70 réponses à ce sujet

[Direwolf0294]

I'd like an explanation too. In TOR they let you send your not in use companions off on crafting missions. They could do something similar for DA3.

[JWvonGoethe]

dversion wrote...

JWvonGoethe wrote...

Having companions who lead separate lives, away from the party, helps to make this less of an issue. DA2 was a major improvement over DAO in this area - when not adventuring with Hawke, Aveline had her work with the city guard, Anders had his clinic, Varric the Hanged Man and Merrill worked on her eluvian, etc. Whereas in DAO they all presumably stood on the spot at the party camp, waiting for the Warden to get back.

Yeah I liked that but there still was no reason given as to why you couldn't get all your buddies together at any given time. Also I would have liked them to have some sort of idle animation when you went to their 'place' so at least it didn't look like they were just sitting and frowning.

I agree it's still not ideal.

While it could be a good idea to provide one over-arching reason in the narrative as to why party size has to be limited, equally, doing so could just end up feeling contrived. While obviously not everyone would agree, I would consider that going even further with the DA2 idea of companions leading their own lives would be an acceptable, and less risky, solution here. Aveline especially felt like she had her own life going on, and that really helped to provide some context for her absences from the party. More of that would be great.

I think it's a pretty interesting question, though, and if the writers feel up to the challenge of providing further narrative context on the limited party size, then all the best to them. And I agree about idle animations at companion bases -  Merrill just looked so sad, standing in her apartment all day waiting for someone to knock the door as if she had nothing else to do.

Modifié par JWvonGoethe, 04 novembre 2012 - 02:27 .

[JWvonGoethe]

One more point - it also comes down to player agency. In Dragon Age we get to choose which companions join us for each quest. How could that be balanced with companions each having their own specific reasons for being unable to come with you?

[Foolsfolly]

Can I also just add I'd like them to retire the idea that a smaller team would get by unnoticed.

Like even special ops forces work in twelve man teams. 3-4 people just might get past without drawing attention but if they do (they always do) they're significantly out-manned.

I think just having a reason to split the team up, even a simple one like holding a hill/fort/hallway while the rest move forward would be better than the "A small group will get by" line. Which I don't think has appeared in DA yet but has all over ME, KOTOR, Jade Empire, and others.

[Todd23]

Why has every fight with a high dragon been with only 3 friends? ... I will never know.

[Foolsfolly]

Todd23 wrote...

Why has every fight with a high dragon been with only 3 friends? ... I will never know.

That's funny.

But it does make me think about how you could utlize more companions than the active combat companions for these big boss fights. Have an A Team and a B Team.

Like with the High Dragon example they could be supporting the A-Team by keeping the dragon on the ground somehow (magic, ropes, nets, harpoons through the wings) while the A-Team takes its attention and slays it.

Of course this is only even a suggestion on this site because we tend to enjoy the characters. They're good people. Interesting, flawed, and epic. And taking three of them with you into big awesome moments feels... like you're missing something. Being able to pick two teams and assign one a job while you fulfil the other job would allow you to spend more time with the characters.

I know I started to feel guilty in DA:O for not bringing out characters much. I had Leliana, Alistair, and Morrigan and they filled all my roles I needed for gameplay purposes. Sten, Dog, Shale, Wynne, Zevran, and Oghren were fun characters and got little playtime.

Just musing.

[JWvonGoethe]

Foolsfolly wrote...

Can I also just add I'd like them to retire the idea that a smaller team would get by unnoticed.

Like even special ops forces work in twelve man teams. 3-4 people just might get past without drawing attention but if they do (they always do) they're significantly out-manned.

I think just having a reason to split the team up, even a simple one like holding a hill/fort/hallway while the rest move forward would be better than the "A small group will get by" line. Which I don't think has appeared in DA yet but has all over ME, KOTOR, Jade Empire, and others.

DA did use this as a reason once, I think (edit: at least, I'm sure I remember a line in DA:O about how only a certain number of companions could join you, and for stealth reasons.) It was when the Warden had to infiltrate the estate in Denerim, but it was done well. All the companions had to be dressed in incognito armour, and, if I recall rightly, Shale and Sten could not come with you because they would stick out too much. Just proves the DA team think of everything.

But I completely agree with you that it is an unsatisfactory explanation if used outside of very special, and well-handled, occasions. Especially if you are travelling with companions like Shale, who would stick out like a sore thumb even on her own.

Modifié par JWvonGoethe, 04 novembre 2012 - 02:52 .

[fdgvdddvdfdfbdfb]

damn it I entered the thread expecting "Some in game context as to why the ****.."!

Anyway I am disappoint but god yes, I've ranted about why the fucq they turn into pokeballs so many times but no one ever brings it up. I haven't finished ME3 but at least so far they make lame as excuses for a toilet break

[Foolsfolly]

fdgvdddvdfdfbdfb wrote...

damn it I entered the thread expecting "Some in game context as to why the ****.."!

Anyway I am disappoint but god yes, I've ranted about why the fucq they turn into pokeballs so many times but no one ever brings it up. I haven't finished ME3 but at least so far they make lame as excuses for a toilet break

The last mission has an Admiral tell you to take two people into an active war zone with skyscraper tall alien monsters. There's no reason why everyone from the series isn't present during this apocalyptic fight for the survival of all life in the universe.

I imagine the companions you don't bring with you... play cards at the poker table they added on Deck 2?

[TsaiMeLemoni]

Eh, my 'in-game reasoning' is that my PC only wants the people selected to accompany him/her. Everyone else can continue doing whatever it is they do with their lives until the PC decides they can be directly useful.

[fdgvdddvdfdfbdfb]

Foolsfolly wrote...

fdgvdddvdfdfbdfb wrote...

damn it I entered the thread expecting "Some in game context as to why the ****.."!

Anyway I am disappoint but god yes, I've ranted about why the fucq they turn into pokeballs so many times but no one ever brings it up. I haven't finished ME3 but at least so far they make lame as excuses for a toilet break

The last mission has an Admiral tell you to take two people into an active war zone with skyscraper tall alien monsters. There's no reason why everyone from the series isn't present during this apocalyptic fight for the survival of all life in the universe.

I imagine the companions you don't bring with you... play cards at the poker table they added on Deck 2?

sounds legit.
srsly still beats pocket moster companions though. "I choose you Sten!"

[ScarMK]

fdgvdddvdfdfbdfb wrote...

Foolsfolly wrote...

fdgvdddvdfdfbdfb wrote...

damn it I entered the thread expecting "Some in game context as to why the ****.."!

Anyway I am disappoint but god yes, I've ranted about why the fucq they turn into pokeballs so many times but no one ever brings it up. I haven't finished ME3 but at least so far they make lame as excuses for a toilet break

The last mission has an Admiral tell you to take two people into an active war zone with skyscraper tall alien monsters. There's no reason why everyone from the series isn't present during this apocalyptic fight for the survival of all life in the universe.

I imagine the companions you don't bring with you... play cards at the poker table they added on Deck 2?

sounds legit.
srsly still beats pocket moster companions though. "I choose you Sten!"

I just pretended that they were roaming the local town/area instead of sitting at camp.

[ofarrell]

Honestly I think that the game developers just can't come up with a logical explanation to this problem. Nonetheless it would be nice if we did finally get a good explanation on this.

[PsychoBlonde]

dversion wrote...

No, that's not the point. I was asking for a reason in game. I understand the technical reason is "computers." But I was asking for a reason provided in the context of the game.

If this wasn't made a central game mechanic, it would very quickly become EXTREMELY contrived.  Not to say it couldn't be done, but the amount of effort and resources involved to do it consistently across the entire game would be enormous.

Personally, the only way I think they could do something like this *well* would be to just dictate to you at all times which companions are currently in your party.  Granted, I would enjoy this, but I know a lot of other people would NOT.  At ALL.

[Conquerthecity]

 A mostly overlooked game called Binary Domain kinda did this. You'd pick who you wanted on your squad and the two you didn't pick would form a team, take an alternate route, and meetup with you at the destination. I want to say that there were even a couple times where you communicated and maybe had to go help the alternate team, but I only played the game once. Need to go back to it. But anyway, it was really nice knowing they were off fighting while I was doing the same. 

Edit: Wait, I'm tired. That's not quite the same thing at all. But still. At least you knew they weren't just standing there doing nothing. 

Modifié par Mungolian_, 04 novembre 2012 - 07:45 .

[Liamv2]

i want one of the characters to say in the banters how do you think we will fit through one door

[labargegrrrl]

i think they sorta kinda tried this in the legacy dlc if you didn't bring varic with you. he was like, "yeah, you guys all crawl into a hole and die or whatever, and i'll just scout around over here." after leaving your party alone in the intro. it didn't work all that well, imho.

[Terrorize69]

You already have a reason, its given in game. You (The PC) takes it upon themselves to decide when he/she leaves camp/home that they only want to take etc etc with them.

[Rixatrix]

I always imagine it's one of the following:

• Somebody had to keep watch in the camp while everybody left, so they are out of it the next day and don't fight.
• Somebody has to watch our stuff. It may say "backpack," but what it really means is "wagon." (Seriously, I can't be carrying like 10 swords and 20 suits of armor in a bunch of backpacks all over me.)
• Only a couple of people in the party have skills specifically suited to the enemies we'll encounter.
• A small squad is necessarily to draw less attention and 4 people can synergize and move as a team much better than 8.
• Alistair cooked dinner last night and there was only enough Imodium for 4.

Modifié par BlueMoonSeraphim, 04 novembre 2012 - 11:24 .

[L. Han]

It would take a serious magnitude of more work to have more companions at the same time. Think about all the dialog and animations. It's going to take alot of optimization.

But I do agree, I wish I could bring more than 3 companions at the same time. It's also why I loved ME2, in the suicide mission everyone was doing something. Not just sitting in the ship having tea.

I believe DA:O and DA2 had all your companions assisting you in the end battles.

[cindercatz]

This has always been a nagging issue for me.

TinuHawke wrote...

In some cases it would be nice if there was a little meeting before delving into a cave. Some companions might even threaten to leave you, since you never pick them and it's up to you to convince them to stay. It could also be fun if you could send them on different missions (off screen) in the mean time and if you come back from a quest, they'll report back to you.

This. It always bugs me, so I end up head canoning that they're just involved in some other important activity. I'd much rather have an actual in game story reason they're off doing their own thing. Maybe you have a number of off-screen missions that could be undertaken, and certain party members are more suited to one than another, so choosing your group also results in different side missions getting undertaken by whoever you don't take, with different story/dialogue and/or gameplay rewards when you get back.

In some areas, you can actively change out your party members on the fly, so in those areas (like towns/hubs), I'd like to see the party members hanging around somewhere like any NPC, maybe have a comment line, and participate in any group cutscenes and cinematic group dialogues.

I also want to see more instances like the Battle of Denerim and the Suicide Mission in ME2 where the whole group is actively involved, even if you're not in direct control of them.

[dversion]

Rickets wrote...

It would take a serious magnitude of more
work to have more companions at the same time. Think about all the
dialog and animations. It's going to take alot of optimization.

But
I do agree, I wish I could bring more than 3 companions at the same
time. It's also why I loved ME2, in the suicide mission everyone was
doing something. Not just sitting in the ship having tea.

I believe DA:O and DA2 had all your companions assisting you in the end battles.

I didn't really mean that you should take the whole party. I just wanted some reason given as to why I can't bring everyone on a mission.

Modifié par dversion, 04 novembre 2012 - 06:54 .

[burning salaradile]

If it was just explained that the other party members were doing something else while the PC and three friends are off adventuring, it would make things so much easier to accept.

[esper]

Well in da2 they had their own lives. Though I do wonder what Fenris did to pass time, in da:o I imagine that they guarded the camp.