2816 réponses à ce sujet

[Mike_Neel]

I hope they keep Inon Zur for the series, provided he's willing.

[eyesofastorm]

Pasquale1234 wrote...

Mike Laidlaw wrote...

Q: Will we be going to silent protagonist?
A: A few months back, I noted that we'd be continuing on a voiced protagonist. We feel the voice improves the overall experience, thought we know that some of your disagree. Sorry! STILL, we have, however, heard feedback on paraphrase clarity. What I've often seen is feedback that the paraphrases fail when your character DOES something unexpected. Would you folks agree that moments of action or major choice are the issue that most needs to be addressed?

Many of us feel the voice damages the overall experience.

Is there any chance you might provide a toggle to turn it and the associated cinematics off?

For my part, it's not the voice that bothers me at all in and of itself.  It's the fact that having a voiced protagonist, by virtue of the cost of voice acting, makes it more likely that we will have another strictly defined protagonist.  If Bioware says that is not the case, then I can live with the voiced PC.... many, many other factors not withstanding.

Modifié par eyesofastorm, 20 mars 2012 - 03:47 .

[rag3ous]

I have 180 hours in DA:O, then played DA2 demo and never bought the game. Figured I'd pick it up when it was available in a game + all dlc pack or something. Reason for that was the combat. DA:O was strategic combat, and DA 2 was more hack and slash. I didn't like the feel of DA2 combat and hated all the random enemy pop ins. I don't like the pop ins from ME either, but cover based combat helps conceal some of the negatives in a way that DA2 can't do.

I'd like to see combat feel like real time chess again. Lay out all the enemies on the board, up the difficulty, and make us thinking about what we need to do to win. Just avoid stun lock instakills on the party, and 1 shot deaths (unless the player can plan a counter in advance).

[CoS Sarah Jinstar]

eyesofastorm wrote...

Pasquale1234 wrote...

Mike Laidlaw wrote...

Q: Will we be going to silent protagonist?
A: A few months back, I noted that we'd be continuing on a voiced protagonist. We feel the voice improves the overall experience, thought we know that some of your disagree. Sorry! STILL, we have, however, heard feedback on paraphrase clarity. What I've often seen is feedback that the paraphrases fail when your character DOES something unexpected. Would you folks agree that moments of action or major choice are the issue that most needs to be addressed?

Many of us feel the voice damages the overall experience.

Is there any chance you might provide a toggle to turn it and the associated cinematics off?

For my part, it's not the voice that bothers me at all in and of itself.  It's the fact that having a voiced protagonist, by virtue of the cost of voice acting, makes it more likely that we will have another strictly defined protagonist.  If Bioware says that is not the case, then I can live with the voiced PC.  

Heck, I may as well just make EoS my spokesperson for this thread. I can't help but be snarky apparently.

[eyesofastorm]

CoS Sarah Jinstar wrote...

eyesofastorm wrote...

Pasquale1234 wrote...

Mike Laidlaw wrote...

Q: Will we be going to silent protagonist?
A: A few months back, I noted that we'd be continuing on a voiced protagonist. We feel the voice improves the overall experience, thought we know that some of your disagree. Sorry! STILL, we have, however, heard feedback on paraphrase clarity. What I've often seen is feedback that the paraphrases fail when your character DOES something unexpected. Would you folks agree that moments of action or major choice are the issue that most needs to be addressed?

Many of us feel the voice damages the overall experience.

Is there any chance you might provide a toggle to turn it and the associated cinematics off?

For my part, it's not the voice that bothers me at all in and of itself.  It's the fact that having a voiced protagonist, by virtue of the cost of voice acting, makes it more likely that we will have another strictly defined protagonist.  If Bioware says that is not the case, then I can live with the voiced PC.  

Heck, I may as well just make EoS my spokesperson for this thread. I can't help but be snarky apparently.

This is true.  

[starbuck2907]

First, I'm a huge  Bioware fan and I love all your games, and basically pre-order them without hesistation.  And, I liked both Dragon Age games, and I even play the Facebook game, Dragon Age: Legends, every so often.

But, here is the situation as I see it. The first Dragon Age was far superior in my opinion. I could be wrong here, but it seems like the team looked at the success of the simplified RPG elements in Mass Effect 2 and decided to simplify the Dragon Age formula. The combat and rpg elements were made more casual and mainstream.

Now, if the first Dragon Age did not exist, Dragon Age 2 would be widely seen as a good game. But, when you set an AWESOME precedent with the first game, which is hardcore rpg with slow-ish combat, and then you take away everything that made it great, of course, the reaction is going to be horrible. Mass Effect was never as hardcore rpg as Dragon Age, so simplifying Mass Effect a little did not matter too much.

For a third Dragon Age, these elements should come back:
1. The huge story and world to explore from Dragon Age.
2. The combat from Dragon Age. Although a "toggle mode" enabling more action based combat like in Dragon Age 2 might be nice for those people who prefer that style of combat...I don't really like the hack n slash combat. One of my biggest disappointments in Dragon Age 2 was the combat, which made it feel too much 1,000 other action games.

Overall, the first Dragon Age was a hardcore rpg with strategic combat and tons of role playing choices and huge story with plenty of options. Improve the game engine, and give me more of that.

The strategy with Mass Effect to Mass Effect 2 seems to have been to simplify the rpg elements to cater to the mainstream market. That worked fine because the game was never a truly hardcore rpg. Dragon Age was a hardcore rpg with strategic combat. The opportunity here is to grow the rpg market in general by producing a great game. Simplifying the formula too much in Dragon Age 2 really backfired because it went against what many people loved about Dragon Age to begin with. Dragon Age was a RPG gamer's dream, and if you keep making games that expand on it, rather than simplify what made it great, you will see more pre-orders and a happier fanbase, and the word of mouth will eventually grow the series in general.

Take a look at Skyrim. It's a pretty hardcore rpg with a huge world to explore and a lot of playability options, even in terms of combat (archer / warrior / mage style combat). The Elder Scrolls franchise did not get where it is today by reinventing the wheel each time or taking huge strides to simplify the formula (well, aside from the advent of "fast travel"). So, using Skyrim as an example, there is clearly a HUGE market for well-designed RPG's. However, it took The Elder Scrolls series several installments to become mainstream. Bethesda did not take too many shortcuts to changing the gaming style. With this in mind, I would suggest a return to a similar gameplay, rpg elements, etc to that of the first Dragon Age. Build the brand the way that Bethesda did with The Elder Scrolls and make gradual improvements to the game with each iteration. Even Bethesda made a few mistakes here and there, but they never had the outcry that Bioware did with Dragon Age 2, and this is because they never tried to change things too much. The change between Dragon Age and Dragon Age 2 was too drastic. The combat, especially, really made the game play and feel differently to me. I did not hate it, but it seemed too similar to other games and too dis-similar from the first Dragon Age.

Really, the first Dragon Age was a hardcore RPG'er's dream. It was sort of a throwback game to a pc-centric style of gameplay, but on consoles, and it was AWESOME. There was a market looking for that sort of experience. The best thing to do is stick with the design elements that made Dragon Age one great, and gradually grow the series into a blockbuster title the way Bethesda has done with the Elder Scrolls series. It took them a while, but they gradually brought hardcore rpg gaming to the masses. Bioware can do the same with Dragon Age, so long as they don't rush the changes by trying to make things too simplified for the mainstream. While that may have worked with Mass Effect to Mass Effect 2, Dragon Age, by definition, was a very different sort of game than Mass Effect, and that's why the reaction to Dragon Age 2 was so negative. (I personally think it's a good game, but just not nearly as great as the first Dragon Age.)

Modifié par starbuck2907, 20 mars 2012 - 03:51 .

[RogueWriter3201]

glenboy24 wrote...

*Note: Wall 'O Text  

@Mr. Laidlaw, Mr. Darrah, Mr. Gaider, and the DA Creative Team, 

Given that I don’t have that little DAII icon below my portrait (learned from DAO, so I’m waiting for, hopefully, a “complete” edition of DAII) I don’t even know if I have the *right* to comment here; despite the fact that I have played the game. No, not illegally. I think that kind of thing is garbage and spits on the hard work good people have done; I simply played a copy owned by a fellow gamer. On the up and up, just, well, not mine. Anyway, as Morrigan says, “To the point,” 

I very much enjoyed Origins. It was a masterpiece of RPG gaming in the modern medium. Likewise, though I know others did not, I very much enjoyed DAII; however, I will admit to being somewhat disappointed by certain design/narrative choices made for the game. They aren’t anything overly critical, some are even superficial at best. However, since you’ve asked for feedback (again, I doubt mine counts given that I haven’t put money in your pocket for this title specifically…) I’ll ad my meager two cents for Pros and Cons: 

-The Framed Narrative: As much as I loved Varric (The Dwarven Lando Calrissian) I was not a fan of “having my story told.” I wanted to *live* my story. Every moment. Not jump ahead several years and head-cannon what happened in-between time frames. Origins “one year” narrative approach was perfect as you did, traveling all over Fereldan, feel like that amount of time had indeed passed over the course of your journey. With DAII, not so much. It was just like, “Oh, hey, two years have passed.” 

-class = Companions: I know Mr. Gaider has explained *why* the choice was made to have Hawke’s siblings reflect his/her class choice. Mage Hawke couldn’t have Mage Sister because it would clash with the narrative (No Spoilers) However this never sat well with me. There had to have been another way to go about it to achieve the best of both worlds. 

BioWare’s RPGs are supposed to be a personal experience, something we live vicariously though to an extent; the fact is, as someone who grew up with 6 sisters I would have really loved to have Bethany as a part of my Mage Hawke’s story as well as a companion for the amount of time she is available. It was a small thing that would have added a greater emotional connection. 

Carver, however, being forced on me was consistently immersion breaking as all I could think about was A. I wish he was Bethany, and B. god this is an annoying character, and not even in a good story telling kind of way. The moment I didn’t need to have him around I did not, nor did I bother to speak with him unless absolutely required for the sake of completing a mission for the XP. Overall, Bethany was just a better written/acted character that fell more in line with how I wanted my story to be experienced.  

-Blocked Relationships: This is one of those more “superficial” dislikes I mentioned. It has to do with Aveline. She was, without question, one of the most beautifully written, complex, and likable companions in the game. Her story wove in intricately with Hawke’s in a way no other character’s did, and even her impact on Hawke post the events of the core story are meaningful if you so choose. 

What confused me was why she was not written as a romance option; *despite* there being “flirt” dialogue which she doesn‘t even recognize even though she will, later, ask you, “Have you ever thought about us?” Instead we were, basically, forced to pair her up with a bland NPC character unless we wanted to see her miserable and alone. Really? 

Again, I know Mr. Gaider has (I believe), in the past, countered with, “Why does *every* character have to be romancible?” And I would agree with that…to an extent. However, if you’re going to create such a rich, complex, compassionate, heartfelt, and narratively important character while *also* making said character a companion it really makes no sense not to go that extra mile and have said character play a much more intimate role in the PC’s life if the player so chooses. It was a choice removed without any real justification, IMHO. 

-Import Bugs: Yes, I understand, as anyone should, that these errors were not intentional. Really, BioWare was doing something other game companies had not ever really tried before, and while your ME sister series was working with the same import mechanics, I recognize that the DA team had it a bit rougher, especially after going with a more updated visual/game mechanics approach, not to mention the development of a new console experience. 

Hiccups in the codes were bound to happen and, frankly, I know, could have been far worse. As it was, I did not encounter too many problems as my Origins play through was fairly Heroic and Straight Forward. However, I do think that, Starting with DAIII, steps should be taken to try to import as much as possible, but attempt to create a new import system that’s more dependable and more solid then the previous one. 

-Art Design: Now here’s something I can praise and, as such, I’ll keep it brief. I understand other members of the community were…not happy, to put it mildly, with the new visual aesthetic for the DA Universe. I however, was not among them. I loved it. Thought it gave the Dragon Age world a much more unique and equally high fantasy approach. 

Two redesigns on the racial level that had some fans put out was the Qunari and Elven races. With all due respect to them, I loved the new visual approach. In Origins we were supposed to be looking at two very different, very exotic races. Instead we got large grey humans with Corn-Rows and the other being Tiny Vulcans. Sorry, but that just doesn’t appeal to the High Fantasy geek within. 

I loved that the Qunari appeared to have come from an entirely different world. Perhaps…literally? And the Elves appeared to have evolved from something not completely human, with a more feline/avian appearance befitting a *Woodland* species. Likewise, the massive statuary, stone edifices and lost grandeur of Kirkwall and the Deep Roads was an amazing site; all accolades to the art team. 

-Recycled Environments: An old complaint, and one which always left me scratching my head. The fact is, Origins reused maps/dungeons as well, only Origins did a much better job of switching things about or adding “props” to the map to give the illusion of a new environment. Really I didn’t see much difference between DAI and DAII other then a few more reused caves. Still, I’m sure improvements on variety can be made.  

-Combat Mechanics: In short, I enjoyed it. Especially as a Mage no longer meekly “pew-pew’ing” with a Stave, I felt like I was a visceral part of combat even when I wasn’t reigning Maker-Like power from the Heavens. Also love that, when some baddie got close, I could knock ‘em one. Some compare the combat to Hack ‘n Slash, something I didn’t really see. I know the Auto-Attack feature broke for the console version, otherwise I don’t think it would have been as much of a problem. 

-DLC: (Sigh) I'll just say "companion" character should have been included with the game, not sold on thier own. If they weren't "ready" in time for launch, save 'em for the next game. DLC should be added adventures and never feel as though they *should* have been there already. In Origns Warden's Keep and Ostagar were good. Shale was Free which was even better, but she still should have been there from the start. Mark of the Assasian was brilliant, a new, but not permanant, character and adventure. Nicely done and worth the coin that, well, someone *else* spent. (Sorry) 

-The Conclusion: The end of DAII was, to put it mildly, ambiguous. Which was, frankly, doing a disservice to what was a very enjoyable story, sans the framed narrative. Having a *complete* ending with post closure would have been rather nice. What happened to our companions? What happens to the region in light of the “events” of DAII’s culmination? While every detail can not be made it would have been nice to have something along the lines of Origin’s Epilogues but with some genuine visual accompaniment. When everything is said and done, while ambiguous, it wasn’t nearly as bad an ending as…another recent game I won’t name here… 

There are other points I could touch on, but I think this gives you an idea of my mindset for DAII and what I would very much love to see in DAIII. While I’m disappointed that the complete edition (if released) of DAII will not be as…robust as Origin’s I none the less look forward to seeing what the team has coming and what *may* be previewed at PAX. My thanks to everyone for opening this dialogue.
 
 

I wanted to ad my two cents about the dialogue wheel versus text. While I understand that some folks weren't keen on it nor the voiced protaganist, I enjoyed both. It was an improvement over the old school (and slightly archaic) Baldur's system and a great way to keep conversations immerssive and flowing whether it was choosing primary dialogue or making inquiries. However, I will agree that the wheel could have benefited from more accurately representing what you were *actually* going to say as well as the inflection of it. Also, I concur that a more vocally robust voice (or series of voices) should have been available. If, hopefully, being able to choose different races returns, that would be a perfect example.  

[hunterxx1xx]

Rorschachinstein wrote...

CoS Sarah Jinstar wrote...

eyesofastorm wrote...

Mike Laidlaw wrote...

jackofalltrades456 wrote...

I guess we're not going to win with the silent protagonist, but can we still see the return of the text wall? Save the text wheel for Mass Effect, please...

As I said many times, I hate "Hello" being." Hello there! I want set you on fire!"

Deeper dig: is the issue that you didn't know what you'd say, or that you did or said something unexpected?

I'll admit that I'm biased; I don't like reading a choice and then hearing the exact same thing read aloud to me. However, I can absolutely agree with concerns about being blindsided as per your example above.

I saw you do this a lot during development and post-release of DA2.  You kind of deconstruct what people say are their preferences, spin it a little bit, talk about what you prefer and then what you prefer shows up in the game.  Problem is, these things you prefer, judging by the reaction to DA2, tend not to be the thing that "the majority" of the fans of the  Dragon Age franchise prefer.  And at least as bad as making decisions that split the fanbase or outright turn it against you, you come off as putting your preferences before "ours" and I suspect thats why so much angst was directed against you personally.  I'm telling you how to do your job here... take notes.  Be careful with this.  

This, no offense Mike but after how awful DA2 was to alot of us, I'm actually a little surprised that you're project lead again.

Brotha, please. DAII was fine, fine game.

I have to agree with eyeofastorm. Seems like Bioware doesn't really care about our input. We say what we'd like to see and they respond with their mind made up already pushing our ideas aside. Majority of the people on here agree we would like to see more DA:O and we all know that's not going to happen. As Bioware will not "go back 180 degrees" even though that's exactly what they should do if they want to have a successful game. I mean hello? DA:O was a bigger success than DA2. Continue to do what you prefer then and see how many people purchase DA3. 

[Darji]

Pasquale1234 wrote...

Mike Laidlaw wrote...

Q: Will we be going to silent protagonist?
A: A few months back, I noted that we'd be continuing on a voiced protagonist. We feel the voice improves the overall experience, thought we know that some of your disagree. Sorry! STILL, we have, however, heard feedback on paraphrase clarity. What I've often seen is feedback that the paraphrases fail when your character DOES something unexpected. Would you folks agree that moments of action or major choice are the issue that most needs to be addressed?

Many of us feel the voice damages the overall experience.

Is there any chance you might provide a toggle to turn it and the associated cinematics off?

A voice can actally ad much to the game but to have it a voice means to dump more dialogue.  The wheel was a bad thing to happen dialgoue wise in Da2. all there was were 3 choices. Good, bad and sarcastic. Dont do this.....

Do not people tell what the consequences are, dont make anything black white and "funny." What made Origins dialgues soooo good was that there was much more grey people actually had to think about their answer. in DA2 and also ME they go: Oh I am parragon so I go with the goiod blue answer. Oh I am renegade so I go with the Red answers. You just cant do it in RPGs. It kills every importance and whill to actually listen to the dialogue at all.

And the wheel or these paraphras are bad becasue often I totally meant something different I wnated to say. They are often much much different than the actual dialogue.

Modifié par Darji, 20 mars 2012 - 03:51 .

[screwyajax]

But I've invested so much in my DA:2 chars and Fenris is just so Broody! I love all my companions! Can you really kill us all so easily? If so, can you maybe give us some better looking armor that doesn't look like it was painted on? It will be sad to see my team go but  it's for the best I spose....

[Rorschachinstein]

Pasquale1234 wrote...

Mike Laidlaw wrote...

Q: Will we be going to silent protagonist?
A: A few months back, I noted that we'd be continuing on a voiced protagonist. We feel the voice improves the overall experience, thought we know that some of your disagree. Sorry! STILL, we have, however, heard feedback on paraphrase clarity. What I've often seen is feedback that the paraphrases fail when your character DOES something unexpected. Would you folks agree that moments of action or major choice are the issue that most needs to be addressed?

Many of us feel the voice damages the overall experience.

Is there any chance you might provide a toggle to turn it and the associated cinematics off?

already there
Mute button and your respective skip cutscene button

[Gurneyslabb]

lets hope mass effects 3 is in plan they kill off 2 characters and harwke and rebuild the orginal

[KennethAFTopp]

Mike Laidlaw wrote...

eyesofastorm wrote...

I saw you do this a lot during development and post-release of DA2.  You kind of deconstruct what people say are their preferences, spin it a little bit, talk about what you prefer and then what you prefer shows up in the game.  Problem is, these things you prefer, judging by the reaction to DA2, tend not to be the thing that "the majority" of the fans of the  Dragon Age franchise prefer.  And at least as bad as making decisions that split the fanbase or outright turn it against you, you come off as putting your preferences before "ours" and I suspect thats why so much angst was directed against you personally.  I'm telling you how to do your job here... take notes.  Be careful with this.  

Fair enough; I could certainly do without the angst, but I do feel that I'm allowed my own preferences, especially when I'm owning up to them, yes?

I think that's fair mr. Laidlaw, you should have preferences, everybody who is creative does. So yeah I feel that's a little unfair towards you.
But, that doesn't mean I agree with your design choices at all.

[RazorrX]

eyesofastorm wrote...


For my part, it's not the voice that bothers me at all in and of itself.  It's the fact that having a voiced protagonist, by virtue of the cost of voice acting, makes it more likely that we will have another strictly defined protagonist.  If Bioware says that is not the case, then I can live with the voiced PC.... many, many other factors not withstanding.

Exactly.  Why can you not have a single voice actor for all the player races.  If a dwarf or elf were to be raised in say Kirkwall - would they not sound like a Kirkwallian vs a Dalish or Dwarf?  Do we have to so closely define the protagonist that all player input into his/her character ends up being we get to push some buttons and pick the dialog icons?

[Deviant Seraph]

Sad to hear Hawke's story is over (at least in playable form), but the news of DA3 picked me right up. I'd just like to add a few smaller points, since other bigger issues have been brought up plenty of times.

I'd definitely like to see you guys expand on the character class-specific animations. Not just for boss battle kill animations,either. For example: say an enemy throws a dagger at you during a cut-scene, a warrior can block with a shield or swipe it away with their sword, a mage can produce a barrier, and a rogue can catch or dodge it. Another example could be trying to gain entrance into a building and a warrior kicking down the door, mage blasting the door wide, and the rogue simply picking the lock. Something small like that can give multiple playthroughs have a little different taste to them.

Different body size models would be a huge plus. Playing as a buff mage or rogue doesn't feel right to me. Body models don't even have to be class-specific. A choice during character creation would be appreciated. Even for female players who would want some guns similar to Aveline's.

Loot. This bothered me most in DA2. Recycled dungeons were forgiven, since I understood you guys wanted to add more content to the game without having to create more assets, and I happily accepted the trade-off. But making my way through a nest of dragons only to find 5 silver in a pile of what looks to be gold is incredibly disappointing. Also collecting things like braided rope, rot-gut, and a pebble so I can sell them for pennies is not my idea of an adventure. Maybe when I was a child playing in my messy backyard, but not in a videogame =P

A homebase/hideout. A place to call your own would be much appreciated. Hawke's Estate was nice, but I would've liked to add my "mark". Custumization is a big joy to me, and I would like a return to something like Vigil's Keep. I don't suggest it as a gameplay mechanic like it was in Awakening, but something more similar to Assassin's Creed 2's homebase. Mostly cosmetic and for the enjoyment of the player to see his wealth and power accumulate, all while letting the player choose banners, stonework, etc. etc. to help make it feel more at "home".

If there is a homebase in DA3, please, please add a treasure room of some sort. I am a huge pack rat in videogames, and displaying some of the weapons/armor of legendary heroes that I come across in the game would be fantastic. Selling a sword like Shartan's Glandivalis to some common street vendor seems criminal to me, and letting it collect dust in a chest a waste of a beautiful sword. Much like Assassin's Creed 2 and Skyrim, allow me to proudly display such wonderful pieces of Thedas' history!

That's my input for some of the aspects that seem minor, but add plenty of the "role playing" feel. At least to me. Looking forward to what you guys have in store.



Oh yeah... If casual clothing makes a return, please give us more options. Male Hawke's "pajamas" were terrible

[mglJestersTear]

One thing I'd love to see would be some companions not falling in love for, say, my main character, but fall in love for my friend's main character depending on our choices. Case in point: it always baffled me that Fenris hated Anders (who despite being possessed was a healer and totally against slavery) but could then turn around and fall in love with a Hawke who was a vicious blood mage and who enslaves Orana. I could see him suspending his hatred for a different kind of mage, and I could definitely see him dating a warrior or rogue, but a slaver blood mage? It boggles the mind.

[Irku]

That means no more DLC for DAII huh? And here I was hoping for an Anders/kitten DLC.... oh well.

[Mike Laidlaw]

hunterxx1xx wrote...
I have to agree with eyeofastorm. Seems like Bioware doesn't really care about our input. We say what we'd like to see and they respond with their mind made up already pushing our ideas aside. Majority of the people on here agree we would like to see more DA:O and we all know that's not going to happen. As Bioware will not "go back 180 degrees" even though that's exactly what they should do if they want to have a successful game. I mean hello? DA:O was a bigger success than DA2. Continue to do what you prefer then and see how many people purchase DA3. 

Guys, if anything I've said is construed as "pushing aside" your ideas, I absolutely apologize. The things I listed out are decisions that we've reached so far, and had already communicated previously, I simply wanted to reiterate them so that we could focus on things that are still very open to feedback (which is to say, virtually everything). I'm very happy to see some of the responses around the dialog wheel, for instance, as there may very well be things we can do, and I don't know if we could have gotten to some of the suggestions without first placing the discussion around there being a voiced protagonist.

[screwyajax]

I liked having a voiced protaganist, BTW. I also enjoyed the combat. DA:O will always be my first love tho'

[Rorschachinstein]

hunterxx1xx wrote...

Rorschachinstein wrote...

CoS Sarah Jinstar wrote...

eyesofastorm wrote...

Mike Laidlaw wrote...

jackofalltrades456 wrote...

I guess we're not going to win with the silent protagonist, but can we still see the return of the text wall? Save the text wheel for Mass Effect, please...

As I said many times, I hate "Hello" being." Hello there! I want set you on fire!"

Deeper dig: is the issue that you didn't know what you'd say, or that you did or said something unexpected?

I'll admit that I'm biased; I don't like reading a choice and then hearing the exact same thing read aloud to me. However, I can absolutely agree with concerns about being blindsided as per your example above.

I saw you do this a lot during development and post-release of DA2.  You kind of deconstruct what people say are their preferences, spin it a little bit, talk about what you prefer and then what you prefer shows up in the game.  Problem is, these things you prefer, judging by the reaction to DA2, tend not to be the thing that "the majority" of the fans of the  Dragon Age franchise prefer.  And at least as bad as making decisions that split the fanbase or outright turn it against you, you come off as putting your preferences before "ours" and I suspect thats why so much angst was directed against you personally.  I'm telling you how to do your job here... take notes.  Be careful with this.  

This, no offense Mike but after how awful DA2 was to alot of us, I'm actually a little surprised that you're project lead again.

Brotha, please. DAII was fine, fine game.

I have to agree with eyeofastorm. Seems like Bioware doesn't really care about our input. We say what we'd like to see and they respond with their mind made up already pushing our ideas aside. Majority of the people on here agree we would like to see more DA:O and we all know that's not going to happen. As Bioware will not "go back 180 degrees" even though that's exactly what they should do if they want to have a successful game. I mean hello? DA:O was a bigger success than DA2. Continue to do what you prefer then and see how many people purchase DA3. 

180 degrees would eliminate everything DAII did right. As much as the hate seems to spread, DAII was a good game flaws and all. The only thing that killed sales was bad word of mouth........and aforementioned flaws.

Modifié par Rorschachinstein, 20 mars 2012 - 04:03 .

[Starshaker]

Dragon Age Origins: I loved it because it brought me back to my childhood of games like BG1 and BG2. I also loved how it used some modern day graphics to make it similar to those games but different. The story was very well written and well done. However, I didn't like that you had to do certain things in a certain order in order to experiance all the content. I never went back and met flemeth again. So, naturally I was a little lossed in DA2 at first. I loved that you had a huge array of characters and TONS of content. Most of the content was good and enjoyable other stuff (the fade) was tedious and not as great. In all a great game. I really liked how you could choose different characters that you liked and they would talk to you because they liked you. It made you care about what you said around them and it made you cautious about things you said when you were around them, much like in a real life setting with a friend. I didn't like that you didn't get to know everyone unless you really worked towards it. I think it would be better if someone said hey let me buy you lunch or a drink. If you go where that person said to meet you you learn about them. If you don't care just don't show up and then you don't have to worry about it. Another thing I LOVED about DA1 is that when you spent time with someone else others would notice and get jealous! THAT IS AWESOME! All this social interaction is important some don't like it, but that is what space bar is for. For some like myself it makes or breaks a game. In all great game loved it would play another one just like it. However,

Dragon Age 2: Honestly, I followed this game and pre-ordered it. I knew it wasn't going to be DAO from the get go. I think some people were disappointed because they didn't do their due diligence to know what they were buying and thought they were buying DAOII They weren't. It was a different title with a different feel and a completely different game. Some people didn't like the story line. I LOVED IT! Especially the beginning with you whole siblings. I think this is one of the first times that siblings have really been closely involved in a main story that Bioware has written and honestly BRAVO! First time I played through DA2 I was a Rogue. So naturally kept Bethany and enjoyed having the hot little sis. I became the over protective big bro. It was awesome! Then as most of us know other things happen and it makes the story even better. I also loved how in this game every character had their own "home" so if you were interested in a Character you could go to that Character's house and talk to them, but this also became tedious should have had a quick travel to each location. Anyway, again in this game I think one of the mistakes is that I went through my entire first game with never meeting Isabella. I KNOW RIGHT! I STILL Enjoyed the game too! :-) For major characters give us the choice to keep them or ditch them. If I don't like a Character let me dismiss them or better yet give me the opportunity to send them on a high risk high reward mission. Something that if they succeed I am going to like them better, but if they fail they die or are injured for a significant amount of time so I don't have to hear from them for a good while. Anyway, but when you make all this content and people don't get to experiance it I think it hurts the game so try to make it the player's choice to skip content don't make it easily missed. Another thing I loved about this game that a lot of people hated is gameplay. Again, I knew going in this wasn't DAOII and because of that I really enjoyed the gameplay at first. However, with the rogue and warrior it kind of became monotonous. A little move here and there, but ultimately hitting the X button (PS3). If you are going to make a game like this it has to have more complexities or more animations. I am just saying that would have helped some. Also if you and a teamate have gotten to know each other allow team ups. SIBLING TEAM UPS HOW AWESOME? Maybe... :-) Anyway, I also want to say that this game felt a little rushed. I don't know if that was EA or Bioware. I know that it didn't feel like the Bioware every nook and cranny looking good. Every story making sense. It just didn't feel finished especially at the end. I know there is DLC, but when I pay over $60.00 for a product I want it to give me some good closure. I do applaud you for using different characters in the ending, but you should have taken the page from DAO in this aspect and make the player play with all the characters they have. Also, make some just abandon you if you have been a jerk to them. I know you did this some, but I loved the mission where it depended on whether or not you were a jerk to your crew whether or not they would fight for you. THATS GREAT STORY AND HELPS IMMERSION... Make the final battle more epic maybe on the final scene it takes your entire crew helping you to defeat something. Allow it to be like when one of your companions fall in the final battle you have to choose another one to take their place. All in all I knew it wasn't DAOII but I applaud Bioware for thinking outside the box and created something new and fresh to the Bioware name. PROPS! It was more of an action game and all you found out about this is that it wasn't mean't for this franchise. You can make some great actions games and take the feed back from this game to create them. Keep up the good work!

Dragon Age ???: In this game you have a unique opportunity. You have to add new aspects to the game or else you will lose a lot of fan base because it is DAO with better graphics. However, You can't add to much as you saw with DAII fans don't like that either. There has to be a balance and I think you hit it right on the head with MEII from MEI. Graphics way better! Story better because it was a continuation of things you had done previously! Even better though the plot unfolded and more plots were created. In DAO it was such a great game because it was complete no cliff hangers (ok not a lot of them anyway) no oh crap what am I going to do while they make the next game. NONE OF THAT. It was you saved ferelden and now your a hero. (or whatever you chose) When I finished DAO I was like probably not going to be a sequal because where do they go from here. You defeated the ultimate! It was over great closure and everything! When I saw DA2 was coming out I was very interested to see what the plot was going to be. Darkspawn had no leader so they are out. Everything else had gone back to peace. Then I heard you weren't going to be your same hero and that you were going to overlap stories. This was a mistake to me because 1. Nothing you did in the first game really mattered. I mean besides hearing a couple of lines from it DAO. This takes away a ton of excitement to me because I think that is how ME2 differentiated itself from all other sequals. There were no default endings or startings. You created what you created and it was your story. That is the greatest thing I think Bioware has ever brought to the table. I have heard that DA??? will be a lot like ME2 in story you have to go get all these characters to go fight the templars. This would be a good story, but you have to make it different than ME2! Instead let it start out for once either your a hero who is done with his adventuring, but something brings you back into the game one last time(A son of you and certain witch maybe just saying). So, the hero wants to help his son, or help his ex or the people his son or ex is hurting. Or you could start it out with a hero just wanting peace and take a more diplomatic approach only to realize that ain't going to work or someone you care about is playing you. However, you in the process if fighting for peace are forced into a decision to fight and you have to choose between two of your greatest friends. (Or Sibling) Making the character choose between friendship and family. Then in the middle you find out your son and/or your ex(friend or lover) are leading the templars because someone else is controling the mages. I mean just something that is unique not your a hero you can't win and so you have to raise this A team to take on impossible odds. I loved that story the first four times, but its time for something new. I agree you need companions it makes or breaks your games, but find a more unique way of aquiring them. No we have to save the world. Buy a slave, save a child and because of your kindness someone notices you or because of your selfish heart someone else notices you. I mean become more creative in these areas that have "worked well" In the past. Make them memorable and then grow with your characters and at the end of the game show flash back if that character dies at the end of the first time you met them and how you met them. So important. Anyway, the last thing I would also love to see and if you want more from me send me an e-mail. :-) or a message because this is already a book and I don't even know if you guys will read this. :-) You asked for feed back :-). Include mini-games. Something I love about some other RPGs out there that I have played is realize your cause is important and huge, but also remember not everyone around knows about your cause so let us interact with them. mini-games poker, dice, black jack. all these games are ways to be more immersive. That is what makes RPGs stand out is how can I be apart of this world. Let us interact with everything. Let us find someones stash off the beaten path with something really special inside just for finding that stash. Let us enjoy these things, but most of all Bioware never stop being the high quality awesome game making machine that you guys are. I love all your games and I want you to all succeed because I want to keep playing your games. KEEP ON KEEPING ON! Thanks for your time
ORDUCKMANIAC

[Starshaker]

Or Starshaker... :-) Sorry that got a bit long and spiratic but I just said what came to mind. :-)

[eyesofastorm]

Rorschachinstein wrote...

180 degrees would eliminate everything DAII did right. As much as the hate seems to spread, DAII was a good game flaws or not. The only thing that killed sales was bad word of mouth.

Bad word of mouth is a direct result of a game that people didn't like... because it wasn't good.  This is day 1 stuff here.

[RazorrX]

Here is something I would like to address:

Combat - the removal of exploding bodies. Why do people explode when I stab them with pointy knives? Can we reduce the violent explosions and maybe put in some kind of quick finisher instead?

Also - can we PLEASE have some more realistic looking weapons? Or even better a crafting system to change the appearance of gear? WITH the ability to make stuff look more normal?

[burum8967]

Klepz wrote...

I will miss Hawke. 

I feel like DA2 breathed much more personality into the player character. I LOVED the dialogue wheel and the fact that Hawke speaks. I think that made all the difference. In DA:O, getting to choose nearly all the text options in a conversation really sucked the personality out of the warden. 

The story was compelling, and personal, and I felt so much more involved with it than I did in DA:O. In DA:O, the game felt like it was just: recruit 4 armies, landsmeet, win game. I felt Hawke's story was more personal, more conflicted, and in the end made me feel much more for her life, friends and adventures. 

This is in part because the "villain" was never a clear cut bad guy. There was no Evil Archdemon and Loghain Preventing Business From Being Done. There were the qunari, the mages, the templars, the chantry, your own companions - all driven by selfishness and heroism at the same time. So much more human. 

The speed of combat was excellent as well, in my opinion.

I did miss getting to speak with my companions at random moments, and a larger world to explore, but you can't always have everything, and I was fine with that. The thing I did miss most of all was greater class customization, but I think even DA:O could improve greatly in that direction.
I will miss Hawke, but can't wait to see what you do next.

Well said and I comepletely agree. The only part that was personal for me in DA:O was killing Loghain, I disliked him in the books. I was happy I could put him down.

But I am very sad to see no more content for DA2 and Hawke, Varric, Anders and Merril.