29 réponses à ce sujet

[Elanor]

I hope that we'll be able to talk with our companions whenever and wherever we want like in DAO. I think it was better than DA2 way.

And I woluld like to see a lot of banters, because who doesn't like them.

[ChrisRudson]

I'm not quite sure where I exactly here I read it, but someone(dev) said that we'd be able to do that in some way

[Bob from Accounting]

I would prefer to have as little of such a thing as possible.

[MassivelyEffective0730]

I hope that we'll be able to talk with our companions whenever and wherever we want like in DAO. I think it was better than DA2 way.

And I woluld like to see a lot of banters, because who doesn't like them.

 

So long as we can still have the style of conversations we always had with them as well.

[TurretSyndrome]

It was already confirmed that we'd be able to do that, unless of course we are in an area where idle chatter doesn't make sense.

[MassivelyEffective0730]

I would prefer to have as little of such a thing as possible.

 

You aren't even going to play the game. You have yet to play either DAO or DA2. Saying that something is bad in a game that you have never played (nor will likely ever complete with DAO) doesn't give you a ground to talk from.

[Zered]

A mix of DA: Origins and DA: Awakening would be best imho. You can talk in camp or when you find something interesting on the road.

[KaiserShep]

It was already confirmed that we'd be able to do that, unless of course we are in an area where idle chatter doesn't make sense.

 

Personally I think this is the best approach. One of the little annoying things I found with Origins, at least on console, was that one might accidentally trigger a conversation with a companion when looting fallen enemies or random chests because their names might show up as they position themselves around you. It's even more annoying when the conversation triggered is not your basic Sowhatchawant-Warden? greetings, but rather a progression in the relationship with the character, like Alistair's conversation about what you think of the companions, or something to that effect. So your Warden might be standing there, covered in blood in a creepy ruin, talking about your relationship status.

[Spectre slayer]

I hope that we'll be able to talk with our companions whenever and wherever we want like in DAO. I think it was better than DA2 way.
And I woluld like to see a lot of banters, because who doesn't like them.

We will be able to talk to them when we want unlike DA2, just not everywhere but i'll get to that in little bit.

They did confirm that there will be banter and that we will be able to interact with, it looks like they will also hold their own independent conversations while we're doing something, in the demo while the inquisitor was talking to the captain you could see both Vivienne and Cassandra chatting with each other ahead of him.

I'm not quite sure where I exactly here I read it, but someone(dev) said that we'd be able to do that in some way.

Yeah they did say something along those line's.

It was already confirmed that we'd be able to do that, unless of course we are in an area where idle chatter doesn't make sense.

Not exactlaly, as for the op and the others fortunately or unfortunately depending on your preference we will not be able to chat with them in the world and there isn't even an option to do so while traveling.

However like DAO and DA2 we will be able to talk to them when we meet the specific requirement like when we arrive in RedClife with Alistair or when we got to the gallows with Feneris for the first time or do something quest specific and they have something to say when reaching certain area or doing something specific like those instances I mentioned.

David Gaider

You will be able to speak with your companions at any time. If they don't have a full, cinematic conversation queued up, then you have access to the same kind of "standard" questions that you could ask companions in DAO (which change over time, depending on context).

You will not be able to talk to them anywhere, however. Those conversations are only available in a "safe zone", such as the equivalent of the party camp. Conversations while out on a mission are restricted to banter and mission-specific dialogue (such as Alistair's conversation that pops up before you enter Redcliffe the first time).

There are also no quests provided to alert you that a companion has a major conversation waiting. While those were intended as a convenience feature, some people evidently interpreted that as them being told to go and talk to the companion--and thus they felt they could only talk to a companion when the companion wanted. Which is perception only, sure, but what else is agency but perception? So the conversations are there for the player to discover, if they wish, short of the companion seeking them out on their own.

David Gaider

Just to spare further argument on this point, I'll elaborate regarding the differences between DAO's and DA2's approach to character interaction.

DAO had cinematic conversations that were gated (and by "gated" I mean the requirements to make the conversation trigger) by approval level and certain plot points (if they were important to the character).

By default (meaning if there were no cinematic conversations waiting) they had an "investigate" conversation--which is essentially the series of questions you could ask about their background. Some of those questions were themselves gated by approval level or plot points, so as time went on you might get a few new ones opening up.

Beyond that, DAO had one short personal plot for the companion, generally with a follow-up cinematic conversation.

In comparison, DA2's content was more on the cinematic conversation side. There was no default investigate conversation at all, and those sorts of questions were interspersed throughout their cinematic conversations. The cinematic conversations were, however, forcibly spread throughout the game since they were gated by Act as well as by approval level and plot point-- the purpose being to have the player come to know the follower gradually.

What DA2 had a lot more of was on the personal plot side--of which there were three in the game, and each was larger than the single personal plot in DAO. These were designed to give the player a way to get to know the follower outside of simply asking them questions, and their cinematic conversations were designed to largely work in conjunction with these plots (to represent an ongoing narrative). I'm not certain that everyone (who visits the BSN, anyhow) actually looks on these personal plots as follower interaction, however, and instead sees them as plots like any other plot which just happen to feature the follower. Depends on what they were looking for, probably.

As I mentioned, the cinematic conversations and personal plots in DA2 were alerted to the player through a quest--partly due to convenience, but more because the chore of "checking in" with each follower was more burdensome than in DAO because each follower was behind a separate level load (being spread throughout Kirkwall as they were). That's the only real difference with their mechanical function in comparison to DAO--in DAO, unless the follower initiated dialogue with the player, the player was free to ignore them and would never know they had a new dialogue.

Insofar as which game's approach is better, that's debatable. As I mentioned, some of the differences are largely one of perception. A player that was used to DAO's approach might have missed being able to go to a follower in the camp and run through all their dialogues at once, feeling like they "got to know" a follower after an hour of talking to them in the investigate conversation. They may have gotten the initial cinematic conversation, clicked on the follower again and received their "I have nothing else to tell you right now" bark, and thought "is that it?" There's also the perception of agency, such as being told when it was okay to talk to the follower again rather than being left to discover that on one's own. The experience likely varied depending on what you went in expecting.

Ultimately, the content for followers is being re-shuffled once again--the default investigate dialogue is re-appearing, so there is conversation to be had with a follower even when they don't have a big cinematic scene awaiting, and that comes at the expense of the extra personal plots as was in DA2. Also gone are the alerts, in part because we felt the agency comment was fair and in part because it's no longer necessary (for mechanical reasons)...and also because the player will likely be getting more than enough quests anyhow, they don't need more added onto their list just to go talk to someone (who they may not even wish to talk to, for all we know).

The total amount of content, as in the actual amount of writing that goes into an individual follower and the amount of interaction you have with them over the course of the game, is the same in DAO as in DA2 as it will be in DAI.

David Gaider
It boils down to the amount of hand-holding we engage in. It's always going to be a discussion on our part as to where on the spectrum we should fall--should we allow the player to gorge themselves if they wish, at the expense of pacing and lack of content further down the road, or forcibly gate the content to get better pacing, at the expense of agency? For DAI, we're pulling back the throttle a little to let the player have more content up-front (should they so desire) while still gating things further down the line as it makes sense. Meaning it won't be possible to "blast through" a follower's entire relationship when you first meet them, but neither are you restricted to one short conversation. Ideally this should feel more natural to the player (particularly since there's far more reason to return to the base than just to talk to followers), but that's a balance we'll need to work out over the next year.

http://social.biowar...ndex/17709719/7

David Gaider

No, the main difference between DAO and DA2 conversations with the party members was the lack of random questions-- being able to to ask the character questions about their past or about the lore. The full conversations-- as in the ones that actually progressed their plots or relationships, were gated (mostly by approval level). DA2 had more content on the plot side, as in the one plot per act (as opposed to DAO, which simply had one short plot per party member), though I think the perception of many people is that those plots were simply quests and not really "part" of the character's interactions.

We sort of hit a middle ground in DAI. There are the random questions you can ask the party member, similar to DAO, and we're down to one plot again (which is part of their development arc). They have the full conversations which are primarily gated by event, as mentioned (though these depend on the player seeking them out, usually-- no more missions demanding you seek the party member out). You still cannot talk to them anywhere in the world (there's not even the option to click on them outside of "safe" areas), but there are certain conversations that can initiate elsewhere, depending on whether they're present.

http://social.biowar...ndex/17225147/3

A mix of DA: Origins and DA: Awakening would be best imho. You can talk in camp or when you find something interesting on the road.

That's actually what they're doing but with some additional functions, people took Laidlaws comment as confirmation but what he meant was that it's not content gated and generally not like DA2 when we could only talk to them at certain times after doinquests but after that they don't have anything to say which is something I didn't really like, I prefer the current approach.

Modifié par Spectre slayer, 16 mars 2014 - 03:10 .

[TurretSyndrome]

Personally I think this is the best approach. One of the little annoying things I found with Origins, at least on console, was that one might accidentally trigger a conversation with a companion when looting fallen enemies or random chests because their names might show up as they position themselves around you. It's even more annoying when the conversation triggered is not your basic Sowhatchawant-Warden? greetings, but rather a progression in the relationship with the character, like Alistair's conversation about what you think of the companions, or something to that effect. So your Warden might be standing there, covered in blood in a creepy ruin, talking about your relationship status.

 

Yeah, that happened to me a few times, not as much as it probably did for people who did the romance stuff tho. What's funny is, that is the one time the blank expression on the Warden suits him/her, like "You.. you wanna discuss our relationship in the Dead Trenches? You crazy?".  

 

@Specter Slayer, I already know all that. He said safe zones, which can be cities, camps, fortresses etc. It doesn't mean it's limited to something as minuscule as the party camp.

[Spectre slayer]

@Specter Slayer, I already know all that. He said safe zones, which can be cities, camps, fortresses etc. It doesn't mean it's limited to something as minuscule as the party camp

I didn't say otherwise, our keeps, fortresses are considered secondary party camps where we can talk to them and do other things, amoung other stuff that doesn't apply to this thread. Not sure if that includes cities or not, it sounds more like they will only initiate conversations after we go or do something specific like the other games otherwise it's probably like DA2.

Also I wasn't just addressing you, it was also for other people to see, and give them more information on how on our companion interactions and how it's going to mainly work with the information we have.

[Ash Wind]

Absolutely. Not every meaningful conversation with companions needs to take place at a safe, cozy environment like 'camp.' In books and movies some of the more interesting conversations take place against the backdrop of a larger event. Safe Camp conversations get real old real fast.

[caradoc2000]

Personally I'm not overly concerned about the mechanics of PC/NPC (be they companions or just random passers-by) interaction. I had no problems with either DAO or DA2 style. I am more interested in the actual content and character development of these interactions.

[CybAnt1]

Some of us find it odd and unimmersive that our companions have little to say to us (other than saying our name when we click on them), until we somehow get in their "base"/"home" and have a giant floaty exclamation point over their head.

 

It's much more "natural" (IMHO) to be able to talk to companions anywhere while traveling with them. It should not require a "quest" or a specific spot to talk to them. I don't mind conversations started by clicking on objects (which will then start companion dialogue a la DA:A), it's just that it shouldn't be the only method. 

[Rainbow Wyvern]

I wasn't a huge fan of the way either games did them. I disliked not knowing when my companions had something new to say in Origins, because I'm horrible at pacing conversations and tend to miss stuff when going slowly or blow through romances and friendships so I don't miss stuff.

I also disliked the way DA2 did it. I wanted to talk to my companions more than just once or twice an act. I also disliked that when you had someone in your active party, when to their home basey thing, and clicked on them, you sorta teleport to a different spot in the place, have your convo, teleport back, then they act like the convo totally didn't just happen. 

An in-between would be the best IMO.

[Zelanthair]

I hope that we'll be able to talk with our companions whenever and wherever we want like in DAO. I think it was better than DA2 way.

And I woluld like to see a lot of banters, because who doesn't like them.

 

Podcasts

• These podcasts were recorded by Rated NA (Nerd Appropriate) at Pax 2013. You can download these podcasts free here from Itunes. Each source has the approximate time where the topic is discussed.

Making Your Mark on Dragon Age: (Rated NA File 29)

 

• DA:O had a camp where their party members were all located in one area. DA:I WILL have one central location. [32:00]
  • In the podcast, it seemed like this is a confirmed rumor. 
  • You will also get to talk to your party members beyond them automatically saying hello. 
  • "Like all great things though, you'll start to loop back. But I know that with some people it's just going to Alistair and going 'kiss him kiss him kiss him kiss him kiss him kiss him kiss him THAT'S ALL I NEED kiss him kiss him kiss him kiss him"

 

 

I've covered this topic in my true rumors thread here. It seems confirmed that you will be able to engage your companions in conversation again at your party's 'camp'.

[Sylvius the Mad]

I'm not thrilled with any limitation that's based on the needs of the cinematics. Whatever conversations are available should be available anywhere. I recognise that's not what DAI is doing, but it is the approach I would prefer.

I miss text boxes. We never had these problems when conversations took place in text boxes.

[metatheurgist]

I'm not thrilled with any limitation that's based on the needs of the cinematics. Whatever conversations are available should be available anywhere. I recognise that's not what DAI is doing, but it is the approach I would prefer.

I'm OK with certain conversations having restrictions. I'm not likely to discuss the relationship while my LI's covered in blood spatter or in the middle of the approach to the Broodmother...or it'd be a really awkward conversation. Maybe you could lose influence for trying that as your LI gets a major case of the creeps.

[SerCambria358]

Im hoping this is inspired by actual in-game content

[Sylvius the Mad]

I'm OK with certain conversations having restrictions. I'm not likely to discuss the relationship while my LI's covered in blood spatter or in the middle of the approach to the Broodmother.

Then don't.  These are player-triggered conversations.  If you don't think it's an appropriate time to have the conversation, don't have it then.

 

But why force others not to have it?

[KaiserShep]

I think it works well to have some kind of quick response to non-conversation areas, like "Maybe this isn't the best place to have a chat" or "HERE you want to talk?" or something to that effect. If you're in a dank cave swarming with giant spiders or darkspawn or feral hillbillies playing the banjo it might make sense that the companion may refuse to engage in conversation, or at least not have the same kind of conversation you'd have in the party camp, or a village or whatever.

[Lebanese Dude]

Im hoping this is inspired by actual in-game content

You want to talk to your companions about fisting?

[Mockingword]

Then don't.  These are player-triggered conversations.  If you don't think it's an appropriate time to have the conversation, don't have it then.

 

But why force others not to have it?

But people are forced to converse when they don't want to in DA:O, by a clumsy control system that causes them to accidentally trigger a conversation when they were trying to loot a nearby chest.

 

I don't particularly care when or conversations happen. I was not the least bit bothered in DA2 about having to visit all my companions separately. And I liked being told when they had something important to discuss.

 

Frankly, I'm going to metagame the **** out of DA:I anyway, and I'd rather Bioware eased that process as much as possible.

[Ria Kon]

It's confirmed that you can talk to your companions whenever you are in your bases (probably taken keeps etc.). And that's enough for me. I don't need to chat in the middle of nowhere.
 

Personally I think this is the best approach. One of the little annoying things I found with Origins, at least on console, was that one might accidentally trigger a conversation with a companion when looting fallen enemies or random chests because their names might show up as they position themselves around you. It's even more annoying when the conversation triggered is not your basic Sowhatchawant-Warden? greetings, but rather a progression in the relationship with the character, like Alistair's conversation about what you think of the companions, or something to that effect. So your Warden might be standing there, covered in blood in a creepy ruin, talking about your relationship status.

Yeah, that was pretty annoying. I had to load the game many times, because of that.