Empires to Ages: Storytelling Lessons Learned in 14 Years at BioWare

In this 2018 GDC talk, former BioWare creative director Mike Laidlaw details some of the most important lessons he's learned about how narrative fits within games and how writers or narrative designers tasked with bringing stories to life can gel into cohesive storytellers, while still working well with the larger game team.

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[NeverduskX]

When he mentioned Jade Empire, I felt some burst of nostalgia. That was such a fantastic game. Mass Effect was phenomenal, but I really believe Jade Empire had some of Bioware's best worldbuilding.

[JustJunuh]

Really great talk. We need more talks from guys like him: people who have worked in the industry for over a decade and have a lot to say about how they made their games great. He gave a lot of professional, actionable, production-ready advice.

[gordo]

interesting, but wasnt expecting a presentation on workflow and production

[SunnyValleyStudio]

Great talk. The way Mike presents is awesome. I love how in around 30 minutes he told everything, it was to the point and Greta to listen to. I have learned a lot.
I need to learn how to present like this :)

[KimboKG]

I'm just a hobby coder fumbling around making something kinda gamy....
but this feels like one of the most usefull talks I have watched so far.

[yrussq]

Beautiful talk! Very down on Earth as many people just don't understand producer's work and how all the things should be driven and controlled on projects.

[Komagb]

This guy is amazing, he's so REAL, and a good communicator.

[dailyraven]

Mike is my idol. His passion for games and stories is so inspiring. He used to stream on twitch.

[healwithjaniele]

Wow, I came for storytelling wisdom and got a blessed with an additional dose of guidance on how to be a leader who uses vulnerability as a superpower✨🙏🏾

[voneror]

Great talk, but the title is misleading.

[kobiianardo]

5:18 not that universe exploding is ever cheap to realize, but i'm wondering if this is more of an issue now because the only acceptable visual solution tends to be the realistic/representational one, which translate directly to a problem of finance. in the world of realism are there ever times when you creatively consider stylistically harmonizable solutions to do something "very expensive" or "impossible" to cut down costs. //endnonenglish

[Vesperitis]

No wonder 'The Dawn Will Come' was the best moment in Inquisition. In the darkest moment, when all seemed lost, faith was truly born then, even for those without faith.

I am Frank watching Mac dance. I get it now.

[titanscar]

(Sees Bioware)
(Sees a title concerning story)
*GDC Talks Taken Moments Before A Disaster*

[shawn]

That was really fascinating and inspiring to hear, thank you for your talk

[JoonasSariola]

Nr. 1; people really care about ending.

[cargorunner]

Really interesting talk and I can now see why the writing in the early Bioware games is so good. I would love to know if the writing teams in most AAA games are forced to make the story dumbed down and generic to appeal to a mass market. Just like some of the summer block buster movies seem designed to have dumbed down writing and simplistic characters. Bethesda Game Studios is a prime example of the writing in each new fallout or elder scrolls game getting more dumbed down and generic. It's not because they don't have the talent, time or money to develop deeper characters and story. And surely it's not because Bethesda Game Studios have not thought of good working practices like you suggest. Personally I only seem to find interesting, memorable writing in video game in Sony flagship games, CD Project Red games and smaller indie games. Sorry and sad to say I don't think that Bioware are up there any more.

[FaeranJourneys]

Wow... Awasome chat!... Origins int one ho mi favorits game!

[thezyreick]

Is there a decent place to go to get in touch with people interested in game development? this may sound like a redundant question especially being asked on a channel focused on that topic lol. However it is a serious question I have, I have been obsessed with video games since I was young, when I was 15 instead of worrying about who is going to the school dance, I was sitting behind my laptop at home researching how to program and create AI. I do not personally think I am a good programmer, on the contrary I think I am very novice as there are many things I am constantly learning.
Just recently I have finally been able to afford a computer of higher processing power and capable or raytracing, and am trying to get more into game development than I currently am, and at the point where I am trying to learn the professional grade processes and earnestly dive into creating a game to release to public. The biggest issue is I personally know that my skills are not good enough to pull off that kind of project myself, and realistically I cant learn said skills (such as art design, graphic design, advanced programming) in a relevant time for what I am wanting to do in the next few years with my time.
So I guess what I am getting at is I am earnestly trying to find people to get with where I can collaborate with them on a project or even just help them with theirs while learning advanced techniques I do not know yet hands on. I am always eager to learn, further my knowledge, and humbly improve my skills and approaches to solve problems. I know my methods are rough and am trying to refine them, but do not know where to go to in order to start.

[mistyfiedwhisper]

this was awesome to listen to... (yes I love Anders LOL)

[SDKSeizO]

Question for future devs/writers: Why make N major NPCs and force the player to pick two of them and balance the game for three person group? Replay-ability? Tech issues? It becomes a clusterffff in combat? I am not having five runs just to experience all the banter and side quests. Allow me create a big party and enjoy the clashing personality. Create NPC "teams" based on preferences. This is almost always fixed with custom mods after release. Why don't you implement it?