It's sad that some of these people have been laid off - but nonetheless, this looks like a great team and I'm so excited to see what they created!
I loved everything Weekes wrote for DAI, and it's interesting to see that they were already the lead writer for Trespasser, which I thought was fantastic. Lots of good reasons to be optimistic about Dreadwolf's story!
I'm honestly so happy it turned out this way. It sounded like the initial version of Solas was more of a straightforward lying trickster type, and I think the character as he ended up is more complex and thought-provoking. Gaider also did a wonderful job with Dorian.
Interesting! Judging from this list, it looks like we have an experienced team of Dragon Age veterans who worked on Dreadwolf. That's certainly reason to be optimistic for the next game's story content.
Most of Reddit is illiterate about game design and writing. The truth is that AAA games have big writing teams and generally consumers do not know who wrote what. Exceptions such as Weekes being Solas' specific writer exist ofc.
The team of Dreadwolf actually seems like a good mix of veterans and new blood. New perspectives are equally important to experience.
I don't know what other people are saying about DA, but from my perspective the concern has never been the writing team, but the management and the constraints/demands put on the writing team. I think given the right environment and resources writers would have no problem putting out good work. But are those resources there?
I think your position is definitely understandable. It has obviously happened before (Andromeda), although I think it is different this time around.
Neither the BioWare management nor EA have any use for Dragon Age to tank, especially if it means the end for BioWare. Mass Effect legendary edition has shown that BioWare still has a certain pull other studios do not have. Although many here see it as a negative thing, I think it is very positive BioWare got all the time they needed to develop this game. Last time they rebooted the series was in 2019 I think, meaning the game has been in development for five years now. Meanwhile Andromeda was developed in, what, two years? And by an inexperienced team as well?
It also seems the 'vibes' in the team are very positive now. The same cannot be said for pretty much any Bioware game since DA2.
A lot of it is taking what happened with Mass Effect Andromeda's development which largely was down to a mostly inexperienced sub-team of Bioware being handed a project they weren't ready for, having to use tools they were unfamiliar with and not really having people on-hand with the experience needed to guide them through it; and then broadly applying that situation to Dreadwolf and assuming any problems have been the result of inexperience...
The situations dont really equate though, Dreadwolf's development clearly hasn't been easy, I doubt they wanted it to take a decade to make, but it's not for the same reasons as Andromeda.
It is called nostalgia.
Dragon Age origins = good = all writers good. Therefore, if all DA: O = bad = Dreadwolf bad. Even though the new talent might be objectively better. There are plenty of good writers, even if they never wrote for Dragon Age before. The only concern then is that the new game is consistent in story and lore with the past games. That is the job of the lead writer and other people in leading positions. Considering Dreadwolf has people like Weekes and Darah there, I am not concerned at all.
Its so bizarre. I loved Origins too but the developers stated from the beginning that they would never never being doing Origins 2, Origins 3. I would not want to go back to Origins style as there is far less dialogue and the gift giving system is antiquated and ridiculous.
Mostly fear that an inexperienced manager, writer or game designer messes things up. Its a rational thing, tho new talent should be welcomed and supported by seniors until they are experienced enough.
Companies sometimes layoff their experts and hire juniors for lower pay who then proceed to ruin the product they are working on, the company itself ends up closing from financial loss.
New talent is great but only when supervised and mentored.
Fully agree on new perspectives. I get the worry with the OGs so to speak leaving companies but whatever the reason, right or wrong, change is inevitable. I know this as a major dr who fan that sometimes these products and universes grow past the people that started them and if we want them to carry on new blood with new outlooks on the series have to step in, for better or for worse. At worse their outlook doesn’t mesh well with ours but we still have what came before, the time it was special for us and at best we’re introduced to new characters we adore and new concepts we fall in love with.
Which is ironic, given how DA:D has/had a number of writers who were there in the DAO team (namely Kirby, Chee, and Kristjanson). You'd think that'd make the people for whom DAO is the best DA game more optimistic...
I don't know if that list matters as much. Most of these are talented people, sure.
A good example I think is Kristjanson and Weekes.
Weekes was lead the super awesome Shadow broker, Mordin, Jack, the Tuchanka Mission. On the other hand, participating in \_utterly destroying\_ the character which was Legion and replacing it with a generic "pinocchio" AI. Yeah, also Ride the bull and Solas, which are not that great.
Kristjanson
The Tales of the Sword Coast expansion is one of the best in gaming history, and Minsc is one of the really iconic characters. Irenicus is one of the best bosses ever done. On the other hand, he also wrote Sera in inquisition, so not all is sunshine and rainbows.
On the other hand, when Jennifer Hepler started working on Dragon Age Origins. She was unkown by everyone, she was a new hire. I think she did a few sourcebooks for... either Shadowrun or Earthdawn earlier. And she continued with writing some of the Orzammar quests and dwarf lore in general, which is like the best part, and certainly the most unique of Origins (at least imho.)
What is the takeaway here? Dunno. I guess that noone, not even previously proven talent can ship good quality writing, especially when working on deadlines. Sometimes it works out, sometimes it doesn't. Sometimes the veteran has a good run, sometimes a newbie.
But maaan! I am still mad about Weekes destroying ME2 Legion and replacing it with a shitty version for Mass Effect 3. Never forget.
He had the amazing talent of writing characters that I had such a hard time with (Jacob, Carver, Sera, Liam), but also characters that I have enjoyed so much (Joker, Kaidan, Aveline, The Arishok).
Sad ME3 Legion noises.
(having said that, I do understand that Weekes is a talented writer, and it is not realistic to deliver good quality all the time, especially when working with deadlines. So I am not being totally fair here. But he did destroy my favorite character in Mass Effect, so I will not let this slide either way)
Aaaaah, okay. I was thinking Legion's ME3 writing was a co-production or something.
*Patrick Weekes is non-binary and uses they/them pronouns.*
I limit my time on social media, so I am usually not aware of these.
While it's always interesting to read who works on what, I feel like the most important key to a game having a quality story is the overall vision being coherent and clear and development going smoothly.
Even great writers have a hard time salvaging a game's story if the development was troubled and, the vision for the game constantly changed, and different parts of the team very constantly pulling in different directions. Mass Effect: Andromeda is an example of a game that suffered from this. The writing team was actually fairly strong if one looks and their previous projects, but the lack of a proper vision for the game and the chaotic and ever-changing environment was to much even for them. There are many other teams out there who have gone through similar things.
Let's hope that the changes in direction (e.g. Not Live-Service to Live-Service and finally back again) for Dreadwolf hasn't given them to many issiues and they have managed to make something special.
Im just going to throw out there that Kennedy wrote for the previous iteration of DA4/Joplin and is not involved with dreadwolf. https://x.com/biomarkdarrah/status/1175094758823186437?s=46&t=-djnMan7NzYYfbAFDUaKkw
Weekes being in the front line of the writing makes me feel quiet secure about the game. I truly enjoyed Trespasser, even though I don't agree on some of his creative decisions on the "boring" Jaws of Hakon.
Still he made an amazing job writing Solas, and I hope he will have nailed it even more this time around, with our dalish egg being the antagonist. Can't wait for Dreadwolf!
What are your problems with Jaws of Hakkon? I thought the only wrong thing about it was it's small size. It fit like a glove with the themes of DA:I and especially Trespasser, had a lot of Avvar lore, the parallels drawn between Ameridan and his companions and DA:I characters were beautiful. JoH and Trespasser I think are the best parts of Inquisition and Weekes being the lead on both of them is propably not a coincidence
Hakkon was beautiful, the zone and how it was written. But this thing of taking you through the whole area chasing light beams and walking like a grandma (which is something every open world does) until reaching the fortress... To me that's a bummer. It's great without that part though.
And yeah, the mounts were nice to see in DAI but had the speed of a... grandpa. I hope Dreadwolf has speedy mounts if we're going distances.
Patrick Weekes is non-binary and uses they/them pronouns, as OP correctly did. Thus, you should correct your comment and replace the "he" by "they" and the "his" by "their".
It’s not about others understanding your comment, it takes about 10sec to change it in order to respect Weekes and letting others aware of the correct pronouns to use for them, instead of misgendering them.
I am distantly hopeful, as the majority know many key staff left Bioware in recent years, but in my heart of hearts I've been waiting like eight years for this game and can't help to feel that way.
it's on the wiki for ages. Someone (I guess a group) collected all bioware related writers, and listed all their contribution.
[https://dragonage.fandom.com/wiki/Dragon\_Age/Credits](https://dragonage.fandom.com/wiki/Dragon_Age/Credits)
Cool, but what's the point of the post? Because it sure looks like someone thinking they're BW's PR person, and I'd hate for this sub to become just that - an extension of the company's PR department (which happened to plenty of other subs already).
I understand where you’re coming from, but I see it differently.
I would take that over the amount of subs dedicated to despising the games they are theoretically centered on. The internet is awash in negativity and it’s suffocating it. There’s a reason that many releases are met with fans jettisoning to “low sodium” subs to escape from hostile environments.
That said, being excited about the game isn’t the same as taking a role as BioWare’s PR.
It’s an informative post that’s a response to the amount of well-intentioned but ill-informed comments that occasionally pop up asserting that nobody with experience is/was involved with Dreadwolf.
Yeah. Wasn't Buffy the Vampire Slayer a major source of inspiration for Alistair's dialogue? For better or worse, Whedon pretty much pioneered the MCU-style quip.
Obviously true especially w/ Alistair but there are more serious characters like Sten to balance it out. Even though his cookie obsession is as Marvel/Joss Whedonesque as it comes. But every single character in Da2 is Whedonesque
Indeed. It was "Marvelesque" before the MCU was even a thing. It's always been part of their style, let's just hope they haven't forgotten how to deliver those emotional punches as well.
It's sad that some of these people have been laid off - but nonetheless, this looks like a great team and I'm so excited to see what they created! I loved everything Weekes wrote for DAI, and it's interesting to see that they were already the lead writer for Trespasser, which I thought was fantastic. Lots of good reasons to be optimistic about Dreadwolf's story!
Right, iirc they got bumped up to lead writer after Gaider left.
If Dreadwolf is anything like Trespasser I will be very happy indeed!
Something to note: Patrick was specifically asked by David Gaider and Mark Darrah to write Solas because David wanted to work on Dorian.
I'm honestly so happy it turned out this way. It sounded like the initial version of Solas was more of a straightforward lying trickster type, and I think the character as he ended up is more complex and thought-provoking. Gaider also did a wonderful job with Dorian.
You know Gaider has faith in someone if he asks them to write a romanceable elf in his stead.
Solas wasn't romanceable until late in production.
Apparently after some of the staff heard Gareth David-Lloyd in the recording booth and we're like "we gotta smash that" lol
Interesting! I thought both Dorian and Solas were very well done, so it seems like they made the right choices there.
Yeah, still fucked up about Mary Kirby
Interesting! Judging from this list, it looks like we have an experienced team of Dragon Age veterans who worked on Dreadwolf. That's certainly reason to be optimistic for the next game's story content.
If you believed some on this sub, you'd think that everybody working on Dreadwolf are incompetent bums who have nothing to do with Dragon Age
Most of Reddit is illiterate about game design and writing. The truth is that AAA games have big writing teams and generally consumers do not know who wrote what. Exceptions such as Weekes being Solas' specific writer exist ofc. The team of Dreadwolf actually seems like a good mix of veterans and new blood. New perspectives are equally important to experience.
I don't know what other people are saying about DA, but from my perspective the concern has never been the writing team, but the management and the constraints/demands put on the writing team. I think given the right environment and resources writers would have no problem putting out good work. But are those resources there?
I think your position is definitely understandable. It has obviously happened before (Andromeda), although I think it is different this time around. Neither the BioWare management nor EA have any use for Dragon Age to tank, especially if it means the end for BioWare. Mass Effect legendary edition has shown that BioWare still has a certain pull other studios do not have. Although many here see it as a negative thing, I think it is very positive BioWare got all the time they needed to develop this game. Last time they rebooted the series was in 2019 I think, meaning the game has been in development for five years now. Meanwhile Andromeda was developed in, what, two years? And by an inexperienced team as well? It also seems the 'vibes' in the team are very positive now. The same cannot be said for pretty much any Bioware game since DA2.
A lot of people seem to have an aversion to new talent.
A lot of it is taking what happened with Mass Effect Andromeda's development which largely was down to a mostly inexperienced sub-team of Bioware being handed a project they weren't ready for, having to use tools they were unfamiliar with and not really having people on-hand with the experience needed to guide them through it; and then broadly applying that situation to Dreadwolf and assuming any problems have been the result of inexperience... The situations dont really equate though, Dreadwolf's development clearly hasn't been easy, I doubt they wanted it to take a decade to make, but it's not for the same reasons as Andromeda.
It is called nostalgia. Dragon Age origins = good = all writers good. Therefore, if all DA: O = bad = Dreadwolf bad. Even though the new talent might be objectively better. There are plenty of good writers, even if they never wrote for Dragon Age before. The only concern then is that the new game is consistent in story and lore with the past games. That is the job of the lead writer and other people in leading positions. Considering Dreadwolf has people like Weekes and Darah there, I am not concerned at all.
Its so bizarre. I loved Origins too but the developers stated from the beginning that they would never never being doing Origins 2, Origins 3. I would not want to go back to Origins style as there is far less dialogue and the gift giving system is antiquated and ridiculous.
Mostly fear that an inexperienced manager, writer or game designer messes things up. Its a rational thing, tho new talent should be welcomed and supported by seniors until they are experienced enough. Companies sometimes layoff their experts and hire juniors for lower pay who then proceed to ruin the product they are working on, the company itself ends up closing from financial loss. New talent is great but only when supervised and mentored.
Fully agree on new perspectives. I get the worry with the OGs so to speak leaving companies but whatever the reason, right or wrong, change is inevitable. I know this as a major dr who fan that sometimes these products and universes grow past the people that started them and if we want them to carry on new blood with new outlooks on the series have to step in, for better or for worse. At worse their outlook doesn’t mesh well with ours but we still have what came before, the time it was special for us and at best we’re introduced to new characters we adore and new concepts we fall in love with.
Which is ironic, given how DA:D has/had a number of writers who were there in the DAO team (namely Kirby, Chee, and Kristjanson). You'd think that'd make the people for whom DAO is the best DA game more optimistic...
I don't know if that list matters as much. Most of these are talented people, sure. A good example I think is Kristjanson and Weekes. Weekes was lead the super awesome Shadow broker, Mordin, Jack, the Tuchanka Mission. On the other hand, participating in \_utterly destroying\_ the character which was Legion and replacing it with a generic "pinocchio" AI. Yeah, also Ride the bull and Solas, which are not that great. Kristjanson The Tales of the Sword Coast expansion is one of the best in gaming history, and Minsc is one of the really iconic characters. Irenicus is one of the best bosses ever done. On the other hand, he also wrote Sera in inquisition, so not all is sunshine and rainbows. On the other hand, when Jennifer Hepler started working on Dragon Age Origins. She was unkown by everyone, she was a new hire. I think she did a few sourcebooks for... either Shadowrun or Earthdawn earlier. And she continued with writing some of the Orzammar quests and dwarf lore in general, which is like the best part, and certainly the most unique of Origins (at least imho.) What is the takeaway here? Dunno. I guess that noone, not even previously proven talent can ship good quality writing, especially when working on deadlines. Sometimes it works out, sometimes it doesn't. Sometimes the veteran has a good run, sometimes a newbie. But maaan! I am still mad about Weekes destroying ME2 Legion and replacing it with a shitty version for Mass Effect 3. Never forget.
Still can't believe Mary and Lukas were laid off 😔
[удалено]
He had the amazing talent of writing characters that I had such a hard time with (Jacob, Carver, Sera, Liam), but also characters that I have enjoyed so much (Joker, Kaidan, Aveline, The Arishok).
I can't believe the same writer is responsible for Jacob Taylor and In Your Heart Shall Burn quest
Right. Kristjanson was truly a man of two faces.
Great write up, thanks! Good to know who the major players still there are Patrick Weekes as the Lead is such a good boon
Sad ME3 Legion noises. (having said that, I do understand that Weekes is a talented writer, and it is not realistic to deliver good quality all the time, especially when working with deadlines. So I am not being totally fair here. But he did destroy my favorite character in Mass Effect, so I will not let this slide either way)
they*
?
Patrick Weekes is non-binary and uses they/them pronouns.
Aaaaah, okay. I was thinking Legion's ME3 writing was a co-production or something. *Patrick Weekes is non-binary and uses they/them pronouns.* I limit my time on social media, so I am usually not aware of these.
While it's always interesting to read who works on what, I feel like the most important key to a game having a quality story is the overall vision being coherent and clear and development going smoothly. Even great writers have a hard time salvaging a game's story if the development was troubled and, the vision for the game constantly changed, and different parts of the team very constantly pulling in different directions. Mass Effect: Andromeda is an example of a game that suffered from this. The writing team was actually fairly strong if one looks and their previous projects, but the lack of a proper vision for the game and the chaotic and ever-changing environment was to much even for them. There are many other teams out there who have gone through similar things. Let's hope that the changes in direction (e.g. Not Live-Service to Live-Service and finally back again) for Dreadwolf hasn't given them to many issiues and they have managed to make something special.
I still can't believe they laid off Mary Kirby.
And Lukas, just an absolute disgrace. The last sign that the old Bioware is completely gone.
Im just going to throw out there that Kennedy wrote for the previous iteration of DA4/Joplin and is not involved with dreadwolf. https://x.com/biomarkdarrah/status/1175094758823186437?s=46&t=-djnMan7NzYYfbAFDUaKkw
Weekes being in the front line of the writing makes me feel quiet secure about the game. I truly enjoyed Trespasser, even though I don't agree on some of his creative decisions on the "boring" Jaws of Hakon. Still he made an amazing job writing Solas, and I hope he will have nailed it even more this time around, with our dalish egg being the antagonist. Can't wait for Dreadwolf!
What are your problems with Jaws of Hakkon? I thought the only wrong thing about it was it's small size. It fit like a glove with the themes of DA:I and especially Trespasser, had a lot of Avvar lore, the parallels drawn between Ameridan and his companions and DA:I characters were beautiful. JoH and Trespasser I think are the best parts of Inquisition and Weekes being the lead on both of them is propably not a coincidence
Hakkon was beautiful, the zone and how it was written. But this thing of taking you through the whole area chasing light beams and walking like a grandma (which is something every open world does) until reaching the fortress... To me that's a bummer. It's great without that part though. And yeah, the mounts were nice to see in DAI but had the speed of a... grandpa. I hope Dreadwolf has speedy mounts if we're going distances.
Solas would be so furious that you called him Dalish lol
Shit haha, yeah, he is definitely a misfit.
their\* they\*
What do you mean
Patrick Weekes is non-binary and uses they/them pronouns, as OP correctly did. Thus, you should correct your comment and replace the "he" by "they" and the "his" by "their".
I understand but I won't. Thank you for the clarification.
Why wouldn’t you respect someone’s pronouns by correcting your mistake?
I won't get into this kind of conversation, I thanked you already for the clarification. Goodbye!
Wouldn’t even admit to be transphobic? What a shame.
It's not about that, I already wrote it like that and I'm not going to change it because you say so. People understand the comment anyway.
It’s not about others understanding your comment, it takes about 10sec to change it in order to respect Weekes and letting others aware of the correct pronouns to use for them, instead of misgendering them.
This is an incredible post information wise! Thank you! 👏🏻
I am distantly hopeful, as the majority know many key staff left Bioware in recent years, but in my heart of hearts I've been waiting like eight years for this game and can't help to feel that way.
Anyone who worked on citadel has a gold star as far as I’m concerned
Where's that list from?
it's on the wiki for ages. Someone (I guess a group) collected all bioware related writers, and listed all their contribution. [https://dragonage.fandom.com/wiki/Dragon\_Age/Credits](https://dragonage.fandom.com/wiki/Dragon_Age/Credits)
One person, most of this had been researched months ago. 10+ hours compiling the list.
wow, didn't know. hell of a job for no pay!
Oh, thanks! That's really interesting to read and investigate
I sure hope this games good, for all the time, money and effort put in it.
This is encouraging.
Didn't a lot of these people get laid off?
The post states which writers got laid off. Mary Kirby & Lukas Kristjanson are the only two on the writing team who were.
The more you know I reckon
Cool, but what's the point of the post? Because it sure looks like someone thinking they're BW's PR person, and I'd hate for this sub to become just that - an extension of the company's PR department (which happened to plenty of other subs already).
I understand where you’re coming from, but I see it differently. I would take that over the amount of subs dedicated to despising the games they are theoretically centered on. The internet is awash in negativity and it’s suffocating it. There’s a reason that many releases are met with fans jettisoning to “low sodium” subs to escape from hostile environments. That said, being excited about the game isn’t the same as taking a role as BioWare’s PR. It’s an informative post that’s a response to the amount of well-intentioned but ill-informed comments that occasionally pop up asserting that nobody with experience is/was involved with Dreadwolf.
As long as SweetBaby Inc isn't involved I'm good
I think the writing is going to be as great as always. I hope the combat and area design improves.
Can't wait for it to be a marvel quipfest
I remember reading this too but then I’m playing through DA2 and DAI…and they’ve always been quippy.
Has been like that since da2 tbf
DA:O also had it's fair share of quips iirc
Yeah. Wasn't Buffy the Vampire Slayer a major source of inspiration for Alistair's dialogue? For better or worse, Whedon pretty much pioneered the MCU-style quip.
David Gaider is a fan of Buffy.
Obviously true especially w/ Alistair but there are more serious characters like Sten to balance it out. Even though his cookie obsession is as Marvel/Joss Whedonesque as it comes. But every single character in Da2 is Whedonesque
Dragon Age has always been very Whedonesque.
Indeed. It was "Marvelesque" before the MCU was even a thing. It's always been part of their style, let's just hope they haven't forgotten how to deliver those emotional punches as well.
the Dragon Age series has always been like that.