Former BioWare Writer Plans to Work on New RPG

[Krantos]

Well, it appears we can add Hepler to the list of topics the Escapist is unable to discuss civilly. Really getting to be a long list.

 

[LadyTL]

Well the but happens to be right there, where the letters B, U, and T occur in succession without spaces, where she says "But then we talked, and I read the source material, and I started thinking? What if..." and goes on about how things could be different then Mass Effect. So, she never called it a Mass Effect rip-off unless you take those words out of context (and completely ignore the part where she says it looked to be a rip-off), and then talked about specific differences this game would have in relation to things that Mass Effect did: convincing Kaidan/Ashley, absuing Anders' addiction, and a larger focus on relationships.

I'm not going to say that it's not a Mass Effect rip-off (I haven't read through everything), but saying that Hepler called it a rip-off is quote-mining, lies, and bullshit for the sake of bitching about Hepler some more. That is, unless you have a quote where she says it's a rip-off and doesn't follow it up with a "but."

Right so she used the word but, but not to say it looks like a Mass effect rip off but it's not. Now if she had said it looks like a Mass Effect rip-off but...and then actually said any of the reasons why it's not other then maybe better relationships (though not likely since she states she didn't think of better ideas for her own writing until she saw this game), people would have less of a valid point that it looks like she is going to treat this game as a Mass Effect copy.

Nothing she said after calling it a complete Mass Effect rip off, said that it wasn't one. In fact much of what she said, only showed she was going to treat it as a Mass Effect rip off but with maybe better relationships.

If she was trying to convince someone that the game wasn't a rip off, she failed miserably.
Like this, a later quote: "What I like, personally, in a game or movie or story of any kind, is a dark, deep story about characters with larger-than-life personalities, who need every ounce of their super-human willpower to survive making decisions that will affect the lives of millions."

Gee, I can't imagine what that might turn this game into. It sound an awful lot like a copy of another story from a trilogy of games...

But I'm sure your trust in her not making the game into in her own words a "complete Mass Effect rip-off" won't go unfounded when she says she tries to make that kind of story.

 

[MrMixelPixel]

"Players can play any gender and romance any gender they want. Because who am I to come into your living room and tell you how to play?"

I take issue with this. Sexuality is an important part of the character, just making all my party members bisexual seems like lazy writing to me.

 

[Living Contradiction]

"Players can play any gender and romance any gender they want. Because who am I to come into your living room and tell you how to play?"

...the writer? We have to play the way you tell us to; we might want to be invisible wolves who only have sex with watermelons, but if the only options we're given are gay, straight, bi or asexual then that's the way we've got to play if we want to play the game at all.

Am I a bad person to want to see a game where invisible wolves have sex with watermelons?

What's happening to those melons?

Oh, that. Y'know those invisible wolves that dwell in the valley and do the bidding of the evil Duke?

Yeah?

Well, the farmers are finding out they like watermelon...in THAT way.

Urgh.

Stop staring. They get mad if people stare.

Back in the land of topic, while the game idea looks neat, I can't see this project hitting its goals.

They've got talent aplenty and I can't fault them for keeping their ideas as realistic as possible (eighteen months to release the first episode of three to five hours of gameplay with a "monumentally" reduced marketing budget), but half a million minimum in a month for a developer that didn't exist until last year?

Sorry. I'll raise a glass to them if they make it but I don't see it happening.

As for Jennifer Hepler...heh heh. Folks, you are looking at the reason why they won't need a marketing budget. The gaming press and the Internet Hate Machine will follow her every move if this project does get funded.

 

[grey_space]

"Players can play any gender and romance any gender they want. Because who am I to come into your living room and tell you how to play?"

I take issue with this. Sexuality is an important part of the character, just making all my party members bisexual seems like lazy writing to me.

I totally agree. And it would in my view totally discourage multiple playthroughs from various different character's perspectives.

One or two or even three characters bisexual in some way? Sure. ALL of them? fuck off and write something emotionally real.

 

[nuttshell]

Hey guys, remember how a few weeks ago the internet traffic around the name Jennifer Hepler was inexplicably revived from like, 2009 or whenever the fuck that whole thing actually happened? Remember that? Few weeks ago? Someone else was shat on so Jennifer Heplers name came up and everyone remembered she was a thing?

And now she's selling something?

Ain't that some shit.

Perfectly reasonable, great journalism beautifully executed by pure, moral people with integrity and only the best intentions saw into the future a few weeks ago and revived her name only so that we may know, what the news of today are actually about: a brilliant writer, strugling to work on a vision with epic proportions, in a field she treasures dearly.

 

[Knight Templar]

Oh, the shitty writer who likes Twilight but doesn't like LoTR...

Can you back up anything you just said?

 

[Ed130 The Vanguard]

Wait wait wait...

So, this woman is loathed and hissed at by the Escapist community for the simple fact that she herself doesn't like to play video games?

Um. Alright. How should I put this? Um, "get over it"?

I don't get it. I thought we were more open-minded about these kinds of things.

Partly. She isn't regarded as a particularly good writer either.

The decision to turn every romancable character bi-sexual was hers. I could understand the Pirate Whore and possibly one other, but all of them?

Its rather lazy writing and renders the characters dependent upon Hawke, which was one of the reason why I enjoyed Varric and Aveline more than them.

EDIT: It also makes a normal friendship with the characters much harder, part of this is due to only having Saint, Arsehole and Moron for dialogue choices which when the Saint choice will start/restart the romance leaves players who wanted Emo the Elf to become bash brothers with Hawke out in the cold.

 

[TheDrunkNinja]

Wait wait wait...

So, this woman is loathed and hissed at by the Escapist community for the simple fact that she herself doesn't like to play video games?

Um. Alright. How should I put this? Um, "get over it"?

I don't get it. I thought we were more open-minded about these kinds of things.

Partly. She isn't regarded as a particulary good writer either.

The decision to turn every romancable character bi-sexual was hers. I could understand the Pirate Whore and possibly ome other, but all of them?

Its rather lazy writing and renders the characters dependwnt upon Hawke, which was one ofthe reason why I enjoyed Varric and Aviline more than them.

That was her suggestion? Hmm, yeah I was none too thrilled with that particular design choice, especially when Anders got all upset because I wasn't attracted to him the way he was to my Hawke. Having more options for multisexual people is one thing, but DA2 kinda made it a little ridiculous.

Still, while I can see why someone would be indifferent towards her or even dislike her mediocre writing, I'm still a little confused at the utter hatred and revilement that people have been expressing towards her as if she's some terrible human being or something. I know it's the internet, but damn guys.

 

[Something Amyss]

After receiving death threats, Jennifer Hepler moves on to work on a RPG that she says looks like a "Mass Effect rip-off."

Considering she long ago clarified the two were not connected, isn't this header slightly dishonest?

Er... Calling the project you just joined a "Mass Effect ripoff" is not a good way to start.

She didn't. She posed a series of questions that, among other things spoke of her introduction to a game that appeared to be a Mass Effect rip-off.

It promises 3D rendered full voiced cutscenes with indepth character and armour customization with English, French, Spanish, German, Italian and Russian localizations with Mac, Linux and Windows versions with choices that actually matter (lol)... for $500,000.

So Molyneux is behind it?

You know, the whole Hepler thing leaves me conflicted.

I don't think it should. You can dislike, disagree with or even HATE someone and still hold the belief that someone can go too far by threatening their life or their family's lives.

I'm more or less on the same side. I don't the things she says, and don't really see her presence on this KS being a feature, but violence and death threats are crap and people should be damned ashamed for it.

Also, she probably is best off somewhere else, but it's starting to look like maybe everyone is better off somewhere other than gaming. To borrow from Jim Sterling, if this is what you can look forward to for daring to make a game people don't like, or a change people don't like (Vanderhoff) or whatever else....

Why would you want to make things for that community?

 

[Something Amyss]

The decision to turn every romancable character bi-sexual was hers. I could understand the Pirate Whore and possibly one other, but all of them?

Isn't this a series where you can dress your allies as you please and even order them around like puppets?

...I don't get it. They can e attracted to both sexes as you deem fit? O NOES!

Sorry if it seems like I'm trivialising this, but I can't see any problem.

 

[Ed130 The Vanguard]

The decision to turn every romancable character bi-sexual was hers. I could understand the Pirate Whore and possibly one other, but all of them?

Isn't this a series where you can dress your allies as you please and even order them around like puppets?

...I don't get it. They can e attracted to both sexes as you deem fit? O NOES!

Sorry if it seems like I'm trivialising this, but I can't see any problem.

You must have missed my edit.

It also makes a normal friendship with the characters much harder, part of this is due to only having Saint, Arsehole and Moron for dialogue choices which when the Saint choice will start/restart the romance leaves players who wanted Emo the Elf to become bash brothers with Hawke out in the cold.

So in effect by making the romance the primary friendship path she managed to restrict ability to just become friends. It didn't help there was a lack of dialogue choices but I still found it annoying at times.

 

[Something Amyss]

You must have missed my edit.

Hard to miss that which was not there.

In any event, your justification has little to do with the idea, but the execution. I'm still not sure this is a mark on Hepler.

 

[Ed130 The Vanguard]

You must have missed my edit.

Hard to miss that which was not there.

In any event, your justification has little to do with the idea, but the execution. I'm still not sure this is a mark on Hepler.

Err, but it is and has been for awhile.

Spoiler

Wait wait wait...

So, this woman is loathed and hissed at by the Escapist community for the simple fact that she herself doesn't like to play video games?

Um. Alright. How should I put this? Um, "get over it"?

I don't get it. I thought we were more open-minded about these kinds of things.

Partly. She isn't regarded as a particularly good writer either.

The decision to turn every romancable character bi-sexual was hers. I could understand the Pirate Whore and possibly one other, but all of them?

Its rather lazy writing and renders the characters dependent upon Hawke, which was one of the reason why I enjoyed Varric and Aveline more than them.

EDIT: It also makes a normal friendship with the characters much harder, part of this is due to only having Saint, Arsehole and Moron for dialogue choices which when the Saint choice will start/restart the romance leaves players who wanted Emo the Elf to become bash brothers with Hawke out in the cold.

It does however lead into he infamous statements about gaming, a good writer would have at least understood that game mechanics can potentially hinder the story they are attempting to tell and compensate. Her view of gameplay as something that can be ignored isn't what I would call conductive to creating a good game. I personally feel that story and gameplay should go hand in hand rather than attempt to overpower and outright ignore the other, especially in the types of RPG she is writing for.

 

[Adam Jensen_v1legacy]

Oh, the shitty writer who likes Twilight but doesn't like LoTR...

Can you back up anything you just said?

I could, if I cared to. You can do the research for yourself. I'm not working on a fuckin' thesis.

 

[Knight Templar]

Oh, the shitty writer who likes Twilight but doesn't like LoTR...

Can you back up anything you just said?

I could, if I cared to.

No you couldn't.
She has said she liked the LotR films, but perhaps you meant the book in which case I'd like to know why you think not being a huge fan is a problem?

But I was more referring to the first thing you said.