Dragon Age Dragon Age: The Veilguard - coming October 31st

[HammyTheFat]

New Q&A giving new details:

https://felassan.tumblr.com/post/758140303036317696/john-epler-in-the-bioware-discord-john-you-can

black elf, they/them

yep, its the modern audience

 

[Aarwolf]

New Q&A giving new details:

https://felassan.tumblr.com/post/758140303036317696/john-epler-in-the-bioware-discord-john-you-can

I refuse clicking tumlbr. or anything related.

 

[Infinitron]

https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/d...hat-youre-good-at-and-then-double-down-on-it/

Dragon Age director says BioWare learned an important lesson from the disaster that was Anthem: 'Know what you're good at and then double down on it'​

Creative director John Epler says Dragon Age: The Veilguard is a singplayer RPG, "and that's all it needs to be."

Anthem was kind of baffling right from the start. Why would BioWare, a studio built almost exclusively on popular singleplayer RPGs—Baldur's Gate, Neverwinter Nights, KOTOR, Mass Effect, Dragon Age, let us not forget Jade Empire—suddenly dive into a multiplayer-focused looter shooter? It was weird, and the outcome, if not inevitable, was at least not entirely surprising: We called it "deeply flawed and frequently frustrating" in our 55% review, and just two years after it launched in 2019, BioWare pulled the plug, officially halting future development.

There's an old adage that says you learn more from failure than success, and that may be the one upside to Anthem's big bomb. In a new Edge magazine feature on BioWare's upcoming Dragon Age: The Veilguard, creative director John Epler said the studio's experience with Anthem taught it a tough but important lesson: Stick to what you know.

"We’re a studio that has always been built around digging deep on storytelling and roleplaying," Epler said. "I’m proud of a lot of things on Anthem—I was on that project for a year and a half. But at the end of the day we were building a game focused on something we were not necessarily as proficient at.

"For me and for the team, the biggest lesson was to know what you’re good at and then double down on it. Don’t spread yourselves too thin. Don’t try to do a bunch of different things you don’t have the expertise to do. A lot of the people on this team came here to build a story-focused, singleplayer RPG."

The attraction of games like Anthem—when they're successful, which is a relative rarity—is that sweet, long-term monetization, something you're not going to get out of a singleplayer RPG. But there's a real appetite for that kind of self-contained game, demonstrated most aptly (and ironically) by Larian's runaway success with Baldur's Gate 3. BioWare had experimented with live service elements in the early days of The Veilguard, but that was ultimately dropped in favor of a more traditional approach.

"We tried a bunch of different ideas early on," Epler said. "But the form The Veilguard has taken is, in a lot of ways, the form that we were always pushing towards. We were just trying different ways to get there. There was that moment where we really settled on, 'This is a singleplayer, story-focused RPG—and that’s all it needs to be.'"

Epler's words echo those of game director Corinne Busche, who said in June that BioWare is aiming to make The Veilguard "the most complete singleplayer game we possibly can," with no microtransactions or online requirements. I'm not a huge Dragon Age fan (and I will never not believe that Dragon Age: Dreadwolf is a far superior title to The Veilguard) but it's encouraging to hear that BioWare is so explicitly playing to its strengths: As the famed ranger Minsc famously said, "If we be adventurers, let us adventure!"

Dragon Age: The Veilguard doesn't have a release date yet, but we expect it to be out later this year—possibly in time for the 10th anniversary of Dragon Age: Inquisition, which arrived on November 18, 2014.

https://www.gamesradar.com/games/dr...ay-because-of-a-single-line-from-inquisition/

Dragon Age: The Veilguard's "expansive" major city is bigger than anything else in the RPG series, but it only got that way because of a single line from Inquisition​

Thank you, Dorian Pavus

Dragon Age: The Veilguard will show players a city bigger than anything they've seen in the rest of the RPG series - that was shaped by a single line from Inquisition.

For the first time in the entire series, Dragon Age: The Veilguard will take players to Minrathous. Despite carrying significant weight in the story, the biggest city in Thedas has never appeared in the game, something art director Matthew Rhodes acknowledges in an interview with Edge magazine: "People who have a history with Dragon Age have thought about what Minrathous might be like."

Rhodes knows that "we can never compete" with those players' imaginations, but says that BioWare is "shooting for the moon" in its attempt to create the city. But part of the reason that the developers even have to do that is because of a single line in Dragon Age: Inquisition.

Elsewhere in the interview, game director Corianne Busch points out that "when your Dragon Age: Inquisition companion Dorian joins you in Orlais, in one of the biggest cities in Thedas, he mentions that it's quaint and cute compared to Minrathous." It hardly seems like a world-shaping line, but Busch says that "one bit of dialogue was our guiding principle on how to realize this city."

The result is a location that "is sprawling. It is lived-in. Sometimes it's grimy, sometimes it's bougie. But it is expansive." Rhodes explains that in more detail, considering what it would be like to actually live in Minrathous, and how that affected its design: "A guy's normal everyday life walking down the streets of this city is more spectacular than what the Queen of Orlais is seeing, at least in terms of sheer scale."

That conjures its own issues, however - Rhodes says that his team had to design Minrathous in a way to ensure that players would actually look up at the city around them, with "props and architecture that help lead the eyes." That's to help "remind the player often of how stacked the city is. Wherever you're standing, there's guaranteed to be more below you and above you."

https://www.gamesradar.com/games/dr...stake-you-spent-ten-hours-in-the-hinterlands/

Dragon Age: The Veilguard director says the RPG won't repeat Inquisition's most infamous mistake: "You spent ten hours in the Hinterlands"​

On The Veilguard, BioWare says "pacing is important to us"

Dragon Age: The Veilguard has no plans to repeat the missteps of the infamous Hinterlands from Dragon Age: Inquisition.

Speaking to Edge magazine, creative director John Epler says that the team behind Dragon Age: The Veilguard "wanted to build a crafted, curated experience for the player. Pacing is important to us, and making sure that the story stays front and center."

Before Epler was creative director on The Veilguard, he was a cinematic designer on Inquisition. Earlier this week, he acknowledged that the camera system he created for that game might not have been his finest work, but he also says that Inquisition had bigger problems that he's worked to overcome in its successor.

"One of the things we ran into on that project was an absentee antagonist. Corypheus showed up and then disappeared. You spent ten hours in the Hinterlands doing side quests, and there wasn't that sense of urgency."

I've never played Inquisition, and its release predates my current career by several years, but even now, ten years later, I remember how infamous the Hinterlands became after Inquisition's launch. To this day, the aspect of the Dragon Age series I'm most familiar with is the refrain that the best way to play Inquisition was to simply 'Get Out of the Hinterlands' as quickly as possible.

Dragon Age: The Veilguard would always have struggled to follow Inquisition's footsteps exactly since it's a "mission-based" RPG that won't be open-world. Nevertheless, Epler suggests that fans of that formula won't be entirely left behind: "There's still exploration - there's still the ability to go into some of these larger spaces and go off the beaten path to do sidequests. But there's always something in the story propelling you and the action forward, and allowing you to make decisions with these characters where the stakes feel a lot more immediate and present. And also, honestly, more real."

https://www.gamesradar.com/games/dr...his-is-a-much-higher-actions-per-minute-game/

Dragon Age: The Veilguard won't let you control your companions because you can't handle it: "This is a much higher actions-per-minute game"​

"It wasn't actually adding to the experience"

Dragon Age: The Veilguard won't let players have full control over their companions, but BioWare says that's because there's so much to do that it doesn't want you to be overwhelmed.

Speaking to Edge magazine, game director Corianna Busch explained why Dragon Age: The Veilguard is dropping the party-controlling formula of previous games, even as it drops your companion count from three to two. "On the experiential side, we wanted you to feel like you are Rook," Busch explained. "You're in this world, you're really focused on your actions. We wanted the companions to feel like they, as fully-realised characters, are in control of their own actions. They make their own decisions."

That's a major deviation from the rest of the series, but Busch says there's a simple reason for that - Dragon Age: The Veilguard "is a much higher actions-per-minute game. It is more technically demanding on the player. So when we tried allowing you full control of your companions as well, what we've found is it wasn't actually adding to the experience. In fact, in some ways it was detrimental, given the demanding nature of just controlling your own character."

Busch admits that the substantial nature of this change might seem jarring, but it's backed up by BioWare's playtesting: "I will admit that, on paper, if you just read that you have no ability to control your companions, that might feel like something was taken away. But in our testing and validating with players, what we find is they're more engaged than ever."

While you won't have full control of characters, you will still be able to shape some of their movements in combat. Busche references returning rogue Lace Harding, saying that "she is her own realized individual. She's got her own behaviours; how she prioritises targets, whether she gets up close and draws aggro or stays further back at range. But you'll be able to direct her in combat by activating her abilities from the wheel."

Those abilities are part of BioWare's big push towards combo-based combat. The developer offers an example - one companion uses a gravity well-style spell, another slows time, and then the player drops a big AoE nuke on top of your grouped, slowed enemies. Busch says that she thinks about "this strategic layer to combat as a huddle. Where you're figuring out how you want to handle the situation, based on the information you have on the encounter, and how you and your companions synergise together."

It's an undoubtedly big change to the traditional Dragon Age formula, but Busch's suggestion that that change has been almost forced on BioWare by The Veilguard's added complexity is certainly an intriguing one. The added combo system also suggests that you won't feel entirely without that tactical layer, and if what she says about testing feedback is true, then perhaps this will have a bigger impact on BioWare RPGs going forward.

 

[Tyranicon]

Dragon Age: The Veilguard "is a much higher actions-per-minute game. It is more technically demanding on the player. So when we tried allowing you full control of your companions as well, what we've found is it wasn't actually adding to the experience. In fact, in some ways it was detrimental, given the demanding nature of just controlling your own character."

Ah yes, turning DA into more of an ability-spamming dodge roller instead of a party-based RPG.

 

[Baron Tahn]

This corpo speak has ensured I wont be playing this. 'Bougie'. Fuck me how old is this sales mouthpiece?

Also you arent supposed to just say 'Yes we know its shit you cant control companions, but more customers were ENGAGED this way'. Thats the shit you are supposed to say at the board meeting, not in the sales pitch to the buyers.

What a mess. What the hell happened, Bioware?

 

[jaekl]

That's true I can't handle using my adventuring companions to fight monsters. That would be crazy to expect a gamer to do. I can only handle endless dialogue trees with the quirkiness set to max while making hard eye contact with the most visually repulsive 3d models ever crafted by man. GOTY for sure.

 

[Baron Tahn]

That's true I can't handle using my adventuring companions to fight monsters. That would be crazy to expect a gamer to do. I can only handle endless dialogue trees with the quirkiness set to max while making hard eye contact with the most visually repulsive 3d models ever crafted by man. GOTY for sure.

I dont know...Im not sure I can handle hitting the awesome button with the right timing when my companions use their special combo powers...Maybe they could make it so I just sit and watch? Maybe they could let me hit a button to choose my pronouns and then the game can play itself?

Back to a serious question...Who is this game even for?

 

[Cryomancer]

.Who is this game even for?

SJW, people say that SJW don't buy games, but their wife boyfriend some times buy games to them.

 

[luj1]

What the hell happened, Bioware?

Their last 4 or 5 games were bad lol. Now you ask this?

 

[Semiurge]

Tactical pause with moveable isometric camera. Ever heard of that, Bioware?

The "immersive" angle is of course corpospeak, but the pause combined with full control is so meta, that it doesn't really enter the picture at all as far as immersion is concerned. You are in control of the party members during combat, but they're still their own entities. Having control is what separates real games from interactive movies that play themselves! It didn't make DA:O any less of a game, it just bored the CoD kids to death and that's a good thing for RPGs.

It's like Bioware is selling us a doll that can shit and piss itself, and we're supposed to be in awe at how "realized individual" it is. It's still a fucking piece of plastic.

 

[Cael]

Tactical pause with moveable isometric camera. Ever heard of that, Bioware?

The "immersive" angle is of course corpospeak, but the pause combined with full control is so meta, that it doesn't really enter the picture at all as far as immersion is concerned. You are in control of the party members during combat, but they're still their own entities. Having control is what separates real games from interactive movies that play themselves! It didn't make DA:O any less of a game, it just bored the CoD kids to death and that's a good thing for RPGs.

It's like Bioware is selling us a doll that can shit and piss itself, and we're supposed to be in awe at how "realized individual" it is. It's still a fucking piece of plastic.

And be grateful that you need to clean up after it, you homophobic cunt!

 

[skaraher]

So basically Mass Effect with swords

 

[luj1]

So basically Mass Effect with swords

I wish. Much worse I'm afraid.

More like Hogwarts Legacy with swords.

 

[Pink Eye]

Aw man, I can't wait for this clusterfuck to release and for it to disappoint people. Andromeda kept me entertained for months. I am looking forward to this shit bombing hard.

 

[Wirdschowerdn]

Andromeda kept me entertained for months.

Of course it did.

 

[onemananadhisdroid]

https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/d...hat-youre-good-at-and-then-double-down-on-it/

Dragon Age: The Veilguard won't let you control your companions because you can't handle it: "This is a much higher actions-per-minute game"​

"It wasn't actually adding to the experience"

Dragon Age: The Veilguard won't let players have full control over their companions, but BioWare says that's because there's so much to do that it doesn't want you to be overwhelmed.

That's a major deviation from the rest of the series, but Busch says there's a simple reason for that - Dragon Age: The Veilguard "is a much higher actions-per-minute game. It is more technically demanding on the player. So when we tried allowing you full control of your companions as well, what we've found is it wasn't actually adding to the experience. In fact, in some ways it was detrimental, given the demanding nature of just controlling your own character."

Busch admits that the substantial nature of this change might seem jarring, but it's backed up by BioWare's playtesting.

Ah, triple-A focus group and playtesters. AKA "Being overwhelmed" as an entry level requirement. And the no. 1 reason why nobody can have nice things.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NIS7m7YYEXI
https://www.pcgamer.com/dishonored-clues-hints/
https://www.reddit.com/r/patientgamers/comments/z2m7me/comment/j0toky2/
https://www.gamedeveloper.com/design/postmortem-2k-boston-2k-australia-s-bioshock

 

[skaraher]

Aw man, I can't wait for this clusterfuck to release and for it to disappoint people. Andromeda kept me entertained for months. I am looking forward to this shit bombing hard.

Are you biased against Dragon Age due to its lack of monk class ?

 

[Sweeper]

Even the black guy on the right gestures homosexually. He's flaming.

I was gonna make the same exact post. Good gaydar bro, we should get together and discuss our gaydars in a heterosexual and platonic way.

 

[Shuruga]

https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/d...hat-youre-good-at-and-then-double-down-on-it/

Creative director John Epler says Dragon Age: The Veilguard is a singplayer RPG, "and that's all it needs to be."

"singplayer" ... Obviously a typo, but think of the possibilities. Maybe the game will ship with a custom microphone you use to defend your street cred in rap battles.

 

[Tyranicon]

David Gaider already made a musical visual novel RPG. Apparently it has some awful battle rapping in it.

We don't need another one.

 

[Vic]

Dragon Age director says BioWare learned an important lesson from the disaster that was Anthem: 'Know what you're good at and then double down on it'

How old is he, 12?

 

[Semiurge]

Dragon Age director says BioWare learned an important lesson from the disaster that was Anthem: 'Know what you're good at and then double down on it'

How old is he, 12?

These types are reverse demon lolitas. They look old but have the minds of children.

 

[damager]

This is the interviewed person (game director of new DA) btw

 

[damager]

Man I don't even get a hateboner anymore. When I read this and see this I just want somebody to murder a few trans gamedevs

 

[damager]

These peoples only jobs should be sucking dick in a porno cinema not ruining our hobby