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

Frozen

Arcane
Joined
Jan 1, 2014
Messages
8,743
Meh..i wanted to write something but I just don't care because I know it would be shit and by now its impossible to salvage anything even if they want to/had talent.
 

Roscoe Scaggs

Novice
Joined
May 31, 2017
Messages
42
Another thing is, a lot of people go through a 'pissed off with BioWare' phase," he continues. "I have a theory - some people will say 'well, it's because BioWare isn't good as it used to be'. But I've heard people say that since Mass Effect. The kind of games BioWare's made, some of which are enormously beloved, give people really intense experiences and close relationships with characters. People have their first really intense RPG experience with Baldur's Gate, or Mass Effect 2, and then they're always looking for that experience to be repeated. But that experience can't be repeated, because the person who played that game, the you of three years ago, no longer exists, and they are never going to be as impressed by a big budget RPG with a half dozen characters who you don't have as close a relationship to as you did in the past. There's a risk that a BioWare game is someone's first love, and what comes next will always have to live up to that.

PEOPLE ARE JUST MAD COS' THEY PLAYED BETTER GAMES SO NOW THEY THINK NEW ONES ARE SHIT.

Great way to answer criticism guys! It's just a phase!
 

LESS T_T

Arcane
Joined
Oct 5, 2012
Messages
13,582
Codex 2014
http://www.pcgamer.com/biowares-dra...iring-a-lot-of-people-says-creative-director/

BioWare's Dragon Age team is currently 'hiring a lot of people', says creative director

A new Dragon Age is happening, but is development now ramping up?

If Alexis Kennedy's words last month weren't enough to prove work on a new Dragon Age is well underway, its creative director Mark Laidlaw's suggestion that "it's no secret we're doing something" with the series is a sure bet. Now it seems development on the elusive Inquisition follow-up is gathering pace.

"Something is happening with Dragon Age," said Laidlaw to The 1099 podcast host Josiah Renaudin, before going on to say he and his team are "hiring a lot of people" at present.

During the conversation, Laidlaw also admits BioWare had plans for Jade Empire 2—which were ultimately delayed as a result of work on Dragon Age.

"We certainly had plans for a Dragon Age 2," says Laidlaw. "Which I can’t talk about, but it existed. Jade Empire 2 was talked about. It was certainly considered. I think it’s still possible there could be a Jade 2."

Skip to the 57 minute mark below for Laidlaw's Dragon Age-related remarks.

 

Galdred

Studio Draconis
Patron
Developer
Joined
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Messages
4,496
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Middle Empire
Steve gets a Kidney but I don't even get a tag.
http://www.pcgamer.com/biowares-dra...iring-a-lot-of-people-says-creative-director/

BioWare's Dragon Age team is currently 'hiring a lot of people', says creative director

A new Dragon Age is happening, but is development now ramping up?

If Alexis Kennedy's words last month weren't enough to prove work on a new Dragon Age is well underway, its creative director Mark Laidlaw's suggestion that "it's no secret we're doing something" with the series is a sure bet. Now it seems development on the elusive Inquisition follow-up is gathering pace.

"Something is happening with Dragon Age," said Laidlaw to The 1099 podcast host Josiah Renaudin, before going on to say he and his team are "hiring a lot of people" at present.

During the conversation, Laidlaw also admits BioWare had plans for Jade Empire 2—which were ultimately delayed as a result of work on Dragon Age.

"We certainly had plans for a Dragon Age 2," says Laidlaw. "Which I can’t talk about, but it existed. Jade Empire 2 was talked about. It was certainly considered. I think it’s still possible there could be a Jade 2."

Skip to the 57 minute mark below for Laidlaw's Dragon Age-related remarks.



Transcript, please!
So they basically decided to recruit lots of newbies to work on the sequel to Dragon Age while their veterans who have not left are working on not-destiny?
 
Last edited:

Falksi

Arcane
Joined
Feb 14, 2017
Messages
11,035
Location
Nottingham
Make it stop. Please make it stop.
They're gonna just try and rip off TW3, and build a game around all it's worst MMO/Open World elements in doing so aren't they?
"We've ticked all the boxes, so this game must be awesome!"
 

ilitarist

Learned
Illiterate Village Idiot
Joined
Oct 17, 2016
Messages
857
Make it stop. Please make it stop.
They're gonna just try and rip off TW3, and build a game around all it's worst MMO/Open World elements in doing so aren't they?
"We've ticked all the boxes, so this game must be awesome!"

They already talked about Witcher 3 during the development of Andromeda. And people saw a lot of Witcher 1 in Dragon Age Origins, just on a budget, more family-friendly and more polished. And less Polish.
 

Falksi

Arcane
Joined
Feb 14, 2017
Messages
11,035
Location
Nottingham
They already talked about Witcher 3 during the development of Andromeda. And people saw a lot of Witcher 1 in Dragon Age Origins, just on a budget, more family-friendly and more polished. And less Polish.

Lol. This is the danger we face from Witcher 3 getting the same Skyrim "it's AWESOME" treatment.
TW3 has some brilliant writing & quests, but as a template to work off it's not as good at open world gaming as Morrowind, it's main quest is fairly shite, and it lacks the depth which other decision based RPGs did (or maybe I should say it spreads that depth way too thin).
But coz everyone is up it's arse folk are just gonna try & copy it, much the way DA:I tried to force Skyrim elements in there.
 

prodigydancer

Arcane
In My Safe Space
Joined
Feb 16, 2015
Messages
1,399
So they basically decided to recruit lots of newbies to work on the sequel to Dragon Age while their veterans who have not left are working on not-destiny?
That could actually mean some sort of
incline.png
, at least compared to what the "veterans" did to DA:I and ME:A. Though if Laidlaw is still the Creative Director, the game is probably doomed - new team or no new team.
 

Galdred

Studio Draconis
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Developer
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Messages
4,496
Location
Middle Empire
Steve gets a Kidney but I don't even get a tag.
So they basically decided to recruit lots of newbies to work on the sequel to Dragon Age while their veterans who have not left are working on not-destiny?
That could actually mean some sort of
incline.png
, at least compared to what the "veterans" did to DA:I and ME:A. Though if Laidlaw is still the Creative Director, the game is probably doomed - new team or no new team.
I thought ME:A had been internally outsourced to their new studio.
 
Self-Ejected

c2007

Self-Ejected
Joined
May 24, 2017
Messages
1,091
Location
404
Skyrim is fucking garbage, yet somehow it needs to be used as a template.

Some people rave about DAI. It was the worst "AAA" console port I have installed on my PC, the controls are complete shit and the companion AI makes potatoes look like Einstein.

And then there's this gigantic, beautiful, "open world" that has a fucked up walkmesh just about wherever you go and arbitrary hidden barriers.

Not a chance I'd buy DA4, might pirate it to make memes but that's about it.
 

prodigydancer

Arcane
In My Safe Space
Joined
Feb 16, 2015
Messages
1,399
I thought ME:A had been internally outsourced to their new studio.
Maybe. I didn't follow ME:A development very closely so all I can remember is that they lost lead writer, senior editor, development director and executive producer along the way. Does Bioware still have any actual veterans? IDK
 

Fedora Master

STOP POSTING
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Edgy
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Messages
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They successfully shat on every little thing that made the Dragon Age setting mildly interesting, like the Qunari. So what's even the point? What's left for them to ruin and turn into generic LGBTQ-friendly mush?
 
Joined
Dec 17, 2013
Messages
5,392
Here's my short list of how to improve a Dragon Age game:

1. Replace the tons of in-game lore exposition (books, codex entries, dialogue, etc) with a short introductory movie about Andraste along the lines The Messenger.
2. Admit to yourself that you (Bioware) are, contrary to popular views, actually NOT good at writing, and retcon the Maker's punishment for corrupting the Golden City to include loss of speech. Implement most NPC dialogue as nods, head-shakes, hand gestures, and Brasilian Jui-Jitsu.
3. Admit that most players interested in tactical party based combat actually want to control the party combatants directly instead of assigning them tactical behavior routines and then watching Roseanne episodes during combat. Cancel said tactical routine development, use saved money to hire a philosopher to push the boundaries of Biowarean thought. It won't be easy, but one day, the mind can travel beyond 4 area hubs.
4. If implementing action combat, admit to yourself that you are clueless in this area, and after pretending to think of something, you will inevitably go back to Dark Souls combat. However, instead of simply adapting it, you will simplify it, and focus its entire essence on the act of rolling. You will have so much rolling in your game, those amateurs from Poland will look like stiff upright apes, and your menu sound-track will be the 90s Limp Bizkit song "Rollin'".
5. Stay away from obviously telegraphed villains. Of course the darkspawn archdemon looks somewhat evil, but perhaps you can disguise it in the comforting exterior of a mid-level bureaucrat. But definitely stay away from Loghaine-style emo colors. Here's an idea: have a really, really, REALLY annoying party member, some goody-too-shoes Paladin who is constantly getting on your nerves with his friendly yapping, and then it turns out HE is the villain.
6. If you have a really long and boring grind of a slog through some, oh I don't know, let's say dwarven caverns, have most of the spaces in them be Paid DLC content. That way, the discerning player can just follow the quickest free path the hell out of there.
7. If you must include a huge open world for no other reason that Skyrim sold a ton of copies, be sure to tie it to Steam Achievements. For example, separate the world into small regions, visiting each of which will give you a "Hey, look at this Skinner Box piece of cheese and enjoy walking through emptiness again!" achievement. Also, as Fallout 4 showed, an empty world can be offset to some degree by building mechanics stolen from other genres, so be sure to let the player build up a lot of stuff that has nothing to do with anything. Hell, build a dragon.
8. Learn from Bethesda, and a few months after the game's release, roll out an extensive game editor that can be used to mod the game to playability. Provide enough functionality to mod the combat, the world, the story, and if you are really feeling bold, to mod out the game itself for a different, better one.
9. Morrigan in DA:O had a really good voice. It was wasted on bickering with Alistaire and on pointing out all kinds of silly shit to the player, as if they had any control over it. Instead, direct the ire in that amazing voice on where it belongs, by having the companion with it incessantly insult Bioware and its design decisions the entire game.
10. Include the Exit Game option as a paid DLC, costing more than the main game and all the other DLCs combined. Have it presented to the player by a friendly NPC in their camp, who will also mention via a long dump lore that any attempt to leave the game bypassing the DLC will result in your PC's Entropic Death. Oh, how they will pay!
 

hellbent

Augur
Joined
Aug 17, 2008
Messages
325
BioWare's Dragon Age team is currently 'hiring a lot of people', says creative director

Also said "It will sell bigly!" and "We will build a great RPG – and nobody builds games better than BioWare, believe me – and we’ll build them very inexpensively. We will build a great, great RPG, and we will make consoletards pay for that RPG. Mark my words.”

I like this guy already. Maybe he can truly make BioWare great again.
 

Quillon

Arcane
Joined
Dec 15, 2016
Messages
5,297
Actually, new Vegas has shown that outsourcing could also be an improvement.

Good luck finding a studio whose devs have been dreaming of working on a dragon age game for years and know the lore in & out.
 

Artyoan

Prophet
Joined
Jan 16, 2017
Messages
741
The Dragon Age universe isn't that interesting. Every faction was made out to be as stupid as humanly possible during DA:I.

The combat sucks and would need to be rebuilt from the ground up with actual tactical elements which DA:I lacked.

They'd be better off abandoning Dragon Age and going with something new. Like Mass Effect to Anthem.
 

Grampy_Bone

Arcane
Joined
Jan 25, 2016
Messages
3,945
Location
Wandering the world randomly in search of maps
The well-established lore from the first game seems hopelessly mixed up and retconned into stupidity now. Combine that with fugly characters, "streamlined" RPG systems, shitty autoattack + cooldown MMO combat, and this is hard to get excited about.

On the other hand if they are doing well making marginally interactive gay elf visual romance novels interspersed with piss-easy combat for chubby fangirls, more power to them.

(But I doubt that's a viable long term business model).
 

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