BioWare Supports Beleaguered Writer
- Thread starter Andy Chalk
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Lol that's exactly what I said. Except now i see why DA2 was like a three hour long terrible movie.RazzleDazzle102 said:
Wait, why are dickheads complaining about a story writer not caring they're writing for video games?
This is a good thing you twits, it means you aren't getting stupid, cliched crappy story lines with sequences specifically made to be 'cool' (See: GoW, CoD, Battlefield, etc etc)
"BioWare Edmonton General Manager Aaryn Flynn was driven to publicly refer to at least one commenter as a 'fucking moron'. "
The world needs more of this. Piss that political and polite bullshit off, if i'm being a dickhead i expect someone to call me a dickhead. This dude responded well.
"I just figure they're jealous that I get to have both a vagina AND a games industry job, and they can't get either."
AAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!
Fucking GOLD.
This is a good thing you twits, it means you aren't getting stupid, cliched crappy story lines with sequences specifically made to be 'cool' (See: GoW, CoD, Battlefield, etc etc)
"BioWare Edmonton General Manager Aaryn Flynn was driven to publicly refer to at least one commenter as a 'fucking moron'. "
The world needs more of this. Piss that political and polite bullshit off, if i'm being a dickhead i expect someone to call me a dickhead. This dude responded well.
"I just figure they're jealous that I get to have both a vagina AND a games industry job, and they can't get either."
AAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!
Fucking GOLD.
There are probably many things killing gaming these days, but this nice woman who presumably does the writing for some of my favorite games, is not one of them.
I think the point he was making was that from a storytelling perspective it feels rather awkward and forced for a male Shepard to be able to declare himself gay only after there have already been two games without a homosexual male option. Nothing against homosexual males, but it does seem forced and is quite obviously a meek attempt to appeal to fans who were upset at the lack of gay male options. Not a bad thing in and of itself, but the first two games in the series were devoid of anything that could hint at Shepard being gay (and the developers were actually somewhat insistent on that point).erttheking said:
So it seems like more: http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/SuddenlySexuality As opposed to real, good storytelling or a more natural flow to such characterization. Especially since there was absolutely no reference to a male Shepard being gay at all. At all.
That is comedy gold - funniest thing I've read in ages. And since when is standing up for yourself "fanning the flames". There was a thread here a couple of weeks ago titled something like "Bullies Are People Too" and the amount of pure vitriol being spewed out by people who'd been affected by bullies in their lives was just unbelievable, and yet many of the same kinds of people turn around and treat someone like this? It's just absolutely fucking disgusting.UnderGlass said:
I think as soon as someone said, "homosexuality is a new OPTION" the discussion should have been over. I don't think it matters whether or not it was in previous games or if it offends anyone. It's like domino's added truffle to there list of toppings and everyone who hates expensive mushrooms shows up with pitch forks and torches.
I'm not saying that. Like I said, i'm not supporting the bullies in the story. Just trying to put things in perspective since both sides here are missing a bit of the whole picture.lacktheknack said:
Truth is, I'm supporting neither side so I'm gonna back off the whole ordeal because I don't think I can bring much
This is one of those times where I just don't see the issue. You want gaming to be taken seriously? You want people to look at them and see them as a legitimate form of art or entertainment? You will need talented writers. It doesn't matter if she likes to play or not, she's isn't getting paid to play, and she doesn't even test anything. She just writes. And even counting the storyboard setting stuff, Bioware still has some of the best writing in the industry. Whether or not she actually likes to play should not be an issue when it has nothing to do with her doing her job or her affect on the game.
Speaking as a writer -and- a gamer... I feel ashamed for the internet. She wrote some damn fine stories that I would have gladly paid for in novel form, and we were lucky enough to play them interactively. I think it can't be coincidence that this person works for BioWare, known for some of the best story driven experiences in gaming. Long and short, these people like games. These people like BioWare for their largely story-based games. But they despise the person who puts the -story- into the game?
What would Mass Effect games be without these stories?
Dead Space.
'Nuff said.
What would Mass Effect games be without these stories?
Dead Space.
'Nuff said.
Hmm... well the debate is already into the quote stacks stage, so I'm sure this will be ignored. But I thought that peoples beef with her was that she didn't like video games, and yet wrote stories for them.
I think this might be a problem, and lead to a disconnect between plot lines and mechanics... which you could certainly feel in Dragon Age. I have to admit I wasn't at all invested in the combat, and I can only attribute that to it being too heavily game orientated. You could easily see what combat puzzles the devs wanted you to work through, and the puzzles didn't have relevance to the story... beyond kill these guys to get to the next part.
I kind of think a game writer needs to be involved in the level design as well... and to be interested in how the game plays as a whole, so they can tailor their plot lines accordingly. A story about beating the odds would have hordes of low level guys, and a desperate struggle might only feature one or two heavy hitting mobs.
So I think she probably is in the wrong business, or at least the wrong company. Maybe a turn based JRPG would suit her better, or dating sims.
That said, she certainly doesn't deserve a hate campaign, since really it's the fault of the person who hired her not being discriminating enough with their staff.
And I can see a gay Shepard being okay, since, lets face it, the romance in Mass Effect was disconnected from the game play too. So basically, it doesn't really matter at all.
I think this might be a problem, and lead to a disconnect between plot lines and mechanics... which you could certainly feel in Dragon Age. I have to admit I wasn't at all invested in the combat, and I can only attribute that to it being too heavily game orientated. You could easily see what combat puzzles the devs wanted you to work through, and the puzzles didn't have relevance to the story... beyond kill these guys to get to the next part.
I kind of think a game writer needs to be involved in the level design as well... and to be interested in how the game plays as a whole, so they can tailor their plot lines accordingly. A story about beating the odds would have hordes of low level guys, and a desperate struggle might only feature one or two heavy hitting mobs.
So I think she probably is in the wrong business, or at least the wrong company. Maybe a turn based JRPG would suit her better, or dating sims.
That said, she certainly doesn't deserve a hate campaign, since really it's the fault of the person who hired her not being discriminating enough with their staff.
And I can see a gay Shepard being okay, since, lets face it, the romance in Mass Effect was disconnected from the game play too. So basically, it doesn't really matter at all.
The gaming community ladies and gentlemen. Yep. You guys really deserve the very best a gaming company has to offer. After such a classy classy display.
In my opinion much more should be done about internet trolls. They're not always harmless.
This incident is just another one in a long line of incidents. As a avid supporter of the gaming community I hate that I have to be lumped in with these dipshits.
Boom nailed it. Couldn't have said it better myself.Loonerinoes said:
I quoted this not as a shot at the poster of it but because it nicely sums up a theme in many of the responses to this thread. That "trolling" just comes with the internet. My opinion is that why should we just accept this bullshit? It's a cop out to just say "well that's the way it is."The Globalizer said:
In my opinion much more should be done about internet trolls. They're not always harmless.
This incident is just another one in a long line of incidents. As a avid supporter of the gaming community I hate that I have to be lumped in with these dipshits.
Does Hepler deserve this kind of hate campaign? Obviously not.
Do you need to be a gamer to be a good writer for a game? Not really.
That said... the lady isn't a exactly the greatest writer, IMO. Her crowning moment in writing (the part with Hespith and the Broodmother) worked so well precisely because at the point you encountered her, the player felt just as bruised and battered emotionally as the character because they had to spend hours upon hours fighting their way through the seemingly endless Deep Roads.
It's a shame that this discussion is tainted by so much vitriol right now, though.
Yeah, hours of horrible whiny clingy gay Anders completely outweigh a few minutes of sublimely creepy Hespith awesomeness, but maybe she did manage to overcome her Yaoi Fangirl Fantasies and write a decent homosexual character for Mass Effect 3. Well, I may never know, thanks to Origin and EA... the latter being, of course, the far biggest tumor in Biowares pancreas.
Do you need to be a gamer to be a good writer for a game? Not really.
That said... the lady isn't a exactly the greatest writer, IMO. Her crowning moment in writing (the part with Hespith and the Broodmother) worked so well precisely because at the point you encountered her, the player felt just as bruised and battered emotionally as the character because they had to spend hours upon hours fighting their way through the seemingly endless Deep Roads.
It's a shame that this discussion is tainted by so much vitriol right now, though.
Yeah, hours of horrible whiny clingy gay Anders completely outweigh a few minutes of sublimely creepy Hespith awesomeness, but maybe she did manage to overcome her Yaoi Fangirl Fantasies and write a decent homosexual character for Mass Effect 3. Well, I may never know, thanks to Origin and EA... the latter being, of course, the far biggest tumor in Biowares pancreas.
Anders. That is all.
Joking aside though, she took the whole thing way too personally. I know they are personal attacks, but it's the internet, these people know nothing about her. Anybody on the internet can say whatever the hell they like and it's so anonymous and impersonal that it just shouldn't get to you. Fighting back the way she did was exactly what they wanted, it's like bullying.
Joking aside though, she took the whole thing way too personally. I know they are personal attacks, but it's the internet, these people know nothing about her. Anybody on the internet can say whatever the hell they like and it's so anonymous and impersonal that it just shouldn't get to you. Fighting back the way she did was exactly what they wanted, it's like bullying.
Ray Muzyka:
"Jennifer is a valued, talented employee who has been with BioWare for many years and we hope will be with us for many more. It is awful that a few people have decided to make her a target for hate and threats, going so far as fabricating forum posts and attributing them to her, and singling her out for projects to which she has not contributed (i.e., Jennifer is not even a part of the Mass Effect writing team). All of us at BioWare support and will continue to support Jennifer fully, and are happy to see so many people out there are also supporting her during this difficult time."
There Smash. Where's your source? Calling her "Hamburger Hepler" shows which camp you belong to by the way.
"Jennifer is a valued, talented employee who has been with BioWare for many years and we hope will be with us for many more. It is awful that a few people have decided to make her a target for hate and threats, going so far as fabricating forum posts and attributing them to her, and singling her out for projects to which she has not contributed (i.e., Jennifer is not even a part of the Mass Effect writing team). All of us at BioWare support and will continue to support Jennifer fully, and are happy to see so many people out there are also supporting her during this difficult time."
There Smash. Where's your source? Calling her "Hamburger Hepler" shows which camp you belong to by the way.
I'll just highlight a different part of Ray's comment:Knight Templar said:
"Jennifer is a valued, talented employee who has been with BioWare for many years and we hope will be with us for many more. It is awful that a few people have decided to make her a target for hate and threats, going so far as fabricating forum posts and attributing them to her, and singling her out for projects to which she has not contributed (i.e., Jennifer is not even a part of the Mass Effect writing team). All of us at BioWare support and will continue to support Jennifer fully, and are happy to see so many people out there are also supporting her during this difficult time."
Mocking you're weight, sure. Fake porn... Does it look real? If it's obviously fake I wouldn't give it two thoughts. Again I'm just pointing out that the name calling and the insults thrown her way are really just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to bullying.Knight Templar said: