208 réponses à ce sujet

[Neras]

Not having played the finished or "final draft" of the game as part of what is expected of the job (and on company time) still seems strange to me. I understand it is Bioware's policy, but it seems a strange company policy, like an author letting something go to print without reading the final proof. 

[AresKeith]

Not having played the finished or "final draft" of the game as part of what is expected of the job (and on company time) still seems strange to me. I understand it is Bioware's policy, but it seems a strange company policy, like an author letting something go to print without reading the final proof. 

 

That's kinda why they have Q&A people right?

[David Gaider]

Not having played the finished or "final draft" of the game as part of what is expected of the job still seems strange to me. I understand it is Bioware's policy, but it seems a strange company policy, like an author letting something go to print without reading the final proof. 

 

As the project goes into the final stages, the possible changes a writer could make become less and less. It's not a matter of just going in and tweaking whatever we don't fancy -- every single thing we write needs to go through a pipeline to be translated and recorded, and that's ignoring changes which would require more work from designers or artists or who knows what.

 

The iteration and bug-fixing process is long, but while that's underway the game is not the game as you understand it. It crashes, not all the content is even present, and chances are it can't even be finished properly -- but we play it, again and again and again while there is still time for us to make those changes. That's where we're looking to see how the whole thing flows together. Once it's beyond that point, however, our hands must come off the throttle, and like I said that's usually when we move onto the next project. Our part is done: we're the first ones in the pool, and the first ones out.

 

Maybe that's hard to understand, I don't know. But the "final" game, the one where all the cinematics are finally in, all the level art has been finalized and the bugs mostly ironed out -- that's one that doesn't come until the last minute, and that's the one you see. I don't play it at that point, though I've tried. I just know everything too well, inside and out. There are no mysteries for me, and the pleasure of seeing everything 100% in its final form just isn't enough. Some of the other writers are different, however, so it's certainly not the same for everyone.

 

If the suggestion is that my not doing so is somehow shirking my duty, however, then I would kindly suggest that person kindly blow it out their rear.

[Neras]

My comment was never meant as a personal attack, or to suggest you were shirking your duty I apologize if it was construed that way.  I did go back to edit it in an attempt to make sure that was completely clear, but it seems you were already replying by that time.

 

I am not part of the video game industry so I do not have that perspective, I can only compare it to the publishing process that I have witnessed. I certainly don't expect that you or anyone on the writing team (or the dev team as a whole) should be required to do such a check on your own time.

 

Thank you for taking time to respond.

[TravisTrevelyan]

Lets take the time to remember that they took three games to really wrap up Flemeths story from introduction on, and having Solas's arc be introduced, and then ended in a short epilogue scene would do away with a myriad of possibilities further down the road. 
Be it a DLC pack like Witch Hunt, or having him play a larger role in the inevitable fourth entry. 

I just really want to see what nefarious things Sandal has gotten into while at the Imperial Court. 
Is it Enchantment?
or not Enchantment? 
More at 11! 

[KaiserShep]

sounds like they cut the good stuff (a longer story) and kept the bad stuff (fetch quests etc.)

classic Bioware

Hold the raven,

If that's classic BioWare, why are people acting like anything's new? XD

[BSpud]

So WHERE ARE THE FRAKKIN INTERVIEWS

 

Been dying to listen to them for days now.

[c0bra951]

With the caveat that you might want to listen to the actual interview before discussing what was said as if you've already heard it, I'll just say that IF (and that's a big "if") such a thing were to be put out as DLC, it would not resemble what was originally at the end of the game at all. If you picture the mentioned epilogue as some involved, epic quest, you would be very mistaken. It was an epilogue, and it was short, and ultimately it was decided that it wasn't worthwhile to pursue in that form. That's why it was cut, and it does not/did not exist as something that could be put elsewhere and sold -- even if we wished to.

 

Ah, OK.  I'm taking that to mean it wouldn't have changed anything substantively anyway.  In that case, having it cut is not nearly as big a deal as I had assumed.

 

I still want Solas back, or at least his stuff. 

[Jaron Oberyn]

Be fair, they WERE something of an afterthought in this game, only added in the final extra year of development.

So that justifies overlooking racial equality when it came to gear or hair options?

 

No, it's in line with DAO's statistics.

It wouldn't be if they actually implemented the Qunari properly. Many of us wanted the badass DA2 warriors, instead we were given shrek in a david bowie suit.

[AresKeith]

So that justifies overlooking racial equality when it came to gear or hair options?

 

It doesn't justify it but at the same time it sorta does since there's only so much they could with the resources given left

[Capone666]

HEY! Everyone, let's not pass judgement before we listen! 

This is a wonderful love letter to all of his work he's done in the series. 

 

Is there anyone that would be interested in transcribing some sections? I'm a radio guy, not my specialty

 

Part 1 is airing tomorrow and will be online next week. Message me if you're interested! 

[acidqueen5426]

Isn't "idea" the referent of the pronoun "it" in that context? And isn't "of Krem" a phrase that modifies the noun "idea"?  I'm not trying to be pedantic here, but "idea" is not a gendered noun.  It's important to call out bigotry when you see it, and I applaud you for having done so, but I'm not 100% sure that this qualifies as an example.

 

That's why I asked for clarification from the OP. And they have clarified that the misgendering was theirs and (from the context of their reply) that they were referring to Krem--so thank you for the pedantry, but it wasn't necessary in this case. 

[acidqueen5426]

That was my mistake

 

OK cool, thank you for clarifying.

[BobZilla84]

I got nothing against cutting content but I f****** hate when the turn around and add it as paid Dlc.

I didnt love Jaws of Hakkon either it was mired with everything that I hated about DAI you now too much Filler and not enough Story.

[stephen_dedalus]

That's why I asked for clarification from the OP. And they have clarified that the misgendering was theirs and (from the context of their reply) that they were referring to Krem--so thank you for the pedantry, but it wasn't necessary in this case. 

There is no misgendering for the OP to have to clarify, and I assume that he or she was simply being generous and gracious to avoid offending you further.  Even if the original quotation from the interview is "ran the idea of Krem by the transgender world during his creation" and the OP transcribed it as "ran the idea of Krem by the transgender world during it's [sic] creation," that's an error in transcription that does not commit the "grossly dehumanising classing of Krem as 'it'". You may have bullied him or her into "clarifying" something because of what you perceived as a misgendering, but that still doesn't mean that the OP's language did what you accused it of doing.  The dehumanization of Krem in the OP's construction exists only if the reader brings it with him or her and puts it there. Please don't misunderstand me: I recognize that the OP's way of phrasing it offended you, and I'm not being dismissive of that.  I'm just trying to point out that regardless of what you saw there or what the poster clarified (people can be wrong about their own writing as well as others'), there was nothing inherently dehumanizing about referring to an "idea" as "it." The real crime here was the apostrophe in "it's."

[Ramification]

What about sidequests more in line with what we had in previous games?
That is to say, fewer "bring flowers here" or "find a string of letters" and more "Help Zerlinda find a future for herself and her child within the possibilities offered by the society of Orzammar" or "Help Redcliff prepare for the battle."
Would it have been possible?

You can play the game and ignore fetch quests. However, some gamers really enjoy those quests and a game system like that is totally separate from developing a main story line with cut scenes. The thing is that people are telling stories in their heads about how games are made that have little or nothing to do with reality. Collection side quests are easy to reproduce once the system is in place and lots of gamers are collectors/completionist who enjoy gathering stuff. This work likely doesn't impact the teams creating cut scenes at all.

If you aren't a fan of collecting quests do the minimum amount. The game still has tons of content without them.

[Ramification]

Hold the raven,
If that's classic BioWare, why are people acting like anything's new? XD

Seems like people want more content and they falsely believe the way to get that is by exaggerating about Bioware's callousness toward fans and accusing them of poor judgment.

Good luck with that.

Devs just aren't like that. They love their games and sink years of their life into their work. Not every creation is perfect no matter how hard we try. When it's not perfect it's almost never a result of a lack of passion or effort.

My level of engagement in DAI was through the roof and that alone speaks to the quality of this game.

[Ramification]

I got nothing against cutting content but I f****** hate when the turn around and add it as paid Dlc.
I didnt love Jaws of Hakkon either it was mired with everything that I hated about DAI you now too much Filler and not enough Story.

I'll never understand why we players complain about DLC if it expands on a game experience we loved. We got our money's worth in DAI. Extending the story would be awesome.

Hating on DLC is so bandwagon-jumping to me. Really, is it such a stretch to be excited about new content that you don't get for free!? BTW we don't get it for free because people work on it for months. It's not kitchen scraps swept into a doggy bag. The first DLC was an actual product with open world and story components.

[JeffZero]

I'll never understand why we players complain about DLC if it expands on a game experience we loved. We got our money's worth in DAI. Extending the story would be awesome.

Hating on DLC is so bandwagon-jumping to me. Really, is it such a stretch to be excited about new content that you don't get for free!? BTW we don't get it for free because people work on it for months. It's not kitchen scraps swept into a doggy bag. The first DLC was an actual product with open world and story components.

 

Unrealistic desire: were BioWare to release seventeen story-driven DLCs for Dragon Age: Inquisition, I would gladly pay for each and every one. With barely contained glee: I would tell all my friends I would not be available for social engagements for a considerable length of time.

 

[Ramification]

Unrealistic desire: were BioWare to release seventeen story-driven DLCs for Dragon Age: Inquisition, I would gladly pay for each and every one. With barely contained glee: I would tell all my friends I would not be available for social engagements for a considerable length of time.

I'm totally with you here JeffZero. I feel like all this DLC bashing causes devs to shy away from great game expansions that many of us would adore. The blind DLC rage is just pointless and poorly considered. Geez, we should form our own opinions based on the content we're given rather than ranting along with all the ragers.

Personally I would love to see Bioware invent a new model where games like this can be episodic. Something more like a series's where you start off with a feature length piece that later breaks down into episodes. Imagine a 20 hour feature length game that afterwards breaks down into high quality episodes. The best comparison I can make here is Battlestar Galactica. This would also give writers and devs time to react to player feedback and perhaps make adjustments. I think about how often writers, directors, and actors talk about a character taking a different turn because of the way they developed over time and longer consideration on the creators side. Also, I can't help but notice that the writing often gets better over time because the creators have more space to develop their ideas. Would love to see something like this in games because then I wouldn't wait 2-3 years to see a character/world I love develop.

[Sah291]

I'm sure it wouldn't, and for me, if I was inclined to play it, one way or the other, it wouldn't matter to me how it was presented. My point was more how it would be received by the BSN, and as we can see reading through this thread, my summation is pretty accurate: "They're charging us for something that should have been in the original game".

 

It'll be perceived that way, whether intentional or not, because of the perception that a lot of game companies are doing this as part of the process to change their business models away from the single purchase boxed product model to the subscription/service/online model, in order to compete with the social media/facebook/mobile market. 

 

It's nothing new of course, it has been happening in all media industries. It hit the music industry a long time ago. But I suppose video games (particularly in the AAA sphere) were more insulated for a longer period of time, as people were still willing to plunk down $60 a pop for a physical game on disc, as well as bandwidth limitations making it less convenient to simply download full length games on demand (compared to a music album or movie). But that has changed. That's not a negative reflection on the writers. But it'll be messy for a while until companies and consumers figure out how to adapt. 

 

Personally I like the episodic/season pass model, as well as DLC. I think this has great potential for serial narratives, as we see in television. 

[Ramification]

You are not alone I would buy good story driven DLC in a heartbeat
Sadly looking at that terrible Jaws of Hakkon DLC and how much it sucked (zero story, fetch quests etc.) I don't have much hope especially since it was made after DA:I

Huh? Zero story? Big exaggerations like this confuse the point you're trying to make.

It wasn't the story I personally wanted but there was definitely a story and it was cool. I think many of us wanted more of the main story but that doesn't mean there was "zero" story. The whole DLC isn't fetch quests.

I have plenty of hope.

[Wulfram]

I didn't feel the lack of a Solas epilogue.

There were other areas that felt like there had been damaging cuts, like the Divine plot, but I have no idea if that's actually try.

[Beomer]

OK, call me a noob but how do I actually check out the interview? The tidbits in the original post are very tantalizing and all, but the hashtags don't lead to any posts that have detailed responses from DG.....

 

Edit:

Also BTW I'm intrigued about DAO originally having been supposed to be narrated by an old Morrigan.

Even more intriguing is what did DA2 originally start out as? A second expansion pack for DAO?

And will we have some of the content that was cut from DAI in the next DA game?