R.A. Salvatore was in attendance at GDC 2010 to offer some insight into building worlds and 38 Studios upcoming MMORPG, Copernicus. The best-selling author offered his insights in a presentation on several hot topics with many gamers such as the importance of an in-game death penalty, drawing comparisons to EverQuest's penalty and world content.

"If you take out of a world two things: the pain of losing, it will diminish the accomplishment of winning. And if you take the element of chance of out it, I won't enjoy it," said Salvatore. "You need that in games. It's harder to do that in a computer game, because your phone lines will light up. Never listen to your customer service guys when you're designing a game."

Salvatore goes on to explain a bit about how death will work in Copernicus using a device known as the Well of Souls and the implications of such a device on the game's factions and religions. It's a very good read and will light a slight nostalgic fire in old EverQuest vets. Click here to read more from Gamasutra.