Comments on That's a Terrible Idea: GDC Austin: Tuesday Writers Summit

Oh, no worries. I know how draining conferences c...

2009-09-18T04:36:52.638-04:00

Oh, no worries. I know how draining conferences can be. Part of me wishes I were there to meet with some of the people there. But, the sane part of me knows I'd get even less work done there than here. :)

I was just saying I'm looking forward to some more in-depth analysis.

I will definitely be writing up my thoughts more d...

2009-09-17T22:38:58.507-04:00

I will definitely be writing up my thoughts more deeply. After a full day of sessions, I'm pretty beat by the time I get back to the hotel. I really just want to crash. I'd like to at least get the notes up first so that if someone wants to read them, they can. My further comments will be posted soon enough :)

I enjoyed the writer portions of the Austin confer...

2009-09-17T04:36:42.499-04:00

I enjoyed the writer portions of the Austin conference. I think there's a bit of conflict between the right-brained story types and the left-brained game mechanics types in design. The answer usually lies somewhere in the middle of what works best for a game. Tying the story too closely to the game mechanics hinders the story (as most people know how to write it), but separating it just makes it feel like a disconnected part. The big challenge is to find a way to tell the story so that it works with the medium. In terms of the development of film as a storytelling medium, it's like learning that the camera doesn't just have to take the place of someone in the audience watching a play.

When focusing specifically on MMOs, it's really hard to see where a writer fits in. Walls of text are bad according to many people, so the "writing" part of the job description takes a back seat. The story the players experience is the most important, so that diminishes it even further. Mood and atmosphere are elements that are maybe best handled by traditional (visual) designers. The only thing left is trying to be the continuity nazi, is an MMO really enhanced by that? How much has WoW had to "retcon" stuff to make it fit in the game?

I'm interested in reading a post about some of these topics in more depth as they relate to both your thoughts on game design.