Based on the tone of the announcement - and DG's later reference to unemployment - I find myself being skeptical that this was as voluntary as pitched.
He did say this in email to Polygon: "As to where I'm headed next, that announcement will come in due time — today's about saying goodbye and packing up."
Whatever the reasons, he appears to already have plans for the future.
You may well be right, but on the other hand - he wouldn't be the first person that simply decided they needed a break and took the leap without anything to land on. The "for a bit" part of his reference to unemployment seemed quite emphatic. The weeping and drunkeness could simply have been him celebrating and commiserating with - now - former colleagues. Leaving a company you played a not-insignificant part in for 17 years is likely to evoke all manner of emotional responses.
He might simply have something lined up for next month, or the month after and is still technically unemployed. "Frictional Unemployment" I believe is the term I was taught in business school.
Of course, it could be a combination of exactly as pitched and not. He may have decided to leave without anything to go after discovering he didn't like the way things were heading in the new IP or in Bioware in general and was told, 'get on board, or get off'.
Regardless, as others have said - wish him well.
The usual distinction between a boilerplate corporate response ("I made the decision that it was appropriate for where I was in my career to explore different opportunities..." and/or "I wanted to focus on other projects...") and an honest response ("I'm going to be the lead writer for [Insert Company] on [Well-Known Project!]") is pretty stark.
The usual reason people will chose to not have a job is that their current position is so awful being completely unemployed - with all the lack of security that comes with that - is a better proposition.
Anyway, I didn't mean to imply something nefarious. I just find it to be a very peculiar turn of events. DG leaves the DA team to pursue the new IP. No news comes out of the new IP for a while. And then DG leaves Bioware. Now it might well be he wasn't satisfied with the new IP and just wanted a new direction.
I'm just always sceptical when it comes to departures of this sort. Same with how it was for Avellone who I believe left Obsidian/InExile/Whatever.
The usual distinction between a boilerplate corporate response ("I made the decision that it was appropriate for where I was in my career to explore different opportunities..." and/or "I wanted to focus on other projects...") and an honest response ("I'm going to be the lead writer for [Insert Company] on [Well-Known Project!]") is pretty stark.
The usual reason people will chose to not have a job is that their current position is so awful being completely unemployed - with all the lack of security that comes with that - is a better proposition.
Anyway, I didn't mean to imply something nefarious. I just find it to be a very peculiar turn of events. DG leaves the DA team to pursue the new IP. No news comes out of the new IP for a while. And then DG leaves Bioware. Now it might well be he wasn't satisfied with the new IP and just wanted a new direction.
I'm just always sceptical when it comes to departures of this sort. Same with how it was for Avellone who I believe left Obsidian/InExile/Whatever.
Definitely. Don't get me wrong - I won't fall out of my chair in shock if it emerges there were dastardly machinations at work. Very little shocks me when dealing with massive multinational corporates. It's just for me, I haven't seen any giant red flags calling attention to mustache twirling.
You won't get any argument from me, though, about the string of events being odd (unless it was the world-building help others have mentioned). He was on the New IP for a while before we knew about it, though - wasn't he?
I'm going to miss David at BW. I admit, I got a little teary eyed.
That said, I hope he's still going to work in the industry. Or that maybe he got a new opportunity he could not pass up?
I will be looking out for, and looking forward to, any future projects involving him. Hopefully, he will be a part of an awesome new franchise, and/or reboot-y-ish franchise, that I can add to my library of Keepers.
Still gonna miss ya. Heck, David was one of the very, very few who ever actually talked to us. Who braved the toxicity to come and...well, talk smack to us. 
And I loved it. He just didn't know how to quit us....
..until now!
*flounces onto BSN fainting chair*
I don't think his opinion is any less valid than anyone else's. There are quite a lot of people who feel that way. Most of them just don't bring it up or want to crap on this thread with all of that. I have heard that view from random people I happened to bump into the MP that didn't post here or know anything about the details of the game/writers.
I don't think people should dump on the guy in his farewell thread. I think that subject has been discussed a lot anyways. I don't have anything to say on the matter (that I haven't already said in the past) other than responses like that are not trolling or bait, but rather a consistent viewpoint/opinion.
No, I think you misunderstand. I personally agree with what he said but I also know that going against the grain on this forum is liable to make every things go south very quickly. And by south I mean have the hivemind turn on you.
@davidgaider @ChrisAvellone so we all can start working on something together now, right?
What would that be, exactly? Mexican wrestling sim with romance and old skool RPG mechanics?
Add Mecha, and it's golden!
And at *least* one extended, interactive musical montage.
Patrick Weekes @PatrickWeekes
Hi wait I heard you guys talking musicals.
/summon Patrick
Based on the tone of the announcement - and DG's later reference to unemployment - I find myself being skeptical that this was as voluntary as pitched.
I expect he needs to wait out the terms of a non-compete agreement. That would explain a necessary period of unemployment.
So this is the end of the cheese jokes in the games, then?
So this is the end of the cheese jokes in the games, then?
Didn't the cheese jokes in DA start with the level designers?
(They seem to get a little loopy after so many months/years staring at the same thing, which make account for why they put so much cheese everywhere.)
I don't think we'll get another army of zombie kittens, though 
.
Wait what? He's working with Avellone then? That's good..
Chris is working on Divinity Original Sins 2 IINM. As much as i love Pillars of Eternity, i still love AAA budget game like Inquisition. It's really the best Dragon Age out there (my opinion). There's still lots of room for improvement. Alas, i'm not even sure there's going to be another Dragon Age game.
Chris is working on Divinity Original Sins 2 IINM. As much as i love Pillars of Eternity, i still love AAA budget game like Inquisition. It's really the best Dragon Age out there (my opinion). There's still lots of room for improvement. Alas, i'm not even sure there's going to be another Dragon Age game.
I like AAA too, but I dislike Dragon Age Inquisition. And I'm glad Gaider has moved on to something else. Someone else will appreciate him. He got screwed. It isn't the series I loved just 2 years ago.
Alas, i'm not even sure there's going to be another Dragon Age game.
The game was well-received by critics, won a pile of awards and as far as we can tell it seems to have made money. I would be very surprised if BioWare never did anything else with the IP. (Which doesn't mean we'll see DA4 any time soon - I expect 2018 at the earliest, and it could easily take longer than that.)
Chris is working on Divinity Original Sins 2 IINM. As much as i love Pillars of Eternity, i still love AAA budget game like Inquisition. It's really the best Dragon Age out there (my opinion). There's still lots of room for improvement. Alas, i'm not even sure there's going to be another Dragon Age game.
Chris has nothing to do with Divinity Original Sins 2, he left Obsidian to work on Torment: Tides of Numenera with old firends and co-workers from the time of PS:T. If DG joins any of the teams, though, that would be absolutely amazing!
DA had Patrick Weekes as lead writer since March, and Trespasser was probably done under his command. DA4 is 100% happening, especially since the story is not finished. So don't panic, people.
It will be weird without David's snark, I've been playing games he wrote for for so many years. He worked on the new IP for almost a year, so we'll probably get a bit more of his work. Still, 17 years is a lot to work in one place, maybe he needed a change. In any case, I wish him the best.
No, I think you misunderstand. I personally agree with what he said but I also know that going against the grain on this forum is liable to make every things go south very quickly. And by south I mean have the hivemind turn on you.
People who say absurd things are so oppressed by the consequences.
And yeah, DA 4 is happening. It's how Patrick Weekes has been earning his paycheck since he finished Trespasser.
People who say absurd things are so oppressed by the consequences.
It's a cosmological constant 
Anyway, I have to admit to being somewhat baffled that there are still those who seriously doubt that DA4 is happening... well, okay, there's always a possibility: the attack of Martians or the Scientologists dropping us all into volcano to change into thetans or whatever may mess the schedule a little bit.... needless to say, considering that DAI was overall a pretty solid success, both financially and critically, I'm not really sure what would have to happen for either BW or EA to cancel working on the next game.
It may be far from announcing the game, but we do know that team leads don't usually work on other projects and all the DA leads (like Mr. Laidlaw or Mr. Weekes or Mr. Epler) appear to be working on something.
Thank you for all your work and effort David. It is a long time for a writer to be working on basically one thing, a change of scene will probably be great for you.
The first game was about foiling an invasion of zombie-orcs under the command of a demonic dragon-god with the help of wizards, paladins, elves, dwarves, and possibly even werewolves and rock-people. Flemeth was integral to the plot a couple of hours into the game and her intrigues continue throughout the game. Enchanted items and haunted places were plentiful. Magic was everywhere.
Dragon Age was never like you describe.
The origin stories in DA:O were some of my favorite writing in the series. Dwarf Commoner, Dwarf Noble, Human Noble, Mage, and Elf commoner were all heavy on the intrigue and politics which is I think what filetemo was talking about. DA2 was pretty similar, I really liked the idea behind it even if the execution seemed rushed. My preference would be to move the stories back in that direction. There will always be magic, but the motivations of the villains should be grounded, the game shouldn't feel like an obscure mystical lore dump. Although the majority of players do seem to keep wanting each new mystical threat to top the last.
Thank you for all your work and effort David. It is a long time for a writer to be working on basically one thing, a change of scene will probably be great for you.
The origin stories in DA:O were some of my favorite writing in the series. Dwarf Commoner, Dwarf Noble, Human Noble, Mage, and Elf commoner were all heavy on the intrigue and politics which is I think what filetemo was talking about. DA2 was pretty similar, I really liked the idea behind it even if the execution seemed rushed. My preference would be to move the stories back in that direction. There will always be magic, but the motivations of the villains should be grounded, the game shouldn't feel like an obscure mystical lore dump. Although the majority of players do seem to keep wanting each new mystical threat to top the last.
Lol, that obscure mythical lore dump has been set up since DAO - thing is, DAO couldn't really go with it, since its major role was introduce us to Thedas and its social and political landscape. The origin stories played major part in that; that was their purpose. Now that the the world and story is set, question remains whether they're really necessary?
I suppose it's more of a matter of how 'set in stone' our character we like to be - I generally enjoy having some wiggle room if I play a game with highly customizable character, so while I don't mind set origins, especially if they're well done, I feel good with more or less unspecified backgrounds and focus on building and tempering my character's character through events in the game. Others obviously prefer something different. I suppose in the end we won't know what route they'd pick for DA4 - maybe it will be something new?
I'm not 100% pleased with every writerly decision he's made in the DA franchise, but nevertheless, he wrote Fenris, my all-time favorite character, so hats off to him and thank you very much for creating someone who's had such an impact on my life 
No, I think you misunderstand. I personally agree with what he said but I also know that going against the grain on this forum is liable to make every things go south very quickly. And by south I mean have the hivemind turn on you.
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