Behind the Camera of Forged in Aeternum: One Year Anniversary Celebration

20.11.2023 - 17:39 / newworld.com

Greetings, Adventurers!

Join Michael Lovan, Head of Community Video, for reflections on the series’ inspiration, challenges, and evolution, plus an infographic featuring zany stats. You might already be more familiar with the creator of Forged in Aeternum than you think.

“If you've ever watched one of the Community Q&As, that's my voice you hear,” said Michael. “You can also find me lurking on the New World subreddit, upvoting my favorite transmogs, or spamming LEO's global servers to watch Forged in Aeternum under my new name, ForgedInAeternum.”

“If there's a documentary, book, or podcast about game development, I'm probably familiar with it. I'm a video game history nerd, and I think the historical documentation of development is important for future generations to learn from. It is, in my opinion, the most meaningful way of measuring a developer's intent against a game's lasting impact. So when I was brought into Amazon Games to build out the Community Video team, I was eager to share my love of developer insight with the world.”

“When I met Scot (Game Director, New World), I pitched him on doing a weekly show that would allow for me, and the community, to be a fly on the wall and observe discussions that were already happening around the office. Scot rallied the team to help with the show, and collectively they (and the community) have helped continuously shape it.”

“Forged has evolved quite a bit since the beginning, both in terms of process and in terms of what we're trying to do. In the beginning, Scot, Dave (Creative Director), Katy (Senior Producer), and Rob (Narrative Director) helped brainstorm a lot of discussion topics, and I spent a good amount of time asking different devs if they would come on the show.”

“We then schedule shoots. I like to film at least a few episodes at a time. When we shoot far enough in advance, that extra time can help us compile gameplay footage to edit into the episode. Occasionally I shoot the episodes solo, but more often than not I'll get assistance from Chuck and Steven, my video team.”

”Steven or myself put together the edits and then we run the video through internal approvals. Once it's release time, I publish the episode and stare at the comments like a hawk until the knots in my stomach go away.”

“Since the advent of Seasons, we've now got a sweet cycle where we can regularly dive into different features in development. On a live game, there's always something to talk about. Additionally, the various teams I work with — New World devs, Marketing, Community — do a wonderful job proactively proposing subjects, so I'm often flooded with great ideas for the video pipeline.”

“Occasionally there is a gap in the schedule. I try to use those episodes to try