Dragon Age Dragon Age: The Veilguard Pre-Release Thread [GAME RELEASED, GO TO NEW THREAD]

[gurugeorge]

I don't know if anyone else cares about the game. This is probably the 5th year of production if I'm not mistaken?
They still haven't even officially shown a fragment of the custscene, let alone gameplay.
I wonder if there is anyone else who thinks it will be a good game or at least a decent one.
EA could do everyone a favor and just cancel this game because it's never going to come out at this rate. At the moment, you can wonder what will be completed first this game or Star Citizen.

It's been in development since 2015, this is its eighth year.

Though this is its third iteration.

The development of the fourth main entry in the Dragon Age series, code-named "Joplin", began in 2015 with Mike Laidlaw as its creative director. It was intended to be a smaller, more narrative-focused game set in the Tevinter Imperium region of the game's world setting, Thedas.

Problems with the development of BioWare's other games Mass Effect: Andromeda and Anthem led to repeated interruptions as "Joplin" staff was shifted to these games. This included putting "Joplin" on hold in late 2016 with development resuming in March 2017 after Andromeda shipped. In October 2017, BioWare and its parent company Electronic Arts cancelled "Joplin" altogether, reportedly because it had no room for a "live service" component to provide ongoing monetization opportunities.

Development of the game was restarted under the code-name "Morrison" in 2018, this time with a live-service component and based on Anthem's code. According to Bloomberg News, after the success of the single-player game Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order and the decision to cancel the reworking of the massively multiplayer online Anthem in February 2021 following its lackluster launch, EA and BioWare decided to remove the planned multiplayer components from "Morrison" and to develop it as a single-player game only.

This particular version has only existed for about two and a half years.

Jesus Christ what a mess.

 

[Grunker]

what we do best: create exceptional story-driven single-player experiences

surely this is incorrect no?

i thought multiplayer action was the future

 

[RepHope]

Kek our old pal Gayder says that senior staff got purged. Probably to cut back on costs but it would be amazing if EA is finally axing all the insane trannies who have somehow taken over BioWare. Not that BioWare can be saved mind you, but this might finally be the beginning of the end.

 

[processdaemon]

If this really is Bioware's death rattle I'll be a bit sad to see them go, they've been in serious decline but I still have fond memories of a lot of their games. Although maybe it will free up some talent to do more niche and interesting things than whatever mess DA:D is going to turn out to be

 

[Maxie]

If this really is Bioware's death rattle I'll be a bit sad to see them go, they've been in serious decline but I still have fond memories of a lot of their games. Although maybe it will free up some talent to do more niche and interesting things than whatever mess DA:D is going to turn out to be

If this really is Bioware's death rattle I'll be a bit sad to see them go, they've been in serious decline but I still have fond memories of a lot of their games. Although maybe it will free up some talent to do more niche and interesting things than whatever mess DA:D is going to turn out to be

just check what do 'former bioware devs' do to check if the talent was there in the first place

one of such brilliant gems of game design

 

[volklore]

Bioware is delicious irony. They all went with the ''press a button, something awesome happens'' ''nobody like austere RTwP rpgs, people want action and big explodo'', trying get good at action RPG gameplay only for some rando belgian studio to make turn-based popular with normies again.

 

[whydoibother]

Bioware is delicious irony. They all went with the ''press a button, something awesome happens'' ''nobody like austere RTwP rpgs, people want action and big explodo'', trying get good at action RPG gameplay only for some rando belgian studio to make turn-based popular with normies again.

They will have to release their RPG in an industry that has been influenced/changed by Baldur's Gate 3 and Starfield. However, their own game was developed BEFORE these were released.
So I have a feeling that Dragon Age 4 will seem outdated on release, as it will be missing some things BG3 and Starfield showcase, especially for mass appeal.

Bit like how they designed and developed Anthem in one environment, and released it in a different environment, with different saturation of the market and expectations from players.

 

[Axel_am]

Bioware is delicious irony. They all went with the ''press a button, something awesome happens'' ''nobody like austere RTwP rpgs, people want action and big explodo'', trying get good at action RPG gameplay only for some rando belgian studio to make turn-based popular with normies again.

They will have to release their RPG in an industry that has been influenced/changed by Baldur's Gate 3 and Starfield. However, their own game was developed BEFORE these were released.
So I have a feeling that Dragon Age 4 will seem outdated on release, as it will be missing some things BG3 and Starfield showcase, especially for mass appeal.

Bit like how they designed and developed Anthem in one environment, and released it in a different environment, with different saturation of the market and expectations from players.

Yes, I was thinking in a similar way. They want to release a BioWare game but Larian already released a BioWare game that's better than what they can produce.

 

[Assisted Living Godzilla]

They don’t literally have to have the license to do something like BG3.

They'd have to believe that TB gameplay has appeal, which even the original devs never did. They adapted a TB system into a RTwP abomination.

Decline is in their DNA. Chasing mass appeal was always their path, EA or not.

Well, Baldur’s Gate 3 is outselling every single game they’ve ever made. So that’s a pretty good sign turn base has mass appeal. Or at least more appeal than anything BioWare does. Hell, nothing BioWare has ever done in the way they’ve gone about it has really ever made much of any sense. BioWare would kill for the kind of sales Final Fantasy 10 and 13, and yeah they aren’t tactical games, but they are an indication that the mass market in the 2000s was still totally fine with turn based systems and maybe even preferred them over real-time with pause systems as long as they looked nice.

Mass Effect seems like some dummies idea of a game aimed at the mass market. Like someone going off some feeling of what sells best without looking at the numbers. I could get it if “towns” and the open planet sections were bigger, because then it’s like: OK, they’re going for a Star Wars shooter GTA sandbox kind of things but with some more stats and dialogue choices. And that would likely sell really well. But that’s not what they made. I don’t even quite get the thinking behind Mass Effect as is. Seems like it would’ve made more sense if it was functional a third person shoot X-COM where you become a Spectre, you go off and build some base, (that maybe outside of the Citadel is really your only hub area) hire soldiers and other employees, and then you just get called off to a series of jobs you have to pick between (making choices between what missions you do was originally going to be part of the game) that give you money to keep running your private agency and affects your reputation with any number of organizations.

 

[Roguey]

By the way it's safe to say that "finally coming in 2024" is incredibly optimistic. They wouldn't be firing 50 people now if the title was in good shape and on track.

Bethesda laid off an unspecified amount of people early this year and Starfield is still coming out soon. It could be that taking out the trash is what that is necessary for the game to come out in good shape and on track.

Different circumstances. Starfield is good enough to show, DA4 isn't. Apparently no one of importance at Bethesda was laid off (the only person named in an article I saw was a PR Manager). With Bioware, EA took away TOR as a revenue source a few months ago because they were tired of Edmonton using that as an excuse for their inefficiency. Now they've cut their funding. As Gaider confirmed, senior staff were hit hard, likely because if they had just let go of the juniors, the number would be quite a bit larger than 50.

Unfortunately EA was too dumb to replace the management which is likely the biggest source of trouble. As a seething fired employee on glassdoor put it last year "There are some incredibly toxic people in leadership who seem immune to punishment or firing no matter what they do."

 

[scytheavatar]

Bioware is delicious irony. They all went with the ''press a button, something awesome happens'' ''nobody like austere RTwP rpgs, people want action and big explodo'', trying get good at action RPG gameplay only for some rando belgian studio to make turn-based popular with normies again.

They will have to release their RPG in an industry that has been influenced/changed by Baldur's Gate 3 and Starfield. However, their own game was developed BEFORE these were released.
So I have a feeling that Dragon Age 4 will seem outdated on release, as it will be missing some things BG3 and Starfield showcase, especially for mass appeal.

Bit like how they designed and developed Anthem in one environment, and released it in a different environment, with different saturation of the market and expectations from players.

Yes, I was thinking in a similar way. They want to release a BioWare game but Larian already released a BioWare game that's better than what they can produce.

LOL evidence that they "want to release a Bioware game"? Cause all the evidence is that Bioware doesn't want to release a Bioware game and instead wants to release a God of War.

 

[Maxie]

Bioware is delicious irony. They all went with the ''press a button, something awesome happens'' ''nobody like austere RTwP rpgs, people want action and big explodo'', trying get good at action RPG gameplay only for some rando belgian studio to make turn-based popular with normies again.

swen's bet was to 1. introduce co-op 2. focus all the effort on the first couple of locations only
surely you wouldn't suggest his studio was relevant at all releasing ego draconis, let alone divine divinity

 

[whydoibother]

LOL evidence that they "want to release a Bioware game"? Cause all the evidence is that Bioware doesn't want to release a Bioware game and instead wants to release a God of War.

When was the last time EA was chasing a trend, and it actually worked out for them business wise?
They really should take the hint already.

 

[Falksi]

Bioware is delicious irony. They all went with the ''press a button, something awesome happens'' ''nobody like austere RTwP rpgs, people want action and big explodo'', trying get good at action RPG gameplay only for some rando belgian studio to make turn-based popular with normies again.

You can throw Square and FF16 into that mix too. They've spent years chasing the Western action buck, much like Bioware, and now that market is beyond them others have stepped into their turn-based shoes.

Fuck 'em and good riddance.

 

[Falksi]

If this really is Bioware's death rattle I'll be a bit sad to see them go, they've been in serious decline but I still have fond memories of a lot of their games. Although maybe it will free up some talent to do more niche and interesting things than whatever mess DA:D is going to turn out to be

If this really is Bioware's death rattle I'll be a bit sad to see them go, they've been in serious decline but I still have fond memories of a lot of their games. Although maybe it will free up some talent to do more niche and interesting things than whatever mess DA:D is going to turn out to be

just check what do 'former bioware devs' do to check if the talent was there in the first place

one of such brilliant gems of game design

Damn, that looks ace!

 

[Axel_am]

Bioware is delicious irony. They all went with the ''press a button, something awesome happens'' ''nobody like austere RTwP rpgs, people want action and big explodo'', trying get good at action RPG gameplay only for some rando belgian studio to make turn-based popular with normies again.

They will have to release their RPG in an industry that has been influenced/changed by Baldur's Gate 3 and Starfield. However, their own game was developed BEFORE these were released.
So I have a feeling that Dragon Age 4 will seem outdated on release, as it will be missing some things BG3 and Starfield showcase, especially for mass appeal.

Bit like how they designed and developed Anthem in one environment, and released it in a different environment, with different saturation of the market and expectations from players.

Yes, I was thinking in a similar way. They want to release a BioWare game but Larian already released a BioWare game that's better than what they can produce.

LOL evidence that they "want to release a Bioware game"? Cause all the evidence is that Bioware doesn't want to release a Bioware game and instead wants to release a God of War.

BG3 reeks of nuBioWare decisions. Especially the gay bear sex part.

 

[Rhobar121]

Not releasing a Bioware game by Bioware will end in disaster. If they abandon their reddit fanbase, they'll have no one left to buy their games.
There is no way that with such a long and problematic production they will be able to create something that will resemble GoW in quality.
Bioware stuff is the only way to sell it in any way, although I'm sure even EA has no illusions that after so many years of production the game will make money (at most it will pay for itself)

 

[Assisted Living Godzilla]

Bioware is delicious irony. They all went with the ''press a button, something awesome happens'' ''nobody like austere RTwP rpgs, people want action and big explodo'', trying get good at action RPG gameplay only for some rando belgian studio to make turn-based popular with normies again.

You can throw Square and FF16 into that mix too. They've spent years chasing the Western action buck, much like Bioware, and now that market is beyond them others have stepped into their turn-based shoes.

Fuck 'em and good riddance.

I wouldn’t call styling your game after Devil May Cry chasing the Western action buck. Final Fantasy 15 also shipped 5 million in its first 24 hours, and has sold 10 million. Final Fantasy 16’s problem only seems to be that it launched exclusively on the PS5. But the only thing we know about the sales is it sold over 3 million in a week, and they were expecting it to do better than whatever it did. For all we know those lower than expected sales could still be over what Baldur’s Gate 3 has done, and if you’re talking about Persona 5 it took those games a couple years to hit those FF16 numbers.

 

[Orud]

BG3 reeks of nuBioWare decisions. Especially the gay bear sex part.

Only in tone (and romances). For the rest it's as anti-Bioware as can be:

• No retarded dialogue wheel and no voiced protagonist.
• Complete area's, items and outcomes that can be missed in a single playthrough
• Gameplay systems where stats matter, no focus on 'click to win'.

These were all things that Bioware claimed were things of the past, things that no one really wanted.

 

[Rhobar121]

Bioware is delicious irony. They all went with the ''press a button, something awesome happens'' ''nobody like austere RTwP rpgs, people want action and big explodo'', trying get good at action RPG gameplay only for some rando belgian studio to make turn-based popular with normies again.

You can throw Square and FF16 into that mix too. They've spent years chasing the Western action buck, much like Bioware, and now that market is beyond them others have stepped into their turn-based shoes.

Fuck 'em and good riddance.

I wouldn’t call styling your game after Devil May Cry chasing the Western action buck. Final Fantasy 15 also shipped 5 million in its first 24 hours, and has sold 10 million. Final Fantasy 16’s problem only seems to be that it launched exclusively on the PS5. But the only thing we know about the sales is it sold over 3 million in a week, and they were expecting it to do better than whatever it did. For all we know those lower than expected sales could still be over what Baldur’s Gate 3 has done, and if you’re talking about Persona 5 it took those games a couple years to hit those FF16 numbers.

I know that Square Enix is famous for excessive sales expectations, but there is no option that they sold more copies than BG3 because of the exclusivity on PS5.
By the way, releasing a game only on one console whose sales are not amazing compared to its predecessor and complaining about sales is delayed.

 

[Axel_am]

BG3 reeks of nuBioWare decisions. Especially the gay bear sex part.

Only in tone (and romances). For the rest it's as anti-Bioware as can be:

• No retarded dialogue wheel and no voices protagonist.
• Complete area's, items and outcomes that can be missed in a single playthrough
• Gameplay systems where stats matter, no focus on 'click to win'.

These were all things that Bioware claimed were things of the past, things that no one really wanted.

Yes, that's why I said Larian released a BioWare game that's better than what BioWare can produce.

 

[Cat Headed Eagle]

Bioware is delicious irony. They all went with the ''press a button, something awesome happens'' ''nobody like austere RTwP rpgs, people want action and big explodo'', trying get good at action RPG gameplay only for some rando belgian studio to make turn-based popular with normies again.

swen's bet was to 1. introduce co-op 2. focus all the effort on the first couple of locations only
surely you wouldn't suggest his studio was relevant at all releasing ego draconis, let alone divine divinity

2 is a thing in many games, especially if they pride themselves in being open ended and player character-skill intensive. Like Deus Ex. All of the good things are in the first few levels, and then you get a linear game with way less interactions. The nonlethal requirement even gets dropped like 1/10th into the game as well.

Bioware is delicious irony. They all went with the ''press a button, something awesome happens'' ''nobody like austere RTwP rpgs, people want action and big explodo'', trying get good at action RPG gameplay only for some rando belgian studio to make turn-based popular with normies again.

You can throw Square and FF16 into that mix too. They've spent years chasing the Western action buck, much like Bioware, and now that market is beyond them others have stepped into their turn-based shoes.

Fuck 'em and good riddance.

It's like the japanese themselves have said: Squeenix started making games for people with friends when the average gamer doesn't (speaking about the FF mmos).

 

[Lovely Feather Pillow]

https://blog.bioware.com/2023/08/23/an-update-on-the-state-of-bioware/

An Update on the State of BioWare​

Hello again,

Today, rather than discuss one of our upcoming projects, I’d like to share an update about the studio itself and outline our vision for BioWare’s future.

In order to meet the needs of our upcoming projects, continue to hold ourselves to the highest standard of quality, and ensure BioWare can continue to thrive in an industry that’s rapidly evolving, we must shift towards a more agile and more focused studio. It will allow our developers to iterate quickly, unlock more creativity, and form a clear vision of what we’re building before development ramps up.

To achieve this, we find ourselves in a position where change is not only necessary, but unavoidable. As difficult as this is to say, rethinking our approach to development inevitably means reorganizing our team to match the studio’s changing needs.

As part of this transition, we are eliminating approximately 50 roles at BioWare. That is deeply painful and humbling to write. We are doing everything we can to ensure the process is handled with empathy, respect, and clear communication. With that last point in mind, I want to take a moment to explain how we got here, what we’re doing to support our colleagues, and what this means for BioWare’s current and future games.

WHAT’S HAPPENING NOW​

After much consideration and careful planning, we have built a long-term vision that will preserve the health of the studio and better enable us to do what we do best: create exceptional story-driven single-player experiences filled with vast worlds and rich characters. This vision balances the current needs of the studio—namely, ensuring Dragon Age™: Dreadwolf is an outstanding game—with its future, including the success of the next Mass Effect™.

We’ve chosen to act now in part to provide our impacted colleagues with as many internal opportunities as possible. These changes coincide with a significant number of roles that are currently open across EA’s other studios. Impacted employees will be provided with professional resources and assistance as they apply for these positions.

While it’s unlikely that everyone will find a new role within the company, we are committed to supporting our staff as they navigate this change. Our sincere hope is that they can continue their exemplary work at studios who stand to benefit immensely from their talents.

IMMEDIATE IMPACT​

If you’re wondering how all of this will impact development of Dragon Age: Dreadwolf, let me be clear that our dedication to the game has never wavered. Our commitment remains steadfast, and we all are working to make this game worthy of the Dragon Age name. We are confident that we’ll have the time needed to ensure Dreadwolf reaches its full potential.

I can also tell you that every member of our team, even those departing BioWare, deserves credit for crafting a spectacular experience. These are our colleagues and friends, and we would not be here without them. I am so proud of all the work our team has done.

WHAT COMES NEXT​

While this is an extremely difficult day for everyone at BioWare, we are making changes now to build a brighter future. We’re excited for all of you to see what we’ve been building with Dreadwolf. A core veteran team led by Mike Gamble continues their pre-production work on the next Mass Effect. Our commitment to quality continues to be our North Star.

As cliche as this sounds, there truly is never a good time to enact changes like this, but we trust that we have the right leaders and team in place with vision, passion, and proven track records to deliver world-class Dragon Age and Mass Effect experiences that our fans will love.

For now, I want to thank everyone at BioWare—past and present—for making the studio what it is. I also want to thank our community for your continued support. We’re eager to reveal more about Dreadwolf, and we look forward to discovering what else the future holds.

Gary McKay
General Manager, BioWare

Did RPG Programmer Katrina Barkwell get sacked for forgetting to program an RPG?

 

[Aphex81]

Bioware right now:
Exec: I want you to make a better game than Baldurs Gate 3. You are BIOWARE ffs !!! How do we top BEARSEX?...Why does it smell like shit in here?
Dev: I just transitioned and....
Dev2: Dragons ! I have this Dragon dildo to dilate and it's the hottest thing, ...also knotting.
Patrick Weekes: Hey sisters i finally got my hair and nails done, my wifes' boyfriend loves pink so i had to, i just had to.
Exec: Dragon Sex?
Dev2: Yes, Dragon sex is the hot new thing with our target demographic.
Dev: I think i am leaking i need to go to the bathroom.
Bathroom: *squishing and grunting sounds*
Dev2: Trust me on this one.

 

[Morgoth]

Dragon Age: Dreadwolf Is Now Targeting Summer 2024 at the Earliest, Says Grubb, But Late 2024 Is More Likely​