221 réponses à ce sujet

[Nethalf]

You do realize he has been part of the process for Mass Effect since the very beginning? He wasn't the lead writer for ME1 (Drew Karpyshyn was), but Mac Walters was the lead writer for ME2 and ME3. Also, it's worth pointing out that BioWare doesn't hire "bad" writers. You may not like their style and choice, but he is far from bad. BioWare is the one studio where it's incredibly hard to become a member of their writing team.

 

ME2's plot was simple, but certainly tied into the first game. Saren and Sovereign's plan were a failure. The Harbinger decided to step in and use the Collector's to create a human reaper because of how Shepard thwarted their plans previously. It was about finding a new solution to wiping out all species. That inevitably fails to, and the reapers opt for their final solution of full-scale invasion in ME3. As far as endings, DESTROY is the only option that makes sense and ties back into ME1. Shepard's goal was to always destroy the reapers. It's the only option he is able to fulfill that. Control, Synthesis, and Refuse are just ridiculous yet give people options on how to end the threat.

And you do realize lead writer is a person most responsible for the main plot? That's why I said nothing about ME1.

 

ME2's plot is a big joke to me 'cause they actually never said in-game what Harbinger's plan was. What was the plan again?

 

 

Also, it's worth pointing out that BioWare doesn't hire "bad" writers. You may not like their style and choice, but he is far from bad. 

Oh, it's such a strong argument. "Bioware hired Walters and Bioware cannot be mistaken so Walters doesn't suck that hard".

Well, if Bioware's god for you, then good for you.

 

 

Let's put aside ME3 endings for a minute. What was before that? Cerberus attacking Sur'Kesh, Tuchanka, and Citadel. We, gamers, wanna know why, we wanna know what is TIM's motivation so it's the writer's job to explain TIM's motivation in-game. And Shepard did ask the right question back on Sur'Kesh: why is Cerberus doin' this? So we could expect that Bioware would give us some answers. But they didn't.

That is just Walters' writing style-- throwing enigmas at us without in-game answers.

 

He just doesn't know how to end stories that he started. That's why he's a bad writer.

[Drone223]

^ME2 was written by both Drew and Mac but most of it was done by Drew as he left to do TOR. Mac is by no means a bat writer as he is writting some of the best characters in the trilogy (Wrex and Garrus) but main plots isn't is best strength.

[Linkenski]

Remember though, Mac wrote Garrus only in ME1 and I think his Sidonis betrayal plot of ME2, and he only wrote Wrex in ME1. Both Wrex and Garrus were done by John Dombrow in ME3

[Drone223]

Remember though, Mac wrote Garrus only in ME1 and I think his Sidonis betrayal plot of ME2, and he only wrote Wrex in ME1. Both Wrex and Garrus were done by John Dombrow in ME3

if I recall those two were the most popular characters in ME1, just pointing that out.

[Linkenski]

Yeah sure they were I guess, although they weren't close to being as good as Ashley imo. I think Garrus was too obviously used to explore moral ambiguity in a very tell-not-show way, but then they subverted that in the other games by making it less in-your-face.

[goishen]

ME2. It's a great game, it's my favorite in the trilogy, my little precious. But main plot... meh. Again, what were we doing back in ME2? Stopping Collectors who were about to do... what? We saved the galaxy again, but a lead writer never could explain, from what.

ME2's main plot has nothing to do with the franchise's main plot. And that is a lead writer to be blamed for.

 

 

 

We stopped the collectors who were working with the reapers, and thus building their own reaper.

 

I understand it may seem a tad convoluted to you.  But, a little context here.  What was the point of Empire Strikes Back?  There was no big explosion.  There wasn't even a jedi fully trained.  There wasn't even any decent ass kicking (except by Vader) and Han gets frozen in carbonite.  Yet, it's hailed as one of the pinnacles of film making.  At least by me.  Ya know why?  Because it shows their humanity.  It shows that, hey, ya know what?  Our side can lose.

 

That's what ME2 did.  In ME2, because it's a game, you can't have it end on such a down note.  In other words, you can't have the collectors doing a surprise attack against Shepard at the end of ME1 and seeing him getting spaced and dieing.  Or if at the cutscene where Shepard is jumping for the ship, and he's almost there....   And cut black.  Roll credits.  It just wouldn't work.  People would be uber pissed.  You think that people were pissed at the end of ME3?  Can you imagine what would've happened if they had shown Shepard getting spaced at the end of ME1?

[Riven326]

Yeah sure they were I guess, although they weren't close to being as good as Ashley imo. I think Garrus was too obviously used to explore moral ambiguity in a very tell-not-show way, but then they subverted that in the other games by making it less in-your-face.

Do you know who wrote Ashley in ME3? Was it a different writer than ME1?

[Dr. Rush]

I don't have a problem with Walters,  but it just feels weird that Casey isn't attached to this project. I know it is a team effort, but Casey was really the developer face of the entire ME trilogy. The idea of a ME game coming out without his direct involvement just feels ...weird to me. 

[Judas Bock]

Do you know who wrote Ashley in ME3? Was it a different writer than ME1?

I'm fairly certain it was Chris L'Etoile who wrote Ashley in ME1. That's the same guy who wrote Legion and Thane in ME2. Unfortunately, he left BioWare after that, and that's probably why all three of them seem so different in ME3.

[Riven326]

I'm fairly certain it was Chris L'Etoile who wrote Ashley in ME1. That's the same guy who wrote Legion and Thane in ME2. Unfortunately, he left BioWare after that, and that's probably why all three of them seem so different in ME3.

I see. He was a talented writer.

[Vazgen]

I'm fairly certain it was Chris L'Etoile who wrote Ashley in ME1. That's the same guy who wrote Legion and Thane in ME2. Unfortunately, he left BioWare after that, and that's probably why all three of them seem so different in ME3.

I think Thane was quite close to his ME2 version. Agreed on Legion and Ashley though

[MegaIllusiveMan]

I don't have a problem with Walters,  but it just feels weird that Casey isn't attached to this project. I know it is a team effort, but Casey was really the developer face of the entire ME trilogy. The idea of a ME game coming out without his direct involvement just feels ...weird to me. 

 

Yes, like a Star Wars movie without George Lucas...

[Iakus]

I'm fairly certain it was Chris L'Etoile who wrote Ashley in ME1. That's the same guy who wrote Legion and Thane in ME2. Unfortunately, he left BioWare after that, and that's probably why all three of them seem so different in ME3.

 

"different" is putting it mildly.  They were barely recognizable.  Ash most of all since she also got a completely unnecessary "sex appeal" makeover.

[Heimdall]

Foundations comics are the worst written comics in ME franchise( which are bad in general) and are the most recent work made in ME franchise.

 

So no, he's not really learning.

Read those, a few problems but I've never quite understood the hate. 

[Heimdall]

"different" is putting it mildly.  They were barely recognizable.  Ash most of all since she also got a completely unnecessary "sex appeal" makeover.

Ah, yes, to follow up on that, whoever kept interjecting "Needs to be very sexy!" into all the female character designs of ME2 and ME3 needs to go.

[Riven326]

"different" is putting it mildly.  They were barely recognizable.  Ash most of all since she also got a completely unnecessary "sex appeal" makeover.

I would argue that whoever is in love with or just discovered the lens flare effect needs to go! Every light source in the game produces lens flare. It's so distracting.

[Judas Bock]

I think Thane was quite close to his ME2 version. Agreed on Legion and Ashley though

As long as you disregard the whole romance arc, then maybe one could say that he's quite close. Difficult to disregard something that important though.

 

"different" is putting it mildly.  They were barely recognizable.  Ash most of all since she also got a completely unnecessary "sex appeal" makeover.

I was trying not to be too contemptuous. If you ask me, the loss of Chris was just as serious as the loss of Drew Karpyshyn. It seemed like Chris was the one pushing for truly distinct world views. He was the one who gave us a meditative assassin who at length talks about how his species look at the relationship between body and soul in a way which felt more alien than pretty much anything in the entire series. Except for the Geth, of course, who, as written by Chris, really were different, and prioritized the collective above the individual. Then he left, and Legion wanted to become a "real boy".

[Vazgen]

As long as you disregard the whole romance arc, then maybe one could say that he's quite close. Difficult to disregard something that important though.

Ah, that might be the thing, I never romanced him. I almost always play with Meer's voice

[SimonTheFrog]

It makes me throw my hands up in despair when i read Mac Walters thoughts on the endings and that people didn't like Shep dying.

 

Sure, the endings and the receptions thereof are a complex beast to understand, but it should really not be so hard to understand that the fact that Shep sacrifices himself/herself is not the issue for most players.

 

This is really my biggest grief in all this: responsible people at BioWare apparently not getting why there was a problem. How are you supposed to avoid doing the same mistakes twice if you can't even recognize what went wrong and why the first time?!

 

My hope is, that - even though it's a cynical thing companies do nowadays - BioWare will talk about more what went wrong in ME3 (and the first two too) shortly before ME:N comes out so that players are more convinced that this time it will be better. And maybe they will address some issues more precisely then.

 

Anyway... i just wish they will take the main plot more seriously and keep a closer eye on continuety.

[lastpawn]

My only concern with Mac is that he might genuinely believe that the only "problem" with the original (and extended) ME3 ending was that it was, you know, sad. Not the plot holes and the narrative discontinuity and so on. Cognitive dissonance, I suppose.

 

Other than that, he's done some great things. He certainly deserves this opportunity, in any case.

[SerTabris]

Ah, yes, to follow up on that, whoever kept interjecting "Needs to be very sexy!" into all the female character designs of ME2 and ME3 needs to go.

 

And some of the camera angles. Miranda's outfit is kind of weird, but I think it would have come off a lot better if the camera behaved normally with her.

[Riven326]

This is really my biggest grief in all this: responsible people at BioWare apparently not getting why there was a problem. How are you supposed to avoid doing the same mistakes twice if you can't even recognize what went wrong and why the first time?!

He knows. He just can't say that he knows or maybe he doesn't want to admit something like that in an interview. Then again, I've always felt BioWare doesn't like their work to be criticized and they react in some strange ways. For example, most people who played ME1 criticized the Mako for the way it handled. It was a valid criticism. BioWare seemed to take this criticism to mean the Mako needed to be not improved for the sequel, but scrapped entirely.

 

I could be wrong. Maybe they just scrapped it because they didn't like the way it looked. But I also remember how they conducted themselves when the overwhelmingly negative reaction to DA2 came in. They immediately went on the defensive and would not admit fault with the game. Instead, they blamed their customers and said that we didn't like DA2 because it was different than Origins. Nothing about all the problems with the game ever came up. They thought we would be okay with levels being re-used over a dozen times.

 

They could be saying these things publicly just to save face, or they really might believe that everything they touch turns to gold. I think they know, but they just don't like to admit it publicly. Maybe it's an EA policy.

[Heimdall]

He knows. He just can't say that he knows or maybe he doesn't want to admit something like that in an interview. Then again, I've always felt BioWare doesn't like their work to be criticized and they react in some strange ways. For example, most people who played ME1 criticized the Mako for the way it handled. It was a valid criticism. BioWare seemed to take this criticism to mean the Mako needed to be not improved for the sequel, but scrapped entirely.

 

I could be wrong. Maybe they just scrapped it because they didn't like the way it looked. But I also remember how they conducted themselves when the overwhelmingly negative reaction to DA2 came in. They immediately went on the defensive and would not admit fault with the game. Instead, they blamed their customers and said that we didn't like DA2 because it was different than Origins. Nothing about all the problems with the game ever came up. They thought we would be okay with levels being re-used over a dozen times.

 

They could be saying these things publicly just to save face, or they really might believe that everything they touch turns to gold. I think they know, but they just don't like to admit it publicly. Maybe it's an EA policy.

To be fair, there's usually some truth behind the things they say.  There was definitely criticism of ME's exploration segments that went beyond the Mako's handling.  And when DA2 came out it got a lot more flak than it probably deserved because of people disappointment that it wasn't DAO2.

 

Thing is, they can't come out and say they made a huge design mistake right after release because that's the day gaming journalism writes headlines like "Bioware dev admits game sucks", and they still need to sell copies of the game to cover production costs and ensure that they get to make another game (And, you know, stay employed).  That's why they're usually much more willing to discuss a game's faults while they're working on the next one (Plenty of devs have commented on the reuse of environments as a negtive in the past year).

 

Similarly, I think Mac just isn't willing to put it out there that the ME3 ending was a thematic mess (And other types of messes).  Not publicly, since that would place blame on him which would be bad for trying to sell people on ME:Next, but I'm willing to bet he's taken in the criticism in private and realizes the backlash was about more than just people not wanting Shepard dead.

[lastpawn]

They could be saying these things publicly just to save face, or they really might believe that everything they touch turns to gold. I think they know, but they just don't like to admit it publicly. Maybe it's an EA policy.

 

In general, large corporations act defensively. Never admit a mistake. It's not just EA. It's what large corporations do.

 

Though it seems like times are changing.