210 réponses à ce sujet

[SpunkyMonkey]

Firstly I'm not interested in arguements about how much you liked/hated DA:2 - for my question to be relevant we all have to accept that some people hated DA:2 and it's their opinions I'm mainly interested in. Others opinions are welcome too of course, but I don't want people questioning why others hate DA:2 - some people do, and for the purpose of this thread you just need to accept that.

As for the question itself, what can DA:3 do that will make you forgive BW for your experience of DA:2 and also forget about it? 

Personally I would like to see:

1) Hawke killed

2) Kirkwall Burned to the Ground

3) Plots/sub-plots based around the strongest elements of DA:O (such as Flemeth)

4) All the differences between Origins combat and DA:2 combat removed (such as button bashing, embaressing ninja style animations etc.)

The thing which I would most like to see is a pivitol role for Morrigan in DA:3. This would largely help me forget about my lame DA:2 experience and help things move on quicker for me too.

I look forward to hearing your suggestions.

Modifié par SpunkyMonkey, 14 décembre 2012 - 10:39 .

[jstme]

I am not DA3 hater, just disliker . However here are my 2 gold coins:
Be being an awesome,interesting game with:
rich world
deep story
cool companions
real RPG focus
better tactical combat
NOT BEING RUSHED.

[DarkKnightHolmes]

simfamSP wrote...

DA2 haters? Well that makes their opinion bias, thus unreliable.

Everyone has a bias opinion, so everyone is unreliable?

Modifié par DarkKnightHolmes, 14 décembre 2012 - 10:50 .

[Dutchess]

Greatly improve upon the writing of antagonistic characters. DA2 didn't want to have a Big Bad, so instead we got a bunch of insane people to deal with throughout the game. Every Act had people in the primary quests that were crazy and that's why you had to fight them. That's just bad.

Resolve the great disappearing act of Hawke in the Warden. So far I just find it annoying, so I'm waiting for a very good reason.

No cliffhanger as an ending.

Answer some of the questions that surround Flemeth. I'm not expecting her entire mystery to be revealed. It's okay not to know everything. But both the Witchhunt DLC and DA2 promised an important role for Flemeth and raised the expectations that you would learn more about her. We didn't. All we found out in DA2 is that she is still alive if we killed her in DAO. She is waved around in front of our noses: "oooooh, look, more mystery!" and then she just flies away and we hear nothing about her for the rest of the game. That's.... cheap.

More opportunities to make (meaningful) choices. Looking back at DA2 I can't recall much plot choices I had to make. Most choices revolve around your companions and ways to influence their lives, but outside of that, Hawke was railroaded into pretty much every action. That the last choice had very, very little effcct did not help either.

Consequences of said choices. I thought Magistrate's Orders was one of the best side quests in DA2. On my first play through I was torn between killing Kelder to prevent him from hurting and killing again, with the wrath of a magistrate as the result, and doing what I was told and bring Kelder back to earn the gratitude of the magistrate. Eventually I decided to kill him. Magistrate stomps off: "you'll regret this". And then.... nothing. No angry magistrate that makes life difficult. Nothing at all! It turned out the whole thing that made me doubt the decision, did not exist and had no effect at all. Bad.

No endless boss fights.

Modifié par renjility, 14 décembre 2012 - 10:56 .

[SpunkyMonkey]

renjility wrote...

Greatly improve upon the writing of antagonistic characters. DA2 didn't want to have a Big Bad, so instead we got a bunch of insane people to deal with throughout the game. Every Act had people in the primary quests that were crazy and that's why you had to fight them. That's just bad.

Resolve the great disappearing act of Hawke in the Warden. So far I just find it annoying, so I'm waiting for a very good reason.

No cliffhanger as an ending.

Answer some of the questions that surround Flemeth. I'm not expecting her entire mystery to be revealed. It's okay not to know everything. But both the Witchhunt DLC and DA2 promised an important role for Flemeth and raised the expectations that you would learn more about her. We didn't. All we found out in DA2 is that she is still alive if we killed her in DAO. She is waved around in front of our noses: "oooooh, look, more mystery!" and then she just flies away and we hear nothing about her for the rest of the game. That's.... cheap.

More opportunities to make (meaningful) choices. Looking back at DA2 I can't recall much plot choices I had to make. Most choices revolve around your companions and ways to influence their lives, but outside of that, Hawke was railroaded into pretty much every action. That the last choice had very, very little effcct did not help either.

Consequences of said choices. I thought Magistrate's Orders was one of the best side quests in DA2. On my first play through I was torn between killing Kelder to prevent him from hurting and killing again, with the wrath of a magistrate as the result, and doing what I was told and bring Kelder back to earn the gratitude of the magistrate. Eventually I decided to kill him. Magistrate stomps off: "you'll regret this". And then.... nothing. No angry magistrate that makes life difficult. Nothing at all! It turned out the whole thing that made me doubt the decision, did not exist and had no effect at all. Bad.

No endless boss fights.

Good suggestions!

[SpunkyMonkey]

simfamSP wrote...

DA2 haters? Well that makes their opinion bias, thus unreliable.

Like I said - just accept it. It's their "bias" opinion I am interested in. Have your own by all means and feel free to share it, but don't slate those who's opinion I am asking for.

[JasonPogo]

No more ninja jumping rogues

Silent protaganist (i know this is a no go but would help alot)

Bring back roll playing. I want to play my character.

[Felya87]

I don't consider myself a hater, but I was very much disappointed with DA2, and if I wasn't so much in love with DA:O to buy it without looking at the forums, just knowing what kind of game was, well, I wouldn't have spend so many money on it.

thinking of DA2 as a big teaser for DA3 or a spin off, and not as a sequel help at not hate it. Still can't start it a second time.

The first thing that would help me with appreciate DA3 would be the return of playable races: I really find too easy to play as a Human in the lore of DA. And why being limited to one race, when there are others? Elf, Dwarf and Kossith...why being force to be the most dull race?!?!

elimination of the icons. I don't need them, if I can read! those icons are the death of the roleplay. Is istinctive to selection the option for the color icon, and not for what the sentence say! and even if you choose without thinking of them, the voice of the protagonist would became completely different, as if the character was bipolar!!!

return of skill. coercion, lockpit, and so on. Those are what make the RPG, is just cheap and sad not have them. If thore aren't there, is not a RPG. just an adventure game with choise of dialogue.

a less frenetic combact woul be great. and less exagerated animations. Sometimes DA2 made me think much more at Final Fantay than at Dragon Age.

crafting and not illimited ingridients would be great. In DA:O have flaws, ok, but in DA2 was ridiculus!!!it was just a shop at home!!!

speak with the merchant: really, why we can't interact with the merchants? it a medieval setting, there is to bargain for the price! the client can't just serve himself!!!

even if is just a fetch quest, please, let thet have some kind of sense, and not just mind-reader Hawke! irreal...

please, please, some answers!!! there are so many unhanswered question in DA2! what are doing the grey wardens? what means Sandal's dream? what happened to the Warden?and why Flemeth just disappeares at the start of the game?

[Islandrockzor]

- Better paraphrasing

- A personal story is all good to me, but please, for the love of god, basing it around the oh-so-great Champion, and questions like: "Hawke, do you mean to be rich, or to be the king?" is silly, the thing about a personal story, by definition, is that that person really doesn't have to be shoehorned into being an important actor the world surrounding him/her.

- Please, please,please make the NPCs stop praising my every action. If they don't question my PC, I will, and then I will start questioning why I am playing at all.

- Varied enviroments, enemies and quest types.

Edit:
- The possibility to turn off the in combat moaning. Every single party member moaning upon every hit/attack, hell, I've been playing with next to no sound so that my neighboors won't think I'm sitting here all evening watching porn.

Modifié par Islandrockzor, 14 décembre 2012 - 01:11 .

[Mystch3vi0us]

So off the bat I am a DA2 hater.  Got my hateraid in bottled form and I just give it away.  Now Bioware has heard the complaints of MANY of their supporters and many of these issues they have said they were going to address and some they have shown that they are addressing specifically.  So DA3 will be better for that already.  Even so I'll go through them all and explain why.

1) Better Story

From my perspective DA2 wasn't a story.  Much like M Knight Shamalamadingdong said that Unbreakable was an experiment in making an act into a movie, DA:2 was an experiment in making a chapter of a story into an entire book.  There was no real beginning, middle, and end.  What we have are random events smashed together.  Now I know a dev explained that a story can be practically anything so for his sake we can amend my statement to be a better and more gratifying story.

2) Stop overusing the same enviornment.

DA2 reused the same 4/5 enviornments to death.  Even levels were exactly the same save maybe a door was open letting you travel down another narrow hallway leading to an area you've already been to.  Now, my amendment to this is that Several games have turned my expectations on their ear by making me play the same enviornment in a different way changing everything all together.  ie. ME1 had me do a level in the citadel at the beginging which was alright but at the end of the game I was back on the citadel traveling vertically.  Blew my mind and I was psyched.  So don't over use levels and when you do use them again find new and interesting ways to make the area different and fun.

3) Companion armor we needz it.

Already addressed And I'm psyched to see the extent of how it is going to be implimented.  But, on the grander scheme don't take away customization options.  For the love of pete don't do it.

4) Every piece of armor isn't EPIC!

One of the things I loved about DA:O prior to the 9xxx expansions was that an armor upgrade could be minimal.  No super awesome bonuses, no super secret name, just iron breastplate.  gave me .25 better armor and I was happy.  giving us super amazing omg armor just helps contribute to power creep which bites us in the rump later on. 

5) Exploration we wantz it.

It occurs to me that I speak too often in the royal we.  It has been brought to my attention many times that I don't think like other people and that I am more often than not an exception to any blanket statement.  That being said We want to be able to explore lush enviornments and new area's.  I don't care how detailed your one city is after 15 hours of staring at the same walls I want out of there. 

6) Bosses

I know there were bosses in DA:2 but, at least to me a boss should be a water cooler topic of conversation.  I loved chatting with my friends about how we took down the Brood Mother.  I loved the feeling of fighting the ogre for the first time and being on the edge of my seat because that MFer was bigger and badder than I was by far.  Hell, killing Flemeth was a chore I adored doing and bragging about.  DA:2 had no boss I cared to mention.  Yes I sold my copy within hours of beating it and I still have my original copy of DA:O sitting in my 360 but yeah. 

7) Better companions

I know I'm pretty much alone on this one but in DA:2 I really hated most of the companions.  Aside from Arvaline and Bethany (who I couldn't keep in my party for long.) every other companion could have burned in a fire and I'd have been just as happy.  Also so I don't loose my hater cred Morrigan can also go in that fire.

8) Dialogue icons.  Toss em.

I've heard dev's justify them and they have said they are here to stay but I hate them soo much.  Something as simple as color coding the txt triggers a response in a players mind as to what they HAVE to choose for a dialogue option.  You can say that the player has the choice to choose whichever option they desire but for many players  (I've seen it happen so often where people look at the coices and explain to me that "clearly that is the good option so I want to be good so I'm choosing the good option."  ~*Redundancy man is redundant*~) you might as well have the options Say something nice, say something mean, or say something snarky.  It wouldn't effect their decision making one bit.

9) Friend/Rival System don't like it.

In theory it's kinda cool.  Get the character to react differently to you based on how much they like or hate you changing your interactions with the world as a result of that.  In practice all I ever saw was get +1 str or +1 sta.  That doesn't interest me.  A simple mechanical difference is a bonus not a goal for a relationship meter imo.

10) button mashing toss it.

There was no reason why I had to hit "X" 500 times every time I engaged an enemy.  Bring back the Auto attack.  I would love to see a move back towards the original combat system, but inspite of all of that BRING BACK AUTO ATTACK!!!!

11) That's alot of blood mages.

The story presented to me was one betting me to understand the plight of the mages.  And how mages were all backed into corners and whipped like little orphan Annie.  And yet for all the ****ing I got in text and cutscenes saying how bad it was for mages EVERY mage and their mother were blood mages.  Steal my freedom will you?  Blood mage.  Kill my dog, blood mage.  Sneeze on me will you?  Blood mage... It got stupid.  I sided with Osiris only to watch him turn into a blood mage after I had beaten down all of the oposition.  FFS. If these numbers are any indication then screw the circles lets just kill them all.  Safer in the long run. 

I could go on for a long time but those are some crucial points that if changed would bring alot more hope.  (and some have already.  so hey.)

PS.

11) Show both sides.

Constantly portraying the Chantry and the Templars as **** Germany because our viewpoint character happens to be a mage (Anders/Morrigan ect.) gets old unless you have someone to balance it out.  The codex and various side quests show that there is a different side and the fact that mages are proven to be a real threat make the other side a valid (though not the only valid) one.  Show it as a valid point of view.  please.

[SpunkyMonkey]

Mystch3vi0us wrote...

So off the bat I am a DA2 hater.  Got my hateraid in bottled form and I just give it away.  Now Bioware has heard the complaints of MANY of their supporters and many of these issues they have said they were going to address and some they have shown that they are addressing specifically.  So DA3 will be better for that already.  Even so I'll go through them all and explain why.

1) Better Story

From my perspective DA2 wasn't a story.  Much like M Knight Shamalamadingdong said that Unbreakable was an experiment in making an act into a movie, DA:2 was an experiment in making a chapter of a story into an entire book.  There was no real beginning, middle, and end.  What we have are random events smashed together.  Now I know a dev explained that a story can be practically anything so for his sake we can amend my statement to be a better and more gratifying story.

2) Stop overusing the same enviornment.

DA2 reused the same 4/5 enviornments to death.  Even levels were exactly the same save maybe a door was open letting you travel down another narrow hallway leading to an area you've already been to.  Now, my amendment to this is that Several games have turned my expectations on their ear by making me play the same enviornment in a different way changing everything all together.  ie. ME1 had me do a level in the citadel at the beginging which was alright but at the end of the game I was back on the citadel traveling vertically.  Blew my mind and I was psyched.  So don't over use levels and when you do use them again find new and interesting ways to make the area different and fun.

3) Companion armor we needz it.

Already addressed And I'm psyched to see the extent of how it is going to be implimented.  But, on the grander scheme don't take away customization options.  For the love of pete don't do it.

4) Every piece of armor isn't EPIC!

One of the things I loved about DA:O prior to the 9xxx expansions was that an armor upgrade could be minimal.  No super awesome bonuses, no super secret name, just iron breastplate.  gave me .25 better armor and I was happy.  giving us super amazing omg armor just helps contribute to power creep which bites us in the rump later on. 

5) Exploration we wantz it.

It occurs to me that I speak too often in the royal we.  It has been brought to my attention many times that I don't think like other people and that I am more often than not an exception to any blanket statement.  That being said We want to be able to explore lush enviornments and new area's.  I don't care how detailed your one city is after 15 hours of staring at the same walls I want out of there. 

6) Bosses

I know there were bosses in DA:2 but, at least to me a boss should be a water cooler topic of conversation.  I loved chatting with my friends about how we took down the Brood Mother.  I loved the feeling of fighting the ogre for the first time and being on the edge of my seat because that MFer was bigger and badder than I was by far.  Hell, killing Flemeth was a chore I adored doing and bragging about.  DA:2 had no boss I cared to mention.  Yes I sold my copy within hours of beating it and I still have my original copy of DA:O sitting in my 360 but yeah. 

7) Better companions

I know I'm pretty much alone on this one but in DA:2 I really hated most of the companions.  Aside from Arvaline and Bethany (who I couldn't keep in my party for long.) every other companion could have burned in a fire and I'd have been just as happy.  Also so I don't loose my hater cred Morrigan can also go in that fire.

8) Dialogue icons.  Toss em.

I've heard dev's justify them and they have said they are here to stay but I hate them soo much.  Something as simple as color coding the txt triggers a response in a players mind as to what they HAVE to choose for a dialogue option.  You can say that the player has the choice to choose whichever option they desire but for many players  (I've seen it happen so often where people look at the coices and explain to me that "clearly that is the good option so I want to be good so I'm choosing the good option."  ~*Redundancy man is redundant*~) you might as well have the options Say something nice, say something mean, or say something snarky.  It wouldn't effect their decision making one bit.

9) Friend/Rival System don't like it.

In theory it's kinda cool.  Get the character to react differently to you based on how much they like or hate you changing your interactions with the world as a result of that.  In practice all I ever saw was get +1 str or +1 sta.  That doesn't interest me.  A simple mechanical difference is a bonus not a goal for a relationship meter imo.

10) button mashing toss it.

There was no reason why I had to hit "X" 500 times every time I engaged an enemy.  Bring back the Auto attack.  I would love to see a move back towards the original combat system, but inspite of all of that BRING BACK AUTO ATTACK!!!!

11) That's alot of blood mages.

The story presented to me was one betting me to understand the plight of the mages.  And how mages were all backed into corners and whipped like little orphan Annie.  And yet for all the ****ing I got in text and cutscenes saying how bad it was for mages EVERY mage and their mother were blood mages.  Steal my freedom will you?  Blood mage.  Kill my dog, blood mage.  Sneeze on me will you?  Blood mage... It got stupid.  I sided with Osiris only to watch him turn into a blood mage after I had beaten down all of the oposition.  FFS. If these numbers are any indication then screw the circles lets just kill them all.  Safer in the long run. 

I could go on for a long time but those are some crucial points that if changed would bring alot more hope.  (and some have already.  so hey.)

PS.

11) Show both sides.

Constantly portraying the Chantry and the Templars as **** Germany because our viewpoint character happens to be a mage (Anders/Morrigan ect.) gets old unless you have someone to balance it out.  The codex and various side quests show that there is a different side and the fact that mages are proven to be a real threat make the other side a valid (though not the only valid) one.  Show it as a valid point of view.  please.

excellent post. Gutted to hear about the return of dialogue icons!  As much an insult to intelligence as it is an annoyance. Pathetic.

[Saibh]

simfamSP wrote...

DA2 haters? Well that makes their opinion bias, thus unreliable.

Hardly more biased than a big fan, though. 

[Bob Garbage]

I dislike DA2 a lot less than I used to, just had a play through for the first time in about a year and enjoyed it. But if they can avoid rehashing locations, slightly more interesting enemies/battles than just waves and waves of of cannon fodder, and get back to a story that interacts with the world a little better. Hawke's story is alright but it took until the DLC to really feel like I cared about the PC or my party. Also, the two DLCs for DA2 were amazing. I wish the ME team was able to come up with content as satisfying.

[Madmoe77]

Bioware should go bold or go home! Not something sudden like Anders blowing up a chantry but something real to the war. Having a mage burned at the stake! Not just any mage but someone important that we know and someone from the old game reacting to it for effect:

1) Morrigan burns at the stake while Alistair begs to put her out.

2) Cullen is stripped for a blood ritual and sacrificed while onlookers are restrained. Some mage character can be crying out for them to stop but being ignored.

3) A Revered Mother closes the doors on a church leaving the citizens outside to suffer a horrible fate. Symbolizing protecting the church at the costs of it's believers.

It is things or events like this that will undoubtedly reinvigorate the story line and give us moments to pause. A game play mechanic can be the instigation of such events and actually participating. Breaking down the church door or rallying the people to abandon the chantry and flee. Dowsing Morrigan or or agreeing to it. Arriving early or too late for Cullen.

So much potential.

Edit: I'm just saying for a game series where people are hacked to death with swords and burned with magic, why can't they expand on the real. People in real life do very horrible things without supernatural reasons. Dragon Age Origins had many a grey moment. DA2 had some tragedy in the familia area. Why not soceity tear it's self apart a bit at the sake of biogotry. This is the true enemy. No demons needed. 

Modifié par Madmoe77, 14 décembre 2012 - 03:39 .

[Sylvanpyxie]

Greater depth of character.

This applies to both major NPCs and Companion characters. Some characters of Dragon Age 2 were largely obsessive in personality, focusing on a single aspect of their life and refusing to divulge from that particular path of belief. This made the characters feel shallow, and given the subjects that they were obsessing over, it also made them extremely moody and repetitive.

Greater consequence to action.

Every action should have a reaction. Whether it's a double cross or all out genocide, my actions should impact the world around me, the characters within it and how those characters view me. If I slaughter a man and begin rubbing his bloody giblets against my skin, I fully expect the characters around me to respond in a negative(or positive) light, depending on the character in question.

General improvement to Companion interactions.

Nothing bothers me more than silent by-standers, but that's what you usually get in Bioware games. Companions will put in a few comments when you make a vital decision, but they'll never give advice on how to approach the situation. If I've just dispatched a slaver ring and discovered several "broken in" slaves are left in the area, I'd like to have the option to hear my companion's ideas on how to deal with them.

Dragon Age 2 did this better than Origins, in my opinion, since you could actually ask companions for their assistance or input, and I'd like to see that trend continue.


I'm sure there's more stuff I would expect/wish from Dragon Age Inquisition, but these are obviously the most important, since they're all I've got at the moment.

Modifié par Sylvanpyxie, 14 décembre 2012 - 03:46 .

[abaris]

1) Scrap the wave system
2) Scrap the monkey combat
3) No exploding lego men unless there's good reason for an enemy to disintegrate
4) No reused environments
5) If there's a conflict between two factions, one including mages, make the other side react to magic talents used.
6) friendly fire at any difficulty
7) Ability to outfit companions to my liking
8) If you fell compelled to tag on MP, don't tie it to the single player campaign, thereby making the SP suffer.
9) A story that can actually be called a story and not some lose chain of events leading to a less than satisfying ending.
10) Choices that matter
11) Sidequests going beyond fetch.

I'm sure I forgot some things, but that should do for starters.

[Fisto The Sexbot]

It can't.

[Pedrak]

In short:

1) Game world should be larger, more vivid and interesting
2) Better combat
3) More focused story

1) was the mortal sin committed by DA2 for me. I honestly can't recall another "major" RPG where the game world felt so asphyctic and lazy.

Combat was over-the-top, flashy, obnoxious, repetitive and with design choices I really didn't like (waves, friendly fire depending on the difficulty).

The approach to the story could have been interesting but the result was jumpy and unfocused. Also, the abrupt ending with no closure whatsoever felt cheap.

The rest of DA2 I can live with, and I have accepted some great DAO features are not coming back (origins, race selection, better dialogue system ).

Some stuff was ok, notably the companions (although I liked DAO's a lot more, I can't say they were badly done), and the friendship/rivalry system.

Modifié par Pedrak, 14 décembre 2012 - 04:31 .

[frankf43]

I enjoyed DA:2 while not as good as DA:O I've still played the game multiple times and will again before DA:I comes out.

[Darth Death]

Better storytelling. I'm not a professional writer by any means, but I do like to write & have a philosophy: Sometimes it can be important to allow the story to tell itself. I'm sure this idea will make no sense to most; there are times it's best (as the author) to relinquish power when conjuring a story. It helps limit "force moments" usually established by the author wanting a particular scene to happen that very well may jeopardize the flow (or consistency) of the story. It can also affect suspension of disbelief.

Can everyone write a story? Yes. Can everyone write a good story? No. Sometimes I realize in order for a story to be good (in my eyes) you've to sacrifice what you desire most (an idea or concept) at the expense for the overall plot. It's like training yourself not to abuse all the power an author possesses.

Modifié par Darth Death, 14 décembre 2012 - 04:45 .

[sunnydxmen]

it can let you kill your companions at any time or use blood magic to force them to do what you want similar to jade empire where you could force your companion to obey you.

[Apl_Juice]

I actually wouldn't mind a DA2 style game as long as they did it better, and incorporated what we liked about DA:O.

DA:O, while pretty great, had a boring narrative. Practically every conversation was a flat, one-on-one talk between the Warden and whoever else, with the very occasional chime-ins by followers. Discussions in DA2 were just that; discussions. And I loved how your group didn't need your permission to hang out or talk to eachother.

When I got to different chapters in DA2, Varric did an amazing job of propping up the setting. While Hawke wasn't perfect, having a personality and voice made the Main Character lively, rather than the silent Warden from DA:O. If you want a story-driven experience with excellent narrative, you can't have a silent protagonist. Even games that did have both silent protags and good narrative (Zelda series comes to mind), the main character was full of emotion. In DA:O, you just stood there and, most of the time you looked like you didn't know what the hell was going on.

I'm in the minority that enjoyed both games. While very different, they both had features which BioWare should take from and incorporate into DA3. I don't want DA:O 2, I want DA3.

[Wifflebottom]

So you want dragon age origins?

[Fast Jimmy]

 My list would be as follows:

Return of playable races
Return of playable orgins
Return of non-voiced protagonist
Removal of dialogue wheel
Removal of paraphrasing if dialogue wheel must return
No Multiplayer component
Not focused on the Mage/Templar War

...<_<


Okay, well, let's start over.

Factions: If there are going to be multiple sides we can choose, I would like a hierarchy structure we can move up in, as well as quests that are specific to these factions. Note, this would not just be Mage/Templar, but also a fighter's guild, or Mage's Circle or a Thieves' Den. Get crazy with it. Even specializations, like a Blood Mage sewing circle or an Assassin's contact with the Crows... the more, the better. The better, the more likely I will be a happy duck.

Stronghold: This has been discussed by the devs as a possibility. If so, AWESOME. A place I can fortify, assign tasks in, have battles over, employ tactics/upgrades in... again, go crazy. The sky is the limit with this, in my opinion. I'd rather have a dozen more shallow options to make it seem like the stronghold has all sorts of things I can tinker with rather than one or two things done a little deeper, but ultimately, if this can be done with all sorts of bells and whistles, I would be ecstatic.

Specializations: It has been said by the devs that they want to make class a big deal. Good. It has also been said that a PC will only be able to choose one specialization and stick with it (like being a Blood Mage, an Arcane Warrior or a Spirit Healer). I like this too - both for gameplay reasons as well as just overall consistency. Making these Specializations tie into the story is also something the devs have mentioned. So basically - keep the course with this line of thinking. It will only lead to a better experience for me, personally.

Story: I don't care if the story is more "epic" or more "personal" or more anything. I just want it to be engaging. When encountering an epic Big Bad, you don't have to worry about "why do I care?," as ensured survival of yourself is always an excuse that can get a character to go along. Always keep that in mind, no matter what type of story you are doing - if you don't have a real reason (or a number or reasons to choose from) to do what you say our character has to be doing, then there is going to be a problem. Remember, this is a story we are seeing through our character's eyes, but we don't feel what our character is told to feel. I didn't care about my family in DA2, but it almost seemed a requirement to do so. Same for the kid in ME3. I'm not a fan of that.

Endings: <sigh> Yes, endings. DA2 was criticized for them, ME3 was crucified for them. And DA:O and ME2 were hailed for them. I don't care about happy, I care about closure. I care about catharsis. DA:O is the model you should look at. Not the "everything is happy" ending, neccessarily, but the structure.

• Big Choice BEFORE the climax (not after) - a la Dark Ritual, not ME3's RBG. The choice was made right before the end game started, then you played the end of the game up to the climax, where that choice came into play. The Big Choice should never BE the ending, a la ME3 or DE:HR. Also, see the ME2 Suicide Mission assignments. Again, Big Choices that determined the flow of the game/ending later on.
• Goodbye scene before the final battle - a la, main gate at Denerim. Everyone says goodbye (even the people coming with you). It gets you pumped, it gets you ready and it gets the mood set. ME3 tried for this, but it felt really flat (I blame the Mission: Earth entire design for this) but it still gets an honorable mention for trying.
• Long fight - battling your way through Denerim is heart pounding. Its multiple maps, multiple locations. It feels like you are taking on an army with the number of enemies you fight. That's rewarding to get through.
• Boss Fight - I'm not a fan of a boss fight for every game, honestly. But a FINAL fight is important. After all, we've been struggling, fighting and beating enemies down the entire game. To divorce the final challenge from that at the end is a little silly. It would be like if at the end of Street Fighter 2, you don't fight M. Bison, but play a game of Tetris. It would feel really weird.
• Climatic Cutscene: you win the final showdown. Boss fight, horde of enemies, game of Tetris... it doesn't matter. You beat the final challenge. Now, we should get a small (SMALL!!!!) cutscene showing the immediate (AND ONLY IMMEDIATE!!!) effects of that. Then, we segue into...
• Player Controlled Discussion: give control back to your player. We just spent the last two hours slugging it out, pressing buttons, maintaining control... if you cut us off from all control now that the day is saved, we'll go into withdrawals. Give us a quick cutscene, then let us control some things again. DA:O boon and victory lap conversations, talking to companions and other important NPCs, did this great (again, didn't need to be ALL that rosey, I'm just advocating for control and conversations). ME1 also did this nicely, where you were able to have a conversation about who you would be choosing as the ambassador and if you saved the Council or not.  As did ME2, where you got to tell TIM to either flip off or that you'd be looking forward to working together again.
•  Wrap Up: Now take away control and give us the "ending" ending. Talk about the future, and the consequneces and the impact we've had. This had better be more than a three minute cutscene, too. I really enjoy Epilogue Slides, personally, as they are cheap and can be used to touch on ALL SORTS of decisions. From a small side quest to a huge impact choice - it can all be addressed, discussed and be varied based on the in-game choices. 

Didn't mean to write an entire thesis on crafting endings, but... then again, the way Bioware has been writing them recently, they may need it. Anyway, if they can deliver on those five categories - factions, stronghold, specializations, story and endings, I'd probably be pretty pumped.

               

Modifié par Fast Jimmy, 14 décembre 2012 - 06:12 .