The writing is awful. How does one become a writer for DC games?

[Raz]

As a dedicated fan of DC, I ignored the naysayers and tried to be optimistic for this game's potential to deliver an engaging narrative. Yet, it quickly became evident that the game's writing fell short of capturing the essence of beloved characters and lacked any semblance of a meaningful overarching story.

One of the most striking issues lies in character representations. In the DCAU crafted by Bruce Timm every hero was depicted with such depth and nuance that even in defeat, there was something unique about them through their personalities that allowed them to still be popular with fans. Whether it was Flash sitting down to listen to his villains mental health problems rather than beating him into a pulp like Batman would or for Batman sitting with a dying girl dealing with her mortality in a way Superman or Wonder Woman couldn't, each character was treated with the utmost respect in a way that made them all unique, and increased their stock/brand value as a character.

In contrast, this game absolutely wrecks the brand value of every character and falls into the all-too-common trap of resorting to tired tropes, such as evil versions of iconic heroes. The concept of 4 street level characters with guns taking down seemingly invincible foes could have been great with proper writing, but here all it does is further diminish the integrity of the DC IP.

Furthermore, the killing of Wonder Woman in the lead-up to her own standalone game, only serves to lower her stock as a character which will now likely see that game take a hit in sales. This is a big reason the DCEU died due to people including big characters in their movies who weren't actually fans of those characters and in the process just kept shrinking the DC fans. Marvel would never have allowed Dr. Strange to be killed as a supporting character in one of Dwayne Johnson's vanity pieces, but there seems to be no editor in DC protecting their brand?? It's a disheartening pattern that seems to prioritize shock value over genuine storytelling, leaving audiences disillusioned and disengaged.

While I can forgive shortcomings in character portrayal if the overarching narrative offers substance, this game also fails to deliver on that front also. Unlike the societal commentary and character-driven exploration found in well written DC stories like "The Dark Knight," this game offers nothing of substance beneath its surface-level plot. Instead, it presents a disjointed series of events devoid of any meaning and plays out like fanfic from a writer who only knows about a dozen or so DC characters and is making the rest up from wiki pages.

As someone who is deeply passionate about storytelling and the DC universe, I can't help but wonder how such a disappointing product came to fruition. It begs the question: how does one secure a role in writing for DC video games or media of this nature? While the cheesy dialogue is certainly a concern, the real issue is the story outline itself is absolutely dreadful.

I don't want to be overly negative as I'm sure people tried their best, but it just feels like DC continually get the wrong people for the job who don't know how to handle an ensemble of characters that each have a dedicated fan-base. How do they find writers because I really think I could knock it out of the park. The game-play isn't all that restricting for storytelling so there really is no excuse for not having something amazing. I'd do it unpaid for the first one just to show how you actually tell a narrative that appeals to fans of various characters and newcomers alike.

[Odd fella]

Do you find western culture problematic? Do you believe men are toxic? Do you believe we live in a white supremec1st, Naz1 society, where everyone except the straight white man is oppressed?

If so, they will be very interested to hear from you.

[Termix]

İlk olarak Krona🥶 tarafından gönderildi:

I wasn't talking to you, just making a general statement.

DC and Warner Bros has say on who gets to use the brand, but they won't step in if the story is bad or holds no consistency when you compare it to comics.

Nobalkain already stepped in and I answered, because I believe your statement to be not completely correct.

WB gave the DC brand to Netherrealm (owned by WB too) and they were NOT allowed to do anything they want.

[Cat]

Suicide Squad: Piss on the justice league.

[Corona Scurrae]

İlk olarak 5ean5ean tarafından gönderildi:

I didnt say anything about wokeness.

- It's Lore Inaccurate
- We have people peeing on dead bodies.
- Non stop jokes
- Im not even going to mention the Batman stuff bc it legit makes me angry that was green lit.

This game has serious writing problems without even going into Lex Luthor talking about "Toxic Masculinity" while Harley Quinn grabs Deadshot's a** without consent.

This game is a mess.

ah so you pretty much described the entirety of dc and marvel comics during the last 10-20 years congrats.

did anyone bother to read the comics dc and marvel have been pumping out? it's the same thing. a complete mess.
the wolverine origins story for example is one of the worst things I have ever had the misfortune of reading.

so in reality nothing changed haha

[Krona🥶]

İlk olarak nobalkain tarafından gönderildi:

İlk olarak Krona🥶 tarafından gönderildi:

??? You're barking up the wrong tree. I wasn't talking to you, just making a general statement.

DC and Warner Bros has say on who gets to use the brand, but they won't step in if the story is bad or holds no consistency when you compare it to comics.

Depends on the Contract and what is put in place when the License is made. Case in point when NRS made MK Vs DC they where not allowed to mess up Supermans Symbol, or have the Characters Killed or Kill, thus why it has no Fatalities when involving the Heroes. They used to care, but the Parent Company no longer does.

Story and consistency to lore is something never put in place when it's given out. That's the point of Elseworlds stuff.

As for things like depiction of heroes dying in violent deaths, which would normally be case in MK, we understand why it was ommited for a T rating. At that time, mortal Kombat level gore and DC comics did not really mix.

İlk olarak Termix tarafından gönderildi:

İlk olarak Krona🥶 tarafından gönderildi:

I wasn't talking to you, just making a general statement.

DC and Warner Bros has say on who gets to use the brand, but they won't step in if the story is bad or holds no consistency when you compare it to comics.

Nobalkain already stepped in and I answered, because I believe your statement to be not completely correct.

WB gave the DC brand to Netherrealm (owned by WB too) and they were NOT allowed to do anything they want.

Netherrealm absolutely did what they want with Injustice and it's lore.

[Krona🥶]

İlk olarak RIP Heihachi tarafından gönderildi:

İlk olarak 5ean5ean tarafından gönderildi:

I didnt say anything about wokeness.

- It's Lore Inaccurate
- We have people peeing on dead bodies.
- Non stop jokes
- Im not even going to mention the Batman stuff bc it legit makes me angry that was green lit.

This game has serious writing problems without even going into Lex Luthor talking about "Toxic Masculinity" while Harley Quinn grabs Deadshot's a** without consent.

This game is a mess.

ah so you pretty much described the entirety of dc and marvel comics during the last 10-20 years congrats.

did anyone bother to read the comics dc and marvel have been pumping out? it's the same thing. a complete mess.
the wolverine origins story for example is one of the worst things I have ever had the misfortune of reading.

so in reality nothing changed haha

What have you been reading? Because there are plenty of fantastic runs out there that have been getting praises from fans of all backgrounds. Batman/Superman : World's Finest 2022 being a great example.

Don't put the horrible writing of this game to anyone but Rocksteady.

[Krona🥶]

Actually, it wouldn't surprise me if the shills defending this would shift the goal to things like "DC has always been bad", instead of calling out Rocksteady for their poor decisions and terrible writing.

While someone passionate with the license to the brand would make fans happy, not create a polarizing mess.

[5ean5ean]

İlk olarak Space is the Place tarafından gönderildi:

İlk olarak 5ean5ean tarafından gönderildi:

I didnt say anything about wokeness.

You are also not the 4th message here, but the 5th. Did you missed that Sesame Streets episode? Or you never watched it because it was too "woke"?

Maybe stop caring about a game you don´t own for a moment to attend basic school first, my 3 years old nephew seems to count better than you.

I forgot... you have to spend 70 dollars to have an opinion. Silly me

[Corona Scurrae]

İlk olarak Krona🥶 tarafından gönderildi:

İlk olarak RIP Heihachi tarafından gönderildi:

ah so you pretty much described the entirety of dc and marvel comics during the last 10-20 years congrats.

did anyone bother to read the comics dc and marvel have been pumping out? it's the same thing. a complete mess.
the wolverine origins story for example is one of the worst things I have ever had the misfortune of reading.

so in reality nothing changed haha

What have you been reading? Because there are plenty of fantastic runs out there that have been getting praises from fans of all backgrounds. Batman/Superman : World's Finest 2022 being a great example.

Don't put the horrible writing of this game to anyone but Rocksteady.

let's assume for a moment that you are correct and I'm exaggerating. wouldn't it reflect in comic sales worldwide or in the success of marvel and dc comics branch?
instead we got layoffs and a market decline of nearly 30% and that was during the pandemic

[Sunsetter]

How does one become a writer for DC?
Say you hate the source material and the fans. Instant hire.

[RickJones]

For like literally 50 years superheroes were exclusively written by bearded white dudes with glasses with a respect for science fiction and fantasy history. The Arkham games actually employed one of these guys to create the Arkhamverse.

THIS game was mostly written by a crew of diversity hires all late to the comicbook party now that it's cool to like such things, and who use nerd stuff just to push their shallow political beliefs.

[Corona Scurrae]

İlk olarak Samael tarafından gönderildi:

How does one become a writer for DC?
Say you hate the source material and the fans. Instant hire.

I recently watched flash with my little cousin and I laughed when batman said " I should donate my entire wealth to charity if I wanted a world without crime "

so yeah you are correct with your claim. btw I felt asleep while watching that drivel

İlk olarak RickJones tarafından gönderildi:

For like literally 50 years superheroes were exclusively written by bearded white dudes with glasses with a respect for science fiction and fantasy history. The Arkham games actually employed one of these guys to create the Arkhamverse.

THIS game was mostly written by a crew of diversity hires all late to the comicbook party now that it's cool to like such things, and who use nerd stuff just to push their shallow political beliefs.

it's not the writers. some of the artists that hail from a certain religion that promotes violence, also tend to propagate their "beliefs".

but to be fair the comics industry is at fault themselves. they wanted more profit, they went mainstream, diluted everything and as a result both dc and marvel have become sinking ships.

just look at their parents companies. disney is facing financial straits and is considering to axe nearly a third of the company, while selling the rest to apple.

warner bros. is sucking so much ass as of late that they are currently in the process of "restructuring".

[v-tec]

Either all/majority of the talents behind Arkham Trilogy left Rocksteady and/or this is deliberate lowest effort possible to make a minimum viable product. (sprinkled with some writers' social/political agendas)

[Lanzagranadas]

When they ask how much you know about the DC universe, you answer:

"Nothing. But I believe in human rights, cultural diversity, and the fight of women against toxic masculinity."

That would be probably enough to be hired.

[bgray9054]

İlk olarak RickJones tarafından gönderildi:

For like literally 50 years superheroes were exclusively written by bearded white dudes with glasses with a respect for science fiction and fantasy history. The Arkham games actually employed one of these guys to create the Arkhamverse.

THIS game was mostly written by a crew of diversity hires all late to the comicbook party now that it's cool to like such things, and who use nerd stuff just to push their shallow political beliefs.

^ Nailed it.