The internet is still reeling from the shutdown of BioWare and cancellation of Mass Effect 5 yesterday, and while some folks who were working on the game are likely still sorting out the logistics of what they are and aren’t allowed to say as the dust settles, a couple of folks who had been working on the project are speaking out about their experience. It sounds like, despite the narratives some people are trying to spin of a project in great turmoil, the team was excited about what they were making.

Catherynne M. Valente is an author that Mass Effect fans will know for writing the best novel in all the series, Mass Effect: Andromeda Annihilation , which has an excellent audiobook narrated by male Ryder voice actor Tom Taylorson. After news of the shutdown broke, she revealed on Twitter that she’d been working on the game for three years as a writer.

“It was one of the greatest privileges & GLORIOUS challenges of my life,” she wrote. “I smiled every day. I worked HARD for the fans, every day.…