Former BioWare Lead Writer on Possible Mass Effect TV Show: 'Makes Me Cringe' - News
by William D'Angelo , posted on 26 November 2021 / 1,573 Views
It was reported earlier this week, Amazon Studios is in talks with Electronic Arts to develop a live action series based on the science-fiction action RPG for Prime Video.
David Gaider, who was the lead writer on the Dragon Age series before he left BioWare after 17 years in 2016, took to Twitter to respond to the report of Amazon Studios looking to develop a Mass Effect TV show.
"I'm relieved to see that the Mass Effect/Amazon deal is for a potential TV series and not a movie," said Gaider. "Even so, the possibility (and likewise for Dragon Age) makes me cringe just a little, unlike many fans who appear... excited?
"For starters, [Mass Effect] and [Dragon Age] have a custom protagonist, meaning said TV show will need to pick whether said protagonist will be male or female. Boom, right off the bat you’ve just alienated a whole bunch of the built-in fan base who had their hopes up.
"Secondly, those protagonists are designed to be a bit of a blank slate, one that the player fills out with their decisions. That's not going to work for a passive medium. So, suddenly, the protagonist will have their own personality... and their own *story*. That will be weird.
"You think I'm wrong? Consider just how MUCH of the story is off-loaded onto the companions. They are the cyphers through which the player gets most of their emotional engagement from. On their own, the DA and ME protagonists are... well, pretty boring. That's not going to fly.
"And think of those companions. Think of how MUCH the fanbase is attached to them. Now consider the fact that there is no way in hell any single story could encompass them all equally. Think of the howls of rage when companion X is relegated to a cameo... or not there at all.
"Having a TV show instead of a movie allows for more companion options, sure, but consider your own playthrough: only a handful of them had any meaningful presence in a single game. That will need to be the case for this story, to maintain coherence. A few companions, one romance.
"And that's IF the TV show makers consider the companions to be all that important. They might toss most of them aside in favor of the PLOT. In my mind, that would be a mistake. Both ME's and DA's plots were, at best, serviceable. And I don't mean that in a derogatory way.
"Those plots had to take into account the player's agency. They were kind of the shell upon which that player's emotional engagement was delivered -- usually through the companions and the choices themselves. Choice heightened engagement. Interactivity was the star, not the plot.
"Take all that out, lose most of the companions, and you potentially end up with... a pretty run-of-the-mill fantasy or science-fiction show, one where a lot of the built-in audience has possibly been turned into outraged, howling malcontents before it's even released.
"All that is, of course, if the DA or ME series is mishandled. I can think of any number of ways it could be done better... but that involves doing more than a strict adaptation, and that comes with its own complications. Anyhow, good luck to the showrunners. They'll need it!"
I'm relieved to see that the Mass Effect/Amazon deal is for a potential TV series and not a movie. Even so, the possibility (and likewise for Dragon Age) makes me cringe just a little, unlike many fans who appear... excited?
— David Gaider (@davidgaider) November 25, 2021
Let me explain. (Thread)
A life-long and avid gamer, William D'Angelo was first introduced to VGChartz in 2007. After years of supporting the site, he was brought on in 2010 as a junior analyst, working his way up to lead analyst in 2012. He has expanded his involvement in the gaming community by producing content on his own YouTube channel and Twitch channel dedicated to gaming Let's Plays and tutorials. You can contact the author at wdangelo@vgchartz.com or on Twitter @TrunksWD.
More Articles
Make it more like The Expanse... Accurate, Serious and a Spectacle and I am all in.
Love Ass Effect, one of my favorite Sci-Fi stories of all time.
He made some valid points, but imo, both default male and fem Sheperds were iconic enough that if the show copies one of those looks, fans will be more or less ok with it. Sounds like someone's a bit bitter that they were not asked to write for the show.
hoep it does not turnn out like the halo tv series
It's so easy to fall into generic and forgettable sci-fi. And the overarching story in ME is pretty generic when you think about it. What made it work was the personal touches you had access to as a player, making choices and handling relationships and such. Even though in the end, even your choices didn't matter all that much. I don't know. It would need a perfect, strong vision, the right vision, to work as a series.
