Dragon Age - Interview @ Polygamia

Ausir writes in to say he had the chance to interview BioWare's Mike Laidlaw while representing Poland in the recent Wardens' Quest competition:

How does the design process look at BioWare? Do you write extensive design documents, or maybe just have a very basic outline and add stuff as you go along?

I think it's a hybrid between those two. You can't just shoot from the hip, you can't develop based on faith. The budgets are far too big to just create whatever and see if it works. You need to have a basic design, I think that more importantly what you need to have is a vision.  You need to have a goal and something you're trying to create, whether it's something like a spiritual successor to Baldur's Gate 2, or an experience that makes you feel like Jack Bauer in space, commanding a team of badass commandos.  And one person cannot do it all so you have to convey that idea, that vision. But generally you have to be flexible, you can't get locked down with the design and go "Well, we wrote that four years ago, back when all kinds of new technology haven't come out yet". You don't want to get stalemated by that.