613 réponses à ce sujet

[crapmonster13]

Brent is spot on.

[Lambchopz]

I feel kind of bad for him. That qoute "BioWare is not the same company I remember" is an interesting sentiment.

He has the right idea though. It's no wonder DA:O and Baldur's Gate 1/2 were so good.

[Aweus]

Damn I would like to buy this guy a huge beer and give him a man hug. This is exactly what I thought about in regard to ME3 "endings". Too bad Mr. Knowles was not involved in ME.

[Kloborgg711]

I'd say "positive note" is up for specification. Sacrifice is an important part of an emotional journey. I do agree that at the very least we should get the option to have a heroic victory. I, myself, felt no catharsis or sense of victory at the end of the game.

[Alien1099]

HAHA! Was it Helper that made the comment about the game ending like a movie?

[PorcelynDoll]

I agree with it too. Especially point 2.
"End on a positive note. This is really important for video games...life in general is full of s****y stuff happening all the time. When I invest a hundred hours into a game I need to walk away feeling like a hero."
Isn't that why a lot of us play games? To get away from the garbage life hands out sometimes? I know I do and the ending made me feel sick and depressed. I'm still reeling in disbelief of it.

[Militarized]

Who does he work for now?

[pomrink]

Has he released any after leaving bioware? If so, tell me what they are

[Ruari]

Valah79 wrote...

Oh man so well put, where is this guy working now, I gotta buy his video games!

I never really enjoyed DA all that much, but... DA:O > ME3 at this point if only because I could replay it and see "oh, so this choice did that!" with that ending epilogue.

I don't mind a sad ending to some games, it fit pretty well in L.A. Noire, but not ME. We love Shepard because he can do the impossible. He had become many of us over all these years of saving the galaxy. And then to not be able to have any effect on his destiny....it's just wrong.

[SLPr0]

Hes right on the money.

I've consistently said that even the stupid star child ending is acceptable if you remove one element from it...the destruction of the Mass Relays.

Shepard can die. Star Child can spout his illogical nonsense and that entire scenario doesn't have to change other than it leaving the player feeling like everything they fought for for so long just got destroyed.

Its not even a case of the relays "going nova" with the relay network out, the entire galaxy just got shut down. Thats not what we fought for.

Brent couldn't be any more right and its unfortunate that BioWare cannot hold developers with this level of RPG story telling experience any more.

[Jaze55]

Exactly.

[Dark Specie]

He really hits the head of the nail!

[Wrathra]

Yes. Brent knows!

Does anyone know where he is now?

[Harbinger of Hope]

Guy's, this isn't on his site.

[Legend78731]

Harbinger of Hope wrote...

What article is this from? I am looking on the site and I am not seeing this.

It's buried in the comments of the article he wrote about the ME3 DLC. There are a few other comments on ME3 in that same place too.

[Mad-Hamlet]

YES!
That's exactly the thoughts I have. In other posts I accuse the writers of 'Binging on Joseph Campbell 'Path of the Hero' idiocy. And these are the exact reason- I want my choices, my ideas, my values to MATTER.

I will buy his games.

What are they?

[v0rt3x22]

nice. also - please clean up the OP. (Paragraphs)

[sorentoft]

Valah79 wrote...

Oh man so well put, where is this guy working now, I gotta buy his video games!

He writes these days.

On topic: Well said.

[Kanon777]

I though people didnt want a happy ending? Now you show your real faces

[robtheguru]

Legend78731 wrote...

Brent Knowles, who was the lead designer on Dragon Age: Origins, and one of the old guard Bioware developers (Baldur's Gate, Neverwinter Nights), and, when he quit Bioware, made the interesting observation that "Bioware is no longer the company I remember". He's talked a little bit about the ME3 situation on his blog, but they're mainly comments to other posts. Check it out at: www.brentknowles.com

One thing he did say, I thought I would share (if it's already been posted, I apologize), as it's a sentiment I happen to agree with:

"I read one recent blog post where the writer basically said "the ending was awesome because it was just like a movie" and I think she was missing the point.
It is a game. Not a movie.
And more specifically, its a role-playing game. The players are *part* of the game. Part of the process of building and experiencing the game, much more so than with most other forms of entertainment.
Entitlement is really a right, for the gamer, because they have participated, actively, in the game itself.
Again, I can't speak to the actual ending myself, because I have not played it but in general I'd say a Role-Playing Video Game Trilogy Ending should (try to) do the following:
1. Reward the player's choices throughout the series. The big stuff they did should be noted. They should *feel* like they had a unique impact on the world.
2. End on a positive note. This is really important for video games...life in general is full of s****y stuff happening all the time. When I invest a hundred hours into a game I need to walk away feeling like a hero.
When you waste a couple hours of a person's life with an artsy/depressing movie or short story or even a novel, it is more forgivable because the time spent is less. And presumably the consumer knew what they were going into when they started. Certain directors create certain styles of movie. Certain writers write specific types of fiction.
On the other hand somebody playing an epic role-playing video-game trilogy is going to *expect* to be the hero and save the universe. That's why they are playing the game. When expectations don't match reality, disappointment is created.
It might be an artistic/creative move to go with a different style of ending but I feel its the wrong choice, especially for a videogame *trilogy*. Make your middle game bleak if you want to, but end the series on a high note."

This guy talks a lot of sense and basically shoots down all the pathetic hipster blogs and websites who think edgy and arty are cool. If ME3 was a painting, it'd be the Mona Lisa without the lady herself.

[Bigdoser]

Wowlock wrote...

That's why Dragon Age Origins recieved such great praises and ME3 is getting hammered down.

Here is your proof here.... A writer who knows what he is doing.

Origins ended on a somehow cliche note but no one complained about it because it actually satisfied us and our choices. Did it needed to be ''like a movie'' for it ? Nope, just gave players what they wanted. In Mass Effect 3, that is completely opposite.....

Lets not forget you have a lot more control over the endings in DAO compared to me3. 

[Menalaos1971]

Too bad no one at Bioware realized any of this...

[dreaming_raithe]

And he quit Bioware you say? Fancy that. He's right, though. The ME team really screwed up on this one, and not just because of plot holes and so on. The ending just doesn't jive with the rest of the series, as the rest of it handles his points *very* well.

[Xandax]

DA:O - now that game had an ending that blew me away. The Sacrifice ending and Alistar's ending speech.

That's an end I had expected for Mass Effect 3

[VerdantSF]

Brent Knowles wrote...

2. End on a positive note. This is really important for video games...life in general is full of s****y stuff happening all the time. When I invest a hundred hours into a game I need to walk away feeling like a hero.
When you waste a couple hours of a person's life with an artsy/depressing movie or short story or even a novel, it is more forgivable because the time spent is less. And presumably the consumer knew what they were going into when they started. Certain directors create certain styles of movie. Certain writers write specific types of fiction.
On the other hand somebody playing an epic role-playing video-game trilogy is going to *expect* to be the hero and save the universe. That's why they are playing the game. When expectations don't match reality, disappointment is created.
It might be an artistic/creative move to go with a different style of ending but I feel its the wrong choice, especially for a videogame *trilogy*. Make your middle game bleak if you want to, but end the series on a high note."

Modifié par VerdantSF, 16 mars 2012 - 11:56 .