551 réponses à ce sujet

[Xaila]

Wow, interesting story about how you ended up at Bioware. My (limited) knowledge of the gaming industry seems to show that a lot of their 'talent' comes from all across the board.



It's also nice to hear someone say that post-secondary ed isn't the end all and be all of success/getting a job. I'm a real "academic" type myself but it's definitely not for everyone. I'm not complaining though, a background in sociology and anthropology sometimes provides quite a lot of brain fodder to over analyze certain video game settings

[Sagard Le Barbare]

@ RageGT : Thank you very much for the link and for the movies, I watched all those that couldn't risk spoiling something I haven't played yet... I could catch up on a few ones that had started just when I was exiting an area : thanks a lot

@Mr Gaider : Just curious Mr Gaider : did you play The Witcher RPG and or/read Sapkowski's books ?

(and sorry to go slightly off topic, I know this is no "ask your question" thread but on the other hand... it's a brilliant game, with a unique feeling... very different from the "banters" theme we were discussion but not so far away from the dark and mature spirit claimed for Dragon Age : Origins)

@Ginasue : before you stopped playing NWN for DA:O did you ever tried the Aribeth's revival modules ? Henchmen and character romances were already a big part in Neverwinter's success for me... I played that game so long sometimes I can't help finding common points between some companions in NWN and in DA:O

Modifié par Sagard Le Barbare, 10 janvier 2010 - 09:34 .

[JoaoBeraldo]

Since we are on the subject of writing (btw, I love DA:O's dialogues), I was wondering something. Everything that is been developed for the DA IP is centered on Ferelden (Origins, Jorney, RPG, novels, webcomic, etc). While there is lore from other nations here and there (especially where necessary to the plot, like the Imperium and Orlais), did you David (or is Bioware as a whole?) develop all of Thedas and just focus details on Ferelden or if there much more already defined from the rest of Thedas that was not yet revealed?

[Ginasue]

Segard, no I never did, got into the on line game and spent my time there. Within 6 months of joinning the one mod, was made DM and that ended up taken a lot of my time, then got asked to join the CEP Team, and you know how much we did in that.

It's a nice change of pace now for me to be able to just sit back, relax and play a game without worring about anything,

Playing the game again right now, and just found some new banter, with Al, Mor and Dog. on the Bridge there in Lor.

[Sagard Le Barbare]

ok, well if someday you decide to try some solo NWN mod, try these. As a dialog lover I guarantee you will love them



Oh and you're right : bridges seem to be a "special place" for banters... I wonder if some modders made it possible to travel back to Lothering even though it's no longer accessible ? But anyway I will go back to the other triggers I've seen in RageGT's movies ;-)

[Ginasue]

Which is very strange because I just got to go back to Lothering this time.

I did Lothering, went to the party camp, did Warden's Keep, then was able to go back to Lothering. Going on now to get Shale and then will see if Lothering is there. I think if you start the other places you might not get it, but for now, since I'm going to run back and forth between going to see if I can kept going back to Lothering.

[MoSa09]

Ginasue wrote...

Which is very strange because I just got to go back to Lothering this time.
I did Lothering, went to the party camp, did Warden's Keep, then was able to go back to Lothering. Going on now to get Shale and then will see if Lothering is there. I think if you start the other places you might not get it, but for now, since I'm going to run back and forth between going to see if I can kept going back to Lothering.

That's an easy answer: the Blight progresses further north while you continue to play along the main quest. As long as you stay away from that, Lothering will be available. If you pursue the main quest and finish the first location, next time you look on the map you'll see that the Blight has spread and Lothering is gone, so to speak.

[David Gaider]

Sagard Le Barbare wrote...
@Mr Gaider : Just curious Mr Gaider : did you play The Witcher RPG and or/read Sapkowski's books ?

The first time I'd heard of the Witcher was when the folks at CD Projekt sent us an early build to get some feedback. This was well into DA's development, and I thought some of the similarities in tone were interesting. As it is, I liked what little I played, but I've never had the chance to go through the whole thing -- nor have I read the books. Someone gave me the Enhanced Edition of the Witcher for Christmas, however, so I may do so yet.

JoaoBeraldo wrote...
While there is lore from other nations here and there (especially where necessary to the plot, like the Imperium and Orlais), did you David (or is Bioware as a whole?) develop all of Thedas and just focus details on Ferelden or if there much more already defined from the rest of Thedas that was not yet revealed?

I created all of Thedas initially, before we even decided to set DAO in Ferelden. A lot of the detail on Ferelden came about later through collaboration with the other writers, and Mary Kirby is responsible for the lion's share of the Codex -- which involved her taking the bare-bones of many things and expanding on them, so kudos to her for that.

Modifié par David Gaider, 10 janvier 2010 - 09:59 .

[Sagard Le Barbare]

@Ginasue : strange indeed... I could never go back to Lothering after I left there the first time, which I thought was logical as the darkspawn destroyed the place, but it put some side quests I had not finished beyond my reach (same for the wild which is now restrected to Flemeth's hut : I can't understand why I can't explore this area any longer, unlike Lothering there's nothing there that could have completely changed since I first went there maybe it'll be available with the RtO DLC ?)

@Mr Gaider : thanks for your answer, for wathever my advice is worth and providing you get the necessary spare time : play it, it's really worth it

Oh and on something completely different : it's not a question, it's not a request, I know you can't say anything, but I hope from the bottom of my heart that sweet Lely will be the one companion still available in the awakening

(I just had to say it, and if something terrible happens to her in the parts of the game I haven't played yet : people please don't spoil me)

Modifié par Sagard Le Barbare, 10 janvier 2010 - 10:08 .

[Ginasue]

Well in Lothering, I wasn't able to do the trap quest because no one in my party has trap making, On the Wilds, I make sure I do all of them now, before I even leave the area. After as many play thoughs as I've done. That's the first thing I do when there.

The only quests I havn't done, is the ones for the Crows. I'm playing a Rogue this time, a Dalish Rogue so will see if I do them, but I plan on a Romance with Zer instead of Al with my Elf

[AndreaDraco]

David Gaider wrote...
I created all of Thedas initially, before we even decided to set DAO in Ferelden. A lot of the detail on Ferelden came about later through collaboration with the other writers, and Mary Kirby is responsible for the lion's share of the Codex -- which involved her taking the bare-bones of many things and expanding on them, so kudos to her for that.

Well, aside from the Free Marches, and only because I know very little of them, I'd like to visit every nation of Thedas sooner or later. But, if I could pinpoint only a place for my future adventures, that will be the Tevinter Imperium, closely followed by Antiva, which is in turn closely followed by Orlais.

Antiva holds a special place, though, and not only because of Zevran , but also because I'm Italian* and I'd like to see what the writers/developers have borrowed from Italy's history, art and architecture to build their Antiva. And if really Antiva City is like the wonderful Venice, well, more the reason to visit it as soon as possible!

* I was so glad to hear Zev talking in "Italian"/Antivan , even if  I must point out, after having heard this word used in many movies and now in the games that we Italians very, very rarely use "bellissimo/a" when addressing our partners/loved ones (Zevran say "Sì, bellissimo" if I'm not mistaken, which will translate to "Yes, beautiful"). It's more a convention from the old movies, I think, because in reality it's  far more frequent to hear "amore" (which can also be an adjective referred to the person one loves) or "tesoro" (= treasure literally, but more akin to 'honey'), as in "Sì, amore" or "Sì, tesoro"

Modifié par AndreaDraco, 10 janvier 2010 - 10:20 .

[David Gaider]

AndreaDraco wrote...* I was so glad to hear Zev talking in "Italian"/Antivan , even if  I must point out, after having heard this word used in many movies and now in the games that we Italians very, very rarely use "bellissimo/a" when addressing our partners/loved ones (Zevran say "Sì, bellissimo" if I'm not mistaken, which will translate to "Yes, beautiful"). It's more a convention from the old movies, I think, because in reality it's  far more frequent to hear "amore" (which can also be an adjective referred to the person one loves) or "tesoro" (= treasure literally, but more akin to 'honey'), as in "Sì, amore" or "Sì, tesoro"

Well it's pseudo-Italian, so I get to use whatever words I want.

Glad you liked it, though. The localization people had fits with that stuff... particularly the qunari, which was bizarre.

[DragonRageGT]

I really liked the Italian touch on Zev while many people confuse it with spanish. Well, they do it with portuguese also! But that "Mamãe, Mamãe" line is clearly portuguese! I still wonder if Fernando Mello (very brazilian/portuguese name) has something to do with it!

As for the banter and the triggers, you can have the same banter in many different parts of the world, in different playthroughs of course, as long as you keep the right party formation. And trying different ones in multiples runs also works for adding replay value, imho, since there's always something new.

Which leads to my question to BW team. Do you guys have any idea how many runs through the game would it take for someone to see/hear all possible dialogues and responses? (without just reloading over and over)

Man, that's a ton of content we've got there! Every party formation has some particularities that will show in some dialogue cutscenes with NPC's and I'm getting replies from players as completionist as I think I am and they're also impressed by it (and laughing with it of course). Like Oghren "wanting more ladies to share him" or Sten the cookie addict!

If we don't have the right party at that right moment we will miss them! I wonder how many players don't miss a lot since some tend to use always the same party all the time and always use a dialogue sequence that worked that first time!

In time: The Witcher EE is an awesome game and I have many playthroughs on it. Definitely worth a try

[Ginasue]

Rage, that's one reason why when I replay the game, I try out a new group of people. This time, even though I picked up Sten and Leliana, I'm not going to be using her very much. Don't need another rogue.

[Jules8445]

Wow. I know there's a real conversation going on here, so I'm not going to spam too hard core.



I just wanted to say while some of the "big wigs" are on and looking that I find it so refreshing to see developers and writers on the boards and actually replying to things.



I'm new to BioWare games and I have to say that I've never been more impressed with a gaming company. I think you guys have made a fan for life.



Thanks Mr. Gaider, thanks for being so open about your past and answering questions. It's really exciting! I've been reading through, and wish I could think of something worth asking. I'll just leave at saying a huge THANK YOU for some of my new favorite fictional characters. As I'm sure you can see around the boards, it's a wonderful thing to get so attached to pixels that you think they're real people

[warden commander ctd]

i wonder in the dragon age universe will i ever be able to go to qunari homeland and antiva and other places in thedas? really like the story

[_Aine_]

AndreaDraco wrote...
 (Zevran say "Sì, bellissimo" if I'm not mistaken, which will translate to "Yes, beautiful"). It's more a convention from the old movies, I think, because in reality it's  far more frequent to hear "amore" (which can also be an adjective referred to the person one loves) or "tesoro" (= treasure literally, but more akin to 'honey'), as in "Sì, amore" or "Sì, tesoro"

That's moderately disturbing as I am almost positive Zevran did say "Si, amore" in my last playthrough...  it caught me offguard in fact given that we were only friends at this point and an old flame used to say that to me   Had he said   " you siete la donna che piu bella ho visto mai"   I'd have just about lost it :   Despite the obvious italian undertones he reminded me a lot of another man i used to know (though he was from Greece).  Boy, could that man cook

I had to laugh... I was also accepted to Carleton University for the journalism program and couldn't get the student loan because my father took off but they still used his income ( where-ever in the world he went ) against me.  So instead i ended up in Advertising, Creative elsewhere in Ontario learning to write persuasively while being able to break every grammatical rule in the book.   I eventually started to twist my creative bent into online pursuits but then had a real life affair, had a child and TADA!  here I am playing Dragon Age in my off-time.  *grins*  Clearly my dialogue tree choices in the real world took me down a different path from Mr. Gaider. *searches through her file cabinet for old save files* 

I love that the people behind this game are more vocal and visible.  

(Shanti approves +10)

[cmathews03]

David,



Just quickly, out of curiosity: did you write only two Dragon Age: Origins novels ('The Calling' and 'The Stolen Throne')? I just recently purchased both, and wanted to make sure I wasn't missing out on any more from a 'set.'

[TheMadCat]

Yeah those are the only two books out for Dragon Age.

Modifié par TheMadCat, 11 janvier 2010 - 12:03 .

[cmathews03]

TheMadCat wrote...

Yeah those are the only two books out for Dragon Age.

Thanks so much! 

[Metro Kid]

Hi, I'd just like to say how much I've appreciated the story crafting in Dragon Age. The characters are all very flushed out and three dimensional. And the banter and side comments are as numerous as they are entertaining.



Not since the first Knights of the Old Republic game have I had NPCs that I liked and cared about as much as the ones in this game. I love them all, but I think Shale MIGHT be my favorite. He/she is just so amusing, and the lines are delivered in that dry/witty sort of way that makes them even better.



My only compliant is that I can't bring all the party NPCs with me at once and have to keep trying different combination in order to see and hear everything. But I suppose that does add to the replay value. Still when the NPCs are THIS much fun it's all most painful to have to leave so many at "camp".



Anyway, I'd like to thank all of you fantastic writers at Bioware. I only hope the party characters in ME2 and Awakening are this much fun.



Have a good day, and God bless.

[AndreaDraco]

Metro Kid wrote...
Not since the first Knights of the Old Republic game have I had NPCs that I liked and cared about as much as the ones in this game.

I'd add: the Gabriel Knight's trilogy of graphic adventures, the old Quest for Glory (and maybe even a bit of King's Quest) KotOR, the awesome and too-often forgotten Jade Empire, Dragon Age and I've yet to properly play Mass Effect.

Basically, Sierra and BioWare. They know - knew, in Sierra's case - how to write a great story with compelling characters!

[King Killoth]

If Sheryl is still watching this tread this is more for you..



Why was ogeren not given the romance side story with a female pc? I mean he is a durnk letch but still it would have been the more humorus romance of the bunch.He is still my top fav party member. his rude and blunt humor is the bigest draw for me.



and as a side note why stuch a short personal story for oggy. with the others i ahd to runa round and do a bunch of stuff.where as his was very short..no dwarf love

[Ginasue]

King I was just thinking that about if I played a D female, why not end up with a romance between Ogeren and her.

She knows that she will never be Queen with Al.

[Mary Kirby]

King Killoth wrote...

If Sheryl is still watching this tread this is more for you..

Why was ogeren not given the romance side story with a female pc? I mean he is a durnk letch but still it would have been the more humorus romance of the bunch.He is still my top fav party member. his rude and blunt humor is the bigest draw for me.

and as a side note why stuch a short personal story for oggy. with the others i ahd to runa round and do a bunch of stuff.where as his was very short..no dwarf love

Hey, Oghren's heart is not a revolving door.*  He's just spent the last two years trying to rescue his wife, he's going to need more than a few come-hither looks and a pint of that weak surface ale to fall in love again.**

I wrote his personal quest by the way.  It's short because all the Deep Roads are essentially his story already.







*It's actually more like a buffet table.
** It would take three pints of that weak surface ale, and a sodding nice set of buns, in fact.