Something I think is missing here (and in the article) is a transcript of the conversation in question. So here's one I grabbed from the SSC subreddit culture war thread [0] permalink[1]:

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Jessica Price:

>Since I spent all kinds of time saying it on a Reddit AMA, and I haven't talked about actual game dev on Twitter in a while, here's a thread about writing for the PC character in an MMO.

>The dirty secret is I'm not sure if it's possible to make an MMORPG (or CRPG) character compelling, because people have different expectations about what that character will be, as opposed to a pre-designed character in a single-player game.

>People booting up Bioshock know they're playing Jack. People starting Dishonored know they're playing Corvo. People beginning Tomb Raider know they're playing Lara Croft. So in those games, you have more wiggle room to make the protagonist an actual character.

>Whereas in an RPG, where the player chooses all kinds of character options and names their character and designs their face and so on, they feel more ownership over that character. They're not playing a character YOU designed--they're playing a character THEY designed.

>So if Jack or Lara or Corvo says or does something the player doesn't feel that THEY would say or do, the player's more forgiving, because they have the expectation that they're piloting a character someone else created.

>N.B. that I'm not talking about overall plot objectives/quests. Players know going in that the game is going to be telling them what to do, and their character is going to do it, and that holds true even when they've "created" the character.

>But the * interpersonal* stuff, the PC's REACTIONS, players respond strongly to. Some people don't like it if they think their character's responding in ways that make them too much of an asshole. Some don't like it if their character's responses seem weak.

>So, basically, most things that you'd do writing-wise to give a character, well, CHARACTER, are going to upset a large contingent, maybe even a majority, of your players.

>So--I know I've said this before on Twitter, but it's still going to weird people out, but please bear with me--you have to construct your MMO/RPG's PC character's dialogue as if they were Bella Swan from Twilight.

>To be clear, I don't think Twilight is good writing. I don't think Bella Swan's a well-constructed book character. And I think people who criticize Twilight for the latter are correct but also missing the reason for Twilight's popularity.

>Because Twilight isn't the love story of Bella and Edward. It's the * experience of being loved by Edward.* Which is why Bella's constructed the way she is.

>Bella Swan is a carefully constructed blank space, with JUST enough personality to function. All of her personality traits are chosen to avoid preventing the reader from inserting themselves into the space she holds in the story.

>She's a bit of a klutz, but JUST enough to make her endearing, not enough to prevent her from actually doing anything the story needs her to do. She's a little bit awkward. JUST enough to be relatable but not enough to actually hinder her. And so on.

>And essentially, we have to write the player character in an MMO/RPG the same way.

>Specifically in GW2, in the Living World, we can write the Commander with a bit of wry exasperation, a hint of impatience, a touch of "okay, I'm done fooling around with this crap and I'm going to take charge," but most of their lines have to be pretty devoid of personality.

>Because if we give them too much personality, it might clash with how the player is imagining Their Commander.

>So, how do we tell a TV-like season of story with a protagonist who can't really have a personality?

>The answer to that, and I dunno, maybe this is too much of how the sausage gets made but whaddaya want from me, any sense of shame I had burned out a long time ago: SLEIGHT OF HAND.

>We SUGGEST that the Commander has a personality in how the other characters interact with and react to them. Even there, we have to be super-careful. We can't even have THEM directly characterize the Commander.

>You'll rarely hear a character say anything about what the Commander always does or doesn't do, except when it's PURELY factual because it's something the game design FORCED the PC to do.

>E.g. "the Commander always finds a way!" because literally if you don't we'll resurrect you until you do.

>We have NPCs react to you with affection, or irritation, or leeriness, or whatever, to suggest that your character has regular habits and ways of interacting that build these relationships. But for the most part, they don't.

>The PC is who you imagine them to be, and the NPCs react in ways that have to FEEL personal, and build a story, while not conflicting with whatever you're imagining your character's personality to be. We WANT you to project.

>Which makes writing the NPCs' relationships with the PC basically like writing horoscopes. It has to feel specific and personal while actually being universal.

>So:

>A) VERY delicate sketches of non-objectionable personality traits (like a hint of wryness or world-weariness)

>B) NPCs that behave as if your character has a distinct personality while not doing so in ways that actually identify what it is

>C) one-sided relationship-building

>Voila. An MMO/RPG character.

>Needless to say, a lot of the color comes from NPCs' relationships with EACH OTHER, even though we try to keep it centered on the PC as much as possible.

>It is a constant, very fragile calibration. We don't always get it right.

>Incidentally, if you've played Ep 3 of this season of GW2's Living World, you've seen this sort of writing taken to an extreme in Joko's final monologue.

>Almost everything he says is about actions the game has forced you to take, not your own character traits, and he's clearly projecting when he talks about what you were thinking, but it's--hopefully!--constructed in a way that feels personal, like he's twisting the knife.

Deroir:

>Really interesting thread to read!
However, allow me to disagree * slightly* . I dont believe the issue lies in the MMORPG genre itself (as your wording seemingly suggest). I believe the issue lies in the contraints of the Living Story's narrative design; (1 of 3)

>When you want the outcome to be the same across the board for all players' experiences, then yes, by design you are extremely limited in how you can contruct the personality of the PC. (2 of 3)

>But, if instead players were given the option to meaningfully express * their* character through branching dialogue options (which also aren't just on the checklist for an achievement that forces you through all dialogue options), (3 of 4 cause I count seemingly...)

>then perhaps players would be more invested in the roleplaying aspect of that particular MMORPG.
Nonetheless, I appreciate the insightful thread! (End)

Jessica Price:

>thanks for trying to tell me what we do internally, my dude 9_9

Deroir:

>You getting mad at my obvious attempt at creating dialogue and discussion with you, instead of just replying that I am wrong or otherwise correct me in my false assumptions, is really just disheartening for me. You do you though. I'm sorry if it offended. I'll leave you to it.

Jessica Price:

>Today in being a female game dev:

>"Allow me--a person who does not work with you--explain to you how you do your job."

Deroir:

>So much for an open discussion I guess. I meant no disrespect AT ALL. Never did. Never will. Neither did I imply I knew better. Nor has this ANYTHING to do with gender. Never did. Never will. I will retract my comment, cause obviously I'm in the wrong forum for this kind of talk.

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More Jessica Price, in relation to the above chain but not posted as replies to them

>like, the next rando asshat who attempts to explain the concept of branching dialogue to me--as if, you know, having worked in game narrative for a fucking DECADE, I have never heard of it--is getting instablocked. PSA.

>Since we've got a lot of hurt manfeels today, lemme make something clear: this is my feed. I'm not on the clock here. I'm not your emotional courtesan just because I'm a dev. Don't expect me to pretend to like you here.

>The attempts of fans to exert ownership over our personal lives and times are something I am hardcore about stopping. You don't own me, and I don't owe you.

links to some of the tweets:

https://twitter.com/Delafina777/status/1014555719352213504

https://twitter.com/Delafina777/status/1014581433937981445

https://twitter.com/Delafina777/status/1014554296107483136

https://twitter.com/DeroirGaming/status/1014280605599748096

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https://clips.twitch.tv/CrypticMistyStingrayDxCat

here is like a 1 minute of the guy that talked to her about this, talking about her like 2 days before this all went. the dude idolized her. He's also an "arenanet partner" and popular streamer of the game; he has an NPC named after him in it.

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Some formatting was changed (escaping of * characters)

0: https://www.reddit.com/r/slatestarcodex/comments/8vhj05/cult...

1: https://www.reddit.com/r/slatestarcodex/comments/8vhj05/cult...