613 réponses à ce sujet

[shimoyake]

Hilariously, I started replaying DA:O to comfort myself as soon as I could stand to look at my console again. Now I know why.

Seriously, Brent... like... Shut Up and Take My Money! You totally freaking get us.

[mass_zotz]

Man I totally want play DA:O right now if could. Brent really is awesome.

[Alex06]

Legend78731 wrote...

Brent Knowles, who was the lead designer on Dragon Age: Origins, and one of the old guard Bioware developers (Baldur's Gate, Neverwinter Nights), and, when he quit Bioware, made the interesting observation that "Bioware is no longer the company I remember". He's talked a little bit about the ME3 situation on his blog, but they're mainly comments to other posts. Check it out at: www.brentknowles.com

One thing he did say, I thought I would share (if it's already been posted, I apologize), as it's a sentiment I happen to agree with:

"I read one recent blog post where the writer basically said "the ending was awesome because it was just like a movie" and I think she was missing the point.

It is a game. Not a movie.

And more specifically, its a role-playing game. The players are *part* of the game. Part of the process of building and experiencing the game, much more so than with most other forms of entertainment.

Entitlement is really a right, for the gamer, because they have participated, actively, in the game itself.

Again, I can't speak to the actual ending myself, because I have not played it but in general I'd say a Role-Playing Video Game Trilogy Ending should (try to) do the following:

1. Reward the player's choices throughout the series. The big stuff they did should be noted. They should *feel* like they had a unique impact on the world.

2. End on a positive note. This is really important for video games...life in general is full of s****y stuff happening all the time. When I invest a hundred hours into a game I need to walk away feeling like a hero.

When you waste a couple hours of a person's life with an artsy/depressing movie or short story or even a novel, it is more forgivable because the time spent is less. And presumably the consumer knew what they were going into when they started. Certain directors create certain styles of movie. Certain writers write specific types of fiction.

On the other hand somebody playing an epic role-playing video-game trilogy is going to *expect* to be the hero and save the universe. That's why they are playing the game. When expectations don't match reality, disappointment is created.

It might be an artistic/creative move to go with a different style of ending but I feel its the wrong choice, especially for a videogame *trilogy*. Make your middle game bleak if you want to, but end the series on a high note."

EDIT: Fixed the formatting of the quote, and for those looking for the original comment, it's in the following link. Scroll down a few comments to find it.

http://blog.brentkno.../#disqus_thread

I absolutely agree with him. I have the exact same opinion on the subject.

[KelaSaar]

Brilliant post. He articulated a lot of things I've been thinking far more articulately than I could, and it's nice to hear a developer's opinion.

[Bigdoser]

Bioware should really be listening/taking tips from brent and when they are writing the story for an RPG they should pin his words right in front of the writers.

[zarnk567]

Wow that was.....I was expecting him to be "ITS ART Y U NO GET IT?" instead he understood just why people are mad...... I LIKE THIS MAN. where does he work now? so I can support him instead of Bioware.

Modifié par zarnk567, 17 mars 2012 - 03:39 .

[Jonathan Shepard]

I gotta keep tabs on what this guy is up to... DA: O was the last BioWare game that seriously impressed me... Me2 sits as good, but not amazing in my books, despite being one of my most-played games. But DA: O is amazing in almost every way.

[arnoldfriend]

Thanks for sharing. It's great to get support from someone like Brent Knowles.

But I also would not be surprised if many of the developers that worked on Mass Effect 3 felt the same way as Brent. Unfortunately we'll never hear from them unless they also leave the company.

[Whybother]

arnoldfriend wrote...

Thanks for sharing. It's great to get support from someone like Brent Knowles.

But I also would not be surprised if many of the developers that worked on Mass Effect 3 felt the same way as Brent. Unfortunately we'll never hear from them unless they also leave the company.

I worked at a game company where we shipped a sub-par product.  The rank and file ALL knew, but the leads/management had their heads in the sand/didn't want to miss ship date/etc. and pushed it out anyway.  None of us were surprised when the SHTF.

We ended up having a special group of people who hadn't directly worked on the game come in and fix it.

[RogueBot]

And this guy's not with Bioware any more? WTF is all I can say.

[MinatheBrat]

I really agree with everything he said- if you need a downer, make it the middle so we can overcome it and triumph at the end. Star Wars episode 4,5 & 6 formula right there. That's why it was epic, and why Mass Effect 3 feels defective.

[Soundsystem]

This is a perfect sum up of a lot of my issues with the ending.

The fact that people like him and Drew Karpyshyn are leaving Bioware indicates that things within the company are changing for the worse.

[Rheinlandman]

He summed up my feelings on that matter.

[SSV Enterprise]

"Brent Knowles, who was the lead designer on Dragon Age: Origins, and one of the old guard Bioware developers (Baldur's Gate, Neverwinter Nights), and, when he quit Bioware, made the interesting observation that "Bioware is no longer the company I remember"

Well that explains a lot about Dragon Age II.

Anyways, yet another voice in our favor. Kudos to him.

[Obsidian Gryphon]

Gotta love this guy; he knows how to make RPG games.   Wish he was at the helm.

Modifié par Obsidian Gryphon, 17 mars 2012 - 04:10 .

[WULONGmerc]

Let the rooster crow! We must recruit this important person and make him a crusader for our cause. We must indoctrinate him and fling him in front of us just like the Shepard and the Normandy are flung before everyone else as the "head of the spear." Let Bioware feel much shameand guilt! And maybe, just maybe we will call him Brent "Shepard" Knowles. WHO'S WITH ME!?

[darknessmyown]

Good to know that there are Devs that get part of what we are all so down about here.

[Darth Polizei]

Mr. Knowles is so dead on. Too bad the morons at Bioware didn't figure it out, and gave me a screwed ending. What a fulfilling reward for my $80 ME 3 Collector Edition. I got screwed!

[RenownedRyan]

Unfortunately, he was unable to put out any decent products so he is currently unemployed. His input means as much as mine and yours.  I don't necessarily disagree with his points, but I could easily see some jealousy in response to the amount of success that the Mass Effect team has had when compared to the lowly Dragon Age series.  After playing Mass Effect, Dragon Age Origins felt about ten years behind.

Modifié par RenownedRyan, 17 mars 2012 - 04:24 .

[Nephilim5]

Amdnro wrote...

Legend78731 wrote...

Make your middle game bleak if you want to, but end the series on a high note."

Agreed

Wonder where that idea came from?

(pulls out original VHS copy of Empire Strikes Back)

[WULONGmerc]

Whybother, did that game get fixed adequately? Mercenary game fixers couldn't have been cheap.

[WULONGmerc]

Nephilim5, *high-five!*

[AlterEgo3561]

Anyone else browsing the Dragon Age Nexus to find new mods for a new origins playthrough?

[Whybother]

WULONGmerc wrote...

Whybother, did that game get fixed adequately? Mercenary game fixers couldn't have been cheap.

They worked for the company but in a different group (not on our game.)  It wasn't "cheap" though, because our review scores suffered and we got bad word of mouth.  By the time the patch came out, most of the damage was done.

It was definitely fixed adequately though - the issue was performance, and those guys managed to double the framerate and reduce memory consumption at the same time.

[LunaticLMD]

This is what I tell my friends/family when it comes to the problem with the ME3 ending.

I can't believe it's that hard for people to understand.