Drew Karpyshyn: The ace up Bioware's sleeve?

[Dissolve]

This is partially a repost and rant, so I apologize for that in advance.

It seems lately that there's been a lot of pessimism surrounding Star Wars: The Old Republic (TOR), especially concerning Bioware's use of the genre "Story Driven MMO" - implying it's different from MMOs that came before it. In part, this has been a risky move, because they're now expected to fulfill that promise. Some trolls have already come squirming out of the woodwork saying that dialog seems "juvenile" and "flat." Don't judge a book by it's cover, and likewise a game by its first gameplay demos. One of the giants of science fiction gaming is behind this, and I don't even know if he's been given the praise he deserves. His name is Drew Karpyshyn (as the title implies), and he's the same guy who was behind the stories for the praised KOTOR, Mass Effect, and Jade Empire (not to mention a few Baldur's Gate titles). As expected, he's also behind the Old Republic, and for that very reason, I'm actually inclined to believe Bioware's claims.

[Edit] Strangely enough, the only game in which he was the sole lead writer was KOTOR. As such, his handle on Star Wars lore has already been well proven. In addition, he's on the record for saying on his website "I?m very impressed by the quality and incredible scope of the stories we?re putting into the game [Star Wars: The Old Republic]."

I don't want to say I'm a fanboy, because I'm certainly not, but I do think we need to call up Hans. We need a trolljegeren to take care of some of these outbreaks.

To be brief, I just want to see a little more optimism around here. Can I get an Amen, brother?

[Edit: added more material for justice]

 

[infohippie]

Eh, I've read some of Drew Karpyshyn's novels, and they're very average. They're readable, but nothing amazing. And I'm not really a fan of KOTOR, I didn't like it that much although that might have just been due to the shitty mechanics.
I am still rather wary of TOR, and I feel the same about everything Bioware's working on now. My opinion of their work has been declining slowly but steadily.

 

[Novijen]

Honestly can't wait for the game, and if they have one of their best story guys on it, then I can see myself pleased by the game.

 

[Odoylerules360]

Drew Krappyshyn!??!? AHAHAHAAAAHAHAHA!!! Have you read his Mass Effect novels? They're utter garbage! (I apologise for the flamebait, but I loathe his writing)

OT: You're as old as I am, so I figure you should have enough experience with games to accurately judge them from early videos.

 

[scnj]

I don't think it's so much Karpyshyn himself, but the large team of good writers supporting him, like Mac Walters etc. Karpyshyn is good at plots, but as others have pointed out, his prose work is not as good as BioWare's game scripts.

 

[RedEyesBlackGamer]

Drew Krappyshyn!??!? AHAHAHAAAAHAHAHA!!! Have you read his Mass Effect novels? They're utter garbage! (I apologise for the flamebait, but I loathe his writing)

OT: You're as old as I am, so I figure you should have enough experience with games to accurately judge them from early videos.

I agree. I found the ME novels that I've read to be very mediocre. He should definitely stick to writing for games and leave novels alone. I don't mean to sound disrespectful, but I have a low opinion of his ability as a writer.

 

[Penitent]

Drew Karpynshyn and Mac Walters seem to have a strange fascination with writing off-source content for their games, with their Mass Effect novels and comic books respectively. Neither are particularly talented with either; I don't get why both just don't stick to video games, which seem to be their strength.

But that said, I miss Drew Karypynshyn's influence on Mass Effect. The story in the first game was mostly his idea, and that's what made the game so gripping to me. The second game lacked that, and often seemed to miss the point - and he had co-writing duties in that game. In Mass Effect 3, Drew isn't writing anything at all, though I think he may have left some notes for Mac to work with.

I just want my epic, wide-scale space opera back where Cerberus and humanity aren't the freakin' be-all and end-all. :C

 

[scnj]

I'm pretty sure Karpyshyn planned the trilogy back before ME1 was released. Do you have a source on Mac Walters being the sole lead writer on ME3 though?

 

[Penitent]

I'm pretty sure Karpyshyn planned the trilogy back before ME1 was released. Do you have a source on Mac Walters being the sole lead writer on ME3 though?

Imdb [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1839558/] was the easiest source I could find, but Mac's commonly been referred to as the Lead Writer in every press appearance he's made for the game.

They've been saying that they've planned for three games all along, but (and this is opinion on my part) given how little there actually was to ME2's main plot, it seems more like it was mostly material for two.

 

[scnj]

Imdb [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1839558/] was the easiest source I could find, but Mac's commonly been referred to as the Lead Writer in every press appearance he's made for the game.

He was credited as lead writer in the press appearances for ME2 as well. Drew Karpyshyn doesn't tend to do press stuff, maybe because he's not a good speaker or something. Mass Effect is Karpyshyn's baby, I'd be surprised if he wasn't involved until the end.

They've been saying that they've planned for three games all along, but (and this is opinion on my part) given how little there actually was to ME2's main plot, it seems more like it was mostly material for two.

That's fair enough. ME2's plot certainly suffered from being the middle of the trilogy, but it still introduced some excellent characters and locations, and set the groundwork for what will hopefully be an epic finale.

 

[Sixcess]

To most MMO players story is secondary, if not entirely irrelevant. Stories end and MMOs aren't supposed to end.

I really do wonder how it's going to work. Will there be endgame raids? If there are how will the Bioware singleplayer fanbase react if they find they need X number of other players to do the final mission that gives them the closure, the satisfactory resolution after a climactic battle that they get in the likes of Mass Effect?

I don't think the story, no matter how good, is going to be the unique selling point EA and Bioware expect it to be. Bioware are experts in single player story-driven games, and that's what TOR looks like - a single player game.

 

[StereoMike]

Drew Krappyshyn!??!? AHAHAHAAAAHAHAHA!!! Have you read his Mass Effect novels? They're utter garbage! (I apologise for the flamebait, but I loathe his writing)

OT: You're as old as I am, so I figure you should have enough experience with games to accurately judge them from early videos.

I read all three and felt like I had to wash my brain. Luckily they're short enough that you can get through them in about 2 days.

 

[veloper]

He's a better writer than Gaider atleast.

I read the first ME novel and it was passable. It even had some interesting ideas for the application of technology within SF. Not good, but not terrible either.
I couldn't get through even the first online chapter of the Gaider book, it was so terrible.