Twitter – the hill you’ll probably die on.
Guild Wars 2 has lost two of its writers go over a scuffle with a content creator. And almost all the drama happened on Twitter. Which, if you’ve seen stuff like this before, is pretty consistent with history.
It all started with a fight on twitter between former-GW2 writer Jessica Price and Deroir, a Twitch streamer and Guild Wars 2 content creator. According to PC Gamer, Price created a Twitter thread based around writing characters for MMOs vs. single player games. She came to the conclusion that it’s much easier to write “compelling” characters for single player games, as those characters wind up more well rounded.
After which point Deroir replied to the thread, noting that that might be due to the constraints of the living story format. And that branching dialog options might be a way of solving that problem*.
Really interesting thread to read! 👌
However, allow me to disagree *slightly*. I dont believe the issue lies in the MMORPG genre itself (as your wording seemingly suggest). I believe the issue lies in the contraints of the Living Story's narrative design; (1 of 3)— Deroir (@DeroirGaming) July 3, 2018
*While that does solve the characterization problem, it actually opens the door to a number of nightmarish other problems. Since each choice presents variables, you’re forced to take that into consideration for each new choice. That quickly spreads into an insane and ever-growing mess of potential outcomes for any given situation that could give any contracted writer pause. That’s not to mention the cost of changing voice lines and the like to reflect all of that. But I digress…
What sent this into the realm of her losing her job were her responses. First leading with the direct response:
thanks for trying to tell me what we do internally, my dude 9_9
— Jessica Price (@Delafina777) July 4, 2018
… and then the coup de gras:
Today in being a female game dev:
"Allow me–a person who does not work with you–explain to you how you do your job." https://t.co/lmK0yJWqGB
— Jessica Price (@Delafina777) July 4, 2018
Important to keep in mind,; by that latter point, Deroir had already attempted to apologize not once, but twice. After which, the criticism of Price’s handing of the situation began to snowball much like those branching personality choices. And eventually spreading to the Guild Wars 2 subreddit.
And then fellow Guild Wars 2 writer Peter Fries decided wading waist deep in sewage to white knight her was a good idea. He’s since deleted all of his replies. Buuuuuuuuuut, this is the internet, and everyone knows the golden rule of the internet: back shit up while it’s happening and fresh. But good on you, Peter, for letting everyone know that she “never asked for this“.
And so, summarily, ArenaNet president Mike O’Brien has announced that both Price and Fries are no longer working with the studio.
Recently two of our employees failed to uphold our standards of communicating with players. Their attacks on the community were unacceptable. As a result, they’re no longer with the company.
I want to be clear that the statements they made do not reflect the views of ArenaNet at all. As a company we always strive to have a collaborative relationship with the Guild Wars community. We value your input. We make this game for you.
Source: VG 24/7
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