66 réponses à ce sujet

[dlux]

Yeah uh, nice interview. The Milky Way is scr**ed so we're going to Andromeda.

 

So what happend to Aaryn? Did he run into a door or something? Or is he just a sloppy eater? ^^

 

[Aolbain]

Flynn mentioned that it’s long been a regret of Walters that they spread the Mass Effect story far out over the entire Milky Way galaxy, with the game’s galactic map showing a civilization that appears to stretch from arm to arm without too many unexplored nooks and crannies.

 

This is the closest thing you will ever get to Bioware admitting that Walters they made a mistake with the ME3 ending.

 

 

....no. Not even remotely.

[Arcian]

Looks like he had a bout with Kevin McAllister.

[Akrabra]

I'll ask a question that i will reget. What is wrong with Mac Walters? 

 

Also i love that they are building the combat around ME3. 

[Danny Boy 7]

You find it awesome? I find it terrifying. Ok, not the facial scanning part itself (can be cool - can be pointless with engine correction) but the open admission of "networking Bioware" as a company. Sure they say it's nice to be able to borrow features from other games in the same network. But when we are talking about features from sport games borrowed by RPG - I feel confused and very, very skeptical. 

 

So, now they do not look for an engine fitting the game they want to make, no, they have to fit the game into existing engine. They are not creating game features for that particular game - no, they are borrowing features from the games included into network and creating game-play from that assorted features. 

 

To me it's like the difference between cooking an awesome dish with fetching ingredients for that very specific dish and getting scraps and leftovers out of refrigerator thinking "what can I cook with that".   

 

Games will look the same, play the same, feel the same. Fare you well, creativity and uniqueness, we'll miss you. 

Probably not the best analogy with food considering there are shows (multiple) in fact where chefs have to do exactly what you said, take what they got and make something amazing. Chopped comes to mind. Either way it's a creative process and you have to make do with a set of ingredients. That said taking features that are cool from different genres shouldn't matter if they're awesome. Doesn't mean they aren't going to tweak Frostbite either.

[Arcian]

I'll ask a question that i will reget. What is wrong with Mac Walters?

He wrote Cerberus and the ending to ME3, two of the most hated features of the Mass Effect Trilogy. He also wrote Wrex and Garrus in ME1 and Vega in ME3. Before joining BioWare, he made some custom modules in Neverwinter Nights which apparently impressed the BioWare executives enough to hire him, though it appears he knew at least some of them (particularly Casey Hudson) before he joined the company since they used to frequent the same pub in Edmonton.

 

The first game he worked on was Jade Empire. I have no idea what he contributed to the making of that game. He then moved on to join the Mass Effect writing team, writing Wrex, Garrus and Cerberus (possibly more). He apparently wanted Cerberus to have a bigger role in the game, but time constraints prevented this from happening. Instead, he expanded them in ME2 after he took over as Lead Writer following previous Lead Writer Drew Karpyshyn's departure from the Mass Effect team.

 

In ME3 he was once more Lead Writer, and also wrote Vega and the infamous endings with Casey Hudson.

 

"The Final Hours of Mass Effect 3" by video game journalist Geoff Keighley implies Mass Effect's Executive Producer Casey Hudson and Mac Walters were friends long before Mac joined BioWare, so some believe Mac was given the role as Lead Writer not because he was qualified for the role, but as a favor from his friend.

 

The overall consensus is that he is passable as a character writer, but wasn't qualified for the role as Lead Writer in ME2 and ME3, causing a sharp decline in the quality of the game's writing, pacing and structuring while using his position to shill the absolute hell out of Cerberus (his very own pet plot), transforming them from the minor side quest villain they were in ME1 to the ubiquitous plot cancer they became in ME2 and ME3. He is also deeply hated by a significant portion of the Mass Effect fanbase for co-writing the endings of ME3 with Casey Hudson (whose reputation went overnight from being the man who created Mass Effect to being the man who destroyed Mass Effect). He is particularly despised for his "Speculations for everyone!" scribble shown in his notes in "The Final Hours of Mass Effect 3".

 

Moreover, he is rather infamously known for writing subpar Mass Effect comics, many of which retcons Cerberus to have major influence behind many of the events in and before ME1.

[Danny Boy 7]

He wrote Cerberus and the ending to ME3, two of the most hated features of the Mass Effect Trilogy. He also wrote Wrex and Garrus in ME1 and Vega in ME3. Before joining BioWare, he made some custom modules in Neverwinter Nights which apparently impressed the BioWare executives enough to hire him, though it appears he knew at least some of them (particularly Casey Hudson) before he joined the company since they used to frequent the same pub in Edmonton.

 

The first game he worked on was Jade Empire. I have no idea what he contributed to the making of that game. He then moved on to join the Mass Effect writing team, writing Wrex, Garrus and Cerberus (possibly more). He apparently wanted Cerberus to have a bigger role in the game, but time constraints prevented this from happening. Instead, he expanded them in ME2 after he took over as Lead Writer following previous Lead Writer Drew Karpyshyn's departure from the Mass Effect team.

 

In ME3 he was once more Lead Writer, and also wrote Vega and the infamous endings with Casey Hudson.

 

"The Final Hours of Mass Effect 3" by video game journalist Geoff Keighley implies Mass Effect's Executive Producer Casey Hudson and Mac Walters were friends long before Mac joined BioWare, so some believe Mac was given the role as Lead Writer not because he was qualified for the role, but as a favor from his friend.

 

The overall consensus is that he is passable as a character writer, but wasn't qualified for the role as Lead Writer in ME2 and ME3, causing a sharp decline in the quality of the game's writing, pacing and structuring while using his position to shill the absolute hell out of Cerberus (his very own pet plot), transforming them from the minor side quest villain they were in ME1 to the ubiquitous plot cancer they became in ME2 and ME3. He is also deeply hated by a significant portion of the Mass Effect fanbase for co-writing the endings of ME3 with Casey Hudson (whose reputation went overnight from being the man who created Mass Effect to being the man who destroyed Mass Effect). He is particularly despised for his "Speculations for everyone!" scribble shown in his notes in "The Final Hours of Mass Effect 3".

 

Moreover, he is rather infamously known for writing subpar Mass Effect comics, many of which retcons Cerberus to have major influence behind many of the events in and before ME1.

Not anything against you, but if that really is the reason, beyond the endings debacle, that seems like the most childish reasons to hate this guy. It's a lot of speculation about the possible behind the scene events of the game mixed with people who forget that ME2 in it's time was a game that EVERYONE at the time was putting forward as the game of the century. I mean before I'd even heard of ME1 people were calling ME2 the best thing since sliced bread. I mean if the game was unsatisfactory sure, but the Illusive Man was one of the most beloved characters in gaming at one point.

 

Idk I understand not liking the direction, but geez you even downplay the accomplishments he made with Wrex and Garrus who are without a doubt in the top five as far as fan favorites.

 

It all just seems so...whiny.

[Arcian]

Not anything against you, but if that really is the reason, beyond the endings debacle, that seems like the most childish reasons to hate this guy. It's a lot of speculation about the possible behind the scene events of the game mixed with people who forget that ME2 in it's time was a game that EVERYONE at the time was putting forward as the game of the century. I mean before I'd even heard of ME1 people were calling ME2 the best thing since sliced bread. I mean if the game was unsatisfactory sure, but the Illusive Man was one of the most beloved characters in gaming at one point.

 

Idk I understand not liking the direction, but geez you even downplay the accomplishments he made with Wrex and Garrus who are without a doubt in the top five as far as fan favorites.

 

It all just seems so...whiny.

He only wrote Wrex and Garrus in ME1, and they were hardly groundbreaking characters in that game (and not just them, both Liara and Tali were walking encyclopedias on their species). What really MADE them in ME1 was their voice actors. Writing-wise, they didn't actually grow until ME2 and on, and by that point they had switched writers.

 

And ME2 isn't actually very good at all from a writing perspective - at least where the main story is concerned. The character writing was significantly improved in ME2, though. People love ME2 primarily because of the characters and because it vastly improved upon the combat gameplay of ME1. It was simply more fun to play. But storywise, it's the weakest installment in the series.

[pdusen]

ITT: People with weak reading comprehension and a chip on their shoulder, looking for things Bioware devs say that they can jump on.

[Vazgen]

He apparently wanted Cerberus to have a bigger role in the game, but time constraints prevented this from happening. 

 

Soruce for the bolded part? Also, larger role of Cerberus was not solely Mac's idea. 

 

When we wrote ME1, Cerberus was basically a throw-away group of pro-human radicals: a name we dropped for some side missions to play the role of villain. We didn’t even have a concept of who was running them, and we didn’t think they were that important. Obviously by the time of my Ascension novel and ME2, that had changed radically. The Illusive Man and Cerberus became central to the story and themes – that never would have happened if we had nailed everything down and refused to make changes to the story. Drew's personal site

 

Drew even continued it in Mass Effect: Retribution.

 

Instead, he expanded them in ME2 after he took over as Lead Writer following previous Lead Writer Drew Karpyshyn's departure from the Mass Effect team.

 

Drew left midway through ME2, before that he and Mac were both lead writers. Drew's personal site

Human Reaper, dark energy theory - these are all Drew's ideas. 

[Arcian]

He apparently wanted Cerberus to have a bigger role in the game, but time constraints prevented this from happening. 
 
Soruce for the bolded part?

Final Hours of Mass Effect 3.

[Amirit]

Probably not the best analogy with food considering there are shows (multiple) in fact where chefs have to do exactly what you said, take what they got and make something amazing. Chopped comes to mind. Either way it's a creative process and you have to make do with a set of ingredients. That said taking features that are cool from different genres shouldn't matter if they're awesome. Doesn't mean they aren't going to tweak Frostbite either.

 

"If" they are awesome, IF. Not to mention these a two different approaches to cooking. And you have to agree there is a big difference between original recipe Cote de Boeuf and "something interesting out of mixture of yesterday pizza, jam, half dry lemon and shichimi". Sure thing the mixture CAN be very interesting but it's a very, very different process. The very idea is different.

 

And I will be happier then anyone else if future proves me wrong and BW indeed can cook up something awesome from other games features. 

[Vazgen]

Final Hours of Mass Effect 3.

Well, maybe he wanted it but never voiced. Because clearly Drew was OK with the idea of them having a bigger role when he wrote Ascension, ME2 and Retribution.

[AlanC9]

He wrote Cerberus and the ending to ME3, two of the most hated features of the Mass Effect Trilogy. He also wrote Wrex and Garrus in ME1 and Vega in ME3. Before joining BioWare, he made some custom modules in Neverwinter Nights which apparently impressed the BioWare executives enough to hire him, though it appears he knew at least some of them (particularly Casey Hudson) before he joined the company since they used to frequent the same pub in Edmonton.

I'd love to have a look at those modules, but I've never found them. Did he design under a handle?

[Danny Boy 7]

He only wrote Wrex and Garrus in ME1, and they were hardly groundbreaking characters in that game (and not just them, both Liara and Tali were walking encyclopedias on their species). What really MADE them in ME1 was their voice actors. Writing-wise, they didn't actually grow until ME2 and on, and by that point they had switched writers.

 

And ME2 isn't actually very good at all from a writing perspective - at least where the main story is concerned. The character writing was significantly improved in ME2, though. People love ME2 primarily because of the characters and because it vastly improved upon the combat gameplay of ME1. It was simply more fun to play. But storywise, it's the weakest installment in the series.

Pure hyperbole. They were reading his lines, how he wanted it delivered, the context of their feelings. While he's not 100% responsible for the delivery as it was a team effort between editors, cinematographers, composers, etc they didn't become fan favorites in ME2 otherwise people wouldn't have been upset Wrex wasn't a companion if there hadn't been something there to work with because I guarantee you take any of these parts away and the character loses something. It's not melodramatic to say that while every failure can be attributed to Mac Walters and the other developers leadership/work that every accomplishment is also him because for how many years of development these games have been in production these developers have been working on them.

[Danny Boy 7]

"If" they are awesome, IF. Not to mention these a two different approaches to cooking. And you have to agree there is a big difference between original recipe Cote de Boeuf and "something interesting out of mixture of yesterday pizza, jam, half dry lemon and shichimi". Sure thing the mixture CAN be very interesting but it's a very, very different process. The very idea is different.

 

And I will be happier then anyone else if future proves me wrong and BW indeed can cook up something awesome from other games features. 

Which is why they cherry-pick the best technology I mean think about it this way, they use the facial technology for a future game along with the destructible environment from Battlefield, the hair technology from the recent Tomb Raider, etc etc.

 

I mean it's no less creative, it's just a different kind of creative. The proper tools in a master's hands can be great regardless right?

[Amirit]

Which is why they cherry-pick the best technology I mean think about it this way, they use the facial technology for a future game along with the destructible environment from Battlefield, the hair technology from the recent Tomb Raider, etc etc.

 

I mean it's no less creative, it's just a different kind of creative. The proper tools in a master's hands can be great regardless right?

 

Depends of your goal and expectations. Like I would rather see attitude "what kind of cool features can we create for our new game" than "how can we use that cool feature from totally different game in ours". Take mounts in DAI - very beautiful, but less useful then PJ in Skyhold. BW spent months for all that perfect mocap movements, design of mounts, quests for mounts. And the result does not fit gameplay (you can not do anything game-specific - like world interaction - when you are mounted). Yet, long, long, LONG time needed update for protagonist movements (not to mention meaningful quests and so on) are got shafted. 

This is the one example we know for sure of using unnecessary tools\features. I hope developers of MEA will be more careful, but so far I see they do not think about character creation special for MEA but rather about using one already there. And do not plan to develop specific moves for Mako, but thinking how to use features from Need for Speed in MEA.

We will see how it goes. At the and, at least FB is more close to game style in that case.