Dragon Age "Announcement"

[Raguel]

http://www.gametrailers.com/side-mission/2012/04/06/bioware-the-next-dragon-age-wont-reuse-levels-will-have-decisions-that-matter/?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

BioWare said at PAX East today that it's taking fan feedback on the future of its Dragon Age series — and harsh criticisms of Dragon Age II — to heart. At the developer's first panel today, Dragon Age creative director Mike Laidlaw walked fans through some of the most frequently vocalized criticisms and suggestions, hinting at three key changes coming to the next entry: equipment for your followers, decisions that matter and no more reuse of levels.

No DA3 announcement, but if there was a DA3, they won't reuse areas. 

Frankly I hate the whole item acquisition part of rpgs so I liked not worrying about armor for the party members.

[caladein]

The issue I had with DA2 and companion inventory is that you still had to spend time managing it, but you were working on the least fun things for the most part.  I eventually just started to ignore it.

Would have liked to see them go in the other direction towards ME3 where I still got to play around with the fun stuff, skins and weapons, and ignored the rest of it.

[Pezzle]

I enjoy kitting oiut my team, but DA2 was a failure for reasons other than that.  DA3?  Yeah. I think EA gets no more of my monies.

[Sjofn]

Yeah that is the main "complaint" about DA2 that I wish they had ignored completely. Telling my companions how to dress themselves (aside from telling Isabella to put on some goddamn pants) isn't something I missed at all. :P

[Ingmar]

I dunno, I think what makes part of the whole FANTASY! thing work differently than sci-fi is stuff like magic rings and amulets and such. I don't mind managing that stuff for my party members at all. On the other hand, I also liked them having a defined 'look' in DA2 vs. the kind of hodgepodge of stuff you'd sometimes end up with in DA:O (or SWTOR for that matter) - I think they can strike a balance with that stuff pretty easily though.

[caladein]

Yeah that is the main "complaint" about DA2 that I wish they had ignored completely. Telling my companions how to dress themselves (aside from telling Isabella to put on some goddamn pants) isn't something I missed at all. :P

I still get shit from my friends for using that Isabella pants mod.

[Sjofn]

Pants mod best mod. 

[Simond]

All I'm going to say before we get any real information is that anyone who pre-orders this is an idiot.

[Sjofn]

Promises, promises.

[Rokal]

I dunno, I think what makes part of the whole FANTASY! thing work differently than sci-fi is stuff like magic rings and amulets and such. I don't mind managing that stuff for my party members at all. On the other hand, I also liked them having a defined 'look' in DA2 vs. the kind of hodgepodge of stuff you'd sometimes end up with in DA:O (or SWTOR for that matter) - I think they can strike a balance with that stuff pretty easily though.

During the panel they showed an image of a male Warden character and a female Chantry character, and how the same piece of armor would visibly change each character while still keeping a more defined look. The armor changed to fit the angles of the characters 'signature look', so for example a shoulderplate would have a large arch in the middle for the Chantry character, while it would be round for the Warden character: different gear, same silhouette. Lots of accessories, etc, stayed the same as well. It was all concept art, but it seemed like a decent compromise. They also hinted that dyes/color customization would be coming to DA3 which would be nice.

My bigger problem with gear in DA1 or 2 was how much useless gear you got. You could collect entire resistance sets for each element, and you never really had a situation where they were worth using. If they're going to bring back more armor customization, I hope they balance that out by removing armor that nobody is actually going to use.

Of course, the 'chestplate' armor example during the panel was resistance gear, so maybe not 

Promises, promises.

They had three slides that got varying levels of applause. "No more re-used armor" and "customized companion armor" got loud applause. "Your choices will matter" got what seemed like very little. Most likely because they promise it for every Bioware game, and DA2/ME3 show that talk is cheap.

[Sjofn]

My post was a response to Simond, nothing more. :P

[Velorath]

They had three slides that got varying levels of applause. "No more re-used armor" and "customized companion armor" got loud applause. "Your choices will matter" got what seemed like very little. Most likely because they promise it for every Bioware game, and DA2/ME3 show that talk is cheap.

Well, "choices will matter" is a pretty meaningless statement.  You could argue that choice mattered in previous Bioware games.  You could even argue that the decision to go to the left or the right when you start Pitfall! is a choice in a game that matters.  Without any sort of context for what they mean when they say that, there's not really any reason to feel one way or the other about it.

[Surlyboi]

All I'm going to say before we get any real information is that anyone who pre-orders this is an idiot.

Troll moar pls.

[Rasix]

Pants mod best mod.  

I like big boats, I cannot lie.

Forever pantsless.  

[Sjofn]

Pants are just one of Those Things for me. I can suspend my disbelief about a lot of things, but shit like no pants (also spike heels) stretch it TOO FAR for some reason.

[Arinon]

The issue I had with DA2 and companion inventory is that you still had to spend time managing it, but you were working on the least fun things for the most part.  I eventually just started to ignore it.

This.

I very much like inventory management as a way to customize but the problem is that UIs for it have taken a nose dive.  Everything has to work with a damn controller now.

Having to go through a zillion key presses and swapping between several screens to compare isn't worth it.  If I have to do that then I'd rather they just give me a big "Equip the best shit I have" button.

Long live the paper-doll!

[Fabricated]

Is DA3 going to be a hack-n-slasher with barely any RPG elements still instead of the pretty good RPG that DA:O was?

If yes, yeah no thanks.

[schild]

People who still care about this franchise are crazy.

[koro]

I still think it's a worthwhile franchise if it can be salvaged, but I'm not holding my breath. I'll keep an eye on it from a distance and if it looks even the slightest bit iffy, I won't touch it no matter what.

Of course, given that it'll probably be Origin-only on the PC, that decision will likely be made for me anyway.

[Hoax]

Of course, given that it'll probably be Origin-only on the PC, that decision will likely be made for me anyway.

Yup. ME3 will be the first last and only Origin purchase I ever make. Nothing I've had to deal with since the created that shit for dlc's or activations has been anything but a hassle on the "I might as well pirate this game I bought so I can actually just fucking play it" scale.

[rk47]

People who still care about this franchise are crazy.

But where can we find lesbian elves and homosexual ex-slave elves romance from the west?

the alternative ain't pretty, man.

[Margalis]

Well, "choices will matter" is a pretty meaningless statement.

Pod person detected.

Should have done more research into your subject's behavior patterns before you attempted takeover. Your cover is blown - earth has been saved!

Anyway...I'm not liking this relatively new thing companies are doing where they come out and say "here are the 5 biggest problems people had with our last game and here is how we are fixing them!" It's the kind of thing you hear from a CEO of a company on the verge of bankruptcy trying to convince investors to stick around. Creating a good game is more than just creating an ordered list of fan complaints and fixing them. A lot of the time what fans identify are not the fundamental issues and those fixes don't necessarily coalesce into a better self-consistent whole. It's good to consider feedback but creating a list of complaints and addressing each is a bit on-the-nose. It's more of a marketing ploy than a game design thing.

Bioware has been saying this for every game since ME2 anyway.

[tmp]

Yeah that is the main "complaint" about DA2 that I wish they had ignored completely. Telling my companions how to dress themselves (aside from telling Isabella to put on some goddamn pants) isn't something I missed at all. :P

I like dressing up my virtual dolls so i'm pleased there'll be more opportunity for that

(everyone staying in single outfit is boring as fuck especially when the game tries to pretend it plays over 10 years)

[K9]

People who still care about this franchise are crazy.

[Tannhauser]

I'd love to be in the writer's meeting for DA3 as they try to un-fuck Bioware's reputation. "OK, we need three endings, all involving ponies, rainbows and blowjobs for Hawke."

[calapine]

If they have any sense they'll ditch Hawke completely and re-start.

[Venkman]

Anyway...I'm not liking this relatively new thing companies are doing where they come out and say "here are the 5 biggest problems people had with our last game and here is how we are fixing them!" It's the kind of thing you hear from a CEO of a company on the verge of bankruptcy trying to convince investors to stick around. Creating a good game is more than just creating an ordered list of fan complaints and fixing them. A lot of the time what fans identify are not the fundamental issues and those fixes don't necessarily coalesce into a better self-consistent whole. It's good to consider feedback but creating a list of complaints and addressing each is a bit on-the-nose. It's more of a marketing ploy than a game design thing.

It's large-corporation speak. Most of the Directors and above have the budgets, but none of them came up through anything resembling a creative career. Without instincts of their own, it's impossible to be confident in those of others. So instead they create these "tools" that let them boil down anything into a 3-5 item bulletpoint list. And they usually pay an external research company buckets of cash for the insights, because uncreative upper managers also have a tendency of suspecting their internal teams and their own motivations.

I have no idea what the culture is like a Bioware <wherever> years into being owned by EA. But all of the PR contrived corporate speak was one inevitability of it.

[Paelos]

Telling your customers where you are heading, PR or otherwise, is probably a wise idea.

The other part of that direction is actually ending up somewhere near the goals you stated.

[Margalis]

Telling your customers where you are heading, PR or otherwise, is probably a wise idea.

I don't disagree in general, it's just a matter of degrees.

[Sjofn]

If they have any sense they'll ditch Hawke completely and re-start.

They've already said, for ages now, DA3 is not going to star Hawke. It never was.

[Raguel]

I wouldn't mind if they had two versions of DA, one with the Warden and the other with Hawke.  My "Phantom Miria" has kind of grown on me and I wouldn't mind seeing her again.

I was kind of annoyed when I started the thread. Earlier Bioware said they had to cancel the DA2 xpac for... something and IMO it was implied that they would announce the new project and what we got instead was this b.s.

[Mosesandstick]

Pretty sure DA3 is neither hawke nor the warden.

[tmp]

I was kind of annoyed when I started the thread. Earlier Bioware said they had to cancel the DA2 xpac for... something and IMO it was implied that they would announce the new project and what we got instead was this b.s.

Likely it's not presentable yet as much as they hoped it would.

On the other hand it could be worse. Like a big marketing sound and dance number leading to reveal of franchise logo, or announcement of official launch of browser tie-in that was in open beta for past half year.

[Sir T]

But where can we find lesbian elves and homosexual ex-slave elves romance from the west?

Mass effect says hi.

[Sjofn]

Mass Effect doesn't have elves.