History of Dragon Age with David G.

[vonAchdorf]

Canadians did an interview with Codex's favorite modder and second favorite game writer.

And they called me up and asked me to come in for an interview, which I thought was incredibly weird.

And then from that what happened?

I turned them down.

Really?

Yeah, well, the office they had back then, it was like Nightmare on Elm Street, I swear to god. There was duct work coming down from the ceiling. It was small and kind of dinky. And I had a job. I used to run a hotel. It was like half the pay, and it seemed like: well, this job’s really interesting but it seems like this place could just close up shop any day and I’d be left without a job.

History could have ended here.

And at that point Bioware had reached a level where they were considering, rather than working on other people’s intellectual properties, they were thinking of making their own. So they were considering making two, one science fiction and one fantasy. And I think at the time, that was the entirety of the idea.

Really?

One would be a fantasy RP, like high fantasy – typical elves, dwarfs, spells. And one would be science fiction. And it was split up into two teams as to exactly what would that consist of. And by teams, I mean, there was just a handful of people that were working on it.

History of Dragon Age with Bioware Lead Writer David Gaider- Dragon Age Origins “You Won’t BELIEVE What We Cut!”

Mages:

Initially my prohibitions on the mages were a lot more strict, and that just turned out they were so strict that made it not fun to play a mage because you weren’t allowed to use magic initially.
Well, in cities. Unless you received prescription from the Circle, you weren’t allowed to use it. The idea was that you would get that prescription, but using it in a city or anything that – I think the sentiment against mages was eventually supposed to be a lot more like somebody saying that you’re mage is like somebody saying you’re a vampire.

Lesbians:

DG: Initially I think everyone could have a baby with Morrigan, even female players. That was on the table at one point.

Epilogue and sequels:

So the epilogue slides were intended as a, from what we know of this story this is what happened to these people. And then that got cut, which is good. I’m glad it did because I really didn’t like that. But that was how it happened, and at the time the idea that maybe Dragon Age: Origins was going to have to live on its own as its own game. Like, Jade Empire never got a sequel. So at the time it didn’t seem so unrealistic to consider the fact that this might be our only shot at this one particular story. So it seemed fine.

Origins:

I think those were the two that went furthest, that went past the concept stage. Because I remember the human commoner especially we had like five different versions we tried until we realized that human commoner humble origins beginning worked best if you were in a Chosen One kind of scenario, not so much with what we were going for.

They didn't go for a Chosen One scenario?

We were leaning toward this idea of the history of the world being subjective, that it changes according to who’s telling it. At first, I think it became a matter of you’re in character creation and you can choose human, elf, dwarf just like in Buldar’s Gate. But what if in picking that you actually had a story? So I think it was a tiny lead up story to the Grey Warden thing. And then suddenly grew into, it’s an entire plot that is specific to what you chose and how you became a Grey Warden.

didn't go for a Chosen One scenario?

http://www.edge.ca/syn/60/65703/65703

(huge transcript of the interview if you scroll down (way way down past the "What You Missed In the World of Gaming!" stories))

If you feel like listening:

 

[pippin]

The mage thing sounds really interesting, and I feel blood magic would have been a real threat instead of something only faggots do to feel edgy.
The Chosen One scenario is not really there on the Origin stories, since it mostly feels you got there by accident. It still ended up being a Chosen One game, though.
Having a baby as a product of a lesbian relationship simply does not work, because even when MOrrigan is a shapeshifter she's still a human woman. I guess that's why they made the asari to be "hermaphrodite".

 

[Space Satan]

DG: Initially I think everyone could have a baby with Morrigan, even female players. That was on the table at one point.

WTF am I reading?
Does not compute.
That's why you should not allow hotel manager to run a RPG project.

 

[Killzig]

DG: Initially I think everyone could have a baby with Morrigan, even female players. That was on the table at one point.

WTF am I reading?
Does not compute.
That's why you should not allow hotel manager to run a RPG project.

That bothers you more than the boring RARREVILOGRESPAWN thing? Morrigan gifted your warden an enchanted strap on.

 

[Gangrelrumbler]

DG: Initially I think everyone could have a baby with Morrigan, even female players. That was on the table at one point.

WTF am I reading?
Does not compute.
That's why you should not allow hotel manager to run a RPG project.

Google: futanari.

 

[vonAchdorf]

They released the second part of the interview, talking about Dragon Age 2.

Not really interesting, but Gaider mentions some outrage regarding the cuts (even though he justifies them) and disagrees with the interviewer once:

In Gaider’s writing, and all throughout the Bioware echelon of gaming realistic and complex female characters has been a staple of what makes Bioware great. For many in DA2 the simplicity and the over sexualisation of a character like Isabella spat in the face of that ideal but in Gaider’s mind the duality of characterization and the availability of choice was paramount:

“I really liked what Cheryl and Luca, two of my writers, did with the relationship between Isabella and Aveline. Especially, Cheryl’s treatment of Isabella was super in that Isabella is the kind of character that could have gone wrong in so many ways in the portrayal. But she took a character that could have just been – and on the surface, that’s exactly how she presents herself, a sort of floozy, right? That she doesn’t have any moral fiber. There’s lots of things that people could and have probably said about her. And took that and had Isabella make it a strength. I thought that was brilliantly done.”

http://www.edge.ca/syn/60/68779/his...bioware-lead-writer-david-gaider-dragon-age-2

 

[Inspectah]

For many in DA2 the simplicity and the over sexualisation of a character like Isabella spat in the face of that ideal

I thought SJW liked sluts

 

[yes plz]

Gaider seems to be forever defending Isabela. I remember on the BioWare forums anytime some one would dare say something bad about her he'd call them a slut shaming misogynist. I also remember him getting p. butthurt over mods that changed her skin color too. I can't understand his love for her character -- she is a shallow character whose dialogue is like 80% sex references/jokes.

 

[pippin]

Isabela did fucking fanfiction. In-game fanfiction of in-game characters. How much depth could you possibly expect from her? And no, this is not a butt joke.

 

[Somberlain]

They released the second part of the interview, talking about Dragon Age 2.

In Gaider’s writing, and all throughout the Bioware echelon of gaming realistic and complex female characters has been a staple of what makes Bioware great.

 

[Eirikur]

Reinforces my belief that one can usually judge a book by its cover.

 

[Mexi]

That mage thing wasn't so bad. It sounded a lot like Athkatla, though. I usually refuse to get that opt-out pass from the Cowled Wizards and do without magic on all the city battles. Trust me, it's tough to kill that slaver and his three wizards in the Copper Coronet area, but I manage to do it without magic buffs prior (no haste). Makes the game a lot more interesting, but I also appreciate that you can get that license and play on "easy mode."

Still, I hate how he thinks that "tough" is similar to "not fun." I mean people play through BG: 1 as a kensai or monk for fuck's sake. It's tough at first, but once you get past the a certain point, they're one of, if not, the strongest characters in the whole game. Feels more satisfying.

 

[Lightsinthesky]

Sounds like Isabella might be Gaider's idealized female self. Men who're going down the tranny road often become obsessive about that sort of thing.

 

[Sceptic]

In Gaider’s writing, and all throughout the Bioware echelon of gaming realistic and complex female characters has been a staple of what makes Bioware great.

r00fles!

 

[Volourn]

Isabella = DA awesome.

 

[Beastro]

I thought SJW liked sluts

Like any group antagonistically sectarian, they like their sluts, not all sluts.

Still, I hate how he thinks that "tough" is similar to "not fun." I mean people play through BG: 1 as a kensai or monk for fuck's sake. It's tough at first, but once you get past the a certain point, they're one of, if not, the strongest characters in the whole game. Feels more satisfying.

Shows that he's catered to those kinds of people for so long it's changed his thinking.

Personally I find few things fun that aren't in some way tough and challenging. Busting around in god mode in GTA (or any game whose gameplay is so easy its like god mode) is fun to blow off steam, but gets tiresome very quickly once that stress is vented.

 

[Crevice tab]

Initially I think everyone could have a baby with Morrigan, even female players. That was on the table at one point. A lot of it, I think, boiled down to that we had so many pokers in the fire that we just couldn’t fulfill all of them. And a lot of it was cut just due to space. Like, there was an entire other version of the encounter with Morrigan at the end if you were in love with her or were her friend as opposed to having one version that kind of fit all. And we just couldn’t do them.

Even though the fans never realize that, when it finally goes out the door you feel like you’ve put out this hacked, slap dashed thing covered in band aids.

Only Gaider can make one feel grateful that EA's corporate shills aren't willing to wait for a finished product.

 

[Lhynn]

Isabella = DA awesome.

isabella was a shit character and you should be ashamed.

 

[stray]

I don't mind Isabela. She's kind of a symbol of the good parts of DA2 -- basically, not giving a shit and just being a person making their way in the world. She's the antithesis of the typical hero/Epic Bioware story, which they resorted back to in DAI. That, and screwing over idealists like the Qunari.

 

[Andhaira]

I used to run a hotel

edit: Does this mean the innkeeper in Candlekeep in BG1, right where you start off in the game and from whom you purchase your first equipment was gaider's self insertion into the game? (I always wondered why he dropped something really good for the level and time though I can't remember what right now, unlike most other innkeepers)

 

[Lhynn]

edit: Does this mean the innkeeper in Candlekeep in BG1, right where you start off in the game and from whom you purchase your first equipment was gaider's self insertion into the game? (I always wondered why he dropped something really good for the level and time though I can't remember what right now, unlike most other innkeepers)

He drops only a bit of gold i think.

 

[Xor]

Isabella was the worst character in DA2 and a candidate for worst character ever in a Bioware game.

 

[stray]

Isabella was the worst character in DA2 and a candidate for worst character ever in a Bioware game.

Have you played DAI?

I think for the first and second acts of DA2, she's a good foil. You're pressured into changing Kirkwall... be it because you want to just make money or because you're a "protector" or "janitor" cleaning up it's streets.. and then there's this angry group of Qunari whose obsessions revolve around changing places just like that. They're the ultimate idealists. It's why they want to invade the whole world. When you talk to the Arishok, he's all about cleaning up the "filth". And you have those little exchanges on your differences about that or how closely you agree.

And all that time, the biggest "filth" is in your own group. And it's a nice twist when you find out and get to choose whether you stand up for idealists or for more carefree people like her. The point really is that some people should hate her.. but do you hate idealists even more?

A good metaphor is would you side with dudebros, in order to push SJWs out of gaming...

 

[Lerk]

Realistic and complex female characters =/= Pantsless pirate chick in thigh high boots and a thong

Seems a pre requisite for writing at Bioware is the inability to smell what you're shovelling.

I'm all for sluts, vidyagaem or otherwise, but please fuck off with trying to spin it as having any depth. Isabella spends the majority of DA2 spouting (really cringeworthy) seafaring/fucking double entendres. BUT SHE JUST WANTS TO BE WANTED. She has all the complexity of an adolescent girl, and could have been written by one.

Echelon of Bioware females. Lol. Morrigan is the closest they got, and she was merely Raistlin with tits.

 

[stray]

Realistic and complex female characters =/= Pantsless pirate chick in thigh high boots and a thong

Seems a pre requisite for writing at Bioware is the inability to smell what you're shovelling.

I'm all for sluts, vidyagaem or otherwise, but please fuck off with trying to spin it as having any depth. Isabella spends the majority of DA2 spouting (really cringeworthy) seafaring/fucking double entendres.

Echelon of Bioware females. Lol. Morrigan is the closest they got, and she was merely Raistlin with tits.

Are you talking to me? I never said she had depth. The opposite is the point of anything I said. I like that she doesn't have depth. I hate people who try to change the world to the extent they present the Qunari in their setting. I hate idealists in general.

All Isabela is is just a simple test on that matter.