(Image credit: BioWare)

When my party approached Redcliffe Village in Dragon Age: Origins, my reluctant sidekick Alistair stopped the party for a big confession about a secret he'd been keeping from me. I finally realized how massive and complex the story was, how many contingencies had been planned, written, and voice acted. That's the moment I knew I wanted to join the games industry. After BioWare's closure was announced this week, I reached out to other industry professionals to share their memories of the BioWare game that led them into their careers—some at BioWare itself.

Early BioWare

(Image credit: BioWare)

Back in the early 2000s, when I was just starting my game writing career, I was a huge fan of Neverwinter Nights. I heard that BioWare was running a NWN writing contest with the prize being a chance to work for them, and I thought "Why not?" Although I did not win the big prize, I did place 2nd in the community vote category.…