David Gaider Reads Fanfiction! (and that is so cool)

credit: kittenmarsh

Not everyone's a fan of fanfiction-- and rightfully so; some of that s*** is downright terrible-- but I think just about everyone is a fan of game designers being approachable and helpful. So often we become used to the opposite scenario, in which we're fed PR BS that makes the creative minds behind our games sound like no more than the mindless avatars of their funding publishers.

One fully fictional example that has a whole lot of truth to it:

"Hey, Mr. Hudson [lead designer of the Mass Effect series], why did you include multiplayer in Mass Effect 3, a series built entirely on a story-driven, single-player experience?" 

"Oh, we felt that it really adds to the game, and it's something we've always really wanted, and we're really excited." [Translation: EA wanted it in so the game could get a sales bump from players who don't buy single player games at full price.]

Note: This isn't a "multiplayer shouldn't be in Mass Effect!" rant. Just a rough example of PR BS. 

Now, not all interviews go that way, but more often than not, we don't hear the full truth from designers or publishers regarding their products, since they want to sell you on how good said product is. The only time we ever really get the truth about how the development of a game went is after the fact, when sales have pretty much stalled and the team is already moving onto something else. That's when we hear about lousy work conditions, or plans left on the cutting room floor, or any other excuse to ensure fans to keep buying their products. This isn't to say the people behind our games are being sinister; that's just good business.

So when someone with authority in how our favorite games are made makes him- or herself available and approachable to fans, it usually elicits a little "squee!" fanboy moment from me, or at the very least a "bro nod" at my computer screen. Like when Cliffy B. answered multiple tweets a day leading up to the release of Gears 3, or basically any time Gabe Newell talks about anything that isn't Half Life 3. Fans appreciate being heard and responded to; it really goes a long way toward building a reliable and engaged fanbase.

So anyway, back to what made me want to post today: Bioware's Dragon Age fanfiction contest. I'd known about this contest from frequenting BSN, but haven't actually looked into it at all. I haven't written fanfiction since early high school-- and that was a long time ago. Still, my affinity for writing, reading and everything in between piqued my interest if only a little, and I opened the thread to find that David Gaider, lead writer for the Dragon Age series, would be the final judge of said content.

Isn't that cool? How many other guys in his position would do the same? It would have been so easy to simply write it off as below his current work. And what's more, after reading the top five chosen by a staff of underlings sifting through the crappy ones in advance, Mr. Gaider decided that his work wasn't done, and requested a larger sample: one consisting of 400+ entries.

And to put icing on the cake, he went to Bioware's blog and created this write-up for entrants, showing his enthusiasm for their enthusiasm, and even offering tips for writing in the fanfiction genre. He didn't have to do that to earn fans' love; he could have simply told someone to put his name to the contest then do it for him. (Actually, now that I think about it, how do we know the one writing this blog is the REAL David Gaider...?)

The blog's a fine read, one that comes off as fully relatable and wholesome, as well as helpful. If any of you are writers (or writing hopefuls), I highly suggest glancing over his five tips in the latter half of the blog.