Writing in a Team - Professional Techniques for Video Game Writing - page 80

8.9 Case Studies
Mike Laidlaw, Bioware
The approach taken by Mike Laidlaw, Lead Writer at Bioware, is a good example of
ownership.
[I]. . . make sure writers complete a “unit� of work, be it a plot, planet,
romance. . . Ripping people away from their work arbitrarily does noth-
ing but crush morale and remove investment. “Why should I bother
writing this if I'm just going to be ripped off of it half way through?�
But he clarifies this further.
...I wouldn't take a single person and task themwith the same type
of plot writing over and over. Variety is the only way to keep things
fresh,soyoucan'texpect...someonetoonlywritefunnyplots,because
it won't be long before their stuff isn't funny any more.
Mike ensures the tone of voice is kept consistent by utilizing Lead Writers or Editors
as the “arbiter and enforcer, respectively, of the game's voice.�
He recently decided to change the process a bit.
I used to think that the best way to maintain consistency was to divide
the game into large sections and let each writer work on a broad swath
of story, to create a large area that's masterminded to hang together.
Recently, I've begun to question that wisdom, and I'm preparing to try
an approach that throws the entire writing team together to tackle areas
as a group. So, instead of tasking one writer with the Imperial Arena
from Jade Empire , I'm looking at saying: Writer A, can you take the
announcer? B, I'll need you on the weakling guy you face first. C, can
you handle the gruff veteran? It will be an interesting experiment. It
will either be an organizational nightmare, or a way of making sure all
of the writers are familiar with all parts of the game. My suspicion is
that it will be a little of each.
Maurice Suckling, The Mustard Corporation
“Mike's experiment more closely resembles what I would term an 'integrated' ap-
proach. This is the approach taken by my own company, The Mustard Corporation.
“Our usual complement of writers on a project is a team of two, or a team of
three. Our usual practice is to ensure all the team is involved in early conceptual
discussions, so high concepts, outlines, character profiles, and treatments are all built
by the team in close discussions. Essentially, at this stage there is just lots and lots
of talking, thinking, more talking, research, some drawing of story structures on