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Joseph Staten (ex-Bungie) is the lead writer on ReCore

R

RoKKeR

Member
I recall it being mentioned that Staten was working with MS to write and build stories for their first party games such as ReCore, Crackdown and Scalebound, but this NYT article about female heroes in gaming mentions him being the lead writer on ReCore.

Excerpt:
ReCore, a Microsoft Studios game scheduled to arrive for Xbox One next year, will open with the main character, Joule, believing that she is the last human in the desert world of Far Eden. Sentient robots roam the sands and ruins of civilization and Joule must enlist some of them in her cause: reviving the human race. How she does it is the game’s central mystery, but the game’s lead writer, Joseph Staten, said the solution would be unconventional.

“The male gender does not have the monopoly on heroism,” he said. “Joule is emblematic of this conviction, and we hope she’s a character who stands strong and stands out in a market filled with male heroes.”
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29GAMESWOMENJP2-master675.jpg

Full article (a good read): http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/29/arts/lara-croft-has-company-more-female-heroes-appear-in-big-budget-games.html?_r=0

I've been interested in the idea of ReCore, but this definitely gets me excited to learn more abut this game. Hopefully it's 2016 release window holds.
 
I could have sworn they said Microsoft were developing most of the story side of the game?

So this would fit in with that, excited for what they come up with
 
On his wiki page I found an interesting bit:

During his work on the [Halo] games he read science fiction works by Iain Banks, Robert A. Heinlein, and Vernor Vinge.
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Didn't know that before. That actually sheds a lot of light on the tone and plot of the Halo titles
 
Welp, my interest in this just skyrocketed. Love Joe Staten's style of storytelling.

Still can't believe what they did to his work on Destiny.
 
Mixed feelings about this. On one hand I like Halo's universe a lot, on the other hand it took me a lot of effort and time to sort out all the details to understand and appreciate Halo's universe. Hopefully ReCore is easier to follow.
 
Sydle said:
Mixed feelings about this. On one hand I like Halo's universe a lot, on the other hand it took me a lot of effort and time to sort out all the details to understand and appreciate Halo's universe. Hopefully ReCore is easier to follow.
Click to expand...

Given ReCore is a new IP and when it releases it will be one game I don't imagine it will be a problem. If it is successful enough to have a universe/world created around it I can see that being a problem but I don't really think Halo CE had that issue when it came out really?

Only a problem further down the line
 
“The male gender does not have the monopoly on heroism,” he said. “Joule is emblematic of this conviction, and we hope she’s a character who stands strong and stands out in a market filled with male heroes.”
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3018101.jpg
 
spectator said:
Good games, certainly.
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I think the approach to Halo 2s story and worldbuilding is some of the best that I've seen in a western game honestly. Halo 3 not so much, but iirc Staten didn't do nearly as much writing on Halo 3 as he did on 1 and 2. ODST was also one of my favorites in terms of narrative driven FPS games and I think it shows Staten is capable of writing a more subtle restrained story.
 
if it was ex-BIOWARE then I might be interested. Halo is very nice. There is a universe but its shallow and little to no depth to the characters. Recently...since he left...they have been filling in back stories to make the world seem more filled out..its is better. The bungie folks dumped him AND ALL THAT HE DID IN Destiny because it sucked. Read the story about this over http://kotaku.com/the-messy-true-story-behind-the-making-of-destiny-1737556731

So what the op is telling is troubling for this new game. This is not good news. How did this guy get hired should be the story.
 
Halabane said:
if it was ex-BIOWARE then I might be interested. Halo is very nice. There is a universe but its shallow and little to no depth to the characters. Recently...since he left...they have been filling in back stories to make the world seem more filled out..its is better. The bungie folks dumped him AND ALL THAT HE DID IN Destiny because it sucked. Read the story about this over http://kotaku.com/the-messy-true-story-behind-the-making-of-destiny-1737556731

So what the op is telling is troubling for this new game. This is not good news. How did this guy get hired should be the story.
Click to expand...

You're kidding right about all that, right?

He's the head of First Party Narratives at Microsoft, so he oversees stuff like Crackdown and Scalebound.
 
Halabane said:
if it was ex-BIOWARE then I might be interested. Halo is very nice. There is a universe but its shallow and little to no depth to the characters. Recently...since he left...they have been filling in back stories to make the world seem more filled out..its is better. The bungie folks dumped him AND ALL THAT HE DID IN Destiny because it sucked. Read the story about this over http://kotaku.com/the-messy-true-story-behind-the-making-of-destiny-1737556731

So what the op is telling is troubling for this new game. This is not good news. How did this guy get hired should be the story.
Click to expand...
That article just says that they ditched his story because it was "campy and linear" and didn't fit Jason Jones "vision" for destiny which was apparently a vision for a boring, sterile, lifeless husk with no soul.
 
Halabane said:
if it was ex-BIOWARE then I might be interested. Halo is very nice. There is a universe but its shallow and little to no depth to the characters. Recently...since he left...they have been filling in back stories to make the world seem more filled out..its is better. The bungie folks dumped him AND ALL THAT HE DID IN Destiny because it sucked. Read the story about this over http://kotaku.com/the-messy-true-story-behind-the-making-of-destiny-1737556731

So what the op is telling is troubling for this new game. This is not good news. How did this guy get hired should be the story.
Click to expand...

Can't really judge the story he created for Destiny since we'll never truly know everything about it, but if Bungie considered the story they replaced his with to be good or somehow better than what Staten contributed then I really wouldn't believe them and their opinions on his story in the first place.
 
Didn't ReCore get announced as a Spring 2016 release? I highly doubt that is happening, I am assuming if it comes out in 2016 it will be in the Fall/Winter window. Mostly likely will get delayed into 2017 I feel.
 
Why do I have a gut feeling this game is going to be pushed back to fall/winter 2016 or early 2017? Haven't seen much of it since its announcement and Spring is really close if you think about it.
 
Yeah I remember seeing the trailer back at E3 and thought it sounded cool. Definitely on my watch list for 2016.
 
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