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[CarlSpackler]

Interesting read about his thoughts on book vs game writing.  I have to say I love the reference to Lion in Winter, that is a fantastic movie and one of my all time favs as well.  Hepburn and O'Tool were great.


http://www.bitmob.co...writing-process

[Mary Kirby]

Confed wrote...

I was told Mr. Gaider had a long white beard, a halo, and sat on top of a cloud.

I is disappoint. I blame Imported_Beer.

A halo? A halo? Only if by "halo" you mean, "aura of malevolence." And by "cloud" you mean "throne made of skulls."

[Sheryl Chee]

Anarya wrote...

Every time I hear "the writer's pit" I picture this dusty gladiatorial pit with like a portcullis and blood stains and everything. 

It's not nearly that interesting. It's mostly a room with a big "NSFW" sign on the door.

[Mary Kirby]

Sheryl Chee wrote...

Anarya wrote...

Every time I hear "the writer's pit" I picture this dusty gladiatorial pit with like a portcullis and blood stains and everything. 

It's not nearly that interesting. It's mostly a room with a big "NSFW" sign on the door.

Well, there's also the "Scorpions... or candy?" box. And Luke has a robot playing guitar. So... that's sort of like a portcullis and blood stains.

[David Gaider]

Mary Kirby wrote...

Sheryl Chee wrote...

Anarya wrote...

Every time I hear "the writer's pit" I picture this dusty gladiatorial pit with like a portcullis and blood stains and everything. 

It's not nearly that interesting. It's mostly a room with a big "NSFW" sign on the door.

Well, there's also the "Scorpions... or candy?" box. And Luke has a robot playing guitar. So... that's sort of like a portcullis and blood stains.

To be fair, ours is the room with the conversations most likely to make random people stop in the hall and do a double-take. I'd say that satisfies several definitions of epic.

[David Gaider]

Anarya wrote...
You mentioned that you were managing a hotel and kind of stumbled onto your writing job. Has writing always been something you did or did you just pick it up as a hobby at some point and discover you had a talent for it?

I'd always written-- but I never entertained notions of doing so professionally, at least not insofar as video games went. I wasn't even aware that was something you could do. To be honest, prior to starting with BioWare I was more interested in being a comic book artist, and created RPG games as a hobby.

James liked what I'd written and decided to give me a chance to prove what I could do on BG2. It was a bit of trial by fire. Seems to have worked out okay.

Risax wrote...
Ehm... This might be a bit of topic but, are the characters from Dragon Age: Origins written by a single person? Like David Gaider has some characters and Mary Kirby has some characters.

Or are characters co-written, if thats even a term...
For example Duncan, was he written by one writer, or did everyone ad something?

A writer will generally do the majority of writing for a character and be responsible for their voice-- but other writers will always do some writing for those characters in part, especially when that character takes part in something that they're otherwise responsible for.

Modifié par David Gaider, 23 août 2010 - 11:17 .

[David Gaider]

Sylvius the Mad wrote...
Not really.  As mentioned, that's a very old picture.

Umm... yeah. That's about 100 pounds ago or so. Gosh.

[David Gaider]

andar91 wrote...
Seeing as how I consistenlty see it on lists of the best rpg's of all time, I'd say it was one hell of a debut!

I don't know if that's necessarily because of the writing, and even then not necessarily because of my writing (I was just a junior writer at the time), but thank you.

[David Gaider]

Anarya wrote...
So you draw too? Huh, I never knew that. Do you still draw in your spare time?

Not much anymore, I'm way out of practice. All I do now in my spare time is write, when I'm not at work... writing.

Hmm. Maybe I should pick that up again.

[Mary Kirby]

Dave of Canada wrote...

I don't want to add to the twenty questions already going on but how much does a specific writer impact a character? I'll take Mary and Sten for example. Mary did the work on Sten, yet if she wasn't assigned to Sten and somebody else did Sten; would he still be himself or would the character be completely different?

That depends on what constitutes the character for you.

If someone else had written Sten, for instance, he'd still be:
1) Male
and
2) Qunari

Everything else would have been up to the writer. If someone other than David had written Alistair, he'd still be a Grey Warden, a bastard prince, and a former Templar, and all the rest would be completely different.

[David Gaider]

WilliamShatner wrote...
Making jokes about slitting wrists is not funny Mr. Gaider. It's a very serious and hurtful issue.

Only if you do it wrong.

[Tonia Laird]

For the last six months, I've been a writing intern with the DA2 team. I have to say it's been the best job I've ever had. Working with the writing team has taught me a heck of a lot, and I'm a much better writer for it. It's been one heck of a learning curve, but totally worth it.

glenboy24 wrote...

Would Gaider be Superman...?

I would say David's more like General Zod...

glenboy24 wrote...

It's always fascinating to learn that the writing team are just these crazy kids (metaphorically speaking) sitting in a room talking about "Head turning" topics like hot Qunari Lov'in

Yes, the writers here have warped me in ways I have yet to understand.

[Mary Kirby]

Tonia Laird wrote...

I would say David's more like General Zod...

Yeah. Definitely more Zod.

Yes, the writers here have warped me in ways I have yet to understand.

And I didn't even show you the fluffy mackerel pudding recipe yet!

[Sheryl Chee]

glenboy24 wrote...

Words can not express how much I would love to be a Fly on the Wall in the Writer's Pit for just a few hours. Would blow my mind.

It would blow your mind. Especially today.

Tonia Laird wrote...
Yes, the writers here have warped me in ways I have yet to understand.

Dude, you left too early and you totally missed the resolution of that thing that Luke was talking about earlier. You know?

[Mary Kirby]

Sheryl Chee wrote...

glenboy24 wrote...

Words can not express how much I would love to be a Fly on the Wall in the Writer's Pit for just a few hours. Would blow my mind.

It would blow your mind. Especially today.

To be fair, it's a lot of long periods of near-silence when the room is filled only with the sounds of keyboard keys clicking, punctuated by the weirdest damned conversations ever. Or sometimes Sheryl screaming because the tech designer she just IMed with a question walked into the room and said her name.

Dude, you left too early and you totally missed the resolution of that thing that Luke was talking about earlier. You know?

That was magnificent.

[David Gaider]

WilliamShatner wrote...
I know have zero respect for you and I can't imagine your employers would be very happy about your comments either.  Perhaps you don't know anyone who has been effected by tragic events like these because if you did you'd see how insensitive and vile jokes about suicide really are.

I did, in fact, know someone that committed suicide.

It doesn't mean I get offended everyone someone says the word "suicide". Lighten up.

[Tonia Laird]

Mary Kirby wrote...

Sheryl Chee wrote...

glenboy24 wrote...

Words can not express how much I would love to be a Fly on the Wall in the Writer's Pit for just a few hours. Would blow my mind.

It would blow your mind. Especially today.

To be fair, it's a lot of long periods of near-silence when the room is filled only with the sounds of keyboard keys clicking, punctuated by the weirdest damned conversations ever. Or sometimes Sheryl screaming because the tech designer she just IMed with a question walked into the room and said her name.

Dude, you left too early and you totally missed the resolution of that thing that Luke was talking about earlier. You know?

That was magnificent.

Oh no, really?! You're going to have to give me a complete rundown tomorrow.

[Tonia Laird]

glenboy24 wrote...

Come on folks, this thread was fairly upbeat and was providing an awesome insight into the brilliance of the BioWare writers. If you have a problem with something *anyone* says, PM them, that's what it's there for.

I did have a question that will hopefully get things in the right direction again. How does one even qualify for an internship with the BioWare team? Must one already have a degree? How many years word of Collage/Uni under your belt? Just the possibility blows me away.

Right now I have two and a half years of a B.A. majoring in Creative Writing. I also have training/worked professionally as an animator, and that has definitely helped me get a foot in the door.

I was extremely lucky, it all came down to timing for me. I had a class where we are supposed to apply for internships in writing/publishing, and since I've always wanted to work at BioWare, I researched the possibility, and found out that EA definitely offered internships. Turned out BioWare was in need of some help on DA2, and they offered me a 6 month internship. It's been uber awesome ever since.

Hope that helps.

[Sheryl Chee]

Anarya wrote...

I bet that's part of THE PIT behind him.

I think that was actually before we all got moved into the Pit. David was in a room with some important people. I was on the other side of the building in another room. Luke was next door to me.  Jennifer and Mary were still exiled to the second floor.