38 réponses à ce sujet

[The_Shade]

Dear Bioware, 

 

As a loyal fan to the Dragon Age for almost a decade I would really appreciate it if you spent a moment of 

you're time reading this topic. (Apologies for poor English in advance). 

 

I understand over the years since the great successes of Skyrim and open world games such as Grand 

Theft Auto it has become a popular and successful trend for games such as Dragon Age to follow suit, and believe 

me I don't at all disagree. That said, the Bioware that I knew didn't follow the trend but actually made the trend.

 

Origin stories were a fresh and innovate game design that many of the greatest RPGs of all time didn't bother 

to adopt. Fallout 3, Skyrim, The Witcher and others all used the now common cliché, amnesia inception. In some 

ways similar to the opening of Dragon Age Inquisition. 

 

Before I continue I should not that I for the most part love and enjoy Inquisition (with the exception of the bugs

and glitches here and there). Nevertheless, It wasn't until I replayed Dragon Age Origins that you truly realise 

what you're missing. 

 

An identity. Now I understand that you're character is treated in different ways depending on their race and 

lesser extent whether they are a mage or not. Yet, it doesn't have anywhere near the same emotional or 

development impact as those six origins stories. Before I even made it to Ostagar, I found that either: 

 

- With the exception of you're brother, your entire set of friends and family killed by a former friend precipitating you're

loss of you're family fortune as you are compelled to become a Grey Warden

- An opportunity to become a Grey Warden from a life of forced crime and suffering in a environment where everyone despises

you by rank and not action. 

- Protecting you're friends and family from a group of sadistic and racist humans you wish to abuse you purely for their own personal gain. (or ditch them for your benefit).

 

There are more of these fantastic stories that quite frankly gave some of my best gaming moments before I even killed my first Darkspawn, the main antagonist of the game. By the time I became a Grey Warden my character already had their personal ambitions in check and a history which crucially, I could experience. I wasn't told my a NPC that my family held great parties or that I forced to kill Templars to survive after the events of Dragon Age 2 if I picked a mage as in Inquisition. I could play and overcome those challenges myself. Giving us as players the satisfaction of understanding the motives and history of our character for ourselves. 

 

Furthermore, it allows your amazingly gifted group of story and lore writers to explore more of their incredible diverse world and create key characters from important families or circumstances that some of you're hard working story tellers. 

 

So please, from the bottom of my heart don't make a MMORPG that the majority of 

fans don't want. Make us another open world RPG like Inquisition but this time, where 

we can play as a character from origin to end. 

 

From a faithful fan. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

    

[Teddie Sage]

Yeah, I'm sorta disappointed we didn't meet physical NPCs from our origins. I wish they'll sort this out with a patch or a DLC. Sure, it's fun to have bonus lines here and there, but at the same time, I would've loved more stuff related to our personal backgrounds.

[Average Designer]

Nicely put together. My girlfriend and I agree that they should do more origin stories to make it seem more personal and attached. We also would like it if they actually went back to Dragon Age 1 and 2 way of doing things when talking to NPC's or Party Members. Everytime the protagonist talked to someone it always zoomed in to show the facial features and facial reactions, both of the protagonist and the person being spoke to.

 

We miss that feature in Dragon Age 3 here. Only time you see the faces now is in specially designed cutscenes. Kind of takes the joy out of playing the game sometimes. Here is to hoping that with a patch they will fix the issues and introduce new things.

[In Exile]

I think origin stories are a serious waste of design resorces that add little to the adventure, since if it they're anything like DAO then they're totally disconnected from the main plot and themes of the game and then never followed up on.

That's not to say that I don't think there should be lots of reactive content to your race and background in-game. It should just happen after the main story prologue.

[The_Shade]

I think origin stories are a serious waste of design resorces that add little to the adventure, since if it they're anything like DAO then they're totally disconnected from the main plot and themes of the game and then never followed up on.

That's not to say that I don't think there should be lots of reactive content to your race and background in-game. It should just happen after the main story prologue.

 

Not all of them were disconnected from the main storyline. 

 

Human Noble Origin - Bryce Cousland sends the majority of his military forces to tackle to the Darkspawn threat and subsequently, Arl Howe takes advantage of the situation to seize power and control of the Cousland castle by killing everyone inside. He then proves to be a formidable enemy for the rest of the game and ally of Loghain. In addition, this origin story gives you a personal incentive for you to see him brought to justice. 

 

Dwarf Noble Origin - Bhelen's ambition was what led ultimately led to death of the King of Orzammar. You then have to travel to the deep roads in order to receive the word of a Paragon to then decide who is King. That's pretty important too. 

 

Perhaps that's an improvement they could make in DA4, where all the origin stories are in some way connected to the main plot and have a major role. I'd completely agree with you on the Mage Origin since in comparison to the rest of the origins on offer in terms of general plot it was significantly weaker than the rest and barely had any relevance whatsoever.

[Average Designer]

City Elf Origin and Dalish Elf Origin also had little to do with the main plot of the story from the first game. City Elf only got some closure during the last part of the game dealing with the noble who tried to rape the cousin. Dalish Elf had no closure at all in the game. Dalish Elf did meet up with Zathrian's clan but it didn't really do much beyond them being more friendly to the party.

 

I agree they could do more to make the origins have more relevance in future games if they bring them back. It would make it more personal.

[The_Shade]

City Elf Origin and Dalish Elf Origin also had little to do with the main plot of the story from the first game. City Elf only got some closure during the last part of the game dealing with the noble who tried to rape the cousin. Dalish Elf had no closure at all in the game. Dalish Elf did meet up with Zathrian's clan but it didn't really do much beyond them being more friendly to the party.

 

I agree they could do more to make the origins have more relevance in future games if they bring them back. It would make it more personal.

 

Completely agree. That's a excellent suggestion 

[Kantr]

Yeah, I'm sorta disappointed we didn't meet physical NPCs from our origins. I wish they'll sort this out with a patch or a DLC. Sure, it's fun to have bonus lines here and there, but at the same time, I would've loved more stuff related to our personal backgrounds.

I think that would probably come as a DLC not a patch

[scrutinizer]

Dalish Elf did meet up with Zathrian's clan but it didn't really do much beyond them being more friendly to the party.

Later in the game, Tamlen ambushes your camp as a being twisted by dark-spawn corruption.

 

Agree with the suggestions above.

 

Peace.

[strangerism]

surely they could have done it but decided not to, god knows why

[PrayingMantis]

If we're really going North in the next game, different origins would actually be really interesting and informative, wouldn't they? It would actually make sense to go back to the DA:O roots this time, because we've been in Ferelden since three games. We know Ferelden, Orlais was fun, but nothing special if you leave out the fancy stuff. Tevinter though, is a society ruled by mages (inofficially). That's something we haven't been able to experience so far.

 

Just imagine the game starting in Tevinter:

You could play a human from a rich Tevinter house. We could get introduced to the good and the bad sides and make up our own opinions. That would be soooo interesting, especially since Tevinter has been portrayed as the bad guy since forever.

Dwarfs could be surface dwarfs, even though I'm really missing the Orzammar origins in DA:O.

Elves... I have no idea about the Dalish, but a Tevinter setting could get really interesting with a city elf. The experience could differ a lot depending whether you're a mage or not.

A qunari origins could be either about a Tal-Vashoth, or us becoming a Tal-Vashtoh (maybe unwillingly?). It would be pretty crazy to play as such in Tevinter, but it would make sense for us to end up there. With their war and all that stuff, I mean.

 

The lack of an origins was pretty much the thing I missed the most in DA:I. Reading some small text on the war table is boring and it just appears as this minor, unimportant topic, that you could actually just leave out and forget.

[UmcaraAi]

City Elf Origin and Dalish Elf Origin also had little to do with the main plot of the story from the first game. City Elf only got some closure during the last part of the game dealing with the noble who tried to rape the cousin. Dalish Elf had no closure at all in the game. Dalish Elf did meet up with Zathrian's clan but it didn't really do much beyond them being more friendly to the party.

 

I agree they could do more to make the origins have more relevance in future games if they bring them back. It would make it more personal.

Actually, the dalish is one of the most personal and important origins in my opinion. You deal with an eluvian right in the beginning of the game, and you become infected with the taint really early, you are a survivor.
I agree with the city elf origin not being so important, but it was my favorite. I mean, I was an outsider, just a little and poor elf, I didn't want to become a grey warden, I just wanted to live in peace with my family, and then everything happens, and now I MUST save Ferelden.

WOW. From zero to hero, man hahahah
From an unimportant knife-ear to the Hero of Ferelden. That's pretty deep and amazing, may I say. So...
It is pretty similar with the dwarf commoner origin.

What I'm trying to say is, some origins are more related to the plot, others more personal and deep. ALL of them were amazing. Bioware should remember this.
And sorry for the bad english, I'm brazilian 

[DetcelferVisionary]

I happen to enjoy my origin story in DA:I as it allowed me to define what I had done in the past along the way, both through conversations I had with my comrades but also on the war table.  The shared single player experience everyone enjoys is more important IMO than dividing up those precious resources for individual races.  

[The_Shade]

If we're really going North in the next game, different origins would actually be really interesting and informative, wouldn't they? It would actually make sense to go back to the DA:O roots this time, because we've been in Ferelden since three games. We know Ferelden, Orlais was fun, but nothing special if you leave out the fancy stuff. Tevinter though, is a society ruled by mages (inofficially). That's something we haven't been able to experience so far.

 

Just imagine the game starting in Tevinter:

You could play a human from a rich Tevinter house. We could get introduced to the good and the bad sides and make up our own opinions. That would be soooo interesting, especially since Tevinter has been portrayed as the bad guy since forever.

Dwarfs could be surface dwarfs, even though I'm really missing the Orzammar origins in DA:O.

Elves... I have no idea about the Dalish, but a Tevinter setting could get really interesting with a city elf. The experience could differ a lot depending whether you're a mage or not.

A qunari origins could be either about a Tal-Vashoth, or us becoming a Tal-Vashtoh (maybe unwillingly?). It would be pretty crazy to play as such in Tevinter, but it would make sense for us to end up there. With their war and all that stuff, I mean.

 

The lack of an origins was pretty much the thing I missed the most in DA:I. Reading some small text on the war table is boring and it just appears as this minor, unimportant topic, that you could actually just leave out and forget.

 

Exactly, that's what I love about origins stories. It gives you as the player and possibly as equally exciting for the writer, the chance to form a compelling story from some of the rich lore of Dragon Age on a personally level in a fresh and new setting. 

[The_Shade]

At the very least  I'm hoping in DA4, the back stories involving the characters actually involve the areas we can explore so we can see their home, friends and family etc. Each and every background for a DAI character regardless of race or class takes place in the Free Marches despite the game not allowing us to explore those particular areas.

 

If the next game is set in Tevinter I do hope the characters actually come from Tevinter and we can see where they developed and grew as characters. 

[SunburnedPenguin]

You create the identity yourself. The character creator isn't just to make pretty looking avatars, it gives you the opportunity to create personality by the way the look at the voice. Then you play that character how you would imagine them to be, and you begin to see a personality emerge. Appearance + personality + gender + race + class + sexuality goes a long way to = indentity. The rest you learn in tidbits throughout the game. If you pay attention.

[bEVEsthda]

I think origin stories are a serious waste of design resorces that add little to the adventure, since if it they're anything like DAO then they're totally disconnected from the main plot and themes of the game and then never followed up on.

That's not to say that I don't think there should be . It should just happen after the main story prologue.

 

If you do role-play these games, however, the origins play an extremely important role. It doesn't define the character - you do that yourself. But it sets the mind of your character. The memories, feelings and agendas through which the character filter everything that happens later in the game. They make an immense difference. Truly immense.  (I also wouldn't agree on that DA:O never followed up on them).

 

But then again, I don't care **** about combat mechanics, as long as they're doable (I care a lot more about combat animations, since they impact the tone of the game).

 

To each, his/her own. But even as I see role-playing as having made a measured come-back in DA:I - through better dialogue wheel and greater roleplaying freedom a lá Skyrim - I think the role-playing agenda is what, still, needs most attention for Bioware's new recipe. (except for the PC-UI, of course)

 

I'm also not so sure that it needs to be a serious waste of resources. Particularly not in a more open, simulated - instead of script driven - game world. You'll use environments and mechanics you'd create and develop anyway. Limited mini-origins should be doable economically.

It would add burden on the writers. But "lots of reactive content to your race and background in-game" does that anyway. 

 

(One of my base beliefs, have long been that we won't get the level of detail and diversity, that gamers clearly crave, unless the developers learn to more and more employ procedural methods. That's why I'm happy that Bioware have pushed into the direction where I think the future is, with their semi-open DA:I. And that is also a possible way to let the game world react to the PC.)

[harlekein]

I fully agree. I also don't like how the conversations were not zoomed in on faces. It is what makes a conversation feel more intimate and personal. There's a reason that's how it's done in film and TV. It worked very well in all past Bioware games. It's cool that Bioware chose to experiment, but they should also recognize when it doesn't work out.

 

It's just weird to me how many bad design choices were made and not corrected.

 

And yes, it feels like a single player MMORPG. That's not a good thing.

[XxPrincess(x)ThreatxX]

I don't care much if origin stories come back, they were pretty much pointless & it was obvious the human noble was the "correct" choice seeing as the Warden was treated as a human noble once the main story started apart from an occasional racial comment if playing as a elf/dwarf & slightly different dialogue with characters who were apart of the PC's origin

[Xhaiden]

I don't think we need the full Origins style stories back and DA:I handles it well enough by allowing you to define your past through conversations with other characters. I do however think one simple addition would help immensely:

 

There should be a short Dragon Age Keep Tapestry style intro/voice over for each race/class explaining who you are why you are at the summit. Instead of just that simple paragraph of text explaining your background that many people likely skipped passed.

[Spooky81]

Loved the origin stories, they'd help lay the foundations of how you'd roleplay your character.  Though I wouldn't lose sleep if the origins never came back.  

 

I'd rather settle for well developed and well presented story content, the kind that makes you want to push forward and kick heavy duty arse.  It's more hit and miss with DA:I's main story and side quests.  Also, DA:I pushes you into the role as head of the Inquisition almost right away.  It all happens so fast.

[Ozzy]

Regarding the conversations. The new 'simple conversations' (as they're called in the game) allow for a lot more conversation in the game as per dev comments. The zooming and the like isn't something easily applied, the devs have to set them up by hand essentially and as such, it's more prudent to have the cinematic conversations occur more sparsely and for more important matters while allowing most of the other stuff to be handled by simple conversations. It just allows for more dialogue in game. 

 

Agreed on the Origin stories though.

[Dakota Strider]

Origins definitely contributed to the Role Play part of the CRPG.  Now, if all one cares about is combat, I am sure it would be considered a waste.  DLI's story would have definitely benefited, in my humble opinion, if the game had started out, as our character arrived at the Temple of Sacred Ashes, for the Enclave.  We could have met his/her companions that he/she arrived with.  Have a chance to explore the Temple for a little while, meeting people from other factions.  Make some personal connections with those people, and start to care for some of them....and then lose them all in the explosion.  You wake up, forgetting about the last few minutes, as the DLI story now exists.  But, now you actually feel loss of your friends, you actually have incentive to try to bring justice/revenge against whoever caused all their deaths.  A short little introduction would have changed the entire atmosphere of the entire story, for the better.  As it stands now, the story just seems to lack something, which many people agree, some type of origin story would have improved.

[AlanC9]

Origin stories were a fresh and innovate game design that many of the greatest RPGs of all time didn't bother 
to adopt. Fallout 3, Skyrim, The Witcher and others all used the now common cliché, amnesia inception. In some 
ways similar to the opening of Dragon Age Inquisition.

This isn't very accurate. Amnesia isn't what's going on in Skyrim, for instance. Your PC hasn't forgotten anything; she knows why she's in the cart at the beginning of the game. So do you. Your PC is there for whatever reason you care to make up.

[The_Shade]

This isn't very accurate. Amnesia isn't what's going on in Skyrim, for instance. Your PC hasn't forgotten anything; she knows why she's in the cart at the beginning of the game. So do you. Your PC is there for whatever reason you care to make up.

 

Oops, my bad. The Witcher certainly does but Fallout and Skyrim don't really, as you say. I suppose essence of the point was to show that those types of games don't provide background stories in the similar levels of detail or the manner that origins did