Curse

Ryssul Sylverhart · Jun 29, 2009, 10:40 PM // 22:40

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ghost Omel

Wouldnt you find the stories being rather different in terms of writing style? Maybe even content?.. Id keep same author writing the books.. Still no excluding your theory.. just seems unusualy.. 3 books of the same story written by 3 different authors.. inconsistensy much?

Of course not. The only examples I can give you (from mine own experiences) are the Dragonlance and Star Wars series of books. For the Dragonlance universe, while the main journeys are written by both Hickman and Weis, "spinoff" titles are written by a whole lot of different authors. Same with the Star Wars chronicles. While Episode IV was written by George Lucas himself, the book forms of all the other episodes (and spinoffs!) were written by different authors. Many fantasy and sci-fi universes have their books written by more than one author. Considering how large those worlds can get, I don't think one author would want to write all those books. Writing can hard.

Most of the time, despite the change of writer, the books flow pretty well together. Sometimes you even like the writing, even if the author isn't the same. There have been times when the author was completely tripe, but...that can be with any book you pick up.

And because these authors are all writing about different things in GW, maybe they felt one author's voice would be more conclusive to the subject matter. Maybe they felt that Forbeck would write better about the Fall of Ascalon because his stories are known to be rife with sorrow and they know he could make this heartbreaking or something. Who knows? Maybe the rise of the dragons is too action-y for him, so they got someone else? A lot goes into picking an author to tell your tale for you.

Mazer Mezar · Jun 30, 2009, 03:22 AM // 03:22

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ghost Omel

Wouldnt you find the stories being rather different in terms of writing style? Maybe even content?.. Id keep same author writing the books.. Still no excluding your theory.. just seems unusualy.. 3 books of the same story written by 3 different authors.. inconsistensy much?

Not to be any kind of pain. However, I think it would not only be practical, but actually beneficial, to have 3 different authors. Imagine, for instance, that each book chronicles a separate race's rise and fall, or they each chronicle some different event. Perhaps the rise of the dragons, the spread of the Charr/Norn Alliance, the rise of Joko, the rigid xenophobia of Cantha developing. There's several possibilities for content. And each is different. Which would mean it'd be very useful to have a different voice, a different tone, to the stories. Each would be told about different subjects, and therefor would have to be viewed through different lenses. Just...my 2 cents on the subject.

Regina Buenaobra · Jun 30, 2009, 04:15 AM // 04:15

Quote:

Originally Posted by kupp

I stumbled across this while reading the GW2 article on the official wiki:

http://isbndb.com/d/book/guild_wars.html

I know all about placeholders and such, but since it was taken from the wiki I assume it's true. Isn't this kinda bad news, meaning GW2 won't be released before late 2010, perhaps 2011? Yeah, I had hopes for a 2009 release a few months ago, and I have hopes we'll see it in early-mid 2010 now, or had, at least until I found that link.

Just because it is on the official wiki does not mean that it is official news. Remember that the official wikis can be edited by absolutely anyone. Just to restate a point I have made often when people are trying to find information: when we announce something as big as an official, confirmed release date, whether it for the book or the game, we would do it on the official website and/or some other channel that we manage, such as press/PR releases.

I'm not withholding information to spite you, believe me. I can only tell you what has been approved for release to the public.

I know it's been a tough wait so far. I know the knowledge that AAA MMORPGs take at least three or more years to develop doesn't make you any less impatient or eager to learn more. More information will be coming, just hang in there.

Konig Des Todes · Jun 30, 2009, 05:30 AM // 05:30

For the 1 author for 3 book making more sense or 1 for 1 arguments. If the books are to all be released before GW2, and GW2 will be released sometime before 2015 or something, at least two authors are needed, imo.

Writing novels is not a couple months task when there is already background on what you are writing. In this case, the authors need to know a decent amount of GW lore, I wouldn't be surprised if the author(s) were lurking in the lore forum for this and the GWO sites, to be honest.

It would take a few months to get a decent amount of research (at least a full month if you do a fast and semi-in-depth research), then a few more months to write the rough draft, then at least three or so weeks to get through editing and revisions.

Personally, I would have preferred for Jeff Grubb, Bobby Stein, Ree Soesbee, and/or Will McDermott (i.e., Anet's writing/lore staff) to write the books. But they probably have their hands full with GW2 storyline/dialogue/other lore-stuff.

Ravious · Jun 30, 2009, 01:00 PM // 13:00

Quote:

Originally Posted by Konig Des Todes

It would take a few months to get a decent amount of research (at least a full month if you do a fast and semi-in-depth research), then a few more months to write the rough draft, then at least three or so weeks to get through editing and revisions.

Personally, I would have preferred for Jeff Grubb, Bobby Stein, Ree Soesbee, and/or Will McDermott (i.e., Anet's writing/lore staff) to write the books. But they probably have their hands full with GW2 storyline/dialogue/other lore-stuff.

Forbeck actually said he was working closely with the ANet crew, so it is more likely that his research was mostly done with them. Ree's essay on Charr culture alone is more descriptive than anything I have seen on any lore subforum. So, while the actual writing skill was Forbeck's, I have a feeling Grubb and crew had a pretty heavy hand in things.

Ghost Omel · Jun 30, 2009, 01:05 PM // 13:05

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mazer Mezar

Not to be any kind of pain. However, I think it would not only be practical, but actually beneficial, to have 3 different authors. Imagine, for instance, that each book chronicles a separate race's rise and fall, or they each chronicle some different event. Perhaps the rise of the dragons, the spread of the Charr/Norn Alliance, the rise of Joko, the rigid xenophobia of Cantha developing. There's several possibilities for content. And each is different. Which would mean it'd be very useful to have a different voice, a different tone, to the stories. Each would be told about different subjects, and therefor would have to be viewed through different lenses. Just...my 2 cents on the subject.

If this is the case then i canot do anythign but agree with you.. I just find that each author has his own way of righting his on little signature that is seen through the books.. I agree about the star wars argument brought up.... Star wars.. me love you long time......I just didnt pay attention to writers on the star wars books... was to much into the story even thougn i find some not as good as others... (readin one right now.. give a name latter)

In any case Mazer brings rather interesting idea.. each book for a differnet race that intertwine between each other at some points.. thumbs up for that.

Konig Des Todes · Jun 30, 2009, 03:55 PM // 15:55

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ravious

Forbeck actually said he was working closely with the ANet crew, so it is more likely that his research was mostly done with them. Ree's essay on Charr culture alone is more descriptive than anything I have seen on any lore subforum. So, while the actual writing skill was Forbeck's, I have a feeling Grubb and crew had a pretty heavy hand in things.

What I was thinking when I said looking at the lore forums was that he would probably come across research and theories and, if they were related to the book, he'd ask about them or something. That's what I would have done at least. I'm sure he was working close to at least one writer at Anet. And he just sent the first draft to Anet, so I'm sure they'd catch *most* inconsistencies. (Anet have made inconsistencies before, such as the Crystal Desert/Sea names in Ecology of the Charr and History of Tyria - they call it the Desert when it was actually a Sea).