Game News Building a better RPG: The BioWare Way

[VentilatorOfDoom]

Tags: BioWare; Dragon Age 2

<p>It looks like BioWare is concerned about the first impression their RPGs deliver ever since they learned that a large amount of people stopped playing Dragon Age after a few hours. <a href="http://www.destructoid.com/building-a-better-rpg-hands-on-dragon-age-ii-s-intro-194232.phtml" target="_blank">First impressions are important</a>, Mike Laidlaw ponders.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>BioWare's made no secret of the fact that they keep a running tab of player metrics, and <em>Dragon Age: Origins</em>&nbsp;was no different.</p>
<p>They learned a few neat tidbits --&nbsp;"more people played warriors than rogues or mages" explains&nbsp;lead designer Mike Laidlaw -- but they also learned something that changed their approach to <em>Dragon Age II</em>.</p>
<p>"We saw a lot of people disengaging at hour one, hour two. Not pursuing it, right?" explains Laidlaw. The <em>Dragon Age</em>&nbsp;team might have chalked some of those lost players up to rentals, but the statistics didn't back it up: a significant number of people simply stopped playing <em>Dragon Age: Origins</em>&nbsp;after a few hours.</p>
<p>"I think what it really spoke to is something RPGs have been wrestling with for a long time: that first impression," says Laidlaw.</p>
<p>So they fixed it.</p>
<p>"You get to an RPG and fire it up, and ... it hits you in the face with a thousand stats. Those stats are very cool, but you may not be mentally or emotionally prepared to deal with them as your first thing to do in the game," he says.</p>
<p>To keep people from checking out early, Laidlaw's team totally reinvigorated <em>Dragon Age II</em>'s intro. The result is so seamless and subtle that players might not even realize they're being taught to play the game. Sure, there are some button prompts here or there, but the way <em>Dragon Age II</em>&nbsp;introduces its combat and narrative are remarkably elegant.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Are you an emotionally and mentally prepared enough dude for a BioWare RPG?</p>
<p>Spotted at: <a href="http://www.gamebanshee.com/news/101690-dragon-age-ii-interview.html">GB</a></p>

 

[treave]

First impression... so basically what the demo is, right?



From what I've heard on the Dex DAII has got a totally radically utterly invigorated intro. With massive tits.

 

[Spectacle]

Why not just make the entire game one extended tutorial? Culminating with the introduction of the "win" button just as you encounter the final boss.

 

[cocorulverde]

From what I've heard on the Dex DAII has got a totally radically utterly invigorated intro. With massive tits.

And dwarven chest hair. The pinnacle of subtlety and elegance.

 

[Angthoron]

Emotionally unprepared? Oh wow.

 

[turn_based_fanboy]

Fortunatly Square Enix lend them some developers who taught Bioware than proper narration for RPG works like this:

cutscene->cutscene-> kill 3 mobs -> cutscene -> kill 3 mobs-> cutscene -> cutscene - > kill mini boss ...

 

[Konjad]

This is a game of the year and anyone who disagrees is stupid fuck that plays first ultima and like it while can't even appreciate games much much better, with cutscenes, awesome graphic, npcs, story and most of all combat.

 

[curry]

It looks like BioWare is concerned about the first impression their RPGs deliver ever since they learned that a large amount of people stopped playing Dragon Age after a few hours.

A few hours is when you get to the Tedious Roads, right? :D

 

[Drog Black Tooth]

What they did in DA2 is actually a pretty common thing in Japanese games. Hell, it's even a trope.

 

[Angthoron]

What they did in DA2 is actually a pretty common thing in Japanese games. Hell, it's even a trope.

True, Assassin's Creed and Prototype come to mind.

 

[Storyfag]

A few hours is when you get to the Tedious Roads, right? :D

Depending on which branch of the wide nonlinear open world(tm) you choose and how fast you play. I guess most people would only reach Lothering in a few hours. My bet is actually on them seeing Loghain's derp betrayal at Ostagar.

 

[Angthoron]

A few hours is when you get to the Tedious Roads, right? :D

Depending on which branch of the wide nonlinear open world(tm) you choose and how fast you play. I guess most people would only reach Lothering in a few hours. My bet is actually on them seeing Loghain's derp betrayal at Ostagar.

The wave-by-wave defense of the whatever that village is supposed to be named. That's maximum derp. Good to see that DA2 does away with it by making every encounter in the demo work like that.

 

[Gord]

The problem itself might actually be worth pondering about.
How do I get new players into rpgs?

This might be a shock for Bioware, but someone with reasonable experience will pick up an rpg exactly for the issues described by Mr Laidlaw.
A more inexperienced, less refined player probably not so much, true. But will this only happen after a few hours?

Anyway, instead of thinking about a good way of slowly introducing a newbie to the concepts of an rpg, indeed their solution nowadays seems to be to take said concepts out of the game instead or make them mostly meaningless, alienating the fans of (classic) rpgs.

 

[Storyfag]

A few hours is when you get to the Tedious Roads, right? :D

Depending on which branch of the wide nonlinear open world(tm) you choose and how fast you play. I guess most people would only reach Lothering in a few hours. My bet is actually on them seeing Loghain's derp betrayal at Ostagar.

The wave-by-wave defense of the whatever that village is supposed to be named. That's maximum derp.

Yes. Yes that would fit nicely. As with most of DAO, there were twice too many mobs. In this case twice too many waves.

 

[Excommunicator]

I have no doubt that I was one of those statistics.

You go to the trouble of secretly collecting information about the playing habits of every player around the world and then you simply pull conclusions out of the fucking air, "Oh they're leaving? That can only be because OUR GAMES ARE TOO COMPLICATED FOR THEM. WE MUST SIMPLIFY MORE!"

If it was just the stats, then they would leave during character creation, genius.

The start is important, and in DA it is boring and badly made. Get it into your head.

 

[Gosling]

It's not a bad demo for an RPG. Of course the only time I've really been sold on an RPG from a demo is Valkyria Chronicles. I'm buying this game because I trust Bioware knows what they're doing, not because it was an amazing demo.

Some real gems in the comments section.

 

[torpid]

Mentally and emotionally unprepared? They really think their audience is a bunch of retards. Hell, I guess they aren't even that far off the mark. At this point the gameplay of a Bioware game is irrelevant; all that matters is the epic storyline and deep romancin'. They could make a platformer with two or three stats, throw a Gaider-written story and some furry sex on top and tada! RPG of the year. It's the end result of putting story over gameplay and pandering to the emo nerds who want those kind of stories.

 

[VentilatorOfDoom]

I have a quiz for you, let's assume you're fighting the dorkspawn and dorkspawn blood makes you lethally sick. What would you do?

A) try to avoid it
B) smear it over your nose for teh lulz

 

[Storyfag]

It's not a bad demo for an RPG. Of course the only time I've really been sold on an RPG from a demo is Valkyria Chronicles. I'm buying this game because I trust Bioware knows what they're doing, not because it was an amazing demo.

Some real gems in the comments section.

I also trust Bioware knows what they're doing. I trust they know they're tricking suckers to get their jewgold

I have a quiz for you, let's assume you're fighting the dorkspawn and dorkspawn blood makes you lethally sick. What would you do?

A) try to avoid it
B) smear it over your nose for teh lulz

B, cuz it's the choice that has consequences. I choos to smear the blood over my nose and lulz are consequences.

 

[Gosling]

I have a quiz for you, let's assume you're fighting the dorkspawn and dorkspawn blood makes you lethally sick. What would you do?

A) try to avoid it
B) smear it over your nose for teh lulz

The true codexian answer would be "lulz"?

 

[Excommunicator]

A) assuming "it" is the game

 

[Demnogonis Saastuttaja]

If you make a game that could as well be named "Grindmaster the Endless Battle" you better make character developement and loot satisfying as hell. But that's a gameplay thing so I don't think Bioware could understand that.

 

[tehRPness]

Sounds like they found out how to make a game that Everyone likes, without being being emotionally overwhelming by having depth or intelligence.

It's the Da Vinci Code of gaming, and who else but Bioware could have cracked it!

/cry /laugh /cry /laugh /cry /laugh /cry /laugh /cry /laugh /cry /laugh /cry /laugh /cry /laugh /cry /laugh /cry /laugh /cry /laugh /cry /laugh /cry /laugh /cry /laugh /cry /laugh /cry /laugh /cry /laugh /cry /laugh /cry /laugh /cry /laugh /cry /laugh /cry /laugh /cry /laugh /cry /laugh /cry /laugh /cry /laugh /cry /laugh *head explodes in fiery particle effects, and my body disappears immediately so as not to cause lag*

 

[Abelon Blanchetourbe]

I have a quiz for you, let's assume you're fighting the dorkspawn and dorkspawn blood makes you lethally sick. What would you do?

I want to be a dragon.

 

[Kaanyrvhok]

The irony. With the exception of DA:O and Mass Effect all of Bioware's RPGs and most western RPGs are really boring in the initial tutorial phase. Bioware learned to buck that with their recent RPGs. Unfortunately for me DA:O became just as boring after the tutorial phase as games like KOTOR and Baldur's Gate were in their tutorial phase.

Developers like to over-analyze. They got the beginning of the game right and little else.

 

[Jaesun]

The tyranny of Stats!