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@Sugar unicorn:
Either her work is good or it isn't. Judge her by that. It's not like she's creating the levels, she's just writing the characters. I for one particularly like her work and it shows that gaming development doesn't have to be as insular as it currently is, with only GAMERZZZZ making/writing games for GAMERRZZZZ. In that regard she's almost like a pioneer. I respect that.
Either her work is good or it isn't. Judge her by that. It's not like she's creating the levels, she's just writing the characters. I for one particularly like her work and it shows that gaming development doesn't have to be as insular as it currently is, with only GAMERZZZZ making/writing games for GAMERRZZZZ. In that regard she's almost like a pioneer. I respect that.
You know, if this: "I just figure they're jealous that I get to have both a vagina AND a games industry job, and they can't get either."
was said by a regular commenter on a gaming website, people would praise her for her wittiness and awesome burning skills.
But when it's said by a Bioware writer who got flamed to death for practically nothing within days of opening a twitter account, then it is a horrible sin.
Anyone who acts like towards people in the industry for stupid things like "I didn't really like your writing" or "But you don't even play games" has no right to call himself a gamer. I don't care how many hours a day you spend pwning n00bs, or even if you've been playing video games since Pong.
You are not a gamer. You lose, good day sir.
was said by a regular commenter on a gaming website, people would praise her for her wittiness and awesome burning skills.
But when it's said by a Bioware writer who got flamed to death for practically nothing within days of opening a twitter account, then it is a horrible sin.
Anyone who acts like towards people in the industry for stupid things like "I didn't really like your writing" or "But you don't even play games" has no right to call himself a gamer. I don't care how many hours a day you spend pwning n00bs, or even if you've been playing video games since Pong.
You are not a gamer. You lose, good day sir.
I really don't understand people who take it personally when something is "not up to their standard". I really don't care much about her writing but i'm not going to whine and bitch to internet about it. Nobody deserves that, except George Lucas. Fuck him.
Considering combat is basically another word for gameplay, trying to justify skipping the gameplay in a video game is pretty stupid. If you want to experience the dialogue then just go on Youtube.
@Nightsama I haven't seen that, and I have to wonder why as a professional working under the wing of Bioware, she would even give those types of responses the time of day. Infantile trolls are awful, but by and large they are bored, immature children who move onto the next thing pretty quickly if you stop feeding them.
This debacle with Halper and other Bioware employees actually engaging with bottom feeding trolls and bouncing around insults via official twitters just looks bad for all involved.
This type of flaming towards people in the industry is absolutely nothing new - it happens all the time. The difference is that most companies and employees don't choose to engage and feed the fire.
This debacle with Halper and other Bioware employees actually engaging with bottom feeding trolls and bouncing around insults via official twitters just looks bad for all involved.
This type of flaming towards people in the industry is absolutely nothing new - it happens all the time. The difference is that most companies and employees don't choose to engage and feed the fire.
The behavior on the behalf of Bioware fans is indeed unwarranted. No one but EA is the cancer killing Bioware anyway.
I take issue with the "Story Mode" idea because people who want to make them are in the wrong business and the people that want them are participating in the wrong medium. Do they have some kind of problem with books, movies and TV shows? They all do pure story perfectly.
If you want to make interactive branching movies, well, that stuff never took off for a reason. You just get Dragon's Lair re-issued over and over and, occasionally, a load of wank like Heavy Rain or Asura's Wrath. I don't want to see that become the norm and it likely never will, but I am a little insulted when such games come along and be a load of wank like those two do - at least Dragon's Lair pretended to conform to being an arcade coin-op, had "lives" and all that.
Now, I don't object to the concept of Story Mode in ME3, but I think that should be an unlockable reward and not a default option. It should be earned There are other ways to make games more accessible without the risk of marginalizing them for everyone else. Go look at Nintendo's super guides for reference - totally optional and pretty much gives Nintendo carte blanche to make a harder game by default.
Story Mode in ME3 is all reward and no risk. Risk is lobotomized and yet in Kirby games - where lately you can't die - the concept of risk and reward still exists. ME's Story Mode poses no risk, you're dropped into God Mode. No risk, just reward. It stops being a game at that point. Fuck that and fuck the people that want it. Go watch a movie.
I take issue with the "Story Mode" idea because people who want to make them are in the wrong business and the people that want them are participating in the wrong medium. Do they have some kind of problem with books, movies and TV shows? They all do pure story perfectly.
If you want to make interactive branching movies, well, that stuff never took off for a reason. You just get Dragon's Lair re-issued over and over and, occasionally, a load of wank like Heavy Rain or Asura's Wrath. I don't want to see that become the norm and it likely never will, but I am a little insulted when such games come along and be a load of wank like those two do - at least Dragon's Lair pretended to conform to being an arcade coin-op, had "lives" and all that.
Now, I don't object to the concept of Story Mode in ME3, but I think that should be an unlockable reward and not a default option. It should be earned There are other ways to make games more accessible without the risk of marginalizing them for everyone else. Go look at Nintendo's super guides for reference - totally optional and pretty much gives Nintendo carte blanche to make a harder game by default.
Story Mode in ME3 is all reward and no risk. Risk is lobotomized and yet in Kirby games - where lately you can't die - the concept of risk and reward still exists. ME's Story Mode poses no risk, you're dropped into God Mode. No risk, just reward. It stops being a game at that point. Fuck that and fuck the people that want it. Go watch a movie.
Wow, she doesnt like to play games, omg lets all get together and insult her with all the hard words we can think of...
Oh please internet, all she needs to do is KNOW how games work, she doesnt have to like playing games... and everything makes even more sense when you see her talking about how games should have an option to skip combat just like they have to skip dialogues.
She probably doesnt like games, because they are all about the combat, and not the story.
And who the hell cares if this is professional level or not? Gosh, I am more and more ashamed of people who call themselves gamers falling to the same level of a justin bieber fan. This is sad.
Oh please internet, all she needs to do is KNOW how games work, she doesnt have to like playing games... and everything makes even more sense when you see her talking about how games should have an option to skip combat just like they have to skip dialogues.
She probably doesnt like games, because they are all about the combat, and not the story.
And who the hell cares if this is professional level or not? Gosh, I am more and more ashamed of people who call themselves gamers falling to the same level of a justin bieber fan. This is sad.
Hey Jim, I would like to respectfully disagree on the tone of this article, defending Ms. Helper. I feel that the writing staff is in control of the flow of the game. Their narrative drives combat and other events. If the writer was not a fan of these aspects of gaming then they might not have the passion needed to make the game great. I know there are exceptions to the rule, but when I take Dragon Age 2 into consideration I can see the lack of love compared to Bioware's other franchise, Mass Effect. I am not saying DA2 was a horrible game, just not up to the caliber I expected.
As to personal character attacks, yes I agree that they are childish and should be squashed. We are talking about a fellow human here. On the other hand, if we are looking solely at her comments and her work on DA2 I feel that Bioware could have used a better writing staff. Not to say she is horrible, but the dialog in Dragon Age 2 was mildly amusing at best, forgettable at worst.
Ms. Helper might be a great writer outside of the gaming community, but it did not shine in DA2 (the only game I played that she was a part of). Maybe if the writer had a better understanding of combat flow and game mechanics the game might have shined better in my eyes.
To note: These are solely my opinion. This is not an attack on Ms. Helper.
As to personal character attacks, yes I agree that they are childish and should be squashed. We are talking about a fellow human here. On the other hand, if we are looking solely at her comments and her work on DA2 I feel that Bioware could have used a better writing staff. Not to say she is horrible, but the dialog in Dragon Age 2 was mildly amusing at best, forgettable at worst.
Ms. Helper might be a great writer outside of the gaming community, but it did not shine in DA2 (the only game I played that she was a part of). Maybe if the writer had a better understanding of combat flow and game mechanics the game might have shined better in my eyes.
To note: These are solely my opinion. This is not an attack on Ms. Helper.
@The Silent Protagonist
"I take issue with the "Story Mode" idea because people who want to make them are in the wrong business and the people that want them are participating in the wrong medium. Do they have some kind of problem with books, movies and TV shows? They all do pure story perfectly."
Spot on.
"I take issue with the "Story Mode" idea because people who want to make them are in the wrong business and the people that want them are participating in the wrong medium. Do they have some kind of problem with books, movies and TV shows? They all do pure story perfectly."
Spot on.
Wow, there is some really big Mass Effect hate here, I never realized so many people on Destructoid were cynical assholes.
Personally not a fan of bringing politics into games; that said, there are much better ways to deliver one's opinions than twitter storms and hate mail.
There is a "skip combat" option, it's called YouTube. Anyway, this whole situation is just ridiculous, but human beings are pretty awful so that's basically par for the course.
@The Silent Protagonist
I agree, to a point. Honestly, the sentiment that you should be able to skip gameplay sections is a natural progression of the modern games industry, and it is bring it on itself.
Forget what one writer said on the subject, the actions of the industry speak far more loudly. How often is it the case these days that we get large swaths of gameplay meant entirely as a means of reaching the next plot point? Huge empty spaces, sometimes populated by enemies or what have you, sometimes not, that are only there to create spaces between one plot point and the next. These sections bear no significance, carry no substance, and could be completely skipped without having the slightest effect on the game.
This is the shit Jaffe was talking about. What some writer says has no bearing on this, its the industry's obsession with creating Hollywood games that will lead to people actually wondering why they have to battle down some corridor nondescript corridor to get to the next plot point when the entire game is built from the ground up around these plot points. Bioware is as guilty of this as anyone.
That's the real issue here. As long as the industry would rather create a movie with gameplay separating plot points, rather than integrating story and gameplay (or making the gameplay the story itself, as seen in Team Ico games), then we're going to see more comments like hers, and indeed like David Jaffe's from last week.
I agree, to a point. Honestly, the sentiment that you should be able to skip gameplay sections is a natural progression of the modern games industry, and it is bring it on itself.
Forget what one writer said on the subject, the actions of the industry speak far more loudly. How often is it the case these days that we get large swaths of gameplay meant entirely as a means of reaching the next plot point? Huge empty spaces, sometimes populated by enemies or what have you, sometimes not, that are only there to create spaces between one plot point and the next. These sections bear no significance, carry no substance, and could be completely skipped without having the slightest effect on the game.
This is the shit Jaffe was talking about. What some writer says has no bearing on this, its the industry's obsession with creating Hollywood games that will lead to people actually wondering why they have to battle down some corridor nondescript corridor to get to the next plot point when the entire game is built from the ground up around these plot points. Bioware is as guilty of this as anyone.
That's the real issue here. As long as the industry would rather create a movie with gameplay separating plot points, rather than integrating story and gameplay (or making the gameplay the story itself, as seen in Team Ico games), then we're going to see more comments like hers, and indeed like David Jaffe's from last week.
What I don't get is the "Nose Dive" of Bioware games? What? DA too is above average (7/10 is NOT a terrible game you fucking idiots) and all of a sudden they are terrible? What?! So SW:ToR is not up to WOW standards yet, a Company first MMO vs a company with 7 years of experience with the game (more if you include the EQ staffers.)
Jesus fucking the Pope some people need to be banned from the internet, or just neutered.
Jesus fucking the Pope some people need to be banned from the internet, or just neutered.
The skip combat thing would make the Uncharted games a lot better.
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"I just figure they're jealous that I get to have both a vagina AND a games industry job, and they can't get either."
She wins at writing.
It blows my mind that people can accept Elves, Dwarves, Dragons and Darkspawn in Dragon Age but complain about gay content and want to be able to switch it off.
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"I just figure they're jealous that I get to have both a vagina AND a games industry job, and they can't get either."
She wins at writing.
It blows my mind that people can accept Elves, Dwarves, Dragons and Darkspawn in Dragon Age but complain about gay content and want to be able to switch it off.
It is a shame that industry figures like Mrs Hepler are held to an impossible level of accountability, especially considering an anonymous twitter follower dosent have such restrictions. Until we as a fanbase can learn to calm down, and maybe even respect an alternate perspective on how videogames are designed, we cannot claim to be a victim of toxic publicity, when we spout nothing but toxic statements.
I think this is a good thing.
The gaming industry is the one industry where if you piss off enough of your customers, you go out of business. The morons at BioWare should know better then to "fan the flames" with spiteful comments. Hepler and Flynn should know better.
The gaming industry is the one industry where if you piss off enough of your customers, you go out of business. The morons at BioWare should know better then to "fan the flames" with spiteful comments. Hepler and Flynn should know better.
@sugar unicorn
I think it's a little past simple internet trolling if she's getting harassed to the point where her twitter account lasts as long as it did. *shrug* Either way, she may or may not have brought this on herself by engaging rather than ignoring - but I'll be damned if I ever find myself actually defending the actions of infantile shitstains like the people saying this crap.
I think it's a little past simple internet trolling if she's getting harassed to the point where her twitter account lasts as long as it did. *shrug* Either way, she may or may not have brought this on herself by engaging rather than ignoring - but I'll be damned if I ever find myself actually defending the actions of infantile shitstains like the people saying this crap.
I like how the angry twitter guy said, "You need to stop trying to force your homolust fantasies into every game you touch. Do us a favor and quit your job."
Homolust fantasies.
Homolust fantasies.
You know, when I was younger, we had these things called books. Now they were written by specific people in a group called authors. Some of them wrote crime novels, some wrote mysteries, some wrote horror. They enjoyed writing.
Now contrary to popular belief, and Castle, not every writer goes out and dives into the medium where they're writing. They might get the background info first, but that's pretty easy to come by. Their writing is not fucking proportionate to the amount of immersion in a specific medium they're writing for. If the writing was solid, then nobody cares about the minor details. In gaming, it sure as shit doesn't matter, because no two games are the same, so why play any if you can just write?
While I'm not a fan of DA2's writing, or DA2 at all, and I can point out that the writing was extremely disjointed, not helped by the level designs, the characters or anything else in that game, I can use words to discuss and convey my issues, like an educated human being, so much so that I will use them now, but since we're clearly discussing the dregs of humanity, I might have to translate it to something that they can understand:
*ahem* The people pulling this shit are nothing but mouth breathing, basement dwelling, emotionally immature little shits, whose problems with vaginas stem from the accurate burn by Miss. Hepler, that they will never get one, that they will never know the touch of a woman, or see a vagina that isn't on their screen. They clearly live their internet lives with the sense of entitlement that they don't have in their daily lives, as they're far too sackless to step up and be counted as men, as they have to make derogatory statements towards a woman to get themselves noticed by anyone. One guy has even shown that for all his manly prowess, he can't take what he dishes out, and is more than likely a submissive, snot-nosed punk, who is the bitch of a much stronger and controlling woman. The only solace we can take is that these people will die on operating tables somewhere in the, hopefully, near future, getting their heads surgically removed from their asses.
Now contrary to popular belief, and Castle, not every writer goes out and dives into the medium where they're writing. They might get the background info first, but that's pretty easy to come by. Their writing is not fucking proportionate to the amount of immersion in a specific medium they're writing for. If the writing was solid, then nobody cares about the minor details. In gaming, it sure as shit doesn't matter, because no two games are the same, so why play any if you can just write?
While I'm not a fan of DA2's writing, or DA2 at all, and I can point out that the writing was extremely disjointed, not helped by the level designs, the characters or anything else in that game, I can use words to discuss and convey my issues, like an educated human being, so much so that I will use them now, but since we're clearly discussing the dregs of humanity, I might have to translate it to something that they can understand:
*ahem* The people pulling this shit are nothing but mouth breathing, basement dwelling, emotionally immature little shits, whose problems with vaginas stem from the accurate burn by Miss. Hepler, that they will never get one, that they will never know the touch of a woman, or see a vagina that isn't on their screen. They clearly live their internet lives with the sense of entitlement that they don't have in their daily lives, as they're far too sackless to step up and be counted as men, as they have to make derogatory statements towards a woman to get themselves noticed by anyone. One guy has even shown that for all his manly prowess, he can't take what he dishes out, and is more than likely a submissive, snot-nosed punk, who is the bitch of a much stronger and controlling woman. The only solace we can take is that these people will die on operating tables somewhere in the, hopefully, near future, getting their heads surgically removed from their asses.
While i wholly agree with Jims point that the personal attacks on Jeniffer Hepler are totally out of line and make us look bad, I do agree with some of the complaints the gamers make,i think she has with others seriously damaged Bioware, and considering Dragon age origins is my favourite game,i think she has played a big part in damaging the dragon age franchise with the totally terrible sequel Dragon age 2.
No, my problem with her is not her gender, nor her weight and not even her writing skills, it's her statement that video games should basically be movies, it's an insult to the industry and its people.
@Nightsama I don't think anyone is defending the outlandish behavior and harassment going on, but Bioware employee responses really made this situation blow up far bigger than it ever needed to. I think her comments in the interview came off as foolish, but as per usual things have blown up and been taken too far.
I mean really, in what world does responding the the nonsensical, obsenity riddled garbage of trolls with nonsense like "fuck off idiots fucking morons fuckity fuck" "you're just jealous i have a vagina!!!" a'la Halper and Flynn via their Bioware affiliated twitter accounts...I'd expect that type of thing on the World of Warcraft forums, not from professional adults on Bioware twitter accounts.
I mean really, in what world does responding the the nonsensical, obsenity riddled garbage of trolls with nonsense like "fuck off idiots fucking morons fuckity fuck" "you're just jealous i have a vagina!!!" a'la Halper and Flynn via their Bioware affiliated twitter accounts...I'd expect that type of thing on the World of Warcraft forums, not from professional adults on Bioware twitter accounts.
I'm not sure what the rage is about. Writing in most titles is rubbish, so why is her work being singled out?
If we should be mad about Bioware games in a larger sense. We should be pissed about the trajectory of their titles starting to resemble action games more and more instead of RPGs, no doubt at EA's behest. I doubt she has much to do with that.
If we should be mad about Bioware games in a larger sense. We should be pissed about the trajectory of their titles starting to resemble action games more and more instead of RPGs, no doubt at EA's behest. I doubt she has much to do with that.
Hepler, Mike laidlaw, David Gaider and (brent knowles leaving the Dragon age writing team) along with the biggest culprits EA seriously fucked up if not totally ruined bioware.
@UltorOscariot Trolls are looking for a response, and everytime Aaryn Flynn responds to yet another 12 year old troll with "fuck off moron idiot fuck you" or Halper posts about how everyone is "jealous of her", they just are encouraged to keep the flames going. It has blown up this big because Bioware employees have encouraged it.
It should be noted that the "gameplay skip" button is probably the least offensive thing that she is said. I know quiet a bit of people hate her for some blatantly sexist comments she made about female gamers in the past, making the vagina response funny.
Why would you want to skip the gameplay in a video game? I mean, that's the whole point, you interact with the game. If you want dialog, you read a book, if you want moving pictures go watch a movie. The problem with Hepler is that not only is her writing shitty, it doesn't fit with Bioware. Her 'writing' is more suited for a visual novel, but the thing is the key to a good VN is the writing has to be good.
She's a terrible writer who's been partly responsible for the decline in Bioware's stories. It's great that she wants more gay romance! Only problem is that she's trying to do it in a really awkward and over the top fashion that doesn't suit the game that she's writing for.
And it matters A LOT if you aren't passionate about games but are writing for them. Game development is a cooperative process, everyone needs to know what the other person is doing so they can cooperate. If Hamburger doesn't care what everyone else is doing, it doesn't matter if she's a good writer (which she isn't), because whatever she writes won't mesh well with the gameplay and will come out crap.
This is what the internet does, it tears down prominent people who are doing stupid things. Let it rain, I say.
And it matters A LOT if you aren't passionate about games but are writing for them. Game development is a cooperative process, everyone needs to know what the other person is doing so they can cooperate. If Hamburger doesn't care what everyone else is doing, it doesn't matter if she's a good writer (which she isn't), because whatever she writes won't mesh well with the gameplay and will come out crap.
This is what the internet does, it tears down prominent people who are doing stupid things. Let it rain, I say.
@xeridium
I know I'm being ridiculous with wanting to pound this point home, but she's insulting no one with that statement. Instead of chastising her for coming out and saying it would be cool to skip gameplay, we should be chastising Bioware for creating a game where you could skip gameplay and still get the full story experience.
She isn't insulting the industry, the industry is insulting the industry. The industry is hell bent on creating games where it would be entirely possible to skip large swaths of gameplay without affecting the narrative. Her statement was caused by the state of the industry, not the other way around.
I know I'm being ridiculous with wanting to pound this point home, but she's insulting no one with that statement. Instead of chastising her for coming out and saying it would be cool to skip gameplay, we should be chastising Bioware for creating a game where you could skip gameplay and still get the full story experience.
She isn't insulting the industry, the industry is insulting the industry. The industry is hell bent on creating games where it would be entirely possible to skip large swaths of gameplay without affecting the narrative. Her statement was caused by the state of the industry, not the other way around.
STOP LIKING WHAT I DON'T LIKE!
STOP DISLIKING WHAT I LIKE!
Why is it so surprising when the Internet boils down to this? Bioware doesn't make the best of stories, but it's better than 95% of the shit other devs throw out as a plot. Butthurt forum and 4chan trolls are attacking an overweight female writer... they've done this to 12 year old girls, why is this so shocking?
To those pissed at Hepler: BAWWWWWWWWWW! Congratulations, you annoyed a girl on the Internet. Must've been your lifelong dream, have a cookie.
STOP DISLIKING WHAT I LIKE!
Why is it so surprising when the Internet boils down to this? Bioware doesn't make the best of stories, but it's better than 95% of the shit other devs throw out as a plot. Butthurt forum and 4chan trolls are attacking an overweight female writer... they've done this to 12 year old girls, why is this so shocking?
To those pissed at Hepler: BAWWWWWWWWWW! Congratulations, you annoyed a girl on the Internet. Must've been your lifelong dream, have a cookie.
"A number of online communities recently started dogpiling on the lady, accusing her of "ruining" BioWare games with her writing."
And yet they keep buying them.
And yet they keep buying them.
@Sugar Unicorn
If there is one mistake all sides here are making, it's empowering morons on the Internet, and thinking that they matter more than 1 time out of 10,000.
I guarantee half trolls flaming the other troll will still line up to buy the troll studio's next game, brought to us by troll publisher. None of this will matter in a month.
If there is one mistake all sides here are making, it's empowering morons on the Internet, and thinking that they matter more than 1 time out of 10,000.
I guarantee half trolls flaming the other troll will still line up to buy the troll studio's next game, brought to us by troll publisher. None of this will matter in a month.
@Sugar Unicorn
If there is one mistake all sides here are making, it's empowering morons on the Internet, and thinking that they matter more than 1 time out of 10,000.
I guarantee half trolls flaming the other troll will still line up to buy the troll studio's next game, brought to us by troll publisher. None of this will matter in a month.
If there is one mistake all sides here are making, it's empowering morons on the Internet, and thinking that they matter more than 1 time out of 10,000.
I guarantee half trolls flaming the other troll will still line up to buy the troll studio's next game, brought to us by troll publisher. None of this will matter in a month.
The problem with vitriolic, cynical hater cunts with OCD is they're so vocal. They literally have nothing better to do and are so worthless, they can crusade against the pettiest triviality; way beyond the energy or care-o-meter of a normal, productive individual.
The only way to deal with these people is abortion.
The only way to deal with these people is abortion.
@UltorOscariot This is a given. EA/Activision/Bioware/etc have made artforms out of shitting all over consumers on a regular basis. They cry the entire time, but still eagerly line up the next time the crap ready to be doled out.
Jim sorry, but its not because she's a female that the internet hates her.
Its because she's terrible at writing.
Its because she's terrible at writing.
What does dialoge have to do with storytelling?
She really doesn't have a clue about the possibilities of the medium, everything is connected.
It is like Miyamoto-san says the craftsmanship is getting lost by people working on games who don't understand what makes it tick.
She really doesn't have a clue about the possibilities of the medium, everything is connected.
It is like Miyamoto-san says the craftsmanship is getting lost by people working on games who don't understand what makes it tick.
This makes me ashamed to be a video gaming hobbyist (I refuse to use the word, "gamer." If you watch Extra Credits on PA.tv you'll understand why).
The people involved in this are truly the scum of the Earth. People like that clearly are not mature enough to play games, and somebody needs to take their games away from them.
God. It just makes me sick.
The people involved in this are truly the scum of the Earth. People like that clearly are not mature enough to play games, and somebody needs to take their games away from them.
God. It just makes me sick.
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