Dragon Age News Thread

John Epler‏ @eplerjc
I think I have my topic for my next GDC talk, 'Games - Holy Shit, Y'all, These Are Fucking Hard'

Jane Ng - GDC‏ @thatjaneng
you know actually a panel of different devs each giving an example of a super tough dev challenge would be an A+ session

John Epler‏ @eplerjc
yes. Yes, I think this is a thing that should happen.

Mike Laidlaw‏ @mike_Laidlaw
Good.

Jane Ng - GDC‏ @thatjaneng
I'm only a quarter joking just saying

John Epler‏ @eplerjc
I'm actually thinking this is a thing we should pitch for next year.

David Gaider@GDC @davidgaider
You could use examples where we had to make a choice that was less than ideal.
Considering how many people think of game dev purely in terms of ideals, it could be eye-opening.



- Indeed...

Mark Darrah Retweeted
Irene Aku/Mad Hatter‏ @ireneskyworld

The witch of the wilds close look. Photo by @fotojcampos
hope you like it!

pbs.twimg.com/media/C58QXaWXEAUK8k3.jpg

Mark Darrah‏ @biomarkdarrah
I might have to wash my teapot.
It's not pouring properly.

i.imgur.com/WpsqVZp.gif


- Honestly, I think that teapot is about 3 days away from becoming self-aware. I think a more... firm hand is required.

Well... I can sleep a little sounder now knowing the military both knew, and prepared for, this eventuality.
Conducted in the 50s you say? That sounds about the right age for that teapot (give a century or three)...

This does not look like it's got any Dragon Age stuff in it.

I do.  I do like it.

Karin Weekes‏ @karinweekes
Just realized this week is @patrickweekes and my 12th & 11th BioWare anniversaries! Thanks for continuing to put up with us! 😜😜

John Epler‏ @eplerjc
Congrats to two of my favourite people!

Karin Weekes‏ @karinweekes
Thank you for being one of the best things about working here. 💖😁

Ben Gelinas‏ @bengelinas
Congrats to my two favourite people. No "of" because unlike Epler, I don't add an asterisk to my love.

John Epler‏ @eplerjc
Ben earns the title of 'my least favourite person'.

Just curious, does anyone know if they were married before joining Bioware, or is it a work-place love story?

David Gaider‏ @davidgaider
Game dev thread incoming! (As I putter around, waiting for checkout time.)

Yesterday at GDC, I spoke with a dev about team morale, which she was having trouble with.
I'm no expert, but I mentioned my writing team consistently had high morale on Bio's team surveys - even during difficult project periods.
She asked me what I believed my "secret" was, and to be honest I'd never really thought about articulating it before. But I tried.
1) Empower them: I always believed my role was to help the writers tell THEIR stories, not for them to help tell MY story.
If there was something they felt passionate about, I let them do it...even if I might have done it differently myself.
Sometimes it meant letting them work on parts of the story I would have liked to do myself. (*cough*Cole*cough*) I valued their engagement.
Level with them: yes, there are Management Things you can't share, but they deserve to know WHY decisions are made.
Don't treat your team members like cogs. They care about the project being good as much as you do.
This was especially important during the hard times: I shared my frustrations, I asked for their help. We were in this together.
Later on I learned there were also some problems you shouldn't share, though. If your morale is low, don't drag them down with you.
It's so easy for a team to become poisonous, and it only takes one to do it. Don't be that guy. Focus on productive solutions.
When a really bad decision came down: "Look, I know this is bad. What can WE do to make this better?"
Lastly: Protect them. You have power they do not, when it comes to dealing with the other teams on the project.
You are their ombudsman. No, our team won't always win, but it's your place to fight for their babies.
I had managers who, when it was my stuff up against an issue of another team, would immediately let the other team have their way.
If there was a fight, I never saw it. I swore I wouldn't be that guy. I went to bat for my team like their stuff was my own.
And that's it. Is it a secret? I don't know...but it saw us through some tough moments, and I got better work out of my team in the end.
Case in point: DA2. Tough project, and we had only a year to write a big game. Very little time for proper review.
It's a project I'll always be proud of, however, because my team pulled together and did stellar work. I trusted them, and they earned it.
We wrote faster than I thought humanly possible, yet we were in it together and I think DA2 had some of our best work to date.
Just realizing my thread might come across as "I alone am the reason my team was awesome". Not so.
I, too, had support from managers like @mike_Laidlaw. He fought for me so many times I can't even count. I'll always be grateful.

Mike Laidlaw‏ @mike_Laidlaw
Always a team effort. Thanks.

David Gaider‏ @davidgaider
You and @biomarkdarrah will always be my examples of what senior team leadership should be like, sir.

Mark Darrah @biomarkdarrah

i.imgur.com/0YvXQEI.gif

*reads article*

I'm dying  :lmfao:

...What the hell did I just watch?