just wanted to say thanks and we hope you think Amalur is as awesome as we do.

01-27-2012, 07:29 PM
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthre...=#post34626269

Couple of things I've already talked with and about in other places like FoH and our Reckoning forums.

1) "Derivative" Yes, and no. There was a review awhile back that spent most of the article labeling the things in our game 'taken' from other games. Loot = Diablo, Combat = GoW etc., it numbered them. The review ended up at like 14 games (can't find the review anywhere right now) but then went on to the point I try to make to anyone not already bleeding from the ears as I talk about the game.

They stated that ya, we did steal from many, but the difference was that we didn't skim the surface, we took that feature we loved and we added our personal touch and craft to it to make it ours, over and over. That's where I believe we did this so different. We're not the first company to take great gameplay and incorporate it, but I think we're one of the first in this genre, with this type of game, to do it so widely AND deeply in a way that in the end, makes this game it's own.

2) Jumping. For the folks in here that are in game dev you know this to be true. Jumping, the addition or subtraction of it has IMMENSE consequences on a few things. The first and biggest to me is world building, like climbing, swimming, etc, every one of those has huge implications on how you construct your world. I promise you had we included user desired jumping we'd have NOT had 130+ hand crafted dungeons, no shot. The other is our combat, if you could jump, we'd have to turn it off or completely change how our combat system works. We wanted a hand crafted very different combat RPG, and jumping would have only made our goal harder to achieve. You can disagree with the decision, but that's the main reasons we made it.

3) Multi-Player. MP is it's own game, period. It's an ENORMOUS undertaking in what was or is an already enormous job. Ask the ME guys. BHG was already 3+ years into the engine dev when we rolled up, MP was never an option.

4) Mod tools- We ABSOLUTELY want players to mod, but we made our own engine, our own tools, our own everything on the tech side. I have very little knowledge of the details but after hearing players early on comment about their desire to see and want them I went to Ian and to Joe and Mike to ask and talk about them. It's not a 'we don't feel like it' reason, it's actually a crap ton of reasons not the least of which manpower and resources, both dollars and time, are now invested in DLC and RPG2 and other Amalur related projects. If there is ever a chance to have it done and done right by us for Reckoning I promise we will try, if a player or players do it, awesome.

There's more, but for now, again, thanks to everyone in this thread, good posts and negative posts, for giving a shit, it matters BIG TIME to us that you do.

01-28-2012, 02:14 PM
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthre...=#post34641765

Here's the thing about IGN. You guys, while I bet some do wait on reviews, are folks that seek out your own answers to games and your money.

A large portion of the gaming world does not, and so the first reviews that come out, IGN and I think Game Informer will follow, are just huge for us.

We are a NEW fantasy IP, word of mouth and awareness is everything to our early sales.

I do believe the main difference is the game itself, it will sell itself once players start playing. The gameplay has none of the demo bugs and it DOES get more deep fun and awesome the more you play.

01-28-2012, 03:07 PM
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthre...=#post34642770

The success of Reckoning will likely determine much about 38. Our ability to self publish our MMO and RPG2 through X.

We want that ability, but let me also be clear. EA made a bet on us when no one else would. That's not a small thing and I think it was a pretty safe bet to make given what had been done to date and how the game looked, but they STILL did it anyway, when no one else would.

That's awesome and huge for us, and we are appreciative.

The difference is I have been very clear of 38's desire and vision. I want us to be the best in the world at this. I think, VERY SLOWLY, some folks went from laughing at that statement to seeing Reckoning and maybe thinking it wasn't hyperbole.

Ya it's going to take time, and it's a crawl before you walk, walk before you run sort of thing, but that's the goal.

We have no legacy issues, no one thinks of us with past success or failure, so we're making our first impressions, and as we all know you never get a second chance at that.

It's why we are open, and forthright, whether we give you answers you want or not, we're honest. We can do that, most others can't, and being gamers who make awesome games for gamers is something I think a ton of us fell in love with back in the 80's and 90's, when that's how games were being made.

It takes ENORMOUS amounts of money to do this, not just do it, but do it better than anyone else. You can like our art style, combat, quest style etc., or not, but one thing we have to have from you as players is TRUST that whether you like the game we make or not you never ever question the quality of the experience the game provides.

We have one shot at that, and ya that got semi hosed with our demo, but hopefully the reviews you guys are reading such as the IGN one with this quote "

That's what we believe in shipping. That's why this team worked around the clock for the last year, literally 7 days a week to get this done.

This is not a money grab, the money will be a natural by product of an awesome player experience, this is a passion play, front to back, as is Copernicus, as will be everything we do.

The cooler part to this is as we mature and grow you guys will help drive who we are, what we make, and who we become.

Gamers who make awesome games for other gamers aren't likely to be too different than most of you, and I think you all understand from these boards we listen, we participate.

I only ask my people two things (actually printed a t-shirt for this) and that's the following
1) Be on time
2) Bust your ass

That's it, everything else takes care of itself when incredibly talented people do those two things. As long as we're 100% accountable we're going to figure this out.

01-29-2012 12:28 PM
http://forums.reckoning.amalur.com/s...5075#post55075

I promise you guys you will come back here, and there will be good reasons to Then as the year moves along it's likely you'll want to stop by amalur.com a bit more, and then more...

Every person, every city, every POI in Reckoning is part of something much bigger than Reckoning. This is our chapter 1 of the Hobbit, and we've got 'books' upon 'books' lined up and waiting for you guys after the 7th.

01-29-2012, 01:01 PM
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthre...=#post34662686

For anyone that cares, my first complete run through will be on a build I've never played in any fantasy game, pure rogue.

I never played a rogue past like level 10 in any MMO, never into that sort of game mechanic, and have never been a PVP guy.

But I fell in love with this destiny path from day 1, the way it plays, the very cool and deep strategy you can work with in combat. Traps, smoke bombs, stealth, assassinations and I love the ranged combat. Especially after Skyrim's bow combat. It feels bad ass, and that was all BEFORE I saw how to create juggle combo's from dagger and fae blades to bow finishers...

I'll likely go battlemage on the next go around.

01-29-2012 06:39 PM
http://forums.reckoning.amalur.com/s...5700#post55700

The giant elephant in the room is rather simple. Games cost what they cost because you, the consumer, will pay it. You guys, we, vote the same way we always have, with our wallet.

60 bucks is the accepted price point for a new AAA console game.

The problem is we're in a time and place where much is happening, not the least of which many of us, me included, have paid 60 bucks for shrink wrapped poop, one too many times.

We are leery, for good reason.

But think about this. Do you remember seeing a thread, or a big one anyway, on the cost of a Blizzard game? How about Bungie? In Blizzards case, which is where we want to be, I believe it's because I've never bought a game with their name on it, and not believed I got more than my monies worth.

I may not like the game, or the genre, but I'll be damned if I didn't buy some bad ass quality.

That's honestly one of the 2-3 main objectives of our launch of Reckoning, to establish that thing so few companies still retain, an expected quality bar.

If this game launched with anywhere near the bugs the demo has, well, I don't even know what to say. It would have been a colossal waste of my money and 5+ years of my life.

I always talk about the Pixar lamp, WoW screenshots, things like that. You know what they are with NO text ANYWHERE near them. That's what we want, that's what we're after.

01-29-2012 06:47 PM
http://forums.reckoning.amalur.com/s...5716#post55716

That did happen, no question about it. But if forums are to be believed, I'd argue for every one buyer that said they were on the fence, 10-15 said they'd never heard of the game before and downloaded the demo, and are now 1st day buyers.

EA made this call, stated that elsewhere, and we fought on it, but in the end they were spot on, it was as valuable, if not more so, than they claimed it would be.

I know gamers find it easy to bash EA for valid reasons, and many not valid ones. I will tell you that beneath that huge EA logo are some amazing and awesome people. From Peter Moore to Sinjin Bain to Brian Neider and David Demartini. Not even mentioning the development level folks without whom this never would have happened, Ben Smith, David Yee and Jon Horsely. They are fantastic and good people. Their world however, is very different than 38s right now, mine especially. They are a publicly traded company, they have VERY different contingents and people to answer to, not the least of which is shareholders.

I believe in so many cases were they the folks that got to say "do this" and "do that" with no one to answer to, some things may have changed.

But at the end of the day EA believed in what this first time studio, with a NEW IP, was doing.

Now I've always felt it was a no brainer But that's me, I'm biased, I feel like where we are headed is just the natural course, it's where we set out to go, that somehow diminishes what this team has done when you state it like this.

I am nervous, petrified, anxious, all that, but I am not surprised. I am not. We had clear goals, we have insanely talented people, we moved aside and allowed them to do what they do, and that's why you have Reckoning.

01-29-2012 07:20 PM
http://forums.reckoning.amalur.com/s...5755#post55755

Nothing you can do about it, because responding in any way other than 'it's free DLC' gives the story legs.

You guys, and folks reviewing the game, have to believe it's awesome, if that happens all the rhetoric around 'free DLC' and the negative messaging somehow attached to it, will go away.

If you respond you give the story momentum it otherwise wouldn't have.

Wise words to live by, I so miserably fail at doing.

01-31-2012, 07:35 PM
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthre...=#post34729827

Those two guys were my final confirmation on my abilities as game designers

Way WAY back I sent an email around Reckoning combat, and some of my initial thoughts and ideas.

I received a lengthy reply, very kind, spelling out the ways in which I was about as much a newb in my questions as I could be, again it was very polite

The powerful piece was in the bulk of the email as I started to realize the long term vision for the combat system, and how they saw it playing out.

That's when I knew combat in Reckoning was going to be just fine without my involvement

01-31-2012 10:09 PM
http://forums.reckoning.amalur.com/s...9279#post59279

Agree with you or not I appreciate the thoughtful post Krakn.

One of my early mistakes here was thinking everyone SHOULD see this from my perspective. Hell I used to think about many things in that vein.

Problem is it's wrong. You DON'T have to, or NEED to look at things from my perspective. Life is far to complicated without having to worry about other peoples issues

You're a gamer, regardless of whether ANYONE agrees with you or anyone elses' perspective, it's how you feel, and every gamer has their own unique look and take on this.

At the end of the day it comes down to me making the best possible decision I can for the well being of my team, and the future of my company.

BOTH of those are best served by making our games the best player experience we possibly can, in every possible way. From the games initial purchase/download/log in, whatever, to the game play itself. Every minute you spend with us needs to be and FEEL hand crafted, and caring.

If we can do that, people WILL become fans, followers, passionate players, of the things we make.

It's that simple, and yet that hard We have to make games you DON'T and WON'T wait to buy.

I could be mistaken but how many people that are Starcraft fans will, or did, wait to buy SC2? Many you think? Did anyone that HAD the financial means to buy it new NOT do so, to save money? I bet there were few.

Blizzard has earned that right, and that's what we want as well. That knowledge that you have when you spend your money on a Blizzard made game. You know EXACTLY what you are getting quality wise.

You can't buy that, or market it, it's pure and it's real, and it's also one of the rarest attributes in our gaming world right now because I can think of few to no other companies that have it.

Well, we want it

01-31-2012 10:53 PM
http://forums.reckoning.amalur.com/s...9325#post59325

I game like I played baseball, by feel. I want a game that feels right to play. I cannot, and have never been able to, min max. Starts making a game feel like a chore to me. I love data but when I decided to give it a try in WoW, min maxing and the required raiding to do it, turned the game into a chore or job for me.

That wasn't fun. Though there is a part of me, 20 years ago, that I think would have that exact play style.

01-31-2012 10:54 PM
http://forums.reckoning.amalur.com/s...9327#post59327

This is likely my last post in this thread, but that response is illogical. Calling free DLC cheap BS confuses me, I don't get it, never will. It's free when you buy the game new, no matter what the price of the new game happens to be, it's free.

02-01-2012, 10:37 PM
http://www.fohguild.org/forums/other...ml#post2273612

Not a penny, none of them did. He brought this to us after I met him. This is about as organic and grass roots as anyone could dream. This is their event that we went to town trying to get prizes for, and support.

They lose a ton of credibility if players can't watch their streams and trust what these guys are doing and saying, and they will. If they rip us, or the game while playing, so be it.

The thought and hope is that they're going to have a hell of a good time, and viewers are going to win some ultra cool and totally rare things (some unannounced stuff too, that's epic!) for tuning in.

I truly believe this games success is 100% about being seen, if you love fantasy and RPG's and you see the game you'll buy it.

That's the absolute beauty in this. Not to mention getting to know Sean and watching his Amnesia play through, the humor could be off the charts between these guys, add in no script and freedom to play and say whatever they choose? I can think of a ton of situations that could be hilarious to watch.

My only regret is not being able to watch a large part of this live, given my travel schedule on launch day.

02-01-2012, 11:55 PM
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthre...=#post34768372

Some folks were commenting earlier on Todd's influence.
If you have time and care see if you can find the video from Comic Con where we did a panel. Watch that, and watch Todd, and laugh.

First off all three guys are genuine, down to earth good people.

They have an intense desire to help people, approaching 'work'with a mentor mindset.

And ya, they'll both get tons of credit they would be the first to admit they don't deserve. Todd had and has influence on the artistic vision of the entire IP.

Bob drove the story as well.

But the art team, animation team, and design team are the true grunts here and those teams led by Tim Coman, Young Vo Joe Quaddara and Ian Frazier have done magic.

Many expected the game to try for that Spawn look and/or feel, and Todd was adamant that he did not want that to happen, he wanted to be a guide and mentor from a 50k foot level on the art, as well as get his hands dirty in animation, that seems to me to be his passion.

Both guys had moments in the past where they came to me with their hands up.

"I'm done! I can't help anymore, the stuff their doing has surpassed what I could do, it's better, I'm going to screw it up if I keep holding on!"

Funny at the time, but also a real testament to two things
1) Their team first mentality
2) The amazing talent of the team at 38

This franchise was founded on a philosophy that the IP was going to come alive and be able to live across any form of media, and any device, for many many years.

There is depth you can't imagine, from each race having it's own language, alphabet, music and color palette to every zone being hand crafted in BOTH games.

You can like/dislike the art style, but there will be no mistaking the time and passion involved in the creation and depth of the lore, story and world.

02-02-2012, 09:09 PM
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthre...=#post34794602

Strahan, Lavarr Arrington, Larry Fitzgerald, a TON of radio personalities, Bobby Hebert, and many more, all got their comp copies of Reckoning today.

It's funny, I used to be that guy, and I ALWAYS wondered why the hell companies were giving ME, the guy making obscene money that could AFFORD THE game, free stuff. I wasn't going to be out talking about the game most likely.

Then I read "The Tipping Point".

So on one hand it feels weird giving away pre-launch free copies to dudes that don't even know who 38 is, or what Reckoning is, and the die hards, followed us since day 1, created threads and forums in our name, they have to wait!

But in the end this is about creating awareness for OUR game. This really is about getting EVERY possible eye on the product we can, because it will sell itself if we can.

I had radio hosts tweeting about it today, and stars, current and former NFL guys as well.

Want to know the difference, having lived life on both ends now?

Not for a millisecond did I feel like I was 'shilling' (sorry, had to) or 'whoring' out. I was, and am, convinced on every single word I speak about our game. I do believe we've created something VERY special, so it makes it easy and very real.

Oh and another thing. My PR lady basically had me lined up from 7am to 5pm today, back to back to back, 15 minute spots, on every radio station and TV station here at Radio Row in Indy, and I was the ONLY one not exhausted at days end.

This was so cataclysmicly different than any World Series or All Star game press day because I was talking about OUR game and OUR future, damn it was cool.

HUGE line up again tomorrow, all day, then to Baltimore to thank a team for a job well done.

02-02-2012 09:12 PM
http://forums.reckoning.amalur.com/s...1809#post61809

Radio row today.
I am reposting this from the Neogaf thread I originally posted it, and feel like I should have done that the other way around. Just wanted to give you guys some insight into a crazy day today.

Oh and btw, tomorrow is the day I've been waiting 5+ years for, our first huge and prominent review from IGN....
Fingers crossed, I believe it's going to be a pretty special day.


Strahan, Lavarr Arrington, Larry Fitzgerald, a TON of radio personalities, Bobby Hebert, and many more, all got their comp copies of Reckoning today.

It's funny, I used to be that guy, and I ALWAYS wondered why the hell companies were giving ME, the guy making obscene money that could AFFORD THE game, free stuff. I wasn't going to be out talking about the game most likely.

Then I read "The Tipping Point".

So on one hand it feels weird giving away pre-launch free copies to dudes that don't even know who 38 is, or what Reckoning is, and the die hards, followed us since day 1, created threads and forums in our name, they have to wait!

But in the end this is about creating awareness for OUR game. This really is about getting EVERY possible eye on the product we can, because it will sell itself if we can.

I had radio hosts tweeting about it today, and stars, current and former NFL guys as well.

Want to know the difference, having lived life on both ends now?

Not for a millisecond did I feel like I was 'shilling' (sorry, had to) or 'whoring' out. I was, and am, convinced on every single word I speak about our game. I do believe we've created something VERY special, so it makes it easy and very real.

Oh and another thing. My PR lady basically had me lined up from 7am to 5pm today, back to back to back, 15 minute spots, on every radio station and TV station here at Radio Row in Indy, and I was the ONLY one not exhausted at days end.

This was so cataclysmicly different than any World Series or All Star game press day because I was talking about OUR game and OUR future, damn it was cool.

HUGE line up again tomorrow, all day, then to Baltimore to thank a team for a job well done.

02-02-2012 09:28 PM
http://forums.reckoning.amalur.com/s...1828#post61828

Ok I'll let you in a bit, on me and this scoring thing.

Obviously from my current life, data is important, very important. But in my former job there was no subjectiveness or randomness to most of it, you threw the ball, the hitter swung, there was a count, there was contact, or not, and there was a play, or not.

This is a new world. We are a new creator of entertainment. Love to think we are doing this fresh but we aren't, there are pre conceived notions of ALL the bigger names involved, including me.

There are folks that, no matter what we do, will believe we CANNOT do this to anything close to a success, and folks that believe no matter what we do it will be awesome.

But at the end of the day these reviewers have credibility based on their past work, just like we eventually will. I'm with many of you, I generally look for one thing in reviews, product 'quality'. Buggy software? No thanks. I read very FEW reviews because I know what I like in games, and genres, so I mainly want to know if I can actually play the software I buy.

That makes me, like you, more than likely a minority in this industry. We aren't the masses, not by a long shot. We are the life long gamers and we know what we want, and we know what we like.

For us, 38, this is about you, serving that CORE player, first. If you don't believe in what we've done, you won't evangelize for us. NO ONE has the credibility in the print world my friends and gamers do.

But the rest of the world, the majority, they put massive amounts of stock in places like IGN, GI, Gamepro, Xbox etc., and that's ok, that's the 'playing field' we've chosen.

Ya I am like you guys, I read these reviews and generally have more questions after than I do when I start.

Then I quickly remember these folks are like us, they're gamers (for the most part) and I pray they went into their review of our game being as honest, up front and forthright as they can be. I have no reason to believe otherwise.

The world will read these reviews, and Reckoning will sell more, or less, because of them, and again that's ok.

In the end we know exactly what we've done, what we've made, how hard it has been. There are hundreds of thousands of hours, and millions and millions of dollars poured into this labor of love. So ya, an 8? As someone who wanted a World Series ring the first day of every spring training you can get how I might feel about that.

I want 10's, from everyone, and I want our team to want 10's from everyone as well.

but the "chase for perfection, if you truly aim for it, ends in excellence" and I can sleep at night on that one.

This game, Reckoning, was given every ounce of every persons commitment. I love it, I am so very proud of this team and what they created, but not everyone will feel that way.

That's cool, we are going to do this, I promise, and the most important thing about this whole review thing is for us to look at the critiques, understand what they really mean, and never repeat our mistakes.

We'll make new mistakes, and that's ok, but you, the players, our players, will see our intent every single time. You may not agree, or may fall in love with it, either way the most important thing is that you see it, and know we hear you, know we want to make the game YOU want, and know we will never let up on our relentless pursuit of perfection as long as I am the Chairman and Founder of this company.

So tomorrow is the first of the big ones, IGN pops in to let us know what they really think, and really feel, and I'm as nervous tonight as I ever have been, world series, playoffs, all of it.

But before that happens I'm sappy, and pretty emotional about it, because the pride I have in the team I am in charge of is far bigger than a 1-10 sliding scale, and my team found a way.

So a public hats off to the amazing team that created Reckoning, and the amazing team that created the Amalur Universe hopefully millions of players will begin to learn, and love, this Tuesday.

God Bless and thank you guys for everything you've done on these forums, it's so incredibly meaningful to us to know that before you've had a chance to legitimately play our first ever game, you've cared enough to fill these forums with thousands of posts of support.

Curt

02-02-2012, 11:01 PM
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthre...=#post34797265

Agreed, and appreciated.
FWIW I just realized today, and it just totally flew by me, that I was handing out copies of OUR GAME........
Ya, let that sink in. Wasn't paying, attention, then I realized HOLY CRAP, there are actual GAMES in these game covers....
How am I not logged in and playing already????
Going PC version, Xbox controller, full on finesse for my 1st play through...

02-04-2012, 01:23 AM
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthre...=#post34827222

Not sure there are more meaningful posts from gamers who bought, then cancelled, and now are buying again.

This happens one player at a time, believe it or not just like voting

Very cool of you to even take time to call it out, and appreciated.

Boggart cake? How bad ass is that? We were at the Baltimore studio launch party, well deserved, and I saw this bad boy, just awesome.

The IGN score, is awesome, given the sheer volume of folks that clearly go there and wait on a game review for their purchase decision. It never dawned on me until today just how enormous of an impact these have, not on companies, but on actual individual peoples lives.

9, very cool, and leaves room to push ourselves as we go forward

02-04-2012 04:58 PM
http://forums.reckoning.amalur.com/s...4163#post64163

No need to hate guys, though seeing you defend us is pretty cool
Modding is for the PC community, and I totally believe we are going to wail all over the projected PC sales for KOA, this game will stand on it's own.
If people DON'T buy KOA that's not Skryim or anyone else's problem, it's ours.
We are on the playing field, they are our competitors now, though we have no right to ***** and moan about anything from here on out because NONE of them will do anything to help us, and maybe they shouldn't
This is the business part, hate it, but it's life.
At the end of the day Reckoning will rise or fall on it's own merits.

You know how we know this? Because we've watched it for 10-20 30 years. Great games? Ya people buy them, they buy them because their friends are playing and they can't stop talking about how fun it is.

This conversation usually doesn't happen
"Dude have you played Reckoning, holy crap it is amazing"
Dude says
"Was thinking about it, but this Skryim mod kit is totally going to kick ass so I am not playing"

Skyrim, is, well, Skyrim. It's not Reckoning, and we're not Skyrim.

We'll do what we need to, to make this work.

Also remember the modding community is a HUGE driver in gaming, and it's pretty cool of them to put that amount of resources to the PC modding community.

We, in time, will absolutely follow suit where we can and when we can. Right now we're just focused on our first game, it's content, the follow on DLC and our MMO.

Seems like enough to scare ourselves with

02-04-2012 06:48 PM
http://forums.reckoning.amalur.com/s...4289#post64289

Exactly. I never wanted to be the best pitcher in baseball because other guys sucked, I wanted other guys to raise the bar. It's why my best seasons were pitching BEHIND two Hall of Famers, they raised the bar.

Other peoples failures in this industry don't positively effect us, in fact just the opposite. When the PSN went down you think that was good for other MMO, online services? Nope.

Same here. And as I have often stated, we're going to succeed on our game, our products, being great, or not.

It's the reason we will always be open, and have open lines of communication with our players.

You also are going to have to understand as our players that yes, we absolutely are and will listen, but that doesn't mean we'll always, or even often do something about your personal specific complaint.

There are enormous amounts of opinions around Reckoning already, but we need to be fiscally smart about how we manage our resources and our people, so when or if we do things for or on our products based on your input, it's going to need to be something that is a value add for a majority of players out there.