551 réponses à ce sujet

[Ginasue]

I just want to tell the writers of the story how much I have enjoyed the little talking actions that goes on between characters as you travel about.  Never before have I enjoyed a RPG as much as I have this one.  I will stop what action I'm doing, just to sit and listen to whats going on between them.  There are times I get a good laugh at what some of them say to each other.

This is one of the best games I've ever played and I"ve been doing RPG's since back in the 80's.

[Viglin]

It is one of those gems that make this game so great.



Little touches like that, which are not really needed, is what l believe makes a game stand out from the crowd.

[Ginasue]

I agree with you. It's what makes me play this game over and over again.

[Erogath]

To be honest i didnt liked the combat system that much. All i want is to end the fights fast and go to talk with someone! I love the options that you have when you talk with someone even if they dont affect the game that much. It makes me feel like my character is me!

[CptPatch]

It seriously reminds me of Baldur's Gate. I particularly enjoyed when you let the game sit for awhile and didn't input any orders for awhile:



"Ahem."



"Can we go now?"



"Borrrrring."



"Are we going to stand here all day?"



Etc.

[Ginasue]

Sometimes I wish I could have a say in what is said. Instead of what you have a choice to say, that you had a way to say something yourself to the others. Yet we can't because so many people would say things that maybe just aren't right and it would mess up the game

[CptPatch]

Ginasue wrote...
Sometimes I wish I could have a say in what is said. Instead of what you have a choice to say, that you had a way to say something yourself to the others. Yet we can't because so many people would say things that maybe just aren't right and it would mess up the game

In the early days of PC games, Infocom used to dominate the text adventure games.  They, in fact, had quite a few games that employed word recognition.  However, such a system only works as long as the word choice is VERY limited.  Given how complex dialogs have become, designers had to acknowledge that the number of word choices are far too many to be able to anticipate so they can program accordingly.  Instead of pixel-hunting to find a critical item, you would get annoyed with all of the word-hunting to trigger the dialog choice you want (if it even exists).

Think of the dialogs as ordering from a menu in a restaurant: "You can have one selection from Column A; two from Column B; etc."

[kuurankuiskaus]

Those little chats between the companions are wonderful and mostly amusing to no end. I love to see them interact with each other. The chats also reflect the relationships between the companions, while the conversations initiated by player are mostly just between the PC and the companion in question. The party banter is an awesome feature in a group-based RPG.

I thank you all writers for making me crack up so many times during my playthroughs, and pwetty pwease, give us some more party banter in the coming DLCs / expansion!!

[Ginasue]

Cpt, when I first posted that it was wishfull thinking on my part, but yes I remember those games also. Limited choice of what you could or couldn't say.

I love how the games have come a long way.

[HolyRomanCousinConsort]

This is the first game where I liked ALL of the companions. In fact it's really hard to even pick a favorite.

[Ishbo]

I really liked the party banter, but I wish it would affect the cutscenes slightly.



In many occassions Morrigan in my party downright insults the NPC I'm trying to be nice to, it would be great if that had repercussions.

[Titius.Vibius]

David Gaider is a brilliant writer, the story telling is well crafted.

[RangerSG]

I loved the party banter. Alistair and Morrigan are hilarious to listen to. And there's one with Oghren and Wynne that had me rolling. A couple with Alistair and Leliana too are great. And I liked every companion too...well excepting one spoilerific possibility. I'm not sure I would 'like' him.

[Ginasue]

Just listened to one between Wynne and Zevran and you know what's always on his mind.

[DragonRageGT]

I enjoyed it so much that I made 15 movies with them! Feel free to remember good moments and even some unseen ones with my series!

[Wozearly]

I have to agree.



DA:O is not only really immersive, it manages to be immersive and yet make you laugh like hell along the way. That is a genuine achievement in my book. Party banter and the fact that it evolves from previous conversations has some marvellous moments in achieving that, as do many of the camp discussions.



On a different forum, I mentioned that although I'm not by nature an emotional guy, DA:O hit me with a gentle watering of the eyes at some unexpected moments (damn that atmospheric music!) - a couple of times from the dialogue and/or results of actions and once just because of the poignant, melancholy of the tale of the first Ash Warrior - and it was the codex that did it, not the conversation.



At the end of it, I actually felt something close to companionship for my digital companions - they developed interactions not only with me, but with each other. Over the course of the campaign, we went from a bunch of misfits to close companions all bantering with each other, and points where I found myself waving goodbye to people were...well, quite sad in cases.



I'm now going to stop before I get people going "Softieee..." at me.

[Plausible Prejudice]

I agree OP. But why do only ***2*** characters ever converse at once? I have 3 companions with me at all times. Why can't all 3 have a conversation? Or why can't I be involved in the conversation, or at least be able to comment on it?



Also, when we're all in camp, why can't we have group discussions? What's the point of having us all in one place if we must still communicate one at a time? It feels completely unrealistic, and that's disappointing considering this is a BioWare game.



I think BioWare writers need to study the way people actually communicate when in a group, as they made dialogue feel unnatural in Dragon Age. I wanted every conversation, whether it's quest related or just a pithy exchange between companions, to involve everyone in the party.



Why make a party-based, dialogue-heavy game that completely neglects half of its party during dialogue sequences?



I also dislike how many of the player's dialogue "options" produce the same reaction, as if BioWare just threw an extra "red herring" just to give us the illusion of choice.



Besides that, I like the writing, even though it's tremendously derivative.

[RavitalDaniel]

Plausible Prejudice I don't think its a matter of the writers knowing about the way people communicate, I think its more of a technical issue then a writers choice when it comes to the number of characters you can interact with at a time. But I could be wrong who knows maybe DA2 will have it.

[Plausible Prejudice]

RavitalDaniel wrote...

Plausible Prejudice I don't think its a matter of the writers knowing about the way people communicate, I think its more of a technical issue then a writers choice when it comes to the number of characters you can interact with at a time. But I could be wrong who knows maybe DA2 will have it.

You're right. I do enjoy the 2 person dialogue, but it feels awkward when there are 2 other people just twiddling their thumbs with no response or reaction. It's like the party banter was designed for having 2 companions, with no option for the main character to have an opinion. But the game itself gave us 3 companions and the main character is encouraged to voice an opinion and make choices. It feels like there is a contradiction in the development process with regards to party banter. 

But you're right, in that it wasn't the writers' fault for the "linear" party and quest dialogue. It was most likely due to memory and budget limitations. Obviously professional writers are capable of creating 3 or 4 person dialogue sequences. There is a plethora of voice work. However, I'd have appreciated more party and player interaction over raw bulk. 

Edit: (BioWare): I criticize because I enjoyed the random companion banter. I would like it to be improved, of course, as there are times when I was incredibly curious how the third party member would've reacted. I also think it would add an interesting element if the main character was able to comment at the end of the exchange, in an attempt to improve (or reduce) a companions' disposition toward you. 

I have other nitpicks about dialogue. For example, if you bring the Shale to Ostagar, no one seems to bat an eyelash at the walking pillar standing behind me, even when they're describing how great the golems "were." I can have a golem in my party, and ask a dwarf NPC "What's a golem?" and he'll describe one instead of sternly bellowing, "Look behind you, ass. Don't patronize me 'cause I'm short." or something to that effect. For a culture that reveres golems as an ancient guardian, and thought it had lost them forever, they don't seem to care much about seeing one in the flesh, so to speak. 

I'll end it there, as this thread is about party banter, not dialogue in general. 

Modifié par Plausible Prejudice, 07 janvier 2010 - 01:39 .

[craigdolphin]

Actually, I don't think the fact that banter is restricted to only 2 NPC's has anything to do with the number of NPC's envisaged during the game design phase. I think it is more likely dictated by the number of permutations that would be required if three specific charcters were needed in the conversation. It would vastly increse the amount of combinations that would then require banter.

Limiting the banter to 2 npc's means that the total number of permutations that you would need to provide banter for is:

7*6 = 42 permutations (including dog and shale)

If you exapanded banter to include 3 NPC's at a time then the number of permutations that you'd need to provide banter for is:

3 people = 7*6*5 = 210 permutations

Given that you likely already have 3 or 4 different banter conversations for each permutation in the 2-person situation that means you're looking at something like 42*4 =  168 cnversations currently. Expanding this to 3 NPC's and assuming the same number of conversations for each permutation, that would increase the total number of conversations you'd need to provide to something like 840. And the player wouldn't actually encounter any more conversations under this scenario, the only 'improvement' is that the third person is not silent.

That would be my guess, at least. I think it's likely just one of the tradeoffs that the devs made in order to get the game out the door in a reasonable timeframe and at a reasonable cost.

Which isn't to say they couldn't have thrown in some extra 3-way conversations, say to be implemented in the camp setting perhaps. But then they'd run the risk of not treating all the NPC's equally and upsetting some of the fans attached to the 'neglected' npc's. Lord knows I'd be grumpy if they focussed solely on Morrigan/Alistair/Zevren and didn't give Leliana equal or greater air-time.

In any case, I loved the NPC banter too. I would have liked more of it, naturally. Maybe they will consider adding more multi-npc conversations in the camp setting for the sequel (hoping and assuming there will be a sequel).

[Ginasue]

I read that in the new release that will come out they are kepting the banter between the NPC's because it's been such a hit with everyone. I'm so glad that they are. Still say a great writer.