4 réponses à ce sujet

[Gar_Logan]

Hypothetically, let's say I get hired as a writer for Bioware. Do they just assign me to a game? Do I get to choose or have any say whatsoever about a game? If I wanted to work on Mass Effect, but they wanted to put me on a DLC for Dragon Age, would I have any say in the matter?

If I am working on a game...are there...tiers of writers? Meaning, are there the writers who work on the main story and plot, then the writers who work on dialogue for that plot, and then writers who just work on side quests, etc. Is there that kind of hierarchy? Or another kind? If I'm working on a minor side quest but have an AWESOME (or something) idea for the main quest, I would assume I could bring it up, right? Or do all the writers attend all the meetings. OR are the responsibilities varied? Meaning are some people working on the main quest and smaller side quests at the same time?

I'd like to PM this but I have no idea who the correct person to PM it too. It's not exactly something to discuss. Maybe someone here knows the answer? Anyway, as someone who is interested in a job there in the future, I was hoping I could get some clarification.

[FollowTheGourd]

Maybe ask David Gaider (maybe not in PM, but a general post) - he seems to post often enough in the DA:O forums and just might see this thread here anyway.



While I have no idea of any of the answers, I do recall some famous author or another (not famous enough, I guess) mentioning how ideas are commonplace and how the actual writing is the hard part (fair enough).



That being said, I'd assume they'd start somebody off just writing the definite article, and then if they show promise, move them on to the indefinite article where they have their choice of "a" or "an". Or you can get a better answer from somebody who writes for a living. ;-)

[David Gaider]

Gar_Logan wrote...
Hypothetically, let's say I get hired as a writer for Bioware. Do they just assign me to a game? Do I get to choose or have any say whatsoever about a game? If I wanted to work on Mass Effect, but they wanted to put me on a DLC for Dragon Age, would I have any say in the matter?

Writers get to express their preferences, and ideally we'd always match a writer up with a project that captures their interest, but at the end of the day you end up where you're needed. If everybody wanted to work on project X but nobody wanted to work on project Y... well, that means that some are going to be disappointed. Being a professional means having to take ownership of the project you're on and find the enthusiasm for it.

You do get to have an influence on a project, but that largely depends on your seniority... and no matter what is largely going to revolve around influencing the characters and story you're writing. Even at my level I don't get to decide what story I'm going to write, however. People sometimes confuse a Lead Writer with a Lead Designer, when essentially that's like confusing a Screenwriter with a Director. The Lead Designer determines the overall direction of the project, including the story, and the sub-leads (like Writing, Cinematic Design and Tech Design) will work within the parameters they're given. Writers underneath a Lead Writer might get to influence a story by participating in brainstorming (depending on the point in the project they come on board), but primarily they're going to influence the quests or characters they're assigned to. Depending on the project and the experience of the writer in question their task may be very specific ("here's this detailed quest and characters, now flesh them out") or very general ("design a quest that fits into the overall story with these parameters").

If I am working on a game...are there...tiers of writers? Meaning, are there the writers who work on the main story and plot, then the writers who work on dialogue for that plot, and then writers who just work on side quests, etc. Is there that kind of hierarchy? Or another kind? If I'm working on a minor side quest but have an AWESOME (or something) idea for the main quest, I would assume I could bring it up, right? Or do all the writers attend all the meetings. OR are the responsibilities varied? Meaning are some people working on the main quest and smaller side quests at the same time?

Like I said above, writers are going to have tasks varying on their experience. Some are great at quest design while others are more about story and dialogue. A senior writer is going to be doing more design work, while a junior writer is going to work on fleshing out quests that they've been assigned to. You may get to participate in brainstorming that shapes the overall story, and in fact your influence isn't limited to story -- if you have ideas on other areas in the game, you have a chance to offer them to the people in charge of those areas -- but usually a game will be divided up into "chunks" which are then assigned to writers as their area of responsibility. They make that part of the story good, and it would be a Lead Writer's responsibility to ensure overall coherence.

Hope that answers your questions.

[fluffyamoeba]

Jay Watamaniuk made a couple of posts on the Bioware blog about starting as a writer on Mass Effect. This is the first one.