My article “Developing Meaningful Player Character Arcs in Branching Narrative” is now up at Gamasutra.com. This is by far the most in-depth discussion of games writing I’ve engaged in publicly, and it covers a subject I believe is underappreciated.
The article has a somewhat convoluted origin. At BioWare, I’d hoped to start running occasional “craft sessions” where writers could make presentations on subjects of interest–essentially, a regular advanced class on game writing where the lecturer would rotate with the students. I never did get the program up and running, and I’ve been left with these scattered thoughts ever since. Rather than let them go to waste, I figured I’d send them out into the world.
I’m opening comments on this post, in case anyone wants to debate. Whether future long-form articles on game writing appear on this blog is up to you. Readers, speak up if you find this stuff interesting. Fellow game writers, please say so if you find this useful–and if you’d like to contribute something similar, maybe we can get these craft sessions going yet.
I do find this stuff interesting, so here’s a vote for more articles like this. However, in my opinion, you will find greater longevity as a blogger if you write for yourself, and not for what you think your audience wants.
Also, I’m an Imp Agent player in TOR, and a big fan of the storyline.
Finally, you might be interested in this series of posts between Milady of Hypercritism and myself on failure in game stories:
http://hypercriticism.net/2012/agency-and-powerlessness/
http://blessingofkings.blogspot.co.uk/2012/12/agency-and-failure.html
http://hypercriticism.net/2012/re-agency-and-failure/
I would be interested in seeing your take on the issue.