Former Dragon Age narrative lead David Gaider has spoken out about the negative view placed on writers, saying that even BioWare “quietly resented” its writers in the years leading to his departure in 2016.
With the Writers Guild of America strikes currently being conducted, former BioWare narrative lead for Dragon Age David Gaider has spoken about the underappreciated art of writing. “In games, you even see this attitude among those who want to get into the field,” Gaider says. ‘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.” That negativity apparently extends to publishers like BioWare, which reportedly “quietly resented” its writers during Gaider’s final years with the company.
David Gaider says BioWare saw expensive narrative as an “albatross”
During his 17-year tenure as a writer at BioWare, David Gaider worked on numerous games, such as Baldur’s Gate II, Neverwinter Nights, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, and each of the currently released Dragon Age games. He left the company in 2016 but has now said that BioWare began to change its attitude towards its writers during his final years there (via GamesRadar+).
“Even BioWare, which built its success on a reputation for good stories and characters, slowly turned from a company that vocally valued its writers to one where we were… quietly resented, with a reliance on expensive narrative seen as the ‘albatross’ holding the company back,” Gaider says in a Twitter thread. “Maybe that sounds like a heavy charge, but it’s what I distinctly felt up until I left in 2016. Suddenly all anyone in charge was asking was ‘how do we have LESS writing?’ A good story would simply happen, via magic wand, rather than be something that needed support and priority.
At the end of the day, you can say you like good writing — whether it’s in a game, a movie, an online article, or whatever — but if you don’t value it enough to prioritize it and support it… and, yes, pay writers what they’re due… that’s not what everyone else is hearing.”
BioWare is currently working on Dragon Age: Dreadwolf and a new Mass Effect game. Back in January, veteran Mass Effect writer Mac Walters left the company after 19 years.
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