147 réponses à ce sujet

[Mary Kirby]

Anarya wrote...

So does he run a shop (with a back room full of shady things) or smuggle transport goods or something or is that a spoiler? I hope he has minions. He seems like a guy who should have minions.

Varric has... well, he wouldn't call them minions. He'd say "contacts." or "People." He's the younger son in the Tethras family: His older brother is the head of the family and runs what could be called a small financial empire. They don't have a shop. They invest in shops. Officially, Varric is an idle younger brother in a wealthy household who spends most of his time hanging out in taverns telling wild stories while other people buy him drinks. Unofficially, he maintains a spy network with contacts throughout all levels of the city so he can quietly deal with the assassination attemps, scandals, and campaigns of industrial espionage that come along with being a family in the Dwarven Merchants Guild.

[Mary Kirby]

Dave of Canada wrote...

How come? I do believe they've said a few times that they haven't worked on romances yet (but apparently the writing is almost done?).

*coughs* Pretty sure what we've said is that we're not talking about the romances yet. They're written. I think we have to wait for some sort of marketing magic before we can say who, what, how many, etc.

[Mary Kirby]

Anarya wrote...

Talk about it to the rabid hordes. Unless the tear-fueled coffee machine produces the side effect of telepathy.

Hmmm... considering my work environment, I can't determine if telepathy would be awesome or horrifying.

[Mary Kirby]

Anarya wrote...

Golden-Rose wrote...

So can someone confirm for me who is writing who? Or is it still very much a mystery?

The only ones I know for certain are Cassandra (David) and Aveline (Luke).

Let's take a look at some of the other characters...

Varric = Mary?
Bethany = ?
Flemeth = ?
Pirate lady = ?
Momma = ?

David said who was writing Bethany but I can't remember her name. It was a woman though and it wasn't Sheryl or Mary. It's in one of the PAX chats.

Jennifer wrote Bethany. And maybe Mother. I'm not sure on Mother. David wrote Flemeth. Sheryl is responsible for the nameless pirate lady.

[Mary Kirby]

Bruddajakka wrote...

So who's writing Hawke? Or is it a collaborative effort?

The player character always winds up being a collaborative effort, although in the end, it's up to David to decide if the rest of us royally suck at writing Hawke lines, and make us fix them.

[Mary Kirby]

Anarya wrote...

Mary Kirby wrote...

Hmmm... considering my work environment, I can't determine if telepathy would be awesome or horrifying.

My money's on horrifying with the occasional blessed moment of awesome!

Me: *sitting at my desk, attempting to come up with some sort of insights for a codex entry on beet production in the Free Marches* Okay, what do I know about beets that might be interesting? ...Nothing whatsoever. Awesome. Come on brain, think of something to say...

Sheryl: Man, look at Lady Gaga's meat dress! She sat on Ellen's nice velvet chair in that! I wonder if she smells like bacon? Mmmmm... bacon. I like kittens!

Luke: "I'm your only friend, I'm not your only friend, but I'm a little glowing friend, but really I'm not actually your friend, but I am..."

David: Look at this forum thread! B!tch, please.

Me: ...I am so screwed.

Modifié par Mary Kirby, 14 septembre 2010 - 07:24 .

[Mary Kirby]

Anarya wrote...

How do you guys decide who writes what? I know you said you wanted to write Varric but is it usually a volunteer thing or does David assign characters? Also do you divide up the writing by character in order to ensure a consistent voice?

Followers are divvied up by character, with each of us taking on the task of writing a character's main conversation file and maintaining consistency for that character's voice in any banter, interjections, or other plots in which the character appears. They're assigned partly by volunteer basis and partly by necessity. David will look at what we have planned and what we each have on our plates and say, "We've got one more follower, and Sheryl is the only writer with time on her schedule. Sheryl, you get to write Stephen, the tap dancing squirrel."

Otherwise, writing is broken down by plot. If a character who isn't a follower appears in multiple plots, someone will wind up being responsible for their voice. Usually, whoever wrote them first, or whoever wrote the most plots in which they appear.

[Mary Kirby]

Anarya wrote...

There's more than one tap-dancing squirrel?? Arvid and Stephen, the dynamic duo.

Hells, yeah. And it was a lot of pressure to dump on Sheryl like that. "You realize, of course, that Stephen has to be ten million times more awesome than the awesomesauce that is Arvid, right? Get to work!"

Seriouspost: So how much info do you have to go on when you start to write a character? Varric, for instance. What made him appealing to you?

A basic outline of race, class, and relation to the plot. To use a non-spoiler example: When I got Sten, his character info was, "Male qunari warrior you meet in a cage in Lothering. Purpose: Introduce the qunari race to the player."

For Varric? I liked the fact that he was a storyteller in general, and narrating the player's story in particular. Anybody else ever watch Jim Henson's The Storyteller? The one with John Hurt as the Storyteller? I love that series.

[Mary Kirby]

Dave of Canada wrote...

So... As long as Sten introduced the Qubari, as a male soldier in a cage and such... Everything was your ground? Sten could've been a wise-cracking comedian? (if Gaider didn't tell you to rewrite).

What do you mean could have been? He totally was a wisecracking comedian! (For a qunari.)

We had the outlines of qunari culture already. I filled in a lot of the details for them and him as I wrote Sten, but Sten was supposed to be, more or less, an absolutely typical qunari warrior.

[Mary Kirby]

Suddenly, I want Varric to have a crossbow that fires other crossbows, each of which launches a guy playing electric guitar.

[Mary Kirby]

Dave of Canada wrote...

Time for Dave (me, not Gaider) to take something completely out of context and freak out!
(I have a quota of blind freaking out without context, don't judge me.)


From here:

you guys (as
enthusiastic as you are) will take a little and build it up into
something it isn't, and then be disappointed when it doesn't match what
you're hoping for.

*fearful*


Edit: Before anybody tells me something, I know fans have HUGE expectations that are never met.

Point The First: Holy freakin' Maker, that Old Spice guy thing you wrote cracked me up. And then I read it out loud to Craig, who laughed so hard he almost choked.

Point The Second: Man, that'll make for some awkward conversation in the writers' pit tomorrow.

Me: So... um... David. That random remark you made about fans... was that meant to imply that my writing on Varric suxxors?

David: Well, I meant to tell you that it was awful, but... instead, of telling you to rewrite him, or revising him myself, I thought it'd be better if I just obliquely hinted that he was immensely wretched in a thread unrelated to him on the forums.

Sheryl: I'm on a nug!

Modifié par Mary Kirby, 15 septembre 2010 - 06:25 .

[Mary Kirby]

Dave of Canada wrote...

Mmm.. just curious, is Varric's house (Tethras, I believe?) name from Orzammar or the Surface?

House Tethras was originally from Orzammar.

[Mary Kirby]

Dave of Canada wrote...

Oh okay, a surface dwarf keeps the name of his house even though he's stripped of it when back in Orzammar? I replayed Dwarf Noble and I remember it mentioned that there was some Aeducans that went to the surface on an expedition and it failed horribly. If say... they became part of the Merchant's Guild, they'd still keep the Aeducan house name?

Unless they've married or otherwise been added to a house they weren't born into, or someone in their family was made a Paragon, a dwarf's House name is generally the same as their family name. Trian Aeducan, Oghren Kondrat, etc.

Surface dwarves don't refer to Houses unless:
a) They're talking to another dwarf and/or
They're conservatives.

More liberal surface dwarves would just say, "Varric Tethras." Old money archconservatives would insist on preserving the distinction of rank and caste and say, "Varric of Noble House Tethras," even though he can't technically belong to any caste now that he's on the surface.

[Mary Kirby]

Wishpig wrote...

Side-Note- The way it's sounding, Varric certainly seems to be shaping up to be a comical character and the stereotypical role for a dwarf is merchant... he isn't going to be your typical Oghren, but I don't see him shattering any stereotypes as of now.

Hey! I finally got a character who can crack some freakin' jokes with the player, and don't you take that away from me, Wishpig!

Meanie.

[Mary Kirby]

Neesee wrote...

I'm kinda hoping his parents are alive.

Poppa Tethras was all "You deal with this Merchant's Guild crap," to Varric's brother when he was old enough. Then he left with Momma Tethras to a nice little Antivan town by the sea.

Not long after they came to the surface, they fell into the sky and haven't been seen since.

[Mary Kirby]

Dave of Canada wrote...

I can't tell if it's because I'm tired but I spit water all over my keyboard and it broke. Had to get the spare one from the basement.


THANKS MARY.

That's what I'm here for.

[Mary Kirby]

Pseudocognition wrote...

You can't be narrator when you're dead! Or can you...

Varric: ...but then the bandit leader lunged past Hawke and stabbed me right in the heart!
"No!" shouted Hawke. "Hang on, Varric!"
And I looked up at Hawke, and with my last breath, I started to say, "Tell my brother..." but I was stopped by the blood in my throat. And I breathed my last.

Cassandra: *Icy stare*

Varric: What?

Cassandra: You died?

Varric: Hawke was really torn up about it.

Cassandra: Dwarf, for the last time, stop these ridiculous lies!

Varric: *Long -suffering sigh* FIne, fine. I didn't die. Really, you have no sense of the dramatic whatsoever.

[Mary Kirby]

Aimo: I'm... sort of tempted to make that my new desktop wallpaper. Varric's smirk, tiled across two monitors...



Dave: I am curious as to what sort of final battle you've got in mind. Myself, I'd probably make Varric square off against Duncan's beard.



Risax: I'm still here, just trapped under something heavy. In this case, codex entries. I'll emerge soon enough, squished but triumphant.

[Mary Kirby]

Dave of Canada wrote...

Mary Kirby wrote...

Dave: I am curious as to what sort of final battle you've got in mind. Myself, I'd probably make Varric square off against Duncan's beard.

What if I told you it was even better?

You'd shatter the laws of the universe and allow the infinite, screaming minions of chaos inside. You can't top Duncan's beard! That's like dividing by zero and getting a cinnamon bagel as the result.

[Mary Kirby]

Me: Hey, Varric!

Varric: I knew you'd be back sooner or later, Half Pint.

Me: I've got a slew of questions from the -- wait. Are you putting leave-in conditioner on your chest hair?

Varric: Keeps it silky smooth. Hit me with your questions.

Q: Do arrows bounce harmlessly off of you because of your overwhelming awesomeness?

No. Don't be ridiculous. Arrows don't bounce off of me because I'm awesome, Half Pint. Arrows swerve to avoid hitting me because my coat is tailored Antivan leather, and only the filthiest nug-lickers in existence would punch holes in a coat this fine.

Q. Do you have a tragic past?

Have you met my family? Never mind, of course they haven't. Tell them it's not so much "tragic" as "sardonic."

Q. What about a dead wife? Orphaned kid?

No, I'm trying to quit.

Q. How about a dark side, got one of those?

There's about twenty-five people in this town who want to kill me, my entire family, and maybe some of our pets over business deals. Personally, I wouldn't call it so much "dark" as "shady."

Anyway, if you don't mind, Half Pint, I'm meeting Unnamed Pirate for a game of cards. I'll be in touch if you've got anything else.

[David Gaider]

Apollo Starflare wrote...
I'm really hoping we get one or two unusual, or at least unlikely, love interests in DA2. Sure have one or two that conform to expectations, but seeing as Bioware seem to always find room for 4 or so it would be great to see them experiment with new ideas in that regard, make it more unique and surprising.

I think I'm in a position to say that the romances in DA2 are pretty unlike any we've done previously. Whether they're as different as you're hoping for, I can't really say. Depends on just what kind of freaky stuff you're into.

Insofar as Varric goes, I'm reminded a bit of the obsession with Ser Cauthrien prior to Origin's release. You guys really can build a lot based on very little, can't you? It's impressive. Monumentally impressive.

[David Gaider]

ErichHartmann wrote...
What kind of freaky stuff are you into? 

Ha! Sorry, you only get exposed to the freaky parts of my life that I choose to inflict on you.

[Mary Kirby]

ErichHartmann wrote...
Oh, so any freakiness in DA2 is a reflection of you!

Luke and Sheryl are the leading source of disturbing imagery in the writers' pit. David is merely a close third.

[Mary Kirby]

Herr Uhl wrote...

So you're more normal than them?

That speaks loads about them.

Normal? Normal? You could never use that word to describe anyone in this room.

[Mary Kirby]

Herr Uhl wrote...

But you stop before the freaky gets out of hand. At a point like having some weird sex-ritual involving scarecrows or a threesome with nugs.

Which would make you comparatively normal, yes?

Hey, all I wanted for the "surprise me" options were: a crate, a nug, and a dwarf in drag.

Those scarecrows were totally Craig's doing.

Also, I never got my crate. Jerks.