66 réponses à ce sujet

[Bio Addict]

I'll start by saying I enjoy playing Awakening but it feels like it's missing that certain something, and now I"m pretty sure I know what it is.  Simply put, it's missing most of the characters from the original game, allow me to explain:

Dragon Age had some of the best characters ever created for a game if not the best.  The game itself was great in a lot of ways but the characters are would pushed it into masterpiece territory thanks mostly to the large amount of time you got to spend with them and the amount of dialogue they all had.  By the end you felt you had formed some real friendships and, for a not insignificant number of players, a romance as well. 

Enter Awakening, a fun game with some characters who are interesting in their own right but most everybody I cared about is now gone and this is coming from someone who actually liked Oghren.  I understand that many of them couldn't be brought back because of the difficulties of locking down all of the former voice actors but I would've been willing to wait on them, which bring us to the point of my post.  Next time Bioware crafts a masterful "Massivly Single Player Role Playing Game" like only they can and they're looking to do an expansion pack and have two options:
 
Option A) 5 months after the original game with only small connections to said game and most of the characters not returing 

Option 10 months after with everyone who should be back present

I say go with option B.  To use my canon story as an example:

Alistair was still alive but not King so he should've been by my side at the begining helping my rebuild the Order, if you don't want to record a lot of dialogue for something a lot of players will never hear you could just come up with some excuse as to why the King, if you made Al King, was choosing to fight along side the Wardens, I don't think most players would mind.  Zevran should still have been there because he planned to offer his services to the Wardens, dog was a no brainer as he was my dog.  I didn't romance Lelianna but many did so she probably should've been present, wouldn't have been to hard to think up an excuse for her to return to my side, from her Chantry duties in my canon's case. 

Don't get my wrong I'm not saying everyone should be brought back just because they were popular, Morrigan and Sten should still be off doing their own thing, probably Wynn as well.  But if the original games ending led you to believe that certain characters were going to remain in your avatar's company then that's exactly would the expansion should have reflected.

[InvaderErl]

From what I remember Gaider saying way back Awakening did not have a large budget behind it so bringing companions back that not everyone would see was not financially feasible.

[Booglarize]

InvaderErl wrote...

From what I remember Gaider saying way back Awakening did not have a large budget behind it so bringing companions back that not everyone would see was not financially feasible.

In that case, the game should have been released as a stand-alone, and not as something that specifically purported to continue what Origins started. There were plenty of ways to avoid the disappointing aspects of the game, and they really have no one but themselves to blame for painting themselves into that corner. 

[Venatio]

Booglarize wrote...

InvaderErl wrote...

From what I remember Gaider saying way back Awakening did not have a large budget behind it so bringing companions back that not everyone would see was not financially feasible.

In that case, the game should have been released as a stand-alone, and not as something that specifically purported to continue what Origins started. There were plenty of ways to avoid the disappointing aspects of the game, and they really have no one but themselves to blame for painting themselves into that corner. 

Agreed.

When the trailers for the game promised "The 2009 RPG of the Year (Dragon Age).... Just got better!" I was actually thinking they meant Dragon Age and that they had improved it in some way. Read behind the lines next time?

Modifié par Venatio, 20 mars 2010 - 05:30 .

[Nightfish103]

I'm not getting this budget thing... DA:O was a *huge* success and it's not like they had to do anything fancy like build a game engine for DA:A... So yea... every Dollar spent could be spent on actual content. And there should be a few dollars around... Can't tell me that all goes into the KOTOR MMO. So, why can't you shell out a few grand for the voice acting? You've done that in DA:O as well, where I could just kill people instead of recruiting them. If I kill them, there's also a lot of dialog that I'm potentially not hearing.

Oh yea... as for that trailer... Just ... -.-

Modifié par Nightfish103, 20 mars 2010 - 05:29 .

[Brockololly]

Yeah I think that the shorter nature of an expansion pack doesn't necessarily enable you to develop as deep of a relationship with brand new characters. One reason I think Throne of Bhaal was great was that you kept most of your old party and even in the case of the new character there, he was connected to your past. So in a way, my PC being a Cousland I felt a stronger connection to Nathaniel even though he was a brand new character. Whereas someone like Sigrun or Anders, as much as I liked them, they ended up feeling underdeveloped.



I guess it comes down to a matter of continuity- when you can potentially kill off just about every party member in DAO, its hard to expect them to come back in a meaningful way unless they adopt a canon going forward.

[JackieP72184]

I'm hoping that the other character's are "on vacation" while these events are going on. Hopefully, you'll be able to import your character into DA:O2, you tell them about what went down when they were gone and you all go on your merry way to your next adventure.

[Booglarize]

  I wouldn't really mind a canon that much to be honest, if it meant not discarding great characters with obviously unfinished stories.

I mean, if I recall correctly, in the original Baldur's Gate you could potentially kill off people like Viconia etc. but you'd encounter them in the sequel regardless (though admittedly this was probably more due to the fact that the game just didn't track those variables). Throw in a little "But I thought you were dead, how could this be?!" conversation to create some plot justification, and that would be good enough for me. 

[Yrkoon]

Nightfish103 wrote...

I'm not getting this budget thing... DA:O was a *huge* success and it's not like they had to do anything fancy like build a game engine for DA:A... So yea... every Dollar spent could be spent on actual content. And there should be a few dollars around... Can't tell me that all goes into the KOTOR MMO. So, why can't you shell out a few grand for the voice acting? You've done that in DA:O as well, where I could just kill people instead of recruiting them. If I kill them, there's also a lot of dialog that I'm potentially not hearing.

Oh yea... as for that trailer... Just ... -.-

Not to mention the fact that they could have  passed along the extra  development costs by charging us a little more for this expansion...like say,  $40, instead of the traditional 29.99

Oh wait.  That's exactly what they did.

Hmm... nope.  I'm not buying the  "low budget" thing either.    It  certainly doesn't explain why they had to "retire" everyone but friggin Oghren, or scrap the personal conversation system almost entirely like they did.

[Venatio]

Yrkoon wrote...

Not to mention the fact that they could have  passed along the extra  development costs by charging us a little more for this expansion...like say,  $40, instead of the traditional 29.99

Oh wait.  That's exactly what they did.

Hmm... nope.  I'm not buying the  "low budget" thing either.    It  certainly doesn't explain why they had to "retire" everyone but friggin Oghren, or scrap the personal conversation system almost entirely like they did.

I think what your most angry about, and I'm not trying to judge, is that Bioware tried to pull a few stunts that are, quite frankly, unheard of for such a respected name. An overpriced and overhyped DLC with a myriad of technical issues, I wouldnt have believed it of them if someone had told me a year ago.

Modifié par Venatio, 20 mars 2010 - 05:56 .

[Behindyounow]

Awakening was in development longer than 5 months. Origins would have been released around this time last year, but got delayed to release it on consoles. Whilst they were porting it, the x-pac was also being made.

[PatT2]

I agree with whomever said that they could have just been on vacation, or doing something. The time span covered is short enough that you could be doing this while they are sorting out some personal things. the only one that is off, that I can't really roleplay away, is the Alistair character. Okay, if you made him king, fine. If Anora is queen, also fine. But if he was going to stick with you...where is he? Couldn't they at least tell you ...hey he has to go sort out thus and such, and will be back (and all this tuff happens in the meantime.)



I guess it's just a bit of loose ends in story telling (loose ends pretty easily wrapped up, imo).



But it sure isn't a game breaker. I had a lot of fun with it. I like the new dwarf char and I really like a few of the others...so hey. It's a game. It's entertaining. It worked. If I want perfection, I guess I'll have to start writing.

[Crysee]

i loved the game. i have no complaints.

[fthg42]

I wouldn't have minded the absence of characters from Origins as much if it didn't seem as if they had vanished from the face of Thedas in Awakening. I didn't make Alistair king, so he didn't even exist for me in my game, let alone in a 30-second cameo in the beginning. Even if they weren't able to be alongside the player character or make a physical appearance, some sort of nod or acknowledgment to their current whereabouts would've gone a long way to at least maintaining some semblance of continuity. I would've even preferred a throwaway line in the Codex saying they were off somewhere else on business to the nothing that we got in the expansion.

[Satanic Hamster]

InvaderErl wrote...

From what I remember Gaider saying way back Awakening did not have a large budget behind it so bringing companions back that not everyone would see was not financially feasible.

Then it shouldn't have hard a large price tag...  HAH!

Tee hee.

_________________
Currently listening to Albert King's Wednesday Night in San Francisco

[Venatio]

Satanic Hamster wrote...

InvaderErl wrote...

From what I remember Gaider saying way back Awakening did not have a large budget behind it so bringing companions back that not everyone would see was not financially feasible.

Then it shouldn't have hard a large price tag...  HAH!

Tee hee.

_________________
Currently listening to Albert King's Wednesday Night in San Francisco

They never did explain the price tag, and I heard from a girl that worked at Gamestop that they had even contemplated pricing it at $50 but they lowered it to $40 because even they saw it as overpriced. Where they trying to make up for a profit loss or where they banking on faithful fans paying whatever the price was? 

[Loerwyn]

Nightfish103 wrote...

I'm not getting this budget thing... DA:O was a *huge* success and it's not like they had to do anything fancy like build a game engine for DA:A... So yea... every Dollar spent could be spent on actual content. And there should be a few dollars around... Can't tell me that all goes into the KOTOR MMO. So, why can't you shell out a few grand for the voice acting? You've done that in DA:O as well, where I could just kill people instead of recruiting them. If I kill them, there's also a lot of dialog that I'm potentially not hearing.

Oh yea... as for that trailer... Just ... -.-

I'd just like to point out that it's been stated by BioWare that Awakening was in development for at least a year, so by the time Dragon Age finally released (it was delayed anyway), Awakening would have been over halfway through it's development, so they didn't have DA:O's profits for the most part.

[Kenshen]

The problem with squels and games like this is there is so many possible endings in the first that it would be hell to try and set up the xpac with all the group mates from the first. I believe everyone can die except Morrigan who runs off and dog to which I am not sure why he wasn't with our PC.

Really I wasn't upset that those I traveled with before are not with me now. I mean we just completed the most epic of quests and saved the world. That doesn't mean the whole group is to stay together forever. I am probably wrong but it sounded to me that the VA for Anders is the same that did Alistair. Least they sound a lot alike and do kinda share some of the same facial features.

Modifié par aryon69, 20 mars 2010 - 07:17 .

[KennethAFTopp]

I am more perplexed aboat Dog, it seems to me, they could have easily implemented Dog again no prob, I mean just voice interaction with the new characters, maybe a new talent line and use the same barks and animations as in DA:O.

[blacqout]

I think that i'm actually in love with Leliana. I've had feelings towards other video game characters, like Mad Moxxi and Princess Peach, but that was just lust. With Leliana it was different. We had a connection.



It's a shame that i'm such a selfless person. That i'm such a hero. I sacrificed my life to save Fereldon, and now i will never get to be with Leliana again.



Ever since i finished the game i've been kind of sad, and have spent a lot time listening to 30 seconds to Mars.

[Volourn]

A is just as good if not better than O. It's an expansion though to expect it to be the equivelant of a full game is silly. It has improvfed on many aspects of DA. Most of the joinables in the expansion are superior than the majority of the originals. It says a lot that th worst companion in A is a holder from O. LMAO

[Nyaore]

I think another issue for the expansion is that it was riding on the heels of Mass Effect 2's release, and inevitably would be held to many of the expectations that that other game also upheld in addition to the ones that the first Dragon Age set forth. Mass Effect 2 showed us that you don't necessarily need to give a character a true cameo in order for the game to recognize your previous interactions with them - and I think that subconsciously a lot of people either were expecting that Awakenings would follow in it's footsteps in those regards with letters and various other things from the people we met during our original journeys. (Not saying that those tiny cameos and choices from the past game weren't ultimately shallow as well in ME2, hardly any of your past choices matter when you really think about it, but having so many acknowledgments for your deeds in the past did helped to immerse you into the game further and make it feel like it truly was YOUR story being told.)

[SSH83]

If you're saying that you would've been willing to wait an extra 10 months and pay full price for a full sequel-esque expansion with more developed story, more areas, more returning character and continuity?



I'd agree with that.

[MCPOWill]

Venatio wrote...

Yrkoon wrote...

Not to mention the fact that they could have  passed along the extra  development costs by charging us a little more for this expansion...like say,  $40, instead of the traditional 29.99

Oh wait.  That's exactly what they did.

Hmm... nope.  I'm not buying the  "low budget" thing either.    It  certainly doesn't explain why they had to "retire" everyone but friggin Oghren, or scrap the personal conversation system almost entirely like they did.

I think what your most angry about, and I'm not trying to judge, is that Bioware tried to pull a few stunts that are, quite frankly, unheard of for such a respected name. An overpriced and overhyped DLC with a myriad of technical issues, I wouldnt have believed it of them if someone had told me a year ago.

Agreed though I think what we really need to look at the true reason for this is the name next to Bioware,  *cough* EA *cough* 

[JamieCOTC]

There were a lot of little things they could but didn't.  Originally, there were supposed to be letters from Zev and Leliana, but there were cut out. Little things like that would have made a big difference.  It really boggles the mind, unless BioWare is pushing for a more generic for of gaming where character doesn't matter, even though that is itself is pushed as a selling point. 

Modifié par JamieCOTC, 20 mars 2010 - 10:51 .