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Beyond Drizzt

An Interview with 38 Studios Director of Creative Content and Novelist R.A. Salvatore

Questions by Cody "Micajah" Bye

The Forgotten Realms, a Dungeons & Dragons campaign setting, is home to many a notorious monster and hero, but none are more famous than Drizzt Do'Urden. The character is the epitome of a hero; the lone wanderer who breaks from his tortured past to embark on adventures and escapades with a group of misfits and kings, only content when his past is forgotten and his swords are bare. The creator of the dark elf - and often granted the title of the person who brought popularity to the Forgotten Realms - is a novelist by the name of R.A. Salvatore.

Known among author types for his constant desire to produce high action and page-flipping material, Salvatore has a long and established track record for putting together solid stories for print and electronic settings. Along with his numerous novels and short stories, many of you may recognize one of the video games he worked on, Dungeons & Dragons: Demon Stone, which showcased Salvatore's story-telling in an excellent (albeit short) game that really drew players into its twists and turns. However, Salvatore may now be facing his most daunting task yet; the creation of a massively multiplayer online gaming world.

Just last year, in a strange but compelling turn of fate, Salvatore was tapped by Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling to help him create a new game for the online gaming marketplace. Salvatore will be working with the team at 38 Studios to put together a living, breathing world that players will find intriguing, familiar, yet original at the same time. A daunting task for any storyteller, but Salvatore may be the best suited individual for the feat.

We caught up with Salvatore to see how work was progressing on the beginning concepts of his new world.  In this first part of our two-part series (click here for the second part), we focus on the differences between MMO and novel writing and how Salvatore interacts with other members of the development team.

TTH: R.A., before we get started with the questions concerning the world, would you mind clearing up why the name of Green Monster Games was changed to 38 Studios? Many of us were confused about the name change and whether it signified anything important besides just a different dubbing of your new studios.

Bob Salvatore, Director of Creative Content for 38 Studios

Bob: First of all, it's Bob. I think Curt is the only person in the world who calls me "R. A." When I got my first book deal and was asked how I wanted my name to appear on the book. Bob? Robert? Something completely different? Well, the guy who got me into reading (and thus, writing) was JRR Tolkien, so I liked the idea of using my initials. Plus at that time, TSR, the publisher, was full of Jeffs and Troys and Douglases, and I figured that if I just used my initials, maybe I'd have a better chance of people remembering me.

I know, I know, that's pretty dumb, but hey, I was 29 years old, and all of a sudden this amazing opportunity just showed up on my doorstep. So despite the book covers, it's Bob.

To answer your original question, it's really very simple: 38 Studios is a better description of where we want to be with this company. We're an entertainment company, and the "games" moniker was limiting to our vision. We're creating the next generation of interactive entertainment.