John Epler @eplerjc DAI deep lore - the reason Iron Bull had a dedicated sex tower is because we boarded out the whole ‘everyone walks in on you’ scene and then we made the player’s bedroom with a staircase entrance instead of a door.
Sammitch @sammitch Do you pre-brief HR like "ok this quarter we're starting work on 'the sex tower' and there's going to be some odd talk in the commissary" or is it more fun to just let them find out organically?
John Epler @eplerjc HR kind of just knows that we get up to weird stuff. We do try and let people know what’s coming, because some folks get uncomfortable and we want them to be able to opt out.
Crystal McCord @mrscmccord Being a working Mom means doing a zoom meeting in the car while driving your son to daycare because you need to communicate with Spain before they are done for their day! #timezones #workingmom #localization
- To be fair though, I'm not sure which project she's referring to (Anthem, DA, ???).
Patrick Weekes @patrickweekes It turns out that a scene involving significant physical contact between two characters, one of whom is sometimes 4’10” and sometimes 7’2”, and sometimes in the middle, is kind of a pain.
𝓉𝒶𝓎𝓁𝑜𝓇 @caffeinehag Wait, dwarves are 4’10”?
Patrick Weekes @patrickweekes I maaaaay have completely made up those numbers.
John Epler @eplerjc In Jaws of Hakkon, judging the bear was a late ask by @sylvf1 , in exchange for all the bear puns.
Patrick Weekes @patrickweekes Oh god, Storvacker.
Emma Craib @ashenrenegade I still imagine having to convince Cullen to use her on War Table Missions Cullen: "We'll need to send some of our men," Inq: "OR....Or..." C: "Inquisitor, not the bear," Inq: "What's scarier, Commander? Soldiers or a weirdly intelligent bear?" C: "...Storvacker it is,"
Patrick Weekes @patrickweekes Inquisitor: The operation was a success! I can HARDly believe it! Josephine: Inq: Wait hang on, I meant BAREly. J: We know, Inquisitor. Inq: Because Storvacker is a bear. J: We KNOW, Inquisitor.
Tim McJones @the_McJones “There would be times where @mike_Laidlaw would come into my room to explain things had changed and I would go ‘ok I need to kill you, I need to jump across my desk and kill you’ but I truly love Mike and I enjoyed writing on Inquisition.” - @davidgaider #paxaus
Unfrightened Mike Game @mike_Laidlaw This is extremely accurate. I would usually clap my hands and say "Well....." and all the writers would wince.
And I love Dave, too. He's wonderful, even if he needed to kill me a lot.
Patrick Weekes @patrickweekes Jesus, the clap. I remember the clap.
One More Dragon Age with Feeling “This was something that had come up while I was at BioWare,” Gaider recalls. “Numerous times during the development of Dragon Age I kept trying to convince management that we should do a musical DLC. Let players go into the Fade and experience a bit of a musical. Which is a dream, but not quite a dream because it's the Fade. I thought that that would be cool, but they were never into the idea. I guess in the back of my head this was something I always wanted to do.”
A new studio, however, meant creative control. “That's something I get to decide?” Gaider exclaims, revisiting the feeling he had when discussing the studio’s first project. “I've loved all the games I’ve worked on, but it was always working within a set box... After thinking about it for a moment I simply said… ‘musical’.”
That single word immediately sparked a range of discussions, as well as raising a few questions. Questions that might have already had answers if Gaider and the team at BioWare were given the chance to create that Dragon Age musical. How do you make a song interactive? If there are multiple paths through a song, and an underlying story, how would that work when played? What would make a musical a game as opposed to something you simply listened to and enjoyed?
“It took a while for us to define what it meant to be a musical,” Gaider continues. “It’s not just about writing a song in that traditional sense, because each song immediately becomes so much more. If you have multiple paths it becomes lyrically challenging and musically challenging because each needs to sound like it was the intended way to go.” From there, seemingly simple gameplay mechanics required extensive thought and eventual testing. Stuff like timing, right down to the second - the exact period a player would be given to not only read through choices but act in a way that didn’t disturb the flow and pacing of the music.
With many years spent creating rich character and choice-driven dialogue scenes and storylines in BioWare RPGs, it makes sense that this initial steer from Gaider was towards the how. But, marrying lyrics and song proved to be an experience akin to learning to ride a bike all over again. “Every now and then during my career I've had to re-learn the process,” Gaider tells me. “Switching media, like going from games to novels or comic books, you really do have to re-learn how it all works. And Chorus has been the same thing. Even though when we started, I was like, ‘Oh, lyrics, songs, how hard could that be?’”
Skarin’ Eeeks @karinweekes Was just searching Twitter for a Dragon Age related post I'd seen earlier, and this ad came up in the results, I suspect because "Fight the Fade", but even if not, I am CRACKING UP.
Downy @downy Keep your clothes looking newer, longer with Downy Fabric Conditioner #FightTheFade.
Jo Berry @joanna_Berry My immediate mental image: Iron Bull putting his laundry out on a line and declaring, hands on hips, "Now THAT'S fighting the Fade!" and Solas facepalming in the background.
Patrick Weekes @patrickweekes (Needs to watch part of a movie as reference for work) Me: There, got it. Memory refreshed. Also Me: If you watch for another ten minutes, you'll get to the bit that makes you cry. Me: I'm at WORK. AM: ... Me: (grabs tissues, keeps watching) Asshole.
USG @usgamernet How One Rookie Speedrunner Slashed Dragon Age: Inquisition’s World Record to Pieces dlvr.it/RGTpw3
Aaryn Flynn aarynflynn For someone who's seen their fair share of Dragon Age: Inquisition gameplay, this ~30 minute speedrun is INSANE -
Mark Darrah @biomarkdarrah Step one: get out of the Hinterlands!
Patrick Weekes @patrickweekes Last thing I remember, I was running quite a lot. I had to find a passage back, like to Haven or the plot. Relax, said Scout Harding, we are programmed to receive... 🎶
Games: Mass Effect Trilogy, Dragon Age: Origins, Dragon Age 2, Dragon Age Inquisition, Jade Empire, Mass Effect Andromeda, SWTOR, Anthem, Mass Effect Legendary Edition, Dragon Age The Veilguard Prime Posts: 3,912 Prime Likes: 9733 Posts: 2,894 Likes: 12,961
Mass Effect Trilogy, Dragon Age: Origins, Dragon Age 2, Dragon Age Inquisition, Jade Empire, Mass Effect Andromeda, SWTOR, Anthem, Mass Effect Legendary Edition, Dragon Age The Veilguard
Comicbook.com @comicbook What’s Fenris been up to? Why “Blue Wraith”? How does BioWare factor into all this? We asked the creative team behind Dragon Age: Blue Wraith these questions and more Rollin Bishop @rollinbishop oh hey, remember when I said I was gonna talk with the Dragon Age: Blue Wraith creative team at @darkhorsecomics ? HERE IT IS Comicbook.com: Rollin Bishop's interview with the creative team of Blue Wraith
Nick Knight 🌱 🏳️🌈 Davrin's boobs speaking of which,I know it's too soonTM but take this as future feedback, The Waylanders (her lead writer especially)is doing an awesome job revealing what characters are available to sexual orientations in advance,avoiding queerbaiting (MEA) hope you guys do the same for DA4. again I know is too soon but the romance list should not be considered spoilers once the companions are revealed, this way gamedevs spare queer players from being queerbaited and disappointed in advance
Patrick Weekes @patrickweekes We spoiled all romance options on DAI, and Cassandra was still criticized as queerbaiting. I don’t believe spoiling all options solves that issue.
Nick Knight 🌱 🏳️🌈 Davrin's boobs at this point the safest bet is to make the first and most-important characters bisexual if Bioware continues to do different sexual orientations (I'd rather go all bi and gay/lesbian rep with non-romanceable companions and everyone is happy but alas)
Patrick Weekes @patrickweekes I disagree strongly with this. Making everyone bi/pan does simplify things, but it also removes our ability to have someone like Dorian, whose arc was indelibly linked to his sexuality. (At least, it does for folks who aren’t bi/pan.)
Making everyone bi except for some folks who are gay is... unlikely to ever happen. You’re welcome to want it, but complaining that it isn’t happening won’t make it any more likely to happen.
Ultimate, for DAI, we looked at a choice between:
- Any PC can romance any follower, followers will be called PlayerSexual and some folks will feel sexualities were erased
And
- Every PC can romance someone but not everyone, there are straight, bi, and gay options.
The first option is DAII. The second is DAO and ME3. Either choice, we knew, would result in some folks being unhappy for one reason or another.
We went the DAO/ME3 choice because we were more comfortable with folks being angry they couldn’t romance ($Follower) than being angry that the game made gay/lesbian folks not exist.
So be angry. We made that choice. We would make it again.
Also, I wasn’t on MEA, so can’t and won’t speak for decisions made there.
Patrick Weekes @patrickweekes Any meeting in which the idea of a Qunari woman named "Harley-Qun" comes up is a good meeting, and also a meeting that has probably run too long.
Skarin’ Eeeks @karinweekes The moment in writer meetings where literally everyone goes “Oooooooh, that will make players saaaaaad!” 🤣
Jo Berry @joanna_Berry One of my proudest moments was making a suggestion that got everyone in the writer's room, including Patrick and Mike, to stare at me in horror 😄
Skarin’ Eeeks @karinweekes Those are the best times, eh? 😁
Mishell Baker @ Sirens Conference @mishellbaker You guys are sadists ❤️❤️❤️
Patrick Weekes @patrickweekes I mean, we made ourselves sad, too, so we’re at least sado-MASOCHISTS...
Wil Sterling @shadowvasterra Dammit, what did Patrick do this time.
Patrick Weekes @patrickweekes Hurtful.
FYI @sherylchee wanted me to clarify that l, “It was a GROUP effort,” despite me not actually admitting to having been the one who did anything.
Imperator Furiåsa @devilkitten We have this massive screen showing trailers at work and every time I've passed so far it's shown me Trespasser. I'm taking that as a sign and I'm preparing myself to have my heart broken by Solas again.
Imperator Furiåsa @devilkitten To prove how good the collaboration with the programming department in the UX team is, we jointly came up with the acronym CUDL for our UI data layer. And when I say we, I got to choose the acronym. But seriously. More games should use acronyms like CUDL.
Patrick Weekes @patrickweekes Another Writer Voltron comes to a close, leaving a bunch of punchy but enthusiastic writers in its wake. Thanks to @bbattye, @sylvf1, @sherylchee, @courtneywoods, @el_cormier, @karinweekes, @eplerjc, and Twitterless Luke and Dombrow for calling me on my bullshit.
Patrick Weekes @patrickweekes Another Writer Voltron comes to a close, leaving a bunch of punchy but enthusiastic writers in its wake. Thanks to @bbattye, @sylvf1, @sherylchee, @courtneywoods, @el_cormier, @karinweekes, @eplerjc, and Twitterless Luke and Dombrow for calling me on my bullshit.
Clreit @clreit Glad you all survived. But can we ease up on the ooooooh this will make players cry stuff.
Patrick Weekes @patrickweekes There was also a lot of discussion about where to put the butt jokes.
