40 réponses à ce sujet

[Inhuman one]

I am personly very curious what he would come up with if he would work on a story for 10 years instead of just 2-3.



He is a great writer, but games have a deadline after all. More writing time would allow for an even greater masterpiece.

[Maria Caliban]

Inhuman one wrote...

I am personly very curious what he would come up with if he would work on a story for 10 years instead of just 2-3.

He is a great writer, but games have a deadline after all. More writing time would allow for an even greater masterpiece.

Paradise Lost took 6 years to write. Hamlet 2 years to write. The Grapes of Wrath supposedly was written in 1 year.  

[Skellimancer]

Rayhaana wrote...

Seems like he gets offended for everything. Hes a tool; i'd rather have a mod not say anything then start getting all defensive and acting out on the forums. Just another mod/dev on a forum power-trip. Now flame me.

[Crimson Invictus]

Cat Lance wrote...
Necro is just short for necromancer, in this case. Just slang. So, "s" it is.

Serious folks it is then.

[David Gaider]

Inhuman one wrote...
I am personly very curious what he would come up with if he would work on a story for 10 years instead of just 2-3.
He is a great writer, but games have a deadline after all. More writing time would allow for an even greater masterpiece.

Just to point out that this isn't really the case. If everyone on a project worked for me and their entire goal was to implement my personal vision for the story, then maybe we'd be talking. As it is, writing is only one of the elements involved in making a game. I'm not even the Lead Designer, remember -- it's his job to balance the needs of writing, systems and gameplay with fun. They're not always going to be in utter harmony, and simply adding more writing isn't going to solve those issues.

purplesunset wrote...
I just wish David Gaider would take some time to respond to some of the more "serious" topics like the threads about race in Dragon Age. His input there would go  a long way to validate (or invalidate) the posts by people who were trying to offer explanations.

Not sure which topics you're talking about. I don't see every thread around here, after all. When it comes to "serious" topics, however, I sometimes find it better just to let people talk to each other -- my impression is that usually they're not really looking for my input, anyhow.

Modifié par David Gaider, 16 décembre 2009 - 04:57 .

[Adaram]

David Gaider wrote...

Inhuman one wrote...
I am personly very curious what he would come up with if he would work on a story for 10 years instead of just 2-3.
He is a great writer, but games have a deadline after all. More writing time would allow for an even greater masterpiece.

Just to point out that this isn't really the case. If everyone on a project worked for me and their entire goal was to implement my personal vision for the story, then maybe we'd be talking. As it is, writing is only one of the elements involved in making a game. I'm not even the Lead Designer, remember -- it's his job to balance the needs of writing, systems and gameplay with fun. They're not always going to be in utter harmony, and simply adding more writing isn't going to solve those issues.

purplesunset wrote...
I just wish David Gaider would take some time to respond to some of the more "serious" topics like the threads about race in Dragon Age. His input there would go  a long way to validate (or invalidate) the posts by people who were trying to offer explanations.

Not sure which topics you're talking about. I don't see every thread around here, after all. When it comes to "serious" topics, however, I sometimes find it better just to let people talk to each other -- my impression is that usually they're not really looking for my input, anyhow.

We'd all love your input! I missed those serious topics as well, however ... hehe

[Inhuman one]

Its true that the writing is only one part of the game, but seeing how Bioware has a big focus on story shouldnt the game pretty much be build around the story?



For a movie the story is written before the decors are build after all, first they need to know the locations and such to know what needs to be build, what stunts need to be done, etc.



Movies and games are quite different of course, but both do try to tell a story.



Its not that I think Dragon Age doesnt have enough dialogue, its just that the world feels a bit generic, just like the world of mass effect. Creating a setting takes a lot of time after all. and I do feel that it has been underestimated. Its working from scratch after all, and with KOTOR, NWN and Baldur's Gate the complete setting was already there, saving a lot of time.



I fully support the idea of creating settings personly, its what I am busy with myself as well for a story. I just think the world and characters may need to be fleshed out a bit more to make it more a setting of its own instead of yet another medieval fantasy RPG.



For Mass Effect it really seems to improve in Mass Effect 2 as far as I have seen, the omnitool shielding, new races and other new features really help to make it more its own setting. The advantage of having more years to invest on the setting and characters really pays of here.



Dont ask me how but somehow it all did work quite fine for Jade Empire. There are hardly any games set in medieval china however that feature magic and is not some sort of anime style.



I gues that what I am trying to say is, the writing team may need to work ahead of the others quite a bit, if only in their personal time to just think about it, and once an idea forms maybe talk about it with each other. If a new franchise is planned for release 10 years from now, it would be good to already start working out the setting now and have it pretty much figured out once the game goes into production.



Sometimes it just takes time to really think some situations and concepts through, to look at it from different viewpoints.



To give an example, I first had a villain that used to be a respected and beloved member of a village before he became a sadistic weapon of destruction. It took me quite some time to think about how much of a constrast it would actually be and that this would be too big, he would need to be quite flawed already before becomeing a mass murderer to make it more believable.



Its a minor villain in the story, the kind that usually wouldnt be given that much attention so I didnt really gave him that much thought earlier on when I created his background. Taking my time to think about this individual character helped a lot.



I must say though that I focus a lot on characters, I spend most my time thinking about what they would think and how they would act and why. All major and minor characters are given a background detailed enough to be able to carry a story starring as the main character.

[Sarevok Anchev]

HAIL Gaider! HAIL to the Maker!!

[Sarevok Anchev]

... and hail to the King, Baby!

[mrofni]

Getting a little tired of all the "we love David Gaider" threads. He deserves some recognition, but not 20 threads saying the same thing.

[Sarevok Anchev]

mrofni wrote...

Getting a little tired of all the "we love David Gaider" threads. He deserves some recognition, but not 20 threads saying the same thing.

Didnt you say EXACTLY the same in the 20 former topics???

[Denicalis Mk II]

Adria Teksuni wrote...

Oh yeah, well...we have real Mountain Dew, so there.

*sulks off*

Don't think that won't be right at the top of the list of grievances when we march on the rest of the world, either.

[purplesunset]

You didn't even read them? There are at least 4 different threads that talk about  DA's Caucasian-only setting and possible racism in Dragon Age. I...don't know what to say.

At this point, linking you the threads would serve little to no purpose since each of them have fairly involved discussions  that would take some time to sift and filter through.

This just reminds me how talking on a messageboard is a bit like....bear with me...it's a bit like going to a stranger wearing a sign that says "talk to me" and then you start talking about a tragedy involving  a friend. If the stranger can relate, you're in luck. If the stranger can't relate, then he might ignore you, he might call you ridiculous, or a troll; or he just plain simply didn't hear you because he has finite time and couldn't attend to you. All you succeeded in doing was  opening up some old wounds in your own heart, and putting salt in it yourself.

I feel a bit  like I put salt inside my own wounds for participating in  those threads, and sharing so much of my myself and my own life experiences.

Not a good feeling. And a harsh lesson to learn.

David Gaider wrote...
Not sure which topics you're talking
about. I don't see every thread around here, after all. When it comes
to "serious" topics, however, I sometimes find it better just to let
people talk to each other -- my impression is that usually they're not
really looking for my input, anyhow.

Modifié par purplesunset, 17 décembre 2009 - 02:39 .

[Bryy_Miller]

He is a great writer, but games have a deadline after all. More writing time would allow for an even greater masterpiece.

Not necessarily. Time can ruin a great story.

[Inhuman one]

Time is less likely to ruin a great story than it being rushed. It can be like a fine wine, it might need some aging before its ready to be shared.



I know that I personly might take too much time compared to most writers, the idea for my story began about seven years ago, and the characters and story started to take shape five years ago when I really planned to write a story out of it. About a year ago I decided to make a prequel first to allow more space to introduce the world instead of diving into an epic tale right away. Makes it far more accesable to those that will read it.



And the past year I have been very busy thinking about the lore and creating the setting while I work on figuring out the prequel story. Progress is good, but I expect to work on the setting for at least two more years before starting to write the first story down.



I do expect that the writing will go quite fast once I do start writing it down since I already have the original story pretty much ready, and also some key moments of the prequel story.



Since I work on a medieval fantasy setting as well sometimes I do see things in Dragon Age that I have tried to avoid, such as copying existing medieval nations to it. Like Orlais/France in Dragon Age. Its too similar for my tastes, but thats of course my personal opinion.



There is going to be an empire in my story for example, and I am doing my best to avoid it being too similar to the Holy Roman Empire and the Roman Empire. I want it to be its own nation.



sorry for the rant, just an enthousiastic fellow writer speaking his mind.

[Bryy_Miller]

Inhuman one wrote...

Time is less likely to ruin a great story than it being rushed. It can be like a fine wine, it might need some aging before its ready to be shared.

Tell that to James Cameron's Avatar.

I know that I personly might take too much time compared to most writers, the idea for my story began about seven years ago, and the characters and story started to take shape five years ago when I really planned to write a story out of it. About a year ago I decided to make a prequel first to allow more space to introduce the world instead of diving into an epic tale right away. Makes it far more accesable to those that will read it.

And the past year I have been very busy thinking about the lore and creating the setting while I work on figuring out the prequel story. Progress is good, but I expect to work on the setting for at least two more years before starting to write the first story down.

I do expect that the writing will go quite fast once I do start writing it down since I already have the original story pretty much ready, and also some key moments of the prequel story.

Since I work on a medieval fantasy setting as well sometimes I do see things in Dragon Age that I have tried to avoid, such as copying existing medieval nations to it. Like Orlais/France in Dragon Age. Its too similar for my tastes, but thats of course my personal opinion.

There is going to be an empire in my story for example, and I am doing my best to avoid it being too similar to the Holy Roman Empire and the Roman Empire. I want it to be its own nation.

sorry for the rant, just an enthousiastic fellow writer speaking his mind.

It sounds more like an enthusiasic writer saying "my story is going to be better".

Do not mistake enthusiasm for arrogance.