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[_- Songlian -]

Sylvius the Mad wrote...

It's been suggested that the gameplay in DA2 takes place over a ten year period.

Ten years!

I'll take your ten years and raise it with a framed narrative structure. Utter win! This is my favorite announcement so far when it comes to DA2. Cannot wait to see how they handle it! Hopefully not like this, heh: 

thatguy212 wrote...

first year- hawke gets arrested
second year- jail time
third year- jail time
fourth year- jail time
fifth year- jail time
sixth year- jail time
seventh year- jail time
eighth year- jail time
ninth year- jail time
tenth year- because hawke was wrongful jailed they decide to make him the champion

Modifié par - Songlian -, 14 juillet 2010 - 01:03 .

[Brockololly]

Sylvius the Mad wrote...

jennamarae wrote...

Eh, if it's too slow-paced the game will seem boring.

As long as I have a regular opprtunity to roleplay or explore, I will not find it boring.

I'm worried the 10 year and the kind of flashback narrative structure is going to mean the game gets forced along a at a brisk pace.From my understanding, Hawke's story is being told through a series of flashbacks being narrated by people in the "present" day. My worry is that each one of these flashbacks will only be one area or something and as  result it will cut down or eliminate any travelling and exploring on the world map.

It might make the story more linear and tighter, but as much as I like the prospect of the 10 year time span, I'm concerned about the results it and the narrative structure will have on the pace of the game.

[Ulicus]

Sylvius the Mad wrote...

Mike Laidlaw wrote...

A decade of history does offer a lot of potential, doesn't it?

It's been suggested that the gameplay in DA2 takes place over a ten year period.

Ten years!

One of my complaints with BioWare's games in recent years has been the urgency of the main plot.  Having an urgent and immediately apparent main plot often breaks the entire concept of side-quests.  Going off and doing something unrelated to your main objective doesn't make any sense if you're in a hurry to get that main objective done.  As such, I've asked (repeatedly) for a main plot that lacks that urgency.  As an example of such a plot, I've pointed to Baldur's Gate (where you don't really know what the main plot is unless you go looking for it), and even Ultima VII (where the game opens as a murder mystery, so the player's job involves investigation, which isn't a quick process).

If DA2 takes place over a ten year period, that pretty much guarantees that we're not looking at a single urgent plot that forces us away from an exploratory and investigative gameplay style.  The game's design can now incorporate features which wouldn't make sense if the main plot were urgent and immediate, as they generally have been of late.

And this excites me greatly.

Agreed, 100%.

This is why I still prefer BG1 over BG2, despite the latter game's better characterisation.

Mass Effect 2 wasn't bad, though. Everything could be justified as preparation and training for the mission into the unknown.

Modifié par Ulicus, 14 juillet 2010 - 01:13 .

[Ecael]

It could mean that cities will change dynamically as you progress through the game.

Hopefully!

[RunCDFirst]

I think all the 10 years suggests is a time skip. I'm rather curious when it happens though, and am hoping that we don't have a prologue then a jump ten years later.



I confess, when I first heard the announcement I thought the structure may be that the game takes place "10 years later" and constantly does flashbacks to tell the tale.

[SithLordExarKun]

Brockololly wrote...


I'm worried the 10 year and the kind of flashback narrative structure is going to mean the game gets forced along a at a brisk pace.From my understanding, Hawke's story is being told through a series of flashbacks being narrated by people in the "present" day. My worry is that each one of these flashbacks will only be one area or something and as  result it will cut down or eliminate any travelling and exploring on the world map.

It might make the story more linear and tighter, but as much as I like the prospect of the 10 year time span, I'm concerned about the results it and the narrative structure will have on the pace of the game.

Personally this is by far the most worrisome aspect of DA2 for me, which genius came up with this idea?

[GodWood]

Dave of Canada wrote...

This ten year story can either be done really well or very, very badly.

[Haexpane]

 

first year- hawke is spencer's sidekick
second year- hawke kicks all kinds of ass while being cool
third year- specer gets fat
fourth year- spencer joins the Hills
fifth year- Spencer gets a beard
sixth year- Hawke gets a spin off
seventh year- Hawke joins Deep Space Nine, sits around on space station waiting for something to happen
eighth year- Spencer gets cancelled
ninth year- The Dominion are revealed from the Omega quadrant,   Hawke proceeds to kick all kinds of ass
tenth year- Hawke gets promoted to captain after single handedly kicking Klingon and Dominion ass

[Sylvius the Mad]

Ulicus wrote...

Mass Effect 2 wasn't bad, though.

I can't speak to Mass Effect 2, as I haven't played much of it.
 
KotOR had some problems in this respect, and Mass Effect's main plot made side-quests nonsensical.

[Merci357]

Sylvius the Mad wrote...

and Mass Effect's main plot made side-quests nonsensical.

As nonsensical as DA:O's main plot? I have to stop the Blight/Saren/Archdemon/Sovereign - no time to save kittens. Honestly, most side quests are that way, the PC would be better of to focus on the main task at hand.

[Sylvius the Mad]

Merci357 wrote...

As nonsensical as DA:O's main plot? I have to stop the Blight/Saren/Archdemon/Sovereign - no time to save kittens. Honestly, most side quests are that way, the PC would be better of to focus on the main task at hand.

It wasn't as clear in DAO that you needed to hurry.  Travelling over land in a medieval setting takes a long time, and the game didn't at any point suggest that we needed to hit our main quest locations in anything like an efficient order.  The last remaining Grey Warden with any real experience (Alistair) even asks where we're going forst from Lothering, suggesting that there's no particular hurry.  Maybe the blight is moving at a predictable pace.

Since the side-quests, for the most part, didn't involve a lot of overland travel (or at least they didnt have to), their marginal impact on the Warden's schedule was basically zero.

The scale of DAO's main plot in terms of time made side-quests work a lot better, I think.

[Haexpane]

A time limit in an RPG = sucks all the fun out of the game

[Merci357]

Sylvius the Mad wrote...

Merci357 wrote...

As nonsensical as DA:O's main plot? I have to stop the Blight/Saren/Archdemon/Sovereign - no time to save kittens. Honestly, most side quests are that way, the PC would be better of to focus on the main task at hand.

It wasn't as clear in DAO that you needed to hurry.  Travelling over land in a medieval setting takes a long time, and the game didn't at any point suggest that we needed to hit our main quest locations in anything like an efficient order.  The last remaining Grey Warden with any real experience (Alistair) even asks where we're going forst from Lothering, suggesting that there's no particular hurry.  Maybe the blight is moving at a predictable pace.

Since the side-quests, for the most part, didn't involve a lot of overland travel (or at least they didnt have to), their marginal impact on the Warden's schedule was basically zero.

The scale of DAO's main plot in terms of time made side-quests work a lot better, I think.

I'd agree here, somewhat. Some side quests could be done while progressing with the main plot, with little deviation to the needed travels. However, once Lothering is overrun (the question is, though, is the PC even aware of that?) and word of mouth reaches to Redcliffe or Denerim, matters should become more pressed. Clease the Orphanage while investigationg matters in the Alienage? Of course. But do some of those Chantry board quests, like the Lost Caravan? Not that likely.

Modifié par Merci357, 15 juillet 2010 - 12:03 .

[Sylvius the Mad]

Merci357 wrote...

However, once Lothering is overrun (the question is, though, is the PC even aware of that?)...

That would differ from PC to PC based on where they tried to go and to whom they spoke.

That difference is just another opportunity for roleplaying and replayability.  Some of your characters (if you're rleplaying them) will be aware of the destruction of Lothering and act accordingly, while others will not.

Also, Lothering's destruction is triggered (and of course the PC will be unaware of this) by your completion of one of the five main plot quests, so it's entirely possible to leave Lothering, travel extensively, and then return to Lothering - as long as none of those quests are complete.  To a player character who did that, the advance of the Blight would appear quite slow indeed.  The panic witnessed upon the PC's initial arrival in Lothering would be followed by several weeks of the darkspawn not arriving, so that PC could reasonably take quite a lot of time doing side-quests and not think anything of it.

That the game can look that different from one playthrough to another is perhaps DAO's greatest strength.  I hope DA2 offers something similar.

[Deviija]

Haexpane wrote...

A time limit in an RPG = sucks all the fun out of the game

I definitely think so.

[Sylvius the Mad]

Deviija wrote...

Haexpane wrote...

A time limit in an RPG = sucks all the fun out of the game

I definitely think so.

It certainly can if the game places any importance at all on finishing the timed portion (which is often part of the main quest).  If the game offers a meaningful experience even without completing that times portion, then I think those can work.

I can't recall ever having seen a game that did that, but I'm not willing to write off the entire mechanic.

[Deviija]

Aside from plot-related time sensitivity, I was thinking of time dialogue responses in RPGs. I prefer to have enough time to decide/read what I want to respond with, not panic and press whatever choice I can before the time limit is done -- or have the game default a choice for me. Bleh. (See: Alpha Protocol, one of the many reasons why I find the game horrific.)



I know that I do a *lot* of traveling and backtracking on the world maps in games, roleplaying the quests and what order my character would finish them in and the priority in which they'd return for reward/concluding of a quest. So if a game tracked my overworld travels as days and time gone by, with a time sensitive meta or major plot, then it would become a very unpleasant and off-putting game for me.

[Ulicus]

Sylvius the Mad wrote...

Ulicus wrote...

Mass Effect 2 wasn't bad, though.

I can't speak to Mass Effect 2, as I haven't played much of it.
 
KotOR had some problems in this respect, and Mass Effect's main plot made side-quests nonsensical.

Indeed. Though this was easily "solved" once I started operating under the assumption that the Council's heads up about Virmire was out of sequence and that it actually took place after I had finished Feros, Therum, Noveria and all the side quests.

So basically, as far as I'm concerned, Shepard blitzes through the first three worlds and then has an extended period of time where he has no real leads.

Modifié par Ulicus, 15 juillet 2010 - 05:01 .

[Blastback]

Gotta agree, the ten year span is terrific in my opinion. I can't wait to see how character relationships evolve over a long peroid of time like this.

[Ravenfeeder]

It will be real-time play. See you in 2021.

[S8G Shadow]

Mass Dragon Age Effect 2.

[Vaeliorin]

Sylvius the Mad wrote...

Deviija wrote...

Haexpane wrote...
A time limit in an RPG = sucks all the fun out of the game

I definitely think so.

It certainly can if the game places any importance at all on finishing the timed portion (which is often part of the main quest).  If the game offers a meaningful experience even without completing that times portion, then I think those can work.

I can't recall ever having seen a game that did that, but I'm not willing to write off the entire mechanic.

I've only once played a game that had time limits that I liked.  Wizardry 7, your main goal was to find several pieces of a map, so as to reach a place where a certain treasure was hidden before the bad guy could.  In the game, you had certain time limits that you had to reach the various map fragments by, or someone else would get them and you would have to then get them from the people who had them (either through combat or purchasing/stealing them.)  NPC's could even take them from each other, if I remember correctly.

Anyway, I rather liked that sort of time limit.  Wizardry 7 is the only game I've ever seen do something like that, and it really made the world feel alive.  The first time I actually got to a map fragment before someone else had (it was probably on my 10th or later attempted playthrough) I was stunned, because I didn't realize it could happen.  It was incredible.

So...that sort of time limit, I rather enjoy.  Fallout 1 style time limits, not so much (though the time limit in Fallout 1 was long enough that it generally wasn't an issue.)

[BallaZs]

Yeah, glad to hear that