95 réponses à ce sujet

[JasonPogo]

Just wondering if Bioware is sticking with him as the lead writer on the next Mass Effect game?

Modifié par JasonPogo, 23 octobre 2013 - 11:12 .

[Liamv2]

I don't think he is. I think he is working on the new IP. (I could be remembering wrong though)

[johnny.temper]

Yeah believe he is the 'narrative director' rather than lead writer. I think the lead writer role is as much administrative (think 'head of the writing staff') as actual writing, co-ordinating the team and reporting to other managers. As the next ME game will actually be made the other side of the country from where Mac Walters is based (plus he's got Casey Hudson's next IP to work on), him being lead writer simply wouldn't work in practice.

I know Mac Walters has taken a lot of flack - perhaps justifiably. That said, I do think there's good reason to be positive about his continuing involvement, at least as a 'narrative director'. He's worked on the series since the first game, he's had a major role in shaping the universe so far, he's certainly tarnished with the 'ending controversy' but he is still working on the comics (know they're a bit up-and-down tbf), he's obviously still fully immersed in and loves the whole IP and to be honest one of the major failings that the first three games had was continuity of theme and an obvious lack of forward planning - these are surely things that could have been different if there was a dedicated 'narrative director' in from the start, shaping the story from first to last?

Whether his role will pan out like that, whether his writing style is going to work in that context, I don't know. I'm not a necessarily a huge fan. I certainly have as many issues with major things he apparently was key in writing as praise for good parts - but tbf, there are many great parts of ME1, 2 and 3 that he has contributed to in a big way. He's been involved since the early days, he's got the knowledge, he's maybe made mistakes, hopefully he can he learn from them, and he has contributed to some great space opera so far - hopefully he'll be doing so again.

[Sanunes]

From what I understand both he and Casey Hudson have been promoted to basically oversee both the next Mass Effect game and the new IP BioWare is working on, so there might be less hands on with the games now, but they probably have the same level of control they had before.

What I am hoping with his new position is that instead of being a point of contact for all the writers and he still has all the same tasks as any other writer like David Gaider said his role is for Dragon Age in his blog, its going to be more of a make sure everything stays consistant like how Blizzard tries to do with World of Warcraft and they have a "lore person" to try and make sure there aren't any flaws in the logic.

[Oni Changas]

Sanunes wrote...

From what I understand both he and Casey Hudson have been promoted to basically oversee both the next Mass Effect game and the new IP BioWare is working on, so there might be less hands on with the games now, but they probably have the same level of control they had before.

What I am hoping with his new position is that instead of being a point of contact for all the writers and he still has all the same tasks as any other writer like David Gaider said his role is for Dragon Age in his blog, its going to be more of a make sure everything stays consistant like how Blizzard tries to do with World of Warcraft and they have a "lore person" to try and make sure there aren't any flaws in the logic.

[Anthadlas]

Christ I hope not

[Iakus]

StreetMagic wrote...

Apparently his new title is Bioware's "narrative director". Whatever that means. Maybe he's a sort of loremaster or has some degree of general oversight, but isn't as hands on managing individual stories now like leads do.

::looks at the Foundation comics::

Uh oh...

[Arcian]

StreetMagic wrote...

Apparently his new title is Bioware's "narrative director". Whatever that means. Maybe he's a sort of loremaster or has some degree of general oversight, but isn't as hands on managing individual stories now like leads do.

If the aim was to create a statue instead of a story, the narrative director's job would be to choose a giant block of uncut marble and do a sketch on how he wants it to look like. The lead writer takes the sketch and plans out how the block should be chiseled into the shape the narrative director wants, which he coordinates with the writers. Based on the lead writer's plans, each writer takes responsibility to chisel one or more parts of the statue.

[GreyLycanTrope]

StreetMagic wrote...

Apparently his new title is Bioware's "narrative director". Whatever that means. Maybe he's a sort of loremaster or has some degree of general oversight, but isn't as hands on managing individual stories now like leads do.

Should be entertaining.

[Arcian]

StreetMagic wrote...

Arcian wrote...

StreetMagic wrote...

Apparently his new title is Bioware's "narrative director". Whatever that means. Maybe he's a sort of loremaster or has some degree of general oversight, but isn't as hands on managing individual stories now like leads do.

If the aim was to create a statue instead of a story, the narrative director's job would be to choose a giant block of uncut marble and do a sketch on how he wants it to look like. The lead writer takes the sketch and plans out how the block should be chiseled into the shape the narrative director wants, which he coordinates with the writers. Based on the lead writer's plans, each writer takes responsibility to chisel one or more parts of the statue.

Damn, that sucks. Sounds like a pretty powerful position.

Really depends on how specific his vision is. The less specific it is, the more room the writers have for interpretation. Going by his endings notes, perhaps he is not that specific when it comes to developing story concepts.

[Iakus]

Arcian wrote...
Really depends on how specific his vision is. The less specific it is, the more room the writers have for interpretation. Going by his endings notes, perhaps he is not that specific when it comes to developing story concepts.

Wel, judging by that interview recently, he had a pretty specific "vision" for Shepard, and anyone who disagreed can, well, just take it. 

[Steelcan]

inexplicably

[dreamgazer]

The heavy lifting will still be on the writers' shoulders. As Arcian said, and I agree, it depends on how he handles (or is allowed to handle) the position. It's a shame that Dombrow left, though.

[Deverz]

dreamgazer wrote...

It's a shame that Dombrow left, though.

Say what?  He's no longer on the Mass Effect team or did he leave Bioware?

[Steelcan]

And Weekes is on DA

[Arcian]

StreetMagic wrote...

Deverz wrote...

dreamgazer wrote...

It's a shame that Dombrow left, though.

Say what?  He's no longer on the Mass Effect team or did he leave Bioware?

Both.

Wow, I just lost whatever microscopic sliver of motivation I had to play ME4.

[Deverz]

Man, that's a shame. Loved Dombrow's contributions to ME. Javik was awesome.

[SwobyJ]

Narrative Director.

Doesn't mean he's the be-all of what the story is going to be (there are a couple other layers of 'power', including the publisher to a degree, when it comes to that), but he may have more 'say' than the Lead Writer.

At the same time, the lead writer is going to do more of the actual work. This is a good thing so far imo, because while Walters may or may not have a fantastic vision for the franchise, the implementation (even to the most die-hard fans of the trilogy) leaves at LEAST a bit to be desired.

I guess look at it this way:
Narrative Director - I want an ending that expresses this and that, and works with this, and will lead into our future property which will have this and that
Lead Writer - Ok, I'll write for this character... and this thing.. and this scene... and this event...
Narrative Director/Lead Editor - Ok, this part needs to fit this, and this one is good, and this works well, and I'd like a bit more of this. (Editor looks more at structure and mechanics, Narrative Director looks more at the universe being created, the characters, and what it all means and fits into)

A lot of the time in studios, in higher positions, people 'do' things, and THEN get their titles. The 'position' of Narrative Director tells me that yes, he may be more of a 'loremaster' in certain fields, but won't as much carry the brunt of writing work himself.

I take this positively, but I can understand people taking it negatively, looking at the ME3 ending and comics...

Modifié par SwobyJ, 24 octobre 2013 - 12:52 .

[dreamgazer]

Steelcan wrote...

And Weekes is on DA

I mean, that could change, but the possibility of him taking the position is probably slim.

[AresKeith]

dreamgazer wrote...

Steelcan wrote...

And Weekes is on DA

I mean, that could change, but the possibility of him taking the position is probably slim.

I'm interested to see how Weekes do on the DA games