First off - I am employed as a game developer for a popular story-based online title for the better part of 5 years. I'll keep the identity of the game under wraps out of respect for Bioware as well as my company.
My responsibilities include content and scene development as well as multiplayer development -- so I know the challenges 
Right off the bat - the multiplayer component of DAI feels that it still has a few hallmarks of an incomplete dev build. If you are nodding your head in silence then please know that I feel for you. Deadlines are deadlines and we've all have been there.
Regardless, there are a 3 main things that stand out and what I believe can be built on to improve the user experience greatly.
Multiplayer Characters - The Narrative "Bantering" Issue
While undoubtedly an advertised core feature, the experiment in merging the NPC persona with the user character is working against you in some situations. The feature as is would be well suited for a player controlled unit in a top-down strategy game as it would make sense to have some of its own autonomy. Or, as an computer controlled party member which is pretty much how it is in single player. However, considering the that this is the sole avatar that is controlled by the user, there is a disconnect which lends to the following problems:
- There is a limited body of dialog and context, thus the novelty runs it's course very soon and becomes repetitive. This breaks the immersion if isn't annoying.
- The bantering isn't much in the control of the player, which further unhinges the user's role-play in some situations.
In light of that, consider the following solutions
- Hush Dialog - Things like "look at that" when a ? mark appears on the map is on the right track and is informative. In contrast, The "I once killed a wyvern ... " or "let's get a drink at the tavern ... " while sneaking up on a group of baddies can be a deal breaker in terms of immersion. To help with this, consider some "hush" dialog along the lines "shh.. enemies ahead!" when in range of enemies. This can interrupt and hush the current dialog chain in moments you want silence in an immersive way.
- Player Triggered Responses - Characters sometimes randomly respond to each other's banter. Cool feature. It'd be cooler if I can hit [right/left] on the d-pad after a narrative to hear my character respond in kind - filling in some much needed role-play.
- Banter Toggle - Give the player an option to simply turn it off in the settings.
Party Communication or lack there of - "Here friends!"
Face it, mic use is optional in any game. Please don't lean on it so heavily. Needless to say, there is a problem in PUGs with party members splitting up or secret passage content missed due to miscommunication. Here are some tips.
- "Over Here" - Point of Interest Iconography - Consider having the "over-here" ping display in icon form what the point of interest is. If OHing a secret passage, have the ? mark flash on the minimap or by the user's icon. If it's a loot chest, have a chest icon -- you get the idea. This way, players immediately know what the player is motioning the party to and gives another layer of communication.
- Change "Thank You" / "Retreat" to "Affirmative" / "Negative" The current dialog thank you / retreat options Is somewhat vague if not useless. Why would I thank someone if there is no way to trade or give anything? Instead, consider changing "Thank You" to something like "I approve" with a thumb's up icon flashing above our head. "Retreat" can be overridden by the already present "Over Here" function (while in combat) and perhaps changed to the negative with a thumb's down icon. Essentially you would change the D-Pad layout on the xBox to the following attached diagram:
Loot and Items - Where's the Risk vs Reward or Advancement?
The loot system has a bit of a love-hate relationship with the users. Let's call it what it is; a slot machine. Everyone loves the simple nature of feeding in gold and pulling the chest crank for that elusive chance to win big. In fact, I wouldn't recommend changing that by much as it's proven to be addictive. However, beyond it's surface, it's defying the cardinal rules of good game design.
Essentially, the current game feels limited to playing dungeons only to earn gold to play this slot machine. I might get lucky and get an item in a chest, but there is virtually no scaling or advancement for accomplishing more challenging tasks beyond just getting more pulls at the slot machine. This is simply frustrating and thus please consider the following:
- Scale Dungeon chest rewards with Difficulty - In short, give us a rewarding challenge to aspire to. Have dungeon chests have a chance to drop items within a sensible level range of the dungeon difficulty.
- Reserve "Wow" character dialog when an item is found in chest - A small adjustment, but it pays higher dividends in the immersion experience. Besides, it feels disconnected when a character sounds astonished when they found just a measly 13 gold.
- Consider a bonus chest at successful completion - I was shocked that this wasn't included. It's the tried and true method for paying off players after completing a hard task. Bonus gold/xp is nice, but what about some shiny spoils of war? Have the "FREE" chest tab turn into something like a "SPOILS" tab - which populate with scaled chests generated from successful completions.
- Rarer/Special Tiers of Chests - Probably on the to-do list judging from what we saw in ME3. But it would be nice to have a bit more control on what we are rolling for in the item department.
To conclude, these 3 graphs are the 3 biggest non technical issues I have thought about since I have been playing the game's multiplayer. I hope you consider my feedback and ideas thoughtfully. Either way, I am becoming a big fan of the DA series and I am confident with some finesse, it's multiplayer debut can live up to the standards expected from Bioware.
Thanks!
Retour en haut
