Kayla "Reiyami" Smith brings you the details from a panel consisting of Curt Schilling, Todd McFarlane, R. A. Salvatore and Ken Rolston. Read how these visionaries are paving the way for their upcoming MMO.

R. A. Salvatore

Salvatore was in from the pitch. "I assembled my team, which was really the old Seven Swords group who did some modules with Wizards of the Coast, an old D&D group essentially, including two of my kids now, and we got together and took all of their information and distilled it down to get into the spirit of what they were looking for," he said.

He went on from their to create an entire new universe in which gamers can immerse themselves. "We created the mythology for the world. Then we worked from that skeleton outward to come up with this green binder. The original green binder. I did a PowerPoint presentation about how you go about creating all the side stories in this world. This is the philosophical bases about it," Salvatore said.

The entire team is held to an incredibly high standard. Everything in the game needs to make sense and relate to that original green binder. Salvatore explains, "You can't just say 'it's magic' and that's why it is. Don't ever say that to me, because I will be in your face." This process demands a level of continuity that can be seen throughout the entire creative process.

Schilling was quick to add, "We don't make it logical because we need logic. We make it logical because we all own it but it still has to be insanely fun at the end of the day." The entire staff has taken an ownership over the universe and its content and cares to keep this high level of creative output.

Todd McFarlane

McFarlane is incredibly comfortable with visuals, but is certainly a newcomer to the gaming industry. "I'm the anti-Curt. As much as he was a gamer, I wasn't. My life has been complicated with other things and it just got ahead of me," said McFarlane. Regardless of not playing, he got into watching many of the 20-something's he employed play games during breaks under his employment on other projects. His curiosity has always been piqued when he saw limitations.

"I'm curious why things can't be done. There are only really three reasons. One is it would take too much time, which is a valid one; another is it would take too much money, a super valid one; and one is the technology is just not there. I always hope to get the pregnant pause. When there was dead silence, I knew I had it. If it was one of the three, someone would speak up and say 'no Todd, it's the money' or 'no Todd, we can't do that,' but when they slowed down and said nothing I knew it was just imagination at that point," said McFarlane.

Always pushing the envelope, McFarlane has taken the same approach to Reckoning. He has had much success in looking at things that exist and making them better. In talking to Salvatore he realized that they weren't looking to reinvent the wheel. They were looking to make it better. He's quick to point out, "this is not a Todd vehicle." He's working from a point of adding his area of specialty, ground-breaking visuals, to Schilling's idea and Salvatore's story.

His goal is to make a game that people want to play, that looks better than anything else out there. Like Schilling, he's not a man who's used to being the underdog. He's talented, aware of it, and bringing that talent to the game. "I call it the 'whoa' factor. That's what I'm going for. If we can get someone to play the game and say 'whoa' than we've done our job," said McFarlane.

"I look at a video game as visual art, playability and fun factor. I get the criticism that may come with that, but go get somebody that's smart and that understands a game but doesn't know how to do art and I'll tackle that guy head on every single time. The question becomes how do you take a dumb-ass like me but who actually knows that piece, to help back me up," he said. That's where the heavyweights at 38 Studios, led by Rolston, come into play.

Continued for Page 3.