This subject came up among the writers fairly often. "How can we make an 'evil path' which is actually satisfying?" The problem, more often than not, boiled down to our ability (or lack thereof) to flag *intention*.

https://twitter.com/WorstGirlEva/status/1739394411765657658

Allow me to explain:

What do people want when they ask for a better "evil path"? Usually it's something clever. Gaining power, manipulating others, etc. But those tend to require long-term goals where, in the short-term, what you do might be indistinguishable from a "good path".

One narrative design issue I've run into is what I call the "lyrium problem" (for obvious reasons). If you have something in your setting which can technically do anything ("magic" often qualifies, also eezo in ME) then it will, eventually, do *everything*. And that's not good. Why is it not good? Because it becomes this shiny, easy solution for every issue that prevents the team from doing the work to do anything *else*.

Weird thing happens? Lyrium.
Need a mechanic for a cool gameplay thing? Lyrium.
Something that breaks all existing rules? Lyrium.

Writing is one of those disciplines which is constantly undervalued. It's something that everyone thinks they can do ("I can write a sentence! I know what story is!"), and frankly the difference between good and bad writing is lost on many, anyhow. So why pay much for it, right? In games, you even see this attitude among those who want to get into the field. "I don't have any REAL skills... I can't art, I can't program, so I guess I'll become a writer? It's better than QA!" As if game writing didn't require any actual skill which requires development.

I'm relieved to see that the Mass Effect/Amazon deal is for a potential TV series and not a movie. Even so, the possibility (and likewise for Dragon Age) makes me cringe just a little, unlike many fans who appear... excited?

Let me explain. (Thread) For starters, ME and DA have a custom protagonist. Meaning said TV show will need to pick whether said protagonist will be male or female. Boom, right off the bat you've just alienated a whole bunch of the built-in fan base who had their hopes up.

The Australian & NZ dev communities are small, lovely, and protective of each other. In the short time I've been part of it, I've quietly heard plenty about what Jennifer has done - and personally watched her drive one talented young man out of the industry entirely.

https://twitter.com/NinNons/status/1438148558012641283

The difficulty then, as now, is that Jennifer positioned herself publicly as not only a figure of influence but also a marginalized voice who is - by all appearances - on the side of woman in games. Challenging that, especially as a guy, was unthinkable. Yet... here we are.

"If you could Zack Snyder DA2, what would you change?"

Wow. I'm willing to bet Mark or Mike (or anyone else on the team) would give very different answers than me, but it's enough to give a sober man pause, because that was THE Project of Multiple Regrets. I mean, it's the most hypothetical of hypotheticals. It's never gonna happen. I wouldn't be surprised if EA considered DA2 its embarrassing red-headed stepchild. We'd also need to ignore that in many ways DA2 was as good as it was bad BECAUSE of how it was made.

But that aside?

May as well make this its own thread. First, the Laws of Naming Things, written after many long years during which naming *anything* in the game was the most contentious thing the team could ever do. Example 1: "Qunari". At first, everyone hated it. "It sounds too much like canary". "The Qun is way too difficult to pronounce." Etc. etc. 6 months later, no-one wanted to change it. That's what they were called... what else could they be?

I was going to write up my coming out story for #NationalComingOutDay, but then I thought... wow, this story is really irrelevant now, isn't it? (thread inc) By irrelevant I mean... well, when I was growing up, there were no examples of gay anything I could look to. Did you know that Liberace and even Boy George were initially thought to be straight? Eccentric, sure, but straight. Being gay was simply... 𝑑𝑒𝑣𝑖𝑎𝑛𝑡.

Preston Watamaniuk, the CD on Anthem, once told a frustrated Producer that the Writer tasks couldn’t be scheduled as rigorously as he wanted because “Writing is like Jazz”.

I’ve held onto that phrase ever since. Now, before any other Producers (or backseat Producers) clutch their pearls, I *don’t* mean “Writers can’t be scheduled”. Of course they can. Don’t be silly.

Look. If your first response to millions of women telling us they're afraid of and systemically oppressed by men is to worry at how all this talk will negatively impact "the good ones"...

...you're probably not one of "the good ones". "Oh, you're just virtue signalling," sneers Skippy the Masculine Wonder.

Look, Skippy. The bar is pretty low right now. Considering how many men aggressively signal their boorishness, never mind anything approaching "virtue", let's not pretend to worry about sincerity just yet.

So I've seen a number of comments from folks in the industry (or who are trying to get into the industry) struggling with feelings of self-worth, imposter syndrome, etc. I've a few thoughts on this, if you care to listen. (Thread incoming) Here's the thing: I've met a lot of really successful folks in the industry. Maybe you include me among them. And you know what? They 𝑎𝑙𝑙 struggle. They're 𝑎𝑙𝑙 just winging it half the time, thinking "what the hell am I even doing here?"