John Ebenger
@johnebenger.bsky.social
Cinematic Director at Bungie. Formerly - Jedi: Fallen Order, AC: Odyssey, 3 Mass Effects and 3 Dragon Ages, etc.
Ordered too many fancy cheeses before eating the last batch and now my cheese drawer is incapable of containing all the cheeses.
Pretty embarrassing.
Pretty embarrassing.
December 4, 2025 at 10:53 PM
Ordered too many fancy cheeses before eating the last batch and now my cheese drawer is incapable of containing all the cheeses.
Pretty embarrassing.
Pretty embarrassing.
Hilariously of course a lot of branching narrative games already do this to signpost between optional dialog and stuff that moves forward, because it turns out most gamers don’t WANT to endlessly ask questions of EVERY npc. Even the people who buy narrative heavy games. They want intentional story.
now imagining a AAA game where you can talk to anyone about anything and they have to slop yellow paint on the dialogue boxes to indicate when conversations have been authored to contribute to the actual game story
AI dialogue in games is so stupid. If a studio hired 100 junior writers at fractional cents a word to write reams of mediocre and utterly meaningless dialogue for NPCs nobody would engage with that dialogue because it doesn't contribute anything. even if AI dialogue wasn't bad it'd be just like that
December 3, 2025 at 3:40 PM
Hilariously of course a lot of branching narrative games already do this to signpost between optional dialog and stuff that moves forward, because it turns out most gamers don’t WANT to endlessly ask questions of EVERY npc. Even the people who buy narrative heavy games. They want intentional story.
Reposted by John Ebenger
Breaking News: Tom Stoppard, the playwright known for a witty, cerebral style who drew comparisons to Shakespeare and Shaw, has died at 88.
Tom Stoppard, Award-Winning Playwright of Witty Drama, Dies at 88
Drawing comparisons to the greatest of dramatists, he entwined erudition with imagination in stage works that won accolades on both sides of the Atlantic.
nyti.ms
November 29, 2025 at 6:09 PM
Breaking News: Tom Stoppard, the playwright known for a witty, cerebral style who drew comparisons to Shakespeare and Shaw, has died at 88.
Excited to start showing off the team’s work!
Destiny 2: Renegades | Launch Trailer
YouTube video by Destiny 2
youtu.be
November 25, 2025 at 7:11 PM
Excited to start showing off the team’s work!
The simulation is definitely getting unstable
In one day Trump gushes over Mamdani, MTG plans to quit, and the Pope throws a rave. I am very, very suspicious of this time line now.
November 22, 2025 at 6:04 AM
The simulation is definitely getting unstable
Reposted by John Ebenger
Join us Tuesday, November 25 at 10 AM PT for a first look at the Destiny 2: Renegades Launch Trailer, our next ViDoc, and a deep dive into the new Lawless Frontier activity with our dev team.
💜 twitch.tv/bungie
❤️ youtube.com/@destinytheg...
🖤 tiktok.com/@Destinytheg...
💜 twitch.tv/bungie
❤️ youtube.com/@destinytheg...
🖤 tiktok.com/@Destinytheg...
November 20, 2025 at 8:00 PM
Join us Tuesday, November 25 at 10 AM PT for a first look at the Destiny 2: Renegades Launch Trailer, our next ViDoc, and a deep dive into the new Lawless Frontier activity with our dev team.
💜 twitch.tv/bungie
❤️ youtube.com/@destinytheg...
🖤 tiktok.com/@Destinytheg...
💜 twitch.tv/bungie
❤️ youtube.com/@destinytheg...
🖤 tiktok.com/@Destinytheg...
“Want to die alone? Alexa+ can help!”
November 16, 2025 at 7:00 PM
“Want to die alone? Alexa+ can help!”
Patton Oswalt has a great bit about the fact that this has been a measuring stick/source of pride for (specifically) male directors historically. Not his BEST bit by any means, but still a solid/pertinent one.
Economy of storytelling makes great movies.
Economy of storytelling makes great movies.
saw an article about Nolan crowing about how much film he used for the Odyssey and all I see is a lack of restraint from someone who got a giant budget
November 16, 2025 at 4:14 AM
Patton Oswalt has a great bit about the fact that this has been a measuring stick/source of pride for (specifically) male directors historically. Not his BEST bit by any means, but still a solid/pertinent one.
Economy of storytelling makes great movies.
Economy of storytelling makes great movies.
Time flies! It was a super fun project and very proud of the work the entire team did, but MAN was this puppy awkward to frame with all the long elements.
Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order was released 6 years ago today. This was my favorite Star Wars of late 2019.
Stinger Mantis, luxury yacht, art by Prog Wang:
Stinger Mantis, luxury yacht, art by Prog Wang:
November 15, 2025 at 10:02 PM
Time flies! It was a super fun project and very proud of the work the entire team did, but MAN was this puppy awkward to frame with all the long elements.
Reposted by John Ebenger
Hey so, today is my last day at Crystal Dynamics apparently. I joined the company in 2018 to work on Marvel's Avengers and it's been the longest (and best) job I've ever had. It now means I'm looking for work, so if you know of any senior writer/narrative designer positions please send them my way.
November 13, 2025 at 6:39 PM
Hey so, today is my last day at Crystal Dynamics apparently. I joined the company in 2018 to work on Marvel's Avengers and it's been the longest (and best) job I've ever had. It now means I'm looking for work, so if you know of any senior writer/narrative designer positions please send them my way.
Vampire Survivors has so much DLC now….I love it
November 11, 2025 at 1:27 AM
Vampire Survivors has so much DLC now….I love it
And the main thing to remember about Gamora is that she is NOT a friend to all man-children. Certainly not at first anyway.
Ok so basically the main thing you need to understand about Gamera is that he’s a friend to all children
November 6, 2025 at 11:38 PM
And the main thing to remember about Gamora is that she is NOT a friend to all man-children. Certainly not at first anyway.
Baseball’s not a passion of mine, but I’m just happy to see everybody enjoying a cultural event together.
November 2, 2025 at 3:37 AM
Baseball’s not a passion of mine, but I’m just happy to see everybody enjoying a cultural event together.
Reposted by John Ebenger
JOE BUCK: Welcome to the top of the 47th
[Sun rises]
[Sun keeps getting bigger]
BUCK: yes
[World engulfed by flames]
BUCK: oh god yes
[Sun rises]
[Sun keeps getting bigger]
BUCK: yes
[World engulfed by flames]
BUCK: oh god yes
November 10, 2024 at 6:22 PM
JOE BUCK: Welcome to the top of the 47th
[Sun rises]
[Sun keeps getting bigger]
BUCK: yes
[World engulfed by flames]
BUCK: oh god yes
[Sun rises]
[Sun keeps getting bigger]
BUCK: yes
[World engulfed by flames]
BUCK: oh god yes
Legit the feed is never so unified. I thought ya’ll were a bunch of nerds like me?! Not…SPORTS NERDS!!!!
Bluesky most days: "This place is too political. It's too stressful. We need more casual stuff, like sports posts."
Bluesky when sports happen: "WHAT THE FUCK HOW THE FUCK WHY THE FUCK, THIS IS THE MOST STRESSFUL THING THAT HAS EVER HAPPENED"
Bluesky when sports happen: "WHAT THE FUCK HOW THE FUCK WHY THE FUCK, THIS IS THE MOST STRESSFUL THING THAT HAS EVER HAPPENED"
October 28, 2025 at 4:47 AM
Legit the feed is never so unified. I thought ya’ll were a bunch of nerds like me?! Not…SPORTS NERDS!!!!
I do hope most people have gotten the memo, if you read any publications that report on the industry you should have been drowned in layoff news the last three years.
this hasn't really broken through to most people but the state of the games industry is *dire* right now.
I don’t talk about it much because the situation doesn’t really change but it’s still insane to me what an enormous amount of really talented game developers are out of work. just whole studios worth of incredible people, often people who worked on beloved games, unemployed.
October 24, 2025 at 12:03 AM
I do hope most people have gotten the memo, if you read any publications that report on the industry you should have been drowned in layoff news the last three years.
The memos about proper security protocols tomorrow morning are going to be legendary.
“Always check their badge and call in for confirmation. ALWAYS YOU BAST***S!!!”
“Always check their badge and call in for confirmation. ALWAYS YOU BAST***S!!!”
Idc, "4 people disguised as construction workers heisted the Napoleon family jewels from the Louvre in 7 minutes by rolling up to the second-storey window on a basket lift" is an objectively hilarious event
October 20, 2025 at 2:07 AM
The memos about proper security protocols tomorrow morning are going to be legendary.
“Always check their badge and call in for confirmation. ALWAYS YOU BAST***S!!!”
“Always check their badge and call in for confirmation. ALWAYS YOU BAST***S!!!”
Reposted by John Ebenger
Shout-out to the book that @spencercushing.bsky.social and an amazing team of artist are releasing today for Dark Horse Comics!
Dungeons and Dragons: The Fallbacks #1 looks awesome! Go check it out!
www.polygon.com/dungeons-and...
Dungeons and Dragons: The Fallbacks #1 looks awesome! Go check it out!
www.polygon.com/dungeons-and...
Planet Hulk writer Greg Pak has a new D&D comic — read the first five pages here
Pak explains how his own Dungeons & Dragons campaign influenced this story of adventurers challenging what heroism means
www.polygon.com
October 15, 2025 at 3:31 PM
Shout-out to the book that @spencercushing.bsky.social and an amazing team of artist are releasing today for Dark Horse Comics!
Dungeons and Dragons: The Fallbacks #1 looks awesome! Go check it out!
www.polygon.com/dungeons-and...
Dungeons and Dragons: The Fallbacks #1 looks awesome! Go check it out!
www.polygon.com/dungeons-and...
Reposted by John Ebenger
This is amazing; I very much agree with the how the report calculated value to society here:
www.gov.ie/en/departmen...
But for people excited about a *literal* profit machine, note that the real net fiscal cost was almost €72M. It made €146M due to the estimated value of gains in mental wellbeing.
www.gov.ie/en/departmen...
But for people excited about a *literal* profit machine, note that the real net fiscal cost was almost €72M. It made €146M due to the estimated value of gains in mental wellbeing.
October 7, 2025 at 2:11 AM
This is amazing; I very much agree with the how the report calculated value to society here:
www.gov.ie/en/departmen...
But for people excited about a *literal* profit machine, note that the real net fiscal cost was almost €72M. It made €146M due to the estimated value of gains in mental wellbeing.
www.gov.ie/en/departmen...
But for people excited about a *literal* profit machine, note that the real net fiscal cost was almost €72M. It made €146M due to the estimated value of gains in mental wellbeing.
If you like unhinged humor mixed with lovable characters who have a sincere desire to improve a community worn down by corrupt politicians…this is the game for you. Give it a try!
Promise Mascot Agency is on sale! 25% off on Steam and Switch right NOW!
From the creators of Paradise Killer comes an open-world narrative adventure mascot management simulator (yep).
🛻✨💗
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2585830/Promise_Mascot_Agency/
From the creators of Paradise Killer comes an open-world narrative adventure mascot management simulator (yep).
🛻✨💗
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2585830/Promise_Mascot_Agency/
October 2, 2025 at 3:39 PM
If you like unhinged humor mixed with lovable characters who have a sincere desire to improve a community worn down by corrupt politicians…this is the game for you. Give it a try!
Uhhhhhh….wtf?
Exclusive: OpenAI is planning to release a new version of its Sora video generator, which creates videos featuring copyrighted material unless copyright holders opt out of having their work appear.
OpenAI’s New Sora Video Generator to Require Copyright Holders to Opt Out
Executives at the startup notified talent agencies and studios over the last week.
on.wsj.com
September 29, 2025 at 10:53 PM
Uhhhhhh….wtf?
Really enjoying the heck out of Borderlands on PC so far.
Only bad bug I hit is the memory leak that crashes me every hour or two, rest is just wonky perf at times.
Only bad bug I hit is the memory leak that crashes me every hour or two, rest is just wonky perf at times.
September 24, 2025 at 1:05 AM
Really enjoying the heck out of Borderlands on PC so far.
Only bad bug I hit is the memory leak that crashes me every hour or two, rest is just wonky perf at times.
Only bad bug I hit is the memory leak that crashes me every hour or two, rest is just wonky perf at times.
Today was a straight up good day. Don’t get as many of those as any of us would like anymore.
Hope you had a good one as well.
Hope you had a good one as well.
September 21, 2025 at 2:16 AM
Today was a straight up good day. Don’t get as many of those as any of us would like anymore.
Hope you had a good one as well.
Hope you had a good one as well.
Could not agree more. She’s the ultimate best friend/sidekick.
PROMISE MASCOT AGENCY WHIPS AND PINKY IS ONE OF THE BEST GAME CHARACTERS EVER WRITTEN
JUST FUCKIN’ DELIGHTFUL
JUST FUCKIN’ DELIGHTFUL
September 20, 2025 at 3:18 AM
Could not agree more. She’s the ultimate best friend/sidekick.