2816 réponses à ce sujet

[Korusus]

Indoctrination wrote...

I really wanted to play out the conclusion to Hawke's story. An expansion of the same quality of Mark of the Assassin and Legacy could have really restored a lot of faith in the DA brand too.

I think it's pretty obvious the DLC sales weren't there.  Which isn't surprisng since the DLC was not only for an unpopular game, but also months after the fact (since they probably had to go back and redesign all the DLC to add area variety but I digress)

Despite my vitriol for DA2 and my absolute distaste for the Hawke character, I do think it's unfortunate that those of you who liked and wanted a conclusion to Hawke's story (his personal story) didn't get one.

[IAmTheMP]

Korusus wrote...

Indoctrination wrote...

I really wanted to play out the conclusion to Hawke's story. An expansion of the same quality of Mark of the Assassin and Legacy could have really restored a lot of faith in the DA brand too.

I think it's pretty obvious the DLC sales weren't there.  Which isn't surprisng since the DLC was not only for an unpopular game, but also months after the fact (since they probably had to go back and redesign all the DLC to add area variety but I digress)

Despite my vitriol for DA2 and my absolute distaste for the Hawke character, I do think it's unfortunate that those of you who liked and wanted a conclusion to Hawke's story (his personal story) didn't get one.

Thanks. I like it when I say "I like Hawke" and don't hear twenty "so what, I didn'ts." I raged like everyone else with the direction they took the gameplay, but I made Hawke mine. Sucks that I'll never be able to enjoy him again.

Modifié par IAmTheMP, 20 mars 2012 - 07:31 .

[Relshar]

Thor Rand Al wrote...

Plaguemaster wrote...

Thor Rand Al wrote...

Aldaris951 wrote...

dragon age origins is all the feedback you need. Dont feel bad about hawke. DA2 has a very small fanbase compared to DA1. 

Excuse me, (n sorry I don't mean to start anything because this is a good thread) but do you know why DA2 has a very small fanbase just out of curiousity?  Not because of how the game is but because of the shytstorm they get slammed into if they defend anything good about DA2.  So ya a lot of people that loved DA2 avoid the forums anymore, so they take their love elsewhere like to Tumblr or make their own groups because of the fear of being pounced upon for actually liking something.

Total sales of both games as of July 22nd:

DAO 3.79 million, .39 million PC

DA2 1.45 million, .29 million PC
Also, first ten weeks of sales

And how much of that was because of the fact that people would come onto a forum like BSN n see all the negativity about the game n decide not to buy it without even giving the game a chance.  Words, which people are well aware of, do have a way of impacting these kind of people, people who might want to play but also want to see what others who have played say about it.  I saw quit a few people say they wouldn't buy DA2 because there was so much negativity, they didn't bother checking for themselves if the game was good or not.

Many cancled their pre-orders after playing the demo. Yes the demo was that bad people saw the game for what it was going to be. I gave BioWare the benefit of my doubts and was robbed of £30 on a poorly made game.

[grimkillah]

Since the Exalted March expansion was cancelled, any chance we can see some of the concept art from the project?

[Quill74Pen]

Mike Laidlaw wrote...

Sylvius the Mad wrote...

I wish we could discuss the game in development in greater detail from an earlier stage, like we could after the original Dragon Age announcement.  We got to interact with the devs on concrete ideas and plans 4-5 years before release.  I recognise you don't want to have a 4 year development cycle, but it would be great if you could return to this more open approach to community relations.

I believe you are staring at day one of that approach even now.

I also saw people looking for more walkthroughs, live chats and the like. To which the answer is "Yes." It won't be immediately, since we want to actually have things to show, but yes.

Mike, et al.:

Maybe I'm seeing something that's not really there, but Bioware isn't looking at another two or three years before the next Dragon Age game comes out, is it?

I love the franchise — DAO and DAA the most (and DA2's combat and dialogue tree)  — and having to wait that long would be, well, draining. Why? Well, for what it's worth, DA was the RPG to bring me back into the RPG fold; prior to DA's release on the PS3, I hadn't played an RPG since Chrono Trigger (SNES) and Chrono Cross (PS1). I really don't want to return to that desert, despite my concerns with ME3's ending. (And, no, Bethesda's Skyrim just doesn't cut it, story-wise. Too sandbox-focused.)

Best regards.

Quill74Pen

[-Semper-]

out of a sudden you cater for your fans and try hard to give them the impression they could really influence the development of the next installment? oh, it's time for a sequel so we have to show presence in the forums to rebuild some trust. after delivering the next mediocre piece in your portfolio there will be silence all over again...

i've got some feedback too: TOOLSET!!!, isometric, no voice over, turn based, complex rule set, diverse enemies, no trash encounters or filler combat, interesting and fleshed out story, non linearity, story choke points where your pc's decisions really alter the outcome, social skills, quests with more solutions (especially non fighting ones!), skill and attribute usage and recognition, hidden dungeons and secrets to reward exploring, get rid of childish humor and lower the romances!

but instead of finding the way back to former glory da3 will be the next dating sim with lots of forced gay content.

Modifié par -Semper-, 20 mars 2012 - 07:35 .

[dewpa666]

Just want to post this again:
Fix the sound for the next game:
http://nightmaremode...le-ports-16739/

And no more wave combat. Its the cheapest form of difficulty.

Edit:
Another thing, i REALLY think bioware, the "king of choices" in RPG:s should take a look at The Witcher 2.
Chioces there actually matter and gives you a drastically different story depending on your choices.
Not the "Everybody must be able to see and do everything", like in mass effect 3 where if you miss a sidequest item on a mission you can buy it at the spectre terminal afterwards... Choices and CONSEQUENCES please!

Modifié par dewpa666, 20 mars 2012 - 07:39 .

[Indoctrination]

Korusus wrote...

I think it's pretty obvious the DLC sales weren't there.  Which isn't surprisng since the DLC was not only for an unpopular game, but also months after the fact (since they probably had to go back and redesign all the DLC to add area variety but I digress)

I get that profit projections are an issue, and extra content for a game that likely didn't meet sales targets is probably not very easy to pitch to some cold vampire working in budgeting/finance which is ultimately who project leads have to answer to, as far as I know.

With that said, with an expansion, you could bring in people who didn't like or didn't play Dragon Age 2. Final Fantasy XIII was widely criticized for its game play related faults. The sequel addressed those faults, and brought in a lot of new fans. An expansion could have redeemed the DA2 brand and it could have redeemed DA in general among those who didnt bother with DA2 and among those who swore off the franchise dramatically on these boards because of DA2.

[zyntifox]

I really hope that BioWare will return to a more slow and tactical combat system. I've never been a fan of action oriented combat systems, i just do not have the neccesary reflexes for it. And the second thing i hope for is a silent protagonist, im not saying that voiced protagonist absolutly shouldn't be done but atleast give us the option to turn of the voice.

[Buffy-Summers]

Kill Hawke or dont. Just make sure that the story line started in 2 is present in 3 with a whole lot more RPG (and that does not mean story, it means RPG)


Mage vs Templars is very intense and should be the third game's plot line however, the RPG of dao should return in bold form.

[Deviija]

-Keep all LIs as bisexual options, offering more player choice to everyone rather than being exclusive content only some people will play with certain PCs. More freedom = more roleplaying.

-Keep and beef up the interparty talks, banters, cutscenes, and 'hanging out' sequences that do not revolve around the PC. Like what DA2 had. This *shows* and *tells* how these characters get along with one another without the intervention of the PC, or without being 'forced' to be in the same party to have a conversation. Character A goes to Character B's house for teatime. Character B hangs out with Character C because they enjoy sparring. Character D storms over to Character A's tavern to raise hell about some interparty drama/decision that happened. And so on. I want to see what these people not only mean to my PC but what they mean to *each other*. I thought DA2 did this pretty well, but I'd like to see it elaborated on.

-Interparty romances that aren't related to my PC. I want to see other characters falling in love or flirting with the possiblity of having a relationship together. Like Sebastian and Bethany, or Fenris and Isabela, etc.

-More control over my PC and what they do/say/react. Lately in BioWare games I am feeling a distinct lack of control over my PC's reactions and responses, they're more automatic (like Shiala flirting with FemShep in ME2 and FemShep, like DudeShep, smiling invitingly back at her -- even if she's a hetero gal. It's just automatic reactions without roleplayer consent). No more of this silly paraphrasing dialogue options either. Write them out in their entirety, please. Or have the option to see the entire line, at least. I'm not into 'gotcha' moments.

-An option to mute the protagonist's voice only. If we're not going to return to our 'roots' of a silent protagonist in DA3, then could we get an option to mute the protagonist's voice over only? I like hearing companions and NPCs, but often Hawke's delivery and tone slapped me around and reminded me that this isn't my PC so much as it is this strange person speaking my PC's dialogue choices.

-Options in-game for male characters to be able to roleplay as seducers and charmers, and not just an option for women PC's to swing their hips to get information. Mark of the Assassin offered one option for that, getting intel from the noble using your wiles. And in DAO, you could lure over a guardsman as a dude with a little winkwinknudgenudge. Using your sexuality, wiles, and seduction skills shouldn't just be something only women have the option to do.

[Darth Krytie]

I keep seeing people say that their feedback doesn't get implimented or that DA ignored what people wanted in the past. Perhaps it's because there's only a finite way to do things and different people like it different ways.

When they decided to have a voiced protag, people say "you're ignoring what fans want" instead of recognising other fans do want a voiced protag.

Every decisions made was liked by some group of people. (Cept the recycled maps, but that was a resource issue. I doubt DA peeps were all 'this is a feature peeps will love' and instead said, 'peeps might get irritated by this, but we'll be able to do this other thing as well')

tldr, you can't please everyone.

I really want to have some sort of conclusion to the Mage/Templar rebellion if that's not going to be the focus of DA3.

[MiklCraw4d]

My poor Warden... still out there looking for Morrigan haha...

[Chad Vital]

PERSONAL WORD OF ADVICE-
I think Dragon Age 2 was a great game. I am one of the proud few who liked it. I also have a friend I play Gears of War 3 with online daily who enjoyed it as well. So we are out there. With having said that, I don't know why people hated it so much. I really don't. I see their reasons and they seem kinda hollow and unjust/unfair/unpractical. You shouldn't be taking advice or feedback from people who talk **** about your game or your company/studio. These people only purchase it from Gamestop, yet think they have stock in your company as if they made the game themselves. It's one thing to give help (constructive critism) and another to bring somebody or something down. I wouldn't listen to those types of people, as (most of the time) they don't know what they are talking about, and typical have terrible ideas. Most of the time.
Moving on...

1. COMBAT-
I believe DA2 had great combat, probably what I liked the most about it actually. I liked the fact that I can actually deal damage on my own accord, rather than waiting around for my character to figure out what he/she's doing, and then walk there, and do said power command or a painfully slow animation of 3 sword swings lol from DA:O and Awakening. As fun as the first Dragon Age game is, that part of the rts killed the combat pace of the game. It's the only drawback as far as I can see COMBAT wise. But, I think most people who "hate" DA2 didn't like that you didn't have to use strategy or tactics in combat, whereas you had to in DA:O. I believe there is a remedy for both parties to be happy. Make the enemies harder, so you have to rely on team/companion tactics such as flanking and battlefield placement, basically like a clickable nav button similiar to Mass Effect to tell your companions where to go. And of course the tactic menu with the assignable slots for each companion (which has been in every game and I love it- great job). If your creative team could take that tactic menu options (like healing your companions if health is below whatever percent for an example), if they could take that and push it further, to have even more tactical ideas in it like flanking or limb targeting for certain enemy types, that'd be really cool for the tactical fans. But back to what I was saying, making the enemies harder, would force you to use your companions a bit more in the next game (not that they didn't do anything in the last one). The only thing that was kinda overwhelming about my companions in DA2 is that they would kill everyone before I could even get to one enemy (especially mage companions). Which is great, but I need those XP points, not them lol. Your companions should level up with you like they do in the Mass Effect series, instead of having their own individual xp points, (which was kind of annoying if one of them is a level behind the others). So let's go over this part again, keep the tactics, add even more tactical possibilities if you can, get creative with them and ask the fans if they sound good or not, and have them vote (a one time vote, not multiple votes on same single question). Make enemies harder forcing us to not think we are so awesome we can do it solo, thus making it so we have to use our companions (or have an option where you don't have to use your companions to get the upper hand if you don't want). As long as there is an option for both sides of the fanbase, rts people and action people, it should be okay since options are what people love. That's why we buy your games. We just would like more options if possible. Sounds greedy (and it probably is) but if you want genuine feedback and ideas, I have no problem giving them to you guys to help you guys make a fantastic game (with or without our help).

2. STORY and COMPANIONS- You guys are great at it, I appreciate all the content so far. Awakening is my personal favorite out of the 3 major content releases. With that being said, DA3 should focus back onto your character from DA:O (as well as up to Awakening of course). Have the Darkspawn be the main problem in the game again, maybe a new threat that's interfering with both Darkspawn and the Grey Wardens plans perhaps? Maybe Meredith is much more than what she already seems? Perhaps the first dragon (ever, like the one who could end the dragon species if killed fully), or maybe she is leading this new mysterious threat? (I don't care either way just throwing out ideas).
I'd love to have all the companions from both games be accessible, as in, able to be used as in a companion on quests. You guys did a great job with past and present companions in ME3, but instead of just seeing them on one quest and then they disappear for the rest of the game, you get to keep them around if you want, and use their assistance in combat.
This is just me, but I think it'd be super cool if you could have Hawke (your imported character from DA2) and Bethany Hawke (or the brother if you chose him, if they didn't die and became Grey Wardens instead) as companions, to tie in with DA2 ending events (whatever it is Leliana is looking for Hawke for). It'd be cool if she was sent by your character from the first game (the Champion of Ferelden), to look for Hawke for his assistance in the new threat at hand in the new game. Instead, you find his sister (or brother), and they help you find Hawke, you find him, and he joins your party as an important side character throughout the storyline (playable companion or a temporary party leader for certain quests that has your DA:O somewhere else, doing another quest (which you get to play after or before depending on the story). I personally think this Hawke companion idea is great. I toot my own horn on it haha. But let's look at what you get.
You'd get to see old faces, and get to (potentially) play as both heroes from both games. It's a win win for everyone. I have no more ideas at this time, I'll come by again later if I think of some good ones. Thanks for the great games.

[Lucy Glitter]

Deviija wrote...


-Keep all LIs as bisexual options, offering more player choice to everyone rather than being exclusive content only some people will play with certain PCs. More freedom = more roleplaying.

-Keep and beef up the interparty talks, banters, cutscenes, and 'hanging out' sequences that do not revolve around the PC. Like what DA2 had. This *shows* and *tells* how these characters get along with one another without the intervention of the PC, or without being 'forced' to be in the same party to have a conversation. Character A goes to Character B's house for teatime. Character B hangs out with Character C because they enjoy sparring. Character D storms over to Character A's tavern to raise hell about some interparty drama/decision that happened. And so on. I want to see what these people not only mean to my PC but what they mean to *each other*. I thought DA2 did this pretty well, but I'd like to see it elaborated on.

-Interparty romances that aren't related to my PC. I want to see other characters falling in love or flirting with the possiblity of having a relationship together. Like Sebastian and Bethany, or Fenris and Isabela, etc.

-More control over my PC and what they do/say/react. Lately in BioWare games I am feeling a distinct lack of control over my PC's reactions and responses, they're more automatic (like Shiala flirting with FemShep in ME2 and FemShep, like DudeShep, smiling invitingly back at her -- even if she's a hetero gal. It's just automatic reactions without roleplayer consent). No more of this silly paraphrasing dialogue options either. Write them out in their entirety, please. Or have the option to see the entire line, at least. I'm not into 'gotcha' moments.

-An option to mute the protagonist's voice only. If we're not going to return to our 'roots' of a silent protagonist in DA3, then could we get an option to mute the protagonist's voice over only? I like hearing companions and NPCs, but often Hawke's delivery and tone slapped me around and reminded me that this isn't my PC so much as it is this strange person speaking my PC's dialogue choices.

-Options in-game for male characters to be able to roleplay as seducers and charmers, and not just an option for women PC's to swing their hips to get information. Mark of the Assassin offered one option for that, getting intel from the noble using your wiles. And in DAO, you could lure over a guardsman as a dude with a little winkwinknudgenudge. Using your sexuality, wiles, and seduction skills shouldn't just be something only women have the option to do.

My lobster lover makes very good points. Much more eloquently put then my list. 

I think voiced protagonist will always rule out full character control. I know the devs will make it voiced no matter what, which is a huge, HUGE shame but we should tell them otherwise about this. 

Modifié par Lucy_Glitter, 20 mars 2012 - 07:50 .

[IAmTheMP]

Indoctrination wrote...

Korusus wrote...

I think it's pretty obvious the DLC sales weren't there.  Which isn't surprisng since the DLC was not only for an unpopular game, but also months after the fact (since they probably had to go back and redesign all the DLC to add area variety but I digress)

I get that profit projections are an issue, and extra content for a game that likely didn't meet sales targets is probably not very easy to pitch to some cold vampire working in budgeting/finance which is ultimately who project leads have to answer to, as far as I know.

With that said, with an expansion, you could bring in people who didn't like or didn't play Dragon Age 2. Final Fantasy XIII was widely criticized for its game play related faults. The sequel addressed those faults, and brought in a lot of new fans. An expansion could have redeemed the DA2 brand and it could have redeemed DA in general among those who didnt bother with DA2 and among those who swore off the franchise dramatically on these boards because of DA2.

And it was being worked on for quite some time, right? Since PAX Prime at least, unless I'm screwing up my timelines. It just seems like a waste to scrap all that work.

[dan_mcman]

I'd like to start off by saying that I loved DAII. In truth,
I liked it more than DA:O. I may be one of the few, but I'd like to try to
express some of the reasons I liked DAII more than Origins and what I'd
like to see in the future.



As in Mass Effect, the main character having some concrete details already in
place, as well as a voice actor/actress, allows for the main character to be a
more integral part of the game's story and world. With both Shepard and Hawke I
felt as though I had a good amount of control over who that person was and what
their goals were, even if that control wasn't absolute, as in DA:O. Having
absolute control like that means my character in DA:O felt less alive and
vibrant than the rest of the game's cast because he never spoke and he never
developed in a visible way. I could think and feel all I wanted to about
my DA:O character, but little to none of it could then be shown in the game. I would
appreciate if future Dragon Age titles presented the main character in the way
Mass Effect and DAII have. In truth, I'd actually like to continue to follow
Hawke in the Dragon Age setting.



I think if Hawke were to remain the protagonist of future Dragon Age games, it
would make for a potentially more complete experience. We wouldn't have to meet
another entirely new stable of characters, and when we see recurring
characters, we wouldn't have to 'get to know them' again. Hawke has an
established legacy and reputation - having those "That's Commander
Shepard!" moments that are so satisfying in Mass Effect wouldn't be
possible for quite some time if the protagonist were to change again. We know
Hawke is a competent and capable individual, so if they, say, became a Grey
Warden, it wouldn't feel implausible.



I think the thing I like the most about DAII compared to DA:O is that the story
was more focused - we were following Hawke through their life as they built
their legend. That was the focus for the entire time. DA:O almost feels like 3
or 4 isolated stories. While splitting focus between the story of the dwarves,
the story of the elves, the story of the Grey Wardens, and so forth, did a
great job of introducing us to the world, now that we are familiar with the
world, I wouldn't want to see a game with such a split focus.



I thought the characters in DAII were more likable - maybe not all around
better, but more likable. In part this is because we got to see and hear a lot
of the party members interacting with each other. I ended up getting more of a
sense that everyone in the group were friends and that they were all friends
with Hawke, where as in DA:O I got the feeling that none of the party members
liked anyone but my character. Varric was an excellent character and I'd like
to see more of him. I like him more than Alistair and I like Alistair a
LOT. That said, I missed Sten in DAII.



I liked the graphical style of DAII more than DA:O. Character's bodies were stylistically
proportioned in more appealing ways - gone were the long ape arms of DA:O. DA:O
hit the uncanny valley for me. By being a little more cartoony DAII managed
to avoid that. The graphics were overall more bright and vibrant while still
allowing for dark scenes. In DA:O, everything was so dark and drab it would
start to bum me out after a while. DAII had some nice back and forth between
dark and bright environments.



These are just a few of my thoughts. For me, I'd like to see Dragon Age become
as powerful a narrative as the Mass Effect trilogy, with a similarly coherent
focus and story. I feel that if the game changes protagonists again, that won't
be possible. The strength of BioWare games, for me, lies in their well
developed characters and their exciting stories. I care about the stories
because I care about the people in them. There are a large number of
characters between DA:O and DAII that I really like and I would
want to see again. The cinematic and dramatic scenes in Mass Effect, coupled
with the greater interaction between party members from DAII, would go a long
way for me...

Modifié par dan_mcman, 20 mars 2012 - 07:51 .

[Fraevar]

Deviija wrote...


-Keep all LIs as bisexual options, offering more player choice to everyone rather than being exclusive content only some people will play with certain PCs. More freedom = more roleplaying.

-Keep and beef up the interparty talks, banters, cutscenes, and 'hanging out' sequences that do not revolve around the PC. Like what DA2 had. This *shows* and *tells* how these characters get along with one another without the intervention of the PC, or without being 'forced' to be in the same party to have a conversation. Character A goes to Character B's house for teatime. Character B hangs out with Character C because they enjoy sparring. Character D storms over to Character A's tavern to raise hell about some interparty drama/decision that happened. And so on. I want to see what these people not only mean to my PC but what they mean to *each other*. I thought DA2 did this pretty well, but I'd like to see it elaborated on.

-Interparty romances that aren't related to my PC. I want to see other characters falling in love or flirting with the possiblity of having a relationship together. Like Sebastian and Bethany, or Fenris and Isabela, etc.

-More control over my PC and what they do/say/react. Lately in BioWare games I am feeling a distinct lack of control over my PC's reactions and responses, they're more automatic (like Shiala flirting with FemShep in ME2 and FemShep, like DudeShep, smiling invitingly back at her -- even if she's a hetero gal. It's just automatic reactions without roleplayer consent). No more of this silly paraphrasing dialogue options either. Write them out in their entirety, please. Or have the option to see the entire line, at least. I'm not into 'gotcha' moments.

-An option to mute the protagonist's voice only. If we're not going to return to our 'roots' of a silent protagonist in DA3, then could we get an option to mute the protagonist's voice over only? I like hearing companions and NPCs, but often Hawke's delivery and tone slapped me around and reminded me that this isn't my PC so much as it is this strange person speaking my PC's dialogue choices.

-Options in-game for male characters to be able to roleplay as seducers and charmers, and not just an option for women PC's to swing their hips to get information. Mark of the Assassin offered one option for that, getting intel from the noble using your wiles. And in DAO, you could lure over a guardsman as a dude with a little winkwinknudgenudge. Using your sexuality, wiles, and seduction skills shouldn't just be something only women have the option to do.

Pretty much all these points, and I'd like to add in a return to a more stratetic form of combat, complete with overhead tactical view. If you can't manage that on all platforms, do it for the ones that can, rather than omit it entirely. And don't use waves for each encounter, in fact save them for the more "special" fights, and use pre-placed enemies to foster the tactical gameplay. I guess what I'm after would be DAO's combat style coupled with DA2's responsiveness (with the exception of needing to have to wait for an animation to finish before I can issue/cancel an order).

Ultimately Dragon Age to me is about a person journeying through the world, meeting people and enlisting their aid in fulfilling The Objective ™. That's very basic but what makes up for it would be all the wonderful character moments that you could then have with those people. I know there's pushback against this, but I think some of the most meaningful dialogue to ever come out of BioWare writers happen at...yes...the campfire. The party camp has given me some of the most meaningful and memorable moments ever in a BioWare game, and...it needs to be there. There needs to be this spot where the party can sit down and just put all the combat/troubles of the world on hold for a little bit, while knowing they have to get back to it soon. DA2 felt very empty to me, precisely because it lacked this. We were just running around Kirkwall all the time waiting for the quest log to tell me that now I could talk to a party member.

You have to give up the fear of slow moments, yes, some people will thus consider your game "boring" but the odds of them buying your game were not all that great to begin with. Don't make Dragon Age for the "maybes" out there. Make it for all the ones who loved it.

[Iron_JG]

Well, I've gone through this whole thread. To anyone that wrote a long post without lots of paragraph breaks, you are bad, you have hurt me, and I hope your TV(s) only get the Weather Channel for a few days.

Also, thank you Bioware for soliciting feedback so directly. I hope you're still reading this thread...

DA suffers from a self-inflicted wound, in this sense: it's always good, but sometimes it's incredibly good. Both games and their expansions and/or DLCs have always been decent. The problem is, sometimes they have been amazing, and fans, myself included, feel hurt that not every swing is a grand slam. There are worse problems to have, I suppose.

Based on my previous experience with DA (Origins, Awakenings, DA2 with Legacy and MotA), coupled with my ME3 burn-out (its ending was a disappointing conclusion to a phenomenal experience), I think Bioware needs to step back from interconnected games for a while. I think you keep getting tangled up in trying to pay homage to everything that happened in the previous game while making sure the current game has the same responsiveness.

This is becoming cumbersome and restrictive. On the tiny chance anyone's read my post about ME3's ending, in which I wanted to see more consequences for ME1 and 2's decisions, I'm not being inconsistent. I only want interconnected games if they are done correctly and if Bioware has all the time and resources to fully realize them. If the price of excellence is one game insulated from one another, I can accept that.

It seems that's already happening, with DA2 DLC canceled and Hawke's story apparently over. With continuing the Warden's story also problematic (largely for the same problems afflicting ME described above), I support a clean break from Hawke and the Warden. I love both characters and I wish you had unlimited zots to continue their stories. However, the setting has to grow beyond them, and DA3 needs latitude to perfect what the first two games have done while innovating.

With that being said, here are my suggestions:

1. DO NOT SKIMP ON THE ENDING. I feel that DA:O and DA2, along with ME3, KotOR2 and so many other games (including other companies', prominently KoA: Reckoning) have had rushed, poorly explained, reductionistic and disappointing endings. I don't know in what order different parts of the game are made, but please lock in ample resources to wrap up the story well. How can you replay a game if you know its destination is undesirable (ME3, anyone?)?

2. Distinguish "epic" from "world-changing." It diminishes the setting if the only engaging characters it can offer us are messiahs and revolutionaries. D&D is full of rich characters that are trying to simply survive, or achieve a worthy personal goal despite immense opposition. BG2, for instance, was epic but not world-changing (SoA, anyway, ToB was a gigantic war, I know). We encountered diverse, dangerous and surprising threats in pursuit of what was, ultimately, a very personal goal.

I recommend the story focus on someone who is trying to cope with or navigate the consequences of the mage rebellion, rather than someone "destined" to fix it. Even seemingly minor achievements can become mythic when undertaken in the violent birth of a new world order. As per my prior advice, I would urge you to distance us from the key players in the conflict, while perhaps not making them invisible. It would be nice to see Morrigan and Flemeth again, but I think it would work best if their motives remained unclear and morally ambiguous.

3. Create a very human and well-developed antagonist. Sweeping, epic journeys risk disconnecting the player from their antagonist, which quenches their motivation to play the game. DA:O excelled at connecting us to Loghain, but not the archdemon. DA2 excelled at connecting us to the Arishok, but less so to Meredith (and even less so to Orsino). It's easy to say, "make a complex, even sympathetic villain," but hard to do, and I respect that. But I hope you at least will make us fight a character more than a force. Think Irenicus, Darth Malak and Saren.

4. Fewer and more customizable party members. As to their equippable items and appearances, I recommend a compromise. I seem to recall reading that static appearances for DA2 party members were meant to give them aesthetic consistency and uniqueness. To preserve this somewhat, why not make it so certain items appear differently on each party member? Maybe their clothes change colors to match their armors, or certain item motifs show up on them, like different shoulder pads or gauntlets or what-have-you? This way, a party member like Isabela could always look ****ty, and a party member like Fenris could always look menacing and spiky.

Beyond appearances, and this speaks to mechanics somewhat, I'd like them to be more customizable, with more talent trees and item options. It will improve replayability if you can build party members differently each playthrough. Why shouldn't I try a dual-wielding Aveline, or a melee Varric, or a healing/support Merrill? Making party members more malleable, stat and gameplay-wise, will make their growth feel more responsive to the player's. More customization also means you need fewer party members, which I also recommend. DA players want depth; we would rather have a few deep, highly interactive party members than a lot of shallow ones. Fewer, more reponsive party members also allows for more complicated relationships. Friendship/Rivalry was an excellent step in the right direction over flat approval. With fewer party members, you can inject more nuance into this metric. By the way, this would also improve romances a lot.

Also, I support you stealing one thing from ME3 -- party members randomly moving around your 'base,' whatever it happens to be. Finding Garrus in the lounge or Javik and Vega arguing in the mess were great little touches that deepened immersion.

5. Complexity! DA players love min/maxing, love tweaking every little stat and trying out tons of approaches to combat. This means more spells, more abilities and more surprising encounters. DA:O had great, very intelligent encounters that you could tackle many different ways. For me, especially, this means bringing back scouting abilities. I love being able to sneak in and try to win fights before they even start. This obviously shouldn't always be possible, but you should reward players for playing cautiously and methodically, while making allowances for players who opt for brute force. (For instance, I like to get through DA encounters using few if any consumables like health potions. If I pull off an effective initiation to a fight, this is often possible. If I'm willing to chug potions, though, I can, of course, just barrel in.)

Complexity also means giving enemies lots of abilities and shrewd AI. BG2 dragons and liches were very nasty because they had plenty and diverse ways to decimate a party. This also adds to replayability, because there are more ways to approach a fight. Make fights hard without making them absurdly long (Arishok duel) or just about increasing their damage.

6. Being able to play multiple races would be nice, but is not essential. I realize you want to have a voiced protagonist, so I won't debate the pros and cons. But if you could find voice actors that could be passable as any race (maybe with a little audio tweaking), so much the better. I think fans should give you a pass on using the same two (male and female) actors for each race in order to preserve that option. And, as you may have noticed, not being able to play a race marginalizes them. Playing elves and dwarves preserves important facets of Thedas. At the same time, if you have to choose between an origin story and main campaign content, choose the main campaign.

Thanks for reading all of that. I don't know that you'll take all these suggestions to heart, but I think they are conscious of limited resources while offering a strong platform for a quality product. Again, people wouldn't be so devoted to offering feedback if they didn't appreciate DA so much. When people see something at its best, they want to make sure it stays there. I wish you a lot of luck with DA3.

Modifié par Iron_JG, 20 mars 2012 - 07:52 .

[warpiggg]

grimkillah wrote...

Since the Exalted March expansion was cancelled, any chance we can see some of the concept art from the project?

Thissssss

[Chad Vital]

PERSONAL WORD OF ADVICE-
I think Dragon Age 2 was a great game. I am one of the proud few who liked it. I also have a friend I play Gears of War 3 with online daily who enjoyed it as well. So we are out there. With having said that, I don't know why people hated it so much. I really don't. I see their reasons and they seem kinda hollow and unjust/unfair/unpractical. You shouldn't be taking advice or feedback from people who talk **** about your game or your company/studio. These people only purchase it from Gamestop, yet think they have stock in your company as if they made the game themselves. It's one thing to give help (constructive critism) and another to bring somebody or something down. I wouldn't listen to those types of people, as (most of the time) they don't know what they are talking about, and typically have terrible ideas. Most of the time.

Moving on...

1. COMBAT-
I believe DA2 had great combat, probably what I liked the most about it actually. I liked the fact that I can actually deal damage on my own accord, rather than waiting around for my character to figure out what he/she's doing, and then walk there, and do said power command or a painfully slow animation of 3 sword swings lol from DA:O and Awakening. As fun as the first Dragon Age game is, that part of the rts killed the combat pace of the game. It's the only drawback as far as I can see COMBAT wise. But, I think most people who "hate" DA2 didn't like that you didn't have to use strategy or tactics in combat, whereas you had to in DA:O. I believe there is a remedy for both parties to be happy. Make the enemies harder, so you have to rely on team/companion tactics such as flanking and battlefield placement, basically like a clickable nav button similiar to Mass Effect to tell your companions where to go. And of course the tactic menu with the assignable slots for each companion (which has been in every game and I love it- great job). If your creative team could take that tactic menu options (like healing your companions if health is below whatever percent for an example), if they could take that and push it further, to have even more tactical ideas in it like flanking or limb targeting for certain enemy types, that'd be really cool for the tactical fans. But back to what I was saying, making the enemies harder, would force you to use your companions a bit more in the next game (not that they didn't do anything in the last one). The only thing that was kinda overwhelming about my companions in DA2 is that they would kill everyone before I could even get to one enemy (especially mage companions). Which is great, but I need those XP points, not them lol. Your companions should level up with you like they do in the Mass Effect series, instead of having their own individual xp points, (which was kind of annoying if one of them is a level behind the others). So let's go over this part again, keep the tactics, add even more tactical possibilities if you can, get creative with them and ask the fans if they sound good or not, and have them vote (a one time vote, not multiple votes on same single question). Make enemies harder forcing us to not think we are so awesome we can do it solo, thus making it so we have to use our companions (or have an option where you don't have to use your companions to get the upper hand if you don't want). As long as there is an option for both sides of the fanbase, rts people and action people, it should be okay since options are what people love. That's why we buy your games. We just would like more options if possible. Sounds greedy (and it probably is) but if you want genuine feedback and ideas, I have no problem giving them to you guys to help you guys make a fantastic game (with or without our help).

2. STORY and COMPANIONS- You guys are great at it, I appreciate all the content so far. Awakening is my personal favorite out of the 3 major content releases. With that being said, DA3 should focus back onto your character from DA:O (as well as up to Awakening of course). Have the Darkspawn be the main problem in the game again, maybe a new threat that's interfering with both Darkspawn and the Grey Wardens plans perhaps? Maybe Meredith is much more than what she already seems? Perhaps the first dragon (ever, like the one who could end the dragon species if killed fully), or maybe she is leading this new mysterious threat? (I don't care either way just throwing out ideas).

I'd love to have all the companions from both games be accessible, as in, able to be used as in a companion on quests. You guys did a great job with past and present companions in ME3, but instead of just seeing them on one quest and then they disappear for the rest of the game, you get to keep them around if you want, and use their assistance in combat.

This is just me, but I think it'd be super cool if you could have Hawke (your imported character from DA2) and Bethany Hawke (or the brother if you chose him, if they didn't die and became Grey Wardens instead) as companions, to tie in with DA2 ending events (whatever it is Leliana is looking for Hawke for). It'd be cool if she was sent by your character from the first game (the Champion of Ferelden), to look for Hawke for his assistance in the new threat at hand in the new game. Instead, you find his sister (or brother), and they help you find Hawke, you find him, and he joins your party as an important side character throughout the storyline (playable companion or a temporary party leader for certain quests that has your DA:O Champion somewhere else, doing another quest (which you get to play after or before depending on the story). I personally think this Hawke companion idea is great. I toot my own horn on it haha. But let's look at what you get.

You'd get to see old faces, and get to (potentially) play as both heroes from both games. It's a win win for everyone.

3. LOCATIONS- Anywhere that fits into the story at hand, obviously in Thedas somewhere, maybe Orleas or Antiva? Not really picky on that. Most important thing is to use new locations for every quest, no more "recycled" areas like in DA2 as people call them. Keep in mind that this is really the only solid argument people have against DA2, repetitiveness. I mean, unless, of course it's a location that NEEDS to be journeyed back to to find somebody important like companions or story characters then it's perfectly okay.

I'll come by again later if I think of some good ones. Thanks for the great games.

Modifié par Chad Vital, 20 mars 2012 - 08:10 .

[Alizamai]

Only one request, can you make the men in the team less whimpy. My god they had chips on their shoulders a mile wide. The only man who was 1/2 decent was the dwarf, who really is only 1/2 a man in size lol. But c'mon, please? A love interest that isnt a whimp would be good.

[warpiggg]

Alizamai wrote...

Only one request, can you make the men in the team less whimpy. My god they had chips on their shoulders a mile wide. The only man who was 1/2 decent was the dwarf, who really is only 1/2 a man in size lol. But c'mon, please? A love interest that isnt a whimp would be good.

And this. The only time I found relationships 'satisfying' were Rivalmances ( Anders Rivalmance) because they tied in with the desperation of the plot. I miss having manly men on your team. 

[Chad Vital]

4. Customization- Armor. I want to be able to do whatever I want and mix match armor, upgrade it, dye it a certain color, hell, maybe even put a design on it like the Blood Dragon Armor. Same with companion outfits. I should be able to put different armors or robes etc. on my companions, or choose to upgrade their default character clothing (perhaps color change as well). Same can be said of weapons. Shock swords, Fire blades, Ice damage etc needs to be available for weapon modding as well as ability modding if applicable (thinking of a bigger/deeper customization tree with that).