139 réponses à ce sujet

[David7204]

Well, he wrote the first Earth mission, which plenty of people have had some issue with. And he wrote Mars, which I intensely dislike, mainly for the incredibly poor introduction of the Crucible.

I've defended Walters a number of times against stupid accusations, but at the end of the day, under the ugliness, I can't say they're without merit.

You something that really annoys me? That fact that he knew a lot of what he was writing was a problem, but he didn't bother to fix it beyond a throwaway line. You can easily tell from some of the dialogue.

For example, Liara finding the Crucible. Frankly, it's contrived. And we all knew it was. Walters knew. He knew players would be wanting an explanation. So what does he give us? "Process of elimination, mixed with a little desperation." It acknowledges the problem without actually explaining or solving anything.

Another example? The Illusive Man commenting that the Alliance has let the Archives sit for 30 years. We all know how stupid that was. Walters wrote a line to acknowledge it. But did nothing to actually explain or solve it.

A third example? When Shepard arrives on the Citadel and sees all the bodies, then speculates with Anderson that the Reapers are processing humans on the Citadel. It was an attempt to justify what the Conduit was doing in London in the first place, but it really just doesn't make sense. That's not quite as bad since it at least attempts to offer a justification, but it's so damn flimsy, it hardly counts for anything. Again, a problem being acknowledged without any real explanation or solution.

It's very sloppy. Pure and simple. He seems to think that as long as players get the thinnest excuse for a contrivance, they won't notice or care.

Modifié par David7204, 26 avril 2013 - 12:35 .

[FlamingBoy]

It only just occurred to me, does bioware have any PR management at all. I mean for a lead writer to say something like this is... just terrible. Does no one at this company even try to cover up the questionable practices!

That said they really could not do much more damage, carry on!

[Humakt83]

He is an ideal choice. They are going with indoctrination as they have intended.

[NightShadow1800]

Guess that settles that as I won't be getting the next Mass Effect.

Modifié par Chris Priestly, 26 avril 2013 - 04:28 .

[Redbelle]

tbph, BW's PR makes me see them in a less than favourable light.

For example, they seem to take every opportunity to tell us that the next ME will not be called ME4. Then in a statement the lead writer refer's to the next ME as ME4. Then state's that it's not ME4. But he just called it ME4.

Wut?

It seem's this is a case of BW trying to have it's cake and eat it to early in the process. I get from past statement's that BW would prefer us to think of ME as a non continuation of past event's. I suspect from their statement's that they want to develop the next ME as a prequel.

(big mistake by the way. If your going to shaft your IP narrative in such a way that it causes an outcry the press reported on for month's the least you can do is untangle it and let us continue in the future of the galaxy we have invested time and effort into).

I also think that much of this trepidation in telling us about what the next ME will be about stem's from being shy of the fan's after BW's reputation was given a roasting for over a year.

And yet........ Fan's call the next ME ME4 because there is no official title. And ME4 immediately let's people know that it's the forth release of Mass Effect. Even Mac refer's to it as ME4. That will only change the day BW unveil their title screen and people see the words and learn waht the proper abbreivation is for ME4. Meanwhile BW are fighting a battle of preconception's far to early in the development process to be able to make people believe anything. Developer's are renown for changing thing's due to budget and time constraint's..........

BW also has the unfortunate reputation of not being entirely trustworthy in it's announcement's. Saying the ending would not be an A, B or C ending. Telling us the name of the citadel DLC was not Citadel after people looked through the code fro the pre-installation's.

I can't help but feel that BW is shooting itself in the foot from trying to micro manage fan expectation's. Leading to misleading or even false information, stemming from an unorchestrated promotion effort. And why? Because they don't want us to know something before they announce it?

Whoever is leading the PR charge needs to cut back on the coffee. Pro-actively managing fan's and their views is not a strategy I can support in this instance given that it has led to confusion and a developing lack of trust in what they say. I would frankly prefer honesty, and a congratulation's for understanding what they develop before they announce it. In short, they need to build up their fan's confidence by telling them what is. Not what is not.

Heck, maybe I've got it all backwards. Maybe all these problem's come from their PR NOT being orchestrated. Still. Reading about how ME4 is not ME4, then hearing  several independent reports that Mac said the same thing..... Someone talking to someone else in BW. It's shame they won't sit down and have explain the reasoning behind their decision. Nor take on board the fan's perspective that can either be fluid and malleable, or set in stone.

Modifié par Redbelle, 26 avril 2013 - 12:58 .

[dreamgazer]

FlamingBoy wrote...

It only just occurred to me, does bioware have any PR management at all. I mean for a lead writer to say something like this is... just terrible. Does no one at this company even try to cover up the questionable practices!

That said they really could not do much more damage, carry on!

I take it you mean the "vocal minority" blurb? Because, conveniently, there isn't an actual quote from Walters cited on that.

[Mathias]

If this is real, then he's being delusional and foolish. And no i'm not try to be a meany head and insult Mac personally, i'm just criticizing him for that one statement. But this guy is in HARDCORE denial if he truly thinks that. It was also pretty immature of him, and I think we all know what this means.

It means, that somebody is still a little bit on the bitter side. Now Mr. Priestly mentioned that we should look at Mac's other work in Mass Effect, before we judge him as a writer. Well I did, a long time ago, and my feelings are just the same. He's a good character writer, but he's not a good story writer. I don't know how anybody (who doesn't know Mac personally) can say that he is, while keeping a straight face. The guy is hit or miss. Even if you liked the ending, you can't ignore he was responsible (along with Casey) for one of the worst and most controversial endings in VG history. I mean that's a tough thing to handwave, i'm sorry.



Now as for him working on ME4....honestly it all depends on what is job is. If he's a character writer, then I think that's great. I'd keep my fingers crossed if he could bring us another awesome character like he did with Garrus. But if he's the lead writer, then hoooooooly jesus. Strap yourselves in guys cause you're in for the suck.

Modifié par Mdoggy1214, 26 avril 2013 - 01:04 .

[Omega2079]

Chris Priestly wrote...

iakus wrote...

Yeah there was another thread about this.

Then it got "disappeared"

It was removed as people insulted Mac, which is against the rules. These people were banned. The thread can stay open, but if it devolves into insults, then people will be banned and it'll be closed.

And for Arial and others who don't believe this is real, it is true. Mac is working on ME4 like he says in the article.

If you dislike Mac's writing SOLELY because of the endings, I suggest you look for all the other writing he did in ME2 & 3 and reevaluate how much you "hate" his writing.

Thank you for making a statement on this.

[Omega2079]

*

Modifié par Omega2079, 26 avril 2013 - 02:04 .

[Han Shot First]

Chris Priestly wrote...

And for Arial and others who don't believe this is real, it is true. Mac is working on ME4 like he says in the article.

If you dislike Mac's writing SOLELY because of the endings, I suggest you look for all the other writing he did in ME2 & 3 and reevaluate how much you "hate" his writing.

The bolded bit is a very good point, and I agree.

However if that blog is also accurate in quoting Mac Walters as saying that most Mass Effect fans had no issues with ME3's endings, he is either in denial or deeply out of touch with the fanbase. In either case it is a cause for concern with the direction ME4 might take.

Modifié par Han Shot First, 26 avril 2013 - 02:30 .

[MassPredator]

Chris Priestly wrote...

iakus wrote...

Yeah there was another thread about this.

Then it got "disappeared"

It was removed as people insulted Mac, which is against the rules. These people were banned. The thread can stay open, but if it devolves into insults, then people will be banned and it'll be closed.

And for Arial and others who don't believe this is real, it is true. Mac is working on ME4 like he says in the article.

If you dislike Mac's writing SOLELY because of the endings, I suggest you look for all the other writing he did in ME2 & 3 and reevaluate how much you "hate" his writing.

U just call the Next Mass Effect, Mass Effect 4, so i have to think that the Next Mass Effect is related to ME3 timeline, and not an spinoff or prequel. Am i right? 

[MACharlie1]

Chris Priestly wrote...

iakus wrote...

Yeah there was another thread about this.

Then it got "disappeared"

It was removed as people insulted Mac, which is against the rules. These people were banned. The thread can stay open, but if it devolves into insults, then people will be banned and it'll be closed.

And for Arial and others who don't believe this is real, it is true. Mac is working on ME4 like he says in the article.

If you dislike Mac's writing SOLELY because of the endings, I suggest you look for all the other writing he did in ME2 & 3 and reevaluate how much you "hate" his writing.

What if it's also based on how he butchered Miranda's character? 

[MegaSovereign]

PKchu wrote...

Mac Walters is great at dialog and small stories, like the loyalty missions in ME2. (He enjoys comics, after all.)

I think he needs a bit of a helping hand with major plots and resolution, but as along as there's peer review on the work and lessons learned, I'm happy to see him on ME4.

Yes, me too.

Also, any of the writers from the trilogy working on the next game can only be good news. They have their strengths and weaknesses but they're all pretty good.

[Blade8971]

No one cares about what he did in ME2 - that's history.  Just like in other sectors of business the old saying comes to mind "You are as good as your last time out." applies. Thus his work in ME3  was questionable at best and that's what people are talking about at this time - and will keep talking about until ME4 comes out.  At that time we'll see if he and his colleagues redeem themselves with this new game or once again shoot themselves in the foot.

[Steelcan]

Hopefully ME's ending debacle will be a lesson. Stay away from big galaxy threatening plots. Focus on the smaller character stories where both Walters and BioWare work well.

[spirosz]

Steelcan wrote...

Hopefully ME's ending debacle will be a lesson. Stay away from big galaxy threatening plots. Focus on the smaller character stories where both Walters and BioWare work well.

I like them branching out, but the problem is, when they try it, they tend to try to keep that "personal or smaller" aspect to it, which sort of makes it fall flat, in the grand scope of things.  I do like them improving and perfecting their positives in that writing aspect, but it's better for them to focus on working on their faults as well, they'll only get better. 

And keep away from greenforcekaithx.

[MegaSovereign]

I really hope John Dombrow and Patrick Weekes are back for the next ME game.

[fearan1]

The man is in denial that ending was utter crap .
I do not know one person in my circle of friends who thought otherwise that said Garrus is Great in all 3 .

So can we just keep the people who did the ending away from main story points ?

[Han Shot First]

MegaSovereign wrote...

I really hope John Dombrow and Patrick Weekes are back for the next ME game.

...and are the project leads.

[Lee80]

"Stop trying to make fetch happen!" That's all I got to say about "the vocal minority" BS. I am very on the fence about investing in another Mass Effect game. I want it to be amazing and a must buy, but unless it's either A) a whole new story not related to anything from the other games, or a continuation of this story moving forward...I don't see myself caring. I think a prequel would be a horrible idea. I hate prequels in general. I can't think of even one I liked half as much as the original.

[spirosz]

Whoever wrote Jack in ME2, be lead writer for all the future games I play, bai.

[AresKeith]

If Mac is only doing characters and small stories like ME2 loyalty missions then that's cool

Those are Mac's strengths, but writing a plot and its ending not so much

[FlamingBoy]

dreamgazer wrote...

FlamingBoy wrote...

It only just occurred to me, does bioware have any PR management at all. I mean for a lead writer to say something like this is... just terrible. Does no one at this company even try to cover up the questionable practices!

That said they really could not do much more damage, carry on!

I take it you mean the "vocal minority" blurb? Because, conveniently, there isn't an actual quote from Walters cited on that.

Your right, there is not a direct quote, but the author does say something on that lines is said (so it depends on the integrity of the author).

It does not really matter if your agree with him or not (speaking collectivly) its kind of poor form for a bioware "face" to talk about

[dreamgazer]

Han Shot First wrote...

MegaSovereign wrote...

I really hope John Dombrow and Patrick Weekes are back for the next ME game.

...and are the project leads.

Seconded.

[MassivelyEffective0730]

The man virtually disappeared for months after ME3's ending. His appearance promoting the EC did nothing to boost his or Hudson's image. He knows there's a problem. I do doubt that he said that, but if he did, the man is delusional.

I'm not concerned with who is writing on ME4 or whatnot. I'm not going to get it, for a multitude of reasons. Add this to the list.