by The BioWare Grinch, Evil Chris Priestly
Bah Humbug! It is the holiday season once again and BioWare is ready to celebrate the holidays. While some of our staff will be working over the break (we have Dragon Age II coming in March and Mass Effect 3 gearing up for next holiday season so everyone is busy), we will all have time to do whatever it is we each do over the holiday break. Some folks go skiing, some folks spend time with their families and each of us has our own traditions or plans over the break.
I asked the staff to pass along any holiday wishes they had to our Community. Two people even contributed some awesome art based off Mass Effect and Dragon Age II for your holiday viewing. Here are wishes from our staff to you for the holidays.
All the best to our fans and your families. I can’t wait to show you everything we’ve got in store for 2011 and beyond. – Aaryn Flynn, Studio GM
Thanks to everyone for all of your support. Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! – Allan Schumacher Dragon Age QA
From our top secret fortified IS bunker to yours, happy holidays! – Neal Gray, Information Systems
Here’s hoping all you BioWare fans have a great winter holiday, and enjoy DA2 come the new year! 😀 -Matt Powell, QA Tester – BioWare.
To all the people that loved and continue to love our games: may you have the most profoundly beautiful Christmas holiday! You deserve it! – Dave Feltham, Senior Designer ME Team
Happy holidays to all our great and dedicated fans we could not have done it without you, I hope you are as excited as we are for our 2011 line up. – Patrick Demkiw aka Miracl3 Work3r QA
Everyone out there, you make coming to work that much more special. I know I plan to spend some of these holidays playing some of our games, and I hope you will as well, you know in your warmer climates… Bryan Johnson ME team QA
Happy Holidays to everyone! Even the people who adore Varric’s chest hair. And, yes, even the Talimancers. – Patrick and Karin Weekes, Design, ME3 and DA-II (Mostly Karin)
Holiday customs inefficient. Far easier to simply give a gift card, allow me to purchase appropriate reading material. Have already read the book you were going to get me anyway. Regardless, appreciate the thought.” Dr. Mordin Solus, BioWare Medical R&D (Also by Patrick and Karin Weekes, Design, ME3 and DA-II (Mostly Patrick)
Happy Holidays from one of many BioWare elves working diligently on your late Christmas present! Dragon Age 2 will be yours this March! Zu allen unseren Ventilatoren in Deutschland… Ein frohes Weihnachtsfest und alles Gute zum neuen Jahr! – Tony Evans, Dragon Age 2 team
Hey folks, thanks for all of your love and support. I wish you all a safe and happy holiday season. – Scott Mitchell, Lead Animator – Mass Effect 3
Hope I get the Sandal Saves Santa DLC for Christmas. – Matthew Eades Dragon Age QA (maybe next year Matt)
I dearly hope your holidays are filled with warm temperatures and people who think you’re awesome. I mean, *I* think you’re awesome, but I was thinking maybe, like, *other people* thinking you’re awesome might mean more to you. Not that I would be hurt, and maybe crying on the inside, if you didn’t value my opinion. – Jay Watamaniuk, Writer, Mass Effect 3
Wishing all of our fans a safe, happy, and healthy holiday season. Eat lots, hug your family, and be excellent to each other.- Stan Woo – QA Ninja
During this holiday season, eat more than you should, live like there’s no tomorrow, and do a good deed for your fellow man. Happy Holidays! – Robert Girardin DA Tech QA
Graag wens ik iedereen in onze community een warme en gezonde kerst en jaarwisseling toe. – Jos Hendriks Level Design Mass Effect
Merry Christmas to all of you! – Randy Hildebrand, Studio Ops
Meri kurisumasu minasan! Anzende tanoshii horideeshizun wo motte. Atarashii geemu ga dete kuru toki 3 tsuki 11~nichi o shinbouzuyoku matte kudasai. -From the lovely-est of lovelies – Celeste Phillips QA
I lurk the forums occasionally and I see a lot of anticipation and enthusiasm. Some trepidation and uncertainty, but a lot of positivity too! I’m excited about Dragon Age 2, and I’m working hard to deliver the best game I can for our fans. Our whole team is. Thanks for caring and participating in our community: have an awesome holiday and a happy New Year! – Michael Hamilton Dragon Age Programmer
From all of us to all of you, a happy holiday season. Wishing you the most delicious of egg-nogs and/or hot chocolates, – Nathan Willis, DA Team’s QA Audio Listener Monkey
Hope you enjoy the many varieties of cheese available to you over this holiday season. And ham, turnip and fish. – Sheila Nash Dragon Age Level Team
Merry Christmas everyone, and especially to Bean ^_^ – Owen Borstad Dragon Age Programming
I hope your holiday season is filled with thoughts of Hurlocks and Krogans rampaging joyously through your snow covered snowscapes. – Kevin Loh – Dragon Age II Team
Last Christmas holidays, I spent enrapt in DA:O. This Christmas, I’ve got my Ultimate Edition and some quality time lined up for all the DLC. I hope you too have time this Christmas to do whatever it is you love. Joyeux Noël! – Jeanne-Marie Owens, Nerdherder
Thanks to all of our staff who took a moment out of their busy days for the holiday wishes. And special thanks to Matthew Clark for the “Santa Varric” picture and to Cameron and Jackie Winston for “Mass Effect Christmas”.
And now one last wish. Thanks for being part of our Community here at BioWare. My job is much easier because we have the best fans on earth. Whether you love Dragon Age, Mass Effect, Star Wars, our past games or what we are coming up with next, we have the best community. Sometimes you applaud us, sometimes you boo, but we know you do it because you care. I hope you all have a great holiday season. I wish you health, happiness and an excellent 2011 with many more great games coming from BioWare. See you next year. – Evil Chris Priestly, BioWare Community Team (whose heart grew 3 sizes while writing this blog).