shinobi602
Member
Before people freak out, this isn't really abnormal. Core structure and script are usually done in advance before moving on to the next project.
https://twitter.com/schlerf
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Chris Schlerf (Mass Effect: Andromeda lead writer) no longer at BioWare, joins Bungie
- Thread starter shinobi602
- Start date
Ghost Slayer
Member
Before jumping to conclusion, I think this is normal in industry right? People leave when they finish their work
UpDownLeftRight
Banned
Seeing a lot of names leaving them recently. I really hope it doesn't have a huge impact on the quality of the game, but being a writer I suppose it's likely most or all of that could be finished by now.
Yeah pretty much. Bungie also is in need of proficient writers.
StrongBlackVine
Banned
Good to see Bungie addressing their weakness. I'm sure Mass Effect will be fine.
It's been rumored for months that he left Bioware.
ThoseDeafMutes
Member
It wouldn't be in the tradition of Mass Effect to have a consistent story.
mikemandey
Member
Yeah the writing should be finished by now.. What's the release date again? Less than a year right?
Hopefully they don't fire them this time.
Coffee Dog
Banned
Mass Effect making it up as it goes along and having a wildly different tone for each game is a series tradition at this point. It's not like it stopped the first three from selling millions!
Oof.
Maybe now they will have time to explain, why they have time to explain.
Poodlestrike
Banned
Wasn't this the Halo 4 guy?
fake edit: he was...
His trajectory is surreal.
fake edit: he was...
His trajectory is surreal.
ShockingAlberto
Member
So Andromeda 3's story will probably be a mess.
cloudzack117
Banned
im assuming andromeda is releasing before destiny 2 right? im in interested to see where they go with its story after flubbing ME3 so bad. might be a good indicator for the future of destiny. mass effect and destiny have some of the coolest lore, destiny needs to just find the right way to implement it
NeOak
Member
Brutal
I'm still salty about ME3's ending.
Tbh, the old story would have been too cliche with the reveal of the Traveler as the source of the darkness.
Since they scraped that, we got a very nice detailed background story for the Hive vs the old "the hive was spawned by the traveler"
The true casualty was the Dinklebot. Nolanbot is dumb and naive, vs the battle hardened Dinklebot.
This was because they scraped most of the recordings. Hours of dialogue thrown to the trash.
I don't believe they've ever said this is a new trilogy. I've been operating on the assumption that they'll be moving to a more Dragon Age-like model, where the games are connected, but not as a singular thing.
Mr. Nice_Guy
Member
Besides this and Halo 4, what else has this guy done? Cursory search didn't show me anything.
Doesn't Andromeda take place in totally different galaxy, kinda "If we fail to defeat Reapers it's your task to rebuild our races" thing? Basically part of same world and universe, just veeery different locations than previous trilogy.
EatChildren
Currently polling second in Australia's federal election (first in the Gold Coast), this feral may one day be your Bogan King.
Not really that big of a deal, in my opinion. I mean, ideally these projects would be written by a lead who is deeply committed to seeing the whole production through, taking on a narrative directorial role alongside the actual writing, to ensure the multitude of other writers are keeping the project coherent and consistent. But to be honest that doesn't seem to happen much in modern game development. With the plot outline written and locked in, the game on course, Shlerf probably doesn't have much reason to hang around or a lot of work to do when he should be on something new. Which it appears is exactly what he's doing.
Most if not all of the character dialogue, exchanges, and nuanced writing will be done by other writers who "fill out" the scenarios and narrative course, so to speak.
EDIT: And no, they haven't outlined "it's a new trilogy" or anything, but I agree with Patryn in that it'll probably be a Dragon Age-like model where the games are connected and save states are imported (including possibly an ongoing protagonist, as it's a series staple). To be fair though outside of leaks they've been coy on almost all of the plot.
Most if not all of the character dialogue, exchanges, and nuanced writing will be done by other writers who "fill out" the scenarios and narrative course, so to speak.
EDIT: And no, they haven't outlined "it's a new trilogy" or anything, but I agree with Patryn in that it'll probably be a Dragon Age-like model where the games are connected and save states are imported (including possibly an ongoing protagonist, as it's a series staple). To be fair though outside of leaks they've been coy on almost all of the plot.
Yes, the Andromeda Galaxy. I was talking about future games.
A.D. Skinner
Member
They had early drafts quite a while ago. It's probably finished with only minor tweaks needing tk be made at most, to suit any changes in other parts of production.
Man finished his job, moved on.
Roll on E3!
Man finished his job, moved on.
Roll on E3!
Gnome Scat
Member
I hope he'll improve the quality of Destiny's storytelling, I could hardly get into the game due to it.
Steverulez
Member
I'd say so. The SP in Halo 5 is good for the level design and new Spartan abilities, story is a disappointing aspect of it though
God I hope so. The same recurring characters makes the world feel so small.
I really hope that's the way they go. There was plenty of interesting story to mine back in the Milky Way until they may or may not have blown it up/let it fall to the Reapers.
If Mass Effect learns anything from Deadpool's success:
Swearing
[*]Nudity
[*]Sex
[*]Break the fourth wall constantly.- You don't need world ending stakes to have an interesting compelling story.
But also lots of nudity, sex and swearing.
ThoseDeafMutes
Member
Ending aside, it might actually have been better if they hadn't tried to tie the trilogy together with a single thematic thread of organic vs synthetic life. The Geth and Edi both became significantly less interesting by the introduction of elements of pinocchio plots, the Reapers became stupid and/or nonsensical when their true motivations were revealed by the Citadel AI and the Synthesis ending makes no sense on any level. They attempted to tie many plot threads and themes into the central conflict, but it failed and made things worse for trying.
Like it would have been nice to have something cohesive overall, but it doesn't actually need it, each entry can be individually compelling. ME2 was a fantastic experience and it wasn't really trying hard to tie into the meta narrative - when it did, it was pretty weak actually.
HamsterExAstris
Member
We went from "a possibly-cliche reveal that the good guy was actually our doom" to "a cliche black-and-white morality play". I'm not convinced that was an improvement.
His leaving Andromeda doesn't bode well. It's hard to know how much of the failure of Mass Effect 2 was Karpyshyn's fault and how much was Walters' screwing it up after he left, but this doesn't give me the warm fuzzies for it turning out well.
Karpyshyn's story about Revan and the Exile post-KOTOR was really, really bad. Not to mention dialogue improved with Weekes' involvement.
Strangelove77
Member
Bungie fucking needs it.
Lunafreya Nox Fleuret
Member
This is great news for Destiny 2's story, I think. I want to believe but after destiny 1, idk.
ROUGE_BLOCK
Member
Full circle, he worked on Halo 4 under 343 and now will work on the step- brother of bungies Destiny. Man do I really want someone to step up and use that lore in a compelling narrative! The art design is screaming for it!
cartographer
Member
Wonder who gets handed the title for the inevitable next game. There's a few good candidates and some that have been with BioWare for a while.
We have Weekes as lead writer on DA. Did we get word on anybody being moved to lead on Edmonton's new IP?
We have Weekes as lead writer on DA. Did we get word on anybody being moved to lead on Edmonton's new IP?
Overall his Star Wars writing is just not great and is pretty representative of what made the EU such a mess (obvious exceptions aside).
The problem with Destiny wasn't the writer, it was the company management being a mess and scratching what had been written.
Well, even Mass Effect 1 wasn't all roses. Sovereign being able to speak at all was so damn stupid.
A man can dream.