166 réponses à ce sujet

[Mad-Max90]

Alchemy Eh, does that mean we can have an alchemist class in dragon age 3, if not make it happen bioware.

[LT123]

Wall of text, sorry. Edit: removed part on cameos for spoilery bits.

Combat:

No more waves. Please. Especially not in every single fight. And if they must be waves, have the enemes all run through a doorway or something instead of dropping like ninjas. It takes away the player's ability to plan when enemies randomly appear, and having to fight so many enemies at once is just tedious.

I'm sure this suggestion will result in a dev killing a kitten or something, but putting in a toggle to turn off exploding bodies would be awesome.

Loved the faster pace. The skill trees work very well, and giving each companion a specific one was a very nice touch. I haven't played a warrior yet, but I'm betting it'll feel very different than playing as a rogue, thanks to the new abilities.

I also vote for the return of finishing moves. The crushing prison one on ogres is cool (and I love that mages FINALLY got a finishing move), but that's the only one I've seen. I miss watching my rogues or warriors take down ogres.

Character Interactions:

Great! Loved the banter. I liked that companions had home bases. I agree with TigressM in that having some PC-initiated dialogue would be nice-being able to ask my companions questions in Origins was one of my favorite parts. You can still do that in DA2 in some cases-I know in at least the first conversation with Aveline you can ask her several questions about how she's doing, does she miss Wesley, etc. Maybe do that for the first conversation with each companion after he or she is recruited?

I thought the dialogue wheel was an improvement over Mass Effect's. I found myself cringing at some of the sarcastic options, but in a good way-not in a "Oh, that was a badly-written line," but "Oh, that's so inappropriate. I can't believe Hawke said that"- and NPCs generally reacted to those particular options with irritation or disgust. (Ex. the "boneless women flopping in the streets" response to Emeric in Act I) Before playing, I thought the aggressive options would be like "Mwahaha, I kick your puppy" but instead they were just direct or blunt, and I didn't feel like an evil punk for choosing them.

Nice work on the camera angles and facial expressions. I like both having a unvoiced and voiced PC, but when Hawke got a voice she got great expressions, like smirking or being really ticked-off, that the Warden didn't get.

Companions

I'm one of those people who kept Morrigan in her default outfit (and later the new robes that looked exactly the same) all through Origins but played dress-up with everyone else. I liked that each companion in DA2 had a distinct outfit, and I probably wouldn't have changed their clothing even if I had the option to. Fenris has awesome armor.

Voice-acting was amazing.

Art Style

With the exceptions of Alistair's face, Teagan's face, Zevran's face, and the bizarre change in Nathaniel's eye color (is gray not an option anymore, or what?), I thought everyone looked fine. 

Cameos

Edit: Removed, spoilers. They were all great. Hopefully the love interest bugs will be fixed in a patch.

Lore
If item descriptions could be brought back for at least the companions' personalized weapons, accessories, or clothing, that would be nice. The ones for Alistair's runic stone, Anders' fox pendant (in Awakening), and Morrigan's robes added little bits of information about each character that you didn't get through dialogue.

Rivalry/Friendship
Vast improvement over Origins' system. I can disagree and argue with companions now! And instead of them hating Hawke, it's a "I disagree about this or that, but I still respect/trust you."

Modifié par LT123, 02 avril 2011 - 06:30 .

[ad1dash0lm3s]

LT123 wrote...

Wall of text, sorry.

Combat:

No more waves. Please. Especially not in every single fight. And if they must be waves, have the enemes all run through a doorway or something instead of dropping like ninjas. It takes away the player's ability to plan when enemies randomly appear, and having to fight so many enemies at once is just tedious.

I'm sure this suggestion will result in a dev killing a kitten or something, but putting in a toggle to turn off exploding bodies would be awesome.

Loved the faster pace. The skill trees work very well, and giving each companion a specific one was a very nice touch. I haven't played a warrior yet, but I'm betting it'll feel very different than playing as a rogue, thanks to the new abilities.

I also vote for the return of finishing moves. The crushing prison one on ogres is cool (and I love that mages FINALLY got a finishing move), but that's the only one I've seen. I miss watching my rogues or warriors take down ogres.

Character Interactions:

Great! Loved the banter. I liked that companions had home bases. I agree with TigressM in that having some PC-initiated dialogue would be nice-being able to ask my companions questions in Origins was one of my favorite parts. You can still do that in DA2 in some cases-I know in at least the first conversation with Aveline you can ask her several questions about how she's doing, does she miss Wesley, etc. Maybe do that for the first conversation with each companion after he or she is recruited?

I thought the dialogue wheel was an improvement over Mass Effect's. I found myself cringing at some of the sarcastic options, but in a good way-not in a "Oh, that was a badly-written line," but "Oh, that's so inappropriate. I can't believe Hawke said that"- and NPCs generally reacted to those particular options with irritation or disgust. (Ex. the "boneless women flopping in the streets" response to Emeric in Act I) Before playing, I thought the aggressive options would be like "Mwahaha, I kick your puppy" but instead they were just direct or blunt, and I didn't feel like an evil punk for choosing them.

Nice work on the camera angles and facial expressions. I like both having a unvoiced and voiced PC, but when Hawke got a voice she got great expressions, like smirking or being really ticked-off, that the Warden didn't get.

Companions

I'm one of those people who kept Morrigan in her default outfit (and later the new robes that looked exactly the same) all through Origins but played dress-up with everyone else. I liked that each companion in DA2 had a distinct outfit, and I probably wouldn't have changed their clothing even if I had the option to. Fenris has awesome armor.

Voice-acting was amazing.

Art Style

With the exceptions of Alistair's face, Teagan's face, Zevran's face, and the bizarre change in Nathaniel's eye color (is gray not an option anymore, or what?), I thought everyone looked fine. 

Cameos

I cheered when I saw Leliana (who looks gorgeous). Nathaniel beating down darkspawn in the Deep Roads was awesome, as was Zevran taking out Crows. King Alistair was one of my favorite parts of my second playthrough-looking forward to seeing the Warden and drunk versions of him. Hopefully the love interest bugs will be fixed in a patch.

Lore
If item descriptions could be brought back for at least the companions' personalized weapons, accessories, or clothing, that would be nice. The ones for Alistair's runic stone, Anders' fox pendant (in Awakening), and Morrigan's robes added little bits of information about each character that you didn't get through dialogue.

Rivalry/Friendship
Vast improvement over Origins' system. I can disagree and argue with companions now! And instead of them hating Hawke, it's a "I disagree about this or that, but I still respect/trust you."

Very well put, exactly how I feel.

[ZombiePowered]

Horus Blackheart wrote...

ZombiePowered speak for yourself on the music front *I happen to like a score I can emerse myself in. Bioware talk about the 4 pillers i'm adding a 5th just for what good music brings to the table.

Damn straight! Great music can really make a game stand out--and I think DA has such a fantastic mix of traditional fantasy and modern ideas and conflicts that it could be the scene of really unique and interesting scores. I just hope Bioware layers their soundtracks with music like we heard in the Destiny trailer. That was an excellent blend of traditional fantasy music and modern rhythms and instruments. Music should be emphasized and appreciated much more than it is.

[Ponendus]

For my assessment I would like to use the OP's categories:

- combat

I think DA2 combat was excellent, but I would really like to see more strategy involved, particularly with regards to boss mechanics. It would be great if these fights required a bit more thought so the final blow feels a little more epic. Also I think having the waves of respawns was silly, it makes any tactics you do use feel irrelevant. I think it would be ok to have a respawn wave every now and then (so it's like taking you by surprise, which is realistic) but every fight is just annoying.

- character interaction

I think this is something that BioWare really excels at, and should be their focus always. I don't really have any complaints about character interaction except to say it is extremely important to me to have as much opportunity as possible to really get to know my companions, and other important NPC's. If I don't know what makes them tick, I just don't care.

- environment

Please let us explore the world and not be confined to one city. This was a bad move. I play fantasy RPG's because they help transport into a different world, to experience something fantastic. Let's put all the DA games together in the end and say we explored every inch of Thedas!

- characters

I would honestly rather 6 standard people than 6 stereotypes. Please don't make 'the funny one', 'the angry one', 'the rebel', 'the princess', 'the vixen' etc. People should be just people, they can be motivated by these character nuances sure, but they shouldn't be the only thing we get to see. Characters were just so brilliantly written in Origins. We need more of those.

- lore

I think lore-wise, the best driver of this is the Codexes. What I think went wrong in DA2 is that the codex entries felt like tutorial items; like notes that say 'oh by the way here is the history of Kirkwall just so you know it, ok go kill more stuff now'. The Origins codexes were quirky, funny, fascinating, sometimes completely unrellated and irrelevant, often entertaining and sometimes poignant and thought-provoking.

- story

Have a framed narrative if you really want, but make the story important and please, please, let us see the impact we really have. Don't leave cliffhangers, it just makes everything feel like a waste of time. Also, I think the 'narrator/retrospective' style sucked a bit of the fun out of it. I knew I was going to be the Champion and so I was just poking around working out how that happened. It felt like I was reading a graphic novel that I knew the ending to. Origins started with me as just a being, with a backstory and a 'ok let's go and see what happens to me now' direction. That feels much more fun, compelling and engaging.

- rpg elements

All I can say to this is, the more customisation you allow me, the more I can play the character I want to play. The more you limit me, the less I feel like I am actually role-playing. I am instead role-accompanying, which is not as interesting.

Other small points:
Keep the 'hide helm' feature. Love it.
Keep the skill trees from DA2 - great fun!
Bring back a slight sense of 'adultness' that was present in origins. I mean, I really don't understand why it was aged down so much for DA2, it really make it feel like the game was targeted at a more hack-and-slash market. Seriously, adults have sex, and they get naked, and they swear sometimes (appropriately) and they encounter things that are real and dark, and not always politically correct. That really didn't exist much in DA2 - it was all a little bit too Disney at times.

Thanks BioWare, long time fan, can't wait to see what you drum up next.

[Zeevico]

Also my characters history is completely unknown to me.I could have been a school teacher,an actor or even a fairy for all i know.Little things like this the least engaging game i have played from Bioware

Respectfully, this is a major failing in the game, story-line wise. You're a refugee, sure, but what were you in Lothering? A farmer? Servant? Bubble gum maker? How'd you learn to kill people, exactly? None of this is explained much. Even Shepard in ME was more than just a run of the line commander--he had a past and it mattered. DAO had this as well. By comparison, Hawke's past is a blank slate.

Also, Isabella the pirate captain: look, the premise just isn't that great. What on earth is Jack Sparrow doing in a game that makes some attempt at making realistic characters? Pirates didn't do piracy for love of the sea. They did it for the material rewards, and because they were generally a heartless bunch of killers.

Modifié par Zeevico, 02 avril 2011 - 08:30 .

[StingingVelvet]

SilentK wrote...

* Loved the voiced Hawke so pretty please keep that. For me the voices, and the wheel was a great improvement over DA:O. I connected more with Hawke. I would love to continue with Hawke in DA3, don't know if I'm in a minority here =) I my Hawke

It's not your Hawke though, it's Bioware's.  You have very little say over what kind of character Hawke is or can be.  In DA:O it was truly your Warden, as you shaped his/her personality, beliefs and background.

[StingingVelvet]

Zeevico wrote...

Also, Isabella the pirate captain: look, the premise just isn't that great. What on earth is Jack Sparrow doing in a game that makes some attempt at making realistic characters? Pirates didn't do piracy for love of the sea. They did it for the material rewards, and because they were generally a heartless bunch of killers.

I question DA2 being "realistic" but besdies that, what is Isabella?  Without giving spoilers she is basically exactly what you described.

[SilentK]

StingingVelvet wrote...

SilentK wrote...

* Loved the voiced Hawke so pretty please keep that. For me the voices, and the wheel was a great improvement over DA:O. I connected more with Hawke. I would love to continue with Hawke in DA3, don't know if I'm in a minority here =) I my Hawke

It's not your Hawke though, it's Bioware's.  You have very little say over what kind of character Hawke is or can be.  In DA:O it was truly your Warden, as you shaped his/her personality, beliefs and background.

Well    =)   I guess that we just feel differently about it. I think that my Hawkes are very different from eachother I would love to continue playing with them.

*  First Hawke, a goody two shoes mage with a snarky attittude who stumbled through the story blindly, this resulted in quite a few things ending up not so great for her. I loved the feeling of everything just whirling around her, the world continualy went worse and worse. Remember talking to my husband, he's still on his first Hawke so I have to be careful about the spoilers but telling him to enjoy the first carefree years   =)  
*  Second Hawke, a always kind and soothing rouge who bickers like mad with Fenris, oh that has been so much fun. Had to go back to the beginning of act 2 now because I want to change some things. Letting her rest for a little while and then I finish it. The rivalmance with Fenris was so wonderful that I really look forward to doing that again, just saving it a bit.
*  Now I've started a 3:rd Hawke and for the first time I'm using jerk-lines. Before I just couldn't bring myself to do something mean but I love being able to be a bit of a jerk without doing something evil and now I think that the jerky lines are starting to rub of on my actions. It started with some jerky lines and after a while it feelt in character to do a couple of jerk moves as well. After 3 wardens always being good and 3 paragon shepards through ME and ME2 this is so much fun. Never thought I would see that side of the game.

Guess it all comes down to feelings. I have had a  great time with my Hawkes and love them to bits. Sorry that you haven't had as fun. I wish that there had been a bit more difference in the beginning of the game if you started a warrior, mage or rouge. A rouge and warrior getting some extra time with Carver in the beginning talking about Ostagar and your training. A Mage getting extra time with Bethany talking about keeping out of sight of the templars and such. But I would rather contiune with my Hawkes than my Wardens. Hope that you had a good time playing the game anyways, even if you prefer DA:O to it, just like I prefer DA2 to DA:O. Have fun on the forum  

[Zeevico]

A good suggestion for the franchise:
Better enemy AI communication.
Right now, the AI has no communication between enemy NPCs. So half of a gang is fighting you; you kite back a few blocks, and the other half chooses to stand around. in the next room (for instance).

Enemy NPCs should be able to draw attention, call for help and otherwise communicate w/ one another.

Enemy NPCs shouldn't just give up on the trail if you run enough--they're out to kill you after all.

[byzantine horse]

 I kind of liked the Rivalry-system of DA2, the approval in DAO felt so linear, there was practically no incentive not to bend over for everyone else as you'd miss out on bonuses and they might leave. However, the bugs that exist aside, I'd like to see it being fleshed out more in a future game, mainly that instead of a line we get a square in which our current relation with a companion can be determined. Or a coordinate-system rather.

On the y-axis there'd be Influence. Influence would determine in which way your actions affect a companion, and not just whether they like or dislike you. The ends of the Influence scale would each be a different type of personality for the character. As an example a templar-companion could on one end become a "blinded by faith"-zealot and in the other end become a really kind guy who wants to help everyone. A thief type could have one end as the Robin Hood thief and the other end as your usual selfish bandit. And so on and so forth.

The x-axis would be Approval, much like in Origins. Either they like you or dislike you, simple as that.

The thing is that these would work together in such a way that your actions not only cause companions to like or dislike you, but also change their views of the world accordingly. If you are the biggest bastard in the world and do nothing unless it is for personal gain, that will rub off on your companions. Some will dislike you for being a heartless bastard, and be pushed to the good side of their spectrum as they want to be as different from you as possible. Others will think that you are in the right, wish to be friends with you and hone their own "evil" side of their spectrum. And so on.

Just an idea I've been tinkering with, as I always felt that the relations with companions in both DA games have been pretty linear and static. If a system like this could be implemented and made to work the relations would be more dynamic, and as we all know a relationship isn't neither black nor white, it is something very much inbetween and changes alot over time.

Modifié par byzantine horse, 02 avril 2011 - 11:17 .

[PSUHammer]

My two cents:

• Tone down combat gore animations. Decapitation with a clutch sword swing is fine. Bodies exploding like blood sausage with a knife stab is ridiculous.
• Earlier companion interaction. Takes a while to get to know your companions.
• Don't recycle maps for every cave. And, the changes to the city should be more extreme if there are 3 year gaps. Why are the same NPCs saying the same things at the 6th year?? The time shifts were not done well in DA2.
• Assassin's Creed had bustling cities...why is Kirkwall desolate?
• Romances seem forced in DA2. DAO romances felt more organic.

Things to keep:
• some streamlining is nice like crafting and runes
• I like that companions wear their own gear.
• Bring back more varied armor and weapon sets and bring back descriptions
• Combat is more fun in DA2 but more tacticle design like DAO is better
• DAO ending was much better and much more fullfilling. Where is the epilouge in DA2??

[Chanegade]

Combat - In DA2 you fight way too many enemies and most of the enemies
have very low health and the fact that the game has no friendly fire
(except in nightmare) makes it so there is less reason to stun or freeze
enemies.
Also because you fight waves and waves of enemies in DA2, you are unable to do any planing.
The combat for the next Dragon Age game needs to have the cool and sexy animations of  DA2 but at the same time, forcing the player to plan his or her attack before a fight instead of just going in and fighting waves and waves of enemies without planing

Story - I liked that Bioware got rid of the cliche story "you are the only on that can save the world" but the problem with the story in DA2 is that there was no central conflict or any goal the player was trying to achieve. You need to give the player at least something.

Other things I would like to see - Get rid of injury kits. It would be so much more hardcore if the only way you can get your nomal health back was to finish the quest or to go back to home base. It would also make combat more intense.

[fchopin]

I would like nothing for DA3.

What i would like is patching DA2 so there is some kind of plot that works.

[yuncas]

- combat
while origins combat was a bit slow DA2 combat went a tad overboard. The lightning quick moves stretch believability. Coupled with the goresplosion that enemies experience upon death the combat easily stands outside the scope of realism. Throwing in some finishing moves and toning down the 'anime" like actions would go a long way towards making combat more believable. 


- character interaction
No real complaints except for interactions with romance companions. You go through all the trouble to get them to shack up with you and the only converation aside from scrpited quest stuff is "hey what's up?".  


- environment
While nice to look at the first couple times through it certainly got a little tiring to see the same vista/cave/street a dozen times an hour. Zero puctuation said it best I believe: you'll think the dungeons started opening franchises. 


- characters
what I think sticks out after a few playthroughs is the lack of parity between origins and DA2's companion personalities. The best example I can come up with is the lack of an Allistair/Anders smartass, and the reason I think of this being so is for the voiced Hawke to have the oppurtunity and ability to fill that role. Hawke is now given the latitude and ability to fill many roles which takes away from companions oppurtunity to shine personality wise, no matter their "archetype".


- story
I certainly appreciate the risk taken with the framed narrative path for the story . That being said the acts do seem a little disjointed. Am I to believe that interpersonal relationships are stagnant for three year stretches at a time and only advance when some dire situation arises?


- rpg elements
I do not care AT ALL for the strict class restrictions for weapons and armor. If the goal was to make each class feel iconic  then mission accomplished. But with that individuality for each class comes a huge reduction in player choice. This goes for companion equipment as well. I'm not aking for sandbox gameplay but just like ME2 the trend seems to be aimed toward moving RPGs into more  of an interactive adventure game.


-inventory
Generic items, lack of item descriptions, junk items that serve no real purpose, and a very limited armor/weapon selection. This section of the game seems like it suffered serious neglect to me.




 

Modifié par yuncas, 02 avril 2011 - 06:57 .

[RyuAzai]

-Combat
Move closer to Origins. I enjoyed the fact there was no shuffling. But I felt like I could just spam my way through combat on normal. Enemies just appear out of no-where, and then they exploded if I back stabbed them. Since it is asked not to put opinions on why, I just didn't like the latter of what I said.

-Character interaction
I wanted more options to talk to my characters. I loved the Dragon Age II characters, and I loved their unique models. I just wanted more, and honestly I wanted maybe for us all to live at the Hawke Compound.

-Environment-
Origins so much more. I just didn't enjoy doing quests after I encountered the same reused level over and over.

That's all I chim in for now.

[Addai]

This is a small thing, but I kept missing the C key from Mass Effect, to get your party to fall back to the PC's position. Ctl+A to move the whole party was a bit awkward.

[fchopin]

Addai67 wrote...

This is a small thing, but I kept missing the C key from Mass Effect, to get your party to fall back to the PC's position. Ctl+A to move the whole party was a bit awkward.

You can assign a key to do this, i am using "F" for myself on PC.

[ReallyRue]

-I'd like to keep the combat style of DA2 (but without unnecessary exploding), and the talent trees

-If companions have set armours then have them alter or change over time (or have an alternate outfit), instead of DAO where everyone wears the same thing, or DA2 where nobody changes their clothes

-Keep the cutscene style of DA2, with the voiced protagonist and personality thingy.

-Fewer recycled maps. This was more annoying on DA2 because you remain in Kirkwall most of the time, so you'd expect a little more attention to particular locations. Though I tend to prefer exlporing a wider variety of places anyway.

-Keep the personal quests style of DA2, with companions' own goals remaining important throughout the story, instead of resolved in a few minutes conversation. However, also have the DAO style of being able to talk about things that aren't the 'big overall goal'. Isabela and Varric seemed to be the only ones who had general conversation with Hawke frequently. Being able to talk to them more frequently or inquire about things is better. Personal story for the main character is also a great thing to bring back.

-Companions having more say in what happens. I like it.

-Having your personality style affect your ability to indimidate, charm, negotiate or whatever is good. It always felt off in Origins that my sweet as honey character could use the intimidate check with a high enough strength stat.

-Lots of moral choice, like in DAO. With repercussions. The choices in DA2, with the exception of a few, always seemed to lead to the same conclusion (such as the choice with Grace).

-Party banter, obviously.

[Redneck1st]

planed scaped wrote...

Bioware should all just play The Witcher and The Witcher 2 in a month and plagiarize it into DA3 gameplay and setting. >___>

srsly though, there are enough suggestions out there in the threads that I don't really need to add more, nor re-post them again.

I've played The Witcher and IMO it's a good game but not an overly fantastic game. It has it's good and it's bad points just like all games. Now I'm waiting for the Witcher 2 lets see if it lives up to it's hype.

Of course This board is a bioware board and we are talking about DA2  As for me I don't know if DA or any game would be able to get away without reusing areas.  But there are some things for which need to be fixed.

1. Regneration ability from Items and armor includes the reaver abitlity. This is both health Mana/stamina
2. the rune disappearing off Anders Armor after his quest "Justice".
3. Merill's final quest


Also the stuff for which you got when you killed something wasn't or looted a chest wasn't all that great and you got very little for it. Yet the stuff you could buy ran you a fortune.

If and when DA3 comes out would love to see it revolve more around some of the characters from DAO I.e. Morrigan, Lehianna, Oghrain, etc. And yes you've got to bring back Sandal in DA3 as well. He's my favorite enchanter.

[steve3194]

whatever you do, don't go back to origins combat....please. And voice protagonist

[neppakyo]

steve3194 wrote...

whatever you do, don't go back to origins combat....please. And voice protagonist

DA2 combat was worse.

Prefer if they fixed, tweaked, and speeded up a bit Origins combat.

[MelfinaofOutlawStar]

I came in here to post something then noticed Laidlaw's avatar is Loghain.

[TEWR]

Hopefully my attempt at constructive tidbits will be helpful and a dev will read it. It makes me feel special. I know, I'm pathetic

• Combat - I loved the new combat system that was implemented for DA2, as it felt more fluid and realistic. When you're in battle in real life you want to hit fast and heavy, not awkwardly and clumsily where a genlock will just point and laugh at you. However, one of the drawbacks to the new system is how the enemies keep using the Origins system of Combat, which gave me an unfair advantage over them and made the combat too easy. That said, if they had the sped up version of combat as well, the battle field would be even and it would be amazing. Also, exploding bodies is just silly. The kill animations from Origins were amazing, so anything along those lines would be awesome. Also, keep the talent trees that you did in DA2. That was a definite step up. Some abilities were still useless, but they were usually the ones I picked last near the end of the game instead of having to use them to get to the good ones like DA:O
  
  
  
  
  Character Interaction- Not much to say really. I loved being able to have multiple conversations about a character's past or just anything (specifically Sten, as a lot of what he said I agreed with, however skewed some aspects of the Qun may be). But I also loved the idea of a home base and multiple companion quests, so I feel the best thing is to combine the both of these ideas. I would also like to see, if say I click on a companion, they say something relevant to the scenario at hand. I talked to Aveline during either the Act 2 climax in Lowtown or the Act 3 (might've been Act 2) and all she was talking about was how her term as captain hasn't been met with approval in Lowtown. The city is burning and she's talking about herself, which didn't fit.
  
  • Addendum: I had an idea a couple days back about companion armor. If you end up reading this Mr. Laidlaw, I would appreciate some feedback on this idea. If we're going to have companions having restrictions on their armor and give them their own unique look, why not do something that's like a combination of both customization and unique appearance? Allow me to elaborate, using Merrill () as an example: You are traversing through an elven ruin, and you pick up a piece of armor that is Merrill specific! You equip it onto her and voila! She has both a unique appearance and fans can customize her look. And you maybe put 30 of these Merrill specific armors in the game. Or better yet, various insundry pieces of a set where you can combine armors. Like giving Sten Heavy Plate Armor, Leather Gloves, and Chainmail boots. Hopefully this is explained thoroughly enough, because I'm just rushing through typing it. I'm off to bed now.
  
  
• Environment - The day and night toggle idea was sound in theory, but I don't think it worked for some people. My opinion on it is nonexistent. I didn't hate it nor fall in love with it. What I'd like to see is some implementation of time, like maybe 1 minute of real life time = 15 minutes of game world time? And as the hours move on the streets maybe empty out or fill up at night. Of course, this is if it's possible to make this without straining other parts of the game. If not, then I don't care too much what happens. It's your game series and you ultimately know what's best (usually. Otherwise you wouldn't need us fans and our CC). I'd also like to see some weather changes happening at random moments, like a storm suddenly popping up. That would make the world much more realistic, as would maybe some NPCs commenting on the weather.
  
  
  
  
• Characters - Look at my sig and you'll see who I have a huge bias for and want to see more of. Also, develop your characters really well like you've been doing. I'd like to point out that there wasn't much of an emotional connection right away to the siblings in the beginning. Had I gotten to know them in Lothering for a bit, I might've felt some connection. That's not to say I didn't on subsequent playthroughs. I did. But I wanted to be Hawke right away and feel what he felt. Also, Meredith and Orsino were not given enough time on screen to be given a good characterization imo. A few more main quests showing the fighting between them and some backstory given by each of them would've helped (I know Merediths backstory, but I mean a lot of backstory). Back to the siblings, this was my idea for what the opening should've been, prior to where you guys started anyway.

here's an idea for how the beginning should have been.


You are Hawke, a simple Lothering villager doing what comes naturally. Walking around the village, helping your neighbors with a few simple tasks. Then you receive a notice that the army is heading out to Ostagar, and your brother (and you if you're a warrior or rogue) heads off to the forgotten fortress to meet the Darkspawn. Upon arriving at the fortress, you converse with Carver and a female soldier. Her hair is a fiery ginger, but she is no simple woman. She is a woman you do not want to make angry. However, she is called away by her commanding officer and introductions are cut short. You then turn to see a man standing tall and proud in his silver cuirass. He's sporting a beard to be proud of and conversing with four other men. After they leave, he walks up to you and starts talking to you, because... well let's be honest, he has to pass the time until they get back. He introduces himself as Duncan of the Grey Wardens. You converse with him and respect him for what he says. Afterwards, he bids you farewell and awaits for his recruits to return.


The battle begins not long after they return....



As a warrior or rogue, it jumps ahead to the moment of truth when the battle starts. You and your brother lead a full squad of Lothering soldiers against the Darkspawn, awaiting the moment when the Tower Beacon is lit. Cutting down Hurlock after Hurlock, you look up to see if the beacon has been lit. The flames have shot up into the sky, but no reinforcements are coming. Your men are being savagely cut down in front of your eyes, and it's all you can do to keep from sharing their fate. You tell your brother that you have to get out because all is lost, but Carver refuses saying that he would rather die a soldier than desert the others.

Then you remind him that if you both die, so too will Bethany and your Mother. He knows you are right, and while disliking the idea of desertion, he knows that the family takes precedence. Before you turn away from the field however, you see Cailan killed gruesomely by the Ogre, Duncan avenging Cailan's death, but see Duncan fall to his knees. Duncan knows he won't survive, and you want to help him. Why you want to help him above everyone else on the field you don't know, but it may be due to the respect you feel the Wardens deserve. But there is nothing you can do, as Carver holds you back to keep you from rushing headlong to your death.

And so you run away to Lothering to get your family out of the impending danger....




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*If you're a Mage*

(everything up until Carver leaves is the same.)

You tell Bethany not to fret about Carver, as he's not going to let some tainted creature kill him. He'd never forgive himself if he did. She says you're right and you go about your business. Then, overhearing two Templars, they say their scouts have reported some Darkspawn stragglers breaking away from the main body of the horde. Their destination? En route to Lothering. The two Templars prepare to move out to take on the Darkspawn with a squad of other Templars.

You and your sister however, know that your magic will prove far better to dealing with them. So off you go to meet the horde. Upon arriving at a suitable destination, you hear both the Templars and the Darkspawn moving closer in. You know if the Templars find you you'll be taken to the Circle, so you head up to the nearest cliffside hill for a better vantage point. It provides great cover from the line of sight of the Templars and will help greatly in eliminating the stragglers.


As your last fireball scorches the final Hurlock, the Templars shout out "A mage?! Show yourself, by order of the Templars! The Order Dictates!"

You both stay hidden. Maybe the Templars should've been left to their fate, as you both hate the Templars and the Circle with a passion. But if they had died, the Darkspawn would've been left unchecked. It doesn't matter. What's done is done, and you sneak away into the bushes to return home.


As you return home however, you see Carver out of breath and your mother trembling. All is not well....

• Lore - As long as you don't contradict what's already been proven or whatever, I'm happy.
  
  
  
  
• Story - I want to see in some games the Origin stories and some games that have set characters. It's, I believe as one of you devs said, about Thedas. Which means that you can pick your Origins and affect the world (DA:O) or there will be people who influence the world who are from only one race (DA2). There is no one or the other as some fans believe. Also people are going bat**** crazy over a certain girl, despite you saying you have an explanation ready for all possible things. Make it good stuff and not something that's really cheap.
  
  
  
  
• Music - Make it really good music. Stuff that you can just feel the emotion in. Stuff that makes you cry, or feel happy, or angry at the world. Some of my favorite videogame music comes from Final Fantasy X, DA2, and Kingdom Hearts to name a few (the latter being the most prominent one among them)
  
• In general- Go back to picking up a few sovereigns and stuff like Origins did and picking up Garnets and Diamonds please. I don't want to kill an enemy who should have riches on him and instead I find a moth-eaten scarf. Also, if there must be fetch quests, give us some lore on the items. If I'm going to pick up the Crack pipe of Sarin the Elf, tell me who Sarin is, how he became a crackfiend, and are there going to be any methheads after him? Basically, give me some interesting lore or a story on these items, and if they're rare maybe throw in a couple gangs that want this rare item. Make me have to work to find out who it goes to and where Sarin is getting his next fix at (this probably doesn't sound too constructive). Lastly, for now anyway, DA2 reused maps into oblivion.
• More in general-  I just want to say that Act 2 was really well done and that much effort should always be put into the entirety of the game.

So that's what I have to give, I hope it helps you guys. I tried to be really constructive, but if anywhere it seems like it isn't constructive just point it out and I'll edit it to be constructive.


Constructive. Mahogany.


EDIT: I want to see female Qunari! Also, Give each race of the Warden a voice should he/she return, as well as keep all protagonists voiced from now on. It would be a major step backward to go from silent to voiced to silent again. Also, sometimes dialogue wouldn't fit with Hawke.

When I was about to boink Merrill, I chose the charming option and he said "I don't mind. You're adorable when you're flustered."

I didn't care about the line itself, but it was the way he said it and the expression he had on his face. he said it in a rapist tone and he had a rapist's expression on his face. I couldn't help but laugh

Modifié par The Ethereal Writer Redux, 07 avril 2011 - 07:12 .

[Dubya75]

I'm very happy leaving Origins where it is and moving forward with the franchise without characters and references from Origins being brought up over and over again. It was appropriate to pay homage to Origins in DA2 by referencing some stuff and the cameos we saw, but I don't necessarily expect DA3 to reference Hawke or the Grey Warden (who in my understanding died anyway) unless DA3 will be acontinuation of Hawke's story which is also fine by me.

- combat
I love the combat in DA2 so I would like to see this continued and improved. Casual Difficulty can maybe be made a little harder as well as Normal difficulty.

- character interaction
I missed the interation we had in Origins in which you could start a conversation instead of having to wait for them to start one.

- environment
I was very impressed with the quality and style of the DA2 environments. Stop recycling areas!

- characters
I think this is where BioWare shines the most, so as long as they keep doing what they're doing.

- lore
Most of the lore seems to be hidden away in endless codex entries. It would be nice to see some of this come to the foreground a bit.

- story
Although generally I think the storytelling is pretty good, it seems kind of reigned in a lot. As if they are holding back. There are so many opportunities for branching story lines involving characters.What I would really like to see is a complete branching off of the story at maybe one or two key points in the story.

- rpg elements
Whatever these are, I don't really care. I love the elements present in DA2 so if this is continued then great!

- music
The music in Origins was nice but a bit too classic Fantasy. I think they really got it right in Da2 and I'd like to see more of that. More aggressive contemporary styles, mixed with the more accoustic style of tracks like the Hanged Man for example.

Modifié par Dubya75, 07 avril 2011 - 08:01 .