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[CLime]

(Contains spoilers for various other BioWare games.)

We already know DA2 is going to change or remove several features present in DA:O.  The eponymous Origins are out, for one.  The character's background and race are both set, as is his or her name.  Also out is the voiceless protagonist and full dialogue menu system used in DA:O, as well as past BioWare titles like Jade Empire and KotOR, in favor of a fully voiced menu wheel like the one used in Mass Effect  The media that has been released so far, sparse as it is, has focused exclusively on Hawke, the new player character- a stark constrast to DA:O's campaign, which focused much more on the game world and the player companions early on, and avoided characterizing the PC outside of the Sacred Ashes trailer.

As with any changes to a beloved franchise, these announcements have stirred whispers of dissent among some factions of the player base, concern that the protagonist is becoming "Shepardized," essentially inhibiting the player's ability to characterize him or her by predetermining large portions of his or her past and personality.  Fans would certainly have a right to complain about this kind of homogenization- not everyone who enjoys one BioWare franchise enjoys all the others.  I don't feel fans need to worry yet, however.  At this point, there's little suggesting DA2 will recieve the full Mass Effect treatment, and just as much pointing to even more potential for characterization than its predecessor.

The biggest check against the Shepard-Hawke comparison, and the best thing to help worried roleplayers get a god night's sleep, is the difference in the two franchises.  From the very beginning, or near to it, Mass Effect was planned out as Shepard's Trilogy.  BioWare knew the would be making three games, and that all three games would star the same character.  They wanted players to be able to follow the story of "their Shepard" as he battles to save the galaxy, but they also had to maintain some consistency across all three games.  For every game, there would certain checkpoints Shepard would have to cross.  Shepard could choose to save or abandon the council at the end of ME1, but he also had to defeat Saren and Sovereign- he couldn't pull a Darth Revan and become a villain himself.  BioWare allows the player a good bit of freedom while fulfilling major plot objectives, but ultimately they need to be sure that no matter what decisions Shepard makes, he'll be able to conquer whatever ultimate evil is lurking at the end of ME3.  We still have very little information on DA2, but what we do have thus far suggests that the single game will follow Hawke's story to relative completion, and thus not be bound quite so strictly as our Vanderloo-inspired friend.

Take a look at the Five Facts About Hawke from Game Informer if you haven't already, stickied on this same forum.  With the first four, it's understandable that some parties would believe Hawke is indeed being modeled on Shepard; fully voiced, preset to human, partly defined history and location.  The fifth, however, throws a wrench in the conspiracy machine: DA2 will follow ten years of Hawke's life, with the player determining Hawke's "history, relationships, and regrets...all in service to answering the larger question: Who is the Champion of Kirkwall?"  The ten years detail should be the first to jump out.  It implies, among other things, the lack of an central urgent threat that the player must solve, differing from both the Reapers in ME and the Blight in DA:O.  Instead, the fifth fact promises, it will be the protagonist who provides the impetus for the narrative.  No doubt there will still be Big Problems to solve and bosses to vanquish, but it sounds more like DA2 will be broken up into smaller chapters, with Hawke solving one problem, then the game jumping ahead a few months or years to witness the effects of the player's choices, both on the protagonist and his or her surroundings.  That's a lot to read into a blurb, I'll admit, but it's no more than the doomsayers who predict DA2 being no more than Shepard running around with qunari instead of krogans.

In fact, all the talk of a decade-long saga following the path of the protagonist gives me hope for something, the one thing that's been sorely lacking from BioWare's title's in the last five years: full spectrum morality.  Mass Effect has its Paragon and Renegade, but together they only comprise half of a DnD alignment chart- you pick between Lawful and Chaotic, but you're still always Good.  Jade Empire was BioWare's last game to actually allow the player to be evil (or Closed Fist, in game terminology) right to the end.  In fact, the evil ending was arguably the best one- the player vanquishes the big bad and installs him or herself as supreme ruler, enjoying a long and prosperous reign as an invincible god-king.  If DA2 allows Hawke to be anything other than the savior of the land, it will diverge even further from Mass Effect than its predecessor.  Sure, Origins let you be a pretty bad dude in certain situations, whether through poisoning the Ashes of Andraste, killing Arl Eamon's son or wife, purging the Circle of Mages or slaughering the Dalish Elves, but you could never become a tyrant after ending the Blight.

In short, fans of all the roleplaying DA:O offered have the option of being optimistic rather than pessimistic, hoping that the enhanced focus on the player character and his or her personal saga will allow for greater manueverability and more avenues for characerization.  With what we know so far, this is at least as possible as any alternative.

Epilogue: In case you're the type who's not content without an axe to grind, this final list is for you.  You can resume your Shepard-Hawke comparison rants when all or most of these conditions are met:
-Hawke becomes the sole face of DA2
-Hawke's face is exactly the same in all DA2 media
-Said face is revealed to be a custom texture that looks much better than anything you can cook up in the character builder
-The "ten years" promise is met by an hour-long introduction with Young Hawke followed by the game's only time leap to rest-of-the-game Adult Hawke, Fallout 3-style
-Hawke is announced to be voiced by Mark Meer. (He does a great Keith Morrison impression.)

Until then, history suggests that BioWare knows what they're doing.  The changes one person fears will ruin the franchise may turn out to unlock its hidden potential.

[Mike Laidlaw]

A decade of history does offer a lot of potential, doesn't it? You could tell a mighty deep story in that period of time.



Perhaps we shall do just that!

[Mike Laidlaw]

Also, for the record, "Hawke Talk" would be an awesome daytime talk show. A fake plant in the corner, a series of guests who come and work through their emotional problems with the Champion...I'm totally digging that idea.

[Mike Laidlaw]

Gena Mafer wrote...

Mike Laidlaw wrote...

Are you related to Valve's Mark?  Have always wondered that, and here you are, so...

Nope, though I suspect that one day we will actually meet and the universe will end. For now, we've chatted briefly over email, and the universe seems all right, but why take risks, you know?

[Mike Laidlaw]

CLime wrote...

Thanks to everyone for the feeback, both supportive and critical. Especially the elusive (Illusive?) Mike Laidlaw, who I know has at least one job more important than trawling the forums.

Two, actually. Looking after my newborn, and staving off sleep deprivation.

Well, you guys did do that one skit during the Jade Empire credits, with Dawn Star and Sagacious Zu's voice actors riffing on Hollywood and whatnot.  Just putting that out there.

One of my favorite moments in my career, actually. Those outtakes where written by Luke Kristjanson (who has written for just about every game we've made, and recently took pen to hand to write for Leliana's Song), in real time.

He was putting them together as we wrapped some of the last sessions, sending them to me to look over and then pass on to the voice actors who had some spare studio time to kill The total turn-around time from written to recorded was about 30 minutes. Given how tired we all were at the end of Jade, I'm still stunned at how funny Luke made those on such short notice.

"I don't want to get typecast as a dangerous loner, you know? Speaking of which, check me out this summer in Dangerous Loner 9..." - Sagazious Zu.

My guess is that BioWare isn't trying to deprive the player of information or prescience, but rather that the wheel is a necessary side effect of the conversion to a voiced PC.  It would be odd, not to mention a bit boring, for the player to
read a line once then have to listen to their character say the same line again, especially when the voice didn't match with how the player expected it would sound.  With shorter dialogue summaries in place of transcriptions, the actual voice acting will seem fresher, and the VO's reading won't clash with the player's quite as much.

This is, in fact, why we use paraphrases on our dialog wheels, yes. Well reasoned.

Sylvius the Mad wrote...

These vague pronouncements by developers typically raise more questions than they answer.

Then it sounds like the pronouncements are doing their job.

I can't not say that they may not possibly be not doing thier job. Or...CAN I? *Raises eyebrow*