Editorial Dark = difficult choices in Dragon Age - What makes a story?

[DarkUnderlord]

Tags: Dragon Age

blogs.ign have <a href="http://blogs.ign.com/BioWare_Games/2009/02/03/111789/">text from Gaider about Dragon Age</a>. Snip:
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<blockquote>When we approached putting together the Dragon Age setting and story, we wanted something darker and more mature than what we have traditionally worked on. But what does that mean, exactly? To some people, “dark” might simply refer to gore and violence. It might refer to a world filled with horrors where heroism never pays off and unhappy endings are the order of the day. It might refer to adult content and nudity or, if you prefer to be literal, areas bathed in shadow to punctuate the serious subject matter. Dragon Age: Origins has many of the above elements, but when we say “dark” what we are referring to are difficult choices.
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[...]
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This isn’t to say that there aren’t such things as good and evil in the Dragon Age world. The darkspawn are evil, after all, and you are capable of doing good – but sometimes that means having to work harder to achieve it.
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[...]
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What players do in Dragon Age: Origins is ultimately heroic (as this is “dark heroic fantasy” and not simply “dark fantasy”), but players are free to determine how they achieve their goals and what they consider to be a worthy sacrifice.</blockquote>
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Dragon Age is not simply dark fantasy.
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Spotted @ <a href="http://www.rpgwatch.com">RPGWatch</a>

 

[Rhalle]

Read this yesterday; a pretty well-written piece, if not all that informative.

Oh, and a cookie to the first person to recognize his hypothetical scenario.

 

[Jaime Lannister]

Giant spiders are the most badass fantasy creatures.

 

[Tigranes]

Let’s take a hypothetical example, something not from the game itself (I’m not big on spoilers). Your party is told of a dangerous witch in the forest who has been responsible for several deaths, but when you find her you see that she is a terrified woman who has lost control of powers. This does not make her less dangerous. In fact, she may even be dangerous to you and your party, and frightened enough to defend herself. What do you do? Do you do what is expedient and just kill her? Do you take pity on the woman, telling the townsfolk she is dead when you allowed her to run away? Perhaps there is a more difficult path where you provide the woman help to control her abilities and broker peace with the townsfolk. Perhaps someone in your party argues vehemently that she is a murderer and should be killed, or one that adamantly defends her? Depending on the outcome, the townsfolk could be angry, the woman could be grateful, and you could have very unhappy party members – all this before we even figure out whether there were any other rewards for the player.

We've heard this before, but doesn't necessarily mean this is silly. The question si just how well DA delivers these kind of situations.

e.g. there's no point if all you need is an easy skill check to convince the townspeople, as it automatically becomes the best solution (see FO3).

That spider has some giant bawls.

 

[MetalCraze]

It might refer to adult content and nudity [...] Dragon Age: Origins has many of the above elements

Just like with previous Bioware games this will be the only reason why they will get Mature rating

 

[Xor]

Wasn't the hype for mass effect largely the same? "Difficult choices", "dark and gritty", etc.

 

[MetalCraze]

I found at times that killing my enemies was a difficult choice because the consequence is my inventory being spammed with the exactly same fucking useless weapons that do not stack again and again.

And then I had difficult choices in dialogues with characters because I didn't have a single fucking clue what Shepard will say.

Bioware didn't lie after all.

 

[Gragt]

Giant spiders are the most badass fantasy creatures.

What about the Spider-horse?

 

[Hümmelgümpf]

 

[ArcturusXIV]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QptdYVtYhRw&feature=related

 

[Andhaira]

Sweet.

 

[made]

Funny thing is, on the Bio boards he claimed that he begged PR not to use the word "dark" anymore when hyping the game. Guess PR knows best after all.

 

[bat_boro]

Funny thing is, on the Bio boards he claimed that he begged PR not to use the word "dark" anymore when hyping the game. Guess PR knows best after all.

So I guess now it's just extreme?

 

[Shannow]

Giant spiders are the most badass fantasy creatures.

http://www.spikedhumor.com/articles/174 ... ?rh=203970

Heard that before...

 

[Multiple Sarcasm]

Let’s take a hypothetical example, something not from the game itself (I’m not big on spoilers). Your party is told of a dangerous witch in the forest who has been responsible for several deaths, but when you find her you see that she is a terrified woman who has lost control of powers. This does not make her less dangerous. In fact, she may even be dangerous to you and your party, and frightened enough to defend herself. What do you do? Do you do what is expedient and just kill her? Do you take pity on the woman, telling the townsfolk she is dead when you allowed her to run away? Perhaps there is a more difficult path where you provide the woman help to control her abilities and broker peace with the townsfolk. Perhaps someone in your party argues vehemently that she is a murderer and should be killed, or one that adamantly defends her? Depending on the outcome, the townsfolk could be angry, the woman could be grateful, and you could have very unhappy party members – all this before we even figure out whether there were any other rewards for the player.

I'm getting a feeling that he thinks we're supposed to be impressed with something there, but all my deductions fail to uncover what that is.
Mayhaps, it is the fact that they keep clinging to the questionable idea that conflicts of interests are always meant to be resolved (...in any quest in any game that they regurgitate every 2-3 years)? How dark and gritty of them to deliver, each time, different variables wrapped around the same scenario, with the same choices and outcomes, as the quoted hypothesis shows. One would think it shouldn't be so difficult to imagine that conflicts can be used, escalated, or dismissed in pursuit of one's own ends concerning the conflicting sides, but One is, apparently, not so keen on what doesn't go on in the minds of Bioware staff, including their fear of alienating every kid's mom, everywhere.
Then again, One is clearly not be the target audience, so who is he to judge the fund-raising poster child for mediocrity...

 

[inwoker]

I always thought dark game was game that features enslaving entire nations with necromancy. Too bad the game will dissapoint me.

 

[Dandelion]

Wasn't the hype for mass effect largely the same? "Difficult choices", "dark and gritty", etc.

I found at times that killing my enemies was a difficult choice because the consequence is my inventory being spammed with the exactly same fucking useless weapons that do not stack again and again.

And then I had difficult choices in dialogues with characters because I didn't have a single fucking clue what Shepard will say.

Bioware didn't lie after all.

 

[Lesifoere]

I found at times that killing my enemies was a difficult choice because the consequence is my inventory being spammed with the exactly same fucking useless weapons that do not stack again and again.

And then I had difficult choices in dialogues with characters because I didn't have a single fucking clue what Shepard will say.

Bioware didn't lie after all.

=D

 

[Mr. Teatime]

Giant spiders are the most badass fantasy creatures.

Looks like a giant testicle monster.

 

[aries202]

These choices in DA: Origins sound a lot like the c&c in The Witcher to me, especially the one about The Witch....

 

[Hamster]

These choices in DA: Origins sound a lot like the c&c in The Witcher to me, especially the one about The Witch....

It souds very, very much like The Witcher. And if you watch that video where they show c&c with the prisoner, it's blatant rip-off of one of TW's trailers. I pointed this out on other forums and Bio fanboys inevitably respond with hysteric rants.

 

[MetalCraze]

Why are you whining? TW didn't have any real consequences for saving/not saving the witch - I'm sure Dragon Age will stay true to its source of inspiration.

 

[kris]

These choices in DA: Origins sound a lot like the c&c in The Witcher to me, especially the one about The Witch....

I am pretty sure he took that example from the witcher just to show the kind of things that they do. Not that it was a actual quest in DA

 

[inwoker]

Why are you whining? TW didn't have any real consequences for saving/not saving the witch

Ehm, untrue.

 

[Lesifoere]

These choices in DA: Origins sound a lot like the c&c in The Witcher to me, especially the one about The Witch....

It souds very, very much like The Witcher. And if you watch that video where they show c&c with the prisoner, it's blatant rip-off of one of TW's trailers. I pointed this out on other forums and Bio fanboys inevitably respond with hysteric rants.

Which prisoner video is that?