Another Case For Writers in Game Development
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For the record, I like Adam Maxwell. As the writer in question to whom he refers in his piece ((The Case Against etc.)), I found our work relationship on Dirty Harry consistently constructive, courteous and professional.
We got along. Ironically (perhaps mistakenly), I gathered that he liked my actual contributions, so while his solitary focus on our collaboration as the (most compelling fact behind avoiding writers [sic]) came as a bit of a surprise, I'm reasonably, maybe naively, sure that he's speaking from the heart and not just nursing bitter memories of a grandiosely ill-starred production. He was an oasis of sanity.
Usually in this biz, it's egos that sink projects. I never got that vibe from Adam, and I think he'd agree that I too was always about the material. So even though he's chosen to reference the experience as proof that writing in games is irrelevant to their success or quality, I genuinely believe he's speaking from the heart.
I've heard this attitude before, from designers, producers, journalists, even other writer types. And every time I find it a remarkably revealing insight as to just how derisively they view the creative process in general and the legacy of electronic entertainment in particular. It's indifference to mediocrity, usually posed as a loaded (either-or) analogy.
