Turbine hires Elder Scrolls designer Ken Rolston
By
Eddie Makuch, News Editor
Lord of the Rings Online studio brings on Elder Scrolls, Kingdoms of Amalur designer as director of design; former NetherRealm, Zynga, and Petroglyph devs round out "key hires."
Lord of the Rings Online and Dungeons & Dragons Online developer Turbine has added new leadership to its studio. The Needham, Massachusetts studio today announced that it has hired Elder Scrolls designer Ken Rolston, as well as former NetherRealm and Zynga developers.
Rolston served as lead designer for Bethesda on Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind and Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, and was most recently behind Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning at the now-defunct 38 Studios. His new title at Turbine is director of design, and his responsibilities include leading the vision and implementation of all aspects of game design at the company.
Coming aboard from Mortal Kombat studio NetherRealm is Alan Villani, who will work at Turbine as vice president of technology. His duties at Turbine include managing the company's digital technology platform, with a specific emphasis on "online engagement" and monetization.
Rounding out the new hires are former Zynga technology maestro Jai Singh, who will head up technical operations at Turbine, and Demetrius Comes of Petroglyph Games (End of Nations, Rise of Immortals). Comes has been hired on as executive director of engineering where he will oversee all engineering functions for the studio's product development team.
By
Eddie Makuch, News Editor
Eddie Makuch (Mack-ooh) is a News Editor at GameSpot. He works out of the company's Boston office in Somerville, Mass., and loves extra chunky peanut butter.
32 comments
I hope this means that they grabbed the better part of the developing minds, 'cause all the innovation from Skyrim, which isn't much to speak of after, say, Morrowind, isn't worth much if the garbage content does more harm than the playing can do good.
1 Like I'd play LoTRO if I didn't see adverts to free 2 play and LoTRO store EVERYWHERE. The game went to hell after F2P.
1 Like @params7 no it didnt dude theres alot more people playing it now and it still very popular especially rider of rohan
Finally , stupid Turbine managed to do something actually useful to the game and community in general. Cheers. More money siphon incoming..
3 Like @Fursnake Please indeed. Even AC2 was looking pretty good by the end. What I wouldn't do for AC3.
I agree to an extent. LOVED AC1; absoutely phenomenal game. AC2 had some promise, but the fact that it was like...4 months into the game, and BASIC CHAT still didn't work reliably...in an MMO? That's pretty hard to overlook.
@Fursnake @ProjektInsanity @ExtremePhobia AC1 was well more entertaining than other newer MMOs.
@ProjektInsanity @ExtremePhobia
I'm all about the AC1, it was the 2nd MMO I played after a brief stint in Everquest. PLayed AC1 for years. AC2 was a disappointment to me pretty much all around. It was prettier to look at it but gameplay wise I didn't like nearly as much sa AC1.
Wonder if someone will put that Gamespot video as his screensaver when he turns up for work on the first day. :D
I wonder what it's like for a group of people to come to work and find out a crazy guy like Ken Rolston is your new co-worker. Just gotta be a weird day for everyone.
2 Like Kingdoms of Amalur? But that game suuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu*inhales*uuuuuuuuuuuuuucked!
1 Like I thought Kingdoms of Amalur was good, and even better than Skyrim.
...though, Skyrim wasn't that great of a TES title.
The combat of KoA is fantastic, but other aspects are a bit dry comparing to that. I kept feeling like to skip dialogs and go back to action. It shared a lot of similarity with TES: Oblivion, but I find the gameplay not as balance Oblivion. Oblivion has a more balanced mix of combat, exploration, stealth, quest, story and other funky stuff.
KoA is a really ambitious game, and it is very enjoyable. It is sad that it ends up like this......
This comment has been deleted
I don't agree about the menus, as I like games with menus like Skyrim.
The menus however were slow after a long playtime, and I didn't like how it was a list on the side.
Also, you can map items/skills to the left and right D-Pad buttons I believe.
I agree about the combat system in KoA: R though, it was really fluid and nice to look at.
1 Like I disagree with your opinion!
Which is all I will say out out of a sense of civility! =-)
1 Like All I can think of when I hear the name Ken Rolston is that montage/song Gamespot UK made. I'm not sure if I'm happy or mad about that.
Its great to hear Rolston has joined the team. As i took notice of him during Kingdoms of Amalur development i was pretty awed by his personality and vision. Lotro is a great game.
1 Like Turbine have been putting out some great games. LOTRO is an amazing game; it really brings Middle Earth to life. The main quest line really makes it feel like you're playing a part in the world. SWTOR could have done with taking some tips from these guys. I hope Rolston being onboard means we may see some new IP soon, and maybe even bringing their successful formula up-to-date with full voice acting and cut-scenes, etc.
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