71 réponses à ce sujet

[naledgeborn]

CulturalGeekGirl wrote...

On a clear, moonless night, Mac Walters found himself walking down an unlit country back road. If you had asked him, he couldn't have told you how he got there, or where he was going. Somehow, he knew it was time to stop when he reached the crossroads. After a moment, a man appeared in the darkness, though it was impossible to tell whether he had materialized, or simply walked. The man was charming, slick, and fashionable, with eyes like banked coals.

"Hey, Mac. I'm here to offer you a deal. Do you want to write one of the best games ever made, win an incredible number of Game of the Year awards, and get paid to take a leadership role in something you love?" 

"Of course I do; I'm guessing that's why I came here. What do you want, my soul?"

"No, no. We don't do it that way anymore," the charming man said. "Here is the required payment: no matter what you do, no one will ever give you any credit. There will always be a contingent of fanboys convinced that you are the worst thing to ever happen to their favorite game. Now, sign here and it'll be... official."

"I think I'd just rather do the soul thing, honestly..."

I laughed, hard. You're a savant Cultural.

[Therefore_I_Am]

Haristo wrote...

Jonathan Shepard wrote...

If Stephanie Meyer's writing is crap, why do so many fangirls love her and her books?

Mac Walters : Introduced at the Smithonian Museum of art.
Stephanie meyer : 10+ nominations to Razzie Awards.

'Nuff said.

She must've been pissed about that. Given that she had no control of who could cast in it, where it would be filmed, or how it was directed. Same can be said about how things work in the gaming industry.

[Sentox6]

How does admittance to the Smithsonian mean that the main plot in ME2 was brilliantly written?

Please, someone, enlighten me.

[PsychoWARD23]

Jonathan Shepard wrote...

Hathur wrote...

You know, for "such a horrible author", you'd think Mass Effect 2 was some sort of colossal failure due to Mac Walters.. as opposed to the critically acclaimed, extremely successful and fan-beloved game that it actually became... oh and inducted into the Smithsonian museum of art as well recently.

If Walter's writing is so crap, why do millions and millions of people love this game?

I sure as hell don't love it for it's gameplay.... the gameplay is solid, but nothing fantastic.. nothing other games haven't done before & better.

I, and millions others, love it for the characters & stories that run through it.... y'know... that thing Mac Walters had a large hand in?

If Stephanie Meyer's writing is crap, why do so many fangirls love her and her books?

The same can be said for Justin Beiber, Modern Warfare 2, and a lot of other stuff.

[KennethAFTopp]

Chris Priestly wrote...

Drew semi-retired from BioWare. He moved to Texas to take up golf and concentrate on his writing (he writes books besides video games). He does work supporting the MMO team when he isn't on the golf course or writing novels.

Mac was one of the senior writers here at BioWare (Edmonton) and worked on Mass Effect 1. When Drew left, Mac was offered the position as lead writer for Mass Effect 2 and, now, Mass Effect 3.

Now you know and can put aside your conspiracy theories or whatever started this.

Well you know if mr. Walters sees this and is all sad, tell him I liked his writing better than mr. Karpshyn's. don't tell Karpshyn that though.

[Fiery Phoenix]

I've actually read somewhere that Drew wrote the story outline for the entire trilogy well before ME1 was even released. I think it was one of the developers on the old forums who mentioned it. If that's the case, then I imagine Mac and his team are writing the specifics and execution, rather than building the whole thing from scratch, which Drew has done for them already.

[ianmcdonald]

moneycashgeorge wrote...

 I can't imagine why it was decided that Drew Karpyshan should stop leading the writing of Mass Effect. He still works for BioWare, he's been writing TOR as last I know, so why move him away from the franchise he created? Mass Effect was hailed for the brilliance and cohesion of its writing, so what sense does it make to change writers?

Was it possibly EA's decision? Did they think he wasn't mainstream enough?

Walters does not seem to be doing a good job. The retcons are piling up, the story of Mass Effect 2, while certainly well written, is of questionable significance. Many of the more thematic elements of Mass Effect 1 have been discarded. Walter's comic books are laughably (or scarily) bad, and Mass Effect 3 will suffer if that is the direction he's taking it in.

Does BioWare notice this trend? Do they even care? It doesn't seem to make any sense.

[DurkBakala]

Where did the idea that Drew Karpyshan is responsible for thinking up every single plot point/piece of lore in the Mass Effect franchise come from?

Yes, he was the lead writer of ME1 and so obviously had a lot of input on how the story would be presented and all that jazz, but he isn't the sole creator.

That seems a bit disrespectful to all the Bioware employees who worked hard to start this series if you ask me.

Modifié par DurkBakala, 12 mai 2011 - 07:21 .

[Fredvdp]

Drew was lead writer on both Mass Effect games with Walters being co-lead on the second. If you don't like the plot of the second game Walters can't be the only person you should direct your complaints at because there was a pretty big writing team working on it. The problem with Mass Effect 2 was plot and plot structure, but the characters and dialogue was on par with ME1. We know that the plot structure of ME3 will be more like ME1 and not the episodic structure of ME2, so that's a good thing.

[DaBigDragon]

Chris Priestly wrote...

Drew semi-retired from BioWare. He moved to Texas to take up golf and concentrate on his writing (he writes books besides video games). He does work supporting the MMO team when he isn't on the golf course or writing novels.

Mac was one of the senior writers here at BioWare (Edmonton) and worked on Mass Effect 1. When Drew left, Mac was offered the position as lead writer for Mass Effect 2 and, now, Mass Effect 3.

Now you know and can put aside your conspiracy theories or whatever started this.

Makes sense.

[95Headhunter]

CulturalGeekGirl wrote...

On a clear, moonless night, Mac Walters found himself walking down an unlit country back road. If you had asked him, he couldn't have told you how he got there, or where he was going. Somehow, he knew it was time to stop when he reached the crossroads. After a moment, a man appeared in the darkness, though it was impossible to tell whether he had materialized, or simply walked. The man was charming, slick, and fashionable, with eyes like banked coals.

"Hey, Mac. I'm here to offer you a deal. Do you want to write one of the best games ever made, win an incredible number of Game of the Year awards, and get paid to take a leadership role in something you love?" 

"Of course I do; I'm guessing that's why I came here. What do you want, my soul?"

"No, no. We don't do it that way anymore," the charming man said. "Here is the required payment: no matter what you do, no one will ever give you any credit. There will always be a contingent of fanboys convinced that you are the worst thing to ever happen to their favorite game. Now, sign here and it'll be... official."

"I think I'd just rather do the soul thing, honestly..."

This... this is awesome

I'm going to agree with all the voices of rationality here and say that Drew K was by no means the be all and end all of Mass Effect. ME has always been a team effort, and the kudos needs to go to the team as a whole, of which Mac has always been a part.

Did Mass Effect 2 make the odd questionable style choice under Mac? Yes. But not to any significant detriment.
Was Mass Effect 1, by contrast, an example of perfection in gaming writing? No. Not quite.

Besides, just to throw my opinion in: The best writer to contribute to Mass Effect, and the saddest loss, was Chris L'Etoile. So there, now you have something else to flame at/agree with

[Niddy']

ianmcdonald wrote...

>implying casuals and mainstream don't ruin gaming.

[Obro]

Ye I agree with the retcons part. Sh*ts getting crazy.

[Fiery Phoenix]

95Headhunter wrote...

(...)

Besides, just to throw my opinion in: The best writer to contribute to Mass Effect, and the saddest loss, was Chris L'Etoile. So there, now you have something else to flame at/agree with

This, so much.

[Chuvvy]

He's the OGB.

[dreman9999]

Jonathan Shepard wrote...

Hathur wrote...

You know, for "such a horrible author", you'd think Mass Effect 2 was some sort of colossal failure due to Mac Walters.. as opposed to the critically acclaimed, extremely successful and fan-beloved game that it actually became... oh and inducted into the Smithsonian museum of art as well recently.

If Walter's writing is so crap, why do millions and millions of people love this game?

I sure as hell don't love it for it's gameplay.... the gameplay is solid, but nothing fantastic.. nothing other games haven't done before & better.

I, and millions others, love it for the characters & stories that run through it.... y'know... that thing Mac Walters had a large hand in?

If Stephanie Meyer's writing is crap, why do so many fangirls love her and her books?

So your comparing abaddly reveiwed righter who sells to horny girl to a guy who wrote the story for a game that was put in to the best museum in the USA as a form of art?

[Anacronian Stryx]

I do find it funny that people complain so much about Walters writing when it is Casey that is project lead on the Mass Effect Franchise, Walters(and the rest of the writing team) pitch ideas but it is ultimately Casey who decides where the story will go.

[FataliTensei]

Chris Priestly wrote...

Drew semi-retired from BioWare. He moved to Texas to take up golf and concentrate on his writing (he writes books besides video games). He does work supporting the MMO team when he isn't on the golf course or writing novels.

Mac was one of the senior writers here at BioWare (Edmonton) and worked on Mass Effect 1. When Drew left, Mac was offered the position as lead writer for Mass Effect 2 and, now, Mass Effect 3.

Now you know and can put aside your conspiracy theories or whatever started this.

Sadly it doesn't change the fact he's not that great a writer, not bad by any means but not good enough for Mass Effect.

[AlphaJarmel]

Don't know if someone's already commented on this but Hudson tweeted that Drew K actually did do some serious work for ME2 and left half-way through the project. So both of them are to blame for the writing(of the main plotline anyway).

[didymos1120]

AlphaJarmel wrote...

Don't know if someone's already commented on this but Hudson tweeted that Drew K actually did do some serious work for ME2 and left half-way through the project. So both of them are to blame for the writing(of the main plotline anyway).

For the nth time, the Lead Writer is not solely responsible for the main plot.  Casey Hudson and Preston Watamaniuk (Lead Designer) play at least as big a role in deciding what the game will be about.  Plus, the entire writing team gets to offer their feedback on the story outline before it's finalized (the extent that it is finalized: everything is undergoing revision throughout development, including the central story.  Just look at how much unused dialogue there is). 

[Fayfel]

Fiery Phoenix wrote...

95Headhunter wrote...

(...)

Besides, just to throw my opinion in: The best writer to contribute to Mass Effect, and the saddest loss, was Chris L'Etoile. So there, now you have something else to flame at/agree with

This, so much.

My favorite writer as well.