Regardless of the reasons of Bioware difficulty, they make better games than other well known design groups. I must state that once the furor eases and Bioware has smoother sailing, they should look into widening game-play types to better emulate the best of table top and the excellent opportunities shallowly explored in prior CRPG including their own.
Remember the armies and keep in DAO? What if we could spend time equally in traditional adventuring and (if we so wish) establishing an order or organization (within the context of pre-set structures) to extend our adventuring capability. Even in AD&D there were rules for hirelings, henchmen, and followers with intimations that an AD&D adventure campaign could include sending armies and NPC leaders on missions and even sending hired adventurers to explore, gather information, and do menial adventure work (such as wipe out bandit enclaves). This can be done enjoyably without damaging the story over much.
However, my primary suggestions here will be kept to what I feel can be quickly and capably done in the startling recent events. Let us hope EA is learning that artisans cannot be pressured without causing harm to their output.
1. Reuse the material you couldn't use previously, adapting it to present situations. Characters and dialogue need to be changed. This isn't so hard as it might initially seem. Anyone might be driven to a similar decision as any another person: their reasoning and justification and even method might vary but if it achieves the same general outcome that fits, it will do. Remember not to leave the old dialogue responses and the way the event transpires must be tailored to the deed. It's alot like writing adaptive dialogue options.
2. People keep telling Bioware to have NPC take slightly more realistic responses to dangers. It might be a hard change from ease and accessibility. Keep in mind that commoners won't be able to discern the difference between Blood Magic and normal magic even if there's alot of blood as the source of any wound could be obfuscated or unseen even in normal situations, with and without magic. Let the players know that too. Also should a character use blood magic in front of a specialist in detecting such things, the specialist is not likely to escape far (especially with save games). As to fighting in public, you might want to minimize potential situations where that occurs. It's really not as much a thrill as one would expect except when it's rarely done.
3. You guys are good at building mysterious evidence and establishing secret deeds done over decades. Keep doing that. Explain a few minor details that make people really happy but leave hints that wisdom is often an opinion based on misprision and barely perceived details. Purpose should be cautiously shrouded. Secret deeds should be offered to clue one in on the possibility of events being caused by other secret deeds. Lies that spawn political events should be more frequent and deceptive in the way that Thedas lore might be deceptive.
4. The graphics aren't so heavily important so much as what you do with the graphics. Eventually you will have the power to get Crysis type graphics. Your MMO is gaining momentum. As long as there's no "Hollywood Accounting", you'll get what you need. Hope I'm not being too optimistic.
5. Don't conclude distant troubles too swiftly but please start using more animated cutscenes to portray distant affairs even if we have no influence over them and especially if the reported event and the cutscene portrays a lie -- although there should be sufficient doubt surrounding any distant report. People love a cliffhanger as long as it''s a fictional character that's distant from their present perceptions; we don't want Hawke to be left on a cliff while we're playing DA2 but do put him on a cliff now that he's away (please). Saving someone from a distance might be possible. Have Ferelden put into strong jeopardy while the Wardens and Templars are busy. Torment the players through occasional cutscenes of devestation and destruction far away. This will increase demand for a future game in Ferelden.
6. Sources of new opponents are many. Where and what are the Fex? Possessed animals and plants and statues haven't been done sufficiently. Why not a possessed treasure? Why not a certain mabari hound that's been possessed by a powerful demon and so gathers other mabari to cause trouble? Maybe some mabari want to learn blood magic. The Blood Hound Gang, call them. Can Blood Magic alter the effects of the Taint (such might be hinted elsewhere, no spoiler intended)? If so, tainted animals that are possessed might be as powerful as revenants. Undead tainted griffons have probably been discussed in-house. Finally, sea creatures aren't detailed very well. Might a society of amphibeous "krakens" with hands terminating their tentacles be building in the Dark Roads and starting new monsters based on old animals using a mixture of technology and a different form of shape-shifting magic? Things from beyond the silvered pane of an eluvian might be slithering and oozing into Thedas.
7. Potential for longer dialogues even with non-companion NPC might help give a feeling of depth to the game world. What did Jarvia do in her spare time before my character bloodied her pixels? Something I noticed is that in Ferelden villains don't make friends easily; it's a stereotype of villains throughout shallowly made fictions and overdone. That should be remedied. Just because an NPC is in opposition to the PC party or might be in opposition doesn't mean they shouldn't have free time and friends, penpals even. If you include NPC reactions (like Approval meters in DA2) for major NPC and not just Companions, you should have reason to include more gifts and quests that don't require much journeying.
8. New character classes can be made based on commonly expressed needs. Also renovating old classes (like bards, champions, arcane warriors) could be usefully done. It sounds like a Champion in its role of tactician to discuss plans and tactics, both generalized and specific, before a battle. Hence, outside battle a Champion might be able to buff the group with a bonus in a large area for a long period of time but with a slow timer for re-use or give buffs to individuals, or even increase enemy ability (level) to increase experience point output. Rangers might be able to summon hostile animals and be able to laden areas with summoned nature traps, make inexpensive resources temporarily available for use. Bards should be able to summon a human rogue if rangers are able to summon animals, be able to access a "bardic bank" that permits loans but with an automated pickpocket collection service in cities (someone just picked your pocket and then runs away into the shadows!) with resaonable interest rates which include taking expendable items at normal cost up to the amount owed. Arcane Warriors should be more carefully done this time and quite possibly might be the body of any elven rebellion.
What about Necromancers (Fade Mages) though -- a type of Blood Magic that allows the summoning of demons and shades and such with the possibility of wisps, demons and shades attacking ones party (extra experience, extra trash too).
Retour en haut
