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[sunderlance]

Simple answer: if it resembles Dragon Age 2 more than Dragon Age Origins.

Okay, cards on the table time. I am a big pc gamer and I've been playing with Bioware since Baldur's Gate. I've been following through the Baldur's, Icewind Dale, the Neverwinters (even though the second one stepped away from Bioware), Jade Empire, and even Shattered Steel - even though my copy was bugged and there was literally no way to progress past the fourth level!

I loved Mass Effect and while I missed how big the first game was, the update to game-style for the second one fitted it perfectly. Dragon Age Origins was the same. The style of play fitted the story down to the ground, but the second one was a nightmare for me. Let's be fair here though. I own two copies of Origins - a pre-ordered original and the ultimate edition released through Steam. As for DA2. I pre-ordered it again, and have even bought each DLC you have released, so no one can say I'm not being supportive.

But DA2's storytelling mechanic failed in my opinion. It was a good idea, but I believe it was executed wrong. Only 2 thing's failed it: 

                  (1)  It created a disconnect with the main character - this is in part due to the fact that we start out      
                         mid-life with the character and part due to the fact that the character creation was lacking heavily
                         from the last game (I could actually see a massive space between my character's beard and where
                         it was supposed to be attached to his face!).

                  (2) The battle system was Xbox-oriented. Planning engagements was now gone because of the new
                        element involving waves of enemies appearing, and because of the fast-paced nature of the battles,
                         playing with anything other than a console made the fighting irritating.

No. 2 however has a MASSIVE knock on effect with No.1: You almost-never showed the outcome of what we had been working for. In all honesty, the ending was the only time I felt that old familiar feeling from ANY of your previous RPGs; the only time I felt any kind of real involvement. Where Anders is concerned. After THAT particular moment though, the game reverted to being uninteresting again.

For a PC gamer, and a loyal supporter of Bioware, I forced myself through this game. When we learn that characters have gotten married during the years we don't see we feel a disconnect. When all our achievements are honoured during the years we don't see we feel a disconnect. Every time we fight to see the outcome, we're told about it in past-tense. Both the past tense and the lack of visible outcome create the disconnect I'm talking about.

I'm trying very hard to avoid spoilers (even now) but what I'm saying should be clear enough. Everyone I've talked to who has played this game via Xbox has enjoyed it as an action game, but everyone I've talked to who has played it via PC have opened with a sigh before explaining how let down they felt. Now, while some forum goers can say "well, they can make it however they want to!", and yes, that's half-true. You can. The fact is, that you are alienating nearly 80-90% of your PC supporter - even those who have been with you from the start - by focusing these games on the Xbox gamer.

I'm a big fan of CD Projeckt and the Witcher stories, and in no way do I begrudge them for taking what some have argued to be the PC's only good exclusive game and bringing it to consoles. Personally, I'm happy for them to do that. Why shouldn't they be allowed to make more money for their work. The key thing is, that they have not marginalized their original customers to meet the needs of their newer ones.

I could sit here and write about the graphics, but I don't think I need to. The fact that you released a patch for the pc and tried to make up for the deficiency tells me that you already know there was a problem there. And giving one species horns and making another more waif-like is down to aesthetics - though you should note that the less realistic something looks, the less we relate to it.

But that's the key thing for me, and for many of those I have spoken to - relatability. Relatability and reward, because if the reward for all our efforts happens off-screen, referred to off-hand, we don't feel like we've done anything except reduce the remaining game time.

To be honest, it seemed like everything we were looking for, reward-wise, was taken out of the game and put into the trailer! Where was the climbing of the steps to be appointed protector of the city? Where was the standing high above the crowds holding our weapon aloft and rallying the people? The trailer itself was actually a little funny, because it seemed as if the in-game graphic segment we were shown ("from refugee") with the lead running through a flaming home town with his family, seeing everything they'd ever cared for burn, was actually the opening that we were looking for. That occurance was mentioned in-game, but again, it was ONLY mentioned. We never saw it and so would have no reason to relate to it.

Now, this is on a open forum so I do expect I'll hear back, if not from yourselves then from other players, BUT I would like everyone to take into account that I have not come here as a hater, or a troll, and have not come simply to complain. There are plenty of little things to nit-pick at (i.e. the fact that all the press for the game suggests 10 years when it's actually closer to 8), and I've even come across forums with people complaining that we couldn't get the end-game armour in time to fight the Arishok, like in the cinematic trailer.

I'm not here for that. As I've said, I'm a huge fan and supporter of Bioware and a major RPG and PC player. But in Dragon Age 2 I, as with others, felt almost no reason to care about the characters in question, and there were moments I was really quite annoyed by this. I even went so far as to create second character of the opposite sex (something I don't often do in these sort of games as it often increases the disconnect for me) and try to play through again thinking that if I just got the right combination of things, the game would become relatable. I couldn't bring myself to get more than a third of the way through. And I even bought Legacy for the extra story that was promised, but felt I was given only more of the same.

Long story short; it's a Role Playing Game. We're supposed to associate with our characters and character's friends. We're supposed to feel like we are having to make serious choices on which everything hinges. And we're supposed to care about the plight of the world. If we don't, then it's not working right. And too much about Dragon Age 2 forces us to disconnect from it.

Like I said, big fan of the Witcher games, and Witcher 2 did the "one character telling another character the story" mechanic, so don't think I'm just complaining about that mechanic. The difference is, the fight system was involving, the choices we made affected an outcome, and we EXPERIENCED that outcome.

Look, I love Bioware. I love Dragon Age. I love your games and I repect you trying to bring in ingenuity to your games and trying to be competitive by releasing on multiple formats. I'm just hoping that these points will be taken into account to create a game that will be as amazing - if not better - than the first, and that the end result doesn't feel as it was mainly/solely focused on pleasing only those new gamers who have picked up Bioware since the Xbox 360 came out.

All my best, and with hopeful thanks in advance,
Chris.

[Mike Laidlaw]

I'm going to guess that when the OP said that his points will kill things for "PC Gamers," he was more referring to the older-school, more hard-core RPG crowd, who, admittedly, tend to focus on the PC as a platform.

I will simply say this: your points are duly noted, and things we are taking very seriously. I would like, very much, to bring more agency to the protagonist of major future DA releases, to the point where the team has a mandate to that effect. Unfortunately, I cannot go into details at this time.

It'll be a while before I can; but feel free to ask more about your exact points once some concrete info is out. (It'll be a while)