Dragon Age: Inquisition Pre-Release Thread

[Astral Rag]

Dragon Age: Inquisition reveals four-player co-op mode
Separate from the main campaign. Will have in-game purchases.


Dragon Age: Inquisition is going to have a four-player co-op mode, BioWare has announced.

Revealed on the developer's official Dragon Age: Inquisition FAQ, this will be a standalone mode separate from the story campaign.

This co-op mode will launch with 12 characters - three of each class (warrior, rogue and mage) - and more will be added over time. BioWare described this multiplayer mode as "an action-packed dungeon-crawling four-player co-op experience."

"Following the success of Mass Effect 3's multiplayer mode, Dragon Age multiplayer includes fast-paced matches requiring strategic team gameplay while adding Inquisition's tactical class combat and extensive loot and crafting systems," BioWare explained.

Unlike Mass Effect - where multiplayer was used as a way to grind for the solo campaign - Dragon Age multiplayer won't be tied to the single-player game in any way. "Our goal with Dragon Age multiplayer is not to affect your single-player campaign," the developer stated. "We simply want to give our fans the chance to play with their friends for the first time in the Dragon Age universe."

As such, the multiplayer mode won't carry over items, experience, or influence your story mode's ending in any way.

"We wanted to make sure that the two economies are separate, which will allow a stronger progression in both SP and MP," BioWare clarified. "If you play Dragon Age multiplayer, you will learn how each class plays a different role in combat, how different skills work, and how your party composition can give you a tactical advantage on the battlefield. This knowledge is transferable to SP, but items are not."

Furthermore, there won't be any multiplayer-only Achievements, so if you just want to stick to the campaign you're free to do so without being punished for it.

In a sure to be controversial move, Dragon Age multiplayer will have in-game purchases, but BioWare is adamant that anything in the game can be purchased with in-game currency. "There will be no pay walls in Dragon Age multiplayer. Everything is accessible with gold coins. You can use premium currency, but you don't have to," the developer stated.

BioWare noted that there will be an Inquisition HQ app for people who want to change their loadouts on the go via a mobile device or PC, but few details have been revealed about what, if any, other features this app will include.


http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2014-08-27-dragon-age-inquisition-reveals-a-four-player-co-op-mode

 

[Abu Antar]

This looks like fantasy Mass Effect. I am probably going to buy Dragon Age: Inquisition day one just because I don't own a single retail game on PS4 and I treat this as an action rpg.

Bros don't let bros give money to EA.

But I love EA.

Dungeon Keeper. Heroes of Dragon Age, Ultima Forever, The Sims, Sim City 2014, and so on. They are the future of my mobile device.

Spoiler

I just need a PS4 game.

 

[Roguey]

Gaider released a list of the ten games that have influenced him the most

http://dgaider.tumblr.com/post/95927339579/on-my-top-10-influential-games

1. Master of Orion 2: Microprose made a lot of games back in the day, ones which straddled a scale between inspired brilliance and buggy mess. MoO2 was, to me, the best of the lot (with Master of Magic lagging only slightly behind). I have a weakness for strategy games, but the ones I love in particular are those which have an element of narrative—something which have enough personality to let me construct a story in my head, and MoO2 was perfect for that. The ability to construct and tweak your own race, the personality of the races you encountered, the individuality of the planets you built and the back story of the Antareans which slowly became more important as you played… for these reasons MoO2 swallowed my life for a while. I wish MoO3 could have followed up on that.

2. The Infocom games: For those who don’t remember, Infocom put out a bunch of text adventure games in the 80’s. They moved to more graphical elements by the end of the decade before finally becoming defunct… but in the meantime they formed the core of how I think about stories in games. My favorite is probably “A Mind Forever Voyaging”, but I can easily put “Enchanter”, “Suspended”, “Planetfall” and “Journey” on the same level. I finished them all, back in the days when answers to puzzles weren’t a quick Google search away, and when games didn’t care whether you could finish them.

3. UFO: Enemy Unknown: This is what I remember the game as, though I think it was also called “XCOM: UFO Defense”, and it was another one of those tactical games with enough story and personality to make me fall in love with it. The recent Firaxis remake qualifies, in my mind, as a remake done right… though I missed building multiple bases and the base invasions. I know many don’t agree with me, but I actually loved the third game in the series, XCOM: Apocalypse, even more… not for its neon-glow art deco aesthetic, but rather for its seamless transition to pauseable real-time gameplay and its better story. The culmination at the end of Apocalypse with my team of mutants and veterans remains today one of the highlights of gaming.

4. Fallout 2: I actually didn’t play the first Fallout until later. I don’t remember why. Discovering Fallout 2, however, cemented in me a love for CRPG’s and what they could do with story and choice. The idea that the narrative could change based on the way I built my character was revolutionary, making me think that CRPG’s could possibly do for me what tabletop gaming did.

5. Civilization series: I played every game in the series, but I’d say Civilization IV remains my favorite… not for the core game, but rather for the mods. I played the “Fall From Heaven” mod for Civ IV more than almost anything else. For the core game, I’d say Civ II was my favorite. Either way, it hit my crunchy grand strategy nerve in a big way and always have. I would put Alpha Centauri in this slot as well… indeed, I probably love it most of all primarily because it had a stronger narrative sense than any other Civ game. My love for Alpha Centauri is why I’m looking forward to “Civilization: Beyond Earth” so much… and perhaps dreading it, as well, because nostalgia is a difficult thing to live up to.

6. Shadowrun: I’m talking specifically about the Sega Genesis game that came out in 1994, here. I’ve never been much of a console gamer, but that particular game had me hard… yes, because Shadowrun is and always has been my real tabletop RPG love, and that game translated it best. I played it so much I think my eyes bled. I called into work sick because I was still awake at 4am playing it, so exhausted I felt drunk. I really like the recent Shadowrun Returns, but this will always have a fond place in the annals of my memory.

7. Realms of Arkania: Blade of Destiny: It saddens me that almost nobody knows about this game. Sure, it’s based on a German tabletop system, and, sure, I suspect even CRPG fans would pick this up and scratch their heads at some of its choices. And, sure, its combat is a bit clunky and not all of its systems were fully developed. But its combination of crunchy rules, Dark Ages low fantasy realism, and lack of leading you around the nose (almost to a fault)… God, I loved this game. Its mechanics for random encounters while you wandered the countryside, and the camping mechanics, I still hold up to this day as the best thing about it. Ignore the sequels that followed.

8. Jagged Alliance 2: Probably the first game that solidified in my head what party banter could do. Squad mates with weaknesses, personality conflicts, and rivalries? Yes please. An actual story, taking place in zones with an internally consistent realism? Recovery and training over time? Okay, stop me, I’m drooling again. The thought that any update would probably turn it into a shooter makes me a bit sad.

9. Ultima IV: This deserves a place on my list primarily because it forms the foundation of why I got into RPG’s in the first place (combined with my parents’ purchase of the Basic D&D set for Christmas one year). Having to become the Avatar by not only killing everything in my path but also becoming virtuous is what set this game apart from all the other dungeon crawlers I played, and is the part of the game that has remained with me ever since.

10. Darklands: An odd choice, I know. It is probably one of Microprose’s least well-known games, and was so buggy when it came out that it was almost unplayable. It was super difficult, was put in a low fantasy version of medieval Germany, and had almost impenetrable rules… but it makes my list for two reasons: one, because it had an evocative atmosphere which I will always love. Visiting cities and adventuring/living in them through text options was super effective for me. The art was incredible, and stumbling across some plot in the middle of nowhere made for an incredible feeling (even if I then got slaughtered by random cultists—oh well). Secondly, however, it was the bugginess which made me think about how the game could be better. I saw a potential in the game which it never quite reached, and thus I think it was the first game in which I saw myself actively thinking about how it was made and how I thought it could be improved (rather than just playing it). This was 7 years before I started working for BioWare, but I’d cite Darklands as one of the reasons why game design made for a good personal match.

I'm very over this Codexian list. See what they have wrought?

 

[abnaxus]

He may be easy to mock, but he's also more hardcore than 95% of KKKodex.

7. Realms of Arkania: Blade of Destiny: It saddens me that almost nobody knows about this game. Sure, it’s based on a German tabletop system, and, sure, I suspect even CRPG fans would pick this up and scratch their heads at some of its choices. And, sure, its combat is a bit clunky and not all of its systems were fully developed. But its combination of crunchy rules, Dark Ages low fantasy realism, and lack of leading you around the nose (almost to a fault)… God, I loved this game. Its mechanics for random encounters while you wandered the countryside, and the camping mechanics, I still hold up to this day as the best thing about it. Ignore the sequels that followed.

Star Trail is best part of the trilogy.

 

[Xu Fugui]

I'm very over this Codexian list. See what they have wrought?

Meh, liking good games and being inspired by them doesn't make you any less of a hack and I doubt anyone has said otherwise, it's completely unrelated to your skill and actual output. I mean just look at Sawyer.


Though I have to say that's a very decent list, he has good taste in games. Maybe he would have turned out better if he wasn't surrounded by yes-women and had an interest in more cerebral writing than the moronic and nerdy genre fiction he no doubt gobbles up and tries to emulate.

 

[Bubbles]

Gaider released a list of the ten games that have influenced him the most

http://dgaider.tumblr.com/post/95927339579/on-my-top-10-influential-games

7. Realms of Arkania: Blade of Destiny: It saddens me that almost nobody knows about this game. Sure, it’s based on a German tabletop system, and, sure, I suspect even CRPG fans would pick this up and scratch their heads at some of its choices. And, sure, its combat is a bit clunky and not all of its systems were fully developed. But its combination of crunchy rules, Dark Ages low fantasy realism, and lack of leading you around the nose (almost to a fault)… God, I loved this game. Its mechanics for random encounters while you wandered the countryside, and the camping mechanics, I still hold up to this day as the best thing about it. Ignore the sequels that followed.

He could at least have mentioned that there's an HD remake on Steam

 

[Stainless Veteran]

What was that strategy game for which he made mod(s)? Never played it (them), so the game's name kinda eludes me.

 

[Turrul]

What was that strategy game for which he made mod(s)? Never played it (them), so the game's name kinda eludes me.

Victoria 2. The Mod's name was Pop Demand, or something like that.

 

[Stainless Veteran]

What was that strategy game for which he made mod(s)? Never played it (them), so the game's name kinda eludes me.

Victoria 2. The Mod's name was Pop Demand, or something like that.

Ahh, yes, thanks for answering. No wonder I forgot then, never could really get into Victoria series, only into Crusader Kings from all Paradox strategies lineup. Shamefur dispray.

 

[Delterius]

What was that strategy game for which he made mod(s)? Never played it (them), so the game's name kinda eludes me.

Victoria 2. The Mod's name was Pop Demand, or something like that.

Ahh, yes, thanks for answering. No wonder I forgot then, never could really get into Victoria series, only into Crusader Kings from all Paradox strategies lineup. Shamefur dispray.

A lot of people can't get into Vicky 2 but I assure you, that mod gives Gaider a lot of cred. Someone once said that he should never been a writer, that he'd be much more productive as a producer or designer and I think Pop Demand and Ascension prove that.

 

[XenomorphII]

I did not know he made PoP.

That's pretty impressive actually.

 

[Turrul]

What was that strategy game for which he made mod(s)? Never played it (them), so the game's name kinda eludes me.

Victoria 2. The Mod's name was Pop Demand, or something like that.

Ahh, yes, thanks for answering. No wonder I forgot then, never could really get into Victoria series, only into Crusader Kings from all Paradox strategies lineup. Shamefur dispray.

A lot of people can't get into Vicky 2 but I assure you, that mod gives Gaider a lot of cred. Someone once said that he should never been a writer, that he'd be much more productive as a producer or designer and I think Pop Demand and Ascension prove that.

I did not know he made PoP.

That's pretty impressive actually.

Yeah, but his writing is pretty much

It's kinda funny that his designing talent is wasted in Bioware.

 

[belated]

He rates MoO2 above MoM? That explains everything.

 

[Delterius]

What was that strategy game for which he made mod(s)? Never played it (them), so the game's name kinda eludes me.

Victoria 2. The Mod's name was Pop Demand, or something like that.

Ahh, yes, thanks for answering. No wonder I forgot then, never could really get into Victoria series, only into Crusader Kings from all Paradox strategies lineup. Shamefur dispray.

A lot of people can't get into Vicky 2 but I assure you, that mod gives Gaider a lot of cred. Someone once said that he should never been a writer, that he'd be much more productive as a producer or designer and I think Pop Demand and Ascension prove that.

I did not know he made PoP.

That's pretty impressive actually.

Yeah, but his writing is pretty much

It's kinda funny that his designing talent is wasted in Bioware.

With an emoticon like that, you'd sooner think he's the creator of the Vicky 2 MLP mod.

 

[Stainless Veteran]

With an emoticon like that, you'd sooner think he's the creator of the Vicky 2 MLP mod.

(googles) Oh fuck, is it for real?

 

[Delterius]

It is very real, just check our prestigious Let's Play.

 

[Stainless Veteran]

It is very real, just check our prestigious Let's Play.

 

[Crooked Bee]

He may be easy to mock, but he's also more hardcore than 95% of KKKodex

Which would be fine and dandy, if only his recent games exhibited at least 50% of those influences. Your list of "top X games that influenced me" doesn't mean much if the end product is something like Dragon Age plus a bunch of ridiculous blog posts.

Hence the (deserved) mocking.

 

[dryan]

I love John Coltrane, therefore I'm going to play sax just like him.

 

[Kem0sabe]

Gaider asked some intern to come up with that list of games for nerd points, it impossible this hack has so inclined taste.

 

[eremita]

Gaider asked some intern to come up with that list of games for nerd points, it impossible this hack has so inclined taste.

Well he's around for quite some time. Who knows what would be his favorite games nowadays? I mean, twenty years ago, you either played hardcore CRPGs or no RPGs at all... But I'm not surprised given his PnP roots...

Also, as a writer in Bioware, he actually has quite a word when it comes to designing quests and shit, so his potential is not completely wasted...

 

[tuluse]

He may be easy to mock, but he's also more hardcore than 95% of KKKodex

Which would be fine and dandy, if only his recent games exhibited at least 50% of those influences. Your list of "top X games that influenced me" doesn't mean much if the end product is something like Dragon Age plus a bunch of ridiculous blog posts.

Hence the (deserved) mocking.

Eh, Bioware is a huge company with over 100 people working on each game. Gaider is mostly doing writing, not system design. He's just a cog in the machine.

Btw, a Gaider, Patrick Weekes kickstarter would be something to behold.

 

[Delterius]

He may be easy to mock, but he's also more hardcore than 95% of KKKodex

Which would be fine and dandy, if only his recent games exhibited at least 50% of those influences. Your list of "top X games that influenced me" doesn't mean much if the end product is something like Dragon Age plus a bunch of ridiculous blog posts.

Hence the (deserved) mocking.

Eh, Bioware is a huge company with over 100 people working on each game. Gaider is mostly doing writing, not system design. He's just a cog in the machine.

Btw, a Gaider, Patrick Weekes kickstarter would be something to behold.

Gaider, the designer, as a kickstarter stretch goal?

 

[Tytus]

He may be easy to mock, but he's also more hardcore than 95% of KKKodex

Which would be fine and dandy, if only his recent games exhibited at least 50% of those influences. Your list of "top X games that influenced me" doesn't mean much if the end product is something like Dragon Age plus a bunch of ridiculous blog posts.

Hence the (deserved) mocking.

Eh, Bioware is a huge company with over 100 people working on each game. Gaider is mostly doing writing, not system design. He's just a cog in the machine.

Btw, a Gaider, Patrick Weekes kickstarter would be something to behold.

Gaider, the designer, as a kickstarter stretch goal?

1.5 mln stretch goal - if we reach this amount we promise Mac Walters will never lay a finger on this game.

 

[Nihiliste]

I remember back in the day thinking Gaider was a good guy, but these days he's too caught up in pushing his sexuality and gender politics to make anything worthwhile. What we really need is a Zeschuk/Muzyka kickstarter. Those guys are real bros who made the all too common mistake of putting hoes first.