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“Gamermd83: Has it been emotional for you guys to have to write ‘the ending’ to some of the original ME characters?”
MW: I would say yes, a lot of times it is. A lot of times the scenes themselves are very emotional when you write the endings. For someone like me and a couple of the writers who have been on this now for five six (for me seven) years of their lives, writing these characters, developing first in ME1 their backstories and where did they come from and now we’re bringing this all to a conclusion. It’s emotional. It’s been a fun journey with the characters to see them grow and see them evolve throughout the three games. I mentioned to Seth Green, ‘What’s it going to be like not being Joker anymore?’ and he said ‘Oh yeah! I don’t know, it’s been a long time.’
“kylemac6: Do Kahlee Sanders or Gillian Grayson make appearances in ME3?”
MW: If the characters exist in the Universe, we’re making a concerted effort to make sure that they make some form of an appearance in Mass Effect 3. Now there are other materials, other mediums, out there that take place prior to Mass Effect 3 that haven’t been released yet, like the upcoming novel. And sometimes things happen in things like the novel that make it so they won’t be able to appear. I’m not saying that’s going to happen to anyone, but it’s a possibility.
“rashawn_live: what happens in ME3 if your Shep died in ME2?”
MW: *laughs* Well that would be a bit of a spoiler wouldn’t it? But we do have…
JM: Wait! Is there really something that you guys have prepared??
MW: Perhaps. There might be a moment for those who import a game where Shepard doesn’t survive. But ultimately, you’ll have to have a surviving Shepard to play through the third game.
JM: Time to start another play through for anyone who didn't survive!
MW: Yup.
“clmlizard: Will the attempted romance with Samara be remembered or acknowledge in ME3?”
MW: For all the relationship options, we always try to carry those forward as much as we can and have all of them available. And the attempted Samara romance is one that we’ve tracked and we do have something for ME3, yes.
“ITZ_BERS3RK: Is it hard to come up with an ending for one of the greatest game series of all time?”
MW: That’s a great question, and I would say a bit yes and a bit no. Unlike the other two games, we had such a clear direction. We knew where we were going, we’ve known since ME1 that the third in the trilogy would end up with the Reapers arriving and there would be all out war. So in some ways it was, not written in the stars, but we knew where we were going. All the choices, all the things you could have done in ME1 and ME2, have huge implications for Mass Effect 3 so now we have to account for all of those, still tell a fantastic story right down the middle, but with all these variables that could exist. Is this person alive, is that person dead? Did you do this plot or did you not do that plot? So all those things made the management and planning for this story one of the most difficult experiences ever. Really fun but really challenging. It was two sides. Coming up with the ‘Where are we headed?’ Simpler. But bringing all the threads together to make a full tapestry, very difficult.
“BadlanAlun: Are you happy with the way all of ME’s subplots have paid off in 3 and without spoilers can you illustrate this?”
MW: No matter what, there’s always going to be some plot that you wish you could have devoted more time to or done more with but by the same token we really tried, as a group of writers, as a group of designers, to bring to closure anything that we knew the fans had interest in, anything we had interest in as creators and also as fans. Of course, we’re fans of the games too. All the plots either continue where you’d expect them to or at least come to a conclusion. We get closure for some plots, so you aren’t wondering, ‘What happened to so-and-so?’ Some may slip through the cracks, there are so many after two games, plus we’re starting new ones for Mass Effect 3 but I think we’ve got all the big ones.
“AdrenalineTwit: why the change to long hair for Ashley?”
JM: I want to tack on to that, what kind of interaction does the writing team have with the designers. I’m sure when you guys are writing you might have something in mind for how a certain character looks or how someone carries themselves so what is the relationship between you and the art team to get a cohesive look?
MW: We work, especially major characters such as followers of villains, we work with Casey the Executive Producer and Derek Watts and whoever the character artist is. What we usually do is supply them with a character’s backstory and history – things that will help give them inspiration. For instance, when we were writing Kasumi we knew that she was going to be Asian so that was part of her profile. We don’t always give that much detail on the character but a lot of times it is a back and forth saying things like, ‘I pictured Zaeed a little older and with more scars.’ They’ll work with us on that. If it’s a major major character like say The Illusive Man, the vision will come from someone like Casey himself. He’s got a specific vision for it and it’s up to him and the artists to sort that out. Then I’ll write for that persona that they’re creating. It’s a fun relationship with the artists because there is a bit of a back and forth. With the minor characters it’s often up to the level designers because they have a face morph system with the ability to create an unlimited number of heads so we’ll say, ‘Yeah this guy is middle aged, he looks like he’s been through a lot’ and they can give us something that looks unique and also fits the bill.
Ashley and Kaiden especially, we didn’t see much of them in ME2, and we really wanted to give the sense that they had grown and their character had preceded forward. We wanted that to be apparent when you see them. When you first meet Ashley in ME1, she’s kind of a grunt. She has the short hair and is in the trenches as a soldier. But now she’s advanced, her rank is higher now and she’s got people reporting to her now and we she should have a slightly more sophisticated look to convey that visually without even having to say anything.
“Jasontheperson: Is there special software you guys use for branching dialog?”
JM: What is it like writing for something that has so many different options that you need to create?
MW: The software we use is based loosely off the Never Winter Nights toolset that you can download, we designed it specifically to work with branching dialog. It’s obviously evolved since then, and continues to evolve, especially in the most recent years because we are so cinematic in the Mass Effect world. We’ve added a lot of tools in the dialog toolset, we call it, to allow the cinematic designers to access information like what is the scene description, VO comments for the actor, things like that. It definitely makes it easier if you ask anyone who’s been there longer than me, back in the day when they used Excel Spreadsheets for things like Baldur’s Gate…
JM: Oh my god.
MW: For the text, I know, I can’t imagine. It makes my head explode just thinking about it! But the tools we use are second to none. Working with branching dialog is a learned skill. I don’t think I know anyone who came in and knew it instinctually. We don’t work that way, we think linearly. We think, as writers, ‘This is the story I want to tell,’ and when you get into BioWare games, these are player driven. We try to promote player agency. Plus, there are the moral implications and things that can be impactful. A lot of that skill is one that takes usually months, but sometimes years to master. We’ve had some amazing writers come in who have never been able to grab it. Some people do and some people can’t. I think those who are familiar with games get it a little more because they’re already thinking in those terms, but it does present it’s challenges.
“NoSomebody: How did you guys become writers and any tips for how to get in the door for aspiring AAA-title writers?”
MW: I’d be willing to bet that every writer on my team has a different story on how they got here. They all came here from different places. Some went to school for writing. Myself, psychology degree and worked in the business world for a number of years before saying, ‘I’m done with this,’ made a submission, sent it to BioWare and here I am seven years later. Others are local people and some have more screenplay experience. One of my writers has been writing plays here in Edmonton and she’s a director as well. Some are fresh out of school. So they all come from different places. Tips for getting in… *thinking* it’s not easy. BioWare is one of the few companies that hires writers full time. The advice I usually give to people is understand player agency in games, understand how to offer choice. Make people feel like ‘Yes this is my story and as a player I’m in control of it.’ That’s one of the hardest things to do is tell a story where you’re giving over power to a large degree. It’s a balance. Play games with a strong sense of story and choice and almost reverse engineer it. Think about how that works. As far as specific tips, you just submit like anywhere else and if at first you don’t succeed!
We were packing things up and heading back to the Dark Horse Booth when Mac gave me some insights to the Multiplayer system. Those of you who are passionate about story and how it will affect the single player campaign might be interested in what he has to say…
MW: There are two concerns I seem to see. One is ‘Is it taking away from single player? Why would you do that?’ Honestly I have to say, that’s not true. This is going to be the biggest single player experience, not only in terms of raw numbers or hours compared to previous ME games, but also biggest in moments. There are at least three different times in this game that feel like it could be the end to any of the biggest blockbuster movies. It’s been a really fun game to work on. In that regard, we’re pulling out all the stops. We’re going for it, anything goes. I don’t think anyone is going to be disappointed with the single player story. The other question I hear ‘Is it just tacked on to the single player campaign?’ I’ve played it and can honestly say that’s the least of your worries. People internally are addicted to playing it and it’s a lot of fun. I think it really adds to the overall game experience. They’ve done a great job integrating it so it doesn’t feel like it doesn’t fit in the Universe. The Galaxy is at war and why aren’t other people at war as well? Why aren’t the drell fighting? What are other people doing? And when it’s Shepard’s story, you don’t always get to see that and now with multiplayer it’s possible.
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Thanks Mac and thanks to everyone who submitted their questions on Twitter! Tomorrow is a packed day with both a Mass Effect panel and a Dragon Age panel as well as signings at the Dark Horse Booth. I'll be covering all of them so you get the best of everything.
We'll have more VirtualNYCC so keep your eye on the channels for more opportunities to interact! Those of you who are attending NYCC, don't forget to come to our Fan Meet up outside the Dragon Age Panel at 6:00pm for trivia, prizes, omniblades, and a chance to ask me your burning Community related questions. Can't wait to meet you!
Modifié par Vertigo_1, 15 octobre 2011 - 05:34 .
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