507 réponses à ce sujet

[robertmarilyn]

When reading Stolen Throne, I felt like Maric and Alistair could be the same person. I didn't want to be hearing Alistair's voice in my head when I read Maric's words but Maric's quips were what I would have expected Alistair to say. I enjoyed all the books but that was something that stuck out to me as not being quite right. 

[Sylvius the Mad]

The Stolen Throne was his first book. I agree it was a bit rough around the edges.

Asunder was significantly better than the first two, though. Asunder is, I think, where David figured out how to write novels (which is very different from writing games).

One of David's strengths as a game writer, I think, is how he avoids making explicit any assumptions he might have about the protagonist's motives or state of mind. But in a novel, that leads to shallow characters.

Novelist and game writer are two very different skillsets.

[Secret Rare]

I logged after a while only to discover this bad news though i know he wasn't involved in DA anymore.

[Hrungr]

David Gaider ‏@davidgaider

Starting a new job: 25% paperwork, 25% documentation, 150% confusion. I definitely need more stuff on my desk.

 

Brianne Battye ‏@bbattye

Can one ever complete documentation?

 

David Gaider ‏@davidgaider

You can only ever begin. Again and again and again.

 

John Epler ‏@eplerjc

I feel like we need to send you a singing telegram.

 

David Gaider ‏@davidgaider

A singing AND dancing telegram, I hope.

[Hrungr]

BeamDog Blog: http://blog.beamdog....hievements.html

 

"We also hired a writer named Dave. He seems pretty cool so far."

 

 

- Hmm....

 

 

 

Brent Knowles ‏@Brent_Knowles 

Some news... http://blog.beamdog.com/2016/02/beamdog-achievements.html …

 

Cori Nicole May ‏@genevrael

'some writer named Dave'

[Biotic Apostate]

That would be so...unexpected. David would leave BW and DA, to work on (probably) Baldur's Gate 3? I thought one of the reasons BW left the DnD world was to have the freedom to create any world and story they wanted.

[Hrungr]

That would be so...unexpected. David would leave BW and DA, to work on (probably) Baldur's Gate 3? I thought one of the reasons BW left the DnD world was to have the freedom to create any world and story they wanted.

 

Yeah, this is not a move I would have predicted. Though it really shouldn't come as a big surprise as it's Edmonton-based and there are *a lot* of BioWare alumni working there...

 

But honestly, I thought some other AAA developer like Bethesda just threw a barrel o' money at him...

[berelinde]

Whoa, there are a lot of familiar names at Beamdog now. Like, half the DA team. It will be interesting to see what comes next.

[Biotic Apostate]

Yeah, this is not a move I would have predicted. Though it really shouldn't come as a big surprise as it's Edmonton-based and there are *a lot* of BioWare alumni working there...

 

But honestly, I thought some other AAA developer like Bethesda just threw a barrel o' money at him...

I thought he would focus on books. Or maybe even write for a TV series. But going back to BG after so many years kind of feels like a step back. Especially after creating his own series. Weird.

[DragonKingReborn]

That would be so...unexpected. David would leave BW and DA, to work on (probably) Baldur's Gate 3? I thought one of the reasons BW left the DnD world was to have the freedom to create any world and story they wanted.

 

Definitely not going to claim I saw this coming, either, but just because Bioware wanted to move to original IPs and Gaider was 'all good' with that, doesn't necessarily mean he wanted, or was eager, to do so.

 

It could also be a short term contract until the expansion is released that appealed because a) Edmonton, and b  ) nostalgia.

[Awkward Octopus]

This doesn't really surprise me at all. Why would he move to yet another AAA studio? That's just more of the same thing, really. Why would he switch studios unless for some reason things were going badly for him at BioWare? I didn't get that impression at all.

 

But going from a huge studio to a smaller one with familiar colleagues and games? Where there isn't the craziness that comes with working on a AAA title? I get that.

[UniformGreyColor]

BeamDog Blog: http://blog.beamdog....hievements.html

 

"We also hired a writer named Dave. He seems pretty cool so far."

 

 

- Hmm....

 

 

 

Brent Knowles ‏@Brent_Knowles 

Some news... http://blog.beamdog....evements.html …

 

Cori Nicole May ‏@genevrael

'some writer named Dave'

 

I don't know whether to laugh or cry. It does give hope that BD might be coming out with some new stuff though??? If so, its going to be something to watch if they got people like David and others working on this stuff.

[Hrungr]

This doesn't really surprise me at all. Why would he move to yet another AAA studio? That's just more of the same thing, really. Why would he switch studios unless for some reason things were going badly for him at BioWare? I didn't get that impression at all.

 

But going from a huge studio to a smaller one with familiar colleagues and games? Where there isn't the craziness that comes with working on a AAA title? I get that.

 

Actually, from many of his tweets, I got the sense he wasn't happy (for whatever reason). I figured other studios, seeing this, might be putting the feelers out there to see if he wanted a change of venue. Bethesda's got that brand new studio in Montreal and... they're making RPGs (likely ES). So the timing felt right...

 

But... clearly that didn't happen. I just had trouble imagining DG going over to the Indie side (even though I've heard that's where the fun's at these days). Like Biotic Apostate, I would have sooner guessed novels or tv before that.

[Awkward Octopus]

Actually, from many of his tweets, I got the sense he wasn't happy (for whatever reason). I figured other studios, seeing this, might be putting the feelers out there to see if wanted a change of venue. Bethesda's got that brand new studio in Montreal and... they're making RPGs (likely ES). So the timing felt right...

 

But... clearly that didn't happen. I just had trouble imagining DG going over to the Indie side (even though I've heard that's where the fun's at these days). Like Biotic Apostate, I would have sooner guessed novels or tv before that.

 

I'll defer to you in that I don't really follow tweets, etc., closely enough to really have an idea of how he was feeling working at BioWare. If it's true, I'm sorry that it wasn't fun for him there anymore.

 

That said, I think you've got the right idea: I think indie is where the fun's at these days. Or at least, I don't think he would have found too much different at another large studio. Maybe he'll find himself doing that eventually, but starting out at a small one after having worked at the same place 10+ years was maybe more palatable. AAA games are really crazy these days - I mean, educated guessing here, but I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of the problem stems from there. Game development is hard at any level, but AAA games are getting more and more difficult to make while smaller games are just getting better and easier to develop for. (It probably doesn't help that BioWare is owned by a huge publisher now.)

 

And I don't think writing for games necessarily equates to writing for TV or books (though I know he's written books before). They're very different skills, and I wouldn't think he'd set aside his game writing experience entirely.

 

I was kinda guessing he'd show up at Harebrained Schemes, though! I know he's a Shadowrun fan and has supported their work in the past.

[Biotic Apostate]

Definitely not going to claim I saw this coming, either, but just because Bioware wanted to move to original IPs and Gaider was 'all good' with that, doesn't necessarily mean he wanted, or was eager, to do so.

 

It could also be a short term contract until the expansion is released that appealed because a) Edmonton, and b  ) nostalgia.

If he wasn't ok with it, he wouldn't have taken the role of lead writer. It's not like anyone can force a writer to create a new world from scratch and lead it through a few games and books. I don't know about now, but he seemed pretty excited about it before. But we'll see how that goes.

 

@Awkward Octopus

I don't know if Indie development is that easy going. There are far more "we have to succeed or we'll be unemployed soon" situations, and the money shortage is definitely a problem. Different, but still pretty stressful.

[vbibbi]

If he wasn't ok with it, he wouldn't have taken the role of lead writer. It's not like anyone can force a writer to create a new world from scratch and lead it through a few games and books. I don't know about now, but he seemed pretty excited about it before. But we'll see how that goes.

 

@Awkward Octopus

I don't know if Indie development is that easy going. There are far more "we have to succeed or we'll be unemployed soon" situations, and the money shortage is definitely a problem. Different, but still pretty stressful.

I don't think he was lead writer for the new IP.

[Awkward Octopus]

 

@Awkward Octopus

I don't know if Indie development is that easy going. There are far more "we have to succeed or we'll be unemployed soon" situations, and the money shortage is definitely a problem. Different, but still pretty stressful.

 

You're absolutely right, game development is never easy. But I can see how moving from the AAA kind of stress to the stress of an already well-established and relatively successful indie company to work on something smaller with some friends might have some appeal to it.

[Biotic Apostate]

I don't think he was lead writer for the new IP.

I was talking about Dragon Age. ME came first, but DAO was so long in the making, it was their first fresh IP. If he was dissatisfied with leaving DnD behind, he certainly didn't show it during the time DAO was being worked on.

 

I think he was a senior writer for the IP. But don't quote me on that.

 

(whoops, forgot about Jade Empire. Correction, the first new IP after the DnD ones that he worked on)

[Akrabra]

Wait, hold up. He is going to write Baldurs Gate 3 for BeamDog? With Knowles on the team? That is awesome!!!!!!

[Biotic Apostate]

Wait, hold up. He is going to write Baldurs Gate 3 for BeamDog? With Knowles on the team? That is awesome!!!!!!

If he does end up working with Beamdog, then it would be pointless not to have him work on that. BG3 is pretty much confirmed, they just didn't talk about it much yet.

[Akrabra]

If he does end up working with Beamdog, then it would be pointless not to have him work on that. BG3 is pretty much confirmed, they just didn't talk about it much yet.

Wuhu! Now i am actually excited that he left, but only for selfish reasons. Baldurs Gate II is probably my favourite game of all time, not that it really needs a sequel, but when you got people involved that actually worked on it, then it gets exciting. 

[azarhal]

For people wondering why David would move to Beamdog. First, there was a senior writer job open to fill and it's basically the only other Edmonton based game studio (full of ex-BioWare on top of that). Second, that's his chance to work with Chris Avellon which he always wanted to do.

 

For people who might not know, Chris wrote for Siege of Dragonspear. I don't see why he wouldn't be contracted to write for whatever Beamdog are cooking next.

[berelinde]

I don't wonder why he would move to Beamdog. He has stated a preference for fantasy games on more than one occasion, and in a lot of ways, returning to the Forgotten Realms might be like going home for him. Plus, working on Baldur's Gate again might give him an opportunity to take that franchise new places or to finally realize goals that were impossible before. Plus, familiar faces. Lots to recommend it, in other words. The fact that Beamdog is an indie studio is a pro, not a con. He'll have a lot of flexibility there he might not have with a larger company.

 

If it winds up being true, which looks likely, it's good news. Dragon Age won't pull up its tent pegs and go home just because David isn't there anymore,  This move just gives me another long-beloved game to look forward to.

[Deadly dwarf]

Hi.  Just wanted to fill in some gaps in my knowledge regarding the world of Dragon Age.  First, my assumption since hearing of David Gaider is that he's the JRR Tolkien of the Dragon Age series.  Is that correct or is Dragon Age more of a creation by committee?  So far, I've done all three games (but not the DLC for DAI yet).  I've not read any of the books (are there just two of them?) though I have done some of the comics.  Have there been competing visions for Dragon Age that may have driven David Gaider away?  Any controversies of interest to Dragon Age fans?  Generally, I get the idea from this thread that while most are fans of David, some aren't as sad to see him go.  Just curious as to why that is.

[Dancing_Dolphin]

So Beamdog...that is kind of exciting.