Yes, we do need writers
I was going to go off on a rant about Adam Maxwell’s suggestion that writers in the games industry are superfluous, but luckily the IGDA Game Writers Special Interest Group posted a rebuttal stating all but the most personal points I thought of so I’ll keep it short.
Maxwell seems to attack not only the position of the writer but the concept of in-game stories itself. Working in a company known for making games with a strong narrative element, I consistently get blown away when reading new concepts and story drafts. While this feeling ebbs away and powerful scenes get tiresome after you see them slightly-less-broken for the twentieth time, there’s no denying that a believable story and characters work wonders for immersion – for the simple reason that you’re actually listening to it instead of getting hung-up on the clichés and contradictions. Sure, a person working full-time with writing might not be the first one to hire when starting up a game company, but I don’t see Maxwell providing enough arguments as to why we should disregard 10 years of refinement in game development.
I think Adam does like story in games — he just tripped over his own words. I translated what he’s really saying: http://writerscabal.wordpress.com/2008/03/20/good-writers-make-better-game-designers/ . Maybe you disagree?