79 réponses à ce sujet

[Ecael]

SSV Enterprise wrote...

Drew Karpyshyn was still credited as a lead writer for ME2, along with Mac Walters. He has, however, been suspiciously absent from all the promotional material from ME2, such as Sci vs Fi, whereas he was involved in that stuff for ME1. I'd worry that there may have been some quiet falling out between Karpyshyn and the rest of BioWare, but he's still writing Retribution, so I dunno.

He was absent in the promotional material because he moved to Austin, Texas to work with the BioWare division for The Old Republic in the spring of 2009 (as in the FAQ). That was significantly less than a year before the game was finalized for production - including the time where they'd normally start heavy promotion of the material.

According to different BioWare article about another Lead Writer for The Old Republic, the Lead Writer's main job is to preserve continuity across the game. Given the carryover of information from ME1 and how ME2 will carryover into ME3, it makes sense that they'd double the number of writers and have two Lead Writers working on the story for ME2.

[OasisForever1991]

If Issac Asimov was still alive...

[Ecael]

OasisForever1991 wrote...

If Issac Asimov was still alive...

He'd be the second deadliest son of a...

Isaac Newton being the first, of course.

[MassEffect762]

Story wise the lead writer has plenty of space to work with, maybe too much space.



It's execution and incorporation with the decisions of all three games will take a wizard.



I'm expecting the story to be two steps above the sequel and equal to or less than the first.(if

they lose their minds, see arnold)

[Rheinguard]

Onyx Jaguar wrote...

David Gaider for ME 3

This.  WIn.

[Sajon1]

Isaac Newton is a beast

[KalosCast]

Ecael wrote...

Drew Karpyshyn wrote...

((Are you working on the Star Wars: The Old Republic MMO?))

Yes. Now that I’m in Austin and my share of the writing on ME#2 is done, I’m part of the MMO team. And I have to say, I’m very impressed by the quality and incredible scope of the stories we’re putting into the game.

That last sentence is a lie if I've ever heard one.

[KitsuneRommel]

KalosCast wrote...

Ecael wrote...

Drew Karpyshyn wrote...

((Are you working on the Star Wars: The Old Republic MMO?))

Yes. Now that I’m in Austin and my share of the writing on ME#2 is done, I’m part of the MMO team. And I have to say, I’m very impressed by the quality and incredible scope of the stories we’re putting into the game.

That last sentence is a lie if I've ever heard one.

You've already played the MMO?

[Onyx Jaguar]

What happened to the Lead Writers of Jade Empire? (Drew and Mac were both on the writing team but neither of them were the lead writers)

[KalosCast]

KitsuneRommel wrote...

You've already played the MMO?

It's an MMO, it's incapable of having anything approaching an engaging storyline or depth of gameplay. This is a simple fact of game design. The entire genre is nothing more than a series of jazzed-up spreadsheets (except Eve-Online, which a slower paced version of Microsoft Office Excel).

Modifié par KalosCast, 31 mai 2010 - 06:49 .

[Nivenus]

Chris Avellone for lead writer. [/blatant Obsidian fanboy-ism]

Karpyshyn and Walters both have their strengths and weaknesses. However, Walters does seem to be a character writer (much like Gaider) rather than an arc-guy, so getting Karpyshyn back as the sole lead writer wouldn't necessarily be bad.

I should emphasize, however, that his part in ME2 was by no means insubstantial, vis a vis his own statements on the subject.

[implodinggoat]

I'll definitely add my support for bringing Drew back to lead the writing team on ME3.

ME2 made huge strides when it came to improving the gameplay; but the main plot from ME1 definitely puts the ME2 story to shame.  The dialogue and character development for the most part are pretty solid in ME2; but the central story feels disjointed as if the writers came up with scenes they wanted to include and then considered how they would impliment those scenes into the main story as an afterthought (the entire squad hopping on the shuttle for no apparent reason before the crew gets abducted for example).

Not to mention Drew seriously needs to **** slap whoever the clown who ****ed up Liara's character is.

Modifié par implodinggoat, 31 mai 2010 - 07:58 .

[jselene]

Getting Karpyshyn back would be excellent! I'd alternately support David Gaider, but would much rather he focus on Dragon Age.

[Nivenus]

I will agree that the plot is a bit disjointed in ME2. I feel that the individual parts are very strong, but it's true that it's not as cohesively glued together as the story in ME1 was.

[JohnnyBeGood2]

Eddo36 wrote...

Drew is an awesome game writer.

As a book writer however, he's meh.

Yeah

[Mister Mida]

I hope Drew is coming back for ME3 as well. It would be stupid if he weren't. How would it look if one writer writes two books of a trilogy (with the second being co-written, which is acceptable) but on a third book says 'I'm out'? The continuity would totally suffer for it. You can already see it a bit in ME2.

[Ecael]

KalosCast wrote...

KitsuneRommel wrote...

You've already played the MMO?

It's an MMO, it's incapable of having anything approaching an engaging storyline or depth of gameplay. This is a simple fact of game design. The entire genre is nothing more than a series of jazzed-up spreadsheets (except Eve-Online, which a slower paced version of Microsoft Office Excel).

That's exactly the viewpoint that BioWare is trying to change.

Developer Blog

I heard you, but this is already the biggest game we have ever done. What does that do to the line count?    

James:     We're estimating hundreds of thousands of lines, give or take a few thousand.

# The voice-over is being recorded in 5 different cities (so far); Los Angeles , London, New York, San Francisco, and Toronto
# By the time the project is finished, we will have worked with hundreds of actors - many on multiple occasions.
# The entire game ‘script’ contains approximately 40+ novels worth of content.

In comparison, Dragon Age (which was in development for approximately 7 years) has "9 novels" worth of content, and Mass Effect 1 and 2 combined only have 50,000 lines in comparison to the hundreds of thousands mentioned above.

[Forwen]

Both Kotor and ME had almost identical story structures. I know BioWare aren't the ones for mind-boggling storytelling innovation, but this was too much. I hope he isn't responsible for the entirety of ME3.



I mean...



1. First introductory mission (which goes wrong)

2. Arrival at the PLOT HUB (Dantooine, The Citadel)

3. Induction into fun club by a COUNCIL (after proving yourself worthy)

4. COUNCIL sends you on a mission to find pieces of a McGuffin

5. ~70% into the story something "unexpected" happens and you end up at a location with a BIG PLOT TWIST

6. Penultimate section on a planet of an ancient race, full of EXPOSITION through simple dialog

7. Finale on a space station which has MAGIC POWERS.



Fragmented structure of ME2. was welcome.

[AilCross1912]

What do you mean Issac Asimov is alive ( checks wikipedia........) oh.... he got dead..... LAZARUS

[Tokion]

I think Drew did an excellent job with both of the Mass Effect Books. I love the combat scenes especially.

[Vaeliorin]

Nivenus wrote...
Chris Avellone for lead writer

[/blatant Chris Avellone fanboy] for me.  Chris Avellone should be the lead writer for every RPG.

[Thatguy38]

Forwen wrote...

Both Kotor and ME had almost identical story structures. I know BioWare aren't the ones for mind-boggling storytelling innovation, but this was too much. I hope he isn't responsible for the entirety of ME3.

I mean...

1. First introductory mission (which goes wrong)
2. Arrival at the PLOT HUB (Dantooine, The Citadel)
3. Induction into fun club by a COUNCIL (after proving yourself worthy)
4. COUNCIL sends you on a mission to find pieces of a McGuffin
5. ~70% into the story something "unexpected" happens and you end up at a location with a BIG PLOT TWIST
6. Penultimate section on a planet of an ancient race, full of EXPOSITION through simple dialog
7. Finale on a space station which has MAGIC POWERS.

Fragmented structure of ME2. was welcome.

Yeah, but that pretty much describes most roleplaying games today. Its a premise as old as storytelling. The hero has to start somewhere, be it a castle, spaceport, etc, and he has to be put on a quest/mission by someone, council, king, wizard, etc. . It just makes the most logical sense with most "Adventure" stories, and it's a formula that has been followed for centuries.

[Ecael]

Forwen wrote...

Both Kotor and ME had almost identical story structures. I know BioWare aren't the ones for mind-boggling storytelling innovation, but this was too much. I hope he isn't responsible for the entirety of ME3.

I mean...

1. First introductory mission (which goes wrong)
2. Arrival at the PLOT HUB (Dantooine, The Citadel)
3. Induction into fun club by a COUNCIL (after proving yourself worthy)
4. COUNCIL sends you on a mission to find pieces of a McGuffin
5. ~70% into the story something "unexpected" happens and you end up at a location with a BIG PLOT TWIST
6. Penultimate section on a planet of an ancient race, full of EXPOSITION through simple dialog
7. Finale on a space station which has MAGIC POWERS.

Fragmented structure of ME2. was welcome.

...And Patrick Weekes' defense of BioWare games

Patrick Weekes wrote...

Yeah, guys, every BioWare game has the same plot! See, things are kind of normal, and then things change and you have to go out and do stuff, and you go to crazy weird places! Aaaaaand so yeah, totally the same story.

Modifié par Ecael, 31 mai 2010 - 02:10 .

[superimposed]

KalosCast wrote...

KitsuneRommel wrote...

You've already played the MMO?

It's an MMO, it's incapable of having anything approaching an engaging storyline or depth of gameplay. This is a simple fact of game design. The entire genre is nothing more than a series of jazzed-up spreadsheets (except Eve-Online, which a slower paced version of Microsoft Office Excel).

Greatest description of Eve ever. Have a cookie.

No, wait. have two. Hell, become a Pope.

[Forwen]

Ecael wrote...

snip

Funny how people misinterpret what I wrote. I know this chart and I wasn't referring to clichés. I was referring to structure of plot events which in ME1 and Kotor follow an almost exact same path. I know the elements BioWare uses in their games, but it's nice to be surprised every now and again about how they're arranged, not me sitting there thinking "hmm, now some turning point's gonna happen because it happened in their previous games at about the same playtime" and lo and behold, I get a call about Virmire.

Modifié par Forwen, 31 mai 2010 - 02:22 .