Rhianna Pratchett, the writer behind Overlord and its sequels, has expressed how much help the video game industry in the writing department.
“Writers and narrative designers are still relatively new positions on development teams. This means there’s still a level of uncertainty about how best to use and integrate them. I know from talking to lots of fine people in my field that the writing process can often be done too late, without proper access to the team and under extreme pressure. Thankfully, things are starting to get a little better and more writers are being contacted in the first few months of a project’s lifespan, rather than the last few months … A little more variation in concept and content would be nice, as well, which is something writers and narrative designers can help with.”
I couldn’t agree more. As a big fan of books, I’m frequently turned off from games for either a lame plot or poor dialogue. In fact, if I were to count how many games I’ve played that have been good in every department but writing, I would have to make up a new number. I’m going with “dillion.” A dillion games.
