More Than a Shiny Sword

BioWare Boss Greg Zeschuk Talks About Story As Reward
9/21/2009 8:39 AM | 7 Comments | Page 1 of 2

BioWare cofounder Dr. Greg Zeschuk has his creative plate full. On top of the ongoing Mass Effect series, Zeschuk is overseeing the creation of his company's first massively-multiplayer online game, Star Wars: The Old Republic; and a spiritual successor to the classic Baldur's Gate games, Dragon Age: Origins. Crispy Gamer spoke to Zeschuk at PAX 2009 on the subject of game narrative and the way player choice adds new challenges to telling a story.

Crispy Gamer: There's a move toward revision in fantasy storytelling -- at least, if you count the popularity of George R.R. Martin's books as a movement. What's happening in Dragon Age: Origins? Is it more classic than, say, A Game of Thrones?

Greg Zeschuk: We always talk about how it's "dark, baroque" fantasy and it really isn't classic. We've always had this historical view of dwarves who are happy, gruff guys who go mining, drink a lot of beer, and like fighting; whereas the dwarves in Dragon Age are really, really nasty to each other. They're backstabbing, political.

Crispy Gamer: The elves feel a little different as well.

Zeschuk: They're barely surviving in the Dragon Age world. And they're subjected to all kinds of racism and they're put in these ghettos. It's a really different spin on all these things. In a sense, it's another form of revision -- a reimagining of the traditional images. In some ways, bringing them into a more contemporary setting. In the comics space there's the whole Ultimates thing -- taking all the old franchises and recasting them so they're more relevant to today. I think, in some ways, that's what we're trying to do with Dragon Age.

Crispy Gamer: I spoke briefly with Mac Walters about the Greywardens and their similarities to the Spectres in Mass Effect. These characters have leave to do whatever they want. Why do BioWare games tend to lean toward those sorts of empowered characters?

Zeschuk: I think part of that is fantasy fulfillment for the player. For us, a lot of fantasy is about being someone special. You're right that it's a pretty traditional thing in a lot of our games. In Jade Empire you were a Spirit Monk. People play these games to be special -- to be someone that they aren't today.

Crispy Gamer: There's a second interesting parallel in these BioWare games. Players are usually combating a destructive outside force -- that's a device that echoes the current political climate.

Zeschuk: As games are more and more reflective of society, they become a kind of therapy -- where you take control and make your choices. Maybe in society today, it's not as easy to make the choices you want to make all the time; but when you're playing one of these games, you can make the choices you want to make.

Crispy Gamer: At E3 you revealed some pretty big plot spoilers for Mass Effect 2. Is it really possible to spoil a story? Or is it really about the execution -- the journey to those big moments?

Zeschuk: Over the years, we never really showed any plot points, and as a result it's always been very hard to communicate what we make. The first time we did that was the Wrex decision at E3 probably two or three years ago. We actually did reveal the Wrex cut scene. And people were blown away. People who have never played our games never realized that this was the stuff that we were doing. One thing I find very exciting about our games is that they're very surprising. You just don't know what's going to happen.

Crispy Gamer: Well, we do know a couple things that are going to happen in Mass Effect 2.

Zeschuk: The execution from moment to moment up to that point is so strong, we thought, we're not going to spoil the game for anyone by doing this. Because it's actually the act of getting there. The irony, of course, is that you may not have Wrex in your party. So you may never see that scene anyway -- which is, in most games, a bizarro concept. Most people have what I call a beautiful tunnel -- an experience where you see every piece of content, because they point you at every piece, and you're done.

Crispy Gamer: While your games are impossible to take in at one glance.

Zeschuk: That's the kind of games that we make. That variability is what we do. And the people that it engages are incredibly rewarded. That's one of the fundamental things that we do, I believe.

Crispy Gamer: So you're fairly confident that people will play Dragon Age: Origins three or four times?

Zeschuk: When you play it from a different perspective, the game feels different. I'm playing as a female elf mage right now. I played before as a male noble warrior. People say different things to me. In particular, when you see elves in the world, they say, "Oh, I can talk to this person." It's really weird -- almost a simulation of what it would be like to be a minority. And they react very positively to you. "Oh, well, you'll understand this." And then you go to human areas and they don't want to talk to you.

I think people will find it something they want to explore and enjoy. Their friends will tell them something they did that will sort of pique their memory and they'll think, "I want to go back." We're trying to facilitate that. We're doing a community site that will actually allow you to capture your story choices -- what you did -- and share them.