173 réponses à ce sujet

[Melony]

I absolutely love a game with an amazing story and DAO had it. The characters were sexy, funny, and had depth, as was the story. You had the choice to start out in any number of ways and that decision carried out into the story itself. You really felt the repercussions of your actions. It was like being immersed in a great book where you were the star and when it ended...well, you wanted to play it again. People were so dedicated and attached to the characters that when DAA came about the disappointment could be heard around the world. The romance was gone, as was the immersive story and characters. The elves lost all attractiveness and the fight scenes became redundant, as did EVERY dungeon and cave. Hmm, there's that same campfire I saw in the last cave. I had lost hope until DAI was announced and they had promised to rekindle what was lost on DAA. I never finished it. I found it boring and there is no working towards a romance, relationships, or getting really into its characters, etc. I swear I only adventured with the Grey Warden a couple times and he was asking about our relationship. Huh? At least Alistair made me work for it so that when it happened, Boom! The constant running back and forth to the stronghold and war table are vexing and lack enthusiasm and imagination. I'm not entirely sure what I'm doing half the time. Not sure who they had writing these last games but they NEED DAO's writers to come back for #4. I'm about done giving Bioware chances. Sad and disappointed but hopeful.

[Neverwinter_Knight77]

Ever since DA2, there's been a change at Bioware, and I don't like it.

[GoldenGail3]

Ever since DA2, there's been a change at Bioware, and I don't like it.

I'm not sure whenever i should like DAI or dislike it... But really... I do miss the Origins an awful lot.

[Abyss108]

I prefer Inquisition. I found a lot of the characters in Origins to be rather "meh", which is a terrible way to feel about a character. I liked Morrigan, Shale and Wynne, but a lot of the others I didn't care too much about. Whilst in Inquisition, I either completely love or hate everyone! So Inquisition definitely wins in terms of writing!

 

Gameplay is a bit more complicated. I prefer the tactical camera from Origins, and the wider range of mage abilities, but it was also insanely slow. I'd like something in between for DA4.

[leliana's fan]

I absolutely love a game with an amazing story and DAO had it. The characters were sexy, funny, and had depth, as was the story. You had the choice to start out in any number of ways and that decision carried out into the story itself. You really felt the repercussions of your actions. It was like being immersed in a great book where you were the star and when it ended...well, you wanted to play it again. People were so dedicated and attached to the characters that when DAA came about the disappointment could be heard around the world. The romance was gone, as was the immersive story and characters. The elves lost all attractiveness and the fight scenes became redundant, as did EVERY dungeon and cave. Hmm, there's that same campfire I saw in the last cave. I had lost hope until DAI was announced and they had promised to rekindle what was lost on DAA. I never finished it. I found it boring and there is no working towards a romance, relationships, or getting really into its characters, etc. I swear I only adventured with the Grey Warden a couple times and he was asking about our relationship. Huh? At least Alistair made me work for it so that when it happened, Boom! The constant running back and forth to the stronghold and war table are vexing and lack enthusiasm and imagination. I'm not entirely sure what I'm doing half the time. Not sure who they had writing these last games but they NEED DAO's writers to come back for #4. I'm about done giving Bioware chances. Sad and disappointed but hopeful.

Agree. That's my point.

[Andraste_Reborn]

Not sure who they had writing these last games but they NEED DAO's writers to come back for #4. I'm about done giving Bioware chances. Sad and disappointed but hopeful.

 

Dragon Age 2 and Dragon Age: Inquisition were written by the same people who wrote Dragon Age: Origins, plus a few extra writers for DAI.

 

David Gaider was lead writer on Dragon Age content up until the final DLCs on DAI. Lukas Kristjanson, Mary Kirby and Sheryl Chee worked on all three games. Jennifer Hepler worked on DAO and DA2. They brought on a few more writers for DAI - Patrick Weekes and Sylvia Feketekuty came over from the Mass Effect team, and Brianne Battye was (as far as I know) a new hire. (An intern named Tonia Laird also wrote several quests on DA2, but she didn't stay on for DAI.)

 

We don't know who will be writing DA4 - most of the team has moved across to BioWare's mysterious new IP, which Gaider is now the lead writer for. The only person left in the Dragon Age writer's pit at the moment is Patrick Weekes, who is the new lead as of Trespasser. Presumably they will either move people around or hire more writers as production on DA4 steps up.

 

The only writer who worked on DAO and didn't contribute to the sequels is Jay Turner. He wrote most of Oghren and a bunch of side quests.

[leliana's fan]

Dragon Age 2 and Dragon Age: Inquisition were written by the same people who wrote Dragon Age: Origins, plus a few extra writers for DAI.

 

David Gaider was lead writer on Dragon Age content up until the final DLCs on DAI. Lukas Kristjanson, Mary Kirby and Sheryl Chee worked on all three games. Jennifer Hepler worked on DAO and DA2. They brought on a few more writers for DAI - Patrick Weekes and Sylvia Feketekuty came over from the Mass Effect team, and Brianne Battye was (as far as I know) a new hire. (An intern named Tonia Laird also wrote several quests on DA2, but she didn't stay on for DAI.)

 

The only writer who worked on DAO and didn't contribute to the sequels is Jay Turner. He wrote most of Oghren and a bunch of side quests.

How do you know all this? Are you working for Bioware?

[Andraste_Reborn]

How do you know all this? Are you working for Bioware?

 

I read the credits and the Dragon Age Twitter thread.

[straykat]

I prefer Inquisition. I found a lot of the characters in Origins to be rather "meh", which is a terrible way to feel about a character. I liked Morrigan, Shale and Wynne, but a lot of the others I didn't care too much about. Whilst in Inquisition, I either completely love or hate everyone! So Inquisition definitely wins in terms of writing!

 

Gameplay is a bit more complicated. I prefer the tactical camera from Origins, and the wider range of mage abilities, but it was also insanely slow. I'd like something in between for DA4.

 

Bull is a joke character. And if even I like the Qunari, he's a terrible intro to the Qunari. Especially for new players. The character literally stands for nothing, yet he's the "best of Thedas"? That's the achievement you get when you recruit everyone.. that you recruited the Best. And it's not the case.. I know they can do better than that. And Thedas should be damned if this is the best they have.

 

Cole is interesting and all, but why the **** does an ignorant spirit represent the Inquisition too? Exactly why should they suddenly have some say-so?

 

They built up the Inquisition to be a lot more intriguing and political than this before DAI.. the Seekers by another name really. But now it's just some randomized umbrella organization that stands for literally jack ****. Just an open door to every whimsical element of the universe. And the squad relfects some of this lack of direction. And many possible ideas for the Inquisitor him/herself are just as random as Bull and Cole too. DAO never suffered from this. I could find a hook on any of it's characters and origins. It was better planned and better thought through.

[Abyss108]

Bull is a joke character. And if even I like the Qunari, he's a terrible intro to the Qunari. Especially for new players. The character literally stands for nothing, yet he's the "best of Thedas"? That's the achievement you get when you recruit everyone.. that you recruited the Best. And it's not the case.. I know they can do better than that. And Thedas should be damned if this is the best they have.

 

Cole is interesting and all, but why the **** does an ignorant spirit represent the Inquisition too? Exactly why should they suddenly have some say-so?

 

They built up the Inquisition to be a lot more intriguing and political than this before DAI.. the Seekers by another name really. But now it's just some randomized umbrella organization that stands for literally jack ****. Just an open door to every whimsical element of the universe. And the squad relfects some of this lack of direction. And many possible ideas for the Inquisitor him/herself are just as random as Bull and Cole too. DAO never suffered from this. I could find a hook on any of it's characters and origins.

 

Bull is a perfectly fine character, he's a lot more interesting than most of the Origins cast, and I don't even particularly like the guy. I honestly couldn't care less about how well a character introduces something for new players in the third game in a series. And why should he need to stand for something? He's one of the best mercenary bands out there.

 

Cole doesn't "represent" the Inquisition. Most people don't even realise he exists, so this would be rather difficult! He has no more say than any other soldier you recruit. I'd say having an assassin who can make people forget they exist is rather useful for large organisation with lots of enemies.

 

If you don't want the Inquisition to have those characters, simple solution, don't recruit them. You have a choice, you can make them leave. 

 

It works exactly the same in Origins. 

 

- recruit the crazy lady who thinks she has to help you because God told her through a magic rose bush

- recruit the Qunari warrior who murdered an entire family after talking to him for 5 minutes, with no reason to believe he won't simply do this again

- recruit the assassin based off his word he won't kill you, even though he just tried to do exactly that

- etc

[straykat]

Bull is a perfectly fine character, he's a lot more interesting than most of the Origins cast, and I don't even particularly like the guy. I honestly couldn't care less about how well a character introduces something for new players in the third game in a series. And why should he need to stand for something? He's one of the best mercenary bands out there.

 

Why? Like I said, it's the Inquisition. Not some random military endeavor. Yippee. He's a merc.

 

I know I can NOT recruit people, but I'm looking for an overall story reason why they felt this should be the "squad". What's going on in their minds that makes this the "Best of Thedas"? I need to know.

 

The whole game seemed to have better premises at one point, with all of the political build up in the series before. But DAI tries to be everything to everyone now. It got even less focused when they caved in to people who didn't want another "human only" game and they implemented more race options. I think a lot of things went out of the door with that. DAI then became an excuse to delve into every aspect of the setting, without any rhyme or reason to it.

 

DAO tries to be everything to everyone too, but this fails at that. That's why I say it's better. It was planned that way from the start. Blights and "GREY" Wardens make a compelling springboard for a universalist approach to recruitment and high fantasy. Not an Inquisition or a Chantry crisis or a civil war. And it doesn't give me a compelling  reason why I should suddenly care about the opinions of Mercs or spirits and salvaging everything else under the sun. Those things are nice for a typical band of adventurers, but not as the ****** backbone of society.

[straykat]

Just to add.. what's funny is Sera is the only member you can boot for "not fitting", but she's one of the few that has good reasons. She represents commoners. And people caught in the middle. That's something even the old Inquisition was known for. Even Vivienne, who people hate, represents the Loyalists.. as Fiona does the opposite side.

 

That's all I need from a character. When I see that something is included for shits and giggles though, then I'm annoyed.

[Andraste_Reborn]

Bull isn't just a mercenary, he's also a spy who lets you open diplomatic relations of a sort with the Qun. You see the benefits of that in various War Table operations if you choose to maintain the alliance during his personal quest. IMHO, that's more than enough to justify his presence in the Inquisition's inner circle. (It's not like the Inquisitor or Bull himself know what's going to happen during Trespasser several years down the line.)

[Abyss108]

Why? Like I said, it's the Inquisition. Not some random military endeavor. Yippee. He's a merc.

 

It may as well be as random as possible now though. Like I said, the Inquisition stands for literally nothing.

 

I know I can NOT recruit people, but I'm looking for an overall story reason why they felt this should be the "squad". What's going on in their minds that makes this the "Best of Thedas"? I need to know.

 

The whole game seemed to have better premises at one point, with all of the political build up in the series before. But DAI tries to be everything to everyone now. It got even less focused when they caved in to people who didn't want another "human only" game and they implemented more race options. Instead of DA2, it tries to capture the spirit of DAO.. but it fails at that too. Because it was planned that way from the start. Blights and "GREY" Wardens make a compelling springboard for a universalist approach to recruitment and high fantasy. Not an Inquisition or a Chantry crisis or a civil war. And it doesn't give me a compelling  reason why I should suddenly care about the opinions of Mercs or spirits. They're just there for the lowest common denominator.. for simply "having fun". But I expect a little more from RPGs. As nice as "fun" is.

 

You are a newly formed order who needs more numbers and warriors. Mercs make perfect sense.

 

The Inquisition stands for closing the Breach. Same as the Gray Wardens stand for stopping the Blight. And in the same way, it makes sense to recruit whoever can help with that. The Inquisition doesn't exist to deal with the civil war or the chantry or whatever else. Those are all just people that get in your way. Same way the Wardens don't exist to deal with werewolves, or Feralden politics.

 

How does recruiting a band of mercenaries to help your army make less sense than recruiting an assassin who just tried to murder you based off his word that he won't do it again? 

 

All the characters have reason to be there. Iron Bull is sent as a spy, but he offers his help in combat and his chargers so it's up to you to weigh the risk/benefit to recruiting him. Cole is the embodiment of compassion and the Inquisition is helping the most people so he has reason to want to join. You can decide to recruit him to help people, or because you can see the benefit of an assassin that can make people forget he exists. Vivienne is there to help her own political position, but it helps yours too. Blackwell is trying to redeem himself, and what better way than saving the world. He brings Gray Warden treaties to help you, so that's a pretty good reason to recruit him. 

 

Every single character in Inquisition has a reason to be there, which is much better than Origins. The cast of Origins was completely random, and you had absolutely no reason to recruit most of them. Who finds a giant in a cage, gets told he murdered an entire family for no reason, and then thinks they should release him to fight at their side with no supervision? Who recruits a random church lady who's only explanation for wanting to join is that God told her to? The entire cast of Origins is just there for "shits and giggles" with no explanation.

[vertigomez]

Different strokes for picky folks, I guess. I enjoyed all three games on their own merits.

Also, Alistair made you 'work for it'? If you're female and civil to him, he's totally infatuated from the start.

[straykat]

 

 

You are a newly formed order who needs more numbers and warriors. Mercs make perfect sense.

 

Of course, Mercs make sense.

 

But not as core members... or some cheesy "best of Thedas" achievement. His personality is adrift, and stands for nothing. He doesn't even know what he wants. People like this suck. Exactly why is he put in one of the highest positions of authority.. highly entwined with the Chantry and dealing with nations who don't like the Qunari? He's standing at the table, like it's the Last Supper. That's the symbolism they're going for. He's not simply a "Merc". The guys in the multiplayer qualify better for that.

 

Like I said, shits and giggles. And it only pleases those Bioware fans who go for shits and giggles. Which is a lot on BSN maybe. No real story cohesion to much of it. It's for people who go "Motherfucking horns!!!" Derp derp. That's all it's for.

[Wolven_Soul]

Bull is a perfectly fine character, he's a lot more interesting than most of the Origins cast, and I don't even particularly like the guy. I honestly couldn't care less about how well a character introduces something for new players in the third game in a series. And why should he need to stand for something? He's one of the best mercenary bands out there.

 

Cole doesn't "represent" the Inquisition. Most people don't even realise he exists, so this would be rather difficult! He has no more say than any other soldier you recruit. I'd say having an assassin who can make people forget they exist is rather useful for large organisation with lots of enemies.

 

If you don't want the Inquisition to have those characters, simple solution, don't recruit them. You have a choice, you can make them leave. 

 

It works exactly the same in Origins. 

 

- recruit the crazy lady who thinks she has to help you because God told her through a magic rose bush

- recruit the Qunari warrior who murdered an entire family after talking to him for 5 minutes, with no reason to believe he won't simply do this again

- recruit the assassin based off his word he won't kill you, even though he just tried to do exactly that

- etc

 

Even though I like Bull, and I liked Prinze's performance, he is not that great a character.  They could have done a much better job writing a character who was supposed to be torn between the Qun and his life in Thedas.  The problem with the characters in DA:I is that not that many of them really felt all that fleshed out.  We don't know a lot about their backgrounds except for a few of them.  Whereas in Origins we know a lot about about the history of most of the characters.  Call Leiliana crazy if you like, but you cannot deny that her background is one of the richest of the entire series.  Alistair, Morrigan, Zevran, and Wynn, and Logain all have interesting and detailed backgrounds.  The only ones that were really weak were Ogren and Sten, and well, Ogren was definitely meant to be comic relief.  

[Wolven_Soul]

Bull isn't just a mercenary, he's also a spy who lets you open diplomatic relations of a sort with the Qun. You see the benefits of that in various War Table operations if you choose to maintain the alliance during his personal quest. IMHO, that's more than enough to justify his presence in the Inquisition's inner circle. (It's not like the Inquisitor or Bull himself know what's going to happen during Trespasser several years down the line.)

 

Actually, once his loyalty to the Qun is confirmed, that is when I would start pushing him out of the inner circle.  I don't want him there if the Qunari decides it's time to make their move.

[slimgrin]

Too many people from the Origins team are gone. The sad fact is they have different creative goals now. 

[Abyss108]

Of course, Mercs make sense.

 

But not as core members... or some cheesy "best of Thedas" achievement. His personality is adrift, and stands for nothing. He doesn't even know what he wants. People like this suck. Exactly why is he put in one of the highest positions of authority.. highly entwined with the Chantry and dealing with nations who don't like the Qunari? He's standing at the table, like it's the Last Supper. That's the symbolism they're going for. He's not simply a "Merc". The guys in the multiplayer qualify better for that.

 

Like I said, shits and giggles. And it only pleases those Bioware fans who go for shits and giggles. Which is a lot on BSN maybe. No real story cohesion to much of it. It's for people who go "Motherfucking horns!!!" Derp derp. That's all it's for.

 

At what point did Bull make decisions? A promotional clip made for a trailer which never happens in the game isn't making decisions. He has no authority, he's under your command. I'm not sure where you got the idea that these other characters make decisions for you...

 

And your other argument is the fact they gave a cheesy name to an achievement?? 

 

I've already pointed out how random the cast of Origins is compared to these guys.

 

Even though I like Bull, and I liked Prinze's performance, he is not that great a character.  They could have done a much better job writing a character who was supposed to be torn between the Qun and his life in Thedas.  The problem with the characters in DA:I is that not that many of them really felt all that fleshed out.  We don't know a lot about their backgrounds except for a few of them.  Whereas in Origins we know a lot about about the history of most of the characters.  Call Leiliana crazy if you like, but you cannot deny that her background is one of the richest of the entire series.  Alistair, Morrigan, Zevran, and Wynn, and Logain all have interesting and detailed backgrounds.  The only ones that were really weak were Ogren and Sten, and well, Ogren was definitely meant to be comic relief.  

 

I disagree that these characters were interesting. They had a background, sure. Didn't make me any more interested in them because they were still boring. Inquisition has a much more appealing cast in my opinion.

 

Too many people from the Origins team are gone. The sad fact is they have different creative goals now. 

 

Who exactly do you miss?

[Realmzmaster]

I assume people must not be reading the credits on the games for the writers when they make the assumption that there are different writers. David Gaider has been the lead writer on all three games. Most if not all of the writers for DAO also wrote for DA2 and DAI.

 

Yes I read the credits on all three games. This myth about different writers needs to die.

[slimgrin]

I assume people must not be reading the credits on the games for the writers when they make the assumption that there are different writers. David Gaider has been the lead writer on all three games. Most if not all of the writers for DAO also wrote for DA2 and DAI.

 

Yes I read the credits on all three games. This myth about different writers needs to die.

 

They changed game directors and designers. Not writers. 

[cJohnOne]

I agree with Melony for the most part except that DAI has a lot of Romance options for female characters.  I think Josephine is better for females, Sera, Cullen, Iron Bull, and if elf Solas.  The options are there.

 

DAO is simpler which I like and has great combat etc. like she said.  ha ha.

[Wolven_Soul]

I disagree that these characters were interesting. They had a background, sure. Didn't make me any more interested in them because they were still boring. Inquisition has a much more appealing cast in my opinion.

 

 

 

Well then you and I simply disagree on what interests us, as I found the majority of Inquisition's cast to be fairly dull, despite the fact that I like a good few of them.  But I can separate things that I like and things that I find interesting.  

[Abyss108]

Well then you and I simply disagree on what interests us, as I found the majority of Inquisition's cast to be fairly dull, despite the fact that I like a good few of them.  But I can separate things that I like and things that I find interesting.  

 

You separate things that you like from things that are interesting?    I usually like things specifically because I find them interesting... It's hard to like something boring after all...