BioWare's Lead Writer Resigns

[Caligulove]

Wish the best for him. Not to mention the trends of bashing BioWare recently and nitpicking just about everything they do has gotta get stressful to the point of aggravation.

 

[Sora383]

I met the guy when he did a book signing at a store near me house he was a lot nicer then some of the writers i have met and I've always loved his work. But at the same time its not good to stay at the same company forever so maybe this is the best for all of them. Good luck to you sir

 

[Icehearted]

He is probably retiring to start his long search for a neck.

Oh good god you always know how to make me chuckle. He does sort of have a neck-less Henry Rollin's look to him.

Writers write for the joy of writing first, then the accolades and money last (if you're lucky enough to carve yourself a niche in the industry). Fresh blood could be a good thing, assuming they go fresh, but whatever the case I wish him well.

 

[Fappy]

Going to miss Drew's involvement in the ME universe. Won't be the same without him

 

[synulia]

Perhaps it would be a good time for Bioware to hire Neil Gaiman. The next ME game will be called Mass Effect: Galactic Gods. Shepard is hired by someone named Mr. Friday who turns out to be a Turian god.

I could've sworn I was wearing pants before I read this. But in all seriousness, Bioware, get on this right now. RIGHT NOW. Either that or Gaiman should write the script for the new Thief game.

 

[LiquidGrape]

I just love how people immediately break out their conspiracy hats.

"EA did it! BioWare is out of control! I didn't like Dragon Age II and I won't rest until everyone hears about it!"

The guy has been working on what is, in writing terms, an incredibly exhausting medium for over a decade now. I wasn't surprised to hear these news at all.

But I'd have to say, I found Karpyshyn a fairly mediocre writer. Better than Mac Walters, but not very enticing at all.
The real writing talent at BioWare is the core team consisting of David Gaider, Sheryl Chee and Mary Kirby, as well as Lukas Kristjanson and Patrick Weekes.

I equally love how ultimate fans crawl out of the woodwork to call everyone conspiracy theorists just because they arent in denial about the downfall.

But to each their own. I only wish that I were that . . . ill say, optimistic.

Even more so, I love how ideological dissenters will endeavour to paint people who doesn't act as if BioWare strangled their first-born child as unthinking cultists.

Seriously, in the post you quote I even say I thought Karpyshyn was a poor writer. I'm not sure what leeway you found for inferring fanboyism, but kudos on the imagination, I guess.

 

[Bara_no_Hime]

Wow, I guess Drew Karpyshyn was really pissed off about what Dietz did to his Mass Effect novel series in Mass Effect: Deception. And by what Dietz did, I mean taking a shit on all of Drew's characters and story up to that point.

So yeah, it kind of makes sense that Drew wants to concentrate on his novels. After all, last time he took a break from writing novels to write video games again, well... Deception happened.

Good luck to you, Drew. As a fan of your games and novels, I'll be keeping an eye out for whatever you end up doing next.

 

[Omnific One]

Thank god Mass Effect 3 will be the last Bioware game I pay more than $10 for. Good luck to Drew in his future endeavors.

 

[mechanixis]

Hmm. Just another reason to assess the quality of Bioware games with caution and healthy skepticism in the future, I suppose. They really did peak around Mass Effect 1 for me.

 

[Azmael Silverlance]

If he goes to work for Blizzard. Where lets face it all the big money is it will be a GG for everybody

 

[Imbechile]

but it's their robustly developed stories and characters that seem to define them.

Spoiler: Oh really?

Now, where did I put my Xerox?

Excuse me while I call Bullshit, if you are going to generalize that much, you could (with some clever wordplay) say that everything is the same as everything else as all the sheet really does is compare mechanics, not story or characters.

Okay. I will do it:

You are the member of an old and powerfull organization called the: Jedi/Grey Warden/Specters/Spirit Monks. An ancient evil threatens to destroy: the Republic/Ferelden/Known galaxy/Neverwinter. You must gather a band of adventurers(The same 5-6 personalities) and go to a few hubs to: look for the Star Map/Gather allies/thwart Saren/find a cure for the plague/look for the Spirit Monk amulet.

OT: Good. Now they only need to fire Helper and Gaider and then maybe they will start writing good stories and dialog

 

[Ares Gandhi]

I don't blame him. I wouldn't be surprised if he had enough of lesser writers ruining the Mass Effect series, which used to have actually decent writing when he was still at the helm. He set the series up on a very solid foundation, and then people like Mac Walters, William C. Dietz and co. turn it into a laughable imitation of what it used to be. I would've quit too.

 

[The_root_of_all_evil]

the thing your missing badly is the fine print

There's very few cliches in fine print. But having a rag-tag band of mercenaries with a singular difference to each tends to touch on it.

like in mass effect 2 the way you interact with your squad

Do you want me to bring out the personality chart as well?
The shy geek, the outsider with the heart of gold, the strong silent goon...

and get to know them and do their loyalty missions is something that isnt in your chart,

That's not writing. That's timesinking for extra chat.

nor is the optional text that gives in depth detail on the world and enhances the players understanding of the world.

Optional text is window dressing. Most people don't window dress the same way.

if you look at the broad picture like you do 99% of games are the same
1. the setting and main character are introduced

Audiosurf, Braid, Aaaaaaaaaaaaaah, Boulderdash

2. a goal appears the character has to meet (weather this is to find a princess or shoot some people, or make a farm)

Rampage, Minecraft, Limbo

3. the character faces many trials along the way to achieving this goal meeting new characters who try to help/hinder them and gaining new skills and/or equipment to help them face increasingly harder challenges

That's actually describing what a game is...but still - You have to Burn the Rope, Effing Hail, Portal

4. the goal is achieved all is well

Portal, Space Invaders, Pac Man, Call of Cthulu

Writing The Hero's Journey out 12+ times doesn't make you a great writer.

 

[thespyisdead]

*insert the obligatory darth vader no here*

you will be missed, but i really cant blame you, as after bioware became a division of EA, everything started to go downhill :/