BioWare is DEAD - No good writers, no Dragon Age

[@itsneryun]

What Do You Think? Do you agree with David Gainer’s perspective? Has BioWare’s change in priorities ruined the studio's legacy, or is there still hope for a comeback? Share your thoughts in the comments.

[@petercharles1501]

BOYCOTT EA. Bad writting bad hirring but worse - loss of respect of the core gamers.

[@BittermanAndy]

Bioware is done. It was probably done a long time ago. But it's over.

[@12Jarved]

Not the same BIoware any more. The glory days have long gone and Veilguard completes the change of direction of the studio. Best of luck to them but seeing the deterioration in their writing and dialogue in their later games I won't be joining them on the journey.

[@MrsOutlawCaliber]

I can have a stranger read me a book and feel nothing....put that same book in the hands of a person you know/ trust and the story comes to life......The heart and passion of dragon age is gone.....

[@itsneryun]

Thank you for your comment @MrsOutlawCaliber!

[@JamesGhodbane]

Their next Mass Effect game is going to be worse than Andromeda!

[@itsneryun]

Have a feeling that you gonna be right about that!

[@SeanFarFlung]

Ah yes good old JayJay R Tolkien, the often overlooked yet superior brother of J.R.R Tolkien

[@itsneryun]

Oh god.... haha made my day!

[@SeanFarFlung]

@itsneryun thanks for being a good sport 😆 I couldn't help myself but I wasn't trying to be hateful.

[@itsneryun]

@ oh i did not feel like it at all and you just made it very funny! liked that!

[@PunkDogCreations]

Don't blasphemy ​@@itsneryun

[@smithynoir9980]

Just in case it's not already on your radar (whoever reads this :); check out a new sci-fi game coming in the next few years that looks to be heavily focused on it's writing and world building called Exodus. It's by Archetype, a studio whose leads include the writers and minds behind Dragon Age: Origins, Mass Effect 1-2 and some of 3 and Knights of the Old Republic. When developing the setting for Exodus, they even brought in Peter F Hamilton, a sci-fi author, to expand and deepen the setting. He even wrote a novel in the setting that's already out; The Archimedes engine. The lore and Q&A videos that are out so far, make it look extremely promising.

[@itsneryun]

@smithynoir9980 Thank you so much for your comment. I am planning to do a video on it, and trying to follow along. Really looking forward how Exodus will turn out!

[@Janx14]

"How can we do less writing"...by abandoning your IP's and making crappy cash grab games. If the last decade of media has taught us anything, its that writing is really important no matter how advanced your graphics and systems are.

[@itsneryun]

I agree, be it movies, tv series or games, good writing is where it starts!

[@christianporter3638]

I dont blame Bioware as much as i do EA. Once the Doctors left and got paid.....downhill

[@itsneryun]

That is very true. I agree. I felt very disappointed when the founders left... I really saw it back than already coming

[@lilypadrocks872]

Always loved writing, but was never confident to start, but anytime i watch games or any other form mediums that have incredible writing, makes me feel every facet of the world is alive, the world building, history, and how certain characters interact with each other and their unique worlds, it really breath life into it.

[@itsneryun]

Makes such a huge difference when it can come across with well written words. Reading the Codex in Dragon Age Origins was really a joy and lots of love in there too!

[@adamjenkins7653]

Writing is like cooking, and other arts. Anyone *can* do it, true. But not everyone can do it *well*. It is also important to understand what is meant by writing, or cooking, or art. Technically speaking heating meat is cooking, but many would agree that that alone is not difficult/proper cooking. Yet despite that it is still cooking. Writing is the same. Whenever someone speaks of writing, one must understand what aspect they are referring to. Some can describe scenery; entirely fictional places, in beautiful detail that leaves people longing to visit, but would not be able to describe a fight between two entities, of any kind. The writers for DA:tV could possibly write what some call smutty fan fiction, or an autobiography to an acceptable level of quality, but they are unable to move beyond their own life, and real world experience to tell a fantasy story, about wholly different people operating under different rules and in situations they themselves have never, let alone *can never* experience. I for example am able to describe how a fictitious character feels, and to a limited experience make them seem like real people, but would genuinely struggle to explain what I am feeling when I am happy. The mark of a great/above average artist; of any kind, is how far they are willing to go to improve their work. Will you go out and study how blood interacts with snow to improve your crime story? Will you study silver smithing to improve your sculpture? Will you willingly find a cook book and both follow, and repeatedly cook some food to make a better meal? Those that are unwilling to grow their experience, and understanding of the world are akin to someone running a race after tying their shoes together, they *can* still win, but it will never be as easy, or as great as it could have been.

[@itsneryun]

Beautifully put together. It feels a lot like fan fiction.

[@derula]

I think you can make games without requiring highly skilled writers, by utilizing simple tropes and archetypes. This is what Nintendo does all the time. However, if you try to play Nintendo games for the story, you will not get very happy. If you remove gameplay, art direction, Nintendo polish, music etc from a Nintendo game and just look at the story, there is not much left there to be considered a "masterpiece." This is very intentional: a simple, shallow, inoffensive story can have much greater mass appeal than a complex narrative. And maybe that's what Bioware is trying to chase. _However_, you can't do that and still have the story take center place. Nintendo games don't have many hours of cutscenes. They don't include political messages. They don't have massive worlds with consistent, deep lore and history. Almost every game creates a new world or redefines how an existing world works, to fit the theme of the game overall. This approach just doesn't match a deep fantasy persistent universe. So trying to chase this mass appeal means you will have to completely refocus your game. Bioware did not do this. They wanted to have their cake and eat it, too. They wanted to appeal to their fans, and at the same time, a broader audience. So they tried to create a simpler story while still implying the existence of the grand universe the previous games built. At the same time, they did not have good writers that would have done a better job at representing real-world politics in a more subtle, metaphorical way that fits the setting. So what they ended up with is a mess that instead of appealing to everyone, appealed to only a small number of people that agree not only with their politics, but also their idea about how these politics should be included in media.

[@laju6398]

No, the goal certainly wasn't to have a simpler story to appeal to the broader masses. If you'd want that, you'd have to remove things that offend the 50% of the population who lean conservative too, not just the things that offend the left. You have to understand this: These writers see themselves as heroic crusaders in the culture war, who do what's "right" even if it bankrupts the company. Look at their posts on Bluesky if you don't believe me. They replaced the existing universe with another one, a universe, were the most radical iteration of leftist ideology is woven into any miniscule detail of the world. The motto of the modern western writer has been revealed in the Star Wars Sequels: "Let the past die, kill it if you have to". And that is what they did.

[@derula]

@@laju6398 Why would they want to preach only to 50% of the population, saying things that those 50% already agree with? Accepting that they wanted to be activists and push a narrative, why would they want to push that narrative only to people that already agree? Isn't activism more trying to change the mind of people that don't already agree? So if they weren't _aiming_ to reach a broader audience, it's not activism, it's just circle-jerking.

[@itsneryun]

@derula Very well put together argument. I see it very similar that not all games require it. But if you do, you should be on point.

[@gamesadergaming1321]

Veilguard is the only example we need to see BioWare doesn't have any talented writers working on Failguard. I hope Mass Effect will be different with Mary DeMarle.

[@elivenya-theautisticbookwy9638]

And for a similar reason we have so many terrible books flooding the market...but that's part of capitalism...art is just a annoying burden in capitalist ideology

[@laju6398]

A yes, it's capitalism when you flood the market with something that doesn't sell. Sure bro. Is the wall of your room plastered with Agitprop posters by any chance?

[@elivenya-theautisticbookwy9638]

@@laju6398 a dark fantasy book is compared to a YA mass marked book a niche...now originally DA is a dark fantasy game which is nichte to mass marked fantasy games....however if you change a dark fantasy suddelnly into mass marked generic fantasy for capitalist reasons, then it is still goind to backfire because you screwed the original target audience...the motivation is still greed....

[@momirbaborac5536]

I will always remember them as the inventors of the gamelike genre.

[@ttubebaby]

Bioware might be able to come back if they don't make Mass Effect 5. They need to make something entirely new that won't have a legacy attached to it which they honestly just seem to resent now. They can make something that will have to, and be allowed to, stand on it's own and leverage the skill set they have rather than try to force themselves to develop a skill set the old team used to have. If it works well, then they'll have something new to build from and even if it doesn't, well better bombing out trying something grand than bombing while also doing something they don't have confidence in.

[@itsneryun]

I like it that there is still some positivity or hope for BioWare. But for me I am at a place where I just have none but like to be surprised.

[@tbone9474]

And to think, i thought Andromeda would be as bad as the industry would get in terms of wokism and terrible story... what an innocent man i was

[@itsneryun]

Weren't we all...

[@mylifeisalie143]

Gaider is a really bad writer, if you read anything he alone made you see how hard he was carried!!! Its good hes gone!

[@laju6398]

Yeah, but sometimes people can be really good in a certain team, but terrible when working alone. John Lennon comes to mind here.

[@itsneryun]

That is very true! Its all also about leadership and how everyone is working together. The environment also would need to nourish it of course. Thanks!